Get a look at almost three and a half minutes of cinematic and gameplay footage from the sequel to Umbrella Chronicles in this trailer.

Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles PAX 2009 Gameplay Trailer 1
This trailer,the first of two from Penny Arcade Expo 2009, shows off gameplay from the upcoming sequel to Umbrella Chronicles, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.

Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles PAX 2009 Gameplay Trailer 2
This trailer,the first of two from Penny Arcade Expo 2009, shows off gameplay from the upcoming sequel to Umbrella Chronicles, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.

Nintendo is rolling out its E3 2009 line at noon today. Yes videogames have come up in the world of entertainment, dominating movie and music. Nintendo promises a new leap forward in game control and several new Mario adventures to go with. The Nintendo team is adding more hard core game s to it’s line-up including some developed in house. Keep up with all latest here.
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The Resident Evil 5 original soundtrack is in stores today ready to give gamers music to shoot zombies by. The OST features the chilling work of composers Kota Suzuki, Hideki Okugawa, Akihiko Narita and Seiko Kobuchi who bring ‘panic horror’ in the steaming jungles of Africa to life.

Of course the OST has already been pirated of is up on the Internet for download, but if you enjoy the series and the music that makes RE5 that much scarier, please purchase it legitimately. You can get a copy in retail stores, from iTunes, or as a complete digital release or individual tracks from the  Sumthing Else Music Works Distribution site. It’s $9.99 for a 3 CD set with almost 3 hours of music.
More details follow the break.
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Hooray for Capcom and not bowing down to pressure.

Recently, Capcom promised that Resident Evil 5 will not have any of the gore cut just to garner a lower ESRB rating for a mass audience. According to Rhys Cash, Capcom’s UK Research and Planning Manager:

“We’re never going to create a gore-free Resident Evil title to try and get a lower rating as it’s a game about the horror experience and gore is part of that. We’re primarily about making great games and if it’s appropriate to the title we won’t shy away from making a 15+ or 18+ title.”

This comes in the wake of recent cuts to Mature games to get a lower rating, thus being able to sell games in certain areas – ex: GTA IV in Australia and Fallout 3 being denied certification by the same board.

Cash also went on to comment about how he feels that although both the Ninetndo Wii and DS are more “casual” and “family friendly” types of gaming systems, he belives that there is still a market for Mature games on each one.

“As we’ve shown with Resident Evil 4 Wii and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles there’s still a market for more mature titles even on these formats. There’s no reason why an appropriate adult title should be seen as something to be shied away from. What I do see publishers moving away from is titles whose only raison d’être is ‘adult themes’ and only goal is to shock.”

Resident Evil 5 is slated to be released sometime in May 2009 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Via: MCV

Japanese developer Capcom has revealed its financial results for fiscal year 2008, which ended on March 31, 2008. Things are looking good for the Resident Evil developer, as they reportedly had a 33.4% increase in profits to JPY 7.8 billion, with sales up 11.5% to JPY 83 billion, according to GI.biz.

Resident Evil 4, Umbrella Chronicles and Devil May Cry 4 can all be attributed with the strong success of the company overall. Operating income on home videogame units rose 44.1%, which was important, as not everything performed nearly as well.

Capcom’s arcade operations didn’t fair nearly as well as the home videogame scene, with a 62.5% drop in operating income, while the Arcade Game Sales division saw its operating income drop 13.7%.

“There were several factors that negatively affected performance: the dissemination of home video game machines, intensified competition, declining popularity of card dispensing games for children, and the decrease of visitors to those arcades located in suburban shopping malls due to rising gasoline/petrol prices,” said the company.

On the bright side, the upcoming financial year for the company is expected to yield record results, so Capcom has to be pleased with where they stand.

image via Resident Evil Unlimited

Earlier in the month, Jenni Lada over on Gamertell listed eight great video game role models for women. Jenni’s main focus was on the RPG genre, and while I thought her list was fantastic I thought it would be great to compile a more comprehensive list that would span all gaming genres. Not knocking her post in anyway, I promise – it actually inspired what I set out to do with my own. So a hearty thanks goes out to Jenni for inspiring me.

Lara Croft and Samus Aran, in my opinion are overly exalted in gamer’s eyes and many other female gaming characters could and should be considered better role models than some. Usually female characters in games can be put into the same category of those Dead or Alive girls – of course, they are not meant to be role-models but are instead the video game equivalent of soft-core porn. What I would like draw attention to, are the unheralded female heroines that grace our PCs and consoles that seem to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to being adulated by the gaming masses.

Here, in my opinion are great female role models in gaming and while this list omits many that should get the acknowledgement they deserve, they can’t all be listed – so if you feel I omitted anyone, please feel free to mention said “wonder woman” in the comments section.

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Rocketmen: Axis of Evil
Developer: A.C.R.O.N.Y.M Games
Publisher: Capcom
Price: $9.99
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3
Category: Arcade Shooter
ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone Ages 10 and older (Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes)
Release Date: March 5, 2008

One of the highlights of last years E3 for me was my trip to visit and interview the folks at Capcom about their upcoming games. I was jazzed about the upcoming Harvey Birdman game, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles looked like it was going to resurrect the arcade rail-shooter on the last platform I’d have expected and the Street Fighter II ultimate hand-drawn coolness edition was in the works. One of the titles that flew somewhat under the radar at the time was the Xbox Live! arcade game Rocketmen : Axis of Evil. I even wrote a quick preview of it during our E3 coverage.

Even the PR guy who politely showed me around did not have any clue what the game was based on so I guess he was surprised when I mentioned that the title was an interesting choice for a license built around a constructible card game where ship-to-ship combat was the main focus. Instead of the Star Control-like  melee I would have expected instead I was watching someone grind through a swarm of burly Martians in a Smash TV-like top down shooter.

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More good news for Capcom.

Thanks to Monster Hunter Freedom 2G shipping over one million units in Japan in just six days of sale, these new numbers have help push the franchise to an impressive 6.3 million units sold worldwide.

Monster Hunter Freedom 2G for the PSP was released in Japan on March 27, along with special edition Slim & Lite PSP bundles also available and Capcom has stated that because of this, the company will continue to support the franchise with multiple format releases.

A spokesperson from Capcom commented:

“As always, we at Capcom will continue to strive to develop new and original games that appeal to a broad audience around the world while expanding our properties for multiple platforms. We believe that by bringing the Monster Hunter series to multiple platforms, it will help the franchise reach an even greater number of users eager for its unique gameplay.”

Personally, I have never played one of these games, but with Monster Hunter 3 being a Wii exclusive – I might just have to try it out. If only just to justify still owning a Wii.

Thanks: GamesIndusrty.biz

I am always happy when a Resident Evil game is well received, and while reviews for the Wii exclusive Umbrella Chronicles were mixed, Capcom was happy enough with the game’s reception to announce that it has shipped over one million units worldwide.

Released in November 2007, it is the second such Capcom title, and Resident Evil title for that matter, to have hit the one million unit mark – the other being the Wii version of RE4. As of February 29, the Resident Evil series has sold over 34.5 million units globally with the first RE game having been released in 1996. Can you believe that we have had 12-years of zombie crushing goodness at our fingertips? It sure doesn’t seem that long of a time span for me; 1996 seems like it was just a couple of years ago. That is what happens though when you have a good quality franchise that provides you with hours upon hours of solid entertainment. Sure, some of the RE titles were hit or miss, but Capcom has been nothing if not consistent when doling out new adventures in zombie hunting.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles contains familiar locales from the entire series created specifically for the Wii. This action/shooter hybrid reveals the back story behind the fall of the Umbrella Corporation by having the player explore locations from Resident Evil 0, 1, 2 and 3 as well as new never-before-seen locations, such as Umbrella’s stronghold. The Umbrella Chronicles combines first-person, light-gun style combat with interactive pathways, multiple weapons and new enemies with a two-player co-op mode and support for the Wii Zapper.

Check out our previous posts for more information and congrats once again to Capcom and Resident Evil. May the franchise continue to thrill, scare, and enrage us for years to come.

Via: Press Release