Losing interest in the series

[Dracarys]

Well, Capcom did try anyway. And yes, people wanted DLC. That doesn't automatically speak well of the game itself, however. Either people want more of the same (Desperate Escape) or they wanted something they felt the game was lacking to be added (Lost in Nightmares). Which of the two DLC packs got the better reception among critics and fans alike? And yes, I'm ignoring the Mercs stuff because, quite simply, I have no idea how succesful it all was. I can't stands Mercs as it is in RE4 and RE5, so I'm not able to really comment.

Most people I chat to who aren't strung up in the 'RE has changed' mumbo have said LiN is pretty boring. I'm inclined to agree especially on the first segment, there isn't actually much to do in it, Desperate Escape at least gives things to do always.

I gather Mercs to be a success or else they would release a stand-alone Mercs game.

I'm not saying Resident Evil 5 wasn't succesful. It is, and it has it's share of fans. But look through this very thread. A lot of people who like the older games didn't enjoy RE4. Even more didn't like RE5. Worse, for Capcom, how many people do you see at this point claiming RE5 to be there favorite game of the series? Of this generation? Of all time? I haven't seen any. I haven't seen a single person on this forum, or any other for that matter. If I was Capcom, I'd put down the pile of cash and be worried about that. It's far easier to slide from an 'OK, I guess' game to 'Nah, won't bother buying that new' than it is from, 'Favorite game ever. Must have.' I'd have set people on fire to get Valkyria Chronicles II. If I hadn't been able to get RE5 I wouldn't have cared much, and Resident Evil was once my favorite series. This was meant to be the big pay off...and I didn't have any faith in Capcom delivering the goods. I wasn't disapointed.

A lot of those things can be thrown at other games in the series too. I often see in polls for fav game RE2 being far ahead of other games, I guess anything after RE2 was crap using RE5s apparent result of this.

I think it is more to do with people being older and just not seeing things in the same light, if I objectively look at the older games I can find many more faults than if I did it to RE5. RE5 gets a lot of flak for doing stuff the older games did too yet they get afree pass for some reason.

A lot of the people it appealed to aren't a dedicated fanbase, but simply people picking up a cool looking action game. A lot will expect what's in the movies, since that's where at least some fans will come from. When the RE games are no longer what's hot...where do the sales go? RE5 got a lot of flak, this you can't argue with. Regardless of it's comercial success.

Capcom is making what I consider to be a serious error in judgement. It's taken a name that has some recognition and re-tooled it for todays game's market, and has lost a lot of the older fans. The ones who bought games like Gaiden. Eventually, as I said, Resident Evil won't be hot. The movies will be done and Gears of War 7 will be storming along on the PS360. It's not gonna happen by RE6, which I suspect will sell hugely well anyway, but by RE7 or 8...? And there won't be the safety net of a hardcore fanbase, 'cos we've essentially been told we're not wanted.

The dedicated fanbase was never very big anyway, where were they when REmake and RE0 were pulling poor sales compared to earlier games? People make all these lame excuses like 'It was on gamecube' or whatever but then the PS2 didn't sell huge amounts of CVX either, yeah it had released on DC earlier but if the dedicated fanbase is so big it should have sold a lot more. RE4 on GC outsold them too and that had a PS2 version with more content to compete with a while after release.

RE has always been pretty mainstream, horror games started taking off in the PS1 era and many games copied the RE style of gameplay and design. When horror was dying off RE4 came along and thrust it back into mainstream status and again other games started copying.

When people get tired of shooters RE will just change focus again.

[Rombie]

People are acting as if RE5 was the worst game ever released on any platform. This might come as a surprise, but except for RE4, none of the games in the series were met with outrageous critical acclaim or received any significant game awards (if such a thing even exists).

You might want to double check things before making statements like that. The original PlayStation Resident Evil won several GOTY and Gamers Choice awards in 1996, the largest of the lot that is generally noted being the Sony's Players Choice award which was fairly huge considering this was awarded in the first year of the consoles US release.

Biohazard 2 was listed on numerous websites and consumer mags as a top title of the year (along with Ocarina of Time and Metal Gear Solid usually) but more importantly was the world's fastest selling game ever upon release, selling the majority of it's lifetime sales units in it's release weekend in Japan and quite the same in the US. It's still also sold more than RE4 and RE5 (questionably according to CVXFreak, who says the combined SKU of RE4 would be higher than combined RE2 ones but I disagree as the Dual Shock re-release on PlayStation alone shipped over 850,000 when it first launched, all I would have expected sold in the following years and thats not counting smaller sales numbers across N64, DC, and GC) making it the best selling title (in question of course), and (without any question) still the best single SKU release of the series.

Capcom hasn't broken down the SKU sales into 360 and PS3 for Biohazard 5 and have counted in Gold Edition sales so it's hard to know what the actual single totals are these days though, but the combined numbers are only 540,000 more than Resident Evil 2 sold on just the PlayStation in original release. Thats why I think it's still sold more.

[Det. Beauregard]

I see a lot of folks mentioning RE4, but for me I look back fondly now on that game. I'm not sure what it is, but given what 5 became, I have a bigger appreciation for 4. The environments were so varied and the journey so long compared to what we got in 5. I found myself having to suspend my disbelief much more with 5 than 4. I think the really great part about it was just the atmosphere the game evoked. You're alone, in a hostile environment and noone is there to help you. Its desolate, and the time of the year was great (leave on the ground, decay everywhere).

I completely agree. From a gameplay standpoint, I think it is the most fun game in the series; it's the only RE game I can play though multiple times in a row and not get bored. I also agree about the atmosphere, especially in the village. However, regardless of the gameplay, the plot, locations, and characters just don't compare to those in RE1-CVX.

RE5 came out and I thought that it would be a return to the core of the series, but instead it somehow felt even more distant. The forced partner really bothered me and took away from any of the few moments that could have actually been scary. At least in RE0 you got seperated a couple times, but in RE5 Sheva is a thorn in your side the entire time, being completely useless, dying or getting in your way.

RE5 can be fun if you're playing with someone else, but if you're playing single player (the way I feel a Resident Evil game should be played), you're right - it's extremely annoying. Forced single player co-op in this game pretty much ruined it for me. I don't care how great the graphics are. Also, I felt the side characters (Irving, Excella, Sheva, all the random BSAA dudes) were simply not as interesting as the side characters in RE4. The only side character in RE5 that I even remotely liked was Josh.

Regarding my interest in the series as a whole, it is diminishing. To me it's all about nostalgia, but not exclusively from games I first played when I was younger (RE2, RE3, CVX). I feel nostalgic about the Umbrella's End and Operation Javier scenarios from UC and DSC, even though these games are relatively recent! Why? Because the stories occurred in 2002 and 2003, had classic characters, and classic enemies. To me, the turning point in the series was the fall of Umbrella; after that, the story just got less interesting.

[Beanovsky Durst]

I've been reading most of what people have been saying regarding the personal interests regarding the Resident Evil games, and I've got to say that I do feel a bit saddened about how you lot are feeling about the RE games. (And I do sympathsize with you lot as well, considering how the RE games has shifting from survivor-horror to action-"horror")

This is pretty much where I am too. I love the series today as much as when I killed that first zombie in the streets of Raccoon City (RE2 was my first game). Perhaps I'm not fully satisfied with what has been done with the series and some changes that I wouldn't do (like going from survival to action) but the series had the capability to evolve, for good or worse, and I think we'll see in some point a good balance of both action and horror/survival elements. Even with co-op. Dead Space, as many have used as an example seems to be doing alright balancing those aspects.

Never! But Resident Evil 4/5 have made my heart sad because *sniff* no more zombies. I know the story had to progress but I'm tired of tentacles and flower-vagina's coming out of the mouths of angry, weapon wielding people who scream obscenities at me in other languages. D:

Zombies... The sweet hordes of the undead. I was thinking this the other day, I guess the (over)use of Las Plagas enemies must be completely associated to a gameplay choice. Where gets confusing is that we got Crimson Heads, perfect material to fuel the action side that the latest titles have tried so hard to embrace, while keeping our beloved rotten corpses in the game.

The haters spouting doom and gloom like RE is in the pits need suck it up and face the fact it is doing better than it ever has. Sorry but if you spouting garbage and ignoring reality someone needs set you straight. RE5 Capcoms 2nd biggest selling title, ever.

This too. What makes me sad is that people are getting so fatalist.
We won't get always what we want, that's sure; but it's better than not getting anything at all. People wanted back Barry and Rebecca, and we got them in some sweet Mercs cameos that, while didn't fully were what I wished, made me happy.

I just want it to be scary again, Hell ive been playing Dead Space 1 and I have not felt that freaked out for sooooo long. I miss that feeling. I dred going to load my save files and keep playing it at night, its insain. Resident Evil used to do that to me.

Scares. Again, Dead Spaces proves what great magic can be achieved with correct placing, lightning effects, superb audio and use of unexpected camera angles. RE has it in it's linage, and I'll bet that it will happen again.
Horror = Sales, Action = Sales. It's just finding that sweet spot.

[Branden_Lucero]

RE5 was a 4-year disappoint that i followed too damn closely. the official artbook sounds like a better RE5 than what we end up getting. Deadly Silence on DS was a waste of time, and is ugly as shit for a DS game, and Umbrella Chronicles pissed me off because they totally ruined the timeline.

i've been following the series since at least the year 2000, and boy, CAPCOM is really fuckin' things up. zombie horror movies have done a hell of a lot better recently than what the games have been doing minus the RE live action films, and series like Dead space and Left 4 Dead are putting a world of hurt on CAPCOM's franchise.

[Darkmoon]

Most people I chat to who aren't strung up in the 'RE has changed' mumbo have said LiN is pretty boring. I'm inclined to agree especially on the first segment, there isn't actually much to do in it, Desperate Escape at least gives things to do always.

I gather Mercs to be a success or else they would release a stand-alone Mercs game.

I assume the Mercs went well, yes. And I suppose it's a case of different strokes and different folks. I, personally, enjoyed LiN a great deal. I found the whole idea of walking through a door and not nessecerily getting into yet another fight very enjoyable, and the puzzles were entertaining if frustrating in places. I haven't finished Desperate Escape yet. I wasn't interested in more of the same.

And yes, some folks love the more actiony style. I don't. I don't like action games. I don't play Gears of War or Halo. I like survival horror. I haven't played Dead Space 2 yet, but while the origional uses a similar control scheme to RE4 (it even has, I think, the dreaded move and shoot) it terrified me. I found the story to be a blast as well. Two things RE4 failed at utterly, and RE5 did even worse.

And let's not forget, RE5's whole advertising campaign was based around how terrifying the game was. It was meant to be scary, and yet utterly and totally failed. That's not just my personal opinion, either. That is something mentioned in review after review.

A lot of those things can be thrown at other games in the series too. I often see in polls for fav game RE2 being far ahead of other games, I guess anything after RE2 was crap using RE5s apparent result of this.

I think it is more to do with people being older and just not seeing things in the same light, if I objectively look at the older games I can find many more faults than if I did it to RE5. RE5 gets a lot of flak for doing stuff the older games did too yet they get afree pass for some reason.

I'm not talking about RE2 being most popular or RE5 least. I've seen people saying CODE: Veronica is there favorite, or the origional, or RE3. I've even say people say they like Outbreak and Dead Aim and Survivor, although much more rarely than an numbered game. RE4 has a lot of love.

Resident Evil 5, and I say this personally from my own experience since I have not looked at every forum and every persons 'My Fav Game' post on the internet, has yet to get that once. Again, this is a relative personal experience. You may know a dozen people who believe RE5 to be the greatest game ever told, with terrifying monsters and a story worthy of tale and song. But if I was Capcom, that would worry me, personally. Casual support is awesome while it's there...but when it's gone you're in the crapper.

The RE series will eventually fade, regardless. But it'll be a lot less of a sudden drop and more of a gradual slide if they at least have some fans onboard.

The dedicated fanbase was never very big anyway, where were they when REmake and RE0 were pulling poor sales compared to earlier games? People make all these lame excuses like 'It was on gamecube' or whatever but then the PS2 didn't sell huge amounts of CVX either, yeah it had released on DC earlier but if the dedicated fanbase is so big it should have sold a lot more. RE4 on GC outsold them too and that had a PS2 version with more content to compete with a while after release.

The dedicated fanbase are the people who meant those games made money full stop. Who do you think was buying those games? Random Joe from the street while the whole RE fanbase ignored them? I'm not claiming it's huge, and that the mainstream should be ignored to pander to us. I'm not a fool. We're not big enough to warrant that kind of support and treatment.

But what I'm trying to point out is this - the sales on Remake and Zero and CV weren't brilliant, but they had a hardcore base of people there and the sales were good enough to mean things weren't an utter loss for Capcom. What, exactly, is going to happen once they loose the mainstream buying they currently enjoy as many games before have, but have driven away those fans that supported them when times weren't so awesome? I believe the technical economic term is 'shitstorm.'

RE has always been pretty mainstream, horror games started taking off in the PS1 era and many games copied the RE style of gameplay and design. When horror was dying off RE4 came along and thrust it back into mainstream status and again other games started copying.

When people get tired of shooters RE will just change focus again.

Maybe so. I personally don't feel the series was mainstream, but that's me. But Capcom had a certain level of hardcore support when they switched to RE4. In essence, guys like me were there. If RE4 failed it wouldn't have been a huge loss because of those guranteed sales.

If RE6 hits and the shooter game market has moved too far on, or become less popular, and Capcom haven't changed then the cash cow is in trouble. With Resident Evil being so vital to the companies income and that safety net of hardcore fans at least reduced, can Capcom afford to put out a game that doesn't sell well? And Capcom has lost a lot of key creative people recently. I have no idea about the new folk. Maybe they're awesome, maybe they're the guys behind the 'Fear You Can't Forget' advertising campaign. I don't know.

RE4 needed to be something different. Again, I'm not deluded. If it had failed then RE would be done. I have no issues with the new control scheme. But, and this is where I feel Mikami started making mistakes, is changing the thing so completely. He stripped out all but the body horror elements from the earlier games, and completely removed a lot of series staples. It's a good action game but, and this is important for me, not a good Resident Evil game.

Some folks disagree, and they're welcome to do so. But it lacked what I consider to be key elements. One was exploration, which was completely removed. Another was puzzles, which I know others have argued were replaced by making the enemies themselves a puzzle to defeat. I disagree, but the point has a validity. And it removed most of the horror elements, although I know some folks disagreed. It also went far too heavy on the cheese for the script. Res Evil has never been a masterclass of writting andf voice acting. But the RE4 story is exceptionally awful, even by that low standard.

Given how Dead Space works, and the videos we've seen of 3.5, I don't feel these changes were nessecery. I don't think they would have lost the game if it hadn't been as action orientated, if things weren't quite as fast paced. If there were some old school elements too. But that's my personal view. RE4 was a huge success, both by critical standards and financial.

RE5? Not so much. It has sold well, but it hasn't recieved the same level of support. Again, this is not my personal opinion. Compared to RE4 even, RE5 has not done as well in critical reviews. Among the community it's pretty much panned. Among the average joe it seems to be a throw away action title, play once, play Mercs, move to the next hot thing.

To wrap up - Resident Evil 5 has not created a new hardcore fanbase to replace that which it's lost Capcom, from the kind of people in this thread. If Capcom looses those casual fans because RE5 wasn't what they expected, they're not gonna have a fun time. If you want an example look at what happened with Umbrella Chronicles and Darkside Chronicles. Or Outbreak and Outbreak File #2. You make a game the mainstream doesn't like, and they don't support the sequal, regardless of changes and improvements. And, again, Resident Evil 5 did not do that well with the reviewers. Food for thought, no?

[Det. Beauregard]

But [RE4] lacked what I consider to be key elements. One was exploration, which was completely removed. Another was puzzles, which I know others have argued were replaced by making the enemies themselves a puzzle to defeat.

While I agree that RE4 certainly had less exploration and puzzles than previous RE titles, it had boatloads more than RE5, which was extremely linear in comparison and contained one puzzle.

This change can be attributed to the typical casual gamer, who wants to come home from work/school/wherever, sit on their couch, and play through some mindless action with great graphics. Many don't want to think (e.g. puzzles) or explore; they want everything to progress in a linear fashion like a movie. Games in general are (unfortunately) becoming far more linear than their predecessors; recent examples I can think of include Mass Effect 2 and Dead Space 2.

Take a typical casual gamer (as described above) and have them play one of the classic RE games; let's use CVX as an example. They'd probably quit the game in frustration before they realized that they need to equip the lighter in the prison cell to progress. And even if they manage to do that, I can imagine many thinking "I'm done, it's too hard" when they have to pass through the zombies in the graveyard with no firearm.

I can't even begin to tell you how many gamers I've talked to in recent years who can't play the classic RE games because of the "shitty camera." When I explained to them that the camera was set up this way to make it like a horror movie and increase the fear, most would have none of it. They want their 1st- and/or 3rd-person shooters, simply because it's what they're used to. So after RE was made into 3rd person, behind-the-shoulder view (RE4, RE5), now we get to have RE with optional 1st person view (Revelations, Mercs 3D). Maybe it's just me, but this sucks most of the fear right out of the experience.

[Rombie]

I don't want to reply to all of Kylie's comments, I think Darkmoon did most of it already - but I just wanted to point out that the PS2 sales is moot. In the case of both CVX and RE4, while they were questionable ports to the console - they both outsold their original releases (DC and GC respectively) on the Playstation 2 format.

The drop in sales across the board through the series from 2000 until 2006 would largely be attested to Capcom not giving clear resolve to it's fan base on what was going where. First it was Dreamcast support with Code Veronica and ports of 2 and 3, then it was still PS2 support because they kept saying RE4 was coming there and ported CVX in time for the 5th Anniversary (with space in the 5th Anniversary pack for RE4 to be put in), then it was Nintendo support on Gamecube just after that with Zero and the Remake, and then ports of 2 and 3 again... then the long wait to RE4.... then it was back to PS2 with Outbreak, Dead Aim, and later RE4. Considering Capcom had no clue what it was doing with the franchise for a number of years and kept releasing numerous titles across numerous platforms, you can't be surprised that the "fan base" was a little more confused - compared to the ease of just buying the first three games when released all on the one single platform first.

I think unlike the main hardcore fanbase, a lot who reside here - who buy a copy of most games on every platform released; most people just don't have the want or need or money to have brought every console and game, and all of the sales for the titles during those years greatly suffered for it.

[Rick Hunter]

I lost interest in the series after zero was released, but still enjoyed the oubreak episodes, it felt original and interesting.

BH4 was heading in a grotesque direction in terms of gameplay and monsters, and even though I liked playing BH5, it never felt like I was playing a resident evil game.

The feeling I had when rebirth was announced will probably never appear again. I'm just waiting to be able to finally play BH1.5, but I don't have much hopes.

The fact the series is heading in the wrong direction, and the fact that I get older doesn't mix very well. I feel tired and uninterested by this series now. They should have released all those episodes faster and ultimately rebooted the series to make something really new and different.

[Dracarys]

@ Darkmoon, not gonna reply to all your post since most of it just difference of opinion or experience with others, however your post implies that RE has only lost dedecated fans with RE4 and 5. I don't believe this is right and I believe both games have created a lot of new fans.

@Det. Beauregard

Casual gamers are not stupid and want to settle for the most simple games, this is a common idea I see on the net and it is total crap, I have many friends that are casual gamers and they have played games like RE (old ones) and Silent Hill. Likewise I have sat down with friends and played Mario Kart. Doesn't make old RE, SH or myself casual.

Difference between casual gamer and a 'hardcore' (I personally hate putting people into groups but whatever) is a casual will buy RE5 and just play the game, a hardcore will do things like research melee damage ranges between moves and characters.

[Zombie Fred]

Casual gamers are not stupid and want to settle for the most simple games, this is a common idea I see on the net and it is total crap, I have many friends that are casual gamers and they have played games like RE (old ones) and Silent Hill. Likewise I have sat down with friends and played Mario Kart. Doesn't make old RE, SH or myself casual.

Difference between casual gamer and a 'hardcore' (I personally hate putting people into groups but whatever) is a casual will buy RE5 and just play the game, a hardcore will do things like research melee damage ranges between moves and characters.

Got to agree here. Another thing to add to that is the Resident Evil brand is still strong and as long as the marketing and "hype" is built up to a game's release, Resident Evil will always rank in a lot of sales as long as the title is still enjoyable.

[Darkmoon]

@ Darkmoon, not gonna reply to all your post since most of it just difference of opinion or experience with others, however your post implies that RE has only lost dedecated fans with RE4 and 5. I don't believe this is right and I believe both games have created a lot of new fans.

No doubt. That's not what I'm trying to say. What I'm trying to point out is that, while RE4 may well inspire a certain dedication among some people to replace the lost hardcore fans of the earlier games, Resident Evil 5 only picked up casual fans. If RE5 was the first RE game someone played I very much doubt they'd become a huge fan of the series. Partially because of the plot, and partially because of the gameplay (Co-op is an awesome creation. Forced co-op is not.)

Worse, it drove away much of what was left from the more old timers such as myself. As I said...do you know anyone who's claiming RE5 is there favorite game of the series? Or of all time? Of this generation? I , personally, don't. I know at least one person whose favorite game is one of the other RE title, bar Gaiden. Even Survivor. And while there are a great deal of casual fans, there is also a far greater number of games out for there attention...and there cash. If they didn't like what they got in RE5 then Capcom may have an issue.

Essentially, Capcom has swapped out a small group of hardcore gamers who would have, never the less, picked up Barry's Pretty Princess Dress-Me-Up Game if it had the RE logo on the box for a larger casual crowd who aren't gonna buy something that's not suitable super. Yes, RE4 has brought in new players, but not a vast number of the kind of madmen I'm talking about. After all, you can't spell fanatic without 'fan'. And a lot of folks who loved either RE4 or the older games disliked RE5, regardless of which side they were on.

@Det. Beauregard

Casual gamers are not stupid and want to settle for the most simple games, this is a common idea I see on the net and it is total crap, I have many friends that are casual gamers and they have played games like RE (old ones) and Silent Hill. Likewise I have sat down with friends and played Mario Kart. Doesn't make old RE, SH or myself casual.

Difference between casual gamer and a 'hardcore' (I personally hate putting people into groups but whatever) is a casual will buy RE5 and just play the game, a hardcore will do things like research melee damage ranges between moves and characters.

Actually, I would disagree with this. I'd say I was a hardcore RE fan but I never did this. I always use the weapon I feel most comfortable with, or have the most ammo for, or just seems best suited to the job. I think the key between a hardcore fan of a series and a casual fan is that the hardcore gus will pick up the Outbreaks and the Gaidens, because it advances the story or scratches an itch. Casual fans will pick up the stronger titles, maybe grab the others second hand but quite possibly won't be able to deal with some inferior aspect such as music that can drive men mad or long loading times.

[Guest]

Well, this reason is mostly about the story, but not only the story changed for RE2.
I remember Mikami saying in an interview how bad it tasted when he played it and how he had the staff team to remake it completely.

Well, in RESEARCH ON BIOHAZARD 2 final edition, Okamoto confirms that the decision was his, but he did not just want to overrule Mikami so he put the team members together to talk about the changes.

He said so himself

See, that was not so hard. ;)

Shinji Mikami was that way. Even acting as a producer he couldn't help getting involved in the creative side of things. He appointed a director in some of his games in order to distance himself from that. But he would still get involved.

Also in RESEARCH ON BIOHAZARD 2 final edition, Mikami said that he was as uninvolved with the development process as he could have possibly been when he was a producer. Some rough and very general directions may still come from the producers, mostly as a voice of the management, but the bulk of the Capcom games still comes from the directors and planners.

Bring it back to survival horror,Where Resident Evil belongs.DUH!!!!!!!

Then you're obviously in luck because this is exactly what they are trying to achieve with Revelations – how it will turn out is another question.
In any case, you can't blame a company for making third-person shooters instead of survival horror games when consumers are much more willing to buy into the former genre nowadays. That is a complaint to be addressed to the market and the industry as a whole.

You might want to double check things before making statements like that. The original PlayStation Resident Evil won several GOTY and Gamers Choice awards in 1996, the largest of the lot that is generally noted being the Sony's Players Choice award which was fairly huge considering this was awarded in the first year of the consoles US release.

Can't say I've ever heard of a "Sony Players Choice" award and couldn't find anything that would imply significant awards for the older games (again, if such a thing even exists – some of these, namely the GDC Awards and Japan Game Awards, might be the closest ones to qualify).

Biohazard 2 was listed on numerous websites and consumer mags as a top title of the year (along with Ocarina of Time and Metal Gear Solid usually) but more importantly was the world's fastest selling game ever upon release, selling the majority of it's lifetime sales units in it's release weekend in Japan and quite the same in the US. It's still also sold more than RE4 and RE5 (questionably according to CVXFreak, who says the combined SKU of RE4 would be higher than combined RE2 ones but I disagree as the Dual Shock re-release on PlayStation alone shipped over 850,000 when it first launched, all I would have expected sold in the following years and thats not counting smaller sales numbers across N64, DC, and GC) making it the best selling title (in question of course), and (without any question) still the best single SKU release of the series.

Capcom hasn't broken down the SKU sales into 360 and PS3 for Biohazard 5 and have counted in Gold Edition sales so it's hard to know what the actual single totals are these days though, but the combined numbers are only 540,000 more than Resident Evil 2 sold on just the PlayStation in original release. Thats why I think it's still sold more.

Some other forum members do not acknowledge sales – but maybe they just don't acknowledge them for the newer games...

[Det. Beauregard]

Casual gamers are not stupid and want to settle for the most simple games, this is a common idea I see on the net and it is total crap, I have many friends that are casual gamers and they have played games like RE (old ones) and Silent Hill. Likewise I have sat down with friends and played Mario Kart. Doesn't make old RE, SH or myself casual.

Difference between casual gamer and a 'hardcore' (I personally hate putting people into groups but whatever) is a casual will buy RE5 and just play the game, a hardcore will do things like research melee damage ranges between moves and characters.

I never said they were stupid; I simply said that many casual gamers just want to turn their minds off. This is something I've observed for quite some time now, particularly involving games like RE5, Halo, and various Call of Duties.

What I'm trying to point out is that, while RE4 may well inspire a certain dedication among some people to replace the lost hardcore fans of the earlier games, Resident Evil 5 only picked up casual fans. If RE5 was the first RE game someone played I very much doubt they'd become a huge fan of the series. Partially because of the plot, and partially because of the gameplay (Co-op is an awesome creation. Forced co-op is not.)

I truly believe that the reason RE5 picked up so many casual fans compared to earlier entries in the series is primarily the co-op. If the game had been a single player experience like RE4, I honestly believe that it would not have generated the sales numbers that it did.

As far as co-op is concerned, I don't care about it if it were limited to mini-games, but in the main story? No, not in a Resident Evil game. I can understand Outbreak having online co-op (if it were released today with how popular internet gaming has become I think it would have done a lot better), or the rail shooters having co-op (obviously), but not in a main series title. The forced single-player co-op was easily the biggest turnoff in RE5 for me. If I get the itch to play co-op or multiplayer, I'll choose a non-RE game.

[Enrico Marini]

Well I bought a PS1 for RE2, rushed out on the day of release for both RE3 and Survivor, bought a GBA to play Gaiden (I know A GBC would have sufficed), bought a DC for Code Veronica, Bought a GameCube for Remake, 0, 4 (bought each pretty much on day of release), bought Survivor 2, bought Outbreak, bought outbreak file#2 on day of release, Bought a DS for Deadly Silence. I'm not a hardcore fan in the way of working out all the damages and glitches within a game, I'm not that obsessive. But I used to buy a RE game simply because it was, and for the most part I had no job or funds.

I even went as far as to buy the PC versions of 1 2 3 4, and the PS2 version of 2. But I haven't even been tempted with the RE5 DLC. I've played Gaiden, yes GAIDEN, and Survivor more times than RE5. RE5 in my eyes was a throw away game. A game you play through and then just toss aside. The only reason I played through RE5 a second time was to be an achievement whore. Since its release 2 years ago now. I've played RE5 through twice, the Day I bought it and a week later. Since then it has sat on my shelf not opened once.

Unlike Silent Hill, which seems to be stuck in a rut of regurgitating the same stuff, RE5 regurgitated the "same" stuff then watered it right down.

I'm not a Halo, Gears, CoD player, I can't stand those kind of games. I don't need wave after wave of flashy gun fights.