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Resident Evil 5 Details
1up.com has some tidbits about the fifth Resident Evil title, which looks to be slated for the 360 and PS3. From the article: "What is surprising, however, is the game's bright atmosphere, a stark contrast to the dark, dreary environments usually found in Resident Evil games. There's even one screen shot where a blaring sun high up in the sky blocks the camera's view of several approaching enemies who happen to look suspiciously like zombies. Could we be seeing a return to classic form this time? Time will tell."
Unlike Sony or Microsoft, Nintendo would be in a terible position to announce too many details about their next generation system at this point in time. From now until the end of the year Nintendo is publishing the following games on exsisting hardware:
/ - 8/22/2005
Nintendo Gamecube
Geist - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/geist/ - 8/15/2005
Mario Superstar Baseball - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/mario-baseball/ - 8/29/2005
Battalion Wars (Advance Wars: Under Fire) - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/gamecube-wars/ - 9/19/2005
Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/dance-dance-revol ution-with-mario/ - 10/3/2005
Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/pokemon-gamecube/ - 10/3/2005
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/fire-emblem-gc/ - 10/17/2005
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/the-legend-of-zel da-the-wind-waker-2/ - 11/1/2005
Chibi-Robo - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/chibi-robo/ - 11/15/2005
Kirby Adventure - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/kirby-adventure-g cn/ - 11/15/2005
Super Mario Strikers - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/super-mario-strik ers/ - 11/15/2005
Odama - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/odama/ - 11/15/2005
MARIO PARTY 7 - http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/mario-party-7/ - 11/21/2005
Nintendo DS:
Advance Wars: Dual Strike - http://gba.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/advance-wars-ds
Nintendogs: Lab & Friends, Dachshund & Friends, Chihuahua & Friends
http://gba.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/nintendogs-chih uahua-/
http://gba.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/nintendogs/
http://gba.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/nintendogs-shib a/
8/22/2005
TRACE MEMORY - http://gba.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/another/ - 9/26/2005
Metroid Prime: Hunters - http://gba.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/metroid-prime-h unters/ - 10/17/2005
Mario Kart DS - http://gba.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/mario-kart-ds/ - 11/7/2005
Electroplankton - http://gba.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/electro-plankto n/ - 11/14/2005
Touch Golf - http://gba.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/touch-golf/ - 11/15/2005
Animal Crossing DS - http://gba.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/animal-crossing -ds/ - 11/21/2005
MARIO & LUIGI 2 - http://gba.gamespy.com/nintendo-ds/mario-luigi
Its odd, up until Resident Evil became Gamecube exclusive (well sort of) most of the Resident Evil games were mostly pretty average games; they had good graphics for their time but pretty clunky controls, simple puzzles, and a convoluted story line. With the remake of Resident Evil 1, and the release of Resident Evil 0 and Resident Evil 4 it has some how became a central gaming title. Having played all of them all the way through I can honestly say that, except for Resident Evil 4, they were entertaining games but they were far from the greatest games ever produced.
I know everyone likes to blame Nintendo for how poor this franchise sold on the gamecube, after all Resident Evil 0,1,4 only sold over a Million copies world wide each; but it wasn't Nintendo's fault that these games sold poorly. Capcom's biggest problem with these games is that the majority of users give up (pretty early on) because of how frustrating the controls are. The Resident Evil games sold poorly because the casual gamer who was introduced to them (probably on the Playstation, Dreamcast or N64) avoided them like the plague because of the control dynamics; which is really a shame because Resident Evil 4 actually fixed most of the problems with its new play style.
What these games have shown is that 'You can shear a sheep as many times as you want but you can only skin it once'. Regardless of whether it ends up on the Revolution or not Resident Evil 5 will probably continue to sell poorly because people will think that it has a really clumsy play style.
I would have agreed with you a year or two ago -- RE 0 through 3 really were beating a dead horse. But having just played through Resident Evil 4, I think there's a lot of life left in the franchise. Since you seem to have missed it, I'll fill you in.
RE4 is set in an anonymous Spanish speaking country (often outdoors), and rather than zombies, it pits you against some decidedly Cthuloid enemies. The controls are finally functional (you can run, spin around, aim properly etc), and the inventory and ammo system has been fixed up (reloading is a matter of pressing a button).
In play, it feels a more like an FPS game than a surival horror title. There's plenty of sniping, some rail shooter levels, and even some rhythm-based hand to hand combat. There's also a bit of light RPG stuff in there: upgradable weapons, multiple paths, side quests etc.
Of course, you will need a GameCube to play it, and they're just for kids*, right?
(*for which read 'people with at least a 3rd grade education')
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling