Earlier this week Capcom confirmed that the former 3DS exclusive survival horror title Resident Evil: Revelations was being ported to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC as both a full retail game and digital download. While the announcement did come with a handful of screenshots, everyone knows that you can’t really judge a game’s visuals until you see it in motion — preferably with a spooky piano soundtrack and evil sounding voice-over. Thankfully, Capcom has now provided all of the above with the release of the game’s debut trailer.
The video footage of Revelations in the trailer is fairly impressive and it appears that Capcom did a great job of bumping up the game’s visuals, especially when you consider that it is being ported up from the small screens on the 3DS. With the new high definition look and all the extras that Capcom is packing into the game, it looks like true survival horror fans have something special to look forward to when the game launches this May.
That is, unless you are a true survival horror fan that only has access to the PlayStation Vita.
Yesterday, Capcom’s product manager Mike Lunn answered questions from tens of angry Vita owners who were wondering why the company seemed to be releasing Resident Evil: Revelations on every system but theirs. Lunn first responded that the publisher was focusing on getting the game ported up to “a large format screen”, which would really help “players get sucked into the horror vibe and enjoy the game to its fullest extend”. He then added:
“3DS and PS-vita infrastructure let alone developing games for them are extremely different beasts. Even just the screens as you mention are completely different resolutions/functions.”
Basically, even though Capcom has upgraded Resident Evil: Revelations‘ graphics from the 3DS to consoles, they just can’t find a way to get the game to match the Vita’s resolutions or control options. Makes sense…
Of course the real reason why Capcom might not be all that interested in porting Revelations to the Vita is a case of simple economics. The handheld has an extremely small user base (that is not exactly headed for a huge growth spurt any time soon), which will make it extremely difficult for Capcom to sell enough copies to compensate for the development costs.
On a happier Resident Evil note, Capcom’s senior vice-president Christian Svensson has recently hinted that we might get a standalone console game of the series’ Mercenaries mode — similar to the 3DS’s Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. In response to a question from a Capcom forum user about the likelihood of such a title, Svensson responded:
“Understood on the request, let’s talk next week on this topic. The other thing you should look forward to is trying out the extremely expanded Raid Mode (details to come in the coming months) in RE: Revelations. I find it scratches a LOT of the same itches.”
Not a confirmation by any stretch, but an interesting statement to say the least. We will keep an eye out for word on a standalone Mercenaries game and let you know if anything is announced.
Resident Evil: Revelations launches on May 21, 2012 in North America (May 24th across Europe) for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC for $49.99. Check out the game’s debut trailer below.