Just a quick update to mention something I covered on the ZRC Twitter feed: the launch titles have been announced for Nintendo’s new 3D gaming portable, and a Resident Evil made the cut:

The following games are set to be release on launch day or in the weeks thereafter:
Pilotwings Resort
Nintendogs + Cats
Steel Diver
Dead or Alive Dimensions
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D
Madden NFL Football
Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
Asphalt 3D
Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D
Ridge Racer 3D
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

This isn’t the 3D Resident Evil we covered earlier here at the ZRC; the launch title is Resident Evil: The Mercenaries, and the previously mentioned one is Resident Evil: Revelations.

What’s the deal? Well, Mercs is a 3DS port and improvement of the “Mercenaries” mode found in previous Resident Evil games, which take the core gameplay of Resident Evil (sadistic Anti-Zombie violence) and turn it into campy splatter-fun for hardcore gamers who don’t have a very enlightened view of Zombies.

Joystiq offers an explanation:

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D isn’t a game — it’s fan service. You see, there are two types of Resident Evil fans: casual ones that have fun playing a “survival horror” game and the hardcore buffs that really, really dig its absurd, kitschy, over-the-top action.

…

There’s a reason why the original “The Mercenaries” game mode was tucked away as a bonus in the last two console RE offerings. Where are the puzzles? Scripted events? Where is the story? These are all features that have been severed, packaged into Resident Evil: Revelations (another 3DS game, due at a later date).

While some will rightfully take offense at Capcom’s obvious “double dipping,” it’s hard to deny the sheer fun of knifing “zombies” in the knees and spin-kicking them to increase your score multiplier. The Mercenaries is meant for those gamers that find the core gameplay of Resident Evil fun and want to memorize maps in order to get the highest score.

In other words, this isn’t just an Anti-Zombie game; this is an Anti-Zombie game par excellence, one that plumbs the depths of casual cruelty for the ‘lulz’, not unlike Dead Rising and its ‘hilarious’ prop-based savagery.

According to Joystiq it’s also a graphical powerhouse, pushing the boundaries of what a portable console can do and serving as a technological showpiece for the new (and rather pricey) hardware. Thus we can expect to see a lot of it in the news, showcased in stores and exhibited to potential buyers of the 3DS as a de facto flagship title.

Which is of course just what the world needs, another super-high-profile Anti-Zombie game from Capcom, and another attempt to milk every last dollar out of the Zombie-hating denizens of the gaming community with not one but two early 3D Resident Evil games.

Good grief.

Tags: off, Videogames, What's Up with Japan?

This entry was posted by John Sears on Thursday, January 20th, 2011 at 7:20 pm and is filed under Zombie Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.