Heavy Rain
Developer: Quantic Dream
Platforms: Playstation 3
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
ESRB: M
Release Date: February 23, 2010

Because the mystery is what makes a large portion of the story enjoyable, I will try and keep spoilers from the main portion of the game to a minimum.

The highly anticipated Heavy Rain has finally arrived. After being touted as a revolutionary step forward in video gaming and spending years in development, the finished product does not disappoint.

The story revolves around four main characters and the investigation into a series of murders in a unspecified neighborhood (though contextual clues imply the setting is near Philadelphia). Over the span of three years, 8 boys disappeared, only to be found several days later, drowned in rain water, with an orchid and an origami figure near their bodies. With no real leads to go on, the police are nowhere near catching the “Origami Killer.”

A majority of the time, especially early on, the player controls Ethan Mars (Pascal Langdale), an average man whose happy married life falls apart after the accidental death of one of his two sons (taking place two years prior to the events of main game). Divorced and having a hard time connecting to his living son, Shaun, Mars suffers from blackouts and depression, made worse when Shaun disappears and is feared to be the next victim of the Origami Killer.

Dark Horse Comics and Exclusive Media Group’s Hammer Films have just announced a partnership in which they will create a series of co-branded original graphic novels and comic books. Their first collaboration is going to be inspired by Hammer Films’ upcoming suspense thriller Let Me In.

Let Me In is a horrid tale about a young boy named Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who is viciously bullied by his classmates and neglected by his divorcing parents. Owen spends most of his days plotting revenge on his middle school tormentors and his evenings spying on the other inhabitants of his apartment complex. When Abby (played by Chloe Moretz aka HIT-GIRL from Kick-Ass), a new neighbor, moves in next to Owen he finds himself with a strange new friend. But the young girl has a terrible secret that will forever change Owen’s life.

The new American remake of the film is based on my favorite vampire film of 2008, the widely acclaimed Tomas Alfredson-directed Swedish film Lat den ratte komma in (Let the Right One In), produced by Hammer Films, and written and directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield).

“There is a great one sleeping that will hear”¦ The Calling”

Yesterday, BOOM! Studios released a teaser image for a series coming out July 2010 that simply contained the words “IA! IA! CTHULHU FHTAGN!”

Today at the C2E2, the comic book publisher revealed the name of the upcoming series — The Calling: Cthulhu Chronicles — along with some details.

The on-going HP Lovecraft-inspired comic, which will be written by Michael Alan Nelson (Fall Of Cthulhu, 28 Days Later) and Johanna Stokes (Death Valley, Savage Brothers), is a supernatural horror series with a modern spin on the Cthulhu mythos. Sean Phillips (Marvel Zombies) and Federico Piatti will provide the covers, while Christopher Possenti is doing the interior art. Ҭ

The Calling: Cthulhu Chronicles will join BOOM!’s previous Lovecraftian titles Cthulhu Tales and Fall Of Cthulhu.

See below for the official synopsis, as well as the covers for The Calling: Cthulhu Chronicles #1.

Marvel is producing four different anime series based on original superhero properties, according to the company, who made the announcement at their C2E2 Animation panel this weekend.

Each of the four series will have 12 episodes. Only two series were announced by name: one based on Iron Man and the other on X-Men/Wolverine, according to Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada.

Quesada also stated that the shows were being produced for a Japanese audience — not just anime-style superheroes for America, and promises more details will be announced soon.

A new animated Ultimate Spider-Man series and the previously announced animated Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes series will air on the Disney XD television channel, according to Marvel, who made the announcement this weekend at the Marvel Animation Panel at the 2010 C2E2.

“It’s nice to be a part of Disney,” said Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada in reference to the first fruits of labor witnessed since his company was acquired by the Walt Disney Company in August 2009. [Read: Disney To Acquire Marvel Entertainment For $4 Billion]

The two new animated shows are just the first in what will likely be many more projects set to debut on the Disney XD network, which according to Quesada, was just one of the major benefits of the Disney deal.