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=== Concept ===
 
=== Concept ===
 
[[File:TakashiOda2019.jpg|thumb|220x220px|[[Takashi Oda]], the director of ''The House of the Dead''.]]
 
[[File:TakashiOda2019.jpg|thumb|220x220px|[[Takashi Oda]], the director of ''The House of the Dead''.]]
After arcade development division Sega AM2 released ''Virtua Cop ''in 1994, Sega AM1 sought making their own light gun game.<ref name=":1">"[https://archive.org/stream/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_023/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_023_-_september_1997_UK#page/n58/mode/2up Interview: The House of the Dead]", ''Sega Saturn Magazine'', issue 23, September 1997, page 58.</ref> The team chose a horror theme to distinguish themselves.<ref name=":1" /> They initially considered using the paranormal,<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">https://sega-interactive.co.jp/interview/14346/</ref> but ultimately chose [[zombies]] because they were "real" and appealed to the game's target audience: adult horror fans aged 20 to 30.<ref name=":1" /> According to director and planner [[Takashi Oda]], Sega AM1 knew "[they] didn’t want children playing this game".<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url = http://shmuplations.com/houseofthedead/|title = The House of the Dead – 1997 Developer Interview|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160122101158/http://shmuplations.com/houseofthedead/|archivedate = January 22, 2016|publisher = ''Shmuplations''|accessdate = May 28, 2020}}</ref>
+
After arcade development division Sega AM2 released ''Virtua Cop ''in 1994, Sega AM1 sought making their own light gun game.<ref name=":1">"[https://archive.org/stream/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_023/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_023_-_september_1997_UK#page/n58/mode/2up Interview: The House of the Dead]", ''Sega Saturn Magazine'', issue 23, September 1997, page 58.</ref> The team chose a horror theme to distinguish themselves.<ref name=":1" /> They initially considered using the paranormal,<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">https://sega-interactive.co.jp/interview/14346/</ref> but ultimately chose [[zombies]] because they were "real" and appealed to the game's target audience: adult horror fans aged 20 to 30.<ref name=":1" /> According to director and planner [[Takashi Oda]], Sega AM1 knew "[they] didn’t want children playing this game".<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url = http://shmuplations.com/houseofthedead/|title = "The House of the Dead – 1997 Developer Interview"|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160122101158/http://shmuplations.com/houseofthedead/|archivedate = January 22, 2016|publisher = ''Shmuplations''|accessdate = May 28, 2020}}</ref>
   
 
The team wanted the game's tone and atmosphere to emulate horror films.<ref name=":3">"[https://archive.org/stream/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_023/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_023_-_september_1997_UK#page/n58/mode/2up Interview: The House of the Dead]", ''Sega Saturn Magazine'', issue 23, September 1997, page 59.</ref> Influences included the science fiction television series ''The X-Files'',<ref name=":1" /> the 1996 crime thriller film ''Seven'',<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> and the 1997 science fiction horror film ''DNA''.<ref name=":3" /> They also watched other unspecified zombie films.<ref name=":1" /> In addition, Oda wanted morally gray characters like those in the manga ''Black Jack''.<ref name=":4" />
 
The team wanted the game's tone and atmosphere to emulate horror films.<ref name=":3">"[https://archive.org/stream/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_023/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_023_-_september_1997_UK#page/n58/mode/2up Interview: The House of the Dead]", ''Sega Saturn Magazine'', issue 23, September 1997, page 59.</ref> Influences included the science fiction television series ''The X-Files'',<ref name=":1" /> the 1996 crime thriller film ''Seven'',<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> and the 1997 science fiction horror film ''DNA''.<ref name=":3" /> They also watched other unspecified zombie films.<ref name=":1" /> In addition, Oda wanted morally gray characters like those in the manga ''Black Jack''.<ref name=":4" />

Revision as of 17:26, 1 June 2020


HotD4 Goldman
"Must we simply sit and wait for it all to end?"
This article covers upcoming House of the Dead-related media. It will be updated as more information is obtained.




For the 2003 film adaptation by Uwe Boll, see House of the Dead (film).

It feeds on your fear. Don't go into the house... Alone!

Marquee

The House of the Dead (ザ・ハウス・オブ・ザ・デッド, Za Hausu obu za Deddo?) is a horror-themed rail shooting game developed by SEGA AM1 (now WOW Entertainment) and released by Sega to arcades in 1996.

Set during the fictional events of December 18th, 1998, The House of the Dead follows AMS agents Thomas Rogan and G, who investigate the mansion of genetic engineer Dr. Curien. In a fit of insanity, Curien has produced hostile creatures which threaten mankind.

Developed in just over a year, the game was envisioned by Sega AM1 as having replay value and appealing to adult horror fans. It ran on the Sega Model 2 arcade hardware.[1]

Despite controversy for its violence, The House of the Dead was well-received and has since become a popular franchise. A sequel, The House of the Dead 2, was released in 1998 to critical acclaim. Although series director Takashi Oda does not consider the enemies zombies,[2] the game nonetheless has been credited for popularizing zombies in the media.[3]

The arcade game was ported to the SEGA Saturn and Microsoft Windows. It also received two mobile adaptations: The House of the Dead Mobile, and The House of the Dead: Nightmare. While the basic premise and the characters involved stayed the same, the latter game deviated from the original by using an aerial perspective rather than viewing from first-person.

In 2019, Polish-based video game developer Forever Entertainment confirmed that they had signed an agreement regarding remakes of The House of the Dead and The House of the Dead 2, with MegaPixel Studio serving as the developers. Further details have yet to be announced.[4]

Plot

Characters

Synopsis

In his pursuit of controlling life and death, DBR Corporation research director Dr. Curien descends into insanity. On December 18th, 1998, he unleashes biologically-engineered creatures upon his staff at the Curien Mansion in Europe.

After receiving a distressed phone call from his fiancée, DBR researcher Sophie Richards, AMS agent Thomas Rogan and his partner G arrive at the creature-infested mansion. Rogan and G reunite with Sophie, who is then kidnapped by the bat-human hybrid Hangedman. A mortally wounded scientist gives the agents a field journal notebook containing stronger enemies (bosses) and their weak points. The agents fight through undead enemies and find Sophie inside the mansion, but the armored behemoth Chariot seemingly kills her.

Magicianres

Magician, upon awakening, refuses to be given instructions and vows to destroy everything.

Rogan and G kill Hangedman in a rooftop fight. They find Curien, who escapes. After defeating the spider-like Hermit and a revived Chariot and Hangedman, the agents confront Curien in an underground DBR research center located in a cavern system underneath the estate.

Curien awakes Magician, an armored creature with mastery of fire. However, Magician refuses to recognize Curien as his master and kills him. Rogan and G defeat the creature, who, before exploding, warns that the ordeal is not over. As they leave the mansion, the agents bid Sophie and Curien farewell.

Endings

After the credits, the camera pans back to the mansion; depending on the player's performance, two extra scenes may play out:

Ending Image Criteria Description
1
HODEnding1
Unknown The mansion is shown in the distance.
2
HODEnding2
Unknown The mansion doors open, revealing Sophie to be one of the undead.
3
HODEnding3
Unknown The canon ending.[2] The mansion doors open, revealing Sophie to be alive. She runs at the camera and exclaims "Thank you!"

Gameplay

Players use a light gun (or mouse, in the PC version) to aim and shoot at approaching enemies. Both characters' pistols hold 6 rounds in a magazine; players reload by shooting outside the screen. Levels, or chapters, consist of fighting creatures, rescuing DBR researchers, and shooting destructible objects for bonus items. Each chapter ends with a boss battle.

The players' lives are represented by torches next to each magazine; one torch is removed with every enemy attack and hostage shot. Losing all lives kills the player and triggers a "Continue?" screen, followed by a game over if one elects not to continue. Bonus lives are earned by rescuing researchers and collecting first-aid kits hidden in the environment. Other items include coins and hopping golden frogs, which award points.

The first three chapters have branching paths, wherin the player's action (or inaction) determines the route taken; all routes differ in set pieces, enemies, and difficulty. For instance, in the opening chapter, a researcher is about to be thrown from the bridge to his death. Rescuing him takes players through the Curien Mansion's front door; failure redirects them to the sewers. If the player rescues all hostages, a secret room full of lives and bonuses is revealed toward the end of the game.

Chapters

Bosses

Development

See also: The House of Dead (prototype)

Concept

TakashiOda2019

Takashi Oda, the director of The House of the Dead.

After arcade development division Sega AM2 released Virtua Cop in 1994, Sega AM1 sought making their own light gun game.[1] The team chose a horror theme to distinguish themselves.[1] They initially considered using the paranormal,[2][5] but ultimately chose zombies because they were "real" and appealed to the game's target audience: adult horror fans aged 20 to 30.[1] According to director and planner Takashi Oda, Sega AM1 knew "[they] didn’t want children playing this game".[6]

The team wanted the game's tone and atmosphere to emulate horror films.[7] Influences included the science fiction television series The X-Files,[1] the 1996 crime thriller film Seven,[7][2] and the 1997 science fiction horror film DNA.[7] They also watched other unspecified zombie films.[1] In addition, Oda wanted morally gray characters like those in the manga Black Jack.[5]

None of the development team spoke English; when brainstorming titles, they used horror-themed Japanese phrases that had "[cool]" visuals when translated to English, without concern over the connotations the phrases may have to English speakers. The House of the Dead is a simple translation of the Japanese phrase shi no ie ("house of dead"). Other titles that were considered include The Horror Show, Zombie, and The Deadly Dead.[1]

Design

Characters and setting

HoTD1 zombie CA

Concept artwork drawn by Takashi Oda of three creatures (from left to right): Sam, Ebitan, and Harris.

Although the team was influenced by zombie media, Takashi Oda has described the word zombie as "trite", preferring the term creature instead in reference to the main enemies of the House of the Dead series.[2][8] This is because the enemies are not undead, but "copied and created".[8]

Design was prioritized on the creatures and bosses, while the human characters were made more generic to maintain realism.[2] The creature designs evolved heavily throughout production, with Sega AM1 even removing one creature because it resembled a human elderly woman.[9]

The idea for the final boss, Magician, was conceived after 2 days of brainstorming. The team wanted the final boss to be "really strong and really cool".[6] They designed him to be more "handsome" in order to contrast with the other enemies of the game.[10]

According to designer Hiroyuki Taguchi, once the team began detailing the Curien Mansion, "[they] didn't want to stop—[they] wanted to craft every detail, right down to the trim on the doorways".[6]

Gameplay

A major challenge for Sega AM1 was tailoring game difficulty around enemies that approach the player without firearms, gradually becoming larger targets.[5][6] Test players were confused by the creatures being resilient and requiring multiple shots to kill.[6] The solution was having creatures boast fast and unpredictable movements, yet also allowing them to die faster if certain body parts are shot.[5]

The branching path mechanic was designed to increase replay value and encourage players to discover their preferred routes. It was originally more complicated: players could select routes when the game began, and the plot could change. For system space and data-related reasons, this mechanic was simplified. Sega AM1 drew rough sketches in order to plan out the routes.[11][12]

Sega AM1 wanted the scoring system to correlate with the quality of the player's performance.[12] They also felt revealing boss weak points would help players who could not discover them on their own.[10]

Release

Console ports

HODRoganArcadeConsoleGraphics

Graphical comparison between the arcade (left) and home port versions (right).

Initially released to arcades, The House of the Dead was ported to the PC and Sega Saturn with downgraded graphics.

Remake

In late September 2019, Polish website Grampospolita.pl reported that Forever Entertainment, the developer responsible for remaking the first two games in Sega's Panzer Dragoon series, will remake the original House of the Dead, as well as The House of the Dead 2.[13] Forever Entertainment confirmed via Twitter on October 3, 2019 that they had signed an agreement to produce said remakes. No further details were provided.[4]

Reception

The arcade version of The House of the Dead was generally well received. However, the PC and Saturn releases were both met with mixed reviews. The game received a percentage score of 70.54% by GameRankings. The arcade version received 4.5 out of 5 stars, while both the Saturn and Windows port were rated 4 stars by Allgame.[14]

The Sega Saturn port was released in the final days of the console's lifespan. Despite its high market value, it is generally considered a poor port due to its lower framerate and graphical resolution compared to the arcade version.

Trivia

  • Although the game takes place in an unknown country in Europe, it is implied that the setting is in either England or Scotland in the United Kingdom, due to the agents' car being a right-hand drive type (driver on the right), which is a characteristic of British cars. Dr. Curien's notable British accent also serves as an indicator.
  • Though the game's intro shows the date December 18th, 1998, the game actually takes place on December 20th. The game's Sega Saturn manual revealed that December 18th was when Curien unleashed his undead experiments and Rogan received Sophie's message.
  • The Sega Saturn port lost many graphical details due to the console's low graphic resolution, causing such details as Hangedman's armor to be lost.

Gallery

Arcade cabinets

Arcade flyers

Game covers

Data

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Interview: The House of the Dead", Sega Saturn Magazine, issue 23, September 1997, page 58.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Kori (September 7, 2012). "Website of the Dead’s Exclusive Interview with Takashi Oda". The Website of the Dead. Archived from the original on April 19, 2020.
  3. Weedon, Paul (July 17, 2017). George A. Romeo (interview). Paul Weedon. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. “I think the zombie became popular because of Resident Evil and because of House of the Dead and because of video games more than anything else.”
  4. 4.0 4.1 Forever Entertainment [@ForeverEntert] (October 3, 2020). Forever Entertainment on Twitter: "Hi Guys! We confirm the signing of the agreement regarding remakes of the games "The House of the Dead" and "The House of the Dead 2". No platforms or release dates have been confirmed, and unfortunately we can’t say anything more for now. Please keep fingers crossed for us and.." / Twitter. Twitter. Archived from the original on February 10, 2020.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 https://sega-interactive.co.jp/interview/14346/
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "The House of the Dead – 1997 Developer Interview". Shmuplations. Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. Retrieved on May 28, 2020.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Interview: The House of the Dead", Sega Saturn Magazine, issue 23, September 1997, page 59.
  8. 8.0 8.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDMurQqwWc4
  9. "Interview: The House of the Dead", Sega Saturn Magazine, issue 23, September 1997, page 62.
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Interview: The House of the Dead", Sega Saturn Magazine, issue 23, September 1997, page 63. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":8" defined multiple times with different content
  11. "Interview: The House of the Dead", Sega Saturn Magazine, issue 23, September 1997, page 60.
  12. 12.0 12.1 "Interview: The House of the Dead", Sega Saturn Magazine, issue 23, September 1997, page 61.
  13. Michał Król (September 25th, 2019). "Polacy stworzą remake dwóch części The House of the Dead" (Polish). Gramposolita.pl. “The House of the Dead: Remake i The House of the Dead 2: Remake będą mieć nową, dostosowaną do współczesnych standardów grafikę oraz lekko zmodyfikowaną rozgrywkę, ale w pełni zachowają oryginalny scenariusz. Spółka zapowiedziała, że materiały z pierwszej z gier zostaną zaprezentowane w najbliższych miesiącach.”
  14. Matthew House (1996). "The House of the Dead Review". allgame.com. Archived from the original on November 13th, 2014.

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).


veHouse of the dead 1content
Characters
Thomas RoganGDr. CurienSophie RichardsDBR researchers
Creatures
SamNeilCyrilKageoBourbonEbitanRobertSimonGilmoreHarrisSamsonBentleyBurnerRubinDrakeMoodyParlorKenfisSaruzouDevilonBouereMurrerNameTaranKage
Bosses
ChariotHangedmanHermitMagician
Chapters
TragedyRevengeTruthThe house of the dead
Other pages
Lore (AMSBioReactorCurien MansionDBR CorporationThe House of the Dead Sub-Story)
Game modes (Boss ModeSaturn Mode)
Prototypes (The House of DeadSega Saturn prototype)
Guidebooks (The House of the Dead Dennou Shinan: Dr. Curien no Houkoku ShoThe House of the Dead Official Guide)
Action figuresThe House of the Dead: RemakeThe House of the Dead 1 & 2 Music CollectionUnused content