Tons of new information on The House of the Dead 4 @ GDC 2012

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Kori

Sega is at GDC 2012 presenting their upcoming digital games, including The House of the Dead 4. The House of the Dead 4 is a horror arcade shooter where players must use there Uzi machine guns and grenades to blast and push away a horde of creatures. The story is set in the year 2003 (Three years after the events of The House of the Dead 2), featuring AMS veteran from the last game James Taylor and a new AMS agent Kate Green as they fight for survial as the world begins to collaspe. The game will feature…
– Exclusively for PS3/PSN
– Two player co-op
– Arcade perfect port
– Play the game with either a standard controller or the PS Move/Sharpshooter
– The game will include “The House of the Dead 4: SPECIAL” with G as a playable character. So that means you don’t have to travel to different Gameworks around the country to play this game 8D.

Here’s an interview with Sega Digital Brand Manager, Jeff Beckham by Clevver Games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMC8GuVdBlk

Sega is still aiming to release the game this spring, but will announce the release date sometime next week.

Sources: http://www.siliconera.com/2012/03/13/house-of-the-dead-4-for-ps3-is-almost-like-playing-the-arcade-game-at-home/
http://www.youtube.com/user/ClevverGames
HotD fan and follower, Craig Anderson

The House of the Dead 4 PSN screenshots has surfaced the net

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Kori

Looks like The House of the Dead 4 is looking swell on the Playstation 3. Looks very identical to the arcade version with added cursors. I’m hoping that this game has more to offer than 3 with new features.

The House of the Dead 4 is set to be released this spring on the Playstation Network. Hope is such a splendid thing.

Tip from HotD fan, Craig Anderson

The House of the Dead III: Early Prototype Trailer

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Kori

This is a very early trailer that showcases early gameplay footage of The House of the Dead III where you can see Lisa and G in Rogan and Dan’s position in story mode (before they were implemented in the game.) as well as different creatures and background layouts. The target cursors are a bit smaller in this version. Enjoy!

House Of The Dead 4′s PlayStation 3 Conversion Took Almost A Year To Complete

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Kori

Sega has released The House of the Dead III and is now ready release 4 this spring, but it almost took them a year to port it from the Sega Lindbergh arcade board to the PSN.

“It took almost a year to adapt The House of the Dead 4 for the console, from the initial game design to the product,” a Sega representative explained in an e-mail to Siliconera. “The main obstacles in converting The House of the Dead 4 from the Lindbergh board to the PS3 were the OpenGL and the data format conversion. Also, the PS3 has only 256MB of RAM while the Lindbergh board has 1GB, making the conversion challenging.”

”We did more than simply upscale the resolution to 720p. We brought the game render buffer up to 720p as well,” says SEGA “This makes the graphic quality and resolution far superior to all of the previous versions. In addition, we have re-made almost all of the UIs [user interface] in HD resolution.”

At least we get a port after seven years of waiting.

Source: http://www.siliconera.com/2012/02/16/house-of-the-dead-4s-playstation-3-conversion-took-almost-a-year-to-complete/ & www.segabits.com

The House of the Dead III: Behind the Scenes interview with Takashi Oda and Yasuhiro Nishiyama

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Kori

Upon beating The House of the Dead III on PSN for the first time, you are rewarded with a bonus video of a developer interview similar to recent videos of Sonic CD, Daytona USA, and Virtua Fighter: Final Showdown. This interview features SEGA AM1 division’s Takashi Oda (Left), Director of The House of the Dead series, and producer Yasuhiro Nishiyama (Right).

You can watch the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb4UFQMwnhw

In this interview, they talk about in the beginning there were no rules with violent games in Japan such as decapitation and blood sporing out. They also talk about how the game was about zombies and shooting them. Around the time of the first game, they got away with it due to the graphics back in 1996 and if they were to modernized it, they would have been in BIG trouble. Takashi then claims that they’ve never used the word zombies in the House of the Dead series because he doesn’t want the name to be in his work and vision, but instead called them “creatures” that were created in terms of the story. In order to make a next installment for the series, they want to make it more grotesque within the rules. Takashi then mentions terms of the stories based on a Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack, a surgeon who helps other people but costs them a enormous fee, serves as a outline to the character’s backstories. Both Black Jack and The House of the Dead series share the same story element based on morality and what’s right and wrong. During the development of the series, they didn’t want to make anything so disturb to make the player stop playing the game, but the game always have something to catch you off guard to make you react to a hit. In conclusion, they want to try new things with The House of the Dead and bring them to arcade players to play.

Source: The House of the Dead III (PSN version)

The House of the Dead III now available on PSN

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Kori

The House of the Dead III is now available to download on PSN with HD graphics, trophies and Playstation Move support exclusively on the Playstation Store for $6.99.

Here’s what Senior Vice President of Digital Business at Sega of America, Haruki Satomi has to say. “We know not everyone has easy access to an arcade with a House of the Dead cabinet, so we wanted to give players around the world the chance to have that same experience in their living rooms. “We hope everyone enjoys The House of the Dead 3’s classic gameplay and new features, and look forward to introducing console owners to the fourth, previously arcade-only, installment later this spring.”

Not only that, this newer version of House of the Dead III includes a bonus reward for players to earn in-game. A very own “The House of the Dead III” Arcade cabinet for Playstation Home. Also PS + users get a free dynamic theme and avatars.

So pump up your shotguns and send zombies straight back to hell as Rogan’s hot headed daughter, Lisa Rogan and former AMS agent G. True Horror Lies Here. Can You Face The Fear?

Source: SEGA Blog http://blogs.sega.com/2012/02/14/hotd-3-launch/

Extremely Rare Prototype House of the Dead toys on sell on Ebay

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Kori

Thanks to avid Sega fan David Gray who gave the tip, a seller named corndogcollectables are selling all 11 prototype toys for over $3,000. Now that’s a mad bargain right there. Here’s a little fun fact of why these prototypes weren’t sold to the market. The main reason was that the first series of The House of the Dead toy line didn’t sell well in order for a second series to be released. Palisade Toys had no choice but to cancel the toy line. Luckly, this is the chance for people to buy them now, if your rich that is. Here are more pictures of the toys.

Source: Ebay http://compare.ebay.com/like/220871994743?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing 2 in the works? Ladies and Gentlemen start your engines!

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Kori

From a Kotaku rep who is attending the Toy Fair 2012 convention, confirms that a new Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing sequel is in the works for this holiday season with new characters and vehicles. More information on the news soon. For now, what do you guys what to see in ASR? Maybe G and Issac Washington in the Ice Cream Truck, Lisa Rogan in her dusty van, or maybe Goldman’s Building as a track around the city Venice. What do you guys think?

Source: Kotaku @ http://kotaku.com/5884388/start-your-engines-for-sonic–sega-all+stars-racing-sequel

The House of the Dead 2 now available on SEGA’s Digital Store with a unique rating

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Kori

The House of the Dead 2 for the PC is available on the Sega Digital Store’s website for only $9.95 with a Early Childhood rating. Just a minor mistake on Sega’s part and hopefully it’ll get fixed soon. Imagine three year olds working for a secrect government on a mission killing zombies. It could happen.