If you’ve ever played any Konami’sSilent Hillseries of games or have even heard a bit of their soundtracks, then you might expect that series director and composer Akira Yamaoka to be some strange, scary, and maybe even demented person. That’s why I was pleased to find out that he was quite the opposite during our interview session at this year’s E for All Expo. Yamaoka took time out from signing autographs and meeting American fans to talk to Destructoid aboutSilent Hill’smusic, his involvement with the upcoming new games, a naughty brand slip-up, and even a bit about hotSilent Hillmovie nurses....

I’m not used to a first-person shooter’s soundtrack rocking my world. Role-playing games, platformers and others? Sure. But FPS? You hardly ever see that. And when you do, people sit up to take notice. When it comes toBioShock, I’m still in…shock at how effective the musical score was. The combination of Garry Schyman’s eerily beautiful score and the selections from the old tunes from the musical theater era made for one of the most memorable soundtracks ever, FPS or not....

You know how it goes. There’s always that one badass at school that no one messes with. Everyone around knows that this particular badass has dignified himself by pulling enough sucker punches and breaking enough noses over the years. This mindless brute, this impossible muscle head — you usually just stay clear of him and let him do his thing while you do yours. Every once in awhile, though, a badass with a brain comes along....

Our dear friend Nex came, saw, conqueredand departed, leaving a Destructoid crew shattered and picking up the pieces. Being a vulture who’s always after an easy job, I quickly sniped the Games of the week feature that Sir Earnest so lovingly brought us before being whisked away in the scarlet talons of big business pelicans (pelicans represent corporate Web sites sometimes, if they feel like it). Nex, you were my personal favorite Destructoid writer and I’m sad to see you gone, but on the bright side, now I’M my favorite Destructoid writer, so it’s all worked out quite nicely....

The Hero games are invading Xbox Live Marketplace, with demos available now for both the upcomingDJ Hero 2andGuitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. TheDJ Hero 2demo will feature four mixes: Pussycat Dolls Featuring Busta Rhymes “Don’t Cha” Mixed With Pitbull “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)”; Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis “Just Dance” Mixed With Deadmau5 “Ghosts N Stuff”; MSTRKRFT Featuring N.O.R.E. “Bounce” (Battle Mix); and Estelle Featuring Kanye West “American Boy” Mixed With Chic “Good Times”....

It seems that there isn’t much Nintendo’s Wii can’t do these days. If being a tiny, affordable, joyous piece of hardware wasn’t enough for you, now you can add therapeutic tool to its long resume. As it turns out,doctorsat the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in the Edmonton area of Alberta, Canada have found that the Wii’s motion sensitive controller is the best prescription they can give their ailing patients while on the road to recovery....

Damn, Microsoft press conference, stop announcing so much information! I only have two hands here! At the Microsoft event this morning, Harmonix revealed the full, initial song list — a whopping 84 songs — that will available inRock Band 2when the game ships this fall. In addition, it was also confirmed that all downloadable songs from the first game will completely transfer to the sequel. It’s nice to know I didn’t waste all that money getting my hands on all those Police songs!...

Activision seems to spend more time in a courtroom than it does anywhere else these days. As the evil publisher continues its bitter legal brawl with ex-Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella, the rest of us are wondering exactly why Activision seems to end up fighting everyone it works with. Electronic Arts hasn’t been free of legal threats from Activision in the past, and when the rival company was reached for comment, it refused to speak on the current situation....

Take a look around the internet and see what the biggest complaint about Bethesda’s games are. It’s that damn engine they’re all built on. Even people who would sacrafice their first born child to defend the honor of anElder ScrollsorFalloutgame readily admit that Gamebyro engine had its issues. Thankfully,Nick Breckon, community manager at Bethesda, confirmed thatThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimis running on a brand new engine. Breckontweeted, “We can now confirm that theTES V: Skyrimengine is all-new....

More PSOne re-releases on PSN. More! More! What the hell is the hold-up? Do you needmeto do it, Sony? I can do it for you. Probably. How hard can it be? While I’m raging, there are a few more classics on the way. We know this from an ESRB leak. I’m looking forward to old Koei SRPGSaiyuki: Journey West. It tells that old Chinese story that several other games have touched on, includingEnslaved....

End of Nationsis Trion World’s epic MMORTS set to come out sometime in 2011. Anarchy plagued the world after the economy collapsed but the superpower known as the Order of Nations restored peace through oppression. With every evil dictatorship, there will always be a group that will rise against evil, which is where you and thousands of other players come in. While you will be able to play by yourself, it’s best to play with others, especially since the enemy has a massive amount of heavily fortified bases....

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions ofMirror’s Edgehit store shelves today, and chances are you’re playing it right now. But if you’re at work stuck behind a desk, here’s a neat alternate — aMirror’s Edgeside-scrolling Flash game designed byBrad Borne. The game is currently in beta, but lets you hop, slide, and jump at breakneck speeds throughout the 2D environments. Over the next two or three weeks, Borne will be adding leaderboard, so get to practicing....

You know what’s awesome about Harmonix? They’re truly committed to the idea ofRock Bandas a music platform. (Of course, that doesn’t includeThe Beatles: Rock Band, but I think most of us can agree thatBeatlesis much better off as a self-contained ecosystem — it’d be pretty damn silly to seeRock Band 2’s Fritzi Kostopoulos drumming along to “Come Together.”)LEGO Rock Bandis the newest addition to the family, and forten bucks, you’ll be able toexport all of the on-disc songsto your hard drive....