30 Things You Didn't Know About The Resident Evil Series

Japanese game franchises always have the most interesting histories, don't they? It should hardly come as a surprise. Japan is, after all, the forefather of video games as we know them, and the longer something exists on this Earth, the more time it has to build up a whole host of quirks, controversies and secrets. The Resident Evil games are no different in that respect, and you'd expect nothing less from a series that essentially put the survival horror genre on the map. You wouldn't believe it today considering how far the likes of Resident Evil 6 (and to a lesser extent, Resi 5) have strayed from the formula, but Resident Evil used to be two words that were synonymous with intense fear, anxiety and zombie-infested nightmares. But forget about the missteps of recent entries for now if you can, and cast your mind back over the days of haunted mansions, apocalyptic cities and secret laboratories - you're sure to have missed at least a few of the minor details that Capcom sneaked in under the radar. Scrapped games, ridiculously convoluted Easter eggs and even fraudulent behaviour are all things you'll find in abundance here. Read on to see if you're a true Resident Evil fan...

It's hard to imagine it any other way, but yes, Resident Evil was originally going to be about a mansion haunted by ghosts; not zombies.

Thematically, the idea sounds great, but gameplay wise, not so much. Mikami decided ghosts weren't scary enough and went with zombies instead.