Resident Evil 5 DLC, Gold Edition details

Capcom revealed a variety of details on the downloadable content and a brand new Gold Edition of Resident Evil 5 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The downloadable content will be released as two new episodes, along with new costumes, and a new mode called The Mercenaries Reunion. The Mercenaries Reunion mode will offer 8 new playable characters and some weapon load outs. The DLC along with the original game will be released at retail as Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition. Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition will be available for $49.99 as a single Blu-ray disc for the PlayStation 3 or as a DVD with a token for the downloadable content for Xbox 360.

The first new episode, “Lost in Nightmares, finds BSAA agent Chris Redfield and partner Jill Valentine investigating Ozwell E. Spencer’s hideaway. Spencer, the evil mastermind and co-founder of Umbrella Corporation, has been hiding a new evil deep within the basement of his mansion. Chris and Jill discover this and enter into the catacombs beneath the mansion. To be released at about the same time, are new costume for Chris and Sheva. They don’t do anything other than make you like poretty,

The new mode, reimagining of Mercenaries Mode, gives players new playable characters and weapon load outs which provide additional challenges. Each piece of downloadable content will contain two new playable characters, while the Gold Edition will offer all eight.

Lost in Nightmares and Costume Pack 1 will be released Feb. 17, 2010 in Europe and the U.S. on Xbox 360 and Feb 18 on PS3. The Xbox 360 versions of Episode 2 and Costume Pack 2 will be released on March 3, 2010 in both regions; while the PS3 versions will be released March 4, 2010. Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition hits North America on March 9 and Europe March 12, 2010.

Resident Evil 5 Facebook app celebrates PC release this week

Capcom announced that Intel will be celebrating the Resident Evil 5 PC Launch by offering Majini Facebook Application to fans. To celebrate the launch of Resident Evil 5 on PC tomorrow, Intel and Capcom have come together with The Game Agency to create a Facebook application that gives users a chance to see their dark side. The Majini Makeover application - found at apps.facebook.com/majini-makeover - allows Facebook users who are fans of the series to transform a regular photo into a grotesque Resident Evil 5 inspired Majini. The evil is infectious as the service also allows fans to show their dark side to their friends through Facebook.

Once a user selects an image from a personal or friends’ public photo gallery, he or she can use a library of wounds, stitches, worms and more to turn themselves into one of the infected Majini’s. If you don’t feel like getting infected, then grab a friend’s photo, tag them and suddenly you’ve created a photo album with one evil friend – or maybe a new enemy! Use a picture of yourself with your closest friends to create a bloody, stitched up group of evildoers right out of the world of Resident Evil.

You can learn more about it by visiting capcom.com.

Capcom reveals GamesCom line-up

Capcom today announced its line-up of game titles being shown off at this year’s GamesCom in Cologne, Germany August 19 -23. The show will be the first time that European gamers can get their hands on future titles Lost Planet 2, Monster Hunter Tri, MotoGP 09/10 and Wii brawler Spyborgs as well as the sci-fi adventure Dark Void and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Ultimate All-Stars.

Adding to the list of debuts, is the first exclusive worldwide showing of MotoGP 09/10. Also on tap? Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars, Lost Planet 2, Spyborgs, and Resident Evil 5 for PC.

Capcom’s Booth will be situated in Hall 6.1, corridor A, No 31.

Capcom reports record first quarter results

Capcom’s first quarter 2009 financial results are good news for the worldwide publisher, with net sales of 19.4 billion yen ($204.6 million USD) - up 19.2 percent from the same period last year; operating income of 3.6 billion yen ($38.4 million USD) - up 23.0 percent from the period last year; and income of 4.1 billion yen - up 2.3 percent from the same period last year.

Resident Evil 5 continued to show sales grow with life-to-date shipment of 5.5 million, and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite also enjoyed prolonged sales - shipping a total of 3.5 million in Japan. Ace Attorney INVESTIGATIONS: Miles Edgeworth and - Sengoku BASARA Battle Heroes both made favorable showings in Japan. Capcom was not as pleased with games that they expected to better in Western markets like Bionic Commando - which moved 550,000 units for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for PlayStation Portable, which Capcom said showed weak performance.

Capcom also announced plans to delay Dark Void from a Christmas release window into the first quarter of 2010. Capcom also predicts that Lost Planet 2, due for release by year’s end, will sell 2.7 million units.

Resident Evil 5 PC specs, benchmarking tool released

Capcom has released the system requirements for the Windows version of Resident Evil 5 this week, and a Benchmark demo to see if your system can run it when it is released.

The Windows version of the game will require Windows XP (Vista recommended), an Intel PentiumD Processor or AMD Athlon64 X2 (Intel Core2Quad Processor or AMD Phenom X4 recommended), 1GB of RAM under Vista or 512 MB under Windows XP (2 GB for Vista and 1GB for XP recommended), 8.0GB or more HDD, a monitor that supports at least 800×600 resolution (1280×720 or larger recommended), a DVD9 compatible drive, an NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series or ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro graphics card - featuring 256MB VRAM and DirectX9.0c/Shader 3.0 (NVIDIA GeForce 9800 series or ATI Radeon HD 4800 series or better with 512MB VRAM recommended), DirectSound Compatible (DirectX9.0c or higher) sound card, mouse and keyboard (Xbox 360 controller recommended) and broadband internet.

You can test drive your PC with the RE5 benchmark available on NZone.  Resident Evil 5 lands on the PC Sept. 15.

Spyborgs, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Resident Evil 5 PC dated

Capcom announced that its arcade-style brawler Spyborgs will be available exclusively for the Wii on Tuesday, September 29 in North America. In Spyborgs, players take control of heavily armed cyborgs as they pursue a nefarious traitor. These warriors will come together in 2-player co-op to face over 35 stages of challenges filled with epic boss battles and enemies that only a team of two can defeat! Spyborgs is rated T for Teen by the ESRB at an MSRP of $49.99.

For more info check out this Capcom Unity post.

Capcom also revealed that its reimagining of the classic multi-universe beat ‘em up, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, will be available via PlayStation Network on Thursday, August 13 for $15. Finally, the company announced that Resident Evil 5 for the PC will be released on September 15, 2009 in North America and September 18 in Europe.

AIAS Game Deconstruction Group videos

G4tv.com has posted some exclusive video from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Game Deconstruction Group for Resident Evil 5 and Afro Samurai. The group meets to examine, discuss, and deconstruct video games. It’s interesting stuff worth taking a look at, given the controversy of one, and the lackluster gameplay of the other.

Both presentations were conducted by students from USC’s Interactive Media department and were moderated by AIAS president Joseph Olin and X-Play’s Adam Sessler. The Resident Evil 5 video comes in 6 parts and runs about 97 minutes, while the Afro Samurai video is 25 minutes long and last right around 25 minutes. You can check out some video after the break.

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