Capcom has expressed disappointment over sales of the monstrously budgeted Resident Evil 6 during an earnings report for the nine month period ending 31st December 2012. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the game "lost momentum" following strong initial sales, and has yet to "fulfil its role as a driver of sales expansion".
All that's in the wake of some interesting comments from Resident Evil: Revelations producer Masachika Kawata last week. "I think certainly looking at the last year or two, there probably were a few too many," he told Videogamer, when asked whether Capcom had overdosed on Resident Evil releases in the recent past.
Capcom should focus on quality over quantity, he went on. "We should always start by asking how do we make the games better. And if the solution to making the games better is to have a more staggered release than we've had recently then that's something we'll do. But we'll do it for that reason and not just for flipping what we've done already."
Videogamer also enquired as to the chances of an Onimusha or Dino Crisis revival in the foreseeable future. Alas, 'tis not to be. "Capcom has obviously never shied away from bringing back our older IPs to new generations, but I do think it's more important for us to focus on creating new IP as we move forward."
It is my fond conviction that Capcom should put Ninja Theory, developer of DmC: Devil May Cry, to work on Resident Evil. Then again, DmC hasn't sold particularly well either - Capcom has lowered sales projections from 2 million to 1.2 million units by 31st March.
19 comments so far...
Plamsa wing on 4 Feb '13 said:
I'd like another Dino Crisis one day too, really liked those games.
OXM ETboy on 4 Feb '13 said:
Onimusha! Also: Viewtiful Joe!
serenity 97 on 4 Feb '13 said:
i really think that capcom saying they want revive old IP's is a bad idea, id love to see another Dino Crisis game, and if they ain't doing it because of what happened with Dino Crisis 3, then thats their own fault, why take dinosaurs into space, stupid idea.
FishyGinger on 4 Feb '13 said:
It never hurt the Leprechaun franchise;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprechaun_4:_In_Space
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprechaun:_In_the_Hood
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprechaun ... 2_tha_Hood
It just kept going from strength to strength.
SilentDark on 4 Feb '13 said:
This does seem to be a problem in the industry where franchises are milked dry and lo and behold people lose interest.
Capcom certainly isn't the only developer guilty of this but I do think rehashing old franchises is not necessarily the best way forward. I mean, they fell by the wayside for a reason right?
Resident Evil I think needs to stick with numbered sequels in the future and really cut back on the side stories, and if you are going to reboot, then at least answer the Leon/Ada question once and for all before you do.
CunningSmile on 4 Feb '13 said:
Never diss the Leprechaun films! Plus they've just released a box set of the first five
CunningSmile on 4 Feb '13 said:
Have I misunderstood the creative process all these years? I always thought you came up with a game, set a development time line and worked towards those deadlines. Apparently what actually happens is you buy game eggs not knowing what title it is, hatch them and what ever you get you advertise and ship.
It must be like that because otherwise this quote makes no sense. You are hardly "...artificially staggering..." by making one at a time rather than throwing all the skills of half a dozen studios simultaniously at the same franchise.
FishyGinger on 4 Feb '13 said:
You really don't have a clue do you Cunning? It also really helps when the developers keep their eyes shut whilst programming and the directors cover their ears shouting "blah blah blah I can't hear youuuuu" whilst dancing a merry jig.
Otherwise how else would you develop such an amazing fustercluck?
CunningSmile on 4 Feb '13 said:
Does that help the eggs hatch? Something to do with the vibrations I imagine
FishyGinger on 4 Feb '13 said:
You're thinking of sex toys again aren't you?
battfink83 on 4 Feb '13 said:
another dev coming up with a bullshit excuse for why a game didnt sell well.
here's an idea for you, maybe it didnt sell well because it was crap?. dont blame the market of how many resi titles are out/coming out in any way, if the game was good it wouldve been lapped up by the public.
you think there's too many FPS games on the market? there are about 20 cod games alone, yet they still sell bucket loads no?
ive played every resi and loved every one of them, but i didnt buy 6, couldnt had it for £15 the other day but still refused.....thanks fot the demo capcom... lol
Decent_Jam on 4 Feb '13 said:
Disappointing to hear DmC isn't selling well, it deserves to. On the other hand they did release it in January, which was a slightly moronic thing to do.
Dave101 on 4 Feb '13 said:
i still play code veronica and the gamecube remakes on the wii more than any other resident evil game and have totally ignored re5 and 6. im not alone.
comabob on 4 Feb '13 said:
Am i the only one on here who enjoyed RE6? Parts of which i enjoyed immensely in fact!
Sure it aint Resident Evil as we all thought we knew it but it was awesome in its own right and i strongly urge everyone to try out the full game. Some parts of it are misguided and awkward like Chris's campaign and the lack of Weapon upgrades.
BUT alot of the issues that were there on release have been all but rectified with patches now - you can even turn most of the QTE's off in the option menu now!
PLUS - ive put 22hours into it and still havent finished Jake or Ada's campaigns! The stats have my percentage complete at 8% believe it or not - so its clearly an epic game. Particularly when you compare its length to pretty much any other shooter/action game out there. THeres not just a motorbike chase but also a harrier jet sequence you fully control! Craziness i tells ya!!
In regards to where the franchise goes next? Give the franchise to the team that did the Dead Rising games or if Capcom are gonna outsource - Platinum, SWERY65, Monolith (Condemned anyone?) or even the guys who did Silent HIll Downpour could probably do a better survival horror! A total overhaul of the franchise is needed. Go back to old school groaning zombies where 3 or 4 hits kill you and ammo is scarce. New characters too - the plot is so ridiculous its appalling at this point. Give us a prisoner on death row setup and during a riot the zombie outbreak occurs Suffering style. Give us a family on their way to/from a holiday when their car breaks down/crashes during a zombie outbreak. Give us a housewife who hears about weird violent occurrances on the radio/tv when a panicked phonecall from her son/daughter away at college convinces the woman to venture to the college to save them - during a zombie outbreak, HELL you could even have that last idea with duel storylines/characters old school resident evil style!!
No more boring soldiers or superhuman characters. Just horror with frail and human characters struggling a zombie outbreak - where every bullet is precious and even a scratch can kill you.
PCG The_B on 5 Feb '13 said:
Not to worry you, but I believe that's mainly because they're getting to ready a reboot of the franchise.
With WWE's Hornswoggle as the title character. Seriously.
CunningSmile on 5 Feb '13 said:
I'm trying to block that out. If it's not Warwick Davis it's not Leprechaun (I've met him, he's strangely proud of them)
FishyGinger on 5 Feb '13 said:
Having watched idiot abroad series 3 I could believe that.
Johnbhoy69 on 6 Feb '13 said:
Many people enjoyed it yes...but many hated it...like myself. It was so uneven and had too many contradictory elements. Loads of guns, no ammo. Enemies with guns, you kill them, they mutate into monsters... just give us the monsters. I admit the chrysalis transformations were pretty awesome. Use cover or I can just stand in the open and shoot the enemies. Turning Resident Evil into a cover shooter where the cover system is atrocious is unforgivable.
In terms of the QTE'S, Having to patch a game because of a glitch is one thing but patching a game after wide spread complaints about the actual gameplay...that's Capcom admitting they made a mistake and desperately trying to fix it so sales could of continued.
I do agree that the plots of these games have become far too convoluted and that they really do need to reboot the entire franchise. bring back the dark eerie atmospheres, the genuine fear in not knowing what is around the next corner. Manual save stations and as you say a few hits and you die. This will add so much more suspense than wave after wave of gun toting mutating enemies.
And remove co-op it is not scary...just a failed attempt to appeal to the Call of Duty generation.
FishyGinger on 6 Feb '13 said:
This, this and more this. It wasn't just a bad resi game, the actual mechanics felt rubbish (pre and patching). Simple things were done badly. Reboot or just go back to the Raccoon City games and forget anything happened after those.
The woods around the mansion...good, the mansion...gooder, Raccoon City....good, hearing and reading about Lisa in the remake...goodest. Africa baaaaaad, kung fu and wrestling moves on infectious zombies.....badder. RE6...baddest.