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Capcom US, Japan's creative relationship with UK's Ninja Theory
DmC: Devil May Cry represents Capcom's focused, intentional effort to add western flair to a traditionally Japanese-styled game, left in the care of UK-entrenched studio Ninja Theory. Both Capcom Japan and US left the westernization entirely in Ninja Theory's hands, only providing advice on the game's core essentials and at times making strong suggestions about characters and controls. Otherwise, Capcom took a hands-off approach to the game's modernization.Among three branches of two studios in three disparate areas of the globe, creating anything successfully – let alone a new, yet familiar game in a popular franchise – was bound to be frustrating. According to Capcom producers Motohide Eshiro and Alex Jones, it certainly was stressful working with Ninja Theory, but it was also successful.Read their thoughts on Ninja Theory and the international DmC development process below.
Vergil's leading role in DmC: Devil May Cry
Vergil, Dante's enigmatic twin brother, is back in DmC: Devil May Cry for a whole new era of demonic sibling rivalry. In the modern setting of Limbo City, Vergil is the boss of The Order, an organization tasked with battling the demons in control, and he recruits Dante to fight with him. This marks a new role for Vergil, tempered by familiar features."We tried to retain certain motifs that were essential to the character," Capcom producer Motohide Eshiro told Joystiq at Gamescom. "So he retains the silver hair, he retains the blue coloration of his outfit and the refinement of the character. Storyline-wise, as to how he may or may not interact directly with Dante and certain effects on gameplay, this is something we'll talk about at a later date. The biggest change, the visual, the way he interacts with the storyline, is quite different than what we've seen before. There's more to come; watch this space."When we asked directly if Vergil would be a playable character in DmC, Eshiro laughed and said, motioning to the PR rep in the room, "No comment there, or else he'll have to murder us, I think."The emphasis on Vergil's classic features was in no way a reactionary measure to fan backlash when Dante's new look was revealed, Eshiro said. Capcom and Ninja Theory had Vergil planned before the public saw Dante, and both teams knew exactly what they wanted then. Along with the traditional aspects of Vergil's appearance, the longstanding tension between him and Dante will play a part in DmC's story as well.Dante's other, smaller companion in DmC, a psychic named Kat, has more to offer than advice on navigating Limbo City's demonic and earth-bound worlds, Eshiro said. She's not necessarily a love interest, but she does help Dante connect with deeper emotions than his initial rush of vengeance and anger.As for any other cameos from classic Devil May Cry names, Eshiro said, "There are plenty of characters we haven't yet touched on. We're not ready to talk about what other characters are in the game just yet, but rest assured there will be some forthcoming news."
Devil May Cry preview: From black to white
With any luck, you'll forgive me for not having spent dozens of hours learning the fine mechanics of past Devil May Cry games. Action games of the extra hardcore variety never quite appealed to me (outside of Ninja Gaiden, perhaps). But games like Bayonetta have gone a long way in convincing me I've been wrong all along, and Ninja Theory's take on Devil May Cry may just push me over the edge. Though Capcom's focus for the demo was DMC's combat system, I found myself most impressed by the malignant world of limbo that surrounded Dante.%Gallery-130743%
Okamiden producers discuss planning around Pokemon and 3DS
The producers of Okamiden realized they were in a pickle, marketing-wise, when they were finishing up the Western version of the game just as the 3DS and Pok émon Black and White were being announced for the same release window. Capcom decided to thread the needle and send Okamiden out right between these two. "Even though the news of the Nintendo 3DS was a bit earlier than we had expected," said producer Motohide Eshiro and director Kuniomi Matsushita in a postmortem on Gamasutra, "we decided that releasing the pan-Western versions of the game after Pokémon and before Nintendo's 3DS would be our best bet." The developers also revealed the inspiration behind Okamiden's partner system, which pairs the tiny Chibiterasu with young swordsboys, mermaids, Moon Tribe aliens, and others. "A child version of Amaterasu would only have half the abilities of the adult Amaterasu," they said. "It would be rather difficult for half of a god to save the world, but if there were a partner, then the two of them could work together to save the world."
Ace Attorney series will continue to testify on DS
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth producer Motohide Eshiro told us that there were no plans for the Ace Attorney series to migrate to other consoles. In an interview with Siliconera, he offered more reasoning for the DS loyalty. "It's not that we don't like other hardware and that we don't want to do it," Eshiro said. "It's just it was original made for handhelds, it was made to be played on the go, and also the interface we created the game, especially for Ace Attorney Investigations, uses the touch screen and we want people to interact with that. You can't replicate that on Xbox Live. For us, the DS seems like the most natural fit." What has changed was the original plan for Investigations' protagonist. Eshiro revealed that "scientific investigator" and Apollo Justice detective Ema Skye was intended for the role. "The director originally proposed to use Ema as the main character," he said, "but according to the feedback we got from our fans it seems Edgeworth was the more popular character." And thus we have a game with a "Logic System" instead of a "Snackoo-Eating System." %Gallery-68609%
Interview: Ace Attorney Investigations producer Motohide Eshiro
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth will finally be legislating onto North American shelves in February of 2010, letting players take up the prosecuting side for the first time in the series. Luckily, you'll still be able to shout OBJECTION! in Phoenix Wright fashion as much as you want.Joystiq met up with game producer Motohide Eshiro at in Capcom's booth at Comic-Con, which featured playable versions of the game and some very sweet swag. We asked him what else we can expect from the game, when we'll be able to play as the judge, and what his thoughts were on all the crazy fans in San Diego. Read on for the full interview.Update! Be sure and check out the photo at the end of the interview where Eshiro-san meets up with a cosplaying Miles Edgeworth at Comic-Con.%Gallery-68609%
