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Lance Henriksen, who was most memorably cleaved asunder as android (ahem, "artificial lifeform") Bishop, will see another continuation of his Aliens film role in Rebellion's Alien vs. Predator game. Henriksen plays Karl Bishop Weyland, the descendant of Weyland-Yutani corporation founder Charles Bishop Weyland. The 69-year-old actor is happy with his virtual likeness (seen above) and is quoted as saying, "I might score from this game!" Joystiq is quoted as saying, "Maybe if it's from a facehugger, Lance."

Considering Henriksen's appearance in one of the most gore-riffic scenes in film (at the time), we should reiterate that Aliens vs. Predator will release in February 2010 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC -- in countries that don't require toned-down violence. Rebellion has stated that it will not be "releasing a sanitized or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices." Sorry, Australia and Germany.

Having not played Renegade Kid's first survival/horror-FPS on the Nintendo DS back in 2007, Dementium: The Ward, I had few expectations going into my recent hands-on with the game's sequel, the aptly titled Dementium 2. I knew that the first game enjoyed critical acclaim for more than adequately bringing survival/horror tropes to Nintendo's handheld, and ultimately scored pretty well with reviewers, but ever since Metroid Prime Hunters I've been wary of first-person mechanics on the DS.

Thankfully, when first faced with manipulating Dementium 2's main character, it became quickly obvious that the game's slow pace helps to account for any discomfort issues that might arise from the control scheme. Over the course of 45 minutes, I put together puzzles, traveled between two dimensions multiple times, and even fought a boss who tried to throw up on me from the ceiling (what a jerk!). Though its content and storytelling seems to be a carefully crafted amalgam of games from the three or so genres it mashes up (fps, adventure, survival/horror) – a handheld Half-Life meets Silent Hill on Monkey Island, almost – the time I spent with a preview build of Dementium 2 earlier today felt like the beginning of what could be a very interesting game.

Hudson released a pair of trailers for Calling, due out in Japan on November 19. We don't know if this will reflect on the actual scare content of the game, but the trailer above is creeeepy, bearing all the hallmarks of Japanese horror -- by which we mean terrifying little girls getting in your face, and that weird head-rattling motion (in this case performed by dolls).

After the break, see another video demonstrating gameplay. Not only can the Wiimote be used to simulate the in-game cell phone, but apparently that phone can be used as a teleportation device? But ... that would only be possible if you were some kind of ghost. We're scared.

Click to enter SplattergalleryWe had kind of forgotten that, despite the closure of developer BottleRocket, Namco Bandai's current-gen Splatterhouse revamp was still in the works. And even if we had remembered that, we would have assumed that the supposed 2010 release had been quietly canceled in the interim. However, October is the right time for horror games and Namco Bandai has decided to surprise us all by releasing the game five screenshots!

These new screens look pretty different from what we've seen, seeming to show a little bit of a cel-shaded effect and, for some reason, reduced muscle definition on Rick. We didn't really expect Namco to be messing around with the basic look of the game, but there it is.

The company also adjusted the previous "early 2010" release date we'd heard: now the game is slated for "Q3 2010." We're kind of hoping the extra time goes into the graphics. At least into getting them back to the state they were in last year.

Sinister Pointe, an Orange County, Calif.-based haunted house attraction, has got something special in mind for gamers this Halloween -- their annual gore-filled maze will be Silent Hill themed this time around. There's a few details on the company's site -- including an endorsement from Konami, it seems -- but no early looks at the attraction are given. We're guessing Pyramid-headed gentlemen and bloody, faceless nurses will be incorporated.

We're not certain how much a production like this costs, but if they're aiming for capturing the true Silent Hill experience, they must be spending a freaking mint on fog machines.

[Via Kotaku]

Anyone who's seen one of the live-action films based on Capcom's Resident Evil franchise are aware of how in-your-face the movies' terribleness tends to be. However, horror film news site Shock 'Til You Drop recently got a terrifying piece of news from producer Paul W.S. Anderson at San Diego Comic Con -- the next film in the series, titled Resident Evil: Afterlife, will be presented in 3D. We're thrilled about the stereoscopic Jovovichian action -- we're somewhat less enthusiastic about the bump in ticket prices that'll come about to provide the necessary eyewear.

Anderson went on to explain the film would kick off an entirely new trilogy of Resident Evil films, saying he regards it "as a re-tooling and rebirth of the entire franchise." We know what you're thinking -- does this mean the films will finally remotely follow the plot of the games? Oh, don't be silly. It's Anderson, man.

[Via VideoGamer]

Electronic Arts hosted a studio showcase in San Diego yesterday, just before the start of Comic-Con. Inside the Onyx Lounge were bright cheerful lights, colorful pastel colors, fresh-baked cookies and ... The Littlest Pet Shop. However, if you headed downstairs to the basement, it was very dark, mysterious and crammed with things like Brütal Legend and Left 4 Dead 2. We couldn't resist the siren call of more zombie slaying, so we plunged straight into the new Swamp Fever level being shown off.

Head on beyond the break for our writeup. Later, look for our interview with Chet Faliszek, writer for L4D2 at Valve, where, according to him, "everyone is a designer!" But for now, it's time to find out why you'll want to catch "Swamp Fever."

Last year, footage of an unannounced Wii horror game from Hudson, Calling, appeared on the publisher's PR server, and was quickly pulled from both the server and YouTube. Nothing has been heard about Calling since, until today, when the game was officially revealed in Famitsu magazine.

Calling: Kuroki Chakushin (Dark Call) features an in-game cell phone through which players will send and receive messages, and record audio and video, all of which will almost certainly be spooky. According to NeoGAF, the game is 70% complete, which makes sense given that it's been in the works since at least October.

Making a horror game for a "casual" audience requires a reorganization of priorities. While something like Resident Evil is intent on scaring the player, there are a lot of gameplay elements aside from fear, like inventory management and even accuracy. These elements make for a well-rounded game, but they can actually prevent the player from experiencing all the game's scares.

AQ Interactive's Ju-On: The Grudge, being released in North America this October by XSEED, takes out all the "survival" from a survival horror game to create what XSEED calls a "haunted house simulator," focused entirely on scaring the crap out of players over and over again. And from what we saw, it works.

You read about people watching a new Alan Wake trailer. You may have even watched people watch the trailer on video streams. And now, you can watch the trailer, just like you were sitting at Microsoft's E3 keynote! Except it's not followed by several minutes of searching for "Rusty." And also it's probably not on a gigantic screen with an executive standing in front of it. Maybe it is. We haven't been to your house.

If the trailer isn't Wakey enough for you, check out our gallery! And then download this Xbox Live Premium Theme!

We were minding our own business, not really paying attention, when an XSEED press release JUMPED into our email inbox and scared us half to death. Feel Fear: Ju-On, a teaser for which was just released in Europe, is coming to North America to scare our North American pants off (and imported pants as well) in October of this year.

The press release announcing Ju-On: The Grudge offers a few new details about the gameplay. To the dismay of those expecting a third- or first-person survival horror game, XSEED bills Ju-On as a "haunted house simulator," in which players explore scary environments with a pointer-controlled flashlight, driven to "proceed forward even after being frightened and running away from the initial threat." The game includes the ability for a second player to trigger scares using a second Wiimote, causing the other player to "jump and hate you forever."

So if you want your friends to hate you forever, check out Ju-On: The Grudge this October!

Rising Star Games sent out a video teasing the announcement of a new game at the upcoming London MCM Expo. The video features people holding Wiimotes in a dark room in front of a flickering TV, and then having the crap scared out of them -- an idea last used for Nintendo's hilarious Fatal Frame IV commercials.

A brief image shown at the end of the trailer pretty definitively confirms the mystery title to be Kyoufu Taikan Ju-On (translated by Siliconera as "Feel Fear Ju-On"), the Wii horror title being made under the supervision of The Grudge director Takashi Shimizu. If Rising Star is picking this up for Europe, we should be able to expect a North American version from either XSEED, who works with Rising Star owner Marvelous on North American publishing, or Ignition, who publishes many AQ Interactive titles like Blue Dragon Plus and Boing! Docomodake DS. The video is available after the break.

Sadness "developer" Nibris sent out a message to its YouTube channel's subscribers, indicating that something related to the developer will be shown at E3 this year. Note that the message doesn't specify the vaporous Sadness game, or that a game will be shown at all -- merely an "update." Which means that even in the unlikely event that Nibris shows up and displays something, it could still be disappointing.

Nibris is still holding to a Fall 2009 date for Sadness, so it's quite likely that this "update" is intended to be related to the mythical horror game. We hope Sadness actually does show up -- we'd love to add the day the game becomes real to our timeline (which we posted in 2007).

In the IGN video interview embedded after the break, Dead Space: Extraction producer Steve Papoutsis discusses the motivation for the "guided first-person experience" design for the Dead Space prequel, as well as the storyline, the controls, and the co-op modes. That's great, and of course it's wonderful to hear such ideals behind the game's design.

But the real attraction here is footage. The video is interspersed with gameplay footage from Extraction, mostly consisting of the disarming (and dislegging) of creepy spider-dudes. In our estimation, at least, EA is delivering the graphics it needs to ensure that the game is appropriately atmospheric. And by "atmospheric" we mean "eeeeeeeee."