News report topic! (For newsreporting, not discussion)

[Pikminister]

ORC reviews round-up:

Complex: Score - 8 out of 10

"Operation Raccoon City is the whip crack quick, cucumber-cool Resident Evil action game that Capcom has been wanting to make for years. When you consider it in the context of Revelations, the recent 3DS title that leaned more on classic RE games for inspiration, it becomes clear that Capcom's apparently decided to please both sides of their divided fanbase by creating two kinds of Resident Evil. The results so far are brilliant. There's enough meat to ORC to keep us playing for months, and if Capcom can take care of the more glaring issues, we may do just that".

SOURCE: http://www.complex.com/video-games/2...on-game-heaven

RipTen: Score - 7.5

"ORC isn’t worth your sixty bucks as a single player game. You’ll end up sending pieces of the disc to Capcom if you do. As a whole, it manages to satisfy my craving for Resident Evil in a different way. The multiplayer holds up well, it’s fun to play and with friends, you’re guaranteed a good time. I keep coming back for more just for the simple fact the multiplayer isn’t just like every other title out there. It offers a few unique game modes, along with zombies mixed in. Overall, ORC is a very solid title. It’s not greatest game around, nor is it close to being horrible. It does prove, however, that Slant Six is actually a decent developer given the right guidance. I’m looking forward to seeing what both Slant Six and Capcom provide in the future."

SOURCE: http://www.ripten.com/2012/03/20/rip...city-xbox-360/

joystiq: Score - 2 stars out of 5

"The main theme of the campaign is recycling. Several environments are recycled -- especially the Umbrella labs at the beginning, middle, and again at the end -- and every encounter plays out just like the last. The campaign escorts you from one scripted encounter to the next in a linear way. You never wonder about where to go next because there's always a big icon telling you "this is where you need to be to shoot the next bunch of dudes you need to shoot."

"Gameplay is rote -- a barebones, cover-based affair that is equal parts generic and infuriating. The cover system lacks any kind of grace or style, odd given the stylish leather-clad protagonists of this supposedly elite squad. You walk up to an object and press forward to go into cover. That's it. There's no elegant way to switch between cover -- no SWAT turns here -- just a clumsy meandering from fence to car to concrete slab as you shoot whatever's in front of you"

"Ultimately, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is everything I hoped it wouldn't be: a mediocre shooter hoping to be bolstered by the Resident Evil name. It takes what is arguably the series' best setting and wastes it, forcing players to plod through generic underground facilities and the occasional, oddly vacant street from one boring encounter to the next"

SOURCE: http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/20/re...n-city-review/

Digital Spy: Score 2 stars out of 5

"There are certainly a lot of problems with Operation Raccoon City. The action set pieces are pretty uninspiring, the gameplay is vanilla and the presentation has more than a whiff of last-generation consoles. Teaming up with three friends to kill hordes of zombies, monsters and special operations troops in the campaign levels is reasonably good fun, but Operation Raccoon City is never going to blow you away".

"Playing the campaign on your own is also a bit of a mess. The co-op AI is really all over place (think Sheva Alomar in Resident Evil 5, and then double it)"

"Operation Raccoon City really feels like a PlayStation 2 game, in both its level design and presentation. This is not necessarily a bad thing (I recently re-loaded RE4 on the PS2 and still loved it), as good gameplay, distinctive visuals and strong storytelling always shines out. But Operation Raccoon City does not really have any of these things, and the Resident Evil branding is not enough to paper over the cracks"

"Operation Raccoon City offers a different spin on the Resident Evil licence, involving team-based battles and the return of proper zombies. On the other, it is a rather confused and somewhat dated shooter that has numerous flaws and doesn't really make the most of its premise. There is fun to be had in playing this game, particularly with three friends online, but this is very far from a Resident Evil classic"

SOURCE: http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/rev...eview-ps3.html

The Verge: Score - 3 out of 10

"Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City isn’t caught between anything – it’s buried under countless poor decisions and technical problems. Even worse, one of the areas of Resident Evil’s fiction ripest for exploration has been soured by a game that I can’t recommend to anyone. An insult to Resident Evil fans, a failure at the most basic level for shooter fans, and a possible friendship-ender for those looking for a cooperative experience, Raccoon City is a disaster zone better left abandoned"

SOURCE: http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/...on-city-review

Thesixthaxis: Score - 6 out of 10

"Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is by no means a bad game. The chance to face off against Resident Evil favourites such as Nemesis is a really interesting idea, and the constant threat of zombies will always have you on edge. Saying that, I can see the multiplayer modes becoming repetitive fairly quickly. Whilst differing slightly, the modes on offer are too similar, and all play out on the same handful of maps"

SOURCE: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2012/03/...3-xbox-360-pc/

xbox360achievements: Score - 58%

"A limp and generic single-player is aided by a multiplayer offering with a few good ideas, but on the whole Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City doesn’t feel like a game that will provide enough entertainment to justify you shelling out. In fact if you can't get enough buddies together to form a squad for both the campaign and versus arenas, then you're probably better off giving this game a wide berth like you would the T-virus. A real shame"

SOURCE: http://www.xbox360achievements.org/g...n-city/review/

[Pikminister]

The story of the day - How much ORC is being hated on by the critics!

1. Computer and Videogames just published an article on this issue:

We slapped a 6.3 on the end of our review, noting that while multiplayer can provide some passable entertainment, the game ultimately falls far short of expectations. "The perks are dull, shooting is flimsy, enemies are meaty shoot-bags, levels are unvaried and tension is minimal," we said.

Some reviewers agreed, with similar scores. Others push the knife in a bit further an opt for more cutthroat verdicts.

Here's a round-up:

GamesRadar: 3 - The potential for something special was present from the start, and many figured it would be akin to Left 4 Dead for the BioHazard set. Sadly, this isn't the case. Not only is Raccoon City not in the same league as Left 4 Dead, it's not even a decent Resident Evil game.

OXM: 7.0 - Some diehard Resident Evil fans may be disappointed by Raccoon City for sapping the survival-horror soul out of the series. But the game's satisfying blend of gunplay and teamwork, coupled with its cool references to past Resident Evil games, make revisiting the perilous streets of Raccoon City worth the trip. Even with its failings, Raccoon City keeps the action rolling along; just make sure you bring some buddies to help you slaughter all the undead.

OPM: 7 - For the large part, whether offline or on, Operation RC manages to successfully inject old skool Resi charm into an enjoyably frenetic shooter. If the idea of battling rooms full of stretchy-tongued monstrosities with athletic controls in iconic surroundings has your Umbrella sense tingling, this is well worth a look.

Destructoid: 7.5 - Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City suffers from poor design and sometimes doesn't quite seem to "get" the point of the style it wishes to emulate, but that doesn't stop it from being a genuinely good time that should satisfy anybody looking for a hardcore romp. As a challenging rollercoaster ride through an iconic fictional catastrophe, Raccoon City provides hours of violent fun interspersed with some exasperated cries of aggravation.

IGN: 4.0/10 - The terrible AI, the lackluster locations and the complete lack of atmosphere or memorable characters destroy what could have been a brilliant offshoot. In the end, Operation Raccoon City is little more than a poor man's SOCOM, and a destitute man's Resident Evil.

Game Informer: 6.00 - It's difficult recommending a return to Raccoon when you have to endure buggy AI, clunky gameplay, and terrible glitches like disappearing floors. Not even online play is enough to of a reason to warrant checking out this botched experiment with the Resident Evil brand.

Eurogamer: 4/10 - Operation Raccoon City is an under-designed and under-produced nightmare, a game that delivers the bare minimum in every category and stops right there.

Videogamer: 4/10 - Quite why this game even exists is a bit of a mystery. Surely nobody out there is demanding a creaky Left 4 Dead rip-off set in a cardboard-box recreation of the Resident Evil universe, but that hasn't stopped Capcom from diluting and cheapening its strongest brand.

SOURCE: http://www.computerandvideogames.com...isappointment/

2. Attack of the Fanboy did the same:

When Capcom announced that they would be spinning the Resident Evil franchise into a new direction with Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, fans had high hopes for the squad based multiplayer-centric shooter. With a development team in place that has produced popular online shooters in the past, it seemed like a sure fire hit. Unfortunately, game critics haven't been so kind to Capcom's latest.

With aggregated reviews hovering only slightly above 50, this could be one of the biggest flops of 2012...so far.

Destructoid - 7.5/10 - "Raccoon City suffers from poor design"

Games Beat - 60/100 - "ORC is defective in ways I've never seen before"

Game Informer - 6/10 - "Slant Six has tainted the fabled town"

Xbox360 Acheivements - 58/100 "A limp and generic single player is aided by a multiplayer offering with a few good ideas"

EuroGamer - 4/10 - "Operation Raccoon City delivers the bare minimum in every category"

GamesRadar - 3/10 - "One of the worst Resident Evil games to date"

SOURCE: http://attackofthefanboy.com/news/la...nders-critics/

P.S. - Kawata-san, please take a damn hint...

[DeadArtist]

The german IGN website gave the game a 6.5/10 rating.

http://de.ign.com/review/Resident-Evil-Operation-Raccoon-City-Der-Test/4

[Pikminister]

Slant Six doesn’t get the bad reviews:

Satisfied ORC player: @SlantSixGames I am having a hard time figuring out why this game is getting such bad reviews. It's absolutely fun and awesome!

Slant Six Games responds: Ha - us too! We're listening to the players though and they seem to like it and that is the most important thing

https://twitter.com/#!/SlantSixGames/status/182236399372738562

[Pikminister]

Well, I saw this rumor a day or two ago but it seems to be picking up steam... even the guys at RelyonHorror got into it:

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries Bio Ops may or may not be coming to the Wii U’s eShop, since this is still just a rumor. But if this is in fact legit, then I’m sure we’ll get an official reveal at this year’s E3, where Nintendo is set to reveal everything consumers want to know abot their new console.

SOURCE: http://www.relyonhorror.com/latest-n...ming-to-wii-u/

P.S. My take on this: They seem to believe that this rumored Mercenaries game is the 3DS game.... however, there was yet another Mercenaries game that was recently released on the GREE platform (Resident Evil Mercenaries VS). It probably is THAT game and not the 3DS one. Since I doubt Nintendo is going to try to steal the thunder of an exclusive 3DS game by porting it to Wii U's eShop.

[Pikminister]

Capmco is hiring new Engrish Localization Director.

If you are a native speaker of English, have an excellent command of Japanese, and managerial experience, take note! Capcom Japan is hiring a new Localization Director to oversee the localization of our games into multiple languages.

As you know, Capcom has always been a globally-minded publisher with very involved localization processes, so this is not a position for n00bs. However, if you think you've got the right stuff, you should definitely reach out!

Applicants would have to feel confident managing multiple projects, providing creative direction, and working directly with dev teams. If you think you can and would like to do all that, send off your work history/CV and Japanese resume with a photo over to localize-hr@capcom.co.jp.

SOURCE: http://www.capcom-unity.com/gregaman...ation_director

From the same blog:

News Bot: Good, CAPCOM's localization is very hit-or-miss. The localization of the Resident Evil games is utterly atrocious...the story of the RE games being butchered as a result of things being mistaken, made-up or left out by the translators. The scripts in that series aren't cheesy because they were written that way, they're cheesy because the translators working on them do bad jobs.

[alexdz]

Project Umbrella staff, now's your chance, get someone to Japan ASAP!

[Pikminister]

'Survival horror' market too small for Resident Evil, says Capcom producer...

...Masachika Kawata told Gamasutra in an interview.

"Especially for the North American market, I think the series needs to head in that [action-oriented] direction," Kawata said. "[Resident Evil's primary games] need to be an extension of the changes made in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5.

"RE4 started in that direction, and RE5 kept going in that direction," he said. "And I think that especially for the North American market, we need to keep going in that direction, and take that a step further. And that's exactly one of the reasons that Revelations is the way it is,"

"Looking at the marketing data [for survival horror games] ... the market is small, compared to the number of units Call of Duty and all those action games sell," he said. "A 'survival horror' Resident Evil doesn't seem like it'd be able to sell those kind of numbers."

There are still opportunities though, for Capcom to explore the purer "survival horror" gameplay outside of the series proper, Kawata added. "So we have our numbered series, and we can say we have a more adventure-oriented version, like a Revelations-style game. And we also have Operation: Raccoon City, which is a third-person shooter.

"So I think that by extending the market in this sense, we can still have the numbered titles keep their identity about what Resident Evil is supposed to be, but still expand and hit other markets as well."

SOURCE: (There is a lot more to read at the source, and in proper context)

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167135/Survival_horror_market_too_small_for_Resident_Evil _says_Capcom_producer.php

[Pikminister]

Happy Birthday RE1 - 16 years old today!





Almost forgot... shame on me.

[Wrathborne]

Fuck I feel old now...16 years ago I was almost 16...now I'm pushing 32.

... Why do I see a spider bleeding red blood on that comic cover?

[Smiley]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167135/Survival_horror_market_too_small_for_Resident_Evil_says_Capcom_producer.php

Interview with Kawata. To sum up: Main games furthering down the action route.

[Pikminister]

Me and my ninja skills already posted this Masachika Kawata uber-story yesterday on this thread...

http://www.the-horror.com/forums/sho...l=1#post215317

[Pikminister]

Operation Raccoon City dev says: "Mission accomplished"

Slant Six Studio producer Mike Kerr told Eurogamer that while Slant Six would like to have seen higher review scores, it's confident that it has achieved what publisher Capcom originally asked it to do.

"[The critical reception] seems to be fairly polarised," Kerr admitted.

"In the end, I think our position on it is that we read every review and we try to pull out all the constructive feedback that we can so we can learn a little about what people liked and what they didn't.

"Then we look to what our internal goals were and what Capcom asked us to do and I think we accomplished what they wanted to do - we took the Resident Evil franchise in a different direction," he continued.

SOURCE: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-23-operation-raccoon-city-dev-i-think-we-accomplished-what-capcom-wanted-us-to-do

[Pikminister]

The history of Resident Evil

An article from CVG that takes a look back at the series.

Apparently, it was written before ORC was released ("with Revelations for the 3DS already in the shops, Operation raccoon City imminent and Resident Evil 6 scheduled for the end of the year"). But there it is... to celebrate the 16th anniversary of the franchise.

SOURCE: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/340664/features/the-history-of-resident-evil/

[Pikminister]

OLD CRUSTY NEWS: Silent Hill designer unimpressed by Silent Hill HD

https://twitter.com/#!/adsk4/status/183196016282046464

SOURCE: http://www.destructoid.com/silent-hill-designer-unimpressed-by-silent-hill-hd-224421.phtml

AND THIS IS ACTUALLY NEWS: Apparently the customers at amazon.com are also not pleased with this less than stellar HD collection...

Item Under Review

While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it’s described here. (Thanks for the tip!)

We’re working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

SOURCE: http://silenthillhistoricalsociety.com/?p=10599