Update: It has been brought to my attention that there was an article that explained it better and it clearly states that the pre-order situation will be an early release and not an exclusive one. The mode will still be able to be unlocked upon game completion. Check out the article on Gosunoob.

However, I do think that the bigger companies showing this material off should be forced to be much more clear about the news and updates so mix ups like this don't happen. Thank you Jean-Marc Therrien for bringing this to my attention.

Now for my original article on it.

Capcom has announced that Resident Evil VII will include a third difficulty in their game. This new difficulty is called Madhouse and it is the hardest difficulty in the game.

This new difficulty will revert back to the classic style Resident Evil games where you have limited saves, which require you to find special cassette tapes in order to save, much like the ink ribbons. Checkpoints throughout the game have been removed and the enemies themselves will be much harder to take down. Health regeneration will also become something of little help, making damage to be much more devastating. The best aspect is that there will be upgrades that will only be available in this game mode!

This new mode is perfect for the hardcore players and original fans of the Resident Evil series to enjoy a game that is similar to the styles offered back on the classic PlayStation 1 version.

However, the catch for getting this mode is unfair to many. To be able to access this mode you must pre-order the game. This is outrageous! Since when did a game's difficulty become something you have to pay for instead of unlocking?! There are many gamers who can not just go out and buy a brand new game on its launch and, unless they implement a way to unlock this mode through skill or gameplay, they will not be able to enjoy this new mode. This leaves only the Novice and Normal difficulties for any other gamer to play the game on.

Especially with how late this announcement has been given out, players will only have one weekend to gather enough funds to purchase a brand new game, and worse than that, they must get their pre-order in before stock runs out! In no way is this fair to gamers, including the ones who can afford it. Skins, Characters, Weapons, game assets as such are perfectly understandable to have as a pre-order only unlock option, but to require this to enjoy an actual game mode that should simply be unlockable upon completion is unfair.

Here is the Announcement Video by Machinima.