• Posted October 2nd, 2008 at 08:25 EDT by Mike Harradence
• 12 Comments

Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 looks set to hold a significant presence at this years Tokyo Game Show, as plans for the Survival Horror sequel’s Japanese onslaught emerge in the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu magazine.

According to the publication, the Japanese developer will be showcasing a brand new 15-minute demo of the hotly anticipated title across 70 console stations spread throughout Sony, Microsoft and Capcom’s TGS booths.

Furthermore, a five-minute trailer will also be on display to shed some light on the game’s storyline, including the first concrete details on returning series antagonist, Albert Wesker.

Co-producer Masachika Kawata commented: “I feel like the entire company is fighting against the pressure, not just our team,” adding, "Our budget has gone past the point that we never, ever thought it'd go past. Just the QA budget is enough that we could probably make a game off that alone."

Producer Jun Takeuchi also pitched in, focusing on the company’s decision to base the title around the new online co-op mode: "We're developing this game with the online co-op mode as its base,” he said.

"RE5 is a 'next generation' console game, and online is important both in Japan and overseas. We felt it was time to bring the RE series online in a serious way. We had done that with the Resident Evil Outbreak games, of course, but that wasn't the main series; we wanted to bring online to the main game this time. That was the attitude we brought into the early stages of development."

Kawata also pointed out how the application of online co-op will help attract new fans to the 12-year old franchise, particularly those who are likely to be too scared to have a crack at it by themselves.

"This is a scary game," he said, "and some people will never want to play it by themselves. We think there's an unexpectedly large number of gamers who are willing to give it a shot if they're playing with someone else."

"I've been reconsidering the way I think about games partly because I want to get a more worldwide view of them," continued Takeuchi.

"A while back I had a group of people who've never played FPSes before try playing the best overseas games in the genre, like Halo and Gears of War. All of them said that the games were fun. The problem is that Japanese people don't have a taste for FPSes yet; if we put as much capital into those as we have with, say, hamburgers, then I'm sure Japanese people would enjoy the genre just as much. Eventually, there aren't going to be any divisions between making games for Japan or the US or Europe; that's what we have to remember during development. We have to make things that our customers enjoy."

Lastly, regarding the addition of Wesker to RE5’s ever growing cast, Kawata acknowledged that while the blonde-haired antagonist has been out of the game since his triumphant return in Code: Veronica, gamers will definitely want to watch out for the forthcoming TGS trailer to see how he fits in this time around -- and from the sounds of it, it'll be worth the wait.

"Wesker has been out of the main picture since Code: Veronica, but you'll want to see how he makes his return and what plans he has in store this time. How he's involved in the story will be blown out in the Game Show trailer."

Resident Evil 5 is due out worldwide on March 13, 2009.