Commercial of the Living Dead

In a move that has to be filed under "perfect marketing move," Capcom of Japan has hired the talents of George Romero - the man behind such horror classics as "Night of the Living Dead" and "Dawn of the Dead" - to direct the commercial for Resident Evil 2.

The commercial will not feature any gameplay footage, but instead be composed of live-action sequences which mirror the game's many situations.

Best described as a live-action movie trailer for the game, the commercial is being promoted as a George Romero-directed effort in Japan.

It has not yet been determined whether the same cut of the commercial will be used to promote the game's US release, but Capcom USA hopes to at least use scenes from it.

Described as "fabulous" by one Capcom representative, the trailer is full of zombies and includes a key scene where Leon (one of the game's main characters) grabs a box of bullets in the police station.

Would such a commercial work in the US? We can only say that since Final Fantasy VII was promoted in the US in three commercials devoid of gameplay footage (using only FMV cutscenes, and even from the game's ending), it probably would. There's also a good chance that such a commercial would heighten awareness for the game among non-gamers as well.

One thing's for certain: This has got to be one cool commercial.