Losing interest in the series

[Guest]

After RE1, Mikami became the producer for most of the games before RE4 and while he couldn't really take part in the creative process, he still had the power to suggest what kind of direction the dev team should take. (i.e RE1.5 to RE2)

Interviews lead us to believe that the decision to scrap RE1.5 came from Yoshiki Okamoto and the higher-ups, who wanted the series to continue rather than end. Only natural. What would you take if you could choose between "money" and "no money"?

Remember that it was Takeuchi who made RE5 a coop game, he convinced the dev team to do that even though RE5 was initially planned to be a single player experience.

It's funny that people keep attributing this decision to Takeuchi, but no one ever provides hard evidence for it.

[Darkmoon]

The haters spouting doom and gloom like RE is in the pits need suck it up and face the fact it is doing better than it ever has. Sorry but if you spouting garbage and ignoring reality someone needs set you straight. RE5 Capcoms 2nd biggest selling title, ever.

Sale wise? Sure. But RE5 did pretty much universally worse in reviews. Worse, most of the people who give a crap have long since left the building. In terms of money I have no doubt that RE will keep bringing home bacon. And so long as it does Capcom has no reason to improve on all the issues that are showing up.

[Mr. Spencer]

I agree. When the series stops being profitable, then they'll take the action that we've been waiting to see for a long time - a complete series reboot. At least that's what I'm banking on.

[BrionIrons]

its either that or or end the series.

[Grem]

Interviews lead us to believe that the decision to scrap RE1.5 came from Yoshiki Okamoto and the higher-ups, who wanted the series to continue rather than end. Only natural. What would you take if you could choose between "money" and "no money"?

Well, this reason is mostly about the story, but not only the story changed for RE2.
I remember Mikami saying in an interview how bad it tasted when he played it and how he had the staff team to remake it completely.

It's funny that people keep attributing this decision to Takeuchi, but no one ever provides hard evidence for it.

He said so himself :

Was creating the game as a fully co-op-compatible adventure always the goal, or was that something that was added mid-way?

It was I guess something that we included part way through the development of the game. I always had the idea that co-op was something that was going to be necessary in Resident Evil 5. But just when we started planning and making the game right at the start, the pressure to outdo Resident Evil 4 was so strong that it was difficult to get everybody in the team behind the idea of doing a co-op focused game.

Once we got everybody on the same page and decided that this was the way to go, things went pretty smoothly after that. But just getting everybody to realize that it was something that was necessary took a little bit of time.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/24/joystiq-interview-resident-evil-5-producer-jun-takeuchi/

[Dracarys]

Sale wise? Sure. But RE5 did pretty much universally worse in reviews. Worse, most of the people who give a crap have long since left the building. In terms of money I have no doubt that RE will keep bringing home bacon. And so long as it does Capcom has no reason to improve on all the issues that are showing up.

Yeah it was only good for sales, that is why so many people cried for more DLC. Wanted an excuse to hate more I suppose.

[Pikminister]

Again, producers have zero clout at Capcom. They handle the budgets and promotion and assemble the teams.

In theory yes... but in reality, when it comes to RE producers, they DO get involved in the creative process. You cannot take that title literally with RE producers. I don't think so.

Shinji Mikami was that way. Even acting as a producer he couldn't help getting involved in the creative side of things. He appointed a director in some of his games in order to distance himself from that. But he would still get involved.

And reading about Kawata and Takeuchi during the making of RE4/RE5/UC/DSC, it seems that they also suffer from the same "Stephen J. Cannell" syndrome. Cannell was a famous producer that did EVERYTHING -including acting- in most of his projects.

[BrionIrons]

People are acting as if RE5 was the worst game ever released on any platform. This might come as a surprise, but except for RE4, none of the games in the series were met with outrageous critical acclaim or received any significant game awards (if such a thing even exists).

And honestly, what would you do if you were to make the next entry in the series?

Bring it back to survival horror,Where Resident Evil belongs.DUH!!!!!!!

[Vector]

The haters spouting doom and gloom like RE is in the pits need suck it up and face the fact it is doing better than it ever has. Sorry but if you spouting garbage and ignoring reality someone needs set you straight. RE5 Capcoms 2nd biggest selling title, ever.

Sales =/= Quality

We know that they'll keep making RE games, and that's what sucks, at least to me. A vast majority of the series' fans consider the series pretty much wrapped up and finished after RE5 which attempted to wrap up most major storylines...the game itself, however, is widely considered to be not that great. For me, the only saving grace was co-op...for others, it was what killed it.

Bottom line...RE5 was a commercial success, but as an RE game...not really. In my opinion and many others'.

[Mr. Spencer]

What CR29 is essentially trying to say is that RE has sold itself out, did away with what made the series unique in order to cater to an audience that craves action and violence.

[leftshoe18]

Resident Evil is at its worst right now,Capcom even discussed replacing Resident Evil with Dead Rising.But anyway,there are still games that came out during RE early days such as Grand Theft Auto for example,regardless that they are two different genre titles.You don't see Rockstar Games changing what GTA is supposed to be about.since 1997 when GTA 1 debuted on PSX,till today its still the same.and its still popular the way it is.Sorry but there is no excuse for what capcom is doing with RE.

Resident Evil is still about evil organizations and bioweapons.

[Darkmoon]

Yeah it was only good for sales, that is why so many people cried for more DLC. Wanted an excuse to hate more I suppose.

Well, Capcom did try anyway. And yes, people wanted DLC. That doesn't automatically speak well of the game itself, however. Either people want more of the same (Desperate Escape) or they wanted something they felt the game was lacking to be added (Lost in Nightmares). Which of the two DLC packs got the better reception among critics and fans alike? And yes, I'm ignoring the Mercs stuff because, quite simply, I have no idea how succesful it all was. I can't stands Mercs as it is in RE4 and RE5, so I'm not able to really comment.

I'm not saying Resident Evil 5 wasn't succesful. It is, and it has it's share of fans. But look through this very thread. A lot of people who like the older games didn't enjoy RE4. Even more didn't like RE5. Worse, for Capcom, how many people do you see at this point claiming RE5 to be there favorite game of the series? Of this generation? Of all time? I haven't seen any. I haven't seen a single person on this forum, or any other for that matter. If I was Capcom, I'd put down the pile of cash and be worried about that. It's far easier to slide from an 'OK, I guess' game to 'Nah, won't bother buying that new' than it is from, 'Favorite game ever. Must have.' I'd have set people on fire to get Valkyria Chronicles II. If I hadn't been able to get RE5 I wouldn't have cared much, and Resident Evil was once my favorite series. This was meant to be the big pay off...and I didn't have any faith in Capcom delivering the goods. I wasn't disapointed.

A lot of the people it appealed to aren't a dedicated fanbase, but simply people picking up a cool looking action game. A lot will expect what's in the movies, since that's where at least some fans will come from. When the RE games are no longer what's hot...where do the sales go? RE5 got a lot of flak, this you can't argue with. Regardless of it's comercial success.

Capcom is making what I consider to be a serious error in judgement. It's taken a name that has some recognition and re-tooled it for todays game's market, and has lost a lot of the older fans. The ones who bought games like Gaiden. Eventually, as I said, Resident Evil won't be hot. The movies will be done and Gears of War 7 will be storming along on the PS360. It's not gonna happen by RE6, which I suspect will sell hugely well anyway, but by RE7 or 8...? And there won't be the safety net of a hardcore fanbase, 'cos we've essentially been told we're not wanted.

[REmaster]

Sale wise? Sure. But RE5 did pretty much universally worse in reviews. Worse, most of the people who give a crap have long since left the building. In terms of money I have no doubt that RE will keep bringing home bacon. And so long as it does Capcom has no reason to improve on all the issues that are showing up.

Agreed. People pay for fertilizer too, but it's still shit. I never said RE5 is a bad game, it just wasn't a good RE game in my opinion especially if it was intended to be the finale to the series. A LOT of new fans came into the picture with RE4, and I think that a huge number of sells for RE5 could be attributed to those fans who thought they were going to get a game very similiar to 4. On the other hand, many fans were hoping to finally have a "scary" entry back in the mix. Yes, Resident Evil isn't going anywhere for some time. Four hollywood movie adaptions have been made, all of which did well for some reason. Eventually a great deal of fans will be the ones departing, who most of which have been with the series since the beginning.

Sad stuff.

[BrionIrons]

Resident Evil is still about evil organizations and bioweapons.

true but it really lacks good bioweapons.Zombies need to return.including hunters.

[DONNIemo]

I just want it to be scary again, Hell ive been playing Dead Space 1 and I have not felt that freaked out for sooooo long. I miss that feeling. I dred going to load my save files and keep playing it at night, its insain. Resident Evil used to do that to me.