“We support all systems appropriately. On PSP we’ve released more than 10 titles this generation, very high quality titles and there’s more coming. DS has been home our popular Megaman Starforce and Ace Attorney series. Wii has a slew of titles (more than we’ve released on 360/PS3 to date) and a massive effort in the form of Monster Hunter Tri. In addition there’s Spyborgs and Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles which are big efforts from us too.” - Christian Svensson, Corporate Officer/VP of Strategic Planning & Business Development
Forum > Gaming Discussion > Capcom on Wii: A Press Relations double speak round up
Capcom on Wii: A Press Relations double speak round up
next
>>
ON MAKING Wii RE FANS HAPPY
Specifically, when asked about a Wii version of RE 5, Dahlgren said: "[Resident Evil 5] was made for the Xbox 360 and PS3. That being said, Nintendo Wii fans will be very happy, very soon."
LOLOLOLOL. No.
ON Wii versions of multiplatform games
We are contemplating versions of one or two of the CEI titles you’ve mentioned on the Wii (not saying which), but we’d like to see how they do on their initial target systems before doubling down on additional SKUs.
Ah so Wii has to wait for a sku other platforms get a free pass? Makes sense.
ON DEFENDING THEIR Wii OUTPUT
“From my perspective, excluding downloadables, we've shipped more games on Wii than 360 or PS3, including two RE titles,” Svensson said.
“I don't see the Wii getting shafted at all.”
Svensson also defended Capcom’s portfolio of Wii games.
“Spyborgs I still say will surprise people,” he stated.
“We Love Golf is the highest rated golf game on Wii according to gamerankings.com… Neopets is getting great press (a couple best puzzle game of E3 nominations from various outlets) and Zak & Wiki [is great].”
“I’d say that's pretty solid. And yes, MotoGP 08 is coming to Wii as well.”
Right, seeing how most of those are ports or games with budgets a quarter of games like Lost planet, sorry that is being generous given how expensive that was. Budgets of a sixth. Neopets was shit and Moto GP is getting mediocre reviews.
ON BULLSHITTING FANS
Capcom Fan: "Hey Sven, just out of curiosity, how come you guys chose Dead Rising over Lost Planet for Wii? I'm just curious because it seems like LP would be the easier of the two games to port over, considering that it's an FPS. The number of zombies on screen in the 360 version of DR at once was pretty ridiculous. Factor in the load times and all the different moves, it just seems like translating all this content for the Wii will take a considerable amount of effort. Again, Lost Planet seems like it would have been the easier choice.
Is there some kind of major discrepancy in the hardware requirements between the two games that lead to the choice? Also, was it your call of Capcom in Osaka's?
Christian Svensson of Capcom: Let's discuss next week. I can't comment until then when a bit more will be clear *smiles*
What, what became clear? How much you suck?
ON A Wii RE (Just a couple of weeks prior to Darkside Chronicles)
"Personally I would like to create something on Wii
in the Resident Evil family," Resident Evil 5 producer Masachika Kawata said to Eurogamer. "At the moment we don't know and have just been working on RE5, so watch this space."
So he was lying through his teeth when he is credited as the producer on Darkside Chronicles.
ON HOW NINTENDO PLATFORMS SUPPORTED THEIR FINANCIALS
"This business segment was a pleasant surprise with the achievement of sales far exceeding our projection," said the company.
"One of the supporting factors for this result was the strong sales of the popular Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition mainly in the US and Europe."
Great, so crank up some more on rails.
ON STUFF
Moreover, as we are not only focusing on PS3, we would also like to spread our supply of software evenly between Wii and Xbox 360 while their markets in the world increase in a similar manner to PS3.
What?
ON LOST PLANET LIKE WII GAME
N-Europe: Are we going to see Bionic Commando, Lost Planet or something like this on the Wii?
Svensson: Possible…the “or something like this” part we could talk about in a couple weeks perhaps.
He later said that he was talking about Spyborgs. What?
ON STREETFIGHTER 4 Wii
“We’ve had a lot of requests for Street Fighter IV on Wii,” he says. “Since it’s a 2D fighting game, it’s doable, but whether we’d try we don’t know. We’d have to see. If we can sell it, we might consider it. And it would be a straight-forward Street Fighter IV—it wouldn’t be a kid’s version.”
Well make it then.
ON RE5 Wii Edition
Bishbish777 from the IGN Wii Lobby and the starter of the "Bring Resident Evil 5 to the Wii" Petition has posted a direct reply from the Senior Director of Strategy from Capcom regarding his plea of the petition with 21,000 signatures, and response to what needs to be done to bring RE5 to the Wii. Read the reply below:
"Bish,
I am someone of relatively high authority over issues like this (yes, believe it or not even being in the US I have daily discussions over future product strategy with both Japanese and US R&D folks and our executive team worldwide).
Your petition is a great effort and we greatly appreciate the passion you've shown to the RE brand. I'm pleased you've made the effort and I'd like to thank you for it if it was your doing.
As with pleas for several other Wii projects from fans, we certainly recognize that there is a demand for RE5 on the Wii. Your petition further validates our assumptions (as do the weekly posts in our Ask Capcom section that effectively ask the same thing). I locked your post because these threads inevitably become circular arguments among fans that are repetitive and non-constructive.
At the same time, there really is nothing more I or anyone else at Capcom can do about it at this time (it doesn't matter how high up the chain you go). We are 100% completely out of appropriate development resources to do additional projects in the near term beyond what's currently in the pipeline.
Does that mean it might not happen eventually in spite of the hardware challenges? Well, we don't know yet. And because we don't know, for us to say "sure, we'll do it" and set off slews of speculation and/or even potential heartbreak if the project never comes to be, doesn't do our fans or us any favors.
So for now, I continue to focus on what we know and that is that RE5 is coming to 360 and PS3. To say anything beyond that at this time really wouldn't be fair to you or the rest of the fans.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't still hope or be vocal. It just means we can't make any statements or commitments regarding RE5 for Wii.
-Christian"
Edited: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:29:41
Capcom's Keiji Inafune says Wii Gamers Shouldn't Worry
Q:...Capcom always talks a lot about having a multiplatform strategy for the major titles, but this strategy doesn't really seem to apply to the market leader which is the Wii. So you know there is a lot of Wii users out there and an awful lot of machines on the market, and you know we hear all the time about people who want to play SF4 or RE5 on the Wii as well. Given the number of Wii users out there, and the success of titles that we have published on the Wii like RE4 Wii edition do you think that Capcom should be focusing more on the Wii?
Of course the Wii is a very important part of our multi-platform strategy. Games like RE4 on the Wii and Umbrella Chronicles have done quite well for us, and of course there's always Monster Hunter. Although it isn't too popular abroad, it was the number one selling title in Japan last year. So that goes to show we are very serious about the Wii as a company. People say that third-party Wii games don't sell in Japan, but I can honestly say that we are cutting no corners with Monster Hunter Tri. There's a lot of pressure to make it succeed, and I'm sure there will be a lot of shocked gamers out there when they see just how great Monster Hunter Tri looks. Please don't worry. We are putting a lot of energy into our Wii offerings as well.
He can only talk about a single Wii title they are putting effort into. That is very telling.
SFIV on Wii
1UP asks: There’s been some talk from Capcom — I can’t remember if it was you or someone else who said this — that if there’s enough demand for it, a Wii version of Street Fighter 4 could be possible. So where are you with things now? How would you view a Street Fighter game on the Wii — would you keep it as “Street Fighter 4″ or do some sort of “Street Fighter Kids”?
Mr. Ono answers: Yeah, it’s definitely true that we’ve had a lot of requests for a port for the Wii. And it’s definitely doable. We just don’t have any plans for it yet, that’s all. If we feel strongly enough that it would sell, I’d imagine we’d do it. But it definitely would be Street Fighter 4 — not some dumbed down version.
1UP asks: So is there really any question within Capcom that a Wii version would sell?
Mr. Ono answers: Going back to my philosophy for Street Fighter, the game is essentially a tool, not just a unique piece of entertainment. I think of it like chess — that game can be played anywhere. As long as people want to play Street Fighter 4, it could be on anything — even this iPhone, for that matter [Points to the iPhone on the table]. It really could be on any platform that could support it. So let’s just see what happens.
So now a port would be dreadfully late and then they would complain over how it didn't sell. Great. Well done.
Moto GP, this was your quality support in addition to Neopets Sven?
Edited: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:37:45
You sure seem to get worked up a lot over Capcom's stupiditiy on Wii. Ravenprose said:You sure seem to get worked up a lot over Capcom's stupiditiy on Wii.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
*grips testicles tightly*
Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit
CAPCOM:
The whole mindset and mentality of Capcom is we follow the decisions that consumers make, that gamers make. Essentially, consumers and gamers are making the decision of what hardware they’re going to buy and we’ll make our choice based on what they choose… At the end of the day we look to consumers and gamers to tell us what they want, and by their decision to spend their money on hardware we listen to them. Capcom is a gamer’s company; they are at the center of everything we do.
BIZ: With regards to PS3 and Wii, why doesn't Capcom support those systems at launch?
CB: I will tell you quite categorically, we do not see being on a launch schedule as rewarding to us as being six to nine months later.
BIZ: So it's a wait-and-see approach? You're waiting for the respective installed bases to build up before diving in?
CB: Yes. And we look forward to giving support to all the platform companies based on their install base. We're a business at the end of the day. We have funny things called shareholders and we have to give them a return on their investment, and be fiscally responsible too. So, we love everybody also based on their installed bases [laughs].
CB: The whole mindset and mentality of Capcom is we follow the decisions that consumers make, that gamers make. Essentially, consumers and gamers are making the decision of what hardware they're going to buy and we'll make our choice based on what they choose... At the end of the day we look to consumers and gamers to tell us what they want, and by their decision to spend their money on hardware we listen to them. Capcom is a gamer's company; they are at the center of everything we do.
Firstly, the platform(s) with the largest install bases arguably have the worst support from Capcom.
Secondly the gamers have chosen "what hardware they are going to buy" and Capcom haven't made their "choice based on what they choose".
Oh and on the subject of Bellfield:
The former Sega marketing VP had been at Capcom for less than a year, but then left, according to GameDaily.
"Under the leadership of Bellfield, Capcom saw some fairly substantial changes in how they marketed their products and how the community impacted products in development, including changes to games like Lost Planet."
gamingeek said:CB: Yes. And we look forward to giving support to all the platform companies based on their install base. We're a business at the end of the day. We have funny things called shareholders and we have to give them a return on their investment, and be fiscally responsible too. So, we love everybody also based on their installed bases [laughs].
gamingeek said:Specifically, when asked about a Wii version of RE 5, Dahlgren said: "[Resident Evil 5] was made for the Xbox 360 and PS3. That being said, Nintendo Wii fans will be very happy, very soon."
gamingeek said:Neopets is getting great press
---
Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobileIt's a shame, it really is. Especially given how great Zack and Wiki was, and UC was a great sentiment at the time. That really could've been great potential for them to expand upon and build a truly great wii library.
Oh well.
Oh well.
Wow. I feel 15% dumber after reading their statements. I just can't beleive they said those things.
Edited: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:00:31
The Neopets thing was the worst. It was post the Spyborgs unveiling and they were pushing Neopets as awesome support.
Just.... no.
And then they started pushing Moto GP as great support. It was an outside studio and looked like a PS2 game.
The latest gem:
Capcom spreads the wealth between platforms, says they’ve released more titles on Wii than PS3/360Yes, what happened to quality vs quantity? Half of their Wii games are ports, the other examples being lightgun shooters or shoddy games like Neopets or Moto GP. Yes that is a slew of titles and you can add old GC ports of RE to the list now too.
They support DS how? By porting three gba Phoenix Wright games? They have made 1 proper DS Phoenix Wright. That is not support.
http://www.gamesradar.com/f/38-favourite-bullshit-pr-cliches/a-200903239543265069
Awesomely appropiate article 
The best bullshit PR cliches:
“Built from the ground up”
“We’re going to make a few tweaks to our archaic engine and pray no-one notices our lack of effort. Kind of like the Emperor’s New Clothes”
“We're about putting smiles on faces”
“We have no real direction any more and no actual gameplay to speak of, so we're staying vague on what it is that we actually do these days”
This thread fails!
Archangel3371 said:
This thread fails!
It serves a purpose. Where else could I vomit out my illogical anger? Except maybe.... between Steels buttocks.
Oh nice, looks like our uber whining on the Ask Capcom boards had some effect:
http://www.videogamer.com/wii/spyborgs/preview-1712.html
VideoGamer.com: Where did the original concept for Spyborgs come from?
Daryl Allison: Capcom was looking to get into the Wii market. It wanted to make a game for the Wii. There was enough of an outcry from Capcom fans saying give us a real game on the Wii! So we were looking for developers and while we were searching Bionic Games were being founded. They saw the same opportunity, they wanted to make a real game on the Wii, based on their strengths. Because of their past success with Ratchet and Clank, they believed that that style of game, the accessibility of it, the appeal, would map well to the Wii market, particularly for a co-op game. So the two worlds collided perfectly. They wanted a publisher, we wanted a developer just like them. That's where the initial idea came to be for these three heroes, who are similar to their original versions, the core cooperative combat, melee system is still there from the very beginning.
VideoGamer.com: So there are a significant portion of Wii owners who are gamers then? It's not just this machine that's owned by everyone but gamers?
DA: Very much so. All of us who grew up on Nintendo platforms, those were gamers. Many of us bought the Nintendo Wii still as gamers, to play the next Marios, to play the next Zeldas, and those games are huge successes. Mario Kart came out on the previous Nintendo systems, we're buying that on the Wii because it's a great game, and it just happens that Nintendo's damn good at doing that. Those people are out there. You don't see them all that often because their expectations are higher and the crap that keeps getting shovelled at them, they're not going to buy it. So self-fulfilling prophecy that third-party games aren't going to work because they're saying we're not going to buy that crap you're throwing our way. The Capcom fans are saying, Capcom, we know you provide quality, give us a game on the Wii. That's where Capcom began this pursuit of finding a developer that could do this, build a great game, an appealing game and actually push the system. If you're going to do a true action game and not a mini-game compilation, that's going to hold up in the market against the God of Wars, or alongside the Devil May Crys and Lost Planets, it's got to look good. That's why we set that goal, and fortunately the team was able to come together and pull it off.
I feel bad for these guys, they have the right mentality and yet fall just short of doing what the gamers on the Ask Capcom boards really want. Thankfully they got rid of the kiddie Spyborgs look. But while they've upped the art and graphics, the game is still not the deep adventure or platformer people wanted. But a stripped down arcade brawler. Which doesn't even have online co-op or WiiSpeak? I think it will do okay but it wont break a million.
Edited: Thu, 14 May 2009 11:24:09
I actually prefer the old Spyborgs look if I'm honest, but even if I'm the only one, Umbrella Chronicles is the problem I suppose. Spyborgs or not and even Dead Rising, if they'd been putting in the same amount of effort they appear to be doing with Umbrella Chronicles in a non-on rails shooter I'm sure everyone would be back to loving them.
True man. That's the problem with some of these games. Soooooooooo close, but no.
Monster Hunter 3, Red Steel 2 and Rabbids Go Home go all the way. Dead Space Extraction, Spyborgs, Darkside Chronicles? Just make silly decisions that take it off most peoples' radars.
It's very strange to me. You'd think a Res evil 2 remake would be a safe bet. I'd love to hear some of the discussions behind their decisions . They can't be suprised they aren't making money on all these niche games(mostly new ip's too) they release. it's like they are taking lessons from platinum games.
Zack and wiki? lightgun games? brawlers? - they think that's where the big money is? really?
Whether I like their games or not, at least EA's and ubisoft's releases are making some sense. It's like they have a plan on how they'll make money from certain demographics. Capcom - who the hell knows who they're targeting?
I didn't like the direction RE was heading anyway( I'm one of those survival horror advocates) so I'm hoping Silent Hill is good.
I think they are trying to tick all the boxes.
"It's a wii game guys so it has to be accesible to all. Make a RE game, oh but we want co-op and easiness. Make it a lightgun game. Spyborgs? It's a wii game so it has to have a party smash up aspect, two player, arcadey."
Log in or Register for free to comment
Recently Spotted:
robio (8m)
ON CHOP TILL YOU DROP
The TGS demo had 6 on screen zombies. They said they were aiming for 100 in NOM.
“I’m not sure where ‘this is the final build’ stuff is coming from, because that is simply not true. The TGS “build” was mostly just a tech demo and is not the actual or final game, guys…I believe the situation is this: 1) the final game is almost done. 2) the final game is NOT the tech demo shown at Leipzig or TGS. The tech demo is a tech demo, and is not the final game. No press or media have yet seen the version of the game that Nikai was talking about when he said it was basically done. Someone at Capcom said there would be a new version of the game at TGS because that was the plan, but for reasons I dunno the details on, it didn’t happen. As for why we would show the same thing over again, it mostly boils down to different producers having different attitudes, and Nikai definitely has his own way of doing things. This is not a hair-splitting technicality, as I know a number of things have changed. I haven’t played the final build, so I dunno if it’s going to be 3000% different, but I have seen screenshots, and yes, there are more zombies on the screen and a few other notable changes. I can’t promise the moon without having actually played it, but I’m not trying to double-talk you here. The TGS build is not the final game, and there do appear to be some positive changes going forward.” - Seth Killian, Capcom Community Sr. Manager
They ended up with 10 on screen zombies at once.
ON RESIDENT EVIL GC PORTS
“Nothing is ever final, but we’ve been asked twice if we’ve wanted to bring it Westward and twice we’ve declined,” said Capcom biz dev boss Christian Svensson.
Well I guess third times a charm right?
ON THE OTHER GAME: NOT SPYBORGS
Late last month, we reported that Capcom were planning a Wii title similar to Lost Planet and Bionic Commando which would be announced over the coming weeks. Shortly after our story, Capcom announced the madcap Saturday morning TV style title Spyborgs, leading us to believe that Spyborgs was indeed the mysterious "or something like that" title. How wrong we were.
Issue #25 of NGamer Magazine features a very small preview of Spyborgs, with an enigmatic quote nestled within. "There's a bullet with our name on it if we speak of their ultra top secret Wii title (a surprising take on a next-gen favourite), so we'll stick to the safer, though still intruiging, Spyborgs."
A new take on a next-gen favourite? Bionic Commando and Lost Planet are definite possibilities then. Just to get you salivating like a rabid dog over the possibilities, we hear Devil May Cry 4, Street Fighter IV, Resident Evil 5 and Dead Rising have quite a fan following as well.
LOL well I guess this was Darkside Chronicles. That worked out well.
ON MATURE Wii GAMES
By and large, we don't see the Wii being home to a sizable mature player base outside of some of the early adopters. We see it as being very, very broad with a family focus especially in Japan. If there is a "core player base" on Wii, within two years, it will be largely a younger player, far younger than 360 or PS3.
So before the market had a time to form they pegged it as nothing but family friendly despite the high sales of their two RE games?
ON MIKAMI
CB: Mikami-san is still a contracted producer at Capcom, so he's very much part of the team, part of the family just as other producers are. Some are regular employees, while others are under contract for a timeframe or content or a particular project, which is pretty standard in Japan. Both Inaba-san and Kamiya-san have left the company.
Really? Last I heard he was at Platinum and working with EA, not Capcom.
ON 360 SUPPORT
BIZ: You mentioned before that Capcom is proudly supporting the 360, but that system is not having much success in Japan. Being a Japanese company, does the strategy need to change from the publisher's point of view since the console is not being readily adopted?
CB:
Capcom looks at the global market and we look at the platforms with the perspective of the global market that we sell content to. Even Takeuchi-san said, "Capcom in the past, like most other Japanese publishers today, just looked at the Japanese market. The difference is that Capcom's learned its lesson about that and now looks globally."
Really? Because globally 360 is being outsold by another console by a large margin.
ON SUPPORTING LARGE INSTALL BASES
BIZ: With regards to PS3 and Wii, why doesn't Capcom support those systems at launch?
CB: I will tell you quite categorically, we do not see being on a launch schedule as rewarding to us as being six to nine months later.
BIZ: So it's a wait-and-see approach? You're waiting for the respective installed bases to build up before diving in?
CB: Yes. And we look forward to giving support to all the platform companies based on their install base. We're a business at the end of the day. We have funny things called shareholders and we have to give them a return on their investment, and be fiscally responsible too. So, we love everybody also based on their installed bases [laughs].
Oh fucking really? Really? Is that so Capcom?
ON Wii TITLES
CB: There's lots I'd love to share with you, but if I did and as soon as you posted it, the first thing I'd have is [our PR staff] in my office chopping my head off. But I can say to you, yes I've seen what we've got in development and yes, it's highly innovative and creative, and there are things that we will make you do as a gamer on the Wii with our content that you'll be excited about, you'll be embarrassed about, but thoroughly enjoy.
Oh so this was a while back so he is talking about Chop Till you Drop and the Darkside Chronicles. Nice.
ON Wii and PLATFORM SUPPORT
CB: It's an interesting question. I was in a meeting with Peter Moore and a number of publishing companies and the conversation went around something like, "Third parties need the platform companies to build the installed base for us to sell to." You know what Peter's reply to me was? He said, "No. Platform companies need great creative talent at the third party community and developers to create the software innovation and a consumer experience on their platforms." He turned that question around the other way, which in hindsight it's a really interesting concept. Because it's now saying relevant to what Nintendo has done, it's the responsibility of every developer and creative talent within this industry to make games on the platforms that we have out there on the marketplace. I will say to you that I think we're going to see some great innovation being sparked by what Nintendo is doing with Wii.
......................
.....
ON 3RD PARTY RESPONSIBILITY
BIZ: I think that's the concern that some have for Wii, though. Will the third parties be able to innovate at the same level as Nintendo on its own console? Or will it be up to Nintendo to make its own case and be the innovator for the Wii platform?
CB: It's funny you say that... The platform company's responsibility is to create a viable platform. Secondly, companies like Capcom—the publishers and developers in this industry—it's our responsibility to create great gameplay experiences and innovation and creativity. I think the third-party developers and publishers have that responsibility.
Whooops! Looks like Archies argument has gone down in flames, as Capcom themselves say that is is their responsibility. Heh heh
Kidding man.
THE NEW Wii TITLE
GS: You mentioned a new title for the Wii. What are Capcom's plans for the Wii and the PlayStation 3 going forward?
CB: I would love to give you my product lineup for the next five years, but... *laughs*. Obviously you saw Inafune-san mention we are developing a new title for the Wii platform. I will say we are developing a cross-support for all major platforms that are out there at the moment -- the ones that have shipped for a while and the ones that recently shipped. We will be making announcements in the coming months as to what these different titles are.
GS: Are the games being developed for the Wii going to be exclusives or re-imagined ports from other platforms?
CB: It's a good question... Capcom has to balance its content between some of its established brands that may come over to different platforms – obviously we have a track record there with Resident Evil 4 from Gamecube to PS2. We also have a track record of focusing key franchises on specific platforms such as the Devil May Cry brand. Also we're launching new IPs on new platforms such as Dead Rising and Lost Planet. At the end of the day all I will say is there is a continuation of that same strategy of a mixture of strategies on each platform and with the different brands we've got.
Looks like it was Darkside.
ON SWITCHING MH3 FROM PS3 TO Wii
"Due to high development cost of titles for PS3, we have decided to switch the platform to which we release our Monster Hunter 3 title," said Katsuhiko Ichii, Capcom's managing corporate officer.
So why does this only apply to MH3 then?
Watch out for more coming soon.