Capcom has been forced to lower its financial forecast for the current fiscal year, cutting 3.3 billion yen ($39 million) from its estimated profits for the year.
The company says that while initial sales of Resident Evil 6 were strong, they have "subsequently weakened" and will fall short of the company's previously estimated figures.
On top of this, Monster Hunter 4 has also been delayed. The game was due for release on Nintendo 3DS in Japan on March 2013, but will now be released sometime later in the year "in order to further raise the quality of this game."
Capcom now estimates that it will take 6.5 billion yen ($77.0 million) in profits during the current fiscal year, down from the original forecast of 9.8 billion yen ($116.1 million), and revenue of 93.5 billion ($1.1 billion), down from 105 billion ($1.2 billion).
It should be easy to see why the past few RE games have not been as good as their predecessors. The game has a niche audience already and Capcom decided to go more casual. This led to fans hating the past few games and the casuals still not being interested. The further they stray from the RE4 formula, the worse the sales will get.
Jacob has it right. I lost interest after Resident Evil 4. In all honesty I liked RE 4 but to me that wasn't survival horror. I can still play Resident Evil 1 on my GameCube and be a little on edge due to how well the camera angles complement the environment. It’s the small things like that that help make a game survival horror to me. I never even played the 5th or 6th one, just lost interest.
Unfortunate. The actual game was a mess. Selling fans [who are still around] on other game styles that Resident Evil influenced ... as opposed to just being a better version of RE5.
If Capcom behaves like every other company in the video game industry right now, the 3DS score means no further RE games for the 3DS and no RE for the Wii U, apart from clunky HD ports of the Wii Railshooters, which won't sell, but will be taken as an argument to show RE doesn't sell on Nintendo platforms.
But then again, it's the Company, that shifted it's most successful japanese IP over to Nintendo platforms, so maybe I am wrong here.
I played 4 and one of my most favorite games. I played RE 5 completely through with a friend, never played 6 or Revelations, but from what the reviews seem to dictate is that change is not going good for the franchise.
I guess Revelations was closer to what they did in 4 and 5, where as RE6 had changed / overdid much of what 4, 5, and Rev had accomplished.
RE3 and Code Veronica were pretty much the pinnacle. People love to put RE4 on a pedestal, but that game is where you can see the seeds of whats to come. This series really needs to take a hard look at its beginnings.
Agreed, go back to fixed camera angles, pre-rendered backgrounds and enemies busting through closed doors if you don't burn them or take the heads off. Throw in limited ammo reserves and take away the "enemies drop bullets for you on death". I haven't played any Resident Evil after 4 so I am not sure if this has been removed or not.
Well they ran out of story. RE spent the first few games trying to delve into the origin of the outbreak. So the reason many regard Code Veronica as one of the best is because it finally revealed all the details of the origin of Umbrella and who was behind the virus.
The controls (pre 4 vs after) have always been a big debate point as well. Personally I liked the fixed camera angles. As mentioned above, it added to the "horror". But many people HATED that control scheme, tank controls I believe was the term used.
So you have a game that no longer has anywhere to go, story-wise, because all they can do is have outbreaks in other areas of the world. And since 4 has grow more arcadey with each new game which takes the "survival horror" out of the game completely and instead relies on new, bigger, more unstoppable enemies.
Plus they really mucked it up by releasing too many games. RE3, RE0 were really forgettable. And now there are plenty of me too games like Silent Hill and AitD...not that they were better, only that RE was not the only game in town.
I imagine this was bound to happen but it makes me sad. My first experience with RE1 is still something I talk about. There was nothing like it at the time and still remains the only game to ever make me literally jump while playing it.
Until Capcom get a visionary like Shinji Mikami on the RE team, the series is doomed.
Once that happens, Resident Evil needs to be rebooted fresh start and fresh ideas.
Here's the problem. Tear out the character names, and the plot of Resident Evil 6. Now does the game stand on it's own? Mario can easily stand on gameplay. I disagree that RE6 could do that. Stop listening to focus groups, stop fishing for nostalgia, stop fishing for franchises and just make an original, fun game that your team is capable of making. You did this many times in the past Capcom.
When it's a big franchise like RE poor sales are usually the mistakes made 1 or 2 games previously catching up. It takes a while for the fan loyalty to die out. Not to say that RE6 is a good game, it isn't.
Resident Evil 6
X360 (67), PS3 (74)
Resident Evil Revelations
3DS (82)
Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City
X360, Ps3 (52), PC (48)
3DS (82)"
If Capcom behaves like every other company in the video game industry right now, the 3DS score means no further RE games for the 3DS and no RE for the Wii U, apart from clunky HD ports of the Wii Railshooters, which won't sell, but will be taken as an argument to show RE doesn't sell on Nintendo platforms.
But then again, it's the Company, that shifted it's most successful japanese IP over to Nintendo platforms, so maybe I am wrong here.
I guess Revelations was closer to what they did in 4 and 5, where as RE6 had changed / overdid much of what 4, 5, and Rev had accomplished.
The controls (pre 4 vs after) have always been a big debate point as well. Personally I liked the fixed camera angles. As mentioned above, it added to the "horror". But many people HATED that control scheme, tank controls I believe was the term used.
So you have a game that no longer has anywhere to go, story-wise, because all they can do is have outbreaks in other areas of the world. And since 4 has grow more arcadey with each new game which takes the "survival horror" out of the game completely and instead relies on new, bigger, more unstoppable enemies.
Plus they really mucked it up by releasing too many games. RE3, RE0 were really forgettable. And now there are plenty of me too games like Silent Hill and AitD...not that they were better, only that RE was not the only game in town.
I imagine this was bound to happen but it makes me sad. My first experience with RE1 is still something I talk about. There was nothing like it at the time and still remains the only game to ever make me literally jump while playing it.
Once that happens, Resident Evil needs to be rebooted fresh start and fresh ideas.