In a candid interview, Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami teases what could have been...

Shinji Mikami, best known as the visionary director behind the Resident Evil franchise, was potentially very close to working for Nintendo, it's emerged.

Speaking at length on the early days of his career in the latest edition of Famitsu, Mikami describes the predicament he faced between two very big Japanese hitters:

"...I applied to both Capcom and Nintendo, and it turned out the second round of interviews for both companies were held on the same day, and I chose Capcom. It's likely for the better because I probably never had a chance with Nintendo -- it took a company like Capcom to pick me up."

The possibilities are probably endless when one considers would could have been had such a talented director joined the ranks of Nintendo in the fertile early 90's. Although it seems likely we wouldn't be accustomed to the behemoth Resident Evil series as we know it today.

To read Mikami talk more about his eventful career, 1UP has the full digest.

Mikami is currently working with Goichi Suda on the Unreal Engine 3-powered Shadows of the Damned. Mikami's own studio Tango Gameworks was recently acquired by US distributor ZeniMax Media, who also owns Bethesda.