News: The Capcom-Unity has spoken!
During the Tokyo Game Show, Capcom announced a new version of Resident Evil 5 was in development for a Japanese release. Dubbed Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition, the main draw of the game will be support for the upcoming PlayStation 3 "Wand" motion controller. The Alternative Edition will also include a new playable section of the game, featuring Jill Valentine in the Spencer Mansion along with other, currently unannounced, goodies. The Alternative Edition is also scheduled to be released on the Xbox 360, obviously without motion controller support.
Until now, the game was only confirmed for release in Japan. However, today,
Capcom-Unity has revealed that the Alternative Edition content will be released in America in Spring 2010 as downloadable content for Resident Evil 5. The content is being released in America as DLC due to a poll on the Capcom-Unity site where gamers voted 1476-870 in favor of releasing it online.
While Capcom-Unity users chose DLC over a retail release, Capcom doesn't plan to ignore those 870 votes. From this portion of the blog post, the Alternative Edition content will probably make its way to stores as a retail release as well:
What surprised us, however, was just how many of you ended up voting for a new physical package. We're still trying to wrap our heads around this strongly stated position from a vocal range of the community, but we've definitely heard you guys loud and clear as well.
We'll have more soon.