That Resident Evil 5 is generating a lot of buzz isn't surprising, especially after the demo hit the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace last month. In fact, it turns out that the demo has been downloaded over four million times in the past few weeks. In an interview with MTV Multiplayer, RE 5 producer Jun Takeuchi revealed that the demo was downloaded nearly two million times in its first week on Live. Not only that, but he also took some time to discuss the feedback provided by the gamers who had played the demo.
Takeuchi addressed a number of concerns, first and foremost the decision to handle co-op play in the staggered split-screen manner it is: many players complained that the fields of view had too much black on the screen. According to Takeuchi, this was necessary because players' field of view would have been too wide. Meanwhile, he was prepared to address the complaint from players looking for faster-paced controls. “We knew it was going to come up,” Takeuchi said. “When you get your hands on the [full] game you’ll understand the choice we made with the controls... we understand that there are many people who want to run and shoot at the same time, but it’s not the right alignment for the game.”
One of the main criticisms that's been dogging RE 5 since details about the game first started to surface has been the allegation of possible racism. Takeuchi revealed that he isn't really all that concerned about a possible public backlash, stating, "when the game is out to the mainstream and on the shelves and being played by users, I’m not expecting it to be a problem. People will be able to play the game and see what it is for themselves." Other topics touched on in the interview were the decision to not bring the game to the Wii, the different load times, and the fact that the game will feature a bonus for those who complete it. Overall, it sounds like the development team spent a lot of time working on these issues in order to provide the best gameplay experience in the Resident Evil franchise; ultimately, though, we're going to have to wait and see how well all these factors are incorporated into the final game.
