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Ms. 'Splosion Man contains a hidden dig at Capcom
You might remember the drama surrounding a Capcom mobile title that sprung up earlier this year. In January, the publisher released MaXplosion, a title that bore more than a passing resemblance to the Twisted Pixel game, 'Splosion Man. Twisted Pixel's own Mike Henry stated at the time that the rip-off made him "sad." Capcom, which had previously passed on the opportunity to publish 'Splosion Man, stated that it was "saddened" by the situation. Furthermore, the publisher distanced itself from the title, noting that it was created by Capcom Mobile, "a different division of Capcom with separate offices and as such." Twisted Pixel obviously hasn't forgotten, hiding a playful Capcom burn in the 'Splosion Man sequel, Ms. 'Splosion Man, which releases later this week. The dig is hidden in a secret area of the game, which is itself an homage to another title we won't spoil here. See it for yourself in the video above.
Capcom forms Beeline mobile brand
Capcom has created its first publishing sub-brand, Beeline, to create social and freemium-based games for the mobile market. The parent company's forays into the space have seen success, with titles in the casual market like Smurfs' Village, Zombie Cafe and Lil' Pirates reaching 15 million downloads. Beeline is meant to keep up the publisher's buzz in the space, capitalizing on its success so far with "a brand and team focused on the mobile casual gamer." Worker bees will be humming along out of four hives set up in LA, Tokyo, Toronto and London. Beeline is expected to publish eight games by next April. As for targeting the "hardcore" mobile gamer, the publisher will continue to develop (and copy) such titles under the familiar "Capcom" name.
Monster Hunter again captures 'center stage' in Capcom 9-month fiscal report
At this time last year, Capcom was thanking Monster Hunter Tri for helping the company boost its 2009 year-end financial results. Today, Capcom heralded the monstrous shipments of Monster Hunter Freedom 3 that closed out 2010 and propelled the publisher's profits up nearly 300 percent in a nine-month period. During the first three quarters of its current fiscal year (which ends March 31, 2011), Capcom netted ¥6.836 billion (nearly $84 million) in profit -- up from just ¥1.731 the same period the year before. Sales of "Consumer Online Games" (what we call "video games," excluding mobile content) were the driving force, totaling ¥54.057 billion ($663.6 million) -- a bit more than 76 percent of total sales for the business, which includes arcade and amusement ("slot machine") operations. Joining Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (currently only available in Japan), Capcom noted three additional "million-sellers" in the nine-month period (April–December 2010): Dead Rising 2 (with more than 2 million units shipped); Super Street Fighter IV (1.6 million units shipped "mainly to Europe and the United States"); and Lost Planet 2 (1.5 million sold -- "though the figure was less than [the] projected shipment"). During the period, Capcom also worked on "rebuilding the development departments comprising our core competence" in an effort to shift greater resources to its mobile operations, with specific focus on social gaming. Sales of "Mobile Contents" for the three quarters amounted to a modest ¥2.383 billion ($29.25 million), led by a bevy of iPhone releases and some "positive surprises," including the popularity of The Smurfs' Village on Facebook. And Capcom hasn't even accounted for all the MaXplosion press in January yet!
Capcom 'saddened' by MaXplosion situation
Just a couple of days after the company started catching heat for ripping off Twisted Pixel's Splosion Man with iPhone clone MaXplosion, Capcom (which previously passed on the opportunity to publish TP's original) has released an official statement to Joystiq about the situation. Capcom admits that its console team met with Twisted Pixel, but says that Capcom Mobile (the group behind MaXplosion) had no knowledge of those meetings. "Nonetheless," the statement read, "we are saddened by this situation and hope to rebuild the trust of our fans and friends in the gaming community." We asked for some clarification -- specifically about whether Capcom was "saddened" enough to pull the game from the App Store -- but were shot down. Check out Capcom's full statement to us after the break. [Image credit: Instructables]
Twisted Pixel chooses not to sue Capcom over iOS ripoff
Capcom Mobile recently released a new game for the iOS App Store called MaXplosion, and soon after, a few fans noticed the game bears a striking similarity to a game by Twisted Pixel for Xbox Live Arcade called 'Splosion Man. Aside from the names themselves, MaXplosion also allows the player to jump three times by exploding each time, has a similar-looking character also running around a lab space, and it even has a similar soundtrack. We've noted before that intellectual property theft has run rampant on the App Store, and Gameloft has even earned a reputation for "borrowing" game styles from bigger console games. But this one's pretty flagrant -- not only is the ripoff pretty clear, but it's from Capcom's European development unit, a traditional gaming company that should know better. There's one more wrinkle: Twisted Pixel says it even pitched the game to Capcom's US offices before releasing it themselves on Xbox Live. Despite the problem, Twisted Pixel has responded by saying it won't sue. Not only is the battle probably not worth it for the relatively small developer, but as CEO Mike Wilford says wittily, "we owe them one for inventing Mega Man, so we'll let them slide." He promises Twisted Pixel will put the extra time saved into a quality mobile game of its own. Fair enough.
Twisted Pixel CEO: We won't pursue legal action over Capcom's MaXplosion
Twisted Pixel CEO Michael Wilford says his comparatively tiny team won't be suing mega-publisher Capcom for its blatant attempt to rip off the studio's Splosion Man with iOS clone MaXplosion (pictured). "We're definitely not going to pursue legal action," Wilford told Joystiq. "While I think the similarities are pretty nauseating, we're too small to take on a company like Capcom. That, and we owe them one for inventing Mega Man, so we'll let them slide." "We just need to keep our heads down making the next thing so that Capcom has something to steal next year," he chided, while adding that he hopes Capcom is "not counting on the fact that indies can't fight back." "We'll just have to make our own mobile game," he challenged. "We'll let you know when we have something on the mobile front to talk about, but now we have added incentive!" Wilford also tweeted that the "best part" is that Twisted Pixel had originally pitched Splosion Man to Capcom, but the publisher passed on it. Speaking of Twitter, he said "the amount of support we've seen in the last 12 hours on Twitter and over email has been awesome, and I think that's better than [winning] a stupid lawsuit or anything like that." A Capcom Mobile representative told us that a statement from the company on the matter would hopefully be released later today. Wildford's full response is posted after the break.
Resident Evil Mercenaries Vs. gets competitive on iPhone
The 3DS isn't the only handheld on which you'll be able to play a game based on Resident Evil's Mercenaries mode. During a Capcom Mobile event, Touch Arcade got a look at Resident Evil Mercenaries Vs., a multiplayer-focused game for iOS. Up to four players, alone or in teams, compete to earn points by shooting one another, while also dealing with roaming zombies. Players in trouble can summon AI helpers "like the creepy chainsaw guy with the burlap sack on his head from Resident Evil 4." Players can choose to play online or locally via Bluetooth. TouchArcade noted some issues in the early version, including a "horribly laggy experience" in local multiplayer, and a disappointingly small character selection. You can see the current pre-release version in action after the break.
Capcom bringing social Smurf game to iDevices
What the smurf? Did you hear that Capcom is set to release a social Smurf game for the iPod, iPhone and iPad this November? We couldn't smurfing believe it either. Promoting the upcoming Smurf movie, the game is called The Smurfs' Village and has players rebuilding (what else?) a Smurf village that's been sacked by Gargamel. Players begin the game with a single mushroom house and a plot of land and are allowed to rebuild the village as they see fit (sounds familiar). The game will be free to download and play, which sounds hunky smurfy, until you read this smurfing bit of text in the press release: "To expedite growing and construction times, players can opt to purchase Smurfberries as downloadable content." Well that's just smurfing smurf. %Gallery-106203%
