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PSP Fanboy review: Capcom Puzzle World
I know most people only read reviews to find out if they should buy, try or avoid a particular game. With that in mind, here's that info on Capcom Puzzle World for those who don't want to read a full review. Buy: If you are a fan of the Buster Bros. series and want a collection of them with extra games included. Try: If you like Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, but have never tried Buster Bros. or have never tried either. Avoid: If you dislike Buster Bros. or are not a fan of puzzle games.
Screens of new Lost Planet maps
As you may have noticed from the previously reported video, Capcom is releasing new content over Xbox Live Marketplace for Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. It will come in the form of two new maps named "Island 902" and "Radar Field", and will be priced at slightly expensive 400 Microsoft Points. That's an Arcade title right there! Well, none the less, the screens look pretty, so its not all bad. Still, two maps for 400 points seems a little sketchy. Is that a little too pricey for you, or given how Ubisoft has been acting lately, is it par for the course? More screens after the break.
First Lost Planet map pack hits March 9
Despite being covered in a thick layer of crunchy snow and ice, there's still some life to be found on Capcom's Lost Planet. The $40 million dollar game is set to receive two new multiplayer maps on March 9, with five more slated to arrive on the Xbox Live Marketplace later in the year. The first map pack is comprised of "Radar Field," a facility that promotes close quarters combat, and "Island 902," a seaside area littered with bridges and underwater sections. The map pack will cost you 0.0000125% of the game's production budget -- $5, or 400 MS points, to be precise. The exclusive map present in the Lost Planet collector's edition, "Battleground," will be released for free at a later stage.%Gallery-1687%
Clover Studios replaced by Seeds?
After the lackluster sales of the absolutely gorgeous and stunning Okami, Capcom closed down their Clover Studios -- also responsible for Viewtiful Joe. Well, doors officially close next month, but it doesn't seem to be the end of the Clover team. Far from it, in fact. Atsushi Inaba, CEO of the defunct Clover, has created a new software development studio named Seeds. There are over 50 members on staff, including the director of Devil May Cry and creator of Resident Evil, Hideki Kimaya and Shinji Mikami, respectively. Most of the Clover team has signed on as artists, composers and character designers. What isn't known is if this new studio will have any ties to Capcom. In either case, seems we won't be lacking the artistic, gorgeous games Clover is known for. Good luck, Seeds!
Clover bosses start Seeds, blogger strains to resist botany metaphors [update 1]
Four months ago, we started mourning the sad loss of Clover Studio, the development house responsible for beautiful, original games like Viewtiful Joe, Okami, and God Hand. Well, now we can wipe our cel-shaded tears away! Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya, and Resident Evil/Devil May Cry creator Shinji Mikami have held their V-Watches aloft, shouted "Henshin a-go-go, baby!" and transformed the moribund Clover into a new development studio, called Seeds. And they want you! You know, if you're a qualified programmer or artist of some kind. According to the site, they are in the process of looking for new people to help them make some "weird, amazing games." We Fanboys are hoping that they (and whoever publishes their future work) turn their attentions to the two weirdest, most amazing consoles we can think of. These guys have some prior DS experience, and they've no doubt noticed that the DS has done a little bit of business in Japan, so it seems likely they'll be weirding and amazing it up on two screens in the near future.[Via Game|Life][Update 1: Those insidious italics!]
Video: new Lost Planet maps
GameVideos has posted a video of new maps coming to Capcom's latest hit, Lost Planet. One of the maps shown has been available to owners of the collector's edition since Lost Planet's release, but the rest are all new. The maps show off a broad range of locales, one of which may or may not be underwater. No, seriously, there's a submarine in one of them. Plenty of the maps forgo the icy cold nature of Lost Planet, offering wasted cityscapes, beautiful mountainsides, and a radar facility. Details of the release date and price have not been announced.Check out the video and tell us what you think.
Former Clover members start up new studio
You know something's rotten in the games industry when the reward for producing a magnificent adventure like Okami is the complete liquidation of your studio. All is not lost, however, as the former members of Capcom's Clover Studios have moved their aspirations to fresher soil. GameDaily BIZ reports that the team's new studio, Seeds, is currently in the process of hiring new employees to join a current roster of 51.Amongst those lies a designer trifecta: Viewtiful Joe's Atsushi Inaba, Resident Evil's Shinji Mikami and Devil May Cry's Hideki Kamiya. Seeds has yet to announce any projects, but a cel-shaded, survival-horror title (with a guitar-wielding protagonist) would certainly be a good start.
Lost Planet could push game sales by 30%
In a recent Gamasutra interview, Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets suggests that year-over-year software sales for January may be up as much as 30%. Driving this push are Lost Planet and Wario Ware (Wii). Other Xbox 360 titles expected to aid in overall sales growth include Call of Duty 3, Rainbow Six Vegas, and (duh) Gears of War. Should the prediction hold true, it would mean a strong start for 2007. With lots of exclusives and system selling titles shipping in the next few months, here's hoping the 360 maintains its momentum through the typically dry spring season.Official NPD numbers are expected February 15th.
Capcom shuts down Okami rumors (mostly)
Oh, those reliable industry insiders. They're always feeding the rumor mill. This time, they're teasing and taunting all the Okami fans. While the game would be extra fabulous when powered by the Wiimote, we're taking this rumor with a little salt, because Capcom has pretty much shut this one down before it even got out of the gate. "Officially we have no plans for Okami on Wii at this time. Research and development are always looking at possibilities but given Clover is now closed for business, I think it highly unlikely a Wii version would be possible," an unnamed Capcom UK rep told IGN. While this does leave a slim opening for "maybe," this isn't one we're gonna hold our breath for. While we'd play Okami on Wii until our fingers cramped, it's probably not going to happen.
Capcom talks M-rated games on the Wii
One evolution with the Wii has been the decline in the media and gaming culture calling a Nintendo console kid-centric. Christian Svenssen, Capcom's Senior Director of Strategic Planning & Research, caused some rumblings when he referenced the kiddie image in a forum post on the Capcom forums. The controversial quote: "If there is a 'core player base' on Wii (and it's [sic] might be so broad, there might be no such thing as 'core'), within two years, it will probably be largely a younger player (or at least younger than 360 or PS3)." Despite the best efforts of the Nintendo Defense Force, we're inclined to agree that, by merit of taking a family-focused approach to marketing, children will likely be given this as a first console or as a system that parents feel they can enjoy with their offspring. However, Svenssen is quick to remind forum readers that, in announcing their strive for a broad focus, mature does not equate to broadly appealing, which in turn is not necessarily "kiddie." On the fourth page of the thread, Svensson notes that Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles may not be the only M-rated title to be released on the Wii from Capcom ("One never knows what our teams in Japan will cook up down the road," he remarks), but that the likelihood is dependent upon the success of other M-rated titles on the console. Some M-rated titles we know coming up include Manhunt 2 and Suda 51's No More Heroes.
Dragon screenshots in the new Monster Hunter
You've seen the incredible video of Capcom's currently Japan-only sequel to Monster Hunter Portable. The graphics look to amaze, but the gameplay looks even more fun. I mean, who doesn't want to kill a DRAGON?! Capcom hasn't officially announced this title for international release, but considering the huge demand it's getting in Japan will undoubtedly make a worldwide release quite a lucrative deal.Check Game Watch for some impressive screenshots of dragon slaying fun in action. Japanese gamers (and importers) can get their hands on the game on February 22nd.[Thanks, daniel-kun!]
Lost Planet producer: "western developers are leading the industry"
Capcom marketing specialist Brain Dunn has posted an "exclusive" interview with co-worker Keiji Inafune, Mega Man creator and one of Lost Planet's executive producers. While we shouldn't overlook Dunn's access to Inafune as a potentially convenient PR moment, the conversation is not without its honest details. Within, Inafune offers his insight into Capcom's resistance to expanding its content for a worldwide audience, revealing managements' initial rejection of the Lost Planet and Dead Rising concepts. "Actually for a while there we were practically on the verge of having the projects cancelled," Inafune told Dunn. Having convinced Capcom to invest in these properties -- both now commercially successful -- Inafune believes the company is entering a new era; in the same line as past milestones Street Fighter II and Resident Evil. "I think Dead Rising and Lost Planet have helped established Capcom not just as a Japanese developer, but as a developer that is on par with, and that can compete with, the top developers in the US," offered Inafune; important because the producer believes "western developers are leading the industry, with Japanese developers falling behind." Inafune suggests that Japanese companies need to improve working environments, imagining that western developers aren't nearly as over-worked or underpaid as their Japanese counterparts. He muses that by coupling an American "quality of life" with Japanese "diligence" (and selflessness) Japan can turn things around -- with some risk-taking too. "There are more titles like [Lost Planet] in store for fans: risky, challenging games, with a lot riding on them," promised Inafune.
Oblivion, Okami top GDC Awards Nominations
The 7th annual Game Developers Choice Awards nominations were announced today, with Okami and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion taking the most number of nods at four each. Wii Sports and Gears of War also earned high honors with three nominations apiece. With Capcom's recent bitterness over the AIAS "snubbing," four Okami nominations and a Technology nod for Dead Rising should satiate their ego. We're also glad that Rayman Raving Rabbids, Dreamfall, and Sam & Max: Episode One are getting some much-deserved kudos.The awards ceremony will occur Wednesday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m. and is being hosted by Tim "Psychonauts owns your soul" Schafer (also known for Monkey Island and Grim Fandango). The nominations are listed after the break.
Capcom opens a new blog, deemed capcom.com.org -- not really
The actual name of the service is Capcom-Unity.com and it basically serves as a way to bring gamers from all things Capcom together under one roof and discuss their favorite moments, as well as breaking news for the latest Capcom titles. Eventually, Capcom plans to update the site with brand-specific community sites, such as the Resident Evil site (probably called something clever like Raccoon Daily) and the Devil May Cry site (probably called something clever like... hmm, nevermind).Want to submit art, fanfiction, videos? Soon. This is a pretty good idea, one not ignored in the past completely but never exactly instigated by such a large, specific company like Capcom. It may suffer the Sony-disease, though, where they plan to release news and information, but only the stuff they want people to see and hear. Not that it's a bad thing -- without personal promotion, it's hard to get people interested. Good luck with your site, Capcom!
Japan's inward game development woes [update 1]
In an interview over at the Lost Planet Community blog, Lost Planet's very own producer Jun Takeuchi talks about how game development in Japan has changed ... for the worse. He's referring to how Japan's video game developers have isolated themselves, refusing to cater to the western audience, and ultimately using once big franchises as a crutch. Takeuchi goes on to say "western developers borrowed and learned from Japanese developers all those years when Japan was ahead" and that now "Japanese developers need to learn from western developers". He goes on to say that Capcom is already trying to adapt to a more worldly view, looking at games as an all encompassing form of entertainment. Do you think Japanese developers need to cater more to a western audience, change up their formula, and now learn from the student (aka, western developers)? We'd like to see both Japanese gamers and western gamers find a happy medium when it comes to eachother's content, but we wonder how different each group really is ...Update 1: Fixed our source information, sorry Brian Dunn.[Via GamePro][Thanks, Jonah]
RUMOR: Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts coming for all consoles?
This is coming off of a report citing that Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Capcom's classic SNES version of the Ghosts 'n Goblins franchise (later known as Maximo for the really, really obscure similarities to the hero of all games... boxers with hearts, anyone?), was listed on the ESRB website as coming to all next-gen consoles. Whether or not this is precautionary until Capcom decides what systems to truly release its old-school title on is unknown, as they were unavailable to comment.Snagging this game on the PS-Store would be a tasty treat, giving us a game coming from even further back than the original PlayStation to satisfy our nostalgia. Well, that's all we've got for now. We'll keep an eye open... and remember, the best weapon is the fireball, if you want to crack out the original NES game. When in doubt, shoot two forward, back up, jump forward then keep running whilst shooting. Worked like a charm... for the first level. Never did get past level two of Ghosts 'n Goblins...
Capcom opens community portal
A company blog? How novel! Capcom has opened up a new community portal in what appears to be an embracing of the blogging culture. Capcom Unity is a corporate community site that highlights the Capcom forum, developer blogs, and company news with the ability to leave comments on news posts.The move is one in a series of English language, community-based moves by Capcom, which include a marketing blitz for Lost Planet that culminated in a massive launch party in San Francisco. We applaud the easy-to-use interface, but is there a business-friendly side effect of the site, in that it helps the company filter fan content?Capcom Unity joins the echelon of sites like the NSider forums, Microsoft's blogs, and to a lesser extent Sony's Three Speech. We think this is a great move that gives the company a voice in the community; we hope more big-name publishers follow similar trends.
Super Ghouls N' Ghosts to spook XBLA?
An entry for a 360 version of Super Ghouls N' Ghosts recently popped up on the ESRB website, leading many to believe that Capcom's classic will soon be appearing on Xbox Live Arcade. Beloved by old school gamers for its charm and tough-as-nails difficulty, Super Ghouls N' Ghosts would certainly be a welcome entry to the Arcade. Unfortunately, that's all we have to go on right now, as no announcements have yet been made. As such, chalk this up as a rumor for now. Still, once a game shows up at the ESRB, it's a fair bet that it's coming (let's hope it arrives with a save function).Anyone else looking forward to the game so nice you have to beat it twice?[Via TeamXbox]
Lost Planet Photochop contest: the best of the rest
After the dust cleared from our little Lost Planet photochop contest, we had over 500 total entries. 500! That's just amazing. Joystiq readers ... that's impressive. We decided that after looking through the entries again, we just had to share them with you. A lot of work went into these things, and it'd be a shame if they didn't see the light of day.We've culled together 154 of the best entries, and are rolling them out in one of Joystiq's brand new features -- galleries! Click here to zap yourself right into the middle of the Lost Planet gallery, and check out full-size versions of the entries. We'll be bringing you a lot more galleries and images in the future, so stay tuned.%Gallery-1426%
Lost Planet multiplayer patch March 9
Having failed to satisfy players with its preliminary efforts, Capcom has announced an upcoming Lost Planet multiplayer patch that promises to improve community building efforts. Icons will now single out the match's weakest links, making it easier for hosts to identify which players to boot; a flashing indicator will now clearly mark the game's chatterboxes, illuminating Gamertags you'll be adding to your mute list; and country flags will alert you to opportunities to settle age-old scores -- just make sure team kills are enabled. The Lost Planet global update is scheduled for March 9.Complete patch details follow...
