Res Evil Goes Next Gen, Skips Nintendo

Revolution left out in the cold as Capcom's super series heads to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Nintendo fans with a penchant for the undead are going to have to get comfortable with the competition. Capcom has revealed that it is working on Resident Evil 5 for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and will skip Nintendo's next-gen console, Revolution.

The news comes as mature titles fight for success on Nintendo's current-gen GameCube. Resident Evil 4 was famously available only for GameCube for a while, but Capcom later announced a version for PlayStation 2, which is expected later this year.

The GameCube version of Resident Evil 4 has sold just over 500,000 copies in North America and more than 200,000 in Europe.

Resident Evil 5

A report in Japanese magazine Famitsu taps Jun Takeuchi as the producer of the game. Takeuchi has worked on some of Capcom's biggest series, including Resident Evil, Onimusha and Street Fighter. It appears that series creator Shinji Mikami will not be involved in the new game.

Resident Evil 5 brings several changes to the series' trademark gameplay.

The static camera that has bedevilled gamers since the mid '90s has been replaced with a behind-the-character camera, according to a report at 1Up. Early images show a more desert-like location with much brighter lighting than what is usually associated with the series.

The big winner in this is Microsoft, which is desperately courting Japanese gamers. The company has secured exclusive games for Xbox 360 from top Japanese developers, including Hironobu Sakaguchi (creator of Final Fantasy), Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Rez) and Yoshiki Okamoto (Street Fighter).

Microsoft will probably unveil more new games at its Japanese Xbox 360 promotional event, which is scheduled for Monday, 25 July.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games