Capcom Sticks With Japan For Original IPs

[Psykoboy2]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4615328919_ab87ff8515.jpg

Capcom is giving up on original IPs from the West. Capcom president Haruhiro Tsujimota, in an interview, said the company would now use foreign studios for ports and sequels only, while original IPs would be developed in Japan.

The recently published Capcom title, Dark Void, developed by Airtight Studios out of California had disappointing sales and failed to meet the expectations of the company.

Source - 1Up (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3179331)

[Mike Kelehan]

Makes sense. Capcom has some of the best original IPs in the business coming out of Japan, and basically nothing new coming from elsewhere.

[Adam Blue]

Dark Void had potential, and I thought Bionic Commando was awesome. A straight-up, great 2D-3D transition. But in the end, the Japanese charm and culture really comes through to make their games unique. It's why I love Dead Rising and Lost Planet. let's just hope Dead Rising 2 turns out well.

[digitalErich]

Dark Void had such a cool concept and look...it's too bad they couldn't execute on those.

[Dukefrukem]

I realize Capcom got screwed out of the Dark Void thing, but am I the only one who's a bit tired of Japan's overthetopness on some of the recent titles... I'm lookin at Bayonetta and Resident Evil 5 in particular. Japan can't write themselves out of a paper bag for Americans.. I get it, a lot is probably lost in translation, but even some of the logic used in RE5 bothered me. It's distracting.

[Kielaran]

I can't blame them, but there is a disconnect. There are plenty of Western made games that are successes, just not theirs. Also, the sequels in Western studios may not be the great thing they think it is. We will see in Dead Rising 2 if the same charm is there (with hopefully some better decisions).

[quidmonkey]

Dark Void Zero is good; Dark Void is not.

[Savok]

Ok, so your western studios suck balls, so rather then let them try whatever, you give them existing IPs for them to crash into the ground instead.... logic!

And it worked so well with Bioshock 2.

[quidmonkey]

Ok, so your western studios suck balls, so rather then let them try whatever, you give them existing IPs for them to crash into the ground instead.... logic!

And it worked so well with Bioshock 2.

It's weird:

Grin developed both BC & BCR.
Airtight developed Dark Void.
Other Ocean Interactive developed Dark Void Zero.

Dark Void is an original IP. Dark Void Zero is a promo with a faux-history of a panned NES game. DVZ began as a April Fools joke that became something real, like Splosion Man.

[CappinCanuck]

I can't even remember the last time I bought anything out of Capcom, so no loss for me. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing though. I've seen good things from each hemisphere, maybe Capcom just doesn't jive with the West or vice versa.

[Iron Past]

Idiots. One bad game and they throw in the towel? What new Japanese developed IP has been such a success in the West? Games like Lost Planet 2 show the schisms between western and eastern design philosophies, and I'm tired of the latter.

[Rune_74]

I think some of these japanese developers could do well to learn a bit from the west....FF13 I'm looking at you.

[Jason]

I realize Capcom got screwed out of the Dark Void thing, but am I the only one who's a bit tired of Japan's overthetopness on some of the recent titles... I'm lookin at Bayonetta and Resident Evil 5 in particular. Japan can't write themselves out of a paper bag for Americans.. I get it, a lot is probably lost in translation, but even some of the logic used in RE5 bothered me. It's distracting.

I see where you're coming from, but I think one of the main points in Bayonetta was the over the topness. The game pretty much screams that it wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

[Dukefrukem]

I see where you're coming from, but I think one of the main points in Bayonetta was the over the topness. The game pretty much screams that it wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

I agree, but I can't even understand what the hell is going on half the time. The story is lost to me, which is why its in my ON HOLD pile.

[Jason]

I agree, but I can't even understand what the hell is going on half the time. The story is lost to me, which is why its in my ON HOLD pile.

The only thing I got from the story was Bayonetta is a witch that works or sells other demons, angels, or whatever to some other demons at the start of the game and ends up saving the world and being reunited with her best friend who then joins her. The story is not the game's strong point, but parts of it are pretty funny. And it reminds me of lots of anime. Doesn't really make sense to the end and not really even then. It's worth playing for the combat alone. The rest is just tongue in cheek fun.

[Widgetcraft]

Dark Void has nothing to do with the West's ability to make good, original IPs. It was just a game that had a severe lack of polish, which is typically more the fault of the publisher than anything else.

[Dukefrukem]

The only thing I got from the story was Bayonetta is a witch that works or sells other demons, angels, or whatever to some other demons at the start of the game and ends up saving the world and being reunited with her best friend who then joins her. The story is not the game's strong point, but parts of it are pretty funny. And it reminds me of lots of anime. Doesn't really make sense to the end and not really even then. It's worth playing for the combat alone. The rest is just tongue in cheek fun.

Thats about what I got out of it so far. And yes... VERY ANIME like. I'm not a very big ANIME fan either, so that might be why i'm not liking it. I do enjoy SAC, FMA and Death Note though.

[BigJonno]

I think some of these japanese developers could do well to learn a bit from the west....FF13 I'm looking at you.

One of the group presentations in my games in context class was about FFXIII and they'd dug up an interesting interview where the developers stated that many of the design decisions in FFXIII were based on Western gaming trends, specifically linear, streamlined, cinematic experiences.

Obviously they missed the entire RPG genre when looking at Western games.

[Kelegacy]

Dark Void had potential, and I thought Bionic Commando was awesome. A straight-up, great 2D-3D transition. But in the end, the Japanese charm and culture really comes through to make their games unique. It's why I love Dead Rising and Lost Planet. let's just hope Dead Rising 2 turns out well.

I too loved Bionic Commando. I won't part with that game ever. I thought the second half of the game was amazing.

Dark Void was a mess. It was a playable game, it just wasn't very fun. Which is weird because it features a dude with a jetpack as a primary component. I beat it and traded it the next day. I don't know why I even bothered beating it...I just hate having unfinished games I guess.

[Urizen]

Idiots. One bad game and they throw in the towel?

It just goes to show how much pressure is on each studio and how much a publisher expects from each title. It's no secret that developing games is expensive and one misfire can cause major backtracking.

Capcom must have made a decision before Dark Void was released for it to give them their best shot at penetrating Western audience's pockets with original IPs. They must have set a threshold in sales or revenue where, if it 'failed', they would do some serious soul-searching or pull out. They sure made an honest attempt at marketing it.

Calling them 'idiots' is ridiculous. It's not like they want to leave money on the table. To me, this is a sad story about the market pressures on even giant publishers. This is why wholly original work is so difficult to pull off.

Here's hoping Capcom can regroup and try again in 18 to 24 months.

[Iron Past]

Calling them 'idiots' is ridiculous. It's not like they want to leave money on the table. To me, this is a sad story about the market pressures on even giant publishers. This is why wholly original work is so difficult to pull off.

They're idiots because of their reasoning. Japanese publishers have proved time and time again that they have no fucking clue what constitutes a Western style game. All attempts at it end up being even more awkward because of the Spaghetti Western syndrome. I understand that there's pressure on them, but to pull out of creating new IPs in an entire market because of one game is just plain stupid; moreso because the concept was just fine, it was the execution that was lacking. Design philosophies simply don't don't translate very well, and people have much less patience for that than they used to. Relegating all their over-seas developers to second tier is just a slap in the face.

Or maybe they want to have them fix the slop that the Japanese developers screw up on the first time, I don't know.

If they weren't expecting to take casualties, they're idiots, plain and simple.