Resident Evil Producer "Survival horror isnt popular enough in America"

[Wrathborne]

RE4 wasn't easy. RE5 on the other hand was easier than RE5, course I only played halfway through the game before saying 'done'. but being that I got to chapter 3-2 in about 3 hrs on a first play through(and dying 4 times in the process) that was pretty much all I needed.

Funny thing is that I died 3 times in action sequences and then Sheva died once because she was stupid(knifing the chainsaw majini despite having a shotgun with a few rounds). I was never short on ammo, only had trouble with the bat wasp boss because Sheva kept stealing the mines, and struggled more with the dogs than the majini.

RE4 was definitely harder due to the fact it was a new battle engine with new enemies and that had a harder learning curve.RE5s engine was RE4s engine with more enemies, less inventory, and a weapons switch button.

If RE4 had the weapon switch button it would have definitely made the gameplay stronger, but the gameplay was pretty strong on its own and was still new at the time.

But that's just my medically induced opinion.

[REmaster]

Fucking hell.

Care to elaborate on this two word statement? Or should we just leave it at that? Short, sweet and no real thought or input whatsoever. I can dig it.

Over-saturation of Survival Horror is what killed it in the first place. CAPCOM were terrified of straying from a very tired format and it began to show. The final nail in the coffin was BH0.

And it's a bit ironic that words like saturation is killing the series now. Perhaps RE0 would have sold better if they didn't release it so close to the remake? Keep in mind, I'm not just talking about RE/Capcom, but the genre as a whole. How many "true" survival horror games are out there, compared to the limitless list of action titles/COD clones? Obviously if a specific genre represents a very small slice of the proverbial gaming pie, it's not going to get as much attention.

[Stu]

Oh trust me. Plenty of thought went into it.

Your original comment essentially ammounts to little more than "If no one likes rape, more people should give it a try".

If no one is buying it currently, pumping more into the market is unlikely to make an impact.

[News Bot]

They didn't needed to stay in the same gameplay forever, I wouldn't mind the changes as long as their games kept the "Horror" and some other elements on it. Like the lack of ammo/life, no continues, some kind of saving limitation (ink ribbons), having to find weapons and ammo by yourself, etc. They just made RE4 afterwards too easy, action-like and lacking good plot.

Yes, they could have. But they didn't. Because they were afraid to. Mikami had to dumb it down and make it more open and marketable. The Survival Horror version of BH4 was scrapped because it would cost too much to develop and they were aware they wouldn't get a very big return, and they would pull the plug on the series if it came to that. Like it or not, Mikami saved the series, although he went in an almost completely different direction to do so. Kawata put the series into stagnation again with his Chronicles bullshit. BHUC sold moderately well, while BHDC sold less than half of that.

You can see how timid the BIOHAZARD Team is at times with the fact that they focused on action in BH5: they go with what is proven to sell, and aren't very good at switching up a marketable formula. Then once the formula stagnates, the only option they see is to try something completely new, because they are unable to revamp or refine something very well. The last actual "horror" game that CAPCOM released was Demento/Haunting Ground, and despite being amazing, it did not sell well. Neither did Outbreak File 2. That's all CAPCOM needed to know. BHREV tinkers with horror but doesn't go far enough, but it's a respectable compromise.

The only game in the series pre-BH4 which actually tried to add new gameplay mechanics and ideas was BH3. The rest are virtually the exact same.

[CrimsonElder]

Care to elaborate on this two word statement? Or should we just leave it at that? Short, sweet and no real thought or input whatsoever. I can dig it.

That seems to be the way of his posts without the sweet. Absolutley no input just arrogance.

[REmaster]

Oh trust me. Plenty of thought went into it.

Your original comment essentially ammounts to little more than "If no one likes rape, more people should give it a try".

K...not sure why we have to bring rape in to this, but I don't think you're understanding me. There are virtually no real Survival Horror games on the market. As for the most notable ones you could say Dead Space, which is of course more action based and Silent Hill, which we've all seen it's up and down path. I can go to Gamestop at this very moment and see entire walls of action games, with very, very few Survival Horror games among them.

My point is, if there were more Survival Horror games, perhaps they would be more popular. Some people have never even played a Survival Horror game because they're so few and far between. The genre itself was never the problem, it was the other half of it's formula. The combat system, fixed camera angles and tank controls were getting tired and by the time CV and the remake came around it had become quite obvious that a change was long overdue.

RE4 brought that change. Unfortunately, a great deal of the "survival horror" aspect changed along with it. People loved RE4 because of it's innovative controls, music, graphics, voice acting, etc. I honestly feel that it would have been just as successful if they kept the horror in it, but as News Bot said they were a bit timid. RE1 was a risk, RE4 was a risk with the new formula, taking risks are a part of business. Revelations was a step in the right direction, but we all know the numbered titles are the most successful and besides that, there were quite a few people who didn't want to buy a handheld console just to play it.

So there you have it, my post for the day. Oh and trust me, plenty of thought went into
it ;)




Here's a quick summary of my response in case you're having a busy day.

If no one is making it currently, pumping more into the market may likely make an impact.

Fixed.

[Stu]

If no one is making it currently, pumping more into the market may likely make an impact.

Yes, but what sort of impact?

That seems to be the way of his posts without the sweet. Absolutley no input just arrogance.

Aaw bless him!

[REmaster]

Yes, but what sort of impact?

A good one I'd hope. We'll never know until they give it a try.

[Stu]

A hope?

Why, that's surely all Capcom needs then!!

[Mr. Spencer]

Over-saturation of Survival Horror is what killed it in the first place. CAPCOM were terrified of straying from a very tired format and it began to show. The final nail in the coffin was BH0.

Complete global...no, no I'm sorry. I'm terribly terribly sorry.

[Wrathborne]

Mikami had to dumb it down and make it more open and marketable.

How is being able to shoot an enemy anywhere on their body dumbing it down? There were enemies with specific weak points you had to shoot in order to kill them. Not to mention you were finally able to have more crowd control over enemies with the melee attacks mixed in, which helped saved ammo when you needed it.

I think you got it reversed with the original RE combat which is as simple as it can be.

[REmaster]

A hope?

Why, that's surely all Capcom needs then!!

Love the second exclamation point, really puts the emphasis on your sarcasm *Applause*


The series started with a young man's hope. I'm sure they "hoped" ORC would sell well. I'm sure they hope that RE6 intergrates Survival Horror with the modern action formula in a way that pleases everyone, as they have stuggled to do in the past. Ironically, "No hope left" is also the RE6 media theme, but that's irrelevant. Never give up hope Stu, sometimes it's all you got.

[CrimsonElder]

Yes, but what sort of impact?

Aaw bless him!

Bless you to Stewie.

I think the main part of survival horror was the limited ammo and health and also a big part was the fixed camera angels and controls which were alot tougher to use. Having to take out an enemy in a narrow space when you cant control the camera was what made you panic now with all the changes how do you panic the player? Shy from amping up the difficulty you use more enemies which to be fair to them they have tried. How else do they rebirth survival horror without dumbing the game down?

[News Bot]

How is being able to shoot an enemy anywhere on their body dumbing it down? There were enemies with specific weak points you had to shoot in order to kill them. Not to mention you were finally able to have more crowd control over enemies with the melee attacks mixed in, which helped saved ammo when you needed it.

I think you got it reversed with the original RE combat which is as simple as it can be.

I didn't say it was dumbed down from a gameplay perspective. BH4 was a game-changing masterpiece in terms of gameplay. I meant it was dumbed down in terms of horror and favored action more.

[Darkmoon]

The story was also barebones, even by Resident Evil standards, and the...two? Three? Puzzles shouldn't take even a Bro-tastic player more than a couple of minutes.