'Too many' Resident Evil games in recent years, says producer

Resident Evil Revelations producer Masachika Kawata says that the last few years have taught Capcom that producing a large volume of RE titles "would not necessarily win over gamers."

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Like zombies in a shopping mall, Resident Evil has been crowding the market in the last couple of years. Resident Evil 6 marked the fourth release in only two years, after ORC, Revelations, and Mercenaries 3D. Capcom seems to recognize that perhaps flooding the market isn't the best of ideas, at least if recent comments from Revelations producer Masachika Kawata are any indication.

"I think certainly looking at the last year or two, there probably were a few too many," Kawata told VideoGamer. "I think we learned last year that putting on a lot of titles would not necessarily win over gamers."

He did say, however, that he doesn't think the company should "stagger them out artificially." Instead, he suggests, quality is key. "We should always start by asking how do we make the games better," he said. "And if the solution to making the games better is to have a more staggered release than we've had recently then that's something we'll do. But we'll do it for that reason and not just for flipping what we've done already."

These comments come just as Capcom revealed its 3rd quarter results, which claim Resident Evil 6 launched strong but lost momentum and failed to live up to its sales expectations. The company said as much in December as well.

Currently, the only known Resident Evil game on Capcom's docket is a console port of Revelations, due in May.

Editor-In-Chief
From The Chatty
  • reply
    February 4, 2013 8:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, 'Too many' Resident Evil games in recent years, says producer.

    Resident Evil Revelations producer Masachika Kawata says that the last few years have taught Capcom that producing a large volume of RE titles "would not necessarily win over gamers."

    • reply
      February 4, 2013 8:51 AM

      Flooding the market? How about making quality games?

      Strret Fighter 4 is such a great example of how great throwing new paint on an old idea still works. The Resident Evil remake for the gamecube is one of my favorite games of all time. Capcom needs to give more respect to their roots; Megaman and Resident Evil have been stomped on.

      And I love how a few months ago there was a news article about Capcom having less of a downtime between titles and focusing on output. I'd rather have 5 years in between titles and get something to adore rather than mindless trash we have been getting.

      • reply
        February 4, 2013 9:43 AM

        You mean make games with simple controls with scaling mechanics that are tested with proper level design?

        NO, MOAR MULTIIMEDIA!!!! LET'S OBSCURE LACK OF GAMEPLAY DEPTH WITH STORY DRIVEN PRESENTATION. Rather than increase the stakes with challenge, let's just put more flashy graphics going on everywhere.

    • reply
      February 4, 2013 8:54 AM

      I enjoyed ORC for what it is, looking forward to 6 when it finally hits PC, but I would have to agree there has been a little much lately.

      Still, I find what they did to DR2 worse, while I like Off the Record more, I can't help feel like I bought the same game twice....Oh wait.....I pretty much did.....

    • reply
      February 4, 2013 8:56 AM

      The last few RE have sucked IMO. I only bought #6 for Leon's campaign, #5 was too much like an action movie then Resident Evil to me. The other releases were complete GARBAGE, Raccoon City, that lasted all of 3 weeks. till it was in the bargain bin. Id definetly buy remakes of RE1, 2, 3, look at Metal Gear HD, thats a great HD version of the old game.

      • reply
        February 4, 2013 9:44 AM

        Did you enjoy Leon's campaign in 6?

      • reply
        February 4, 2013 9:52 PM

        I actually had tons of fun in RE5, but that was only thanks to the full campaign co-op.

        Did they do the same thing for RE6?

        • reply
          February 4, 2013 9:56 PM

          Yes. The coop campaign is huge and fun but it's not nearly as good as 5. There are 4 separate interweaving stories that you play which sounds great in principle and for awhile it's fun but eventually it all starts feeling very samey and gets old. I prefer RE5's more cohesive, simpler campaign. Plus this one has went full on Michael Bay action movie and it's just too much.

          Still like I say it's worth playing coop if you liked 5's coop.

    • reply
      February 4, 2013 9:43 AM

      It's easy for a producer to say this in hindsight (especially if most of the titles were ones he didn't work on), but this is the equivalent of shutting the barn door after the horses have bolted. Creative direction at Capcom apparently doesn't have enough clout to stop the business types from chasing fads or preying on nostalgia in a way that is creatively bankrupt. Arguably, The Mercenaries 3D and Operation Raccoon City should've been canned or refactored, but it's a systemic problem of Capcom's that the company needs to eventually face. When an entire studio runs away screaming (the closure of Clover Studio), your loyal fans are yelling at you (Giant Bomb: "PLEASE STOP ruining Resident Evil!"), and even the tri-annual major RE game flops, those are signs for the executives to wake up and re-assess why their company does what they do, besides making huge profits.

      EA is in a similar situation, having burned Medal of Honor to the ground, and left BioWare foundering after Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3, and SW:TOR.

    • reply
      February 4, 2013 10:02 AM

      No, too many piss-poor RE games.

      • reply
        February 4, 2013 10:34 AM

        Is 6 not even worth a rental?

        • reply
          February 4, 2013 11:07 AM

          A rental, sure. Maybe even a buy at a discounted (or, dare I say, used) price. Don't pay more than $20.

    • reply
      February 4, 2013 11:17 PM

      Maybe actually make a Resident Evil game instead of a non-Resident Evil game

      • reply
        February 4, 2013 11:18 PM

        And I say this accepting that RE5 and maybe even RE6 had their pluses, but come on if you're gonna make something completely different just make a new IP

    • reply
      February 4, 2013 11:25 PM

      You don't say?

    • reply
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