Kicking things off at Gamers’ Night was a 45-minute presentation starting with a preview of Saw, the game based on the popular Saw series of horror films. Chronologically taking place between the first and second films in the franchise, Saw utilizes Unreal Engine 3 technology to evoke the disturbing atmosphere from the movies.

From the playable demo on the PlayStation 3, you open your eyes trapped in one of Jigsaw’s deadliest contraptions: the reverse bear-trap. The player must figure out how to disable the device before time runs out. Everything a player needs to know to disarm a trap is on screen, but none of it is obvious. Using the controller, players must scrutinize, test and repeat actions to find the correct series of sequential combinations to free themselves. After your initial liberation, you must then navigate the hallways of a booby-trapped decrepit building from a third-person perspective. With ample amounts of gore, blood, corpses and some creepy atmospherics, this game should please fans of the film franchise who want to be part of the action. Saw will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on Oct. 31, 2009.

The next game in the presentation was Karaoke Revolution. If you’re a fan of the previous installments, you’ll probably be excited for this one. Customization is the prominent feature of the game as you can create your own heavily customizable avatar. There are 50 master tracks, including popular artists like Kelly Clarkson, Incubus and Coldplay.

Next on the list was Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for the Nintendo Wii, a re-imagination of the original Silent Hill released in 1999 for the Sony PlayStation. As central protagonist Harry Mason, you navigate the eerie town of Silent Hill looking for your daughter Cheryl. Utilizing the Wii-mote as a flashlight and cell phone, developer Climax is shooting for a genuine survival horror experience by incorporating a player’s body actions as part of the game. The cell phone will be the primary user interface, eliminating the need for menus. This was done to maintain the illusion of reality and make the game more interactive. Another new feature is the psych profile, which affects how the game will unfold based a player’s actions. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories will be the first installment of the series for the Wii and also will be released on the PlayStation 2 and the PSP later this year.

Last on the presentation was Six Days in Fallujah, for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, scheduled for release in 2010. With the mission of creating as realistic a combat experience as possible in a game, developer Atomic Games has based the missions of the game on real battles as mapped by the actual Marines who were in Fallujah. With an internally built game engine allowing for a completely destructible environment, developers referenced thousands of photos, maps, reports, video and satellite imagery to recreate to the tiniest detail of what it was like to be a Marine in Fallujah. And just as soon as it started, the presentation was over and the hands-on experience began.

Among the throng of reporters, the first game I got to play was Gradius ReBirth for the Wii (WiiWare). Using the Wii-mote horizontally as a controller, it is a side-scrolling, 2D shooter similar to previous Gradius games in look and design. Using your spacecraft — which looks like a fighter jet — you make your way across a stage by shooting everything in sight to collect and activate power-ups that will increase your speed, missiles, shields, etc. Anyone with a Wii nostalgic for the Gradius series will be hard-pressed to resist this one. Released in March, look for it in the Wii shop channel.

Next, I got to play Wireway for the Nintendo DS, a fun platformer notable for its simplicity. You use the stylus to jump your character to a rubber-band-like platform. You then stretch the platform back with the stylus to shoot your character up the screen from platform to platform until you reach the top, where your character is taken away in a flying saucer to the next stage. Along the way are various obstacles that delay your progress, and you often risk overshooting your target and have to start over again from the bottom. With a fun game design and easy controls, this is a great game for casual gamers of all ages.

Up next was Zombie Apocalypse for the PS3 and Xbox 360, which will be available on a non-specified date this quarter. It is an arcade-style, multiplayer twin-stick shooting action game similar to the arcade classic, Smash TV, but with zombies. There are seven environments and 55 days (stages), guaranteeing a large amount of adrenaline-fueled bloodshed. Among the available weapons are miniguns, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, a standard machine gun, a chainsaw and much more. There are exploding barrels throughout the environments, pantsuit ladies in need of saving and teddy bear bait, which you can throw to lure zombies away from you. Ultimately, Zombie Apocalypse is a cooperative game, but at the end of a stage, there are stats outlining each player’s performance, which will foster another level of competition among truly competitive players. Using the left stick to move your character and the right stick to shoot, this is a fun game for action lovers who don’t mind bloodshed.

Miami Law for the Nintendo DS is a police procedural similar in vein to the Phoenix Wright series. You are Law Martin, a slightly on-the-edge undercover cop extraordinaire, battling the illegal drug industry in Miami. Your partner is Sara Starling, a by-the-books cop, who counterbalances Law Martin’s overzealous crime fighting. Throughout the game, you will be able to choose between the two characters, which will take you to different minigames depending on your choice. When you are not engaged in a minigame, you will investigate crime scenes with your stylus, gather evidence and observe objects to crack the conspiracy of Miami’s drug world. While it is a bit over-the-top, it makes the game lighthearted and fun, which is a pleasant departure from the dead serious crime adventure genre. Look for it when it arrives in June.

Magician’s Quest: Mysterious Times for the Nintendo DS is an open-ended game in which you create your own character and then go to magic school and learn spells and develop relationships with classmates. You can apply your new magic abilities in 52 weekly adventures and also for regular tasks such as fishing, catching bugs and watering plants. The game looks great in 3D, and the environments are colorfully detailed, creating a whimsical gameplay experience. Magician’s Quest: Mysterious Times also features cooperative Wi-Fi play and a chat system with a magical alphabet. If you enjoyed Animal Crossing, you’ll enjoy this. Look for it when it is released May 5.

That was basically Konami Gamers’ Night 2009. There were a few other games being shown that I didn’t get a chance to play, but there is only so much time in one game-crazed night.