GamePro RE5 Preview
Gaming mag GamePro published a preview of Resident Evil 5. Here are some of the highlights:

It seems that the Las Plagas parasite is indeed part of the problem the people of Kijuju are facing. This is good news for those that were expecting some continuity between RE4 and RE5. And very bad news for those that had wet dreams about RE4 being irrelevant to the series.

Among the new non-human enemies, we have some wild hyenas, a bunch of giant crocodiles (not related to the one featured in RE2) and also a big mutant bat (not related to the one from RE Zero).

The human enemies include some Executioner-type grunts. Some of them carry a chainsaw (ala Dr. Salvador) while another version of this same enemy swings around a huge hatchet. The editors from the magazine were able to come up with a neat strategy to fight off these freaks. Basically, you get one player to serve as bait while the other player attacks the enemy from the rear. Sweet.

There is a guy that goes by the name Irving. It seems you have to find him, since he knows quite a lot about what is going on in Kijuju.

If you happen to get wounded by the enemy, you can actually bleed to death. The view of your character gets all blurry as a result. In such situations, your best bet is to seek help from your partner.

Playing on solo mode, you can customize your character so she can either attack the enemy or just take cover from their attacks. She will pick up items automatically throughout the adventure.

The magazine mentions the possibility that some fans will probably get annoyed by the fact that in RE5 you don't have to worry about keeping count on how much ammo you waste. The game has been pretty much designed to play like a shooter. And you'll always have enough ammo no matter what. Another thing that might upset some longtime fans, is that the sense of isolation is lost by the fact that you have a bodyguard (Sheva) following you everywhere through most of the game.

But fear not... for the good people at GamePro think that most fans will love the challenge of keeping Sheva alive. Because just like in Resident Evil Zero and RE4, in RE5 you MUST keep your partner alive or else the game will end. They mention the enormous STRESS they felt when they saw their partner near death. And having to run like a madman to save her. Sounds familiar?.

In RE5 you'll be able to drive several vehicles. However only one of them (a boat) will let you explore the environments at will. The others will follow pre-determined paths.

Inventory management is done in real-time. You don't get to pause the action to choose a particular weapon or item anymore. This should make the game a lot more fun (and realistic, no less).

The magazine mentions that around seven 9mm handguns exist within the game. They also saw a few automatic weapons and one heck of a shotgun named "Hydra" that has some amazing firepower. You will be able to use hand grenades too. There also hinted that RE5 includes several (low & high tech) secret weapons.

Despite the fact that Takeuchi mentioned that the Merchant from RE4 would make a return (by popular demand) in RE5, the editors at GamePro didn't see a trace of him in the demo they played. So when they wanted to buy, sell, trade or upgrade their weapons, they simply entered a lobby or sorts to do their business. If you're wondering where you'll be able to get the mullah (money) to buy weapons... you'll know that as soon as you kill and enemy. They will all leave money behind. Ka-ching!

The old herbs that you can use to create curatives, return in RE5.

There are about 2 types of bullet-proof vests in the game.

Umbrella Corp has no relation to the new kid on the block: Tricell. And it seems that Umbrella is history in RE5. I guess Jack Krauser was the only hope for said company... and we all know what happened to him, right?

Takeuchi gabs about Chris & Sheva
Wanna know what possessed Jun Takeuchi to turn white-bread Chris Redfield into a steroids abusing hulk? Read below:

Takeuchi: "We decided that since it's been 10 years since the original Resident Evil, (Chris) would be buffed up a bit. He's a little bit more burly, more of a tough guy than he was before.".

And in regards to why they included Sheva Alomar in RE5 and not another character (*cough* Jill *cough* Claire *cough* Rebecca *cough* Lisa Trevor *cough*), he said this:

Takeuchi: "when it came to making the secondary character, we wanted a character who would play off that and be different. So the most obvious difference was to make that character female. We also wanted to make a character who would be from Africa, now the area the game is taking place in, and be a guide to Chris, telling him about the different parts of the world he's not familiar with. So these are the kinds of reasons Sheva developed the way she is now".

Shinji Mikami won't play RE5
Shinji Mikami is the estranged father of the Resident Evil franchise and in an interview for OPM (Official PlayStation magazine) he mentioned that he will stay clear from playing RE5. Read below to find out why:

Mikami: "I probably won't play it. I won't like it, because it's not going to be the game I would have made" He said. "It'll just cause me stress if I play it. I think it could be fun for gamers to play it, but not for someone who has developed Resident Evil games".

It seems that being an uber-perfectionist, is behind the REAL reason why Mikami will not play Resident Evil 4 Redux (a.k.a. RE5). Consider what he said next: "If I see anything in Resident Evil 5 that isn't done well, I'll be angry!".

In regards to what's his take on RE5 being somewhat of an HD clone of RE4, he said:

Mikami: "that's fine, isn't it? I think Resident Evil 5 doesn't need to change the series, but Resident Evil 6 will have to reinvent the series with another full model change or else it won't be able to keep on going.".

Shinji Mikami is currently working on two games at the same time (multi-tasking guru, will ya ever change?). One will be sold by SEGA and the other one is an Electronic Arts proyect.

Capcom spills the beans about RE5
Ben LeRougtel a big wheel at Capcom had all this to say about Resident Evil 5, in an interview for XCN:

Mr. LeRougtel, also mentioned that the top baddie in RE5 is still under wraps. That comment actually rules out Albert Wesker being public enemy #1 in this game and his role is reduced to pestering Chris, since they have a history together. The top bad guy in RE5 could be anybody... Sherry Birkin, Bird Woman (a.k.a. Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield, Ada Wong in disguise) or even Steve Burnside (nooooooooooooooooooo!)

RE5 for PC
Surprised? C'mon, everybody saw this one coming by a mile. A PC version of the latest installment of the RE franchise was a no brainer. Considering that PC gamers will probably fall in love with the co-op/shooter-like gameplay mechanics that RE5 offers.

Now let's hope it comes out looking (and playing) a lot better than the RE4 PC version ever did.

RE5 to sell 3.2 millon units
In a related note, Capcom has made it known that in regards to RE5, they expect to sell 3.2 million units during the next fiscal year. Its considered that the game will sell that amount of units by combining the sales numbers of the PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC versions.

RE: Degeneration Box Art
Here's the official boxart for the Resident Evil: Degeneration DVD. Click the image next to this text to see a bigger picture of said boxart.

The DVD is set to go on sale in Japan for about 4980 yens, while the Blu-Ray version will retail for 5980 yens.

RE: Degeneration is happening in Japan
Resident Evil: Degeneration will be sold in Japan in special limited edition bundles.

For example, one bundle will include the disc plus an action figure of a G-Monster. Only 5,000 units of this bundle will be sold.


Another bundle includes the disc plus a CD that includes the soundtrack from the film.

For more information, go... HERE!

The IGNorant sluts over at IGN have uploaded some neat RE5 media:

RE5 Media

And finally, GameSpot offers a nice batch of videos:

HERE (GameSpot Videos)

Sheva & Excella
Sheva's face is modeled after Aussie actress Michelle Van Der Water's own mug. Who would've thunk it? In my opinion, Sheva looks more like a Latina than anything else. With the straight hair and olive skin. Capcom should've taken a look at Sanaa Lathan. A missed opportunity right there...

Moving on to Excella Gionne. She's being used by Albert Wesker, who helps her move up the ranks at TriCell, the new Pharmaceutical corporation that has the potential to produce devastating bio-weapons. In exchange, she gets to hand over to Wesky anything he asks for. Be it new virus data or... something else.

Excella (probably inspired on an Italian pornstar), is the acting President CEO of the TriCell branch based in Africa.

RE5 control goes casual
Takeuchi mentioned recently that RE5 will keep the RE4 control as the default set up. However, he feels that such controls are too complicated for the newcomers who are just getting to know the franchise. Takeuchi describes them as the ones that became fans watching the movies that featured Milla Jovovich as Alice. Y'know, the babe that can take on a gazillion zombies and slap Nemmy like a biatch. Anyway, the game will also feature a "gears" control set up that will make those new gamers very, very happy.

RE5's Story element
Jun Takeuchi suggests that every fan (and gamers in general), take a detailed and personal look at past games of the series. Because they can expect RE5 to give some continuity to the plotlines from said games.

The game will take a look back at the 10 years since the "incident" took place. Centering on what Chirs did during the decade that followed the 1998 tragedy.

RE5 On-Line related stuff
Producer Jun Takeuchi mentioned that he got all inspired about adding Online capabilities to RE5 while working with Lost Planet. He believed that said game had made great use of the online element. He then went on to announce to his team that he wanted the same thing for RE5. He pretty much got a high five from every member of the team. They were hyped about it, so they supported his idea 100%.

During online gameplay you have to snoop on your partner and make sure that he isn't trying to end the game by getting into a confrontation he/she cannot win. You will be able to do that with a mere push of a button.

Once activated, the camera will change to spy-cam mode so you can check on your online compadre. If he's messing around, just put a cap in his arse. well not really. You actually have to help him/her get out of whatever bad situation his/she's in or else the game goes kaput.

You'll get to do that even while playing with the CPU. Takeuchi mentioned that Sheva Alomar's A.I. is advance enough to keep up with it's human counterpart. Awesome, dewd.

No more Typewritters!
Gone are the typewriters and thus the ink ribbons from past games. If you want to save in RE5, you'll have to travel all the way to the end of the mission you're in or get to the nearest check point. Let's hope they don't take out the Pause button or we won't be able to put arse to porcelain until we get to save the game! (Thassa joke).

RE5 shorter than RE4
Yep. The team behind RE5 is making the game a bit shorter than RE4 based on their opinion that RE4 was way too long. And you know them casuals that Takeuchi is catering? they don't like their games too long! Oh noes! Not another reason to hate casuals! (I'm joking).

Jill Valentine is DEAD?
In the recent trailer released at the Tokio Game Show we get to see something that hints that perhaps our dear Jill Sandwich has kicked the bucket. However, most fans seem to think that is simply not the case.

What we have here (they claim), is Capcom trying to pull a fast one. Remember that girl that was seen in a couple of the RE5 trailers wearing a funny outfit and with her face all covered with a beak-thingy? She seemed to be working for Excella Gione, right? Now, do you remember Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi infiltrating Jabba the Hutt's palace by wearing a disguise?

Wanna bet we'll see somethin' similar to that in RE5?

New RE5 trailer and demo to be available at TGS
According to 1up.com, a new RE5 trailer and demo will be made available at the Tokio Game Show which will be held from October 9th to the 13th. The trailer is said to last about 5 minutes and will show never before seen scenes that include Alber Wesker.

New RE5 screens
Capcom-Unity has released a whole set of amazing looking screens from RE5. If you want to take a look at them just follow the link below. Enjoy!

Follow this link HERE!.

Resident Evil Degeneration for the N-Gage
Nokia Corp. and Capcom today announced that Resident Evil Degeneration will be released on N-Gage later this year. With gameplay optimized for N-Gage, including two separate play modes, plus multiple mission types and 3D quality graphics, Resident Evil Degeneration is a cutting edge title that illustrates the unique capabilities of the N-Gage platform.

The game, part-based on the upcoming October theatrical release in Japan full-length CG motion picture of the same name

New Resident Evil Degeneration Screens
It won't be long before this movie is seen in millions of homes everywhere. But for now, get your RE fix with these nifty screens from the upcoming movie.

Click HERE to see them all.

Jill Valentine "REmake" Tribute video
Here's a fan made video that gives tribute to the Jill Sandwich character model (the sexy 'REmake' version).

Click HERE to see it.

RE5 Controls = Gears of War Controls
It seems that Resident Evil 5 will do away with the modified "tank controls" from RE4 and will instead feature controls based on modern action games ala Gears of War. This was confirmed by producer Jun Takeuchi. The new controls will be made public during October's Tokyo Game Show.

New Interview to RE5 producer
IGN recently posted a brief interview with producer Masachika Kawata. In said interview, Kawata mentioned that they will maximize every audio element within the game. That includes background sounds like critters walking about.


He also said that they will include some death scenes similar to the ones from RE4. Kawata went on to say that the first half of the game will be action-packed while the second half will be something "beyond the imagination". Puzzle solving will be added to the mix.

Finally, he said that games with horror elements in them like BioShock & Dead Space are a source of inspiration for him (and apparently for the development of RE5).