Capcom Claims Dead Rising 2 Producer's Departure Brought People Together

[Logan Westbrook]

Capcom Claims Dead Rising 2 Producer's Departure Brought People Together

Keiji Inafune was a charismatic leader, says a former colleague, but Capcom will do just fine without him.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 producer Ryota Niitsuma says that Capcom filled the gap left by veteran producer Keiji Inafune's unexpected [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104836-Mega-Man-Creator-Quits-the-Game] departure by pulling together and working as a team. Niitsuma said that the effort had made people at Capcom closer than ever before.

During Inafune's 23-year-long career at Capcom he worked on a variety of the company's best known properties, including Mega Man, Resident Evil and Street Fighter. Niitsuma said that he respected Inafune as a game creator, and called him a "charismatic leader," but didn't think that he was completely irreplaceable. He felt that Capcom had a lot of talented staff, both in terms of designers and programmers, who would be able to fill the void.

He didn't blame Inafune for leaving Capcom however, saying that there was no point in him staying if his passion and creative goals lay in a different direction. Niitsuma thought that Inafune was finally doing what he really wanted to do, and wished him luck for the future.

Speaking about his departure last year, Inafune said [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105823-Dead-Rising-Producer-Outlines-His-Grand-Plan-for-the-Future] that he wanted to make different types of games to the ones he made at Capcom, and possibly even work on non-game projects. He also said that he would use his new found freedom to push himself further than he had before.

Source: Edge [http://www.next-gen.biz/news/inafune-exit-has-made-capcom-%E2%80%9Ca-lot-closer%E2%80%9D]


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[Aiddon_v1legacy]

I'm glad that Inafune left so I wouldn't have to hear his childish tantrums in the news. It's not like he's was a difficult hole to fill.

 

[LordSphinx]

I'm glad that Inafune left so I wouldn't have to hear his childish tantrums in the news. It's not like he's was a difficult hole to fill.

Inafune is as much a big name as Peter Molineux, Will Wright and Hironobu Sakaguchi. He practically invented the boss fight in video games with Rockman / Mega Man. Short, intense levels rather than long and empty ones, absorbing power from the enemies and use a rock paper scissor mecanic more effectively than any other game before, non-linearity by choosing in which order you complete the levels: these are all innovations he contributed to. He also did very avantgardiste games like Mega Man legends, which was very similar to Metroid Prime long before it was out, and created one of the first open world games on consoles. Dead Rising had a very unique game experience, with a story unfolding based on real time, encouraging people to complete the game through multiple ending, and offering both mindless fun and significant challenge in a same game.

Replacing that guy isn't easy. The team at Capcom deserves more credit for being able to go on without the multiple legends they lost recently.

Shinji Mikami, Keiji Inafune and Hideki Kamiya. These are HUGE names. They made Capcom. Square lost most of its ability to create good games when they lost Hironobu Sakaguchi. In fact, after his departure, most of the Final Fantasy team quit the company and that is why the series went downhill after FFIX. The Japanese working culture is usually oriented on giving a near totalitarian approach to a few key employees rather than working in a team. Breaking these conventions is one of their most important challenges, and Capcom might just have shown that they can do it.

 

[I forgot]

I'm glad that Inafune left so I wouldn't have to hear his childish tantrums in the news. It's not like he's was a difficult hole to fill.

Inafune is as much a big name as Peter Molineux, Will Wright and Hironobu Sakaguchi. He practically invented the boss fight in video games with Rockman / Mega Man. Short, intense levels rather than long and empty ones, absorbing power from the enemies and use a rock paper scissor mecanic more effectively than any other game before, non-linearity by choosing in which order you complete the levels: these are all innovations he contributed to. He also did very avantgardiste games like Mega Man legends, which was very similar to Metroid Prime long before it was out, and created one of the first open world games on consoles. Dead Rising had a very unique game experience, with a story unfolding based on real time, encouraging people to complete the game through multiple ending, and offering both mindless fun and significant challenge in a same game.

Replacing that guy isn't easy. The team at Capcom deserves more credit for being able to go on without the multiple legends they lost recently.

Shinji Mikami, Keiji Inafune and Hideki Kamiya. These are HUGE names. They made Capcom. Square lost most of its ability to create good games when they lost Hironobu Sakaguchi. In fact, after his departure, most of the Final Fantasy team quit the company and that is why the series went downhill after FFIX. The Japanese working culture is usually oriented on giving a near totalitarian approach to a few key employees rather than working in a team. Breaking these conventions is one of their most important challenges, and Capcom might just have shown that they can do it.

I think you're overrating Keiji. You're giving him credit for something he isn't responsible for and as far as I can see, he was never a designer nor a director, just an artist and producer. Shinji Mikami and Hideki Kamiya ARE designers however, so they're actually a loss. Capcom, as they've said, can live without him and may be better off without him because I wasn't fond of Dead Rising and no one wants to work for a bitter man.

 

[LordSphinx]

I'm glad that Inafune left so I wouldn't have to hear his childish tantrums in the news. It's not like he's was a difficult hole to fill.

Inafune is as much a big name as Peter Molineux, Will Wright and Hironobu Sakaguchi. He practically invented the boss fight in video games with Rockman / Mega Man. Short, intense levels rather than long and empty ones, absorbing power from the enemies and use a rock paper scissor mecanic more effectively than any other game before, non-linearity by choosing in which order you complete the levels: these are all innovations he contributed to. He also did very avantgardiste games like Mega Man legends, which was very similar to Metroid Prime long before it was out, and created one of the first open world games on consoles. Dead Rising had a very unique game experience, with a story unfolding based on real time, encouraging people to complete the game through multiple ending, and offering both mindless fun and significant challenge in a same game.

Replacing that guy isn't easy. The team at Capcom deserves more credit for being able to go on without the multiple legends they lost recently.

Shinji Mikami, Keiji Inafune and Hideki Kamiya. These are HUGE names. They made Capcom. Square lost most of its ability to create good games when they lost Hironobu Sakaguchi. In fact, after his departure, most of the Final Fantasy team quit the company and that is why the series went downhill after FFIX. The Japanese working culture is usually oriented on giving a near totalitarian approach to a few key employees rather than working in a team. Breaking these conventions is one of their most important challenges, and Capcom might just have shown that they can do it.

I think you're overrating Keiji. You're giving him credit for something he isn't responsible for and as far as I can see, he was never a designer nor a director, just an artist and producer. Shinji Mikami and Hideki Kamiya ARE designers however, so they're actually a loss. Capcom, as they've said, can live without him and may be better off without him because I wasn't fond of Dead Rising and no one wants to work for a bitter man.

You are extremely right when you say that no one wants to work for a bitter man. And maybe you're right that I overestimate Keiji. But his contribution to his games goes much further than his title implies. In Japan, being big means taking prety much all the decisions, including game concepts. Besides, I'm not saying that he invented all that, only that he was part of it.

While he was credited as character artist for the first Mega Man, that's mostly because they didn't know what a Game Designer was back then. For instance, Hironobu Sakaguchi (why do I keep getting back to him?! ) was credited as Producer for Final Fantasy, but he was really the Creative Director, Lead Game Designer, writer AND producer, all at the same time. I'm pretty sure that the same can be said of Keiji: that he filled the shoes of many while taking only the title that fits the company most.

On another note, although you may very well dislike Dead Rising, and I respect that, that doesn't mean he wasn't good, just that this game didn't cater to your tastes as much.

Still, I honestly respect your opinion and appreciate how you brought up that I may be overestimating Keiji (But I still hope he'll get a Lifetime Achievement Award or such from DICE or AIAS or whatev).