RE Outbreak in UK

[Fireflyfan]

Anyone who can help me out I would appriciate it. Does anyone know when Resident Evil Outbreak will be infecting the shores of the UK?

[Quatermain]

Amazon.co.uk says June 18th. Not sure how accurate that is.

[Dan Whitehead]

I'm hearing September or later, and with no online element.

[Fireflyfan]

Dan with all the slippage and uncertainty, in your opinion do you think it means a possible cancellation of the UK version?

[Dan Whitehead]

It won't be cancelled, but they'll want to see how it does in the US before making any firm plans. It'll come out in the UK with no immediate online play, though that may be added later if PS2 Online ever catches on in Britain.

It may even follow RE: Survivor's release pattern and only come out via one chain of stores.

It's not going to be the blockbuster people have been painting it as, and without online play it's pretty pointless - the game is designed for co-operative play.

[Jacob Singer]

from EvilAvatar.com:

Looks like European gamers get the shaft once again. No Online play for Resident Evil Outbreak. Eurogamer has the story.

"There are far more technical difficulties bringing an online game to PAL territories than Japan and the US, the most obvious of which are language and service provider issues in each territory. Capcom is working hard to overcome these difficulties. Right now a number of engineers from Japan are in Europe talking to various ISPs, and we hope that it will only be a number of months before we have an online PS2 game up and running."

[Dan Whitehead]

Nah, I call bullshit on that. The same language issues would apply for an offline game, and as for ISP issues - that's something for Sony to sort out, not individual publishers.

Fact is, PS2 Online just isn't big enough in Europe. Ironically, the very thing that makes PS2 outsell Xbox (it's mass market appeal) is the very thing holding it back in the online sector. Mainstream casual gamers just don't have much interest in online gaming - it's seen as too much hassle and too much added expense. Xbox LIVE does better because it's a gamers console, designed for online play from the start, and it's owners are more likely to be comfortable with, and interested in, online gaming.

Also, sales for Resident Evil titles have been dipping since Nemesis. Gun Survivor only came out in the UK via one chain of specialist shops. My gut feeling is that Capcom see Outbreak as a similarly niche title.

[Blunt]

Dunno about the niche thing, how well did it sell in Japan? In regards to Dead Aim being distributed in only one chain of stores, it didn't happen here, and I think it might had more to do with the game being a light-gun game than with it bearing the RE name (don't think you'll see that happen when 4 comes out, frankly).

And I don't think the languague issue is bullshit and would be the same for an offline game. This is a coop-based game, communication plays a huge part in it, so you have to find a way to adapt that to a continent with a multitude of different spoken languages.

[Fireflyfan]

To be honest I don't see why, even if Capcom don't go online in Europe, they can't at least throw in an offline multiplayer game you can play with mates.

But being realistic here.......I'm not buying it for the online aspect. I really am not prepared to spend quite a bit on an adaptor and new internet subscription and connection, so loss of online isn't really a huge loss to me. It's a great idea and I'm sure if it was more cost efficient I would reconsider. But I have heard from various mags that despite not being online, the single player game is more or less the same adventure so no big loss.

I just can't wait for this to hit our shores. I don't really see this as a Niche title and to be honest I am surprised Capcom might. This seems crisp, epic and the whole partners aspect, be it CPU or online, is a great idea. RE0 was a test run and that was one of the best aspects of the game, but here, the partners thing seems vital to the game and natural. I saw the latest trailer in a dvd with a PS2 mag and I am bowled over. I cannot wait for this to hit the UK.

[Blunt]

You should however buy a hard drive to cut down on the loading times.

[Fireflyfan]

Belive me, if I can sit through the Mafia loading time then this will be NO problem :D