Scary Moments in Resident Evil 4

The Resident Evil series has become a bit of a controversy in recent years. RE6 met with mixed reception, and having watched a playthrough of the whole thing, I can see how it might pull more from Gears of War than it does classic Resident Evil. (Actually, the play-style of Gears of War was inspired by the over-the-shoulder setup of Resident Evil 4, so it's like coming full circle.) Many old RE fans are saying the series is losing its luster, and perhaps that's true. The genre is classified as "survival horror," but with plenty of resources and too few scares, neither of those words may be correct.
    In truth, the most I've played of Resident Evil has been half of 5, the demo of Revelations, and recently, all of Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. Yeah, I'm a late bloomer. Most of the PlayStation games we owned were the old crappy ones nobody knows about. Metal Gear Solid? Final Fantasy VII? No, say hello to Sorcerer's Maze and Roadsters. Never heard of them? I didn't think so.
    RE4 is the first full Resident Evil game I've played, and I've been impressed with it. One thing that struck me while playing is that, in spite of its more action-oriented approach, the game is still downright terrifying at parts. These moments didn't constitute the entire game, but they made me aware that RE games can still use action-based, intuitive control schemes and be scary.

Game Poll Second Update

The official second wave of Game Poll content is here, so be sure to give it a look and remember that article comments can only be posted here; polls have their own built-in comment systems and discussion pieces have comment boxes below them.

Anticipation for the Wii U

As many of you are probably aware, Nintendo's newest home console, the Wii U, is due to hit the market November 18th of this year. There's been a lot of hype and speculation over this alien artifact, but the time when all will be revealed is close approaching. Some have called it the Wii with a tablet, while others have called it a revolution (pun intended for the Nintendo-savvy) for the gaming industry.
    This article is merely my feelings on the Wii U, including what I'm looking forward to and what I'm leery about. I'll naturally want to know your views on it as well, so feel free to click the Comment button below the article when you're done.

Game Poll Intro Content

Game Poll already has fifteen poll questions, three articles, and three discussion pieces for you to chew on while waiting for the next update. The only features with no direct commenting option are the articles, in which you'll currently need to leave comments on this post in order to share your opinion. Be sure to give them a look!

10 Scary Things in Video Games That Aren't Meant to be Scary

    I'm going to throw a few franchise names out there, and you nod if you've heard of any of them. Resident Evil. Silent Hill. Dead Space. F.E.A.R.. If you keep up with games at all (and considering you've found your way to this blog, you probably do), you've almost undoubtedly heard of one of them. They're all horror games, and while you can argue about one series or another how they've made their mistakes, they all do legitimately good jobs at scaring us somehow.
    There's another genre of scary that most people don't consider, though. It's when something is scary in a video game that's not meant to be scary. You know, something E-rated you played when you were six that sent you diving for the Power Off button. Some of the games on this list are T-rated or received E10+ ratings when surveyed at a later release, but for the most part these are all ventures for Everyone. And they unnerve us.

10 Zelda Songs That Should Be Orchestrated

The Zelda series is well-known for its music. Pieces like the main theme featured in the first game, Saria's Song from Ocarina of Time, and Zelda's Lullaby have grown to become staples in any dedicated gamer's mind. Considering many Zelda games, if not most, make use of some sort of musical instrument, it's safe to say music is an integral part of the franchise.
    Until Twilight Princess was released in 2006, music in Zelda generally wasn't orchestrated, naturally downplaying all it could be. Many themes are just begging for a rendition in an orchestra, yet haven't seen that side of the game world. I'm not just talking about the popular ones (like the first three songs I mentioned). I'm referring to pieces that, regardless of the time period they were first heard in, would benefit more than most other songs from an orchestra.