I've held this sales video of Resident Evil 2 from 1997 for one year, until now.

Because either I kept forgetting or I just stopped caring, but tonight I'll just shut up and provide you with a 30-minute loop sales video for Resident Evil 2, recorded in 60 frames per second and upscaled to 1080p HD.

Dated November 16, 1997 (so it says on the front label), the footage seen here presumably comes from the fan-called "BETA 2" build that was burned around the time this sales video was sent out to retailers. The familiar, iconic Resident Evil 1.5 trailer theme plays throughout the loop, and it contains some differences from the final version (one thing comes in mind is the unused bear taxidermy in Chief Irons' creepy torture dungeon).

As I had mentioned earlier this year on my Capcom 2000 VHS video article, this is the second of three tapes I purchased last year in an eBay auction. The remaining tape I have would be Fighter's Edge.

I'll say nothing else till a question gets asked. Enjoy.

Here's something about an unused track in Resident Evil 2

Update: Holy crap, today is my blog's one year anniversary too. Happy Birthday to The Game Informant!

You can already tell by previous posts, but I'm a big fan of Resident Evil. Classic Resident Evil if you may and Resident Evil 2 is among one of my favorite Capcom games and probably one of the very few in the franchise that actually leaves a good, thrilling impression on me as a player today. Its infamous first draft and highly publicized revisions have also earned itself the reputation of being one of the most high-profile games in the subject of prototype and unreleased video game content today. 

So for the night before this year's Halloween, we'll briefly go over a video I published nearly four years ago that details two unique similar music pieces hidden in the sound code for Resident Evil 2 that can't be heard normally in the game. The music pieces sound as though they are actually variations (which I decided to call them) of one another, which you can listen to below on the embedded link.

As we hear in the video, the first variation sounds as though it's a rough mix, as it contains the least instrumentation. The second variation sounds much more refined, containing at least one more instrument playing in the track. Presumably, this would have been the final draft before it would be disused in the game's sound code.

Sometimes, music pieces are composed for specific moments before scenes in a movie, TV show, or game is completed. When a scene is sent to the cutting room floor, usually everything is cut along with the scene. In this case, these particular music tracks were left behind as the scenes had been ditched in favor of the form we got in the final form. How these would have fit in the game remains unknown.

Seeking for answers, I spoke to lead Resident Evil 2 music composer Masami Ueda on Twitter in which he gave the following response:

Two songs are probably, I think it was music for the Sherry. Is what I was composed. QT @OKeijiDragon: @retronauts @GoNintendoTweet

— 上田雅美 (@PG_ueda) February 8, 2012

Ueda-san vaguely recalls composing these two tracks for the game, but was able to recall their purpose. They were meant to be a theme for Sherry Birkin, the young girl who accompanies lead female Claire Redfield in their escape from Raccoon City. 


The pieces were originally discovered in a PSF zipped folder at Zophar.com, a game emulator and hacking resource website. A PSF. (PlayStation Sound Format) is a sound file that often holds the synthesized sound data in various PlayStation games. Cracking the format required computer hacking and disassembly skills. The individual who originally ripped the tracks from the game's sound directory and uploaded them on to Zopher in the first place is currently unknown. I'd like to thank that individual for finding these bits.

Wanna know what my Halloween treat this year is for you guys? If you're a Resident Evil fan like me, I think you'll like it a lot. Stay tuned.