WHAT'S NEW
image courtesy of serjio
12/15/2007 - 4:38 P.M. EST (latest update today) - New reviews have been added for both Splatterhouse 3D and Return To Splatterhouse 3D (the official title of the sequel), as well as a few new screenshots of Return. If anyone else would like to contribute a review for either of them (or Splatterhouse: 2k3), just drop me a line.
12/13/2007 - 1:54 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Splatterhouse 3D: Part 2 is now available for download! Enjoy!
12/9/2007 - 12:06 A.M. EST (latest update today) - There's two new versions of Splatterhouse 3D available for download: Version 2 and a Windows Vista-compatible Version 2. Also, for those of you enjoying Splatterhouse 3D, 5th posted something very interesting on the forum on December 1st:
 
"That's right, folks, Splatterhouse 3D: Part 2 is underway! Features brand new levels in the spirit of Splatterhouse 2, and several vicious new enemies that make the old monster lineup look like pussies. You'll have to watch your back more than ever this time, 'cos these guys will constantly try to get the drop on you.
After you fucked up and lost Jennifer, the Mask discovers the portal hidden beneath the house of parapsychologist, Dr Mueller--a portal leading directly to the Evil's realm, where Jennifer is trapped. But Mueller has become a tool of the Evil and will do everything in his power to bar your path. Time to bash more zombie heads!"
There's no release date yet, but you can bet it'll be posted here as soon as 5th is done with it. Keep in mind we could still use reviews of both Splatterhouse 3D and Splatterhouse: 2k3, so if you'd like to contribute one, let me know.
11/30/2007 - 1:10 A.M. EST (latest update today) - This is about a month late, but I only just found this out (and I would've posted it yesterday if I'd remembered): the Happy Video Game Nerd did a two part Splatterhouse retrospective for Halloween. West Mansion is mentioned in the credits, and pictures of the Splatterhouses petition are shown during the video. Go check it out!
Part 1
Part 2
11/29/2007 - 12:38 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Mike Freligh recently let me know about a game called MADHOUSE. According to the game's creator, one of the biggest inspirations for it was Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti. If you want to check it out, just head over to the official site.
Also: version 2.0 of Splatterhouse 3D should be posted in the near future, once 5thman can get it to me. Keep an eye out for it!
11/18/2007 - 9:33 A.M. EST (latest update today) - There are some tips from 5thman and a review of Splatterhouse 3D up, and if anyone would like to contribute one of their own (or one for Splatterhouse: 2k3), please drop me a line and let me know.
11/15/2007 - 11:14 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Two new items of note: one being that 5thman's latest Splatterhouse fangame, Splatterhouse 3D is available for download right now! Find out a bit more about it in the Splatterhouse 3D section. The second item is that I've heard back from Fysh, and he is still working on the conclusion to his fanfic Splatterhouse: Dark Horizons. Here's hoping it'll be done soon!
Happy Thanksgiving in advance, everyone.
11/2/2007 - 3:26 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Stop what you're doing right now and go here. Looks pretty damned amazing, doesn't it? Also, while you're there, check out this cool fake trailer for what we'd all love to see: a live-action Splatterhouse flick. If only I'd known about these in time to make this a Halloween update. Oh well.
9/28/2007 - 9:30 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Remember just a little while back when I posted this piece of fanart that I created in the Humor section? Well, uh... looks like the joke is actually on me, as just the other day I received a message from Brad Bittinger saying that he has actually been working on an Atari 2600 version of Splatterhouse, entitled Slaughterhouse! As proof, he sent the following screenshot and a link to a video of the game in action:
Video of the current version of Slaughterhouse
9/21/2007 - 2:30 P.M. EST (latest update today) - chuckporn has contributed a piece of artwork based on the story concept for The Splatterhouse Project. Check it out in either the Artwork section or The Graveyard.
9/18/2007 - 2:26 P.M. EST (latest update today) - I've added a lot more info about The Splatterhouse Project to its section of The Graveyard. Because of the amount of information I've included, I've created a third page for the section. You can find all of the information about The Splatterhouse Project on page one.
9/17/2007 - 6:10 P.M. EST (latest update today) - It's been a while since I last updated, I know. I've had a lot to do, among other things continuing work on The Chronicles of the Raven and writing my new non-fiction book Memoirs of a Virtual Caveman, which will be released soon. I'll post the info here when it's available for purchase (probably in early November).
But fear not, I have quite the update for you today... guess I should after three months or so. First off, here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Terror Mask Replica by NuclearMime. More info on the Splatterhouse PC game has surfaced, mostly in the form of scans contributed by Szopieraj; there's some brand new Artwork (including the first piece done by me in quite some time... not that it took a lot of effort or anything), which include some great real-life Terror Masks created by some fans; the entire soundtrack to the Turbografx-16 version; and there's some new stuff in The Graveyard, including files for Xeif's mobile phone games sent in by Mike Freligh, a link to a video of Splatterhouse: The Mask Covenant in action and the first (but sadly last) look at the fangame I was involved in, The Splatterhouse Project. There may also be more scattered around that I've neglected to mention here
I've also received word on the fate of the fantastic fanfiction Splatterhouse: Dark Horizons. Fysh has told me that he is working on it, and even sent me a sample of the upcoming conclusion. Looks like this is going to have a great ending! Of course, I'll definitely be posting it here when I get it.
6/23/2007 - 12:22 A.M. EST (latest update today) - I received some information from Mike Freligh that was such a surprise that I had to come and post about it. Turns out Namco released a PC version of Splatterhouse at some point in Japan. I have never heard of this version before now, but thanks to Mike, I have enough info to start a section on it here. There's very little there at the moment, but I'm hoping that someone who owns it will come forward with some more information about it. Check out what little there is on it in The Games.
Mike has also provided me with what may very well be the fangame Splatterhouse Bubble 2. As it was intended for mobile phones, I'm not sure how I would go about running it on a PC, but if you know how, just download the file here and let me know if you have any luck getting it to run.
I've also received a new piece of fanart from MEK Erik, which can be found in the Humor section of the Artwork page, and finally, Juan Servera has informed me of a 3D Splatterhouse game he's working on. As he put it, "The gameplay will be most similar to splatterhouse 2 than 3 version, and the most of bosses will be redesigned, but some of the characters of the three old versions, will be appear in our game." He also stated that "we'll have to change the name of the game, because we're not associate with namco."
He also provided me with the following links. Take a look:
3D character renders
QuickTime Boreworm clip
6/20/2007 - 1:57 A.M. EST (latest update today) - All has been quiet on the Splatterhouse front as of late, but I've finally got some new stuff for you to check out, namely a new piece of fanart from Kat! and a new piece of fanfiction by Brandon Kilgore. You can check them out in their respective sections.
The lack of news and submissions really hasn't bothered me, though. The bulk of my free time these days has been going to the story series I and Sam of The Light Sword Cypher Mainframe have been working on, The Chronicles of the Raven. You may have seen mention of it here once or twice. We recently completed the first story arc in the *new* series, Year One: Trial By Fire and are now in the process of working on the next story arc. At some point the website for the series will be up, and for those of you that have an interest in checking it out, don't worry, I'll make sure I post it here.
Since I am focusing all of my energies on CotR at this point in time, I've dropped out of nearly everything I was doing online previously, including all forums except my own. That does not include West Mansion, but expect updates to be pretty sporadic from now on, even moreso than they have been.
5/12/2007 - 9:45 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Got two new things for you to check out. First, one I got a while back but forgot to put up until now: Elvoid let me know about a project he's working on: a Splatterhouse 4 movie. Check out the teaser here, and visit the official MySpace page.
The other comes from thepizzaman, who is working on a Beats of Rage mod entitled Evil Splatter: a Splatterhouse/Evil Dead crossover. Here's a couple of pics from it. I have to say, it looks promising so far.
View more at the thread on the LavaLit Forum.
5/11/2007 - 11:46 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Made a minor update to the Trivia section, based on new info I've received from Stan Stepanic and Robert Preziose.
5/3/2007 - 1:11 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Splatterhouse - Rick by justsomelameguy.
Got some new stuff for you over in The Graveyard: screenshots of and the demo for ANSII Splatterhouse, courtesy of Michael Freligh (he also contributed screenshots of West Mansion Horror, which I never bothered to get). I've also split the section into two pages, so it isn't so cluttered up.
P.S. - Snakes & Arrows = great.
5/1/2007 - 1:08 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Rick by thinkbomb.
Got some new stuff for you... the Artwork section has another new section added to it: Humor. The older humorous pieces of art have been shuffled into it, and we have a bunch of new contributions from serjio, 5thman and Shawn Vazquez. Also there is a new addition to the arcade Hidden Details section, this one detailing the Mask Spirits. Go check them out!
Now I'm going to bed. The new Rush CD Snakes & Arrows hits stores today, and I plan to go pick it up at some point.
4/15/2007 - 12:35 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Squid Killer by Lord-Duncan.
As you can probably tell, I'm still focusing on Splatterhouse 2. New to the SH2 section is a page entitled "Lost in Translation". This takes the opening, cinemas and ending from both Splatterhouse Part 2 and Splatterhouse 2 and puts them side by side, so you can see just what was changed in the story when Part 2 was translated for release in the US and Europe.
4/13/2007 - 9:56 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Stage 2 boss by retal4.
And with that, I declare this Friday the 13th "Splatterhouse 2 Day". New for you in the Music section is the entire Splatterhouse 2 OST (courtesy of Paul Greenwood), and thanks to Marty Keating, I now have something I've been trying to get here forever, it seems - the freshly-dumped ROM for Splatterhouse Part 2 for the Japanese Mega Drive!!! Head over to the Emulation section to download it! To my knowledge, this is currently a West Mansion exclusive, and you will not find it for download on any ROM sites (although that's bound to change once word of this gets out).
I've also reorganized the ROMs for Splatterhouse 2 and 3... whereas I only had the US ROM for 2 and the cracked ROM for 3 up before in one ZIP file, now I have the US, Japanese and European ROMs for 2 in one RAR file, and the US, Japanese and cracked ROMs for 3 in another.
4/4/2007 - 11:24 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Namco x Capcom fantasies: CSM by MadSurge.
Got some new stuff for you today: the entire original arcade OST in the Music section, provided by serjio; pics of a bootleg version of Splatterhouse 3, provided by fede molina; and some very interesting info about a little known, rarely seen enemy in the original arcade game. Read all about it on the new Hidden Details page in the Splatterhouse arcade section
3/29/2007 - 10:19 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Kirby Splatterhouse Crossover by MoonWarriorAutumn. I HAD to put this one up because it's just so out of left field. I've also got some new fanart for your viewing pleasure, courtesy of Jonathan Hitchcock and Sean Moore. Check it out in the Artwork section. I was also informed by Jordan Brower recently that a rap artist named Mister Scoops has released a song about Splatterhouse. Check it out here.
So Splatterhouse has been out for the VC for ten days now, but no one's come forward with anything to say about it. So I decided to hit up GameFAQs' forum for the Wii release and see what's being said there about it. Some of the comments are actually pretty thought out and intelligent (considering the average forum comment on any GameFAQs board, that's a shocker), but there are a few that just made me shake my head - maybe I'm stereotyping here, but I think those comments were left by next-gen kids who haven't played anything older than the XBox or PS2. And to those of you that complained about the blood being green, it was answered there but I'll address it again: the blood was ALWAYS green, even in the original arcade version.
And to whoever it was that left the link for West Mansion there: thanks. ^_^
I have some more stuff I'll be adding over the next few days, or whenever I get around to it, I haven't decided yet. However, I will say that I've heard of at least one dormant Splatterhouse project that may very well be completed soon; AND fede molina and myself are working on something new (along with 5thman of Splatterhouse: 2k3 fame, and Mike "sotenga", and maybe a few more people). I'm not going to go into details, but I will leave you the following image. Make of it what you will.
3/19/2007 - 7:57 P.M. EST (latest update today) - It's here, so go download it! If anyone is interested in comparing it to the original TG16 version, I'd be glad to post what you have to say.
3/18/2007 - 12:20 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Okay U.S. Wii owners, tomorrow's the day! So get ready: grab your 2x4s and your shotguns, and prepare to head into West Mansion via your Virtual Console.
3/19/07: Splatterhouse hits the VC!
European Wii owners have had access to Splatterhouse since 3/16, as it turns out. Thanks to Marty Keating for the updates!
3/17/2007 - 6:55 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Splatterhouse ART JAM Vol.2, posted by Dany-Morales. I'm glad to see this one made it up, as it's even better than the original. To everybody that participated: great work!
Not much of an update today, but I did add some more to the SH2 and 3 debug mode info that was provided to us by Jonny ages ago, including some "forgotten" screenshots. Check them out.
Also, I have to ask: are these legal? I stumbled across them while looking up something for a friend recently: #1, #2 and #3. I figure the first two are more or less Namco's problem, but the third one is from a piece of fanart that was submitted HERE a while back. Yes, it's a modification of an official Namco piece of art, but there's enough effort that had been put into it to make it different.
3/8/2007 - 11:13 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: splatterhouse jam?? by chusco.
Remember the Splatterhouse remake/relaunch that I've mentioned a couple of times here? I have new news on it... seems that Namco Bandai got word of it somehow and had the project shut down, at least as far as any and all references to Splatterhouse are concerned. The game itself will still be surfacing, although not connected to the Splatterhouse series directly anymore. They still need help and input on it, so continue to check out their site as more information about the new game comes to surface, or send your submissions to submissions@3dfxdev.net.
You'd think Namco would have no problem with this, considering how they haven't done jack shit with the series for 14 years, but once intellectual property, always intellectual property, I guess. The project head Corbin has asked me to express his apologies to everyone that was looking forward to it.
On a slightly cheerier note, I have a couple of new things from Jimmy Theed, a new piece of music and a new piece of artwork, along with the plot to his Splatterhouse 4 idea. Plus, fede molina has contributed screenshots of the Japanese Mega Drive version of Splatterhouse 2, which can be found in with the rest of the SH2 screenshots. And as if that wasn't enough, does anyone remember my old Ghosts 'N Goblins website The Ghoul Realm? After having vanished from the net last year, it's back. But this is a good news/bad news item, the good news being that not only is it back, but I've archived it here on West Mansion and updated it with several new sections. The bad news is I don't feel up to maintaining more than one website on a regular basis, so I've made TGR an archive as of today. But hey, at least it's an up-to-date archive, instead of the "circa 2004" archive it was before today. Go check it out, either by clicking the big Ghoul Realm logo out on the main page, or just clicking this link.
3/5/2007 - 10:13 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Welcome to the Splatterhouse by parasitemol.
The Fileplanet issue has been resolved, and as such, this is probably the biggest update I've done in years. First and foremost, thanks to Marty Keating, we now have the FM Towns version of Splatterhouse available for download in the Emulation section, complete with emulator! Also, if you haven't checked out 5thman's awesome Splatterhouse: 2k3 RPG yet, you can now download it here. Find it in the 2k3 section of The Games.
The Music section has received its first major update in forever, with the addition of the "Sento Nel Core" vocal arrangement mp3 from the Complete Sounds of Katamari CD and the Splatterhouse stage 1 Digital Hardcore Remix from the PS2 game Technic Beat. On top of that, Jimmy Theed has sent three pieces of music from the project he may be working on in the future. I'm also working on getting the links to the Wanpaku Graffiti mp3s that have never worked up and running. All of the other music files... in fact, everything we had on Fileplanet previously... has been transferred out of the old Fileplanet archive and onto the new one.
Also, we have a new Artwork submission from Sean Moore, which can be found in the Artwork section, and I've updated the Credits page and the arcade Tips & Codes section with a new bit of info from forum member Xenomorph Spit, as well as rearranging the section slightly to make it a little easier to read. I'm also in the process of going through the Links section and weeding out the ones that no longer work.
Finally, I've backed up the entire site, so if something ever happens to it, at least it won't be lost forever. And with that, I'm taking a break. This is the last major update you'll be seeing from me for a while, as I have some stories to work on and a new website to build for them. Of course, if I do get anything else new in the meantime, you can be sure I'll be putting it up.
Speaking of which, we're still looking for the ROM for the Japanese version of Splatterhouse 2. Anyone out there have this? Was it ever dumped? I'm not sure, because I've never seen it available anywhere. If anyone does have it, please send it over to me, and I'll put it up here, credited to you.
3/2/2007 - 6:26 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Splatterhouse by Aca1raven2002.
Freshly updated today is the Trivia section, specifically the "Gone but not forgotten?" section. I've added a bit on the PS2 game Technic Beat (thanks to Risingzan for the reminder, I've known about this for years but am just now putting it up) and the Complete Sounds of Katamari CD. On top of that, I've decided to go ahead and add to the Artwork section an archive of the featured deviantART Splatterhouse links I've been putting up in here every time I update, so now you won't have to scroll through all of the updates just to see those pieces of fanart. I do have some more new stuff to add, but no time to do so today. Perhaps tomorrow.
3/1/2007 - 12:31 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Terror Mask Rick Taylor by TheBlizzardBuffalo
If I can get the issues I'm having with FilePlanet worked out, soon you'll be able to download and play the FM Towns version of Splatterhouse. I'll keep you all posted on this.
Remember the Splatterhouse remake/relaunch I mentioned back on 2/19? What I said then regarding how I personally feel about it still stands; however, I recently received an email where I was thanked for mentioning it here by the project head Corbin. He also had a request for help, which I said I would post here as well (portions of the original email are reprinted a little further down in this update). A note before you read this: if you intend to discuss this project, West Mansion's forum is NOT the place to do so, for reasons I do not wish to discuss here. However, feel free to discuss it on the official 3dfx Development forum.
Corbin: "It's true, we're not following the standard formula,
but we believe it's impossible to do it otherwise.
"...we're
looking for help on the game. We already have engine programmers, but
what
we're really looking for are more artists, another writer, level
designers, and 3d modellers. If you need more info on the models, we're
using the Quake 3 bsps for maps (.BSP) and we're using Quake 3 models
as
well (.MD3), but this could expand out to MD5 and other formats. We
also
support Quake 2 maps/models but if this could be avoided mention, we'd
appreciate it. If you're wanting to post more info, we're using our own
engine, dubbed SplatterEngine, which is built off of DarkPlaces, which,
in
turn, is a modified version of the original Quake engine by id
Software...
"...if they have ideas, they could also send it to submissions@3dfxdev.net."
2/27/2007 - 10:28 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Splatterhouse by satanasov.
Word's spreading about the upcoming VC release of Splatterhouse. Here's another article on it (complete with links to West Mansion). Thanks to Michael Kingston for the link. I've also been informed that the TG16 version of Splatterhouse was spotted on yesterday's episode of G4's Attack of the Show; most likely in reference to the upcoming VC release. Thanks to Chuckporn for letting me know about it.
And finally, I've been deservedly smacked (virtually) upside the head for the comments I made on 2/22 about the future of fansites by fellow fansite webmaster Sam Roberts (of The Light Sword Cypher Mainframe). He, Mike and PrimeOp all gave me some excellent food for thought.
2/26/2007 - 10:55 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Splatterhouse revisited by Dany-Morales. I'm glad to see that Dany is doing more Splatterhouse artwork, aren't you? I'm especially interested in the prospect of a Splatterhouse Art Jam Vol. 2 that Dany mentions there.
So, are you Wii-owning Splatterhouse fans excited yet? I know that if I had a Wii, I would be... you know what? I'm excited anyway. Like I said a few updates back, a small victory is better than no victory at all. And who knows, this might mean that Splatterhouse 2 and 3 may show up as well - and if what this article discusses actually happens, even Wanpaku Graffiti might hit the VC too! Now wouldn't that just rock?
And now, I present to you one huge update. Marty Keating, who yesterday informed me of the upcoming VC release of Splatterhouse, has sent me a massive number of Splatterhouse magazine and newspaper scans! Find them in the TG16, Splatterhouse 2 and Splatterhouse 3 Additional Info sections. He also included scans of the Splatterhouse 3 US manual and another picture of the TG16 Splatterhouse shirt - this one directly from the old Turbo Catalog. Find the manual scans on the SH3 Additional Info section, and the shirt scan on the Miscellaneous section.
On top of that, Marty will be sending me something new for the Emulation section soon, and once I can resolve my FilePlanet issues, I'll be uploading it...
And as you can tell, I've decided to keep going with the site. After the update I made on 2/23 I figured what the hell, why not?
2/25/2007 - 9:44 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Well, I'm still here. Got Core FTP installed, so I have the FTP issue taken care of.
So what's new? Ask and ye shall receive (thanks to Marty Keating for the news). That's all I'm going to say for right now.
2/23/2007 - 6:20 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Had some time to kill this morning, and found a submission in my inbox! Since my CuteFTP trial period hasn't expired just yet, I thought I'd post it: a pic of the Splatterhouse bosses by Jonathan Hitchcock. Find it in the Artwork section.
2/22/2007 - 11:28 P.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: It's not over yet by Lord-Duncan.
I've had two things on my mind lately, one due to nostalgia and the other due to the changing face of the internet as we know it. First, the nostalgia. Ever since firing West Mansion back up, I've been thinking of the early days of the site. You know, in the almost six years since I started the site, there are still virtually no Splatterhouse sites out there. The couple of others that were up have long since vanished. One in particular was West Mansion's greatest ally/competition during the time it was up: Lee Tatlock's Welcome to the Splatterhouse.
I was going through the files that we have stored here, and found a couple of Lee's pics from when our two sites were allied. Due to an incident that took place in September 2001 (right as 9/11 was happening, actually), all ties to each other's sites were severed, and the pieces of art we had of Lee's were taken down. The pics remained on the server, though, and have been sitting there unused for a little over five years now.
I'll admit, I had a few issues with how Lee chose to run his site. His primary focus seemed to me to be the gore factor, like that was strictly what defined Splatterhouse. I know that the Splatterhouse games have never been heavyweights in the gameplay department, but for what they are they don't need to be. I've always felt that the story, even though it started out as your basic "girlfriend got away" idea, was what really made Splatterhouse, especially after it was expanded the way it was in Splatterhouse 3. The gore is just the icing on the cake.
However, I can't deny that Welcome to the Splatterhouse was a good site. Lee had a passion for the series which was obvious just by reading through the different sections of the site. And frankly, another Splatterhouse website was quite welcome as far as I was concerned, despite any issues Lee may have had with me or how I chose to run West Mansion. It's a shame that things had to happen the way they did. Lee and his site both seemed to vanish from the internet at the same time... it's hard to pinpoint exactly when that was, but I'd say it was within the last two years.
So, since his site is gone, but the rest of the world should not be deprived of seeing these pics of Lee's, I've decided to go ahead and link to them here: Rick and SD Rick. Now if Lee is still out there, is still holding onto any feelings he had back then, and wants me to remove these pics, then all he has to do is email me and tell me so. I'll take them down, no questions asked. On the other hand, if he'd like me to put them in the Artwork section, I'd be happy to. What went on that caused the rift to form between us I consider to be in the past, and I'd like to leave it there. Welcome to the Splatterhouse may be gone, but I'd like to have even these little pieces of it live on.
Moving on to the other subject that's been on my mind... is a site like West Mansion even necessary anymore? I don't just mean this site in particular, but fansites in general. Look what you have these days as the internet continues to evolve: you can get all the info you need about damn near anything on Wikipedia, videos are no problem with YouTube, fanart's taken care of with deviantART and news about upcoming games you can get from a myriad of different game news sites... the little guys, like myself, can't even hope to keep up with what's going on.
Sites like these are a labor of love. We're trying to show the rest of the world how we feel about our particular subject. But I feel that the days of these kinds of sites are drawing to a close. I've felt this way for a while now, which is one reason I chose to close down the OPCFG last year. Namco hasn't noticed this site in the entire time it's been up (if they had they probably would have threatened me with legal action if I didn't remove the ROMs I have up here), and I doubt they ever will. The traffic here has declined rapidly over the past couple of years - and I know the site being down for over a year was NOT a help. I wouldn't even be surprised if no one has realized that I've been back and running the site for the past week aside from the members of the forum, as well as the members of a couple other forums I frequent.
Fansites like West Mansion will most likely be nearly gone by the end of the decade. There will be a few that continue to thrive (if the Castlevania Dungeon ever went belly-up, I'd be genuinely shocked), but the little ones like this will end up being a footnote in the history of the net, nothing more.
I've said my piece. Now I have to decide whether or not I want to search for a new FTP client and keep this place running, or just let my CuteFTP trial period end tomorrow and consign West Mansion to the ashes. One way or another, you'll know what my decision is soon.
And about that whole "casting for the Splatterhouse movie" thing I mentioned in my last update? I've gotten no responses, I doubt I'll get any responses, and we can just call it West Mansion project #489 that was scrapped due to lack of interest. *shrug* What can I do, huh? Not much.
2/20/2007 - 11:08 A.M. EST (latest update today) - Here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: Splatterhouse Concept art 01 by SickDeathFiend. I was also recently reminded of this tribute over on Newgrounds. Much like on deviantART, if you do a search for Splatterhouse there, you do turn some stuff up (not all of them good, though). Also, some digging through the forum archives unearthed some pics and info on a couple of Xeif's earlier Splatterhouse projects. Read all about them in The Graveyard.
And just because, here's why a Splatterhouse film should never be made by ANYONE in Hollywood, courtesy of Ghost the Lost Soul and PrimeOp (originally posted on the forum):
Ghost - "Hollywood would make you edit the film down to PG-13 to not upset the soccer moms of America and Jack Thompson."
PrimeOp - "And they'll change it so that the monsters are DNA experiments and nothing's from hell. The mask is actually a govt. project that messes with the brainwaves of soldiers to turn them into killing machines and 'the voice of the mask' is the compu-mask's AI voice. Instead of students, Rick and Jennifer will be the last two members of a special forces team sent into the West Mansion. While Rick will still be saving Jennifer, Jennifer will have a scene were she kicks somebody in the nuts for fake-GRRRRRLRLRLR-power points. Expect lots of quick cuts in the shoddy editing, barely lit sets, sudden loud noises after long stretches of quiet and scenes where Jennifer's nipples are violently poking out through her t-shirt. Music by another bad Pearl Jam impersonator band."
Of course, if I was in charge and had total creative control, that'd be a different story. I even have an idea of who to cast in the film; not just for Rick and Jennifer, but also for characters from my own story, Splatterhouse: Patient #6504 (which is over in the Fanfiction section if you haven't read it yet.
So who would YOU cast in the Splatterhouse movie if you had the opportunity? Send me your answers, and I'll post them here this Friday (my apologies to Sam for ripping off his idea).
2/19/2007 - 4:25 P.M. EST (latest update today) - I've gone and added two new pages to the Games section, one detailing 5thman's Splatterhouse: 2k3 and the other, entitled The Graveyard, detailing what little exists on fan-made Splatterhouse
games that were never completed. The newest one I've included was the one that showed the most promise, Splatterhouse: The Mask Covenant. Go check them out, and if anyone would like to submit a review for Splatterhouse: 2k3, please do, and I'll post it here credited to you. I've also divided the Miscellaneous section into Official and Fan-made items, and included the link to the PC Engine TV commercial that I mentioned here on 2/15. On top of that, I've reorganized the Trivia section into several different sections.
And here's today's featured piece of Splatterhouse deviantART: SPLATTERHOUSE EVOLUTION by parasitemol.
Something else I would like to address is the issue of this Splatterhouse remake/relaunch. I've been following it off and on, and personally I do not like the direction the game is taking. I think it's straying too far from what's already been established for the series... and I mean story-wise, not gameplay-wise, although I'm not crazy about where that's heading either. Seems to me the development team is attempting to make Splatterhouse a little TOO modern, although not as much as when I was first informed of the game (think Grand Theft Auto: West Mansion. Yeah, that just screamed Splatterhouse to me, how about you?). However, if the game does eventually see the light of day, I will cover it here on WM, whether I agree with the way the game turned out or not.
2/16/2007 - 2:29 P.M. EST (latest update today) - I've been looking to see if I had any submissions that were sent to my ureach email address over the past year that I didn't forward to the submissions inbox, and I found one:
now you too can learn how to create Rick in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon by going to the Miscellaneous section. I've also updated the New Splatterhouse Games? section, updated and straightened out the Trivia section, and split the Fan Fiction section into two categories, complete and incomplete. Plus I've added the awesome piece of fanart on deviantART that I pointed out yesterday to Artwork, courtesy of its creator, DougSQ.
And speaking of deviantART... there's something else I've noticed recently. Some people on deviantART really like Splatterhouse. Just check out the following assortment of artwork:
Splatterhouse art jam vol.1, posted by Dany-Morales,
Splatterhouse 2 by DarkmoonFlute288,
Rick - Splatterhouse by thisismynicknam,
Lady Rick by danley...
hell, just do a seach for Splatterhouse on deviantART to see the rest (some of which already have been posted here, btw, but there are a LOT that haven't).
And hey, if any of you guys want your work posted here, just drop me a line. ^_^
Also, just a note on something that's been bugging me for a while: anyone signing the petition needs to remember just how old it is before questioning why I would want this compilation for the PS1. I started it when game companies were actually still making PS1 games - in 2001! By all means, if you intend to sign it, put down that you'd like to see it for the PS3, the Wii, the 360, the DS, the PSP... whatever! But don't blast me for wanting it for the PS1, simply because the petition is that old.
As long as we're talking about the petition, I'm going to go on record as saying that it's been six years and Namco has ignored it completely, so don't think I believe it will actually work. But keep signing it, as it's nice to see how many people out there are still interested in seeing Splatterhouse show up on a modern system. Hey, we might even be surprised one of these days... if Namco released the games for the Wii's Virtual Console (a possibility, as Namco Bandai does support the VC) or XBox Live Arcade (and they support XBLA, so there's a little for hope for you there too), even that would be something - and a small victory is better than no victory at all.
2/15/2007 - 1:02 P.M. EST (latest update today) - I don't believe it. We're finally back.
Rob here, everyone. It's been... *checks watch*... ugh, too long since
our last update. But hopefully we can start things off again on the right
foot. First things first - there is a complete, 100% playable fan-made Splatterhouse
RPG available for you to download RIGHT NOW! Get it at the official website: Splatterhouse: 2k3 (or if that's overloaded, don't worry, we'll have it here soon).
Was I involved with the game? Only peripherally, but I was responsible
for getting it hosted while this site was unavailable. Drop 5thman, the game's creator, a line either via email or over on the forum (still the best place to reach me, incidentally), and let him know what you think!
Surely a brand new game will make up for the year+ lack of updates here, right? Right?
We've also added to the Artwork section a new,
color version of a pic drawn by the man responsible for hosting Splatterhouse: 2k3, PrimeOp - AND I've also added a section entitled Hidden Details to the Splatterhouse 3 section (thanks to forum regular Haniwa Dogu for the inspiration for this section), as well as fixing the broken pics on the Links page and fixing one other bug that's been bothering me for a couple of years now.
A couple of other interesting items of note I discovered while away from
WM... this 15 second commercial for the PC Engine port
of Splatterhouse (on Video Game Ads), and
an awesome vocal arrangement of the end credit music from the original game, which can be found (oddly enough) on
The Complete Sounds Of Katamari CD (sorry, no mp3 at the moment). Also, Haniwa recently pointed out
this awesome piece of Splatterhouse fanart drawn by DougSQ over on deviantART. On top of that, I contributed an article about the Splatterhouse series to all-around awesome guy Kurt Kalata's Hardcore Gaming 101 last year. I was going to do a Ghosts 'N Goblins/Ghouls 'N Ghosts article for the site too, but that fell by the wayside. I might do it someday though, if no one else beats me to it.
Just so you know, it's going to take us a while to get back up and running at full speed,
if we ever do (currently we can't access our submissions inbox, so there's
a ton of stuff in there that may be lost permanently). Feel free to email any new submissions in the meantime to this address, and I'll do my best to get them up on the site ASAP. Also, a request: if any of you spot a broken link anywhere on the site, or you just want to comment, then go ahead and email me. More to come later,
hopefully...
Some of you may be asking just what the hell took us so long to update. To make a long story... well, less long... Len's PC exploded after he made the last update, and everything he was going to put up on the site, as well as the tools he was using to update, have been completely inaccessible since. Mike's had things to do (and he never updated anyway, he was just our PR man), and I pretty much quit running websites for a while. I had planned to turn the site over to someone who would actually keep it updated, and that's still not out of the question. I'll keep you all posted on that.
So what have I been doing in my absence, you might be asking. A lot... moving across the country, taking care of a new baby, shutting down The OPCFG, doing a little freelance writing for the Digital Press bi-monthly fanzine (my work has only been in two issues so far, due to the move, but hopefully I'll be writing for them again soon), finishing a novel I had cowritten with my friend Patrick entitled A Galaxy Far, Far Away, co-writing an original story entitled The Chronicles of the Raven: Ground Zero (and just now starting work on its followup, Year One) with The Light Sword Cypher Mainframe webmaster Sam Roberts, interviewing former White Zombie bassist Sean Yseult for the fansite Patrick and I started for her, and setting up a MySpace page (don't ask me why)... and, of course, playing videogames, although not as many as I'd like recently (right now I'm pretty hooked on Katamari Damacy - yes, I know I need to get the sequel - and Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2). You know, just your normal, everyday stuff.
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