Resident Evil

Capcom was nice enough to send me a note mentioning that a new Resident Evil 5 trailer was available on the press section of their site recently, so I went and grabbed it. Unfortunately, 12 drunken monkeys are probably better at figuring out most computer crap than I am. So, I had to head over to YouTube to find a version I could actually get to post on the site. Anyway, here’s  the coolest trailer to date for the game. Enjoy.

I’m getting out of here now, before I blow up the entire internet…

Whenever I see hot American girls playing or promoting video games on the 'net, I invariably assume it’s some sort of scam. Hot American girls just don’t play video games. Sure, they might know what a video game is (in the same way they know that lesser female creatures actually have to pay for their own drinks), but it’s not from any actual experience. If through some miracle they manage to actually appear holding a controller correctly or answer a "favorite game" question with something other than Pac-Man or a Mario game, you can rest assured it’s because their handlers were on the ball.

Japan, though, that’s a whole different ballgame. When a girl like Battle Royale/Kill Bill’s Chiaki Kuriyama turns up promoting a game, I totally believe she plays games. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part, but I don't think so. I like to think it’s just one more example in the ever-expanding list of reasons why Japanese women are so much cooler than their American counterparts. I mean, aside from Megan Fox, can you think of one other hot American woman who’d spend a night gaming? I could think of dozens of famous Japanese women who would.

Do you like to shoot things? We do! This week the crew engages in vigorous debate over two new run-and-gun games: Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ and Weapon of Choice. Find out if 2D shooters still have a place in a 3D world.

Plus, the premiere of our new segment "What Do You Think?" (complete with swanky echo effect) where YOU tell US what you think of Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage, and that...unique...control scheme in the Resident Evil 5 demo.

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Please send mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

Please post your thoughts and impressions on the Resident Evil 5 demo here and we will discuss your comments in our podcast. Thanks!

There are two things I wish I covered more of here at the site: videogames and comic books. I try to cover games as much as I can, but comics are just stretching myself too thin (despite the fact that I love comics enough to have actually spent a good chunk of 2007 working in a comic shop…)

Despite that, occasionally something comic-related comes along and I’ve got to post about it despite my lack of comic coverage. This news from Wildstorm about a Resident Evil 5 prequel falls squarely into that category.

The guys over at STYD uncovered news that Wildstorm will be releasing a six issue Resident Evil 5 prequel that looks at what brings lead character Chris Redfield to Africa and what “dark burden” haunts him. Rick Sanchez will handle the writing duties with Kevin Sharpe and Jim Clark providing the artwork.

You’ll find Resident Evil 5 at your local comic shop come March 11th. The game hits stores on March 13th.

With Resident Evil 4 being one of my favorite games of all time, it probably goes without saying that I've been eagerly anticipating Resident Evil 5 ever since the first teaser images appeared in the summer of 2005. Now that I've had the chance to spend some time with the new RE5 demo, I thought I'd share some of my impressions, both positive and negative.

Can videogames produce scares as effectively as movies? When did scariness become a viable element of game design? Is scariness in videogames relative? What are the scariest videogames ever made? What makes them scary? How does scariness interact with gameplay?

Game Description: In Resident Evil 4 you'll know a new type of horror, as the classic survival-horror action returns with all-new characters, controls and storylines. We last saw Leon S. Kennedy in Resident Evil 2 - a rookie cop in Raccoon City, fighting to stay alive. That was six years ago. Since then, government forces have managed to control the zombie threat and Leon has become a Federal agent. When the President's daughter is kidnapped, Leon tracks her to a remote, hidden fortress in Europe - where he'll relive the horror he faced six years before. Players will face never-before-seen enemies that make Nemesis seem like a kitten. You'll be wishing for the usual Resident Evil zombies!

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition features all the same content from the GameCube and Playstation 2 versions along with a specially redesigned control scheme that takes advantage of the Wii's unique motion-sensing controller. While this new iteration has nothing new in the way of added content or graphical upgrades, the Wii-enabled improvements to the aiming and knifing controls add freshness to the experience as well as a more streamlined and intuitive way to play.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language