I read you'd been playing RE5's Versus Mode a lot. That kind of surprised me, as the response to it hasn't been all that favourable.

I'd actually like to do Resident Evil 5's Versus Mode HD Remix. (Laughs) I think that is a gem hidden away inside this behemoth game, and deserves to be it's own fully fledged competitive game. I'm actually maybe working with another company on doing exactly that, but I'm not sure if it will really happen. I'd much rather do it with Capcom, but I just assume that will never happen.

Really? Could you elaborate a bit? I presume you're not working on Resident Evil specifically, but something new entirely.

Yeah, unfortunately if you want to do Resident Evil 5 Versus Mode HD Remix, and it's not with Capcom, you have to do years of work just get to the point they are starting at - just so you can make a few changes to make it a full competitive game. It would make a lot more sense to modify the actual RE5 Versus Mode with Capcom if that were possible, but who knows. You mentioned some people aren't into Versus Mode. I think part of it was the strange reaction from fans about having to pay for it.

That's definitely true.

The other part is that they were expecting a traditional shooter, and it's not that at all. In both cases, I think it's about managing what people expect. I suppose you could make a comparison with Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and how in that game everything is super crazy. Okay, that's great, lots of people like that, but I like that SF2 takes place at a different pace, which feels right to me. It's the same with RE5's Versus Mode compared to, say, Left 4 Dead. It's like Street Fighter speed, not MvC2 speed. And it's not about precise aiming, considering how many characters have a shotgun or explosive weapons. What it's about is getting a combo; killing a lot of zombies in a row while you try to disrupt the combo of the enemy team. Anyway, it's a very misunderstood and underappreciated game. Also it has possibly the worst inventory system possible, which is all the more reason for an HD Remix!

I *hated* the inventory in Resi 5. It was bad enough in Mercenaries; I can only imagine the horrors in multiplayer.

Yeah, it's terrible. I bet you don't know the command to reload, either. The game tells you the command is hold L, then press A. The real command to reload is this: "Y, X, right, X, Y." That's once you put your shotgun ammo in the centre slot through another several clicks. If you do it that way, you don't have a reload animation, and therefore you always must do it that way. This is a great example of people misunderstanding what "depth" is.

And thus we come full circle.

Some people think depth means that they learn a new thing they didn't know before. "Hey, I didn't know you could reload this way! There is so much to this game!" But just like Kara throws in SF3 or SF4 or L-cancelling in Smash Bros, there is no actual decision. It's just a tax you pay as you do it every time, and it puts up a pointless barrier for beginners. Instead of a simple game with, say RB being reload, we get the combination above. Actual depth would mean there is some choice, not just that you have more tasks to mindlessly execute by rote.

So is Resi 5 Versus HD Remix just an idea you have, or is it something you're actively working on?

It's too early to really talk about. I wrote down what I'd like it to be, but having a company really make it is another matter entirely! I actively worked on it enough to write a document about it, which involved weeks of thinking about exactly how that inventory menu should work, and exactly how many special abilities each character should have, and exactly how you execute those abilities, and so on.

It's largely a thought exercise for now?

I only did it because there's a real potential for funding, so it's a bit more than just a thought exercise. But honestly, it's a long shot. It seems like I should make a fighting game of my own though, doesn't it? [Ed - We've since learned that Sirlin is continuing to work on Yomi and his other card games, so Resident Evil 5 "isn't anywhere at the moment."]

One last question to wrap it all up, I suppose, and bring everything around again. Street Fighter IV's been out a lot longer now, so... have your thoughts on it changed at all?

I played it a lot for two months, and I liked some of it - I found myself making excuses for why maybe certain things were okay. Then I played HD Remix for the first time in two months, and I just couldn't imagine going back to those huge arenas, wonky jumps, clunky focus cancels, link combos, Vega being terrible, and so on. I haven't played it even once since then.

David Sirlin, thank you very much.

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