Mike Bracken's blog

Last time I checked in, I explained how I quickly went from level 1 to level 10 doing Guildleve quests at Camp Black Brush outside of the starting city of Ul'dah. The grind to double digits was really fast (far faster than it was in Final Fantasy XI before Square Enix made leveling so much quicker in that games). With mobs in the region giving less experience and skill points (experience needed to grow in physical levels, SP needed for leveling your specific job or class), I decided it was time to head to the next Guildleve hub—Camp Dry Bone.

In the last entry, I spent a lot of time talking about what signing up for Final Fantasy XIV was like, how you create your character, and how the game compared to Square's previous MMO, Final Fantasy XI. Moving forward, we'll be taking a look at my first few days in the game's world and how everything works.

As someone who spent many thousands of hours (and no, I'll not state the exact number here—it's been repeated enough times on the podcast already) with Final Fantasy XI, few folks were more excited than I when Square Enix surprised everyone at E3 a few years back with a trailer for Final Fantasy XIV. Longtime fans knew SE had been working on a new MMO for some time, but when the trailer debuted with Galkans, Tarus, and Elves, it was extra cool—if only because we were basically getting a high def sequel to FFXI.

Nintendo has finally unveiled details for the upcoming release of their new handheld, the Nintendo 3DS. The company revealed their pricing plans and launch strategy for the system at an event held today in New York City. Reggie Fils-Aime assures us there'll be 30 games available for the 3DS by June, but the one that has horror geeks most intrigued has to be Capcom's Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. The Japanese developer released a new teaser trailer for the game today and my reaction is mostly mixed.

With the first six episodes of The Walking Dead already done, work is under way to prepare for the second season arc—scheduled to air later this year. In the meantime, it seems like everyone involved is trying to figure out how to capitalize on the show's success—and what could possibly be better than a Walking Dead videogame?

Dead Space 2, the long-awaited sequel to Electronic Arts' hit survival horror title, is due to hit retailers in just two weeks. To make sure that the hype reaches a fever pitch, the company has released the official launch trailer for the title. Looks good.

Namco Bandai's updating the classic horror-themed side-scroller Splatterhouse hits retailers later this week (the 26th, to be exact, and available on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3), and just in case you weren't up to speed on what the new version was going to be like, they've decided to release one more trailer.

I'm so excited for Dead Space 2 that I can hardly contain myself. I really liked the first game, which found space engineer Isaac Clarke fighting some hideous, and bloodthirsty, space aliens aboard a ship they'd overrun. It was a genuinely creepy game with fun gameplay that revolved around dismembering the creatures in gruesome fashion.

Dead Space 2 looks to keep that winning formula intact while adding a few new wrinkles to the mix in the process. The newest trailer for the game debuted on Friday courtesy of my former employers at IGN. The first game made Twinkle Twinkle Little Star terrifying, so it's only natural that the new game up the ante. This clip offers up a spooky rendition of Ring Around the Rosey, juxtaposed with some gory and creepy footage from the game.

Dead Space 2 is due out in January—which feels like a long time from now—but you can at least check out the new clip to tide you over.

One of my favorite games this year is Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption—a sandbox title that takes the gameplay and irreverent humor of Grand Theft Auto and shifts it to the old west. Rather than carjacking, players spend their time rustling cattle, ripping people off horses, and deciding whether to be an avenging angel or black-hatted bad guy.

Since the title has no real horror element at all (aside from a supporting character who loves the dead a little too much…), I never got to post about Red Dead Redemption here. That changes now, with the debut of the official trailer for Undead Nightmare, a new downloadable add-on that finds main character John Marston trying to find a cure for the zombie outbreak sweeping across the frontier.

We're less than a week away from the official debut of Capcom's Dead Rising 2 and earlier this afternoon the company released the official full-length launch trailer for the zombie-murder simulator (where is Jack Thompson to protest this? Won't someone think of the zombies!?!?).

I've been really excited about this follow-up to the popular first game, particularly since I played Dead Rising: Case Zero a few weeks back. I can safely say, based on that experience, that Capcom has corrected many of the issues that frustrated gamers like yours truly in the first title. You can catch the new clip after the jump—I won't spoil any of its best parts here, aside from mentioning that new protagonist Chuck Greene needs an official duck tape sponsorship after his work in this game.

Dead Rising 2 lands on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 28th.