Well, this ought to make the fans happy. …not. (classic '90s reference, I swear)
When Capcom revealed Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City , the long-time fans were concerned for two reasons: firstly, most didn't want to play with a "squad;" they believe the core of horror games lies in being alone.
We agree; it prompted us to deliver our recent editorial . Secondly, they think – based on what we've seen and heard thus far – that this new iteration will be more about shooting than horror. Well…they're right. According to what producer Masachika Kawata told OXM , they're not "aiming for another horror game" with Operation Raccoon City . They're going in a "different direction" and will offer "regular shooting game specs and features." Said Kawata:
"This time around we are setting the game in the Resident Evil world, but we aren't aiming for another horror game, but a shooting game. And we thought about the elements we'd need not only for Resident Evil fans but for fans of shooting games, to appeal to the shooter fans to play this particular game."
Here we go again. Kawata explained that such an approach would provide players with a "different kind of tension" and talked about ammo conservation. This all may sound like a tragedy to the hardcore RE fans but don't despair: Kawata said they may return to pure horror in the "numbered series" (ORC is a spin-off), so perhaps Resident Evil 6 will be the way it's supposed to be.
Not like we begrudge a developer trying something new. We just find it a tad insulting and annoying that every time a Japanese developer tries to overhaul a classic formula for the sake of the Western audiences, it has to feature shooter elements. But then again, maybe they just look at the sales charts – "see? Call of Duty is up there again" – and make a logical assumption. Can we blame them?
Related Game(s): Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
could tell from that trailer it wasnt gonna be one just a shooting game with co op…..would have been cool to have it as a survival horror co op game but oh well lets hope its still fun
OMG PLEASE STOP THE CALL OF DUTY! We are talking about a game that aint call of duty, but call of duty appears anyway!!!
you don't think it makes sense that when a dev tries to take a game and make it into a generic shooter that someone who writes an article would reference it to a game synonymous with the generic shooter that has topped sales charts by a huge margin?
Last edited by Underdog15 on 4/5/2011 9:52:15 AM
Why should we stop the comparisons? They're taking a game that was not a shooter and making it a generic shooter. If you can tell me a game that is a better, more well known, example of a shooter than the Call of Duty franchise, I'd love to hear it. in the meantime, let the comparisons continue.
Frankly, shooters and shallow, inattentive, twitch gamers who don't give a crap about story, character, puzzles or any in-game challenge other than how fast you can flex your trigger finger can just crawl back under their rock now, their time is done.
I'm sick of it, and a lot of other gamers are too. The dominance of the industry by this genre and the distortion of classic franchises into shooters is disturbing and bad for gaming in general. That's my opinion, and if you don't like it, bite me.
Call of Duty popularity pollutes all of gaming, it is a legitimate concern.
some shooters are ok though man i enjoyed crysis singleplayers story, bioshocks and cod4s i think they can make good story games aswell
Well im just saying, you know how sometimes you get an annoying song stuck in your head, for me it's kind of like that but instead it's Call Of Duty. Will it ever stop?
thank you for saying that. cod is easily mentioned on this site way more than any other site i visit. it's like the people running this site have cod tourettes disorder.
I always find it funny when people insult the admins and complain about this site yet they keep returning.
Indeed Jawknee, indeed.
BS it's mentioned here more than anywhere else. That's a flat-out lie.
Secondly, when a Japanese developer, well documented to be intent on catering to Westerners, institutes shooter elements into a 15-year-old franchise…yeah, Call of Duty might come up.
It's called logic.
This site also caters to its community a lot, Ben knew that would be a topic of discussion so why not mention it in the article?
sorry, i didn't mean to make it personel. i was out of line, but i stil think it's mentioned more here than say cvg, or the sixth axis.
Highlander-
Well I have a rather decent sized library of games. That library contains a ton of different genres where shooters are the minority. Not because I dont play them, I own most all AAA Shooter games from MAG to KZ to COD to CRYSIS. It's just that I enjoy all genres. And while the action adventure games with great puzzles and stories, and the Heavy Rains, and RPG, are a large, well actually very large part of my gaming. I wouldnt ever hold anything against shooters. Some people want to say it's ruining gaming… Ok that's fine but theirs nothing like being able to jump online with friends for some casual KZ game time for instance. Even though I play a wide variety of games, shooters are a big part of my gaming so I would hope they don't go anywhere and I don't particularly think "they are ruining gaming". And I Am somewhat excited to see how this new RE game fairs. Both as a shooter and RE fan, regardless if it's a spin off and not even close to what made RE, well RE!
You've obviously been around gaming for awhile and I can understand your frustration towards shooters, and the attention they garner. But you might be a little harsh on those who enjoy gaming as a whole like myself. It's all opinion and preference. I just try to enjoy all of it.
@bigrailer19
You took the exact words out of my mouth with your post. I have very much the same opinion as you do!
Sure, there might be a lot of FPS games, but that doesn't mean I will boycott them. I'll keep on having an open mind and purchase all kinds of games (which are interesting to me) like I've always done. I'm pretty sure no one would complain here if RPGs ruled the market and the FPS genre was dying.
BigRailer
I don't really care how many shooters tehre are on the market. I don't care if there's a total oversupply of them, I don't care if you collect every AAA shooter there is and love the lot, in fact, more power to you. I'm glad you like them. What I despise about the current industry is the trend to alter other game franchises and genre to suit the fad for shooters. If Capcom wants to make a dozen shooters and one RE game, go for it, but don't try to morph RE into a shooter as well, leave something on the plate for people that want something other than a shooter.
Like I said I understand what you mean. And I understand it undermines those RE fans out their. But in Capcoms case what they are doing business wise is smart. I mean the industry is honesty rules by FPS games. It would be tough to create a new IP that would garner as much attention as COD. So instead of creating a whole new AAA ip, (which I will say is either lazy or shows that capcom doesn't have much faith in their way of coming up with something new), just slap a name on the game that everybody knows and love(d). It will get way more attention that way. I agree it's not a great thing to do for the fans or gamers in general and if ot flops the series as a whole. But for them it's probably smart.
As for the games I have that I play that I mentioned. You told shooter fans to go crawl under a rock. My point was I enjoy the same games you do on a daily basis but I also enjoy a large amount of gaming with shooters also. I wa getting at the fact that just because I frequent shooters doesn't mean I can't indulge myself in an rpg for 100 hours, or understand that the uncharted series has the best story telling, or that the puzzles in an action adventure game are both challenging yet fulfilling! That was my point after you said shooter fans "your time is done", after you said that shooter fans are all twitch gamers. It just isn't true regardless how big of a COD fan I am. And I am not attacking you, I respect you more than you might think. Every point you make is valid. I just want you to know there are a lot of shooter fans out their that also get their enjoyment from many genres!
Actually I said;
"shooters and shallow, inattentive, twitch gamers who don't give a crap about story, character, puzzles or any in-game challenge other than how fast you can flex your trigger finger"
And I'll stand by that.
"shooters" as in the games.
"shallow, inattentive, twitch gamers who don't give a crap about…" as in gamers who only play shooters and do not have, and never have had, any desire to play anything other than a shooter.
It probably will feel like Left 4 Dead. It was fun but not scary. I'll try my best not to mind since this is only a spin-off.
But its still sad.:(
I get the spin-off excuse, but I don't buy the bit about it being for old and new fans.
Holy crap that's SO original!
Complete crap. Capcom should be ashamed. Here's a novel idea. Make a generic shooter based on nothing more than being a generic shooter if you're so all fired keen to make a shooter, and leave the other franchises as what they are, other franchises in other genre. Stop trying to blend or erase the lines between the genre, and respect each for what it is. This trend of catering to shooter fans and twitch gamers is making Japanese developers and publishers act in profoundly un-Japanese ways.
The sooner the shooter/twitch fad burns out, the better.
Maybe with all the recovery efforts going on in Japan they will realize that it's okay to play to your strengths, utilize your own culture and experiences in creating entertainment of value rather than following the rest of the industry down the shooter toilet.
I think I'll pass on this if it's just a mindless shooter.
Only reason I would get it is if the co-op is amazing and well done.
It also wouldn't hurt letting us create our own characters.
Last edited by Scarecrow on 4/5/2011 10:20:10 AM
Well..they had me interested…now I'm uninterested. I mean seriously…they should've just created something different then a spin-off to a survival horror franchise that needs to get the horror part back into it.
I'm tired of these devs who think everybody out west wants shooters or something fast paced. Wish they realize the majority of us grew up PLAYING their great games and that is what we enjoyed..not shooter this, shooter that, fast pace this, fast pace that etc…
Last edited by slugga_status on 4/5/2011 10:52:19 AM
Thumbs up to you sir!
Unfortunately, the "majority" bought Black Ops.
Oh goodie! Because we don't have enough shooters!
/
Can't say I really blame Capcom. They're trying to adjust to the change happening in the market place. Why wouldn't they put out a game that they feel will sell better in today's age? I was never a big RE/Biohazard fan so obviously nostalgia isn't clouding my judgment, however CoD (or any other shooter that sells extremely well) is obviously a bar that developers like Capcom would love to reach.
Problem is, this has been their approach the entire generation. Trying to adjust, and it's been an utter failure since the beginning.
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome every time is insanity. They aren't learning from their mistakes and if they continue down this road they are going to end up getting sold off or worse, closed down. Call of Duty kids aren't going to care about this game. No matter how Call of Duty like they make it. They will continue playing Call of Duty while the original fans of Resident Evil, the ones who would actually buy and play a proper Resident Evil installment are left out in the cold. They are alienating their primary consumer base while not gaining enough new ones. Capcom has been losing money this entire generation and this direction they are taking is the primary reason.
Last edited by Jawknee on 4/5/2011 11:24:17 AM
I don't disagree with anything you're saying. I'd be curious to see how well Resident Evil 5 sold, though. It was released during the "shooter-heavy era" and may have suffered as a result.
I def don't disagree with the true fans being left out in the cold argument. Apparently alot of Socom 1 and 2 "vets" are pretty p*ssed at Zipper for trying to make Socom 4 "more like CoD". However, sequels and spin-offs NEED to be updated to reflect that of game-play of 2011, so I don't blame Zipper for "dumbing it down".
Thats obviously a different example as they're already both shooters, however developers do need to look at what is popular TODAY, and what gamers want TODAY. And unfortunately (for some) that is the fast-paced, "twitch" shooters like CoD, Halo, and to a lesser degree Killzone. Capcom can't look back and say, "hey, Resident Evil 2 sold really well back in 1998 lets make a spin off with the same exact gameplay"…(cheesy example, I know) but rather a spin-off that would reflect something that's popular for 2011.
re5 sold over 5 million copies so it was hardly a flop even with its stripped down horror elements, and a lot of people complaining about the controlls. i don't know how that compares to past titles though.
i absolutely loved the re series right up until the last one. i even liked outbreak. about the only ones i didn't care for were the on rails racoon city chronicles, and umbrella chroniicles.
@Jimmyhandsome
CoD created the stigma that western gamers just want something fast paced and all action. That's far from the truth. People are starving for something different especially from a franchise like RE. Capcom is really screwing with franchises fans have loved..and don't realize they're having the opposite effect. Sure what's popular now has some effect on what to create..Yet when you had a formula that only needed to be improved upon then you almost have gold in my book.
@ Slugga
I agree with you that the CoD "phenomenom" has in fact changed the way alot of developers (Japanese AND western) make their games. And I also agree with the fact that alot of the hardcore fans that grew up with the RE series don't necissarily want to see a "shooter resident evil". However, I don't blame them for creating a spin-off of one of their most famous series that does cater to this large market segment. Its not like they're calling this game RE6 or something.
@ Jimmy
True and I agree with you..I just think if they wanted to make a spin off then do it full blown ya know? Like they could've named it Operation Racoon City..but they decided to slap Resident Evil in front of it..I think we can get the same type of gameplay from a TPS in Uncharted 3
A hard head, makes a soft ass..
Just trying to work out what the hell that means…nope. Doesn't appear I can XD
Sheesh Crapcom, what about what your fans want. Or is it because your fans have jumped ship to EA's Dead Space. Which ironically was developed out west.
I think it's been obvious their "fans" don't mean much to them since they released Resident Evil 5.
this is a tps, right? if it's a fps, i'll have to pass altogether. about the only thing i enjoyed in re5 was going through the campign online.
How much you want to bet Las Plagas or uroboros shows up in this even though it is based in raccoon city
omg, you are probably right. i want sloiw moving, 10 bullets to kill zombies not the weird tentacle obsessed ones.
This is terrible news. Did they learn nothing from RE5 and it's non-horror ways? The only way to get RE back to the glory days is for Operation Raccoon City to do poorly in sales. Unfortunately, it being RE more than guarantees high sales and thus continues the non-horror direction. Well, let me be the first to say, game, set, match and the winner for best Survival Horror IP is……….Dead Space!
unfortunatly all they learned form RE5 was that it sold more than RE4
Re defined horror wtf is this
It sickens me when devs chicken out and opt not to run out new IPs, and instead attach popular, non-relevant titles like RE, CoD and FF for FF13 (sorry FF13 lovers). With the exception of FF13, if the aforementioned titles published their games not bearing RE and CoD, I doubt sales would be as massive. Business decision – wise; guts and balls – tiny.
Pass.
i was shocked to lust learn re5 was the best selling re title. maybe that's all capcom really heard, the lost in nighmares content seemed to be a move back to the horror elements, though., so that gives me a little hope.
Never cared for RE in the first place, but I hope this action games plays nothing like RE4 or RE5…not great shooters. I could care less for horror games really so this doesn't upset. Dead space was probably the first horror game to blow me away after RE4. After that, I went back to not caring about the genre at all. CoD isn't to blame, it's the stupid developers thinking shooting is the best part of gaming now.
"not great shooters."
That's because they aren't.