Capcom Unity, the publisher's direct to consumer marketing approach for their most recent games, has been a singular success, said Mark Beaumont, Capcom's Executive Vice President, Officer and Head of North America, South America and Europe consumer software publishing.

"Capcom Unity is escalating. In all three territories we have very dedicated fans who are passionate for our games," he said.

Beaumont said that the company plans to do more events like the ones they held for Street Fighter IV in the lead up to the game's release.

In February, the company held an event in Los Angeles to kick off their fighter. The event was held at the Geffen Contemporary @ Museum of Contemporary Art in LA and initially was only open to those invited, though the day before the event, Capcom announced they were opening it to everyone. It was, they said, a huge success.

"For the Street Fighter IV event we invited 1,000 people and 4,000 showed up," Beaumont said and the people who came to the event went on to evangelize the game.

"The world-wide success of Street Fighter IV was driven by our community," he said.

Capcom also plans to work on retaining gamers once they get them to buy their games by augmenting their titles with "additional content". The idea, Beaumont said, is to keep gamers engaged with their games as long as possible.

Street Fighter IV and Bionic Commando will hit the PC this July, with Resident Evil 5 coming to the platform later this year.

Street Fighter IV will feature online play, higher screen resolutions and three new shaders based on the artistic trailers released in 2008.

Bionic Commando will support higher resolutions, remappable controls, including mouse and keyboard support, and support for DirectX 9 and DirectX 10.

Resident Evil will support NVIDIA's new GeForce 3D vision technology. Playing in 3D will require 3D vision glasses.

That's right, 3D zombies!!!

This is it, mostly, the final day of stories coming out of Capcom's annual Captivate press event.

Here's what we had for you today:
Dead Rising 2's Protagonist Will Have a Non-Killing Skill
Bionic Commando Multiplayer Preview: Can't Get the Swing of Things
SCEE: Sony PSP Line-Up Hasn't Met Expectations
Capcom Talks MadWorld, Hardcore Wii Gaming
Street Fighter IV Preview: PC Fighting
Big Game Hunting: The Schwag of Monster Hunter
Capcom Goes West

Don't forget to check out Day One and Two as well.

At last week's Captivate 09 event, Capcom handed out sealed packs of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite freebies that included a little Playstation Portable case, a figure, two buttons and a sticker. Pretty cool. What's cooler? The two Monster Hunter 5th Anniversary beer coasters found at the bar the night before? Way cooler.

The PR folks on hand at the giveaway admonished all attendees not to sell them on eBay because they would know where they came from. So go look right now and see how much they're up to. We'll be giving ours away during the annual Child's Play fundraiser.

What Is It?
Street Fighter IV built for Games For Windows — Live

What We saw
I played multiple matches against other writers, staying until I was beaten and then stalking off to sulk.

How Far Along Is It?
Appears to be completed.

What Needs Improvement?
Online: While I'm told the online portion of Street Fighter IV will include all of the features found in the console versions, it won't include anything new. The thing is, this is running on a PC, so why not include a bit more, like some way for gamers to hangout and watch matches online while waiting to fight? Capcom says they are looking into it.

What Should Stay The Same?
Controls: The controls feel identical to the console version. Playing with a Street Fighter fight pad made it impossible for me to tell the difference between the console and PC versions.

Filters: It's a little thing, but the three new filters you can slap onto the game, thanks to shaders, give the game a neat new look without making it play or feel like a different game.

Graphics: The game looks great, still, and moves fluidly with no lag at all while playing matches locally.

Final Thoughts
I already struggle with the notion of playing a Street Figher game on a console and enjoying it, now a PC? It's almost too much for a hardcore arcade fan to stand. But the thing is, there is no reason now not to play on your PC, the game isn't just identical, it's a bit better thanks to those sexy filters.

"I personally have no fear (about sales of Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles), Resident Evil is a massive brand on a worldwide scale and you can't really compare it to MadWorld," he said. "Personally I do like MadWorld, I think it is a very unique game. I think we should be happy to be able to play a game like this. It's kind of disappointing that it didn't sell."

Kawata added that some of the design staff or MadWorld used to work for him and that they're friends and wished them the best.

Resident Evil, Kawata, said, is such an established franchise that even casual gamers know the name.

"Most if not all gamers know the Resident Evil name," he said. "It's that powerful a game.

"These games have been around for ten years, there are also the movies as well which also expands that to reach casual gamers."

Kawata said that in Japan the franchise is so successful that when a television station does a story on it their viewership rises signiicantly.

"I've had TV stations and channels thank me because their viewership goes up," he said. "So it is a very powerful brand name."

And MadWorld isn't the only example of hardcore gaming on the Wii, Kawata pointed out. Last year, he said, his favorite game was Dead Space and now it's heading for the Wii as another light gun game.

"With that game coming out we feel it is going to be a very nice competitor, help us push our limits and raise the bar for light gun games.

"There is potential in these types of games,"

While Resident Evil maybe a hardcore franchise, Kawata says he thinks The Darkside Chronicles will also reach casual gamers.

"The Wii has a lot of casual gamers and we didn't want to leave anyone behind."

"After 15 memorable years, I'm going to retire at the end of this month," said Reeves. "It has been a true pleasure working at Playstation, pushing the boundaries of the gaming industry."

Reeves said he decided to speak at Capcom's annual event because of their long-standing relationship with the publisher.

"I'm here talking to you because of the relationship between Capcom and Sony that has been cultivated to create some of the greatest games over the years and it's a relationship we will continue to cultivate."

Reeves says that the relationship between Capcom and Playstation goes back to 1994, the year the Playstation launched.

"Against everyone's advice, we created a disc-based console and launched it into the powerhouse of Nintendo," he said. "This relationship has continued through to the Playstation 2 and to the latest generation with the Playstation Portable and Playstation 3."

Reeves said that it is this relationship between the two companies that brought him to Capcom's event that night to give what would be his last official presentation to the press.

Most surprising that evening, was Reeves self-deprecating comments about the Playstation Portable

"We know that our own Sony line-up has not been up to expectations, but tonight is a prime example of how that has been rectified," he said. "Monster Hunter Freedom Unite sold 3 million units in Japan… showing what can happen when you bring a top quality product to the Playstation Portable."

Reeves wrapped up his short presentation by expressing his pleasure at working in the industry for so long.

"The industry has changed beyond recognition throughout the 15 years I've worked in it," he said. "It will always be an industry I will be proud to be a part of."

This modern remake, made 3D, certainly nails the frustration, but does it reward as well. Not so much in multiplayer.

What Is It?
A third-person action remake of the classic 80s side-scroller. recently reworked to tweak the look of the game.

What We saw
LAN multiplayer deathmatches, an hour's worth.

How Far Along Is It?
Near completion.

What Needs Improvement?
Craw, Not Craw: The only thing that distinguishes Bionic Commando from a myriad of other third-person shooters is the giant metal claw that Nathan "RAD" Spencer sports in place of a fleshy arm. But the only Claw attack open for use in the multiplayer sessions we played was the zip kick. To do this you grab your opponent with the claw and then double jump. Not always an easy task. Unfortunately, it does almost no damage. When I asked a Capcom rep about this they agreed and suggested it should be used as more of a finishing move. So why bother including it?

Cover, What Cover?: Bionic Commandos, apparently, have no use of weakling cover systems and those that use them. Instead they stride into battle, or better still, swing into battle, Tarzan-like. Unfortunately, this really strips away a lot of the tactics and nuance found in other multiplayer shooters.

Aiming: It was hard to put my finger on it, or metal claw, but the aiming was a little too slippery for my liking. I struggled to get the sort of precise aim I'm used to being able to achieve in other shooters.

What Should Stay The Same?
Swinging: The claw maybe pretty much useless as a weapon, but it's pretty nifty as a means of transportation. Swinging around ruins, scaling buildings, even zipping across terrain, is all pretty simple with the relatively intuitive controls. It also makes headshots a heck of a lot harder to land.

Big Maps: The maps we played on were huge, giant landscapes filled with towering buildings, train tracks, puddles of deadly water. Good thing too, the claw makes your character very fast, so anything small would have felt painfully limiting.

Final Thoughts
Bionic Commando multiplayer is at best a diversion. There's really not a lot of substance there and even less to seperate it from the myriad of other shooters on the market or coming to market. The worse part is the missed opportunity of the claw as weapon. The only reason, only reason, I want to play this game is to kill people with a metal, telescoping arm topped with a claw. And that's been watered down to the point of near uselessness.

In the interview I talk to Inafune about how the original game leaned so heavily on Frank West's character and profession to shape not just the story, but some of the game mechanics.

Inafune also talks about what other things Chuck Greene can do, specifically, he says there will some other specific thing that Greene can do that doesn't involve killing things to level up. Video work? Weapon crafting? He doesn't say.

You might notice that after the first question I go from sounding like Crecente to sounding like a large Russian man. That's because the interview was really set up for a large Russian man and they squeezed me in at the last minute. Because I sort of felt bad about taking up someone else's interviewing time, I told the other reporter I would only ask one question. The first one.

Here's the breakdown:
Spyborgs In Action
Dark Void Preview: Break Neck Speed
Ace Attorney Investigations Trailer
Resident Evil Archives Preview: Survival Frustration
Spyborgs Preview: Why Waggle
Dead Rising 2: Handyman? Cameraman?
Fate: Unlimited Codes Preview: Fight
Lost Planet 2 Lets You Spank Your Own Custom Ass
The Three Filters of Street Fighter IV PC

Playing Street Fighter IV last week using a Street Fighter Fight Pad plugged into a laptop made it easy to forget I wasn't playing the game on a console. Despite the potential, not even the online play has been tweaked, according to Capcom. In fact, there was only one noticeable difference between the console versions and the PC one.

The PC game uses shaders to add three new filters that can be applied to the game's graphics: Watercolor, Brushstroke and Poster.

If you check out our gallery you can see the difference between the basic filter and the three new ones.

Watercolor seems to diffuse the color a bit, adding a slight haze to everything.

Poster makes the colors a bit more vibrant and darkens the outlines of the art.

Brushstroke appears to be the most extreme, adding heavy outlines to the characters and almost saturating some of the colors.

Because the filters were created with the magic of shaders, Capcom says they won't be coming to the console versions, not even as DLC.

"We prepared a very detailed customization system that will allow you to create your own character," said Capcom's Jun Takeuchi. "So you can create your own character and put it together in the game and you yourself become the main character of the game."

Lost Planet 2 allows you to select your character's head model, body model, back pack and legs. You can also make the character a man or a woman.

"Every one of the parts will have many dozens of variations in them," Takeuchi said. "You can also change the color of each part."

As he spoke the character quickly slipped between an eclectic, and sometimes bizarre, selection of body parts including a square helmet with spikes, what appeared to be a fully enclosed helmet based on a World War I trench helmet and a few unadorned heads.

The female body types includes quite a few revealing outfits such as a bikini with chains wrapped around the woman's bust. When the character moved her body noticeably reacted to the gravity.

The game also supports quite a few customized weapons, Takeuchi said, which can be placed in the right or left hand of the avatar. The weapons are divided into categories like normal, gun, disk and support.

Finally gamers will be able to assign gestures to their characters.

"You can have standard or flashy poses," he said, while the female avatar started grinding and humping the air and then began to smack her own ass on the television behind him. "The developers will make sure that the gestures and poses don't affect the game's rating."

But it needs more work.

What Is It?
Cartoon, mini-game sporting action Wii title, overhauled with a new grittier look and heavy brawling button-mashing. The game has a trio of cybernetically-enhanced super heroes brawling their way through 35 stages.

What We Saw
A sizable chunk of a single level, ending with the appearance of an over-sized boss.

How Far Along Is It?
The build we played is two to three weeks old and still in the pre-alpha stages. It's due out later this year.

What Needs Improvement?
Waggle: It's in there. They mostly avoided motion control in the game, sticking to good-old-fashioned button mashing, but when the motion rears its head, it's ugly. The on-screen symbols for what to do and when to do it are confusing and the timing sloppy and far too forgiving. These special attacks need much work.

Spy Vision: The game allows you to use the remote like a flashlight, shining it all over the screen looking for things to "pull" into the world with a flick and then, typically, destroy for stuff. Really not necessary. Lose it.

What Should Stay The Same?
Aesthetic: Mostly because I like that word. But also because the games new look is heaps better than the Saturday morning fare they were showing around last year. Now the look of the game matches its tongue-in-cheek, occasionally off-color humor.

Button Controls: Thumbstick to move. C button for one attack, B for another. A to jump, Z to block. It's all fairly simple when motion is left out of it. I think the Wii can stand a solid button-masher and I think it doesn't need a single motion control to do it.

Fun: The game isn't really trying to do anything complicated, just to do it well. What I played of the game, motion control frustration aside, was quite a bit of fun. I'd play this game. I'd buy this game.

Co-Op: The game's cooperative play is just what the Wii needs. Playing with a friend allows you to tag-team and string together attacks. Playing alone allows you to slip between the three characters seamlessly.

Final Thoughts
Spyborgs is a graphically impressive game. It also delivers on basic game play, so why much all of that up by forcing in some Wii controls that I can't imagine anyone really wants. If the game can either fix or ditch the motion and waggle, I'll be mostly sold on Spyborgs.

What Is It?
Resident Evil Archives is the original Resident Evil remake released on the GameCube in 2002, which featured new rooms, areas, items and creatures not seen in the 1996 Playstation original.

What We Saw
I watched the introduction and ran around in the mansion for a bit.

How Far Along Is It?
It's complete.

What Needs Improvement?
Controls and Camera: That horrid combination of clumsy controls and awkward fixed camera is back, reminding me that I didn't, in fact, love everything about the original Resident Evil. What a buzz kill. I know it's a port, but couldn't they have at least tried to tweak controls.

Stand and Spin: Yes, I know I'm beating a zombie horse, but man does it suck having to spin slowly toward a target, remaining rooted to the spot, as you try to draw a bead on them and blow their heads off.

What Should Stay The Same?
The Story: Classic survival horror fare. This is the original, and it hold up well.

The Enemies: The zombies shamble, the bosses come back, the dogs terrify. I still love the mix of enemies in this game.

Pick a Path: For those who haven't ever played Resident Evil, you're in for a frustrating treat. Get used to the controls and you'll want to play and replay through this title, checking out all ten different endings.

Final Thoughts
It's nice to see such a classic appear on a platform that has the highest potential for a new fan base. There are more than 50 million Wii owners out there, and I'd bet plenty of them have never even heard of Resident Evil. Too bad they didn't fix the camera and controls though, I found it too frustrating to replay. Perhaps I'm spoiled.

Now take a gander at the trailer.

With a news-filled mini-press conference, and nine games to show off, along with some developers and producers on hand to do interviews, I came away from the event with enough fodder for more than two dozen stories. A little less than half of them went up today.

While the publisher paid for our trip, they didn't pay for our coverage. Here's what ran today:

First Full Dead Rising 2 Trailer
Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 Confirmed With HD, Online Support, Demo Coming
Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 In Play
What Ails The World's Biggest Gaming Platform?
Dead Rising 2: 7,000 Zombies and Plenty of Chainsaws
Lost Planet 2 Demo Announced, PS3, PC Versions Possible
Lost Planet 2: Shadows of Shadow of the Colossus
Ace Attorney Investigations Hits North American DS This Winter
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Promises Next-Gen Graphics For Wii
Fate: Unlimited Codes Goes Digital Distribution Only For PSP
Dark Void: Dogfighting Without the Planes
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite PSP Bundle, Demo Announced
Spyborgs Moves Away From Cartoon and Toward Ratchet and Clank
Monumental Games Working on Next MotoGP

Capcom says that the new, yet to be titled, MotoGP will take the series in a "totally new and exciting direction, whilst remaining faithful to the world's premier motorcycle championships." So I guess rocket launchers are right out.

"We're working very closely with Capcom to take the MotoGP franchise to new heights," said Rik Alexander, head of Monumental Games. "No-one would question the experience of our team - what's amazing is the sheer energy which they're bringing to the project. Like Capcom, they want this to surpass everything that's come before, and so far they're very much on track."

More details on the new game, developed under the exclusive, five-year agreement Capcom has with Doma Sports, is expected "shortly."

"Monster Hunter Freedom Unite sold 3 million units in Japan, showing what can happen when you bring a quality product to the Playstation Portable," David Reeves, president and chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe, said. "We feel we can attract this sort of audience elsewhere with this game if we can get them to play it ad-hoc."

So Sony plans to bring a demo of the title to both UMD and for digital distribution sometime before the game hits North America on June 23, he said. He added that Sony will also be releasing a "Monster Hunter bundle" in Europe, but didn't detail what exactly that would entail or if it would be released elsewhere.

Air Tight Games, a studio made up of the core team behind Xbox' Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, played through a chunk of the game for us last week. Showing a level about halfway through Dark Void.

In it the lead character, Will, already has his flight helmet and jet pack. The level opens as he zips into a canyon that has been fortified with an alien ship of sorts. UFOs fly around blasting at him as he tries to take down a number of mounted guns.

After spending a few minutes pinging the massive guns with his own weapon, Will flips over, flying straight at a UFO. A quick button push and he's standing on the floating disk, trying to pull up some of the protective metal armor. This skyjacking amounts to quick mini-game of avoiding gun fire while trying to disable the ship.

When he succeeds, a robot of sorts stands up and Will boots it from the craft, taking control of the UFO. The developers point out, rather enigmatically, that the game has no robots, only vehicles.

Using the ships heavier guns and explosive fire, Will makes short work of the guns.

After spending the entire opening sequence in flying combat it is a little bewildering to see Will flying straight for a platform filled with barricades and enemies. As he approaches the developer cuts his jet pack and Will lands on his feet, quickly running to cover.

The game seems to shift to a straight-up, though admirably solid shooter. Will ducks in and out of cover as he takes down his enemies.

After working his way inside the building, mostly through classic shooter strategy, Will is faced with an interesting new dilemma: He needs to work his way straight up through a tunnel of slowly turning platforms. One option is to aim carefully, hit the gas on your jet pack and hope for the best. This often results in a flattened body. Another approach is to use vertical cover.

To use vertical cover, the developer has Will look up and then presses the cover button when one of those platforms rotate to directly above him. Will hops into the air and grabs the platform, clinging to its underside as the view suddenly shifts making it appear you are looking down a hallway, rather than up a tunnel.

Will can then scramble back and forth on this shelf of metal, ducking behind it as he fires, or he can climb on top of it resetting the view until he jumps up to the next shelf. It's disorienting, but it appears to work.

After the demo, the developers said that currently their plans are for the game to be single player only but that if "people clamber at the gates for multiplayer jetpack goodness" they will look into it.

Dark Void hasn't yet been dated, but is in development for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

The game takes place in a Japanese town where seven pairs of Masters and Servants compete for the Holy Grail. The game includes 17 characters, each with their own story mode making for more than 250 missions, all of which play as straight-up 2D-fighting matches.

The fighting styles, moves and special attacks of the characters are all built around "accessible and familiar Capcom fighting systems," the publisher says.

The game, developed by Eighting (the team behind Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom), will also support Ad-hoc versus play and is due out this summer.