Resident Evil 5 Demo Breaks Xbox Download Record

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The Xbox 360 demo for Resident Evil 5 was downloaded 1.8 million times in the week following its January 26 release in Europe and North America, setting a new record. In fact, Microsoft says the demo surpassed 1.3 million downloads in its first three days.

And while Microsoft merely referred to Resident Evil 5 as being "among the top demo launches on the service," the previous known record holder, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, took eight days for its demo to reach a million Xbox Live downloads.

During those initial three days, the free zombie-shooting demo was restricted to Xbox Live Gold members. After January 29, it was made available to all Xbox Live members, with the PlayStation 3 demo available today via the PlayStation Store.

The strong North American and European performance follows that of the earlier Japanese demo, which was downloaded by 53% of Xbox Live Gold members in Japan.

Developed by Capcom, Resident Evil 5 hits PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 13.

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    February 2, 2009 2:03 PM

    Too bad the controls are such a polarizing factor. Plenty of those 1.3 million downloaders have probably been completely put off from buying it.

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      February 2, 2009 2:07 PM

      [deleted]

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        February 2, 2009 2:15 PM

        The trailer had me interested but the demo controls turned me away. I just feel the game should allow you to move AND shoot, even if your accuracy is affected.

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          February 2, 2009 2:24 PM

          A video game character should not be more physically limited than I am in real life.

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            February 2, 2009 2:55 PM

            so all games should let you be able to bend your legs behind your head?

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              February 2, 2009 3:46 PM

              Ok maybe I should say I don't like it when video games don't let me perform 'basic' movements that I can accomplish in real life.

              And, as another comment said, as a trained professional (as depicted in the game), I ought to be able to move and shoot at the same time, which is something I can do as a non-trained professional in real life. I know firing a gun isn't anything like as it is depicted in movies.

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                February 2, 2009 4:06 PM

                Training has nothing to do with it. Yeah, cops *can* move and shoot at the same time and so can you, but they don't very often because it's next to impossible to hit a moving target that way. The restriction is in place so that you don't waste all of your ammo running around shooting your gun off trying to hit something that you're not going to. I don't care how good your coordination is, it's just not going to happen.

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            February 2, 2009 3:27 PM

            I'd like to see you try and hit a moving target with a handgun while you're also moving in real life. I'd be impressed if you didn't manage to kill yourself in the process. Unlike the action movies, it isn't possible to run around like a maniac shooting at things from the hit and expect to hit something.

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              February 2, 2009 3:35 PM

              I'm sure cops can walk and shoot without a problem. It's the running and shooting which is another thing.

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      February 2, 2009 2:13 PM

      Really? I feel like the overall response is overwhelmingly positive

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      February 2, 2009 2:13 PM

      I don't mind the controls at all. I like not being able to move and shoot. Makes me think and choose my targets wisely.

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      February 2, 2009 2:14 PM

      it's difficult to tell on the internet. people who write in comments are not representative

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      February 2, 2009 2:18 PM

      I don't know, it's just like Resident Evil 4, and that sold just fine. In fact, it's improved over Resident Evil 4 in that you can actually strafe.

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        February 2, 2009 2:31 PM

        Not by much. I think just because it's close to RE4's control scheme makes it feel dated. You cannot even walk while shooting. That is a big problem, Dead Space had better controls.

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          February 2, 2009 2:39 PM

          People were complaining that it felt dates in Resident Evil 4, to begin with.

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      February 2, 2009 2:25 PM

      [deleted]

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      February 2, 2009 2:53 PM

      The controls felt better than a hell of a lot of other third person games I've played. The only problem I had, was the quick turn around, which I only ever seemed to be able to press when I didn't want to..

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      February 2, 2009 3:50 PM

      It wasn't just the controls that annoyed me but the rather limited peripheral view that you have - when surrounded by lunatics on all sides, it makes surviving considerably more difficult than it arguably should be.

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      February 2, 2009 4:26 PM

      I hated the controls as well. It felt like I was looking at a game from 2009 but playing a game from 1999. Just way too cumbersome.

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        February 2, 2009 5:00 PM

        I love the controls, mind you. I was just pointing out that so many people seem to dislike them.

        The problem here really isn't the controls but that people EXPECT to be able to strafe while shooting in games with guns. Racing games that don't allow you to shoot missiles at the leader aren't necessarily worse because you're missing that dynamic.

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      February 2, 2009 5:42 PM

      I really tried to like the controls. I knew about all the drama from all the RE4 threads and such. So I went at the demo prepared to give it a fair shot. Well, it just doesn't work out well for me. Maybe coming from a COD4 marathon into this demo might have been bad but still. Controls should be this difficult for a reason, and RE5 doesn't give me a reason like DMC4 did. I havent finished either of the two parts that are included, so i will keep trying to I at least beat those, then see where I stand.

      But realistically speaking, it's unfortunate that they are releasing this so close to Streetfighter 4, because thats where my $80 are going.

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      February 3, 2009 12:50 AM

      After seeing how the controls haven't been improved, I'm now going to "wait and see" on this one -- even though I'm a HUGE horror fan.

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