Capcom

[Endlee]

Capcom,

Along came a series called RE on PSone, didn't take much noticed of it, picked up a PSone magazine back then seeing the 1st RE game to get a 9/10. When to my local EB and bought it. And what a game.

I'm here today to talk about the downfall of Capcom, once were the masters of gaming in my books with games like; Street Fighter, RE Series, Mega Man, Dino Crisis, Breath of Fire, etc. All were on various consoles, particually PSone. Also all the Capcom game on Dreamcast that were released in Europe, as i couldn't get around to buying a NTSC Dreamcast back then, and left me waiting so badly for what they were going to do for Xbox, NGC and PS2.

Now look at the present day; Onimusha, Devil May Cry and Maximo all were brillant games on PS2 in its early period of life and all were brillant (I imported all 3 of those from Japan) A 6 months period went by and all these games were released in Europe and to my disgust, after going round my friends to play it on his PAL PS2, the 3 games were ssooo much slower and felt really sluggist compared to the Jap version of these 3 games, and the boarders were terrible, and no 60Hz mode.

Now along came the two most wanted games in my books to come along; Onimusha 2 and DMC2, and to my surprise were both worst than the originals, after all those months waiting. Capcom then really let a big fan of their work down. the PAL versions once again compared to the Jap versions were laughable.

Capcom's Big 5 for NGC; One is canned, PN03 in my books is purely average, RE and RE0 after the PSone versions didn't do my justice, letting my hopes for RE4 going downhill, and Viewtiful Joe was great until i manage to complete it, VFJ in the best Capcom game in a while but still didn't match my gaming spirit from the last century consoles.

But at the end of the day, these are just my views and comments on how Capcom are at the moment, and i can only wish them the best in the future, but i leave by saying Capcom is now beginning to go downhill in the gaming industry, every since the damn NGC deal, they have been making games that are purely average in my opinion.

A massive shame in my opinion. Once were the best, and now stuck in with the rest. What are your views on Capcom now Lads? I know many are going to go on about VFJ and so forth, but you have to admit they are not up to scratch to when they once were.

[PeteJ]

Strangely enough, I think the complete opposite, that Capcom are one of the most exciting developers around at the moment. Ok, DMC2 was a let down, as was Dino Crisis 3, but with the likes of V-Joe and PN03 they are showing that they can still be brave and original in an industry that fails to do just that.

They don't get it right all the time, granted, but Capcom are at least trying to do things differently. What other developer would have the guts to made Tekki?

[rjpageuk]

I would actually argue slightly differently - I thought Capcom went downhill around about the PSone era.

You cite the Breath of Fire/Megaman/Street Fighter series in your posts but the best from each of these series can be found on the SNES (IMO), not the PSone - in fact in the case of Megaman you could argue the best were on the NES.

I suppose my lack of any excitement towards the "survival horror" genre is in part the reasoning behind my feelings.

VJ is the first thing that has come out of Capcom that has interested me (and it is great) since Street Fighter II Turbo on the SNES!

Looking at initial shots of RE4 also has me excited for a RE game for the first ever time - now that it seems the fixed camera is done away with.

Personally I have seen a huge improvement with Capcom recently.. rather than the other way around.

EDIT: nods head towards PeteJ.

[Kron]

I don't understand why you are moaning about PAL PS2 conversions, its almost a given what to expect now surely?, The european branches of large dev co's will continue to get away with it until the majority 'gamers' in PAL land actually release they are recieving inferior software, But many simply dont care and its a majority rule these days, I really think it would be a whole lot more productive if the PAL format was dropped.

I also think Capcom have gone downhill since the Playstation era 95-96 they have tried too hard change their emphasis to accomodate the mainstream something that their titles and philosophy aren't suited to.

Alot of their titles have felt 'watered down' (baring their DC titles they knew the system and the type of userbase and got that right), But in the western market targeting the average gamer they are turning into a halfway house, But lately particularly on the Cube they are producing some titles that symbolic of the older Capcom and a positive sign.

Maybe the teams are spread to thinly per title now?, Dino Crisis 3 is the most sloppy and barren (in terms of design and ideas) piece of software that has been made available in the last few years, their is just a complete lack of care its almost as if its a token release to complete a contractual agreement.

[Madbury]

I really think it would be a whole lot more productive if the PAL format was dropped.

How so? Please explain what you mean here. Technically there is nothing wrong with the PAL Televison format. In terms of bandwidth, it's identical to NTSC.

The problem is moving code that was designed for the NTSC format (fewer lines, higher refresh rate) to PAL (more lines lower refresh rate).

[Kron]

If the PAL format as a videogame option (hardware and software) was to cease, then there would be no need for conversions, their would be no danger of dodgy 50hz + huge borders through lazy european developers, no timing issues, no problems with release dates (apart from multi language instruction booklets).

And as all software would be NTSC in origin production and possibly retail would be cheaper due to printing occuring on a larger scale of the same product that could effectively be handled in less manufacturing plants due to the end product being the same.

The only benefit of 50hz software currently is to the lazy developers as the market place as it is today is giving them the ability to get away with the poor/inferior conversions and its imho needless and should/could be avoided if people were a little more awake to the items they buy.

If people can still not recieve a 60hz signal then I honestly cant give any simpathy for a ten year old television set.

Personally I dislike the 50hz refresh rate anyway and am not a fan of the flicker that occurs on PAL 50hz only software hence why I have been soley importing.

[2097]

Capcom. I think they are about as good as they've always been... They've alwas made good games and always made bad ones. Since opening capcom eurosoft a lot more games have made it to PAL and they have a very good balance of franchises, original titles - mass market and niche.

Most developers go through natural peaks and troughs, like at the start of the ps2 era Konami were suddenly releasing more PS2 titles than EA and have sunk away since then.. Namco are arguably in a bit of a dip.. and Codemasters are at their weakest in over ten years. While long running companies like SCi, UbiSoft and Take2 are getting way more attention, sales and critical acclaim than any other period of their existence.

[Madbury]

If the PAL format as a videogame option (hardware and software) was to cease, then there would be no need for conversions, their would be no danger of dodgy 50hz + huge borders through lazy european developers, no timing issues, no problems with release dates (apart from multi language instruction booklets).

And as all software would be NTSC in origin production and possibly retail would be cheaper due to printing occuring on a larger scale of the same product that could effectively be handled in less manufacturing plants due to the end product being the same.

The only benefit of 50hz software currently is to the lazy developers as the market place as it is today is giving them the ability to get away with the poor/inferior conversions and its imho needless and should/could be avoided if people were a little more awake to the items they buy.

If people can still not recieve a 60hz signal then I honestly cant give any simpathy for a ten year old television set.

Personally I dislike the 50hz refresh rate anyway and am not a fan of the flicker that occurs on PAL 50hz only software hence why I have been soley importing.

Fair enough, can't really see the EU and US regions merging to be honest regardless of TV format. And there are obvious language and cultural barriers with Jap titles. Regardless I agree with your sentiments.

Perhaps all developers should be developing in PAL-60 and then trim the extra lines off for NTSC?

As for Capcom, I think they're pumping out some quality stuff at the moment. At least they're giving us fresh and new franchises in conjunction with the next iterations of their older IPs

You cite the Breath of Fire/Megaman/Street Fighter series in your posts but the best from each of these series can be found on the SNES (IMO), not the PSone - in fact in the case of Megaman you could argue the best were on the NES.

As for Megaman being better on the NES? Well I only have 2 Megaman games to compare Megaman 4 NES and Megaman X3 Saturn. I'm afraid that X3 plops all over 4 from a great height. A case of rose tinted glasses methinks.

[rjpageuk]

As for Megaman being better on the NES? Well I only have 2 Megaman games to compare Megaman 4 NES and Megaman X3 Saturn. I'm afraid that X3 plops all over 4 from a great height. A case of rose tinted glasses methinks.

I actually said that the best of the series can be found on the SNES... but in any case discussion of the best Megaman game in the series hardly helps progress this thread I believe.

My basic point was that most of the best games in the series stated are on earlier generation hardware, and this was used to try and back up my belief that if anything the quality of Capcom titles began to wane pre SNES era and that only recently have I found myself interested again in the offerings of Capcom (PN03/VJ).

[Madbury]

I actually said that the best of the series can be found on the SNES... but in any case discussion of the best Megaman game in the series hardly helps progress this thread I believe.

Depends how you interpret your previous post.

Also X3 was released for Saturn and SNES, so I guess we're in agreement.

However, I agree it's off topic.

What about their GBA offerings haven't these been pretty good with the Megaman battle matrix series. Not played them personally. Come to think of it most of their GBA line up is old SNES ports, so that does seem to point to a downward trend in quality and output.

I'm liking the little of PN03 that I've played, despite what some may say.[/quote]

[Ady]

With titles like P.N.03 and Viewtiful Joe, Capcom is better than it's been in years.

[Neon Ignition]

For BOFDQ, the Battle Network and Zero series alone they can do no wrong for me

[GOD?]

PN03 and VJ represent the first good non-SF capcom games in years. a definite positive sign. this may be distinctly colored by my raging hatred for the Biohazard/RE game mechanic, but what the hey.

their treatment of the current PAL market I despise however, especially since they did a great job of most PAL DC games in PAL-60.

regardless, I am pleased that they seem to be once again releasing some good, original, inventive material, even if it IS amongst some more of the usual dross.

[Ish]

Capcom for me are a mixed bag. They've published games of pure genius, flawed diamonds, average shovelware, and complete dross.

They've also shamelessly exhausted franchises and identical gameplay mechanics to a point which would make even Core Design blush.

I certainly don't run out and buy a game because it has Capcom on the jewel case, but then I don't immediately ignore a game because it has Capcom on the cover.

Pretty much the same as any developer/publisher of long standing I guess.

[Vaipon]

I've still got a lot of faith in CAPCOM. They have their ups and downs, but they are one of the most respected, talented devcos in existence today. Their last truly amazing game was DMC1 I think, but that's not to say they haven't released anything good since. I enjoy CAPCOM's games immensely, and I think they have many more years of amazing software left in them.

I'm still a bit pissed off about how totally ****e DMC2 was though. ft: