Update: August 28, 2006
«©NCSX» Less than a year after Biohazard 4 was originally released in Japan, Capcom issues the first re-release of the game under the "Best" budget label. In Japan, notable Playstation games usually enjoy three lifetimes. Top shelf software titles enjoy up to four or five before they succumb to the rigors of time and market saturation.

The first lifetime is the initial release of the game at full price where ~100,00 to a few million copies are sold. The initial release is where the publisher hopes to make most of its return on investment. Nary six months (or thereabouts) later, the publisher submits the game for "the Best" collection which is Sony's budget banner for older but still saleable games. Other than Sony's standard fees and printing costs, Best games at Y2800 are pretty much pure profit - the development and marketing costs have been factored into the first printing of the game and product awareness is already out there. Should the publisher want to sow its oats for a third time, they'll normally release the game under its own in-house budget label.

To compel buyers to pick up Biohazard 4 Best, Capcom bundles a BGM OST CD with the game and a bonus DVD (no longer available) which celebrates the 10th Anniversary of Biohazard and the 5th Anniversary of Devil May Cry.
The chapters on the bonus DVD are as follows:

» Biohazard 5 preview
» Devil May Cry 4 preview
» Biohazard 4
» Biohazard Code Veronica
» Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition
» Weskers Report

Pricing for the Best version of Biohazard 4 is set at US$35 and all preorders will ship today. New orders are welcome.

NCS Game Notes
» The intro to the game recounts the Umbrella corporation's shenanigans in the Arklay mountains near Raccoon City. The sterilization of Raccoon City and how the US government stopped the actions of the Umbrella Corporation are also retold. Six years later, Leon is on a trip as a sort of bodyguard for the new president and his job is to find his missing daughter named Ashley Graham. While seated in the back seat of a car driven by local police - they have a chat that's tinged with a bit of rivalry. One of the agents takes a wizz at the side of the road and he seems to notice something about to approach him when he shakes it off, enters the car, and they all drive off.

» The trio approach a village and Leon goes on to investigate by himself. The policia aren't too willing to accompany him. Later, Ingrid Hunnigan contacts Leon by video phone and tells him that she'll be his contact. After that bit of conversation, Leon is shown hefting a gun with both hands and he walks into the village. Leon enters a house and encounters a guy tending a fireplace. The guy looks like Indio (played by Gian Maria Volonte) from the Spaghetti Western movies featuring Clint Eastwood. The guy grabs an axe and is about to whack Leon so it's time to aim and fire away. Three shots does him in. Later when Leon leaves the house, three locals armed with scythes and knives assault him but they're also simple cannon fodder since they sort of lumber around and aren't very smart. They are not zombies however. For most of the locals who attack with pitchforks and assorted farm equipment, three shots will usually put them down. A bullet to blow them back followed by a crushing roundhouse kick also seems to work.

» In one of the shacks, there's a woman who's been pitchforked through the head so that she hangs from a wall. Leon's comment when he sees her is, "Guess there's no sex discrimination here."

» When enemies are shot, they'll recoil and dance like the bullets were really smashing into their bodies. When Leon slashes with his knife, the targets will also scream and grip their wounded body parts. There are some gruesome reactions when Leon slices, dices, and performs his close range kick on the foes. Some bodies will bubble away on the ground once they've been put down.

» Before Leon enters the main portion of the village, he may take a look at what the villagers are doing. They've caught one of the policemen from earlier and have impaled him above a bristling bonfire. The bottom of his pants and his shoes are ablaze while lumbering villagers walk around carting stuff, pitchforking, and lumbering. The battle that ensues is fairly horrific even by our jaded standards.

View the back cover, a scan of the bonus DVD, and screenshots on the main NCSX website.

This document is ©NCSX 2006. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.