Since I have a PS3, I decided to sack up and just buy Resident Evil for my game console, however not without doing some research first. I had no clue what sequel they were on, or if they had even made one for PS3 (when I think of Resident Evil I think of 90’s arcade play). My first search led me to IGN’s game review for Resident Evil 5. Yah number 5. I was expecting Resident Evil 3 or 4 but not 5. This sparked my next search that led me to Wiki’s summary of the Resident Evil series. Not only are there Resident Evils 1-5 but also Resident Evil Directors Cut, Survivor, Nemesis, Veronica, Zero, Umbrella, and the Darkside. To add the cherry on top of all these statistics, Capcom has sold 40 million of these games as of 2009.
The sheer number of sequels that have been produced is evidence of the world’s obsession with this game and it’s passion for killing mutants and fighting bioterrorism. How else can a company pump out this many games, with roughly the same plot, and keep selling millions without an audience that loves to kill. Nonetheless, these games consistently receive 8/10 on ratings. First person shooter games have always had a peculiar amount of popularity. I’m subject to the same categorization too since I have an undying passion for shooting games. I cannot describe why. Maybe there is some deep Freudian complex I all have with wanting to shoot mutants and kill the designated enemy. Maybe if I had fired a pistol before puberty I would have gotten this fascination out of my system. Needless to say, I am still going to play this game all day tomorrow and light up these mutants like judgment day is coming. Why? Because I like to....and its homework.
True. There are many Resident Evil titles on the game market, but it is a fourteen year old franchise and the brand represents the archetypal “survival-horror” game. Though it may have experienced many changes in gameplay and style over the years, the franchise is consistent with its plot. Even the movie trilogy spinoff remains faithful to the story unfolded in the games. Resident Evil represents one of Capcom’s gold-mines, though a number of Resident Evil “shovelware” titles like Umbrella Chronicles take advantage of gamer’s trust in the brand to create a little additional cash flow. As a successful franchise with a good history, gamers typically feel comfortable spending their hard earned wages and time on Resident Rvil games where they can expect heroes with guns, virus-induced-superpowers, and zombie/mutants to leave them happily shaking in their boots.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in response to your title:
“How many video game fan boys does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Ten: one to replace the bulb and nine to argue how the first one was so much better.”
I think you're right, but not just from Resident Evil itself. I think any game franchise that has been around long enough has obviously something about it that is so fascinating to audiences. These games tend to be ones like Call of Duty, Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil, Halo, Grand Theft Auto, etc. They're all violent, this world is saturated with it. So much so that sometimes we mindlessly go throughout our days not perturbed in any sense by things we hear about in the news or the things we watch on television. Now, it's good that you've identified that we're addicted to this violence. What're you going to do about it?
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