During Tokyo Game Show, Resident Evil 5 producer Takeuchi-san made a surprise announcement regarding a new Japanese product, called Resident Evil 5 Alternative Edition. Alternative Edition will come with new content (I'm sure that you've already seen the trailer released during the show) and will support Sony's magic wand-y PS3 Motion Controller. Never fear, Xboxers, as Takeuchi-san told us in a meeting that the team is "evaluating what they can do for 360 players as well."
Notice that I defined Alternative Edition as a "Japanese product." Here in North America, and over there in Europe, Capcom is wrapping its collective head around the notion of how the new content will be delivered to RE faithful. We're of two minds at the moment about delivery. Since you will ultimately be the people buying and playing this new content, we've decided that you should be the ones telling us how to make it available.
Here's where we're at: in Japan, Alternative Edition will be released as a new physical package, with all that entails: new box art, new manual, new shiny disc, another plastic box to add to a tottering stack of console games. This makes absolutely perfect sense for the Japanese gaming market, where the uptake of digital content is a bit behind the western markets. However, based on the success of the RE5 "Versus" downloadable content, as well as digital-only titles like Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Marvel VS Capcom 2, we know that the demand for DLC in the west is huge. More and more, gamers in North America and Europe want content immediately and are less inclined to be tied to boxes and packages.
So, Unity, here's your chance: How do you, the serious Resident Evil fan, want the content from Alternative Edition delivered in North America? Take a moment to log in and vote (sorry, we're asking that you log in first in order to cut down on votespam). We're gonna let the poll run for a few weeks, then present the team with the results and our recommendations. Once we get it all sorted, we'll report back with an official announcement.
We're still monkeying around with our Poll settings, so check back later if the poll has not appeared.
This is a really great idea, being able to vote on whether we want a DLC or completely new package. Personally I'd like to have a DLC available as buying a new boxed package would actually be more expensive (costs including box, CD, manual, shipping, etc). I think being able to download and install the content directly onto your harddrive (I have an XBOX 360) would cut those costs, and not make the copy of "Resident Evil 5" I already have feel somehow obsolete.
MichikoAs for the new content being delivered physically, would it be included as a new version of "Resident Evil 5," or would it be similar to an expansion disc? I think releasing an expansion disc would be neat, as well as a brand new "Resident Evil 5" full package with original game and new content for those who have not bought the original yet, but again, I would personally like a DLC available - it feels more efficient and economical that way. For those who are approaching HDD capacity limits though, an expansion disc probably is better.
02:42 PM CST