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Capcom promises 'totally different' gameplay for Resident Evil Portable
Details on Capcom "Mystery Title #2" are slim at this moment. Quickly mentioned during Sony's E3 press conference, Resident Evil for PSP is shrouded in mystery. Will it be a port of the original PS1 game? A port of the Wii port of the Gamecube remake of the original game?Well, looks like PSP owners are in for a "totally different" experience with the upcoming game. Capcom's Chris Kramer notes in his blog that the upcoming iteration will be an "all-new title created specifically for the PSP platform, with the PSP Go in mind." If it's designed for the go system, then we're probably looking at a PSN-exclusive game. Episodic, bite-sized Resident Evil, perhaps?[Via Destructoid]
Capcom preparing to release between 20 and 40 PS1 and PSP titles via PSN
Capcom is going to make its PlayStation Network presence a lot more robust as it begins releasing ports of PS1 titles and providing downloadable versions of previous PSP titles throughout the year. We spoke with Capcom's Chris Kramer, who let us know that the company would be listening to what the community wants and figuring out internally what titles to release -- but don't expect any of them to involve licensing shenanigans along the lines of Marvel vs. Capcom. "We'll definitely be looking at a lot of titles that have things like Street Fighter and Resident Evil in the title," Kramer said. "We're thinking about putting together a long list of the titles we're looking at, and then releasing it on Capcom Unity and having people vote on them. Ultimately we're looking at bringing between 20 and 40 titles to the PSN over the next several months."
CAPTIVATE09 takes place in Monte Carlo, new game announcements imminent
In an effort to reach out to its fans in the Western European version of CAPTIVATE08's setting, Capcom announced details (via Capcom-Unity) this week about its "totally not a gamer's day" event, unironically titled CAPTIVATE09. Taking place in Monte Carlo, Monaco, the company says it's announcing "new games" at the event (emphasis on the "s" at the end there) -- an especially interesting statement to make considering Capcom's Chris Kramer said this week on the Giant Bombcast, "We are announcing at least two titles at E3." How many games are in development at Capcom right now that we don't know about?!Other items of note are new looks at Spyborgs (the "actually a game" game for Wii) and Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles. If you're one of the lucky few already chosen from the Capcommunity (see what we did there?) to attend, make sure to bring your jewel-encrusted Wiimote and blood-spattered Tricell messenger bag, so you don't look out of place. And send us tips!
Dead Rising 2 multiplayer not confirmed, Capcom says
Just like every other year, GDC in 2009 brought with it a bevy of new information (and the ubiquitous Pat Benatar rumor). And unfortunately, during the rush to post information, it's easy for publishing outlets (including ourselves) to mishear something, misconstrue a piece of information and/or not have time to follow up with the information source. So when Jeff Haynes of IGN heard Laura Scholl of middleware developer mental mill on a Dead Rising 2 panel speaking about "6000 characters onscreen during multiplayer sessions," he reported on the piece of information just as he heard it.Unfortunately for Mr. Haynes though, Laura Scholl apparently misspoke. We contacted mental mill this morning for comment on the quote -- a quote that would ostensibly confirm an unnannounced mode for Dead Rising 2, mind you -- and Loretta Stevens told us that she was present at the panel when Ms. Scholl misspoke, saying, "She meant multiplatform." And so we went one step further and contacted Chris Kramer at Capcom to find out what he had to say about all of this: "Here's how it is: I believe what one person says about this project, Inafune-san. I don't know anything about this middleware provider." When we asked him straight up if the game will have multiplayer or not, he had this to say, "We have not announced much about the game at this point," remaining clandestine on the subject altogether. So while Dead Rising 2 may contain some form of multiplayer, as of right now, it's officially not confirmed.UPDATE: Laura Scholl has contacted us with further clarification of her statement, writing, "In my 'Making of Dead Rising 2' presentation at GDC this past Friday, while I was describing how Blue Castle is using mental mill technology in character development, I mistakenly referred to the game as multiplayer instead of multiplatform. I apologize for the confusion. The game is indeed multiplatform, and Blue Castle has done an amazing job creating incredibly photorealistic characters – from their skin tone to their clothing – in heavily populated and complex levels throughout the game. Gamers are going to be thrilled with how the game feels, looks and plays."
Capcom: Dead Rising 2 and Lost Planet 2 coming 'next year'
Capcom has plenty of big titles in the coming months (Dark Void and Bionic Commando, to name a couple), but it looks like its fiscal year stands to get even more packed. On Major Nelson's most recent podcast, Capcom spokesman Chris Kramer mentioned "big titles for next year, Lost Planet 2 and Dead Rising 2," to the Xbox Live programming boss.Kramer told us he was talking about the next fiscal year, which begins on April 1, 2009 and goes to March 31, 2010. Whenever they arrive we're sure it won't be soon enough, but, in the interim, if you've really got a zombie bloodlust, we're certain you can find other channels for it.[Via D-Pad]
WSJ explores claims of racism in Resident Evil 5
The Wall Street Journal's Jamin Brophy-Warren has a piece today exploring the racial connotations some are seeing in Capcom's latest effort, Resident Evil 5. The game's producer Jun Takeuchi recently said, "There is no racial element to it at all," and Capcom's Chris Kramer expands on that point, stating to the WSJ that the game adopts an "anti-colonialist" stance. Mr. Kramer is referring to white protagonist Chris Redfield, shooting his way through RE5's African non-zombies, and the imagery it represents with regards to traditional Western colonialism on the continent.The theme of the piece is one of exploring whether or not the game is racist, rather than starting with a condemnation and then going forward like we've seen so many times in mainstream video game coverage. He speaks to a variety of major game developers (from Fallout 3's Todd Howard to Dead Space's Glen Schofield) and even broaches the topic of racism in American society being perpetuated by a largely caucasian game industry. Surprisingly, no sweeping claims are made and no aspersions cast. Bravo, we say!
