Mention the word zombies in a room of gamers and two franchises instantly come to mind. Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead. While other zombie franchises have tried to claw their way to the top, these two from Capcom and Valve respectively sit atop the zombie food chain. With Capcom’s recent affinity for crossing over franchises with other publishers, it is great to see that they have come together with Valve to enable the Resident Evil 6 x Left 4 Dead 2 project.

In a completely free download, Resident Evil 6 PC players will be able to experience a new mode, “The Mercenaries No Mercy” featuring Left 4 Dead 2’s signature cast – Coach, Nick, Ellis and Rochelle – as playable characters. Each will have a custom weapon load-out for the mode. Also making their debut to the Resident Evil world alongside the foursome of survivors are going to be the Witch and the Minitank. This mode will be going live on April 5th.

With Halloween fast approaching, it is time to look back at some of the scariest moments in gaming. The horror genre of gaming extends from platformers and puzzlers to FPS and even point and click adventure games. Now while the delivery of the scary moments listed below all differ, every one below has given us an “Oh s*%t” reaction. Some were instant scares while others were reactions that took some time to really hit home. But be warned, there will be spoilers ahead.

Doom 3 – Mirror Scare

While Doom and its successor Doom II took players through the gates of hell, they weren’t exactly scary games. There were some moments when an attack would come from a newly opened door that players were not expecting but it wasn’t until Doom 3 that the series had its first horrifying moment. With updated graphics and sound, Doom 3 was able to explore atmosphere in a way its predecessors never could. With a new lighting engine, shadows played a huge part in the game and players had to choose between holding a flashlight or a weapon, making the game incredibly tense.

As a result, when players find a well lit bathroom early on in the game they don’t expect the glimpse of hell that quickly pops up on screen when they face the mirror. Music crashes, flames burn around the player and then almost instantly everything goes back to normal. From then on, no place in the game feels safe. Between the poorly lit corridors seen only through a flashlight’s bulb or the uneasy tension from walking into a bright open room, everywhere a player goes now feels like evil is lurking around the corner.

Who do you turn to when there is no hope left? Chris Redfield, Leon Kennedy and Jake Muller obviously. Or at least that’s what the latest trailer from Capcom out of last week’s Tokyo Game Show for Resident Evil 6 leads us to believe. If you don’t believe us, take a look at the full trailer after the jump.

But what makes this trailer special? Well for long time Resident Evil fans, the TGS Resident Evil 6 trailer has hordes of story hints, some largely important and others subtle. It also contains a brief cut scene of all three main characters crossing paths as well.

For those new to the Resident Evil series, there are glimpses are some of the newest machinations of the twisted staff at Capcom in action during the course of Resident Evil 6. The virus that transforms people into inside out scorpion monsters or the ball that explodes into a spray of needs that make people’s skin melt off are two personal favorites.

At Comic Con, Capcom took the time to let us check out some of their newest titles coming out over the next year. During our time at the Capcom booth we got hands on with Resident Evil 6, the rebooted DMC and the next installment to the Lost Planet franchise.

For Resident Evil 6, we were treated to extended versions of the demo currently available to those who purchased Dragon’s Dogma. In the campaigns we got to play, the action was fast and furious but there was also that intensity often found in Resident Evil games where every bullet needs to count. In addition to deranged people with firearms of their own there were creatures that would assault us with a blast of spikes that would knock you off your feet, leaving you open to further attack.

Also, check out the newest Resident Evil 6 trailer after the jump. Don’t forget that Resident Evil 6 hits the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 2nd, 2012.

The Resident Evil films are shameless, they are non-stop action filled cacophonies that are filled to the brim with characters that together share about three brain cells. So why is it that these films are so much fun? Because, for the most part, the series know what it is and it revels in it.

Director Paul W. S. Anderson is not trying to speak to the core of the human condition, he is trying to entertain the masses with well produced zombie violence. He is aiming for fun and stupid, not heady and contemplative. That is a big reason why he is my favorite of all Paul Anderson filmmakers, his goal in film-making is to entertain, and he is damn good at it.

Point of example. In the past Resident Evil films several fantastic characters have come and gone, including the immensely bad ass Oded Fehr. So what does ole W.S. do to spice up the fifth film? He brings nearly all of them back. Why, because it would be cool, that is why! No further explanation needed in this series.

Some times films should exist to put a smile on your face, to provide fun on visceral level. In that the Resident Evil movies have always succeeded, trying to reach down and entertain that inner 13-year-old inside all of us. If you want to be perplexed and challenged by a film, that other Paul Anderson has a movie coming out too, by all means enjoy it. I for one will be front and center for this particular celebration of entertainment for entertainment’s sake.

Resident Evil: Retribution hits theaters this September, check out the full trailer after the jump.

As we told you earlier, Microsoft kicked off their E3 festivities with what could be considered a fairly standard and unsurprising Press Conference. As expected, they announced the anticipated console exclusive, Halo 4. Upping the ante from last year, this E3 brought gameplay footage of Halo 4 to the audience with a first look at the new enemies and weapons as well as some familiar faces from past Halos. Microsoft would follow with footage of the new Splinter Cell: Black List which uses enhanced Kinect controls.

Following on the Kinect bandwagon, EA debuted footage of the latest Fifa and Madden franchises. In Fifa, players will be able to make coaching decisions and their reactions will be read by the Kinect and penalties may even be awarded based on poor sportsmanship. In Madden, NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback Joe Montana demonstrated the game’s new Kinect enabled play calling features.

After the Fable: The Journey trailer, Microsoft Studios brought out studio head Phil Spencer who introduced the trailer for the new Gears of War: Judgment, staring Baird, and then the latest racing experience with Forza Horizon.

Since most of the major Marvel Universe players have found their way already into the Minimates line, ArtAsylum is now able to give some spotlight to some of the heroes, villains and storylines from the past. This time in the 43rd wave of the Minimates line, which also marks the ten year anniversary of the product, the Marvel Minimates will focus on the “Death of Jean Dewolff” storyline.

Back in the mid 80’s when comics were beginning to mature in both artistic merit and story themes, editor on the Spectacular Spider-Man Jim Owsley gave writer Peter David the task of knocking off detective Jean DeWolff. The character of Sin-Eater was created as a way to kill DeWolff. Interestingly enough, the biggest impact of this story is the indirect creation of Venom as Eddie Brock claimed to have found out who the real Sin Eater was, only to be disproven by Spider-Man catching the real killer and costing Brock his job.

You can check out Art Asylum’s interview with creator Peter David here on their site and check out the full gallery of the collection after the jump.

If there is one franchise that has managed to live up to its very low standard, film after film, it would have to be Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil. Since the first one back in 2002, this franchise has managed to keep up with the technology, while hardly losing any of the excitement that fans are piling in to see with every new release.

With that comes Retribution, the fifth film in the franchise. This time, we’ve got a full group of folks joining from across the decade-spanning films. Joining lead Milla Jovovich this time around is Michelle Rodriguez (returning from the first film), Oded Fehr (Apocalypse & Extinction), and Sienna Guillory (Apocalypse & Afterlife).

A pretty stellar cast, given the heavy mythos of this world. And speaking of heavy, here’s the synopsis (as if you needed one):

The Umbrella Corporation’s deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race’s last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella’s most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex.

Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.

Take a look at the trailer after the jump, in which takes a fun jab at the world of tablets we’ve come to live in. Catch Resident Evil: Retribution in theaters and in 3D on September 14th.

After the critical and commercial success of Resident Evil 5, it is no surprise that a sixth proper Resident Evil title is coming out. Selling over 5 million copies and garnering a Metacritic score in the mid 80s, it is only common sense that Capcom would continue the story of their top tier franchise. After several viral teasers, no pun intended, on NoHopeLeft.com, Capcom finally revealed to the world Resident Evil 6.

This Resident Evil will feature series headliners Leon Kennedy and Chris Redfield along a new unknown male character, this one who seemingly has an unknown immunity to the T-virus. This new character appears as a mercenary for hire and is seen in the trailer below constantly being given injections, whether these are used to revive him or help him fight a T-virus infection are still unknown. This new character also has a female sidekick much like Sheva from Resident Evil 5.

Take a peek below at the new trailer and the first image reveal for the game. Stick to The Flickcast for more on Resident Evil 6 coming out for the XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on November 20th, 2012.

At New York Comic Con, we were able to get a booth tour from Capcom which got us some hands on time with three of their much anticipated titles. The first of which was the upcoming rerelease of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 with Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Back at Comic Con in San Diego, after announcing the first set of new characters being added to the game, there was a massive leak which revealed the full roster. Now, Capcom has gone official with all but a few of these characters and had them available for us to play as at the Con.

We demoed the game on a traditional controller for the XBox 360. As there was an all day tournament going on, the wait for even press to play using the fight sticks was outrageous and considering most households would use a regular controller anyway, we felt like this would give us a good idea of what to expect from the game. Focusing our teams on the newer characters, we had to learn on the fly just what kind of play styles to use with them.

Vergil was the most reminiscent of Dante from the original Marvel vs. Capcom 3 focusing on using his sword for a majority of his attacks. Firebrand from Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins ended up being surprisingly fun to play with as we didn’t really have any idea what to expect from him. Nova and Ghost Rider felt like the badasses we expected them to be but sadly Rocket Raccoon was not an option for us yet.

The most surprisingly fun character was Phoenix Wright. The best character comparison we could make was him being like Dan from Street Fighter. His attacks may look horribly wimpy as he throws paperwork at opponents but he is perfect for luring opponents into a false sense of security.

Today, Marvel.com revealed the next iteration of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 with the stereotypical Capcom naming motif with Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The game will feature six new characters from each of the companies as well as the much requested Spectator Mode during online matches and the correction of various balancing issues.

The Marvel roster is going to be beefed up with heavy hitter Ghost Rider and fan favorite, Hawkeye. Not Ronin, not Bullseye dressed as Hawkeye, not the Young Avenger Hawkeye chick. But Clint Barton, the real Hawkeye. (Although I probably just accidently named off all three of the alternate costumes.) Capcom will be adding Marvel vs. Capcom’s most requested legacy character Strider as well as series newcomer Firebrand, the little red demon thing from Ghost ‘n Goblins.

Additionally, some screens have leaked online featuring both the character artwork and screen shots of the remaining eight unrevealed characters. Here are what we have found across the internet.

Way back in November, Capcom already announced the first batch of DLC coming for Marvel vs. Capcom 3.  Jill Valentine and Shuma Gorath would be on their way to the roster. Last week, coinciding with the game’s actual release, Capcom announced another set of DLC. This time, much in the vein of Super Street Fighter IV, it is new costumes. Now we know what you are thinking. Why would you care about a different colored pair of jeans on Haggar or an alternate paint job on the Sentinel. Well there we would agree with you.

But this isn’t just any set of alternate costumes. Six characters will receive new attire. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Chris, Ryu and Dante. Instead of just being fresh coats of paint on existing templates, these are entirely new costumes being added to the game.

Captain America will be given what Marvel fans have affectionately coined the Captain Steve outfit. As the world’s new top cop, Steve Rogers Super Soldier doesn’t hide behind the mask anymore. Instead he has a more modern costume. Interestingly enough, Capcom chose to give him the classic Cap shield though instead of his current comic weapon, a light disk shield.