Capcom Initially Dismissed Dead Rising, Lost Planet

allistairp

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Apr 22, 2011
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Capcom Initially Dismissed Dead Rising, Lost Planet

Dead Rising and Lost Planet almost never happened due to company policy at Capcom.

Keiji Infune, who created the aforementioned franchises along with Megaman over his 24 years at Capcom, revealed this and more during a seminar at Ritsumeikan University. In the speech, he said two of the company's recent successes almost never came about due to a company policy at the time which requested for only 20 percent of Capcom games in-development to be original. The remaining 80 percent were to be sequels, so pitches for new franchises weren't always warmly accepted.

Despite initial rejection, Inafune continued to work on Dead Rising and Lost Planet. He said prototypes have their own budget within Capcom, so he exploited the system by continuing to work on the Lost Planet "prototype" until it was four times its initial budget. His goal was to get halfway through development so management would be forced to give him permission to finish the over-budget, nearly complete title. His plan worked.

Both games sold millions worldwide and received sequels developed by Western developers, but Inafune said there was once a time when he was prepared to be "fired for warcrimes."

In 2010, Inafune left his role as head of development at Capcom and started two new companies: Intercept, a game company, and Comcept, a company focused on music, events and other forms of entertainment.

Source: Andriasang [http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/05/09/inafune_capcom_dev_secrets/]

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Andronicus

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Mar 25, 2009
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Only 20%!? Jeez. That's pretty pathetic. Good on Inafune for sticking to his guns though. I hate the thought of the people who make up these rules actually receiving profit from IP's, when they were so hellbent on making sure they didn't get through in the first place. Sickening.
 

redisforever

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Oct 5, 2009
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Seriously? 20%?! Who's idea was that?

Basically saying, "We don't want to expand, just make the same thing again, and again."
 

Delock

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Mar 4, 2009
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Ephraim J. Witchwood said:
IMO, Dead Rising should have stayed dismissed. Clunkiest controls I've ever experienced in a game.

Lost Planet was pretty damn good, though.
Heard the sequel for Dead Rising was much better.

Shame it seems to have been the opposite for Lost Planet's... I'm going to have to call it a spin off or gaiden game for my own sake.

Also, Capcom, you might want to change the the budget to be 20% 3D games 80% 2D, since you seem to do MUCH better with those (Phoenix Wright, Megaman, Viewtiful Joe, most of the Street Fighters, Marvel vs Capcom 2, etc.). Sure you make several good 3D games, but well... it seems you sort of have problems with them later on (DMC, RE, Bionic Commando, Lost Planet, Dark Void, Megaman X's 3D games, CHAOS LEGION you sons of mother- ahem, ok back in control again and moving on, the decision to get rid of Clover, etc.).
 

ZombieGenesis

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Apr 15, 2009
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20% for original titles is 100% stupid

Pretty much this. The reason I spend so little on games these days is because barely anything decent comes out under a new name- its all sequels and tie ins to a rather disgusting degree.
And we're talking CAPCOM here, one of the few developers left I actually TRUST to release decent new material from time to time.
 

rayen020

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May 20, 2009
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a company policy at the time which requested for only 20 percent of Capcom games in-development to be original. The remaining 80 percent were to be sequels
That's like the worst idea I've ever heard. So is this why we don't get new stuff? Publishers don't allow it? do we need to stop blaming developers for making endless sequels? Is it because they can't stop?

Seriously The creator of Megaman says i wanna make a game, you let him. And both these games made millions. This alone should prove that a policy that stifles creative thought is wrong and bad for business...
 

allistairp

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Apr 22, 2011
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As stated in the second paragraph, this was their policy AT THE TIME.

Maybe it still is but maybe not after those successes and Monster Hunter. Then again, take a look at their releases from this year...
 

Scizophrenic Llama

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Dec 5, 2007
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I don't see how anybody is surprised by the percentiles there. A company is always going to cash in on a sequel to a successful game before they will put money down on a new title that has no certainty at all.

20% to 80% is a bit steep though.

As for the two games, Dead Rising was entertaining for a while, but killing zombies over and over is only fun for so long. I didn't really care for Lost Planet based on what I've played of it.
 

Grey_Focks

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Jan 12, 2010
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Aaaaand a bit more respect lost for Capcom. Not to say I had much left after....well, after just about every game they've made after RE4 and DMC3, but still, good to see they're trying to make me not want to give them my money.
 

Katana314

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I kinda think Lost Planet should have stayed dismissed...both of them.

Anyway, here's hoping they crank up the 20% and keep trying new things.
 

graverobber2

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Ephraim J. Witchwood said:
IMO, Dead Rising should have stayed dismissed. Clunkiest controls I've ever experienced in a game.

Lost Planet was pretty damn good, though.
but then we would have never had Dead Rising 2
 

icyneesan

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Feb 28, 2010
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Loved Lost Planet 1 and 2.

Not sure why people are complaining about only 20% of Capcom's titles being original/new ips only. I mean look at their line up from the past few years.

New IPs I can remember from a few years ago:

Bayonetta (Published not developed by)
Movie Games
Lost Planet 1 & Dead Rising 1 (Not sure if these count as they already received sequels)

Sequels/Reboots/Remakes from a few years ago:

Street Fighter 4
Super Street Fighter 4
Resident Evil 5
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
MotoGP 09/10
Lost Planet 2
Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Devil May Cry 4
Bionic Commando (The 2009 reboot)
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
Dead Rising 2
Megaman 9 & 10
 

cairocat

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Oct 9, 2009
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Ephraim J. Witchwood said:
IMO, Dead Rising should have stayed dismissed. Clunkiest controls I've ever experienced in a game.

Lost Planet was pretty damn good, though.
I totally agree.

Actually, although I do agree, I mainly quoted you to go OMG QUESTIONABLE CONTENT :D :D :D
 

Yopaz

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Jun 3, 2009
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HankMan said:
20% for original titles is 100% stupid
Niinjad. My thoughts exactly. I would have preferred to see this the other way around.