Mikami "I Probably Won't Play Biohazard 5"

[Jill's Boob]

Only if you dont know anything about DaVinci. The guy spent years just to paint Mona Lisas lips and some of his designs are horrible. You dont have to like Kojima, but after he proved himself and got the funding and creative freedom he needed, hes been churning out nothing but gold, and Konami knows this.

I don't give two shits about MGS fans and how they perceive that series to be "gold" or the "greatest video game series ever."

This site is about RE, plain & simple. Personally, I don't care for the Metal Gear series, besides the two NES games. RE may not be perfect, but at least it is a game I can play, no matter how cheesy or ridiculous it can be at times...often, that is part of the charm.

It's better than being a pretentious game series that thinks it is so damned great that it feels it can be 70% soporific cutscenes and 30% gameplay that is pretty similar to everything else on the market.

[Member_of_STARS]

*Sad face*

I dont know* whats worse. The fact that you embrace ignorance or that you consider MGS to be like everything else on the market.

But I digress. Time for me to GTFO this thread before Mikami Cavalry arrives and kicks my ass for asking for some substance and story in my games.

TETRIS!

[Jill's Boob]

^I can't say for certain, as I never made it past MGS1. But that game bored me to tears. But since many games have stolen from MG (including RE4) to have the following: stealth, sniping, weapon customization, etc, there are many other games on the market that are the exact same or close to MGS. *Not hard to do when a disc only contains 30% gameplay!

The thing that "grinds my gears" is that you can always find a MG fan standing on a soap box screaming to the world that MG is so eff'n great, and all other games pale in comparison. Nobody cares. We're here to talk RE.

[Member_of_STARS]

^I can't say for certain, as I never made it past MGS1. But that game bored me to tears. But since many games have stolen from MG (including RE4) to have the following: stealth, sniping, weapon customization, etc, there are many other games on the market that are the exact same or close to MGS. *Not hard to do when a disc only contains 30% gameplay!

Contrary to sarcasm, MGS games are not 70/30 on story/gameplay. Its reverse. But the games are story driven. Then again, every MGS since the first one are wicked fun to play. MGS4 pushed the envelope even further. Also, there arent that many "stealth" titles to begin with and MGS series is nowhere near as *stealth* as people make it out to be. Its an action game. The only true stealth game would be Splinter Cell, but that game is hardcore in that aspect. Perhaps Assassins Creed too?

I too ditched MGS after just 30 minutes of gameplay and only actually played it last year. The Twin Snakes, which is a remake of MGS of PSX one is superb and fixes the outdated camera angles and even improves heavily on an already great dialogue.

The thing that "grinds my gears" is that you can always find a MG fan standing on a soap box screaming to the world that MG is so eff'n great, and all other games pale in comparison. Nobody cares. We're here to talk RE.

Youll find those fans everywhere. But I dont find it strange that they grind your gears. Youre oblivious to it and choose not to play it. GoW and HALO fans grind mine.

[Mr_Zombie]

over the shoulder shooting was utilized in Cold Fear and far better.

First of all, RE4 was first to used over the shoulder camera (Cold Fear was released two months after RE4; not to mention, this type of camera was present in RE4 beta versions that were presented long before Cold Fear was even thought of). Second of all, just like you've said (Half-Life), a game doesn't need to be revolutionary to be fun; a good cooked mix of old ideas can also make game of the year.

Mikami hasnt created anything that he would be able to call his own invention.
(...)
We end up with a guy who couldnt improve on himself for all these years, moaning about his ex partners not being able (management reasons, I bet) to keep the series self-evolving.

I hope you are avare that RE series wasn't everything Mikami was involved in? And that the only RE he directed were RE1, REmake and RE4 (in all the others he was just a producer).

[Gradon]

Grrrr...
Your way overreacting and interpretating his sentance in another absurd way.
Whatever, I don't care; if Shinji hates RE5 so be it, thats his personal opinion.
We can't change that and you probably shouldnt question about it.

[Member_of_STARS]

First of all, RE4 was first to used over the shoulder camera (Cold Fear was released two months after RE4; not to mention, this type of camera was present in RE4 beta versions that were presented long before Cold Fear was even thought of). Second of all, just like you've said (Half-Life), a game doesn't need to be revolutionary to be fun; a good cooked mix of old ideas can also make game of the year.

Two months difference isnt all that great. But allright. Do the games Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon 2 ring any bells?

Half Life example was more than just saying "its all about gameplay". Like I told you, it earned its status because *everything* was nearly perfect, not just the gameplay. A game doesnt have to be revolutionary, but by the rather ambiguous reviews, youll see that everything RE4 lacks (severely) in, are discarded and the score is given mainly because of gameplay and graphics.

Whereas when it comes to PC games that pull both of these aspects off *far* better, such generosity is not shown.

I hope you are avare that RE series wasn't everything Mikami was involved in? And that the only RE he directed were RE1, REmake and RE4 (in all the others he was just a producer).

Are you telling me that you dont know who or what an *executive producer* is?

[missvalentine]

i wonder what Takeuchi feels about Mikami not wanting to play his game?

[Jill's Boob]

Youll find those fans everywhere. But I dont find it strange that they grind your gears. Youre oblivious to it and choose not to play it. GoW and HALO fans grind mine.

Yeah, well, I don't play "Halo" or "Gears of War" either. So I could care less about those games as well.

What I am trying to say is that people here are intent on discussing RE...and they don't really need you telling them that Hideo Kojima is Leonardo DaVinci and that his rectal droppings are more precious than anything Shinji Mikami makes. I'm glad you like Metal Gear, and a few others here do as well. But talk about it in the "Gaming in General" forum.

- OT, but that is a cool avatar that you've got.

[Carnivol]

Contrary to sarcasm, MGS games are not 70/30 on story/gameplay. Its reverse. But the games are story driven.

Disagree.
Gameplay is usually defined as the interaction between player and game. A cutscene/narrative where the only form for "interaction" present is that of either pressing O to skip to the next line of dialog or SELECT(?) to skip the entire scene. That is hardly what I would qualify as any type of gameplay or actual even find mention worthy interaction.

The MGS franchise is much more heavy on narrative than actual gameplay, as long as you're not counting either your replay time or an inhuman amount of failure (usually only brought upon you through playing on a difficulty level of way higher than what your skills as a gamer really are capable of).

Unfortunately, the fact that this narrative has such high production values and over the top "taking itself too seriously" factor has made people give it a bit too much praise for the wrong reasons. ('cause quite frankly, the story/narrative is mostly just a piece of shallow garbage. Kojima's "stand alone" games are usually the ones that are good. Not only because they usually rip off so many elements from other people's intellectual property in such a way that Rainy Woods looks like pure original content, but also because there are usually some sort of fresh idea or clever adaption tossed into it).

If you truly think Metal Gear Solid 3-4 are really "that f-ing great" in terms of both narrative and game design, you might want to expand your horizon on the game and narrative front. At least if you want to be proven wrong, and evt. possibly realize that your "opinion" on the subject is most likely based solely on inexperience.


Now, why are we talking Kojima stuff, again?

[~Elle Updater~]

Guys, let's calm ourselves and not say anything that we'll regret.

As for me, I think Mikami may had an argument about it and the whole RE4 being only released on Gamecube, later it was still released on the PS2 and stuff, maybe he felt betrayed that Capcom released it there, I read and article earlier about the whole history of this feud and ah...well, this is just my opinion.

[RetroRain]

My 2 cents. I don't believe Mikami really liked RE4. He made like 3 different versions of RE4 before we got the version we know. And when he got to the hooked-zombie version, they wanted him to scrap it and start all over. I'm sure that is where the frustration really escalated. He made RE4 the way it was (more action), because he felt that Capcom wouldn't shoot him down on it. I don't think he is being childish, and I think he has every right to be upset. It was his work that has been toyed with, not Capcom's. When RE4 became a hit game at that time, he stated that he was proud to work at Capcom, because the game did well, and he felt proud of his achievement, but when the ported it to PS2, it pushed him over the edge, and it was then he wanted to start his own company and get the hell away from Capcom. If I was in his shoes, I would've done the same thing. Yes, he did leave on his own free will, but I can see why he did.

He originally wanted RE4 to be more atmospheric and horror like, in 3.5, and Capcom told him no. Simple as that. So he went the action route.

I'm glad Mikami doesn't like RE5. I'm sick of this pathetic action crap we've been getting. Horror and action do not mix.

And it reminds me of something funny Alzaire told me one time. The intro scene to RE4, when the guy gets out of the car to go pee, it is a symbol that Capcom is pissing on Resident Evil. Sounds pretty damn accurate if you ask me. >_>

They need to do to Resident Evil what they did with Mega Man 9, go back to the roots.

[Biohazard EX]

Well, you can blame Capcom for ruining the series, but frankly, Capcom was the one who told Mikami to make a game about zombies anyway, when he was going to make a game called Psycho, about ghosts.
So if it wasn't for Capcom, there wouldn't have been zombies in Resident Evil. He didn't want to make RE1, and he didn't want to make any of the sequels, nor did he want to make pre-rendered cameras and tank controls... But those are the things I loved about Resident Evil. So as far as I'm concerned, the fact that Mikami was being forced to make those games against his will, Capcom did good to force him to make REs about zombies and in the style they were in. And if Mikami is all bitter that Capcom ported RE4 to death, and are making RE5 they way they are.. Well, it's his own fault. Yes, Capcom turned down the hook man, but Hook man wouldn't have been right for Resident Evil anyway. If zombies weren't scary anymore, then it's because Mikami failed to make them scary. He should've been working on that, instead of changing it altogether.
RE4 was doomed to begin with, and it was because of Mikami. So if he's all bitter now, GOOD.

[Alzaire]

And it reminds me of something funny Alzaire told me one time. The intro scene to RE4, when the guy gets out of the car to go pee, it is a symbol that Capcom is pissing on Resident Evil. Sounds pretty damn accurate if you ask me. >_>

They need to do to Resident Evil what they did with Mega Man 9, go back to the roots.

Hahaha, when did I say that? I would imagine during one of my old anti-RE4 posts. I'd write so much text, I forget what I say.

I still don't enjoy RE4 that much. But after replaying through some of the older games for the podcast, I can see why RE4 did do so well and how it appealed to the more general gamer compared to those. I wouldn't go so far to say that Capcom pissed on the RE series with RE4 anymore, but I still think the transition should have been better handled. A few key tweaks would have made a huge difference.

As for what this topic is about, I tend to believe there's a lot of things that goes on behind the scenes in the development and company that we aren't privy to. It's hard to say whether Mikami had been happy with Capcom or not for a while. It may be a bit stereotypical to say, but I've always heard that the Japanese are more loyal to their employers. Who's to say Mikami hadn't been unhappy with Capcom for a while and only been staying loyal to them for his job? Perhaps when the series started to take a dramatic turn for the next generation and Capcom went against what they said and released RE4 for PS2, that could have been the last straw for him.

I mean, you gotta imagine the trials the series has gone through. Someone suggested the idea that Capcom probably wrote some kind of lore book long ago, but honestly I highly doubt this is the case. Plus, in regards to Mikami, it wouldn't be the first time he's either shown a good face for public while lying about it, or if not that then not the first time perhaps Capcom execs made him change what he wanted. Look at Biohazard 1.5 for example. Throughout development, it got a ton of hype and praise, and interviews with staff (including Mikami) were very positive. Then all of a sudden, it's a bad game and they gotta scrap it? I have to wonder if that was really Mikami/Kamiya's decision as opposed to Capcom execs telling them to change it. Who knows what ideas were pitched for BH3 and CV. But then we get to BH4. As we all know, it went through several designs. Someone said maybe Mikami made the game the company wanted as opposed to exactly what he wanted. And as I said, finally got tired of all of it and moved to do his own stuff.

Then again, I have heard that Mikami himself has been known to cancel or scrap-and-redo some other games that he worked on, so I could be totally wrong. But even if that's the case, I'm sure there was probably a lot of things outside of Mikami's control that he didn't like. I'll admit I don't know how the business works exactly, but my perception of how I'd guess it works is that while Mikami, or whoever, would be in charge of the production of the game, the executives would be in charge of the overall product and be the ones to say "Oh Mikami, we don't like how this version is too 'such and such way', please make it 'this such a way' instead." Know what I mean?

As for him not playing BH5, well that's his choice. And I don't really blame him for not wanting to play it if he feels he'd be disappointed with choices it's producers made for it. Even if he did leave Capcom of his own choice, it can still be painful to see something you made or started, not get continued or finished how you would have wanted. And not to mention we really don't know exactly how Mikami's felt or what he may or may not have had to be dealing with from Capcom.

[Biohazard EX]

It's only a matter of time before there are reality shows that follow game developers around.