The lights are on
In order to reach a broader market and make more money, Capcom said it needs the Resident Evil series to evolve from its survival-horror roots.
Speaking in an interview with Gamasutra, Resident Evil: Revelations producer Masachika Kawata said a survival-horror focused title wouldn't be a smart business decision nowadays.
"Especially for the North American market, I think the series needs to head in that [action-oriented] direction," Kawata told the website. "[Resident Evil's primary games] need to be an extension of the changes made in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5.
"RE4 started in that direction, and RE5 kept going in that direction," he said. "And I think that especially for the North American market, we need to keep going in that direction, and take that a step further. And that's exactly one of the reasons that Revelations is the way it is," he said.
Kawata is not involved with the development of Resident Evil 6, but said he doesn't think the game needs to move all the way towards action gameplay.
"Looking at the marketing data [for survival horror games] ... the market is small, compared to the number of units Call of Duty and all those action games sell," he said. "A 'survival horror' Resident Evil doesn't seem like it'd be able to sell those kind of numbers."
He added, "I can't really speak for Resident Evil 6, but I don't think that it necessarily has to go all the way in that [action-heavy] direction, the Call of Duty direction. It doesn't have to be a straight up shooter. But my impression is that Resident Evil 4 and 5 aren't shooters, per se."
Kawata said there might still be room for survival-horror through more Resident Evil spin-off titles, however. "So we have our numbered series, and we can say we have a more adventure-oriented version, like a Revelations-style game. And we also have Operation: Raccoon City, which is a third-person shooter," he said.
"So I think that by extending the market in this sense, we can still have the numbered titles keep their identity about what Resident Evil is supposed to be, but still expand and hit other markets as well."
[Source: Gamasutra]
This is a terrible idea. Especially since action oriented zombie games have been done to death, back and death again. I'm all for innovation but only if its well executed. I can't even remember how many times I played the old RE games but I do know I finished RE4 once after my 5th time trying to start it and I still haven't finished my first playthrough of RE5. The third person shooter approach was just terrible and it seems like its getting worse with each game.
Might be a good business decision, but that doesn't mean it's any less stupid.
Fans may not be happy about this direction, but it's a sign of the times. Big budget games need to hit a certain amount of sales to turn a profit, and the best way to do so is to target the largest demographic possible. Capcom wants to remain in business, and while there have been many questionable decisions they've made in the last year or so (from a fan viewpoint), looking at the larger picture they are merely doing what's in their best interests to minimize risk and maximise profit, like all companies. It sucks for us fans to watch our beloved series' change, but if they are still good games (RE 5 was definitely a great action game), I'll deal.
OH BOY NOW WE COMPARE RESIDENT EVIL TO CALL OF DUTY COME ON GET SERIOUS
HEROES MODE
NEMESIS MODE
VERSUS MODE
BASED ON CALL OF DUTY BUT IN THIRD PERSON PLEASE SOMEBODY STOP THIS
AND I THINK REVELATIONS A GREAT GAME HOW ABOUT MORE LIKE IT
Resident Evil doesn't need to do Call of Duty numbers, it does well enough for itself. I mean RE5 did great, Capcom couldn't have been struggling to keep the lights on after that one. However these days, seems like everyone thinks anything short of mega blockbuster is a failure. Its a disappointing thought, because that means games will be nothing more than a product of focus groups. That's essentially what is being said here.
LMFAO the death of hardcore gaming is now. Ninja Gaiden, Resident Evil, Metal gear are all relics of the past now
What? Making money off DLC already on the disk isnt working out as well as planed?
How could they assume something like this? Whether its survival horror (preferable) or action packed, just make the game good and with love and it will sell. However I also feel RE (and b*tch ass capcom of course) would benefit enormously by returning to the strategic, survival horror series... I miss actually having to think when I play a game.
So make a new IP you rubes(Capcom), don't modify an existing IP that has a great survival-horror model. Capcom should take a note from EA's book to see how well Dead Space has done and re-think their "survival-horror doesn't work".
Huh. Well, I'm really glad that he isn't leading the design for RE6. Seriously, does Capcom know what they're doing anymore? This is just like the topic on GI's last podcast...
i just looked at the title and am now disgusted and it kinda makes me nervous about this game
Obviously they mean they need to make it easier to swallow for stupid people who just enjoy mindless point and shoot. I honestly don't understand this move at all. Games like Dead Space and Alan Wake are a pretty huge indicator that it's not impossible to appeal to both sides of the fence. It's not impossible to have succesful franchise that is action based, but still holds true to survival horror, having good suspense, story telling, ambiance and tension. Capcom is just lazy at this point and looking for a sure fire way to make easy quick bucks, rather than really utilizing their brains and expanding on the creativity at the base of the franchise.
wow now they really are Crapcom
to all the people referencing Dead Space as survival horror: you're part of the reason the genre is dead. Dead Space is an action game in a horror setting. there's no sense of survival through gameplay as ammo and health is always ample and all the "scares" are just startles from things popping out of monster closets. support true survival horror games like Amnesia if you want Resident Evil to return to its roots.
I guess Resident Evil is suffering from the mass effect...
Last RE I enjoyed was 2.
So capcom...its come to this..