Development doesn´t get more expensive with better hardware, it´s actually quite the opposite.
Is Capcom the next THQ?
- Thread starter Crawl
- Start date
Development doesn´t get more expensive with better hardware, it´s actually quite the opposite.
Yep pretty much, I blame the suits trying to chase after the big money but at the cost of losing fans and talented developers.
There's a Wii U joke in there somewhere.
Didn't Capcom considered Resident Evil 6 a failure?
Bombed in sales and capcom made the real ending a paid DLC.
No one remembered this game and as result it bombed in sales.
Have you seen the Smash Bros Trailer and the excitement from people as they saw Mega Man?
I want to see a Mega Man game from Nintendo.
Sorry for being offtopic.
It's sad when the Nintendo cares more about Mega Man than Capcom does.
Yep pretty much, its the same with Square-Enix and Sega. (I think)
Sakurai and Nintendo say otherwise
Not a Mega Man game, fans wanted a true Mega Man game that wasn't a fan made game or iOS shovel ware.
Megadragon15
Member
That would be the K-Mart and Sears merger of the gaming world.
Duxxy3
Member
Two companies with management problems? No.
Sega-Sammy and Namco-Bandai work because they have the irresponsible game divisions kept in check by the more practical divisions they merged with.
People would probably throw up at the idea, but activision would be a terrific buyer for the company. Plenty of capital and management is in touch with reality.
rockman zx
Member
Funny that they only have 152 million and Inafune got 2 in ten days. I love Capcom but they need to change the management and go back to the roots. What happen with Onimusha?, the first games sold very well in Japan, but the franchise is long gone.
Eh, depends really on what Mighty No.9 , if its classic, while i did donate. I could give less of a shit. If its like X interested. If its like zero and ZX i will start throwing more money at the screen. And if for some off odd reason its like battle network, i need new pants.
So what the fan base wants its vague. I know a guy who just wanted legends 3 and gives no shits about no.9.
Megaman games are too different to make that sweeping of a statement.
Also something being a copy doesn't keep the original from being sold. But I doubt megaman will start being sold anytime soon. For whatever terrible management decision for that time.
They sure managed Bizarre Creations welll
Barry Burton
Member
I've already said goodbye to Resident Evil long ago. I have No Hope Left for Capcom to figure it out. Another publisher could be just as bad, I get that, but I don't see Capcom ever turning it around themselves. Can't get much worse than it is now, and at least at a different publisher, we might not have to wait 3-4 years for the next disappointing RE game each time around...
jhmtehgamr20xx
Banned
When are we gonna get past this thinking?
ExigentContact
Member
Licensed properties, for the most part. They made a killing off of that. A much higher order than $152 million. It was the three years of interim trying to reposition themselves as a core publisher after the uDraw Tablet's failure that did them in.
Capcom, despite having a nice library of core IPs, hasn't generated a lot of cashflow. Insofar as I know, Resident Evil 6 has only broken even or generated a meager profit. Ono's complaining about how he can't get Street Fighter V off the ground as a project because of the money required to start it. Monster Hunter is really only relevant in Japan.
What Capcom needs to do is lower their budgets significantly going into the next generation. RE7 needs to be made on a fraction of what RE6 was made on to focus on more immediate profitability. Same goes with most of their franchises.
Also, now would be a good time to dust off Mega Man. They could make a lower budget game that turned over a profit quite nicely. Well, maybe Mighty Number 9 hurt the odds of a Mega Man game doing well considering that the core of the MM community has shifted their support to MN9 but there's no reason they can't cooexist.
The Xbox 360 (and PC for that matter) have a Monster Hunter in Japan.
1st Course
Member
What would you say is a good way to measure how a company is doing then? Market cap?
Neff
Member
Blame senior management stunningly crippled by ego, professional spite, an inability to recognise in-house talent both current and past, and a mostly flawed perception of what people want from their company.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Even if Megaman was sold, people would rather buy the game made form the original staff. Oh and yes the fanbase definitely wants this game, 2 million funded in such a short time is a testimony to that.
All I've seen from gen-to-gen is budgets increasing. Care to cite examples as to how the cost has gone down?
The Cartographer
Member
Every game in the series sold well.
witchedwiz
Member
Sell some abandoned ip?
Like Breath of fire? Instead of going with mobile bof, sell op and let someone make my damn bof6..
They have tons and tons of un used ip...
Bionic commando?
Strider? Strider by platinum... Imagine strider with a bayonetta/ mgs:r graphic and gameplay..
All their 80s/90s scrolling beu like mystara, cadillac&dinosaurs,frigging king of dragons, etc? Dragon's crown proved that good beu do sell even Now.. A king of dragons sequel or even a mystara remake by vanillaware would be glorious!
Rival school to arc system would be god tier!
Etc
And this would leave them all their iconic re, dmc mm, etc ip that they won't let go...
Like Breath of fire? Instead of going with mobile bof, sell op and let someone make my damn bof6..
They have tons and tons of un used ip...
Bionic commando?
Strider? Strider by platinum... Imagine strider with a bayonetta/ mgs:r graphic and gameplay..
All their 80s/90s scrolling beu like mystara, cadillac&dinosaurs,frigging king of dragons, etc? Dragon's crown proved that good beu do sell even Now.. A king of dragons sequel or even a mystara remake by vanillaware would be glorious!
Rival school to arc system would be god tier!
Etc
And this would leave them all their iconic re, dmc mm, etc ip that they won't let go...
Projectjustice
Banned
They just need to lower cost. Too many games being developed by huge teams. Like RE6 for example. Didnt that game have over 600 people working on it? That isnt necessary.
Diddy Kong
Banned
Sakurai and Nintendo say otherwise
I think Sakurai could make a bad ass Mega Man game.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Thats because the games they are making usually have better graphics.
Still wouldn't be as good as one from Inafune.
If it plays like Subspace Emissary keep him away. If it's as ambitious as Kid Icarus, I'm listening.
Sure... but the budgets still increase as the systems get change.
Super Nothing
Member
Is this sarcasm? Because Nintendo has been milking the same hand full of franchises for years. Nintendo is the house that Mario built and has been working around the clock for decades to maintain.
I have bad news for you...
I'm sure It'll come out right alongside Shenmue 3.
AHA-Lambda
Member
Yeah, I thought this earlier, 150m seems really small for a company of their size.
I take back what I said about SE, Capcom seems more likely to be the next THQ. I didn't know things got that bad, makes sense though after RE6's failure and they've had no other big hit for a long time.
I take back what I said about SE, Capcom seems more likely to be the next THQ. I didn't know things got that bad, makes sense though after RE6's failure and they've had no other big hit for a long time.
Interceptor
Banned
Thats all there is to say.
ExigentContact
Member
I dunno. In this case Capcom certainly has a much more important legacy than THQ, but at least THQ went down fighting tooth and nail trying to aim for a core market. Some interesting new IPs rose out of that thrashing if anything else.
Capcom, on the other hand, isn't really trying anything new. They've contracted and their mindset is wholly backwards. If THQ was a wounded beast trying its best to survive, then Capcom is a dinosaur marching right into a tar pit without a care in the world.
So that Samus doesn't feel lonely?
Release an RE2 REMAKE and all will be well
Or at the very least do it before you go under... Or sell the IP to Tango Gameworks.
Duxxy3
Member
I wasn't being serious.
lol oh thank god
Developing the at the same level gets less expensive as hardware improves, which is why indies can make games now in their freetime that a whole team of devs couldn't make a decade ago.
If everyone was fine with N64 quality 3D or just sprites, development costs would've plummeted. But in reality that's not the case, so as we are able to do things more cheaply we try also to do things better than before, hence graphical leaps going hand in hand with new hardware and higher budgets.
I think.
Super Nothing
Member
Better hardware can handle simple games without having to spend extra resources on optimizing. For example: The XBox 360 could easily run anything that was produced for the Wii (I know the 360 doesn't have a waggle controller, but from a software perspective, it would run just fine). Budgets for newer titles get inflated because developers are trying to utilize the full power of the system. Nintendo's simplistic game formula would still work on better hardware.
thewhitehawk
Member
To those who are saying that Capcom can live on because of their dedicated fans, perhaps it would be a good idea to read this small article which I happen to agree with.
What?? The Wii is less powerful than the Xbox 360?? Get the hell out of here!
Sarcasm aside, Capcom is the kind of company that is trying to do their best with every game they release. They don't want to be a mid-level fish in a big pond, they want to be a big fish.
I'm just saying move the goalposts. Be a big fish in a pond where it's cheaper to be a big fish. The Wii U is capable enough and won't cost nearly as much to develop on as the Xbox One and PS4. Increasing budgets have ruined an ever-growing number of developers and publishers in the last 10 years and I can't believe nobody is putting the brakes on.
mugurumakensei
Member
Uh...
Every generation has increased dev costs far greater than inflation. Yes, it's easier to create games that are not lookers, but for the big guys who compete in the blockbuster space it means looking the best which means hiring more artists with each gen.
Exactly, Developing on the WiiU vs more powerful hardware doesn´t miraculously shrink the budget, it only gets cheaper if you lower the ambition.
And even if you lower the ambition you could still develop on PS4 and get a better looking game for the same money.
They are poorly managed and make terrible business decisions.
Some of the blockbuster games have pretty mediocre graphics and i don´t think it´s necessary to dump ridiculously high budgets into your games to have success.
It´s fine for some games (GTA would be the prime example), for others not so much.
maabus1999
Member
Way too complicated and off-topic for a forum like this.
Usually comparison to peers, evaluation of balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements, margin tracking, and pro forma growth analysis, ROI, etc...
But if all else fails and you want a simple answer, just look at the bond rating.
strange guy
Neo Member
i agree with this and i hope Devil May Cry returns to Kamiya if Capcom sells their franchises
Capcom makes business decisions via dartboard but I don't see them going bankrupt anytime soon. They could put actual dog shit in a box with Resident Evil on it and people would buy it, they would call it the 'REAL biohazard edition' or something. Not that I didn't like RE6, but if that had been called anything else it would have at best been regarded as a 'love it or hate it' niche game for TPS fans.
MH has been treated very conservatively, which seems really strange considering it's what is keeping them afloat. But if Japan suddenly decides that they are tired of being milked with yearly expansions that could be trouble. I suppose this explains why they are trying to keep it fresh with 4 having online, all kinds of new mechanics and comparatively few monsters returning from 3rd gen. Their financial situation and Sven leaving is also making me worry about the future of the series outside Japan, but everything about 4 points to it being a no-brainer western release.
MH has been treated very conservatively, which seems really strange considering it's what is keeping them afloat. But if Japan suddenly decides that they are tired of being milked with yearly expansions that could be trouble. I suppose this explains why they are trying to keep it fresh with 4 having online, all kinds of new mechanics and comparatively few monsters returning from 3rd gen. Their financial situation and Sven leaving is also making me worry about the future of the series outside Japan, but everything about 4 points to it being a no-brainer western release.
RumblingRosco
Member
I can only imagine how the landscape would look if one of the big 3 (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft) had completely purchased THQ's assets, Atlus during its recent turmoil, and also gobbled up Capcom in the next year or two. I'm sure from a business standpoint it would make no sense, but as a consumer, if any of the big three had each of the above company's catalog as exclusives... well, that'd just about wrap it up as far as I'm concerned.
lordchompy
Member
Capcom needs to decide very soon if it wants to remain a core Japanese developer, which means creating game experiences for the Japanese audience and downsizing to match demand, or continue down the path of AAA, Western big-budget development, which means the company needs to get its technology and IPs in line with what the western public wants.
It cannot straddle the two worlds efficiently because one division of the company will suffer. Just like for Activision and its Call of Duty franchise, Monsterhunter is not a limitless resource; eventually Japanese gamers will move on and Capcom won't have any foothold in the nation to drive revenue. Similarly, Resident Evil can only go so far before it changes to something westerners don't really want any longer, which, if sales of RE:6 are to be believed, might already be happening.
Get some new IPs, Capcom, and not just Monster Hunter type games on next gen consoles that Japanese audiences will likely not drop what they are already playing to buy.
It cannot straddle the two worlds efficiently because one division of the company will suffer. Just like for Activision and its Call of Duty franchise, Monsterhunter is not a limitless resource; eventually Japanese gamers will move on and Capcom won't have any foothold in the nation to drive revenue. Similarly, Resident Evil can only go so far before it changes to something westerners don't really want any longer, which, if sales of RE:6 are to be believed, might already be happening.
Get some new IPs, Capcom, and not just Monster Hunter type games on next gen consoles that Japanese audiences will likely not drop what they are already playing to buy.