They are really pushing this game to be completed by the deadline! That's some great news since I really really want to play this game!!

Mike's Stalker

SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

wait... no... 400. Ok that's even better! =)

Falsoman

wow, 400 racists in one room? lol i kid i kid, but seriously. i smell a hit in the kkk community. sarcasm of course, the game looks very cool.

diodegrey

It would be nice if we were given a reference for comparison. I don't know about you, but I don't count the number of names listed in game credits.

Also, I'm glad the staff isn't made up of 300, because then I would have to read many stale jokes about madness and Sparta.

topraman517

@YHWHMystic: I've never done game development myself so I don't really know if there's a difference to developing systems for business (I currently work on an information system for hospitals).

There's a slashdot article a while back about how (mostly unpaid) overtimes are becoming all too common in the IT industry. I don't like such practices, personally. Probably it's different for the guys at Capcom? I dunno.

m0re

@YHWHMystic: Actually, it's worse than working on a sweatshop.

You have no idea.

FlameEye

@m0re: I'm sure most Capcom employees enjoy doing their job. It's not like working at a sweatshop.

YHWHMystic

"Our belief while developing Resident Evil 5 was that no detail was too small when it came to graphics."

The few remaining people out there hoping for a Wii port can probably stop for sure now.

Mit

Is it normal for her skin to be all shiny like that?

Anyway, the existence pf those mental health care professionals, for me, strongly suggest massive overtimes.

m0re

Yeah, I guess when you have two consoles to program for and a simultaneous release date, you're gonna practically need two teams.

ibelli

400? Seems like a dangerous number to me. Managing a team like that must be a bitch. Maybe that's why they are taking that long.

Mental health care plan? Do Japanese even need that?

FlameEye

@JASONSPAZ1:

Going off topic here...
Isn't "Nuke the Fridge" the new term that replaced "Jump the shark"? Referencing the latest Indiana Jones flick.

Veridis_Quo

With the series taking it's first dip in the current big console water, I'm guessing that is what the hype is mostly about to see how it'll turn out. Also to see if it can outdo one of the best action games of last gen.

Kaizuden

@CartesianDualist: As they say, you must take risks to reap the rewards. Sony and Microsoft both take heavy losses on the hardware front, but it pays off in the long-run. XBL is still expanding and Blu-Ray adoption rates are higher than ever. Rest assured, Capcom knows what exactly they're doing -- this game is going to sell like hotcakes.

YHWHMystic

400 people on a single project? I can't believe that doesn't include testers, janitors, dentists, hookers, and pizza delivery boys. There is no reason to have that many people actually working on a single game.

There's a sweet spot for the number of employees working on a game, because once you reach a certain number keeping everyone on the same page and keeping things organized because ridiculous. Greater does not equal better; greater scares me.

UltimatePancakeSensation

My My, Isn't it wonderful to see the RE series still significant in 2008. I feel as though RE5 has NOT jumped the shark, and it will set the bar again like RE4 did with its over the shoulder view. YOU KNOW YOU CANT WAIT FOR THIS ONE!

JASONSPAZ1

"Our belief while developing Resident Evil 5 was that no detail was too small when it came to graphics."

Wait... what about gameplay? That could use some new elements too...

Nirolak

I often wish we had mental health care staff at my studio...

Griffen

I know this will probably please a lot of gamers but is it really good for Capcom financially? When companies spend more resources this generation than last generation but are getting less or the same in returns it's not going to be sustainable.

CartesianDualist

Somewhat unrelated: do we really need to see that shot of Sheva's ass every time someone on Kotaku posts about RE5? Maybe you know something I don't. Maybe the game is awful, and that screenshot is the only good thing about the entire game. I don't know. I'm just asking.

Gabexmosh

Can one of those 400 people work on the UI and get rid of those horrible, horrible icons please? Thanks. This game looks great, but the on screen UI has got to be changed. The ammo/health stuff is atrocious.

sircuddles

@Gabexmosh: Short answer? Yes.

00000000

@topraman517: You're lucky someone hasn't said something like the total staff employed at all Capcom branches aren't over nine thousand...

Xideo

It's been said already but: "when it came to graphics"? That sounds really, really bad.
Are 350 of those people Chinese workers doing textures and modelling nails? The obsession with graphics is getting to an absurd point.

EloraHRanma

Providing "mental health care to staff" and having mental health care staff are two different things. Anyway, it's a smart thing to do, if it is done in earnest and isn't just window dressing.

getbonus

@Gabexmosh: Better than Chris's ass or even "cough"cough" zombie ass.

nitromic

@YHWHMystic: Here's pics of the studio you refer to. [www.polyphony.co.jp]

Very nice indeed! The Spore team has one helluva nice place, too. Maxis, I should say. And by nice I mean fun. Reminds me of one those McDonald's playground things lol.

Mobus

@YHWHMystic: In the end, I guess it depends on which company you work for. Some treat you like slaves, and others feed you from a silver spoon.

YHWHMystic

@FlameEye: @m0re: Have you guys ever seen video tours of Polyphony Digital's studios? One word: paradise. Even if I wasn't getting paid overtime, I wouldn't mind working at a place like that.

YHWHMystic

If I had a company, mental health care means pretty female psychiatrists/paid temporary sexual companions, and lots of pizza.

ChiChi_BBQ

@FlameEye: Some people love doing their job, even if it's mentally or physically exhausting. Nothing great was ever achieved with minimal effort.

@m0re: Exactly.

YHWHMystic

@YHWHMystic: Indeed. Software development is mostly (if not completely) a mental endeavor. Companies that get this will be most likely concerned about the happiness of their employees (e.g. Google). Those that don't aren't doing much good to themselves or their employees.

You can't do great code if you're physically and mentally spent.

m0re

@YHWHMystic: Capcom =/ Polyphony.

Having such a nice workspace is the least they can do for their devs, assuming they pretty much live there. But that doesn't mean they are not overworked - they could still be, and a large amount of people will care, as shiny as their workplace is.

FlameEye

@nitromic: Does there have to be ass at all? Can't this game sell itself on gameplay merits? And if there does, what's so wrong with Chris' ass? Are you implying that only the tastes of male heterosexuals (and lesbians) matter, and that straight females and gay dudes are for the birds?

Sorry, I'm not actually trying to start a debate, but I got tired of having to see this shot every single time RE5 is brought up here.

Gabexmosh

@Mobus: Yeah, they got it all: an all-you-can-eat cafeteria, recreation rooms, a positive work environment with well-ventilated office spaces... What more could you ask for? (Besides a promotion, lol.) I hear Lucas Arts has a nice crib too!

YHWHMystic

400 people and they're still reusing RE4 animations.

Tenchuu

@Tenchuu: The alternative to reusing some RE4 animations would probably be that the zombies just try to kick you in the nuts instead of biting your neck. Or maybe they slap you, you know, with their nails forward, so it scratches and really stings.

jBusiness

"...just check out the credits of any big game."

So... Okami Wii didn't take anyone to make>!

dowingba

"offer mental health care to staff" well that's an odd cultural difference. US developers defiantly don't offer that.

Quicksilver4648

400?

King Leonitas would be jealous right about now.

seriously though, this game is looking sweet.

zanzibarlegend

Why don't they donate a few folks from that 400 to finish Street Fighter Turbo HD .

MarcusDeshaun

Isn't this more people working on a game than MGS4 now?

def PD

those pants are going to give her a rash, with all that running and zombie ass kicking. Leather pants are pretty, not functional

Bunn

"ONLY 400!? EA...SIA HAS AMASSED THE ARMIES OF THE EARTH AGAINST YOU, ATARIANS 3DREALMS'ems"

"Then we will fight in the 10 year eclipse."

OcelotSnake89

On other news, Duke Nukem Forever team is compromised of 3 people. That explains it.

Bunn

@GrandfatherParadox: BURN HERETIC

belo

It still looks like a rubbish knockoff of RE4.

GrandfatherParadox

@belo:

Is he really wrong though? A game with 400 souls on it should not have all the animation cycles from the last game still in it.

The statement that it's mostly to bump up the graphics also makes me worry for the industry.

yomachaser

I've been playing through RE:4 on PC. I'm almost done, it's a great game that I neglected to play years ago. I'm glad I downlo...bought it. Hopefully RE:5 includes the revolutionary "STRAFE" movement. I kid, you can already tell it's going to be a worthy purchase.

yargh

Mental health care staff? Good idea. Team Andromeda really could've benefited from that ...

[www.1up.com]

DARTH_TIGRIS

Yet blizzard cries about having to work to hard on WoW, yet won't hire more than 160 people to work on it...

phor11

Ha, everyone knows that an Army of Two is much more effective...lolwut.

Moar_pr0nz

300 of those ppl are outsourced haha

darktorns

Reminds me of the days when a big budget game meant 20 people working on it. Where are you Interplay and Sierra On-Line

generalsean

@Bunn: you mean "comprised"

neoraul20

And they couldn't spare a quarter or two of that to get some AAA efforts on the Wii while the other systems get two Bionic Commando games, Dark Void, Street Fighter IV, the subject's Resident Evil 5, on top of games like Lost Planet, Dead Rising, etc.?

questworld