But did you read the whole sentence?

"In fact, when the number of chickens was increased to a total of 15,000 birds the Cell B./E. processor was still able to perform the simulation with interactive speed, but the graphics rendering was not able to keep pace, even on a state-of-the-art NVidia GPU and started dropping 2 out of 3 frames, resulting in 10fps "sluggish" video output."

Yes, I did.  Did you read my sentence about MLB 09: The Show?  Those chickens each had individual A.I. routines.  The zombies in Dead Rising didn't have their own routines in mass.  Only the closest zombies to you would have individual A.I. routines.  It's no different from the 20,000+ soldiers on the ground in Lair.  I don't see any reason to think the 6,000 zombies in part two would be that different, do you?

But what does AI have to do with sluggish rendering? Levels of graphical detail are the real issue here, but I guess they can use tricks to render the far-away characters with less detail.

If the processor is busy with keeping track of over 15,000 different A.I. routines, it can't help on the graphics end.  That's just one thing.  However, you seemed to completely have ignored the information concerning MLB 09: The Show and Lair which draw tens of thousands of 3D characters at up to 60fps (in MLB 09: The Show's case).  Why is that?  It still proves that 6,000 zombies is no big deal.

6000 individual enemies or 5970 enemies just for show with 30 enemies being the real threat .

-I'm guessing DR2 would get a graphics downgrade from DR1 to compensate for the substantial enemy increase , I think even the most advanced PC's on the market would have trouble rendering that let alone our current gen console.
-How the hell would you see 6000 enemies at a time , is DR2 going to be an RTS ?

Sounds like alot of hot air ... I thought this was going on the PS3 & 360 until I actualy read the OP so this isn't an attack on the 360.

"though Capcom themselves haven’t been able to prove any concrete details on the matter." WTF ?

Your last minute GPU point, in the face of a massive CPU like the Cell, has no context within the realm of this discussion.  No GPU at the time could handle that kind of pressure put on it by the CPU.

But did you read the whole sentence?

"In fact, when the number of chickens was increased to a total of 15,000 birds the Cell B./E. processor was still able to perform the simulation with interactive speed, but the graphics rendering was not able to keep pace, even on a state-of-the-art NVidia GPU and started dropping 2 out of 3 frames, resulting in 10fps "sluggish" video output."