I never thought I’d be able to master this one! Such a perfect subset; it really helps you go from 0 to 100 and fully understand the game’s mechanics, even for a beginner.
If you are interested in RE Outbreak, please try both sets (and even the online one).
What a fun ride!
I recently found this Italian newspaper from June 19, 1999, covering the nationwide seizure of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2.
Translation:
"Corpses and Cannibalism"
The video games Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2 seized throughout Italy by order of the judiciary.
Video Games Sealed Off: "They Are Too Violent"
The Guardia di Finanza confiscates 5,500 copies of Resident Evil across Italy.
Rome
Cannibalism, the living dead roaming through a ruined city, corpses, wrecked cars and flames. These are the settings of the video games Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2, which have been seized throughout Italy because they are considered capable of influencing the personalities and psychological development of young people. Acting on the orders of Deputy Prosecutor Dario D'Ambrosia and Deputy Prosecutor Maria Bice Barborini, the Judicial Police division of the Guardia di Finanza's Central Tax Police Service in Rome, assisted by 95 regional units, confiscated approximately 5,500 copies from at least 350 stores across the country.
The seizure initially targeted the PlayStation versions and was later extended to the CD-ROM editions for personal computers.
The games, created by Virgin Interactive, produced in Belgium, and distributed in Italy by two companies and by Internet retailers, had been on sale for around three years (Resident Evil) and one and a half years (Resident Evil 2). Prosecutors ordered the seizure under Article 528 of the Italian Penal Code, concerning obscene publications and material considered capable of encouraging violent behavior.
The packaging, sold freely even in toy stores and departments aimed at younger customers, did not state that the games were not suitable for children under the age of 14.
The prosecutors relied on the opinions of criminologist Francesco Bruno and child neuropsychiatrist Giampaolo Nicolais.
The investigation, which began a week earlier, was still ongoing, partly because around 2,000 additional copies were expected to arrive from Belgium.
Resident Evil, in both editions and on both platforms, sold for prices ranging from 45,000 to 120,000 Italian lire.
At that stage, nobody had yet been formally investigated. The inquiry originated from a complaint filed months earlier by the Movement for Civil Rights, led by Franco Corbelli.
Corbelli welcomed the operation, stating:
"Our campaign against violence in video games and films will continue, especially against television networks that broadcast films particularly dangerous for adolescents."
Sony Computer Entertainment, which distributed the PlayStation in Italy, stated that it would request an official copy of the seizure order.
Its managing director, Corrado Buonanno, commented:
"In our opinion, these video games do not have characteristics that justify such a seizure. In Italy, films containing much more explicit violence are freely distributed."
The article itself is a fascinating time capsule, although it's clearly full of factual errors. For example, it incorrectly states that the games were developed by Virgin Interactive and produced in Belgium, when they were actually developed and published by Capcom in Japan. It also mixes up publishers and distributors in several places.
Despite these inaccuracies, it perfectly captures the moral panic surrounding violent video games in Italy at the end of the 1990s.
I was only 11 years old, so I barely remember this story. Finding this newspaper today feels like rediscovering a forgotten piece of Resident Evil history.
Has anyone outside Italy ever heard about this case?