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8/22/2010 - 7:58 P.M. EST (latest update today) - I have deconstructed the new "Retro" trailer. Check it out here. On a side note, several people have noted the lack of blood in the three recent videos. Consider this: these videos were released for Gamescom, an event hosted in Cologne, Germany. Anyone familiar with Germany's history of having videogames censored (which more often than not affects the same games' releases in other countries) should not be surprised by this. Here's hoping that Splatterhouse will reach all of Europe uncensored. I say that if the Germans want it censored, don't sell it in Germany. It's happened way too many times before (anyone remember the Castlevania: The New Generation travesty, for example?), and the fans in other countries shouldn't have to deal with it just because the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien says that Germany has to.
8/18/2010 - 3:08 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Breaking news: Namco Bandai has released a new trailer (which can be seen here, courtesy of Grey Fox) - we have a Mirror Rick sighting! - and two new B-roll gameplay videos (which can be seen here and here, again courtesy of Fox). They have also released a brand new batch of screenshots, which have been posted in the Screenshots section of the Splatterhouse (2010) page.
Keep checking back for more info as it hits.
8/4/2010 - 3:35 P.M. EST (latest update today) - The update I've been promising for months is finally here. But before I get into that, I just want to say that you may be seeing more frequent updates to WM in the near future - that is, if I'm not distracted by a bunch of Famicom games like I have been lately... but that's neither here nor there. I recently began working days, and as a result, my energy level has skyrocketed. I haven't felt this good in ages. I guess I'm more of a morning person than I thought I was.
First, I want to send a tremendous thanks to Marty Keating, who's put up with my constant delays to date. He has sent me a literal metric ton of new stuff, nearly all of which I've added to the site today. There are magazine articles going all the way back to 1990 through this year, which can be found in the respective Additional Info sections for Splatterhouse (TG16), Splatterhouse 2, Splatterhouse 3 and Splatterhouse '10 - and brand new pictures of both the extremely hard to find 1990 NEC Splatterhouse shirt and the shirt given away at the San Diego ComicCon last month, which can be found in the Miscellaneous section along with pictures of the shirts given away at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival and E3. I've also added pictures of the E3 display and the 7-foot tall Rick statue to the Additional Info page for Splatterhouse '10.
An interesting item surfaced with the SDCC shirt, which I mentioned in the last update: a note from Dr. West (which I have a scan of here, again thanks to Marty). What I didn't know then was that the note gives a URL to a new section of the official Splatterhouse site, complete with a humorous warning about the shirt. There you can post pictures of yourself in the shirt, should you be lucky enough to have one (and Marty's in there, #4). They're also promising an exclusive video, to be unveiled sometime in the next week or so. If you have a Twitter account, follow the official Splatterhouse Twitter to be informed when it goes live.
There's also new fanart from Simone Pirina - and not just fanart, but wallpaper and an action figure based on the new Rick he created using Revoltech figures. Pavlov Yuri and Sommo Ansem have contributed new fanart as well. These can all be found in the Artwork section, along with a hi-res of both the SDCC poster and Jennifer's new redesign, both by Dave Wilkins. Also, DooM, the vocalist/guitarist/bassist of the band Grave Earth, wrote to tell me of a song they recorded called "This House Remains Insane," which is based on Splatterhouse. Check it out here, and if you like it, check out the rest of their material here.
So with that, I think I'm going to take a break for a while, get some dinner or something. Have fun!
7/30/2010 - 7:22 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Been a while, but I'm back with some new stuff. First, if you haven't seen it yet, check out the awesome new poster by Dave Wilkins that debuted at this year's San Diego ComicCon. For those of you lucky enough to be there, you may have gotten to get one of these posters and have it signed by Dave. There were some other nifty giveaways at the SDCC, not the least of which was this new tshirt. Talk about reaching back into Splatterhouse history: the warning on the shirt was taken straight from the Turbografx-16 box cover. That's just awesome, and is another sign that Namco does indeed "get it." The shirt also included this note:
“This T-Shirt has been designed and laboratory tested to the finest scientific standards.
It's our belief that the blood, sweat and effort that we put forth in our designs truly make the shirts come alive.
We hope you agree!
Madly yours,
Dr. West
West Mansion Designs"
A few other things have popped up recently too: this supposed prototype Xbox 360 faceplate that showed up on eBay a little while ago. The seller claimed to have gotten it at E3. There's been no confirmation from Namco if this is real or fake, though. Fangoria issue #295 is out now as well. I have scans of the article, which I intend to post soon. I also have a few older articles on the original games and brand new pictures of the original Turbografx-16 promo shirt to put up soon, courtesy of Marty Keating.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for more soon, hopefully.
6/16/2010 - 2:18 A.M. EST (latest update today) - We've got E3 footage, courtesy of GameTrailers! Check out this thread on The Third Moon, which will be updated as more videos become available. Also, the "Make a Wish" trailer is now available for download on Xbox Live.
6/13/2010 - 3:52 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Most of you should know about this by now: there's a new trailer out for E3, and it can be viewed here on IGN. They also gave a pretty good review of what they played as well. Hopefully this signals the continuation of an uphill trend started by Destructoid's most recent preview. God knows after all the negative press the game had gotten over the past year or so, what with the whole BottleRocket debacle and all, some positive buzz is nice to see.
Me, I loved the trailer. It's nice to see the new take on the story being revealed at long last, and some truly awesome stuff was seen in it. Much like with "Blood Thrash," though, all we got were glimpses. This, of course, is where I come in again. I've taken the trailer and deconstructed it, and the final result can be seen here. Enjoy!
On a non-Splatterhouse related note, my friend Sam of The Light Sword Cypher Mainframe recently posted news (and a video) of a new game by the creator of Strider, Isuke, entitled Necromachina (aka Moon Diver). This is now my second most wanted game this year. As Sam put it: "This looks like Strider with Strider 2's graphics and Run Saber's co-op. In short, FUCKING AWESOME." And now that I own an Xbox 360 (gamertag: therealdire51), which I bought just so I could play Splatterhouse, I can also experience what looks to be the second spiritual successor to one of my all-time favorite games. I can't wait!
6/7/2010 - 10:20 P.M. EST (latest update today) - I've added some new links to the Games page. These are links for Splatterhouse fangames that I haven't covered here on WM in any detail yet. The links will take you back to the host sites for each game, so go to them at your own risk. The games include: Living Hell (a lot of people have been emailing me about this one, apparently thinking I don't know about it because I haven't mentioned it here yet - I'm aware of it, I just keep forgetting to post about it), Splatterfaith, Stringanime's Splatterhouse, Splatterhouse 4 and the Splatterhouse: Deception of the Mask OpenBOR trilogy.
To everyone that has emailed me over the past few months about Living Hell or Splatterfaith or whatever else: thank you for your emails. However, while I appreciate your efforts to make sure West Mansion continues to have the latest information, always check the forum first before sending an email. Chances are that the subject has already been brought up over there and I am aware of it; nine times out of ten all of the latest Splatterhouse news is posted there and heavily discussed long before it's posted to West Mansion.
Thank you.
6/5/2010 - 12:06 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Just a quick update: get a look at the full-size version of Dave Wilkins' cover art for Fangoria #295. As usual, Dave knocked it out of the park. Also, Dan Tovar has been interviewed by G4 about the new game. Unfortunately, G4 dropped the ball when it came to showing gameplay footage: the majority of it is old junk from the BottleRocket era instead of the latest footage. Congratulations G4, you're previewing a game that doesn't exist and are misleading a lot of people in the process. Way to go.
6/1/2010 - 3:50 A.M. EST (latest update today) - I've gone through the "Blood Thrash" trailer and screencapped quite a few images from it. I've taken the most interesting ones, mostly showing details that just whiz by when watching the trailer, and created a new feature article out of them, Deconstructing "Blood Thrash."
Also, on a non-Splatterhouse note, Rush just released their first new music in three years: the digital download-single "Caravan"/"BU2B." I'm listening to them now, and I have to say - if the rest of the upcoming album (Clockwork Angels, spring 2011) is this good, then the day it's released will truly be an awesome day for rock.
5/29/2010 - 3:35 A.M. EST (latest update today) - I hope everyone enjoyed my review of the demo. It was a great experience, and I again want to thank Dan Tovar and everyone else at Namco Bandai for making that happen.
Got ten new screenshots for you (the ones at the very top), featuring the first look at Rick's revamped regeneration ability and the first appearance of the new meat cleaver, which in actuality is a carcass splitter (as seen here) - in fact, the in-game one may actually be based on the one seen in that pic. I intend to find out if that's the case.
At this point, it seems pretty clear that the Splatterhouse promotional train has officially left the station. New interviews are popping up almost daily, ads are starting to show up in major magazines (confirmed so far: the current issue of Revolver - the Golden Gods issue - is running an ad showing "a painted scene featuring raging zombies, along with what looks like Cthulhu hovering above the mansion on one side, and Rick taking aim with a double-barrel shotgun while throttling a helpless beast on the other." Scans anyone?), and Fangoria will be doing a whole blowout on Splatterhouse in issue #295. It's actually the first videogame to be given the full cover treatment in Fangoria's history. This will be an issue well worth checking out.
Check out the latest interviews: "Blood Equals Power" at Gametrailers and "Everything is Juicy and Wet in Splatterhouse" at Kotaku. Also, check out the cover of Fangoria (click for fullsize):
5/18/2010 - 3:10 P.M. EST (latest update today) - What you've all been waiting for is here. Enjoy!
On Saturday, April 24, at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival XII in Worcester, Massachusetts, I was given an exclusive sneak preview of the new Splatterhouse by the game's producer, Dan Tovar of Namco Bandai Games America.
Before I launch into my review of the demo I played, let me give you a little background: I traveled to the festival that morning from Southeastern Connecticut with a friend from work, Brenton. The doors opened at noon, we made it inside to the ticket counter and got our VIP bracelets. Then we headed inside to find Dan. However, no one seemed to know where he was - or where the VIP room with the demo was set up - so we started hunting for him.
About an hour later, we finally found him handing out stuff near the staircase to the merchandise level. I introduced myself and Brenton, and we headed outside to start talking business, because it was impossible to hear in there.
Dan's a pretty cool guy to hang out with. We talked Splatterhouse past and future and touched base on a lot of things. Given the somewhat negative reaction I've seen to the new trailer (the one released on 4/16, referred to hereafter as the "new" trailer), I made it a point to ask him what the deal was with it. According to him, they were unable to release a trailer that really showcases the amount of carnage in the game, which is why they went the route they took. It also helped that they owned the rights to "Sento nel Core" and could use it without a problem, and they didn't have to wait to get clearance from the bands they've signed to use any of their music.
There was someone else with Dan, someone taking pictures. He had both a digital camera and a videocamera. Very interesting. He snapped a pic of Dan and I, and as it turns out, he also designed the new logo for the game and has done the ads starting to show up in mags like Spin. His name is Jake, from the company Rocking Creative, and he too was a very cool guy to hang out with.
Dan told me that they were sharing the upstairs VIP room with Metal Blade Records and we had to wait for them to clear out before we went up. So we talked some more, and I thanked him for everything he's done so far, like being so willing to work with the fan community on this, and giving me unprecedented access to promotional materials. As I said to him, I don't think a fansite webmaster has ever received this kind of treatment before.
Finally, it was time. So Dan, Brenton, Jake and I all headed up to the VIP room. We went up several flights of stairs, opened a door and were greeted by a life-size poster. Already this was looking sweet. They also had the Dave Wilkins Splatterhouse Part 2 redesign poster hanging up.
And there it was, in a corner of the room. The reason I had come. There was an Xbox 360 hooked up to an HD TV, and on the screen was a suitably rotten and decaying Deadman (aka zombie), growling and writhing.
The demo was on.
So we all sat down. It's when I saw Jake setting up his video camera that it hit me: they were going to film this.
Dan started it up. The demo itself was very much a work in progress, and as such there were a few minor pre-alpha bugs that hadn't been ironed out yet. But that didn't matter. The first stage he walked us through was the catacombs beneath West Mansion, as shown in many of the recently released screenshots. There were Deadmen and "lizard monsters" infesting the stage. We got to see the chainsaw, 2x4 and a couple of Splatterkills in action. Blood was flying everywhere, and continued to do so throughout the rest of the demo. For those concerned about the character models after seeing the new trailer, nothing looked plasticky.
Dan demonstrated some of the different ways to open doors, showcasing one of Rick's special moves for one of them, a shoulder thrust. A couple of other doors, living doors, were handled very brutally. At one point he entered a room that contained a very big tribute to a certain boss fight from Splatterhouse 2. In this room he demonstrated a couple of Rick's super moves, including the return of the special move from Splatterhouse 3 as glimpsed at the end of the new trailer.
Then he reached a point where the demo crashed and he had to reset. When it came time to start going through it again, he handed the controller off to me and it was on. I laid into those Deadmen with gusto... and a roaring chainsaw. Then I started pounding them with both my fists and the 2x4.
What impressed me the most, besides the amount of carnage I was seeing, was the tightness of the controls. It seems to me that in the wave of concern over how the game looks, very few have remembered to ask how it plays. Lay your fears to rest there, because Rick responded perfectly to every command I made. It took me a few tries to get used to pulling off a Splatterkill simply because I had to learn how to do one, but once I had the hang of it I was surprised how easy it became.
The other stage I saw was a 2D stage, as mentioned in the October '09 issue of Play Magazine. Even though it's a bit more platform-y than the earlier games (more than just spike traps here, believe me), it still screamed Splatmosphere and it had plenty of nods to the original trilogy in it. The lead pipe made its first appearance here, as did flying creatures similar to the bats from Splatterhouse.
As far as the audio was concerned, due to the fact it was being filmed, the volume was kept fairly low. It was even worse when the bands were playing downstairs and we had to raise our voices just to be heard on tape. So sadly, the audio portion of the game was mostly lost on me. I did, however, hear a little bit of a Rick/Mask conversation, but not enough to get a real feel for the voice work. At one point during the 2D stage Dan did point out part of the score, which was '80s horror/synth inspired, and he turned up the volume so we could hear it for a moment. What little I heard of that sounded good.
Finally we were done, and I was asked to do an introduction for the video, which should be shown on the official Splatterhouse YouTube channel. I introduced myself, plugged West Mansion and did my best to describe what I had just seen. I haven't seen this video yet, because it has yet to be edited and released as of this writing, but I hope they got my good side (not sure if I really have one, but oh well) and that I didn't come off like too much of a gibbering fanboy. Afterwards, Dan took the opportunity to give both Brenton and myself armloads of swag: shirts, posters, stickers and the like.
At that point, we finally parted ways. Brenton and I went to check out some of the bands playing. We saw Holy Grail, Cattle Decapitation and Skeletonwitch (who I really liked) before we left. An aside: Brenton went in not knowing what Splatterhouse was (aside from what I'd told him), but walked out a fan after seeing the demo. Splatterhouse has moved up right to the top of his "must buy" list.
I wholeheartedly approve of what I saw that day. To sum it up, we have Splatmosphere, the gameplay is there, and the controls are easy to figure out; intuitive, even. And oh man, does the blood fly. There are still many months left to go until the game is released, but based on what I saw I have every reason to believe that Dan and his team will deliver a title worthy of the Splatterhouse name.
This fall, prepare yourselves.
5/17/2010 - 9:35 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Not feeling too well tonight, but I had to come in and post these pics, taken from the official Splatterhouse flickr page:
That's me up there in the first pic, hanging out backstage in the VIP room at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival. The second pic, from left to right: myself, Brenton (the co-worker of mine that was awesome enough to take me up there) and Dan Tovar, the producer of Splatterhouse.
The review is still forthcoming...
5/12/2010 - 3:12 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Got some new fanart from Brent Cochran, plus I've added a couple of new pieces of Japanese fanart. Also, Albert Sautter has sent in a new hidden detail from Splatterhouse 3, in this case about one of the paintings on the first floor. While getting a screenshot of the map for that room, I stumbled across another strange hidden detail on the first floor. Go here to check them both out.
5/10/2010 - 11:13 A.M. EST (latest update today) - For those of you that haven't been keeping up with the official site, the new, 100% gameplay oriented trailer "Blood Thrash" has been posted. Go check it out!
In other news, I've added two new pieces of artwork by Dark_V-Alis to the Artwork section and a new batch of swag pics to the Additional Info section of the Splatterhouse 2010 page. There's also a flash game I've been meaning to link to for a while, but am now just getting around to doing so: Splatterfaith. It's a parody of the original game with a surprisingly good soundtrack. Thanks to everyone that's been emailing me for the past several months about it.
Just a reminder: even though time may pass between updates here, all of the latest, up to the minute Splatterhouse news can be found over on the forum. So if you don't seen something new posted here, or have news that you'd like to report, head over there and take a look around.
One last thing: my report on my New England Metal and Hardcore Festival experience is still forthcoming, so keep an eye out here. Once I have the okay from Namco Bandai's PR department, I'll be posting it. Until then, please be patient.
4/24/2010 - 11:32 P.M. EST (latest update today) -
Unfortunately, I can't go into all the details about the demo just yet, but soon I will. In the meantime, check out these stickers: Rick and the Mask. Extra special thanks to Brenton for the ride up and back, and to Dan Tovar for setting all this up.
Keep checking back here for my impressions as soon as I'm able to post them.
(1:35 A.M. update): I managed to get a ride, so expect a full report from the show later on tonight. Just so you know, I plan to be as thorough as possible.
I've also added several new banners to the main page and the "Link to WM" section. Check them out! Thanks to forum member Vlygar, Stephen Stone and Lee Tatlock for them.
4/21/2010 - 10:00 P.M. EST (latest update today) - This is for anyone going to the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival XII in Worcester, MA. this Saturday: I have an offer to make to anyone willing to swing by Southeastern CT. and pick me up, then drop me off after it's over: I'll kick in gas money and you'll be given a VIP pass for the show. This means, among other things, you'll be able to check out the as-not-yet-released-to-the-public demo for the new game.
Time is short. I have to confirm that I will be there by tomorrow at the latest, so if anyone is serious about going, let me know immediately via email.
4/17/2010 - 2:10 A.M. EST (latest update today) - The new trailer is here! It's certainly very artsy, and makes nice use of the "Sento nel Core" song from We Love Katamari. The few gameplay teases at the end certainly look intriguing - is that the return of Rick's "chest bursting" super move from Splatterhouse 3 I saw? - and it's nice to see the return of the classic Namco logo. Here's hoping the next trailer will show more gameplay.
Also, the official site has select songs streaming from the Splatterhouse OST by Howard Drosin. Check them out, especially track 3.
Still trying to get to the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival... if I find a way to go and am able to try the demo, I'll definitely be talking about it here. Unless I have to sign an NDA, of course.
4/16/2010 - 2:50 A.M. EST (latest update today) - The official site for the new game is back up, and as it turns out, Splatterhouse will be sponsoring the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival XII on April 23 & 24 in Worcester MA. I'm off that Saturday, but have no way to make it (that damnable lack of transportation strikes hard here). I only live an hour away, in Connecticut.
So, any West Mansion readers in Connecticut heading to the Festival want to swing by my neck of the woods and pick me up? I'd be glad to kick in gas money, of course. :D
4/10/2010 - 3:10 A.M. EST (latest update today) -
See that? That's from the April 2010 issue of PlayStation Magazine (available now). Yes, it has been officially confirmed that the new Splatterhouse game will have the arcade original and 2 & 3 as unlockables - not DLC, not exclusive preorder bonuses, but genuine play-the-game-meet-the-criteria unlockables. Check out the rest of the article here and here for new screens and info. Since this is as close as we're going to get to Splatterhouses, I'm declaring that the petition (remember the link on the main page? Go check it out now) has served its purpose and there's no longer a need to sign it. Thanks to everyone that signed over the years.
***
ATTENTION: As of April 2010, PlayStation Magazine has confirmed that the new Splatterhouse game will have the arcade original and 2 & 3 as unlockables - not DLC, not exclusive preorder bonuses, but genuine play-the-game-meet-the-criteria unlockables. Check out the article here. This is as close as we're going to get to Splatterhouses, so with that I'm declaring that this petition has served its purpose. Thanks to all that signed over the years - Rob
4/7/2010 - 4:58 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Enjoy the new main page banner by Emmet "Frozenverdugo" Kiernan! Also check out the new Splatterhouse Facebook page.
3/27/2010 - 3:40 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Whoa, two updates in a row. This may very well become a more common occurrence in the near future. Anyway, I'm just updating right now with a bit of info I added to the Miscellaneous page: pics of an ultra-rare NEC promo item from 1990. These two cardboard masks (Terror Mask and Hell Chaos) were sent to me late last year by Sean Kelly. Even though I swore at first that I'd never seen them before, I seem to recall seeing them back in '90, in the hands of my younger brother. Anyway, to anyone keeping up with the forum, this is old news (I posted about this over there but forgot to mention them here until now), but for everyone else, enjoy your look at this Holy Grail of Splatterhouse collectibles.
3/26/2010 - 3:10 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Good news, everyone! There are brand new screenshots out, and you can expect more new stuff to be appearing soon.
Keep checking here, as I have been recognized officially as a member of the press, so I should be getting the latest updates at the same time as the professional sites.
In other Splat-news, check out the new Splatterhouse Twitter page. To quote from it, "To those that will follow us, we promise to make the experience worthwhile. Once we get to 666 followers the giveways and real fun begins." So those of you on Twitter, start following them, and we'll start to get into the meat of things soon... figuratively speaking.
3/10/2010 - 9:08 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Thanks to PrimeOp, I now have a link to the video of the 1993 Violence In Video Games Senate Hearing. I have transcribed the part about Splatterhouse 3 and posted it, along with the link to the video (and corresponding times) in the Trivia section.
1/18/2010 - 12:45 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Happy New Year, all. Sorry about the lack of updates, but I'll be honest with you guys: I'm sick. I don't mean that I have a cold or anything like that, but rather a serious medical condition - serious enough that I've been out on medical leave from my job since November. But I am getting better. I can't promise that the frequency of updates will increase, but rest assurred that I am still here and that I plan to pick up where I left off, even if it means putting stuff up a little bit at a time.
Of course, we all know that 2010 is the year we've been waiting for since May of 2008, when EGM first broke the news about the upcoming Splatterhouse reboot. I am still in contact with Namco Bandai, so expect all news as it reaches me. Last I heard, Splatterhouse is still on track for a Q3 release this year. However, in recent news apparently some pirate jackass is selling a beta copy of the game for $675. Namco Bandai has yet to make a statement to the press regarding this, so we can't be certain as to which beta this is, the BottleRocket or Namco version, at the moment. However, I'd be willing to bet that it's a beta of the BottleRocket version that was somehow "overlooked" by someone at BottleRocket when Namco Bandai went to their HQ to reclaim all of their Splatterhouse stuff last year.
It's one thing when prototypes turn up years after the fact, but this kind of dickery is just asking for trouble. Personally, I hope Namco Bandai nails this bastard's hide to the wall. Whoever he is, he's facing five years in jail and a fine of $250,000. It's pretty obvious what he's going to need that $675 for: bail money.
That's about it right now. Read more on this as it develops over on the forum, and expect more updates here - even if they are infrequent - as the year goes on.