MCV's PR blogger mad gamers didn't buy DmC, calls GAF a bad word

It is projected to sell less than half the copies of its predecessor(which had a much smaller install base), & given how Capcom were unhappy with DMC4 sales it is hard to see this as anything other than a failure.
Not to mention unless NPD is really decent to good it's unlikely they get even close to current projections without it selling being slashed to hell and back.
 
Why are companies living in denial about this kind of poor performance, and why do people like this Ben Parfitt prick back them up?

They were told the problem months ahead of release. Dumbed down mechanics and 30fps. They only have themselves to blame.

It's easier to blame the "small, vocal" fanbase that is also big enough to affect the sales of the game in a huge way. I know, it's contradictory as as hell, but that's the way they're playing it.
 
So here we have a situation where the classic DMC hardcore fanbase was too small to be worth catering to but at the same time large enough to affect sales of a game that wasn't aimed at them in the first place.

Which is it? Can't have it both ways.

This.

Capcom still made the right decision (business-wise). DMC5 probably would've sold a little less. The amount of people who were onboard with a DMC reboot to refresh the series probably outnumber the amount of people who didn't buy DmC because they would have preferred DMC5.

Or if Capcom were really that amazing, talented, and trustworthy, DMC5 could have pleased the hardcore fans AND people who were growing tired of DMC and wanted something new.

We all know Capcom is not that amazing.
 
Ben Parfitt's greatest hits

http://www.geek.com/articles/games/ps4-and-next-xbox-to-be-revealed-at-e3-2012016/

Jan 26, 2012 - PS4 and next Xbox to be revealed at E3?

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In fairness to Parfitt, that rumor might have been true at the time he reported it, and it's all but impossible to prove it wasn't.
 
I'm going to ask a question out of ignorance here. Does anyone here actually LIKE Ninja Theory as a developer? From what I've seen, they made Metroid: Other M, and they.......made DMC's Dante 'INCREDIBLY EDGY' and combat somewhat more simplistic. I haven't played either of these games. But from what I've seen, Ninja Theory has some horrible rep; why do developers keep on coming back? Do they even have fans?
 
I'm going to ask a question out of ignorance here. Does anyone here actually LIKE Ninja Theory as a developer? From what I've seen, they made Metroid: Other M, and they.......made DMC's Dante 'INCREDIBLY EDGY' and combat somewhat more simplistic. I haven't played either of these games. But from what I've seen, Ninja Theory has some horrible rep; why do developers keep on coming back? Do they even have fans?

Team Ninja are the ones that made Other M. Ninja Theory are the developers of Heavenly Sword and Enslaved.
 
Who asked for a reboot in the first place?

If a different spin on the series was demanded, why didn't they they just take a page from Metal Gear Solid 3, and highlight a backdrop/supporting character from the existing lore instead of force-feeding fans some reimagined version of Dante? Or better yet, create a new IP altogether based on this new character, but Capcom wanted to have its cake and eat it too.
 
I'm going to ask a question out of ignorance here. Does anyone here actually LIKE Ninja Theory as a developer? From what I've seen, they made Metroid: Other M, and they.......made DMC's Dante 'INCREDIBLY EDGY' and combat somewhat more simplistic. I haven't played either of these games. But from what I've seen, Ninja Theory has some horrible rep; why do developers keep on coming back? Do they even have fans?
Ninja Theory didn't make Other M. That was Team Ninja...

Also, I like Ninja Theory. I also really liked DmC.
 
I'm going to ask a question out of ignorance here. Does anyone here actually LIKE Ninja Theory as a developer? From what I've seen, they made Metroid: Other M, and they.......made DMC's Dante 'INCREDIBLY EDGY' and combat somewhat more simplistic. I haven't played either of these games. But from what I've seen, Ninja Theory has some horrible rep; why do developers keep on coming back? Do they even have fans?
Wrong studio, Other M was Team Ninja.
 
I'm going to ask a question out of ignorance here. Does anyone here actually LIKE Ninja Theory as a developer? From what I've seen, they made Metroid: Other M, and they.......made DMC's Dante 'INCREDIBLY EDGY' and combat somewhat more simplistic. I haven't played either of these games. But from what I've seen, Ninja Theory has some horrible rep; why do developers keep on coming back? Do they even have fans?

Team Ninja made M:OM, and the main criticism of Other M tends to stem from the story, which had nothing to do with Team Ninja.

But I don't like Ninja Theory as a dev either.
 
I'm going to ask a question out of ignorance here. Does anyone here actually LIKE Ninja Theory as a developer? From what I've seen, they made Metroid: Other M, and they.......made DMC's Dante 'INCREDIBLY EDGY' and combat somewhat more simplistic. I haven't played either of these games. But from what I've seen, Ninja Theory has some horrible rep; why do developers keep on coming back? Do they even have fans?

Nah man, Team Ninja made Other M. Ninja Theory did some kung fu game, Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, and now DmC. But for the record, I think they're a dev that understands how to make things look pretty, but aren't all that good at providing solid gameplay experiences.
 
Added twitter badge of honour to OP. Professionalism.
 
I'm going to ask a question out of ignorance here. Does anyone here actually LIKE Ninja Theory as a developer? From what I've seen, they made Metroid: Other M, and they.......made DMC's Dante 'INCREDIBLY EDGY' and combat somewhat more simplistic. I haven't played either of these games. But from what I've seen, Ninja Theory has some horrible rep; why do developers keep on coming back? Do they even have fans?

Wrong Ninjas
 
I'm going to ask a question out of ignorance here. Does anyone here actually LIKE Ninja Theory as a developer? From what I've seen, they made Metroid: Other M, and they.......made DMC's Dante 'INCREDIBLY EDGY' and combat somewhat more simplistic. I haven't played either of these games. But from what I've seen, Ninja Theory has some horrible rep; why do developers keep on coming back? Do they even have fans?

No, they made Heavenly Sword and Enslaved. Two average/bad games. Your point still stands, nobody knows why developers keep coming back to them.
 
While I think the tone in the piece and the subsequent series of tweets are unfortunate at best, I will say that people should keep in mind that MCV isn't a regular gaming magazine/website, but a trade one. You can't buy the mag in stores and it basically is for retailers, marketing and PR staff and so on - publishers and game stores and head offices get copies delivered in bulk and stuff. The magazine solely exists to hype and be positive while spreading news within the UK industry. It's not intended to be some bastion of impartial journalism.

What I'm saying, I guess, is they're not 'games journalism' in the typical sense as their role is not to inform the public at all. Their website is weird, though, and does shoot for public information as well, despite that being pretty much outside the remit of what the magazine is intended to be - which in a sense is part of this whole problem.
 
Ben Parfitt, hmm he sounds familiar...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=500455

More MCV goodness: Post positive Hitman reviews, ignore negative ones

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http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/critics-delighted-with-agent-47-s-return-in-hitman-absolution/0106621



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ain't making this shit up folks!

And the writer's response

https://twitter.com/BenParfitt/status/270463103811067904

I am getting pretty fucking tired of Twitter seeing conspiracy in everything where there really isn't one

Apparently industry magazines don't have metacritic bookmarked. Who knew!

And he defended Lauren Wainwright's actions.
 
If the game had more of a gothic undertone with the vibes emitted from that pic of new Dante with his fingers at his crotch surrounded by angels, I would have been more interested. But instead, they delivered some elementary commentary on big news, energy drinks and reality tv. No thanks.
 
While I think the tone in the piece and the subsequent series of tweets are unfortunate at best, I will say that people should keep in mind that MCV isn't a regular gaming magazine/website, but a trade one. You can't buy the mag in stores and it basically is for retailers, marketing and PR staff and so on - publishers and game stores and head offices get copies delivered in bulk and stuff. The magazine solely exists to hype and be positive while spreading news within the UK industry. It's not intended to be some bastion of impartial journalism.

What I'm saying, I guess, is they're not 'games journalism' in the typical sense as their role is not to inform the public at all. Their website is weird, though, and does shoot for public information as well, despite that being pretty much outside the remit of what the magazine is intended to be.
I think this is a fair point. However the article is still poorly written and full misinformation.
 
I'm going to ask a question out of ignorance here. Does anyone here actually LIKE Ninja Theory as a developer? From what I've seen, they made Metroid: Other M, and they.......made DMC's Dante 'INCREDIBLY EDGY' and combat somewhat more simplistic. I haven't played either of these games. But from what I've seen, Ninja Theory has some horrible rep; why do developers keep on coming back? Do they even have fans?

They didn't make other M They are responsible for Heavenly Sword and Enslaved( also Kung Fu Chaos). Basically mediocre games with crappy shallow combat but decent stories, and that was mostly due to NT outsourcing for Writers. Personally i never thought they were a good dev, and DmC hasn't changed my opinion of them too much.

So is the general idea that it's a good game on it's own but a bad devil may cry game?

It's a decent hack n slash by Ninja Theory standards but it's no Devil May Cry.
 
And for the record I'll reiterate that I think a lot of the complaining over DmC was way overblown and that based on what I've seen it looks like a good game.

But the fact is that nobody is obligated to buy anything for any reason. And a "take it or leave it" approach means some people are going to leave it. So don't cry when that happens.
 
This.

Capcom still made the right decision (business-wise). DMC5 probably would've sold a little less. The amount of people who were onboard with a DMC reboot to refresh the series probably outnumber the amount of people who didn't buy DmC because they would have preferred DMC5.

Or if Capcom were really that amazing, talented, and trustworthy, DMC5 could have pleased the hardcore fans AND people who were growing tired of DMC and wanted something new.

We all know Capcom is not that amazing.

I think all of our big name JPN companies have gotten so full of themselves that the actual talented developers left to form their own smaller companies.

Shame since they dont have the budgets or time anymore to make something that would get noticed outside of the hardcore
 
DmC fans: "We don't like this!"

Video Game Journalism: "Stop whining! Don't buy it if you don't like it!"

*fans don't buy it"

Video Game Journalism: "Fuck you for not buying it! This is all your fault abloo bloo bloo. Now our hopes of getting industry jobs are in danger because we didn't shill had enough"
*Slow clap*
 
It is projected to sell less than half the copies of its predecessor(which had a much smaller install base), & given how Capcom were unhappy with DMC4 sales it is hard to see this as anything other than a failure.

Pretty sure this game has only been out two or three weeks.

You're saying it's a bomb because it sold less than half the copies of the lifetime sales of its predecessor in two weeks? Please think about that for a minute.

If you want to do an apples to apples comparison, compare the first two week sales of DmC with first two week sales of DMC4.

OR wait until you have the lifetime sales number for DmC, which won't be for a while.
 
Not enough, apparently.
The risk you take with reboots.

You are throwing things out people loved, in no way should any company (much less one who has Rock and knows full well had bad reboots can split the fanbase) expect or assume that it's a sure hit.even less so with the PR this game had.
 
Pretty sure this game has only been out two or three weeks.

You're saying it's a bomb because it sold less than half the copies of the lifetime sales of its predecessor in two weeks? Please think about that for a minute.

If you want to do an apples to apples comparison, compare the first two week sales of DmC with first two week sales of DMC4.

OR wait until you have the lifetime sales number for DmC, which won't be for a while.

Fine, 2 million vs less than 1 million.

(DMC4 was really front loaded.)
 
Pretty sure this game has only been out two or three weeks.

You're saying it's a bomb because it sold less than half the copies of the lifetime sales of its predecessor in two weeks? Please think about that for a minute.

If you want to do an apples to apples comparison, compare the first two week sales of DmC with first two week sales of DMC4.

OR wait until you have the lifetime sales number for DmC, which won't be for a while.

This isn't Mario Kart. The sales thus far are pretty indicative of where it's going to end up in the long run compared to the rest of the series.
 
He's absolutely right about DMC4. You're talking about a game that introduced a new playable character, only to concede control over him half way through, give you the old character again and recycle the EXACT same content once more over.

If DMC4 is anything to go by, the series was creatively bankrupt by that point, unfortunately.

I definitely see why they rebooted it. I don't mind if people don't buy the new one, but some of the inane childish bullshit like "Donte" and "Devil May Why" is fucking pathetic. People need to grow up. Seriously. As its own product DmC is way better than to be hampered by those sort of dummy-spitting reactions.
 
Who asked for a reboot in the first place?

If a different spin on the series was demanded, why didn't they they just take a page from Metal Gear Solid 3, and highlight a backdrop/supporting character from the existing lore instead of force-feeding fans some reimagined version of Dante? Or better yet, create a new IP altogether based on this new character, but Capcom wanted to have its cake and eat it too.

Vergil Prequal needs to happen...
 
Pretty sure this game has only been out two or three weeks.

You're saying it's a bomb because it sold less than half the copies of the lifetime sales of its predecessor in two weeks? Please think about that for a minute.

If you want to do an apples to apples comparison, compare the first two week sales of DmC with first two week sales of DMC4.

OR wait until you have the lifetime sales number for DmC, which won't be for a while.
DMC4 shipped 2 million in 3 weeks. Fastest selling game in franchise history.
 
Pretty sure this game has only been out two or three weeks.

You're saying it's a bomb because it sold less than half the copies of the lifetime sales of its predecessor in two weeks? Please think about that for a minute.

If you want to do an apples to apples comparison, compare the first two week sales of DmC with first two week sales of DMC4.

OR wait until you have the lifetime sales number for DmC, which won't be for a while.
DMC 4 was heavily front loaded as are a lot of games.

Given the poison surrounding this game it's unlikely to have good legs so a comparison to DMC4 will never be in DmC's favor.
 
Count me among those who was kind of pissed at Capcom for outsourcing the new DMC game, but ended up loving the final product of DmC.


I actually hope Ninja Theory gets to take another crack at it for a sequel.
 
Pretty sure this game has only been out two or three weeks.

You're saying it's a bomb because it sold less than half the copies of the lifetime sales of its predecessor in two weeks? Please think about that for a minute.

If you want to do an apples to apples comparison, compare the first two week sales of DmC with first two week sales of DMC4.

OR wait until you have the lifetime sales number for DmC, which won't be for a while.
DmC is selling less than half (in some places less than a third) of what DMC4 did in the same time frame.

And the whole argument of front loaded sales really applies to DmC as well because after the first week the game's sales have dropped up to 70% in most regions. It's going to be very hard for the game to pick up the slack now and most hope lies in Steam sales at discounted price.
 
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