Resident Evil Is a Child, Capcom and Fans Are Its Parents

[Adon Cabre]

I don't blame the fans so much as I blame the all the generic military shooters and their fans. I mean, Resident Evil is a big series, but RE4 is one of their highest sellers and it didn't move so much as a fifth of what the Call of Duty games sell within their first week. Capcom likes money (as do we all), and wants to make more of it. So there you go. Besides, I think the 'fans' they did listen to are the CoD fans complaining about the controls and slower pace of the older games for being 'gay' and not 'hardcore' and since they're the ones dictating things these days, that's how things have gotten to the way they are. I enjoyed the demos, and will get RE6, and though I lament the loss of horror, it's still a good game in my opinion. If you have to be mad at anyone, I'd be mad at people like my best friend who won't even so much as look at a game if it isn't a brown 'n' gray military shooter.

Call of Duty and Battlefield fans are a permanent market. This isn't Guitar Hero; we love war and fast paced action -- everything they represent is here to stay. Accept it.

That said, we have to understand that it took Call of Duty, Uncharted, and Gears of War years and several previous installments to refine game play. CAPCOM decided to jump on board with western combat but lacked any true vision or experience that would make them stand out. That's why the resonating voice of critics is that Resident Evil 6 is average or disapointing altogether.

And this whole parents analogy is stupid. It's an artist's job to support his/her family, and to make art that resonates with the times. All we the fans ask is for some creativity.

 

[Sylveria]

Breaking news: Capcom admits to fucking its fans.

Comment of the day, ladies and gentlemen.

...

OT:

Personally, I'm not quite sure what the outrage/division is about. Were people actually expecting a horror game? It seems clear to me that, for better or worse, Resident Evil has been an action series with awkward controls since ever since RE4 (which, conversely, is often referred to as the best game in the series).

Hell, it's not like the old games were remotely scary anyway. Oh no! A zombie in a hallway!

That is a remarkable comment.

But yeah, the RE series was never especially good or scary. It's a third person shooter with various flavor of zombie and bad controls. In the world we live in, as long as you're a guy shooting something with guns, enough people will say the game is good enough.

 

[Ninjat_126]

This is what happens when you throw out your original fanbase to jump onto the brainless action bandwagon, especially when you're grossly inept doing it properly.

Yeah... I only played the demo, but if looked pretty awful at being both an action game, and a survival-horror game.

Resident Evil has never been known for having good controls, but it's not too late to change! Is it?

 

[loudestmute]

Capcom, you've made your case that fans are whiny and difficulty to satisfy no matter what you try.

Fans, you've stated quite clearly that you don't believe this "new direction" for the franchise is going to lead to anything positive.

In a custody battle like this, especially once it gets this heated, it's in the child's best interest to stay in the care of a competent, yet disconnected third party until this all gets sorted out.

Paul W.S. Anderson, we leave Resident Evil in your hands until a settlement can be reached.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

Capcom did their best with Resident Evil: Revelations and I have to say, they made an outstanding survival/horror. It was an anxious atmosphere with Jill, a tense environment Chris, and very actiony with Carlos' backflashes. Yet "fans" hated it and didn't even give the time of day. It's almost insulting that they're missing out of one of the best Resident Evil games in history because it doesn't meet their impossible-to-meet demands.

I quite enjoyed Revelations, but I don't like the overall direction the games have been taking since 4 came out.

For me, Resident Evil was one of the best survival horror games released, even if the voice acting was awful and the story a little bit cheesy.

Nothing is quite as scary as knowing that you have to get to the other side of a building full of zombies while armed with a pistol, 6 rounds and a paper clip.

The series has lost all that tension, in favour of enemies that will charge wildly at me until they get within 6 feet and then stop, step slightly to one side, and then wait calmly to be hit in the face by my shotgun.

At which point they will drop enough ammo for me to reload my gun fully and have rounds to spare. That is what I am unhappy about with the recent installments. Action is all well and good in its place, but the more action you put in, the more atmosphere you lose.

sadly the question is how many games can you make that use inventory boxes, type-writers and cranks along with count-downs before people get sick of the same old tropes?? As I stated before in other threads we got around 5-6 true resident games if you count resident evil 0, code veronica and revelations.

Hell I'm a die hard resident evil fan that owns nearly version of games on every platform including the original ps1 large box and Sega Saturn versions of one. Hell in my spare time I do some modding, for the Japanese release of 2 and 3 on the pc in 2006 by source next to add new skins, weapons etc.

However the main fact remains is this the games we grew up loving from the mid 90's to the early turn of the century just don't appeal to the market anymore and is dead, no amount of t or g virus will bring it back to life either, "pun is intended"

If capcom wants to sell their product at a chance of making decent revenue then they have no choice but to adapt what actually sells in the market, die hard fans like us can not support company need millions of units sold world wide. Ahem yeah.. I'm done with this debate for now, I'll just leave some re2 modding for the pc below.

 

[krazykidd]

Breaking news: Capcom admits to fucking its fans.

Comment of the day, ladies and gentlemen.

...

OT:

Personally, I'm not quite sure what the outrage/division is about. Were people actually expecting a horror game? It seems clear to me that, for better or worse, Resident Evil has been an action series with awkward controls since ever since RE4 (which, conversely, is often referred to as the best game in the series).

Hell, it's not like the old games were remotely scary anyway. Oh no! A zombie in a hallway!

Correction . Survival horror , there is a difference . The game wasn't "scary " in the sense that it frightens you like say Amnesia does . But the horror comes from surviving under unfavorable circumstances . The atmosphere , the lack of ammo/healing items , not knowing if you are able to make it to your next destination ( or save point back in the day ). If something attacks you do you have the resources to take it head on . Is it better to run away . If i run how far will i get , will there be something lurking in the shadows ready to pounce in the panic . If i do take it head on will i be able to continue after having used up my resouces .

All of that is gone . It's all about the action , the spectacle . There is no tension , there is no atmosphere , there is no stress , no more survival. And when you take away the survival , the horror leaves with it . It's very hard to make a horror game without the survival part . They turned it into action/ horror , and quite frankly , action horror just doesn't work . It just becomes action gore at best . And just action with zombies at worst .

RE4 managed to keep the survival horror aspect even though it was a little more actiony . That's why people liked it so much , or at least that's what i think .


Anyways those are my 2 cents , coming from an ex-fan of RE .

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm suing for custody. You don't know what's best for my baby!

 

[Bindal]

Call me old fashioned, but if videogame developers really cared about their "children", would they want them to, you know, NOT suck?

Why would they when crapping out a game quickly gives you just as much cash and will be basically forgotten once you release the next one?
Don't blame the industry, they just deliver what people ask for.

 

[Nami nom noms]

Am I the only person in the world who actually loves Resident Evil games?
They are what they are; and I've never played one I've not had a whole ton of fun with.

What is this insistance that they go back in time to clunky controls and 'horror' that was never scary after the 2nd game? Personally, I'm more then happy with a few scares you do get; fun, interesting characters and cheesy plot-lines. So it doesn't take itself seriously. So what? It doesn't make it any less fun.

I love the action in those games. Far more then other action titles. I realise I'm in the minority but honestly RE is one of an increasingly dwindling supply of games I can get excited about these days. This generation of consoles has being getting increasingly bland and uninteresting; stop decrying one of the few interesting ones left!

rant over

 

[Casual Shinji]

I wish you were as creative with your games as you are with your excuses, Capcom.

 

[gigastar]

Holy fuck 0.5 user score? I thought it would be getting a mediocre score, but not that bad, either that or people are just zero bombing it like they did with Mass Effect and such.


I don't know Capcom, if people are that against what you are doing, that kinda means you are doing something wrong.

Capcom games have had a consitently low user score ever since the MML3 cancellation and the on-disc-locked-content fiasco.

 

[BBboy20]

If capcom wants to sell their product at a chance of making decent revenue then they have no choice but to adapt what actually sells in the market

So essentially, turn your product into a shell of it's former self. Got it.

 

[ScruffyMcBalls]

Allow me to make myself abundantly clear on this topic. The fans are the ones who buy the product and have bought the product since the beginning of the franchise, they are the source of cash-flow. When designing a game for a franchise the fans opinions are the ONLY opinions that matter. Feel free to tweak what is asked for, but don't ever make the assumption that your personal opinion or "artistic license" is more important than a fanbase millions strong and a franchise dearly loved.

As for the "parent" analogy, I agree with everyone who paints the fans as the neglected wife and the franchise as an abused child.

 

[TitanAura]

Ignoring the connection to RE6 for the moment, I just really really love this analogy. It honestly makes a lot of sense and it's god damn funny to boot!

 

[Oirish_Martin]

On a personal level, I bought it because I had a blast with my friend playing co-op on the second demo.

I just had a thought - surely the move towards action is a consequence of (/consistent with) the story, if nothing else? You can't establish someone like Umbrella Corp., building zombie viruses to take over the world with and expect them to sit on it in creepy old mansions forever just to maintain an identical atmosphere for seven or eight games. It'll probably be a goofy story as ever, but my curiosity is at least vaguely piqued by the escalation of the series - first few games go from lab to lab, 4 had an outbreak in one village, 5 was the same but across one country, 6 is a series of biological attacks across the world.

As for the not-being-survival-horror complaints - I seem to end up rolling in ammo regardless ever since Resi 4, so it hardly seems like a new complaint.

 

[hazabaza1]

Holy fuck 0.5 user score? I thought it would be getting a mediocre score, but not that bad, either that or people are just zero bombing it like they did with Mass Effect and such.

Yeah, people are just being the stupid cunts that they usually are when this sort of stuff happens.

I mean, I don't like the game, and in this analogy I do see Capcom as an abusive husband/parent, but Metacritic is just fucking dumb. 0.5 should equal 'barley functional, looks like dogshit, no redeeming features whatsoever' and I can only think of a few games that fit that description. Any of the Resident Evil games not being them.

 

[Darmy647]

I really like the title of the article. It makes me laugh. So capcom, how about we talk about the other child? You know, the one your trying to sign all the papers to give over to a orphanage? Oh right, mega man. (let it burn, fans. Let the hatred boil, as i know it is strong with me)

 

[bafrali]

You think you got it bad RE fans. Megaman is out selling matches in a cold winter night. Worst RE had was being sent to its room to watch a 24 hour Rambo marathon

I really like the title of the article. It makes me laugh. So capcom, how about we talk about the other child? You know, the one your trying to sign all the papers to give over to a orphanage? Oh right, mega man. (let it burn, fans. Let the hatred boil, as i know it is strong with me)

I hear you brother.

 

[Baron_Rouge]

I haven't played it yet, but 0.5? Come on. I've never even seen a game that was a 0.5. It'd have to be downright unplayable for that to happen. I really doubt it's actually as bad as everyone says. I mean, it might still be bad, but I can't believe it'd be 0.5 bad. This seems like a pretty big overreaction.