When it comes down to it, video games are no different from other types of pop media, like movies or television shows. When a company finds something that works, they do everything in their power to capitalize on that success. Generally movies and video games settle for sequel after sequel, always trying to one-up themselves. But that isn't always the case.

When television executives realized the success of the Mary Tyler Moore Show or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they were able to bring eager fans spin-off shows like Rhoda and Angel. Nintendo has been successfully employing the spin-off for years, giving us new games with Wario, Yoshi, and even Luigi. But even with this success, few companies have tried branching their characters out in different kinds of games. That is, until now.

After doing a little catching up, we've come to realize that the Predator, originally played by Kevin Peter Hall, has been spending much of his time beating up on wannabe superheroes. Obviously in his new venture, he Namco's recently announced Tekken spin-off, Nina, looks to be a lot of things for a lot of people, but it's one thing in specific, a Resident Evil rip-off. Oh sure, the pacing may be different, but there are some striking similarities between the two titles. That staircase.

After a half dozen games, Resident Evil has a few clich?s; one of them is the famous staircase. No matter what the environment is, or what system it's on, there's at least one huge staircase that looks EXACTLY like the one found in Namco's upcoming Nina! It's a staircase that is as common to Resident Evil as walking, moaning zombies or decomposing dogs.

That staircase even appears in Devil May Cry, a game that originated as a Resident Evil sequel, but turned into something far more exciting. It seems to be the one thing that holds all survival horror games together, the glue that allows Capcom to scare us. So one has to wonder, why on earth is Namco using it in an action-adventure game?

Now, there are some critics that could wonder how you can distinguish the Resident Evil staircase from any other run of the mill staircase. How could I possibly call this a freeze frame? Just look at the picture above, and follow along. The Resident Evil staircase involves a long, dark staircase that forks out to the left and right. It also has a door (although, often hidden) at the top of the staircase, for those who don't go to the left or right. Both of the other stairs lead up to the second floor, where more danger awaits.

As you can tell from the pictures above, Nina rips off every single rule Resident Evil taught us about connecting two floors. And to add insult to injury, they've added the type of foliage you'd see at a late night talk show.