Capcom Disappointed With Darkside Chronicles Sales

[A-J]

The Director General of Capcom France, Antoine Seux, was recently interviewed where he stated his disappointment for the sales, or lack there of, of Darkside Chronicles which only managed 16,000 units as compared to 140k for Resident Evil 4 : Wii Edition. Antoine expresses his disappointment in the state of the Wii audience and claims that 2010 will be the year of the PS3 and 360.

Capcom on Darkside Sales

[RetroRain]

The Director General of Capcom France, Antoine Seux, was recently interviewed where he stated his disappointment for the sales, or lack there of, of Darkside Chronicles which only managed 16,000 units as compared to 140k for Resident Evil 4 : Wii Edition. Antoine expresses his disappointment in the state of the Wii audience and claims that 2010 will be the year of the PS3 and 360.

Capcom on Darkside Sales

All I have to say about that, is:
















LOL



What do you expect when you make an on-rails shooter that fans don't want? They want remakes, not on-rails shooters, and Capcom KNOWS the fans want remakes.

And I'm sorry, but that sounds plain ignorant to say that 2010 will be the year of PS3 and 360, all because they weren't happy with the sales of a game in a style that nobody wanted.

[News Bot]

Stop making sub-par games then.

[Alexia_Ashford]

Yes, because Wii games don't sell anymore. *Cough* Super Mario Bros Wii *Cough*

[Beanovsky Durst]

What do you expect when you make an on-rails shooter that fans don't want? They want remakes, not on-rails shooters, and Capcom KNOWS the fans want remakes.

Agreed. Darkside Chronicles is not a bad game (compared to some of the crap that gets on the shelves for the Wii... Alone in The Dark I'm looking at you!). But it's not the Resident Evil experience that most people want. Release a watered down version of RE5, or remake the classics and see if it doesn't sell well. Hell, a new Resident Evil game with the gameplay of RE4 Wii and you got a hit; maybe is not the most original idea but it sells, if that's what Capcom (France) want. Why not make a full on Degeneration themed game huh? I would buy it.

The problem with Wii is that from the start it was aimed to a more "casual" experience. Also hardware is a limitant, as you don't get "awesome graphics" because of the simpler console (I'm not a graphics whore, but many people use that as an excuse).

Lightgun/On-Rail shooter games aren't the only thing Wii is capable off. Take for example Silent Hill: Shattered Memories or the Dead Rising port (which in my opinion is quite decent, even if it feels like RE4 with a new skin ). The low sales are a big wake up call for developers: Try to think outside the box or at least listen to the fans.

This follows Dead Space: Extraction's low numbers too. Shame because it's a fantastic game (at least what I've played) even if it's a rail shooter.

Yes, because Wii games don't sell anymore. *Cough* Super Mario Bros Wii *Cough*

But it's Mario + Side platformer we're talking about. A proven formula that can't go wrong at all. Nintendo played it safe with this one and it delivered.

[Ray]

Well, that truly is disappointing.

However, I think the game deserves more sales than that. Although it is on-rails, and considered 'sub-par' by many, I still think it was a great game, imo, and I think it's sales should be much farther ahead of UC. Though, maybe it was UC that veered people (mainly fans) away from on-rails RE games.

[Borman]

Lots of people point to Capcom saying that Umbrella Chronicles was suppose to be a test for a more substantial game. A test that was passed in flying colors. But then fans got UC, and those that supported UC backed out. Its just not what people wanted. You could make the best on-rails game ever, but if no one wants it, no one will buy it.

[Bianca]

And I'm sorry, but that sounds plain ignorant to say that 2010 will be the year of PS3 and 360, all because they weren't happy with the sales of a game in a style that nobody wanted.

Yes, because Wii games don't sell anymore. *Cough* Super Mario Bros Wii *Cough*

Amen. Make a good game for any console, and it will sell. Make a craptastic game for any console, and it will flop.

The Wii may have some disadvantages compared to its competitors, but it's still a console capable of having excellent games. Seemed to me that a lot of people were fine with a (proper) Resident Evil remake being on the Wii. Instead, Capcom gave us Darkside Chronicles. :|

[Carnivol]

I dunno what people are expecting when they complain about the launch sales of their titles on the Wii. I hardly see any mention-worthy advertisement for the "flopping" Wii titles, and so far... most quality software on the Wii has had "so-so" launch sales, to then go on to crawl well past the million mark (and beyond).


Anyway, the rail shooter thingy is a bit of a wonky market at the moment, considering how both EA and Sega is also in on grabbing a piece of the action with titles such as;

Dead Space: Extraction
House of the Dead 2 & 3
House of the Dead: Overkill
Ghost Squad

There's a limit to how many of these games people can take, I guess. (There's always been)

However, Capcom would be stupid if they decided to cut the supply for Darkside Chronicles 'cause of "disappointing launch sales." If Umbrella Chronicles could pull over a million, then Darkside Chronicles should be able to do so too, given a reasonable amount of time... even if the launch wasn't as good as Umbrella Chronicles'.

Amen. Make a good game for any console, and it will sell. Make a craptastic game for any console, and it will flop.

If this was true, then games such as God Hand, Okami and P.N. 03 would've been sought after million sellers and the majority of titles selling solely on hype would've been used as shredded filling and isolation in the everyday man's outgoing mail.

[Karui]

You also must take in consideration that RE5 overshadowed chronicles. People took more notice of it. In contrast it blew chronicles out of the sky.

[Smiley]

You know while I still enjoyed Darkside Chronicles, I wouldn't even place it up there with RE4. It's no suprise to fans that a spin off didn't meet as much gamers as a heavy hitter (port or not, RE4 was a very successful and praised entry in the series). Hell RE4 was such a hot game I wouldn't even expect the REmake and Zero ports to make anything close.

When it comes to Umbrella Chronicles I don't hate it as much as I did upon its initial release. If I recall that game made more than Darkside. At the end of the day it is a fair rail shooter, but when it came to the RE brand I was disappointed at the recycled environments and half-assed elements. It was because of UC that I was cautious about whether or not I was going to rush out and buy Darkside Chronicles. Part of me wonders if other RE fans were in the same boat. Capcom likely caught wind of this because a fair share of effort was put into the level design, FMVs, models, features, etc. Even the summarized events were in more detail. Rather than taking 3 chapters a piece we have a range of 5-8 a piece. Not too shabby.

And as far as the general wii gamers are concerned, I suspect that another rail shooter just wasn't going to cut it when pinned with the other releases.

One thing I'd like to know is how well Shattered Memories did. The SH series has been so-so but that game was a really nice touch as far as survival horror games for the wii are concerned.

[Bianca]

If this was true, then games such as God Hand, Okami and P.N. 03 would've been sought after million sellers and the majority of titles selling solely on hype would've been used as shredded filling and isolation in the everyday man's outgoing mail.

I would agree with you if we were speaking about any other type of medium but, in my experience, commercial success and critical acclaim have often coincided with each other in the video game industry. Of course, there are also a handful examples that would go against my logic, especially some of my personal favorites. Though, I suppose, at the end of all things, it's a matter of opinion, but that's how I feel. For video games, anyway. Movies and books? Good God, that's a story for another day.

[Stars1356]

Don't think they should be surprised. If capcom thinks they can half ass a game and put the Resident Evil name on it to make money, well think again. Some of the long time fans of the series like me probably will buy the game but guess not to many others did. To be fair DSC had better production values then it predecessor but I guess the sales show that no one wants a rail shooter. I think a remake of 2 and maybe 3 and CV would have been what we wanted and would attract more fans. Think those remakes would have went well with the re releases of 0 and 1.

[Zombie]

The sales are ridiculous even for a game that "noone wanted". Is time to leave behind the Wii if they don't wanna make a triple A game for it.

[Zero38]

& They expected Darkside to sell 800.000
...
I Dislike that game because It should have been RE2make from the start ..