Dead Rising

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Dead Rising
North American box art
Developer(s)	Capcom Production Studio 1
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Designer(s)	Director Yoshinori Kawano Producer Keiji Inafune
Writer(s)	Makoto Ikehara
Composer(s)	Hideki Okugawa Marika Suzuki
Engine	MT Framework with Havok Physics
Platform(s)	Xbox 360
Release date(s)	NA August 8, 2006 EU September 8, 2006[1] JP September 28, 2006
Genre(s)	Survival horror, Action adventure, Sandbox, RPG
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	BBFC: 18[2] CERO: Z ESRB: M OFLC: MA15+ PEGI: 18+
Media	DVD
Input methods	Gamepad

Dead Rising is an action-adventure, survival horror video game with RPG elements developed by Capcom and produced by Keiji Inafune. Originally developed as an exclusive title for the Xbox 360 video game console, a Wii console remake was released in February 2009 under the name Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop.^[3] Dead Rising was released on August 8, 2006 in North America and in Japan on September 28, 2006.^[4][5] The game was a commercial success. It has been introduced into the Xbox 360 "Platinum Hits" lineup, and a cell phone version has recently been released. A sequel, entitled Dead Rising 2, is being developed by Blue Castle Games alongside many of the previous developers of Dead Rising. The game is set to release sometime in 2010.

Dead Rising's story centers on Frank West, a photojournalist who ends up trapped in a shopping mall in the fictional town of Willamette, Colorado, that is infested with zombies. Frank must defend himself from zombie attacks, rescue survivors, contend with crazed psychopaths, and stay alive while still attempting to uncover the truth behind the incident. The player controls Frank as he explores the mall, using any available object as a weapon. The player can complete several main and optional missions to earn Prestige Points (PP) and gain special abilities. The game is designed as a sandbox game and features several endings, depending on the decisions the player makes along the way.

Development

The main influences for the game were zombie movies from the 1960s and 1970s, especially those of George A. Romero. Despite its similarities to George Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead it is in no way related. On the cover it states that that the game is in no way related to or authorized by George A. Romero. Keiji Inafune wanted to show a more comical view of zombies rather than the serious view portrayed in the Resident Evil series.^{[citation needed]}

A playable demo was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace for download on the Xbox 360 on August 4, 2006.^[6][7]

On March 30, 2007, a compact disc soundtrack featuring music written by Hideki Okugawa and Marika Suzuki, was released in a 2,000-copy limited edition. It was packaged with a T-shirt that showcased Frank, Isabella, and an outline of the mall.

Character design

Keiji Inafune, designer of Mega Man and Dead Rising, wanted the main character Frank West to be different from the usual Japanese main character. Instead of having a young and beautiful protagonist, he wanted an everyman that looked average rather than beautiful or ugly. ^[8]

Frank's default attire includes a black jacket with a white button-up shirt, green khaki pants, and brown loafers. Frank's appearance can be altered throughout the game by visiting the various stores of the mall. These range from changing into business suits and dresses to donning different glasses and even children's masks. Many of Dead Rising's costumes are references to other Capcom games such as Frank's unlockable Arthur's boxers from Ghosts 'n Goblins, Mega Man X–style armor, and a Servbot head.

Gameplay

The main objective of the game is to remain alive inside the zombie-infested mall for at least three days, after which help will arrive via chartered helicopter. Time in the game passes twelve times faster than real-time (i.e. one day in-game is two hours in real time); therefore, the game automatically concludes after six hours of gameplay when time runs out. In addition to this primary objective, the player is free to choose whether or not to pursue any of the game's secondary objectives such as rescuing survivors or defeating psychopaths. As Frank West, the player attempts to uncover the truth behind the zombie epidemic by completing "case files" that reveal the central game plot as they are completed. Completing case files by accomplishing specific tasks or by being "in the right place at the right time" reveal cutscenes which serve as the story's exposition.

Dead Rising does not prevent players from ignoring all missions, since missions are not the sole focus of the game. Once players have passed a certain point at the beginning of the game, they have complete free rein and can do whatever they please – save or kill other survivors; wander aimlessly through the mall, sampling food and trying on clothes; or simply kill zombies – just so long as, by the end of the game, they have reached the helipad in order to be able to catch the exit helicopter. Several of the game's 50 Achievements even reward this method of play.

The setting of Dead Rising, the fictional Willamette Parkview Mall, is modeled after a stereotypical American mall with multiple floors and several themed sections. The mall includes a roller coaster, supermarket, movie theater, park, and an underground maintenance tunnel system (all filled with zombies). There are six main sections to the mall, each with a variety of shops, each filled with objects which can be used as weapons or to improve Frank's health.

Electronic Gaming Monthly reported that there can be up to 800 zombies on the screen at once.^[9] During the day the zombies are sluggish and weak, but at night they become more active, gain a significant increase in toughness, sport glowing red eyes and increase in numbers.^[10]

Encounters with surviving human characters

Scoops serve as optional side quests for the game. They are different from Cases, which are the main storyline quests, and are linear (meaning that if the player fails to complete a certain Case in time, they will be unable to complete all subsequent cases). Scoops are non-linear, though most to all are timed, and completely optional. They are assigned to the player by answering transceiver calls from Otis the Janitor, who is watching the mall via security cameras. Scoops will usually direct the player to a location in the mall to investigate another survivor of the zombie attack. These people are either Innocent Victims, whom Frank can escort to the security room for points, or Psychopaths, who are insane and must be killed. Eventually, all survivors, innocent and psychotic, will disappear from the game, presumably because they were overpowered by zombies (this does not include people that the player has saved, or characters essential to the storyline).

There are 49 survivors that can be located throughout the mall. There is no penalty for ignoring their pleas for help, or killing them. Saving them earns the player points, and if they are killed, either by the player, zombies, or a psychopath, a picture of their corpse may be taken for additional points.

Most of the psychopaths are either hiding out in the mall after committing some villainous deed, or were driven insane by the horrors of the zombie outbreak. They include a paranoid neo-Confederate gun shop manager, a Vietnam War veteran experiencing a war flashback as the result of zombies killing his granddaughter, a pyromaniac, a sadistic police woman, a murderous cult whose leader sacrifices "nonbelievers", a grocery store manager gone mad, a mischevious young photographer, a huge butcher, a father and his two sons using sniper rifles, and an insane chainsaw-juggling clown. Some are found by chance, others by Otis notifying Frank of some type of disturbance. After a certain part in the game, escaped convicts in a military jeep patrol the park, making passage through it more dangerous. Out of all of the psychopaths only one (or two if you spare him) will show remorse for what they did.

Experience system

Dead Rising incorporates an experience system that allows Frank to improve his offensive and defensive capabilities as the game progresses. By taking photographs of different situations in gameplay the player can earn "Prestige Points", a form of experience points that allows the player to increase Frank's combat abilities. Photos are automatically evaluated and assigned a genre: either, horror, outtakes, erotica, or drama (although some photos are assigned no genre). These points are also gained by helping survivors, killing zombies, or other minor actions within the game, such as riding the mall's roller coaster. Certain milestones may also be rewarded, such as "1000 zombies killed" or "Perfect Photo". Many attacks that Frank can learn are based on those used in professional wrestling. One new skill or ability is sometimes awarded when Frank gains a new level.

Should the player start a new game, all experience progression the player has already made can be carried over to the new game. In that way, the player may choose to ignore the plot completely and gain more Prestige Points to level up and use in a later game.

Weapons

Frank attacks zombies with a 2x4.

Dead Rising is notable for the hundreds of weapons that the player can find in the mall and use against the zombies. There are over 250 items that can be used as weapons, ranging from powerful to near-useless.^[11] Weapons will break down or run out of ammunition with use and be discarded, but certain weapons can be reused after breaking down. For example, a push broom can break in two, leaving the wooden staff to be used as a spear; or a mannequin, which breaks into five usable parts, such as the arms, legs, or torso. Others can be changed by the environment, such as the frying pan, which can be heated on a stove to both increase damage and gain access to a special move. The player can also lift larger items like benches or cash registers that can be used to smash foes or be thrown at them. These items are not considered part of the player's inventory, as the player cannot store the item and it will be dropped if the player selects a different weapon from his/her inventory.

Many of the more useless weapons in the game exist purely for humorous effect, such as a toy Megabuster, from Capcom's Megaman X, that shoots tennis balls, or a glowing plastic Light Saber that the player can acquire in the mall's movie theater. Upon unlocking certain difficult Achievements, lethal versions of these weapons become unlocked for the player's use.

Some strategic elements are present in the game. Certain books from the mall's bookstores will increase the durability of a weapon or the effectiveness of a health item in the player's inventory. Certain foods can be cooked by various appliances found in the mall to increase their effectiveness, and players may also combine two food or food-related items in blenders found throughout the mall to produce one of seven different "Juices", which provide temporary effects like invulnerability and boosts in speed, but one juice, the "Randomizer," gives you an upset stomach, making you vulnerable.

Game modes and save system

Dead Rising features three modes of play:

• 72 Hour Mode: Frank has three days to solve the mystery of the zombie outbreak. This is the main mode of play.
• Overtime Mode: An extra day that wraps up the events of 72 Hour mode. Unlocked by fully completing the story and getting the 'A' ending in 72 hour mode.
• ∞ (Infinity) Mode: A sandbox mode where Frank must last as long as he can. The biggest difference is that Frank can now die of hunger, with the health bar depleting by one every 100 seconds to represent this. Food is now limited and the transceiver, some watch functions, and most importantly the save system are disabled. Everyone, including survivors, are now enemies (who drop character-related supplies upon their deaths) and they all fight each other for the food they hold in order to survive. The game continues until Frank's inevitable demise and is unlocked by finishing Overtime Mode.

Dead Rising has an unusual save system: only one game-in-progress can be saved per memory device per Xbox 360 profile. In these cases, Dead Rising allows players to save their current level and status and restart the game from the beginning as a more powerful player. The system is a deliberate game mechanic, borrowed from the Capcom RPG Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter; the two games share some development team members. The save system was implemented to give players a sense of responsibility for their actions when making various decisions throughout the game.^[12]

Plot

The game focuses on the exploits of Frank West, a photojournalist investigating why the fictional town of Willamette, Colorado has been sealed off by the Colorado Army National Guard. Frank is dropped on top of the city's mall by helicopter; he tells the pilot, Ed DeLuca, to return in 72 hours. Upon entering the mall, Frank finds zombies mobbing the front entrance, eventually being let in by a panicked older woman looking for her dog. A Homeland Security officer named Brad urges everyone to retreat to the security room. Frank is the only one to reach the room with Brad and upon entering, the janitor, Otis Washington, welds the door shut. Brad then leaves the security room via the air ducts. Jessie, also of Homeland Security, recognizes an old man she identifies as Dr. Barnaby in one of Frank's photos, but neither Brad nor Jessie are willing to share what they know. After receiving a transceiver and map from Otis in order to be kept informed of the mall's events, Frank returns to the mall through the air ducts. He encounters survivors who need his assistance to the security room, as well as other people driven to madness by the zombie infestation, known as Psychopaths.

As the story unfolds, Frank and Brad have a series of violent encounters with Carlito, a mysterious man, while Frank continues to come across a beautiful woman named Isabella. Frank and Brad are eventually able to bring Barnaby and later, Isabella to the security room. Isabella reveals she is Carlito's sister and that Barnaby was the head of an American research laboratory in the fictional Central American city of Santa Cabeza, the hometown of Carlito and Isabella. Barnaby, however, suddenly attacks Jessie and begins to show signs of zombification. When Frank questions him, he confesses that the research facility was attempting to find methods of mass-producing cattle, but instead, Barnaby and his team genetically engineered a wasplike insect that would turn living organisms into zombies by stinging to inject a number of eggs, which quickly hatch into parasitic larvae, into the victim's bloodstream; "zombification" occurs when one such larva fully develops within the brainstem, killing the host and taking control of its body. After one of the Queen insects escaped and infected the town of Santa Cabeza, the US government sent a special forces team in to wipe out the entire city. The massacre was covered up under the pretenses that it was a raid on drug trade operations. Outraged over the slaughter of his people and home, Carlito released these insects in Willamette to obtain revenge. After Barnaby reveals the true nature of the infection he becomes a zombie himself, but is shot in the head by Brad before he can harm Frank.

The zombie outbreak in Willamette is only the tip of the iceberg; as Isabella later explains, Carlito has much bigger plans. Hidden beneath the mall are five bombs that when detonated will propel immature queen larvae into the stratosphere, making a worldwide zombie pandemic a possibility. Frank is able to disarm the bombs, but Brad is turned into a zombie while pursuing Carlito. Frank and the remaining survivors turn their attention towards escaping to safety. Isabella reveals that Carlito has a hideout in the mall containing a laptop full of information, as well as a jamming device preventing Jessie from calling for outside help. Jessie tracks Carlito to an underground meat processing plant via the security cameras and Frank rescues him from an insane butcher, but is unable to acquire the laptop password from Carlito before he dies from his wounds. However, Carlito's dying request is to give Isabella his locket which helps her figure out the laptop password and deactivate the jamming device.

Jessie places a call for help, only to be told that another cleanup mission has been authorized instead; special forces soldiers arrive in the mall shortly thereafter, killing all zombies and survivors to cover up the incident. Frank makes his way back to the security room, only to find it empty, save for two dead soldiers killed by Jessie, now zombified from Barnaby's earlier attack. A note reveals that Otis has commandeered a helicopter and flown himself and any survivours that Frank had brought back to the security room to safety (the survivors list after the game's A Ending shows all those you rescued managed to escape from Willamette). After avoiding capture by the special forces soldiers, Frank makes his way back to Carlito's hideout and asks Isabella to come with him to the helipad; she refuses. Frank makes his way back to the helipad to meet Ed. Ed, who had landed his helicopter on a near by rooftop, was watching the mall's helipad to see if Frank would arrive. He takes off to pick him up once he appears but a zombie who found its way onto the helicopter when he was waiting attacks Ed, causing him to crash the helicopter into the middle of the mall's park killing him in the process. The game seemingly ends as Frank slumps to his knees in defeat, doing nothing to avoid the small group of zombies approaching him.

Overtime mode

Still on the helipad, Frank is saved by Isabella, who shoots a zombie just as it is about to bite him. Frank passes out; he comes to in Carlito's hideout, where Isabella tells him that he may be infected, giving Frank just 24 hours before he becomes a zombie. However, Isabella believes she may be able to manufacture a cure from various items found in the mall, prompting Frank to scavenge for them. With the items Frank finds Isabella is unable to manufacture a cure, but instead comes up with a symptomatic treatment which will temporarily prevent Frank from becoming a zombie. While accessing Carlito's laptop they discover documents suggesting that he has placed 50 similarly treated, larvae-infected children with foster parents across the country.

Turning towards efforts to escape, Frank discovers a tunnel underneath the park, uncovered by Ed's helicopter crash. The tunnel is packed with zombies, but with some more items gathered by Frank, Isabella is able to create a pheromone which repels them. But there is not enough pheromone for two people, so the two of them must hold hands while pushing their way through the zombies to the end of the tunnel. Frank overpowers two Special Forces soldiers guarding the end of the tunnel and commandeers their vehicle to escape. They are intercepted by a tank, which overturns their vehicle. The special forces leader, Brock, emerges and reveals that he was behind the original cleanup operation in Santa Cabeza. Frank jumps atop the tank, engages Brock in hand-to-hand combat and eventually knocks him into a mob of zombies surrounding the tank. Frank then realises that Isabella is still trapped on top of the Jeep, with Zombies closing in, and no way for him to get to her, prompting him to scream into the sky as the game ends. The epilogue states that Frank managed to escape Willamette to uncover the incident, forcing the government to admit partial responsibility for the livestock research program. Isabella's fate is unclear, and the confirmation of Carlito's foster children plan was never proven. However, the game ends on the quote: "And yet he complained that his belly was not full." (A slight misquotation from the English nursery rhyme Robin the Bobbin, a poem about a glutton who eats people)

Infinite mode

This mode is only unlockable by beating overtime mode. In this mode, Frank's goal is to survive as long as possible in the mall; he is unable to take photos or save in this mode, and all survivors and psychopaths are now enemies. Frank's health depletes at a rate of one unit per 100 seconds in this mode, meaning that he can die of hunger if he does not find adequate food. Food does not respawn in this mode, but can be found at certain locations or by killing psychopaths and survivors that spawn at set times and locations throughout the mall. The longest survival times are posted on an Xbox Live ranking board. There are achievements for surviving five and seven days, which also unlock costumes and a new weapon for use in the other modes. As each day in game takes about two real world hours, unlocking all achievements requires 14 hours of continuous game play (though the game can be paused).

Characters

Frank West

• Frank West (voiced by T.J. Rotolo): The protagonist of Dead Rising, Frank is an overly zealous freelance photographer and photojournalist, who has covered wars. He originally came to Willamette for the "scoop of a lifetime", thinking that the incident was a simple riot. Throughout the game Frank attempts to uncover the truth behind the zombie outbreak by investigating recent events and questioning the people he encounters. Normally an "Average Joe", Frank is forced to take on the role of hero and rescue the many people trapped within various sections of the mall. Frank has been confirmed as a playable character in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars, as well as a stage based on the Willamette Mall.
• Isabella Keyes (voiced by Kim Mai Guest): The younger sister of Carlito. Very little is known about her, but she worked at Dr. Barnaby's laboratories in Santa Cabeza as a medical technician. She initially works against Frank and the others, but later chooses to aid them in stopping her brother.
• Carlito Keyes (voiced by Alex Fernandez): The older brother of Isabella. Carlito tries to kill Frank and Brad at every turn, and is behind the outbreak in Willamette. Most of the game is spent trying to uncover the motivation of and story behind Carlito and his connection to the zombies.
• Brad Garrison (voiced by T. J. Storm): A DHS agent who reluctantly fights alongside Frank throughout the story. He assumes the responsibility of trying to locate Dr. Barnaby early in the game. At first he is uneasy to be around a member of the press and even goes so far as to stereotype Frank as a crooked paparazzi. However, he soon grows to trust Frank. It is while Frank is disposing of Carlito's bombs that Brad and Carlito have their final showdown, and Brad is thrust alone into the maintenance tunnel among thousands of zombies. Upon searching for Brad immediately after disposing of the bombs, Frank finds him mortally wounded and watches him transform into a zombie.
• Jessica McCarney (voiced by Laura Napoli): Brad's rookie partner. She is charged with watching the monitors for information on the people responsible for the outbreak. Like Brad, she is distrustful of Frank, and patronizes him for being a civilian. However, she grows to trust Frank. She is bitten by Dr. Barnaby and becomes unknowingly infected.
• Otis Washington: An elderly mall janitor. Otis tries in vain to stop Frank from chasing Brad back into the mall, and winds up handing over a map and spare transceiver. He periodically sends the player information and scoops over Frank's transceiver. If Frank is unable to reach the stairs of the Entrance Plaza when the zombies are first let in, and instead is knocked out, it is Otis that drags him from the chaos. After the special forces arrive, a note left by Otis can be found in the security room. It reveals that he managed to escape, along with all of the survivors Frank had saved, by hijacking a military helicopter. Unlike all the other main characters, he has no voice actor.
• Dr. Russell Barnaby (voiced by Phil Proctor): A ruthless genetic researcher whose work leads to the events in the game.
• Ed DeLuca (voiced by Dave Wittenberg): The helicopter pilot who delivered Frank to Willamette, scheduled to return in three days to retrieve Frank.

Survivors

The citizens of Willamette who were not initially killed or rendered undead by the zombie outbreak are referred to as "survivors." Otis acts as the source of information for finding most of these survivors, but the security cameras may not catch all of them and thus some are only found by chance. Many survivors can be escorted safely to the security room, and will often provide Frank with competent cover if given firearms or other weapons; others may be injured, cowardly, traumatized, hostages, or even drunk, requiring Frank to lead them directly to the exit point and rendering him unable to use his weapons. Certain female survivors who are too afraid or incompetent with weapons can be led around by the hand directly. Others still might require subduing or convincing before they finally allow Frank to rescue them, either because they refuse to move or because they attack him. Certain missions or "unannounced" survivors are time-sensitive. If Frank takes too long to begin a scoop, their health will decrease, and in some cases of large rescues from certain psychopaths they may die off one by one. Successful rescues will earn PP for Frank; the player may also choose to leave the survivors to die, or kill them himself.

Psychopaths

In addition to battling thousands of zombies, Frank West must also deal with psychopaths: humans who have either gone mad due to the zombie outbreak or are otherwise corrupt or evil, and who serve as the game's bosses. After defeating one of the psychopaths, Frank acquires their special weapon, which cannot be found anywhere in the mall other than where they were killed. Like all other weapons, they will wear out over time, but can be used again by returning back to where the psychopath was defeated.

Soundtrack

Dead Rising Original Soundtrack was released in Japan on March 30, 2007 as a limited edition, bundled with a T-shirt. A non-limited edition of the same soundtrack was released on June 20, 2007

Reception

Dead Rising has earned generally positive reviews. All the reviewers commended the game's "sandbox" style mall to explore and the sheer amount of ways to kill the thousands of zombies. Most reviewers also agreed the save system, as well as the survivors' AI detracted from the game's enjoyment.

IGN stated the game needed "a better save system, more intelligent NPCs, a more forgiving story progression, and tighter controls," but still called Dead Rising "one of the more unique and entertaining titles on the Xbox 360."^[11] GameSpot said, "It's zombie action for people who want zombie action, and it's simply a great piece of entertainment."^[15]

A point of contention was the operation of the game's transceiver, specifically how persistent it is when ringing, and how vulnerable Frank is while answering any calls on it. While using the transceiver Frank is unable to jump, attack, switch weapons, or pick up or use any item. Furthermore, if the call is somehow interrupted (such as being attacked), the call will end abruptly, only for the transceiver to ring a few seconds later. If Frank answers, Otis will scold the player for being rude, then start the previous call over from the very beginning.^[17][18] Numerous gamer-oriented webcomics and blogs attacked the use of the transceiver within Dead Rising.^[19][20][21]

Dead Rising has won several awards. IGN awarded the title "Most Innovative Design for Xbox 360" in its Best of 2006.^[22] GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2006 awarded the game honors for "Best Action Adventure Game",^[23] "Best Sound Effects",^[24] and "Best Use of Xbox 360 Achievement Points".^[25] Additionally, the game won "Action Game of the Year" at the 2006 Spike TV Video Game Awards. It ranked #2 in gaming magazine Gamesmaster's Top 50 of 2006. It also won "Best Original Game" of 2006 on X-Play.

According to Capcom, Dead Rising had shipped 500,000 copies in the first month after its release, and one million copies worldwide by the end of 2006.^[26]

Reaction in Germany

Due to its graphic violence and thus obvious fulfilment of at least one of German BPjM's indexing criteria, the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle, Germany's board responsible for rating entertainment software, has refused to rate the game. Microsoft does not allow unrated games to be published for the Xbox 360 in Germany, effectively halting the production of a German version of the game. Right from the start, the game has been indexed by the BPjM as a document that glorifies violence, but has been available as an import to players of legal age.^[27] Following a decision of Hamburg's county court in June 2007, the game has been prohibited in late August 2007. Therefore, selling this game in Germany is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment or monetary penalty according to §131 of the German criminal code. It was confiscated by the police from all stores in Germany.^[28] Owning and playing the game is still legal for private use.

Legal issues

The MKR Group, who holds the copyright to both the 1978 Dawn of the Dead film and its 2004 remake, sent letters on February 6, 2008 to Capcom, Microsoft, and Best Buy, claiming that Dead Rising infringes on the copyrights and trademarks of these films. In a complaint filed February 12, 2008 to seek an injunction preventing a lawsuit from MKR, Capcom asserted that "humans battling zombies in a shopping mall" is a "wholly unprotectible idea" under today's copyright laws; Capcom further points to the warning "label" on the box cover as a preemptive measure to separate the game from the films.^[29][30][31] The MKR Group has since filed a lawsuit after failing to reach an agreement with Capcom over the dispute.^[32]

The lawsuit was dismissed in October 2008, with United States Magistrate Judge Richard G. Seeborg stating that MKR failed to demonstrate the similarity of any protected element of Dawn of the Dead to that of Dead Rising, with many of the elements MKR claimed were similar being part of the "wholly unprotectable concept of humans battling zombies in a mall during a zombie outbreak".^[33]

Technical issues

Dead Rising has drawn complaints from gamers that have standard definition sets and smaller high definition sets for having difficulty reading the on-screen text. This is due to Capcom's decision to develop exclusively for high-definition televisions, as the game had been touted as one of the first truly "next generation" titles available for the Xbox 360. On August 10, 2006, a Capcom representative posted the following on Xbox.com:

A week later, Capcom released a statement saying they would not be fixing the problem and suggested some DIY solutions:

Using a computer monitor is also a solution to the problem, as the Xbox 360 supports a number of common monitor resolutions high enough to render the text readable.^[36]

While the small text within Dead Rising cannot be fixed, Capcom responded quickly to avoid similar criticism on the same issue for their next major Xbox 360 game, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. When the demo was released in late 2006, it also had significant amounts of small text, and responding to these complaints, Capcom adjusted the game prior to release to detect the use of a standard TV and increased the font size as needed.^[37]

Future development

Downloadable content

Many costumes are made available to the player once completing certain tasks, such as a Special Forces uniform, wrestling boots, even Jason Voorhees' hockey mask and Mega Man's armor. Soon after Dead Rising was released in the United States, Capcom released nine downloadable "keys" to Xbox Live Marketplace that would unlock different lockers in the Security Room, providing the player with nine new outfit options.^[38] On May 31, 2007, three more keys were made available over Xbox Live.

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop

A port of Dead Rising for the Wii, named Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, was released in February 2009.^[3] This version of the game came about after the positive reception of the Wii version of Resident Evil 4. The game is built on the Resident 4 Wii engine, and includes additional features from that game including an over-the-shoulder camera approach and motion controls utilizing the Wii Remote^[3]. However it lacks some of the features of the Xbox 360 version, such as the large number of zombies on screen at any time or the photo system.^[39][40][41]

Mobile phone version

In 2008, Capcom Interactive Canada released a version of the game for mobile phones. The game stays true to the sandbox design and plot of the Xbox 360 version, despite being pared down for the smaller screen and platform.

The mobile version of Dead Rising was generally well received by reviewers, earning a B+ from 1UP.com^[42] and a 7.3/10 from IGN.^[43]

Sequel

A sequel to Dead Rising for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, is currently under development by Blue Castle Games,^[44] confirming earlier rumors^[45] and a viral video^[46] of the game's existence. The game is stated to take place several years after the events of Dead Rising with the outbreak taking over much of America. The game will be set in a former gambling paradise known as "Fortune City". The trailer which was released was first leaked and then later released officially.^[44]

Other appearances

Frank West will be appearing as a playable character in the Western version of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. His main special moves revolve around using zombies and the various makeshift weapons from the game, whilst his hyper combos involve wearing the Mega Man X suit and using a Servbot helmet on his opponent.^[47]

See also

• List of undead-themed video games

References

External links

• Dead Rising official site (American)
• Dead Rising official site (European)
• Dead Rising wiki at Wikia