gamingeek said:

Capcom Explains Lost Planet 2's Failure

Capcom Explains Lost Planet 2's Failure

Capcom shared its quarterly earnings yesterday and cited Lost Planet 2 as one of the reasons for a 70% drop in operating profits.

While the company said the game "underperformed its projection substantially," Lost Planet 2 was actually its top selling game for the quarter. New earnings materials released by the company today list the game as having shipped 1.5 million copies worldwide. This beats out Super Street Fighter IV's 1.35 million and the Monster Hunter 3's overseas (Europe and North America) sales of 690,000. All three titles were released in the quarter.

Back in May, Capcom shared sales targets for the upcoming fiscal year. For Lost Planet 2, it listed 2.2 million units.

During a Q&A session at an earnings briefing today, company reps were asked why the game underperformed. Two reasons were cited. First, competition is tough in the shooting genre and they did not differentiate LP2. The other reason is that because the game was delayed from its original release period, they could not give it adequate promotions

Updates done.

Shouldn't Capcom mention that the game was shit, so no one bought it?

I think calling it shit is a bit strong.  They probably thought it would be the next Halo given how they market it.  It clearly wasn't.  It's one of those lost in translation things where the Japanese assume they know what will sell in the west.

Agnates said:

Because they're developing it and are known for slick visuals, fast action, and the like, all of which are present in Other M? I mean, the face modeling alone is miles beyond Retro's...

You and I are in agreement. But I want Bobovich's take.

gamingeek said:

aspro said:

gamingeek said:

Capcom Explains Lost Planet 2's Failure

Updates done.

Shouldn't Capcom mention that the game was shit, so no one bought it?

I think calling it shit is a bit strong.  They probably thought it would be the next Halo given how they market it.  It clearly wasn't.  It's one of those lost in translation things where the Japanese assume they know what will sell in the west.

It got so many 6/10 review scores. It's like a 6.8 on metacritic and gamerankings.

Capcom has done a few bombs now, Spyborgs, Dark Void, Bionic Commando, Lost Planet 2. They aren't infallible anymore.

They always have enough filler to take care of themselves though.  It's not like they are Namco.

Agnates said:

Reviews are often wrong. I still look forward to LP2's PC port (if they're actually still planning that after the bomba). I enjoyed the first as a simple action game with some cool gameplay ideas and while the second doesn't seem to have turned out as good and expansive as I hoped it would, a lot of the things that annoyed reviewers are design choices I'm down with. Like most of them complaining about falling animations and stuff taking priority over giving you control, similar to Monster Hunter games, as if when your dude is smashed against crap by a huge alien you should still be 100% in control and shooting the crap out of it. On the other hand they did have many legit complaints about how the game was designed as well, so that's a shame. Spyborgs, Bionic Commando and Dark Void weren't made in house. I'd say they were pretty much scammed by those crappy Western studios. Better luck next time. Anyway, they always have MH/SF/RE as long as they start being more careful with the last one

Back to LP, they better not give up on it after this, the franchise could become as awesome as Monster Hunter with the right design goals. Hell, just make it sci-fi Monster Hunter if you can't think of anything else. I'm down.

I think they would probably scale the budget back a bit for another game. Or even outsource like Dead Rising 2.

EDIT: What I should have said is that you can't expect huge sales for a game that the media rates poorly. It puts people off.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=257912

Metroid: Other M is like no Metroid game you've ever played before.

Sure, it may say Nintendo on the box, but with Ninja Gaiden creators Team Ninja providing their high kicking action-oriented expertise, D-Rockets laying on some sublime cut scenes and director Yoshio Sakamoto providing the overall vision, Metroid: Other M is a unique collaboration which promises to be much more than sum of its parts.

Our latest look at Nintendo's Morph-balling heroine takes us deep into one of Other M's many diverse environments. This time we're exploring the biodome, a vegetation-rich setting which supplies the animal matter and food for space farers on deep space missions.

If you haven't been keeping up with the plot details on Other M, here's a quick whirlwind recap. After reporting back to the council after the events of Super Metroid (where she defeated Mother Brain), a disillusioned Samus, loses herself in deep space - until she's drawn by a baby's cry (the nickname for an intergalactic SOS distress signal) to an abandoned Bottle ship out in the far reaches of the galaxy...

Once inside, Samus discovers a unit of Galactic Federation soldiers who've also been drawn there, led by her ex-boss (and mentor-cum-father figure) Adam Malkovich.

Also on board are the remains of some of the Bottle ship's scientists; the corpses marked by a strange green ooze. After one soldier's itchy trigger finger provokes an encounter with a large purple boss monster, Samus helps defeat it, then agrees to help her new comrades in searching for survivors, restoring power to the ship and investigating this deep space mystery.

Welcome to the biodome
Okay season catch up over, let's get down to biodome business. Other M is set to showcase a number of diverse environments as you explore the ruined starship - including a cryosphere (a wintry paradise) a pyrosphere (full of lava-filled volcanoes) and the lush, tropical biosphere.

After the rather sterile greys and blues of the corridors and power plants from the first half hour of the game, this intergalactic arboretum is a mix of jungle greenery and vibrant colour.

Huge trees and overgrown vines snake into the air, cling onto the metallic walkways and, without the supervision of its crew, the local native wildlife has run riot.

The first enemies you'll lay a cannon on are relatively low-powered flying insects known as Reos. Although they've been pretty powerful opponents in previous Metroid games, here they are little more than a buzzing annoyance and swiftly dispatched with a few blasts from Samus' arm cannon.

The auto-aim function switches quickly to pick out your targets and occasionally you'll have to use a quick evade manoeuvre when you encounter a swarm, but overall the Reos' swooping dive attacks are easily avoided with a well-timed double tap dodge or completely evaded by prodigious use of the jump button.

Round one to Samus, then - but as soon as you've powered your way through the first couple of waves, more Reos keep materialising and you realise you need to cut out this infection at its source. Where's it coming from? Well a quick switch to visor mode (by pointing the controller at the screen) reveals the presence of the Reo's hives.

Using the B button to lock on, you can fine tune your aim and send a couple of missiles straight into its heart, swiftly disposing of the flying menace.

Visor advisor
Switching between first-person and third-person gameplay forms is at the core of the Other M experience and the transition is smooth, slick and virtually seamless.

The combat mirrors the experience we had with the purple boss and with the Reos themselves, where you soften up potential enemies in third-person, before switching to first-person to deliver the knockout blow. You won't be charging around in first-person most of the time, though, as it's simply not practical.

Inside the visor, Samus' reactions and movement are much slower, sluggish even, as she braces the power suit to deliver the sucker punch. It's quite a different experience to Metroid Prime, but it makes a lot of sense in the context of Other M.

Visor-based gameplay also seems much less puzzle-oriented than in previous Metroid games, with the visor used to detect paths through obstacles like bulky vines or detect hidden door locks themselves.

It also comes in very handy for spotting power-ups and bonus missiles - and of course the vents where you'll need to transform into a Morph-Ball to progress through the Bottle ship's gnarly, twisting interior.

But back to the biodome action, and after some further close encounters with equally pesky critters, Samus eventually wins through to an observation room, where the ship's scientists have obviously been studying something: The question is... what?

As Samus advances into the room she doesn't have long to wait to find out, as the windows shatter and two giant space chameleons punch their way through the ceiling. A battle royale is in prospect, but the chameleon's opening move pins Samus with its tail, before spinning her around and around and hurling her half way across the room.

That may be no way to treat a lady, but now battle is joined in earnest and once again you're forced to switch between third and first-person gameplay to make any impression on the beasts.

The near-invisible chameleons dart and weave around the room, resisting your finest arm cannon blasts, but switch to visor mode and you can shatter their cloak with a well placed missile. There's little time to hang around in visor mode though, with two beasties on the loose.

Once you manage to stun a chameleon, it's time to finish it off with a lethal strike - which involves headlocking it into submission, wrestling it to the turf and inserting your arm cannon into its gaping mouth fire. Suffice it to say, it's going to need some new dental work after that.

If you favour an alternative method, simply leap on board a stunned foe to perform an overblast, which involves Samus planting a foot on your downed foe's head and then firing point blank into the top of its brain case.

Crunchy and a real pointer to Team Ninja's input, but there alas we must draw a veil - or should that be visor - for now.

So what have we learned from our further adventures with Metroid: Other M in the terror of the biodome? Well, certainly that the combination of three separate and distinct development influences have enhanced Other M's credentials.

Team Ninja's heritage is evident in Samus's new and more visceral action-focus and frenetic blasting sequences, while D-Rockets expertise brings new levels of emotion and involvement to the storyline and cutscenes, with both influences laser focussed through Sakamoto's design lens.

It's a new Metroid for a new era - and on this evidence it's looking like it might just be one of the very best yet.