According to Capcom USA marketing VP Charles Bellfield, Devil May Cry 4 is already technically impressive, the media is too hard on the PS3 and the dissolution of Clover Studios won't change a thing at Capcom. Click through for this lengthy exclusive interview...
We had a lot of questions for Bellfield, especially in the wake of the dissolution of the wholly-owned Okami and Viewtiful Joe house Clover Studios. Many questions still surround the summer departures of Viewtiful Joe producer Atsushi Inaba and Devil May Cry director Hideki Kamiya, as well as the status of the now-contracted producer Shinji Mikami, creator of Resident Evil. Many of those questions are answered below.
Bellfield also had some comments about the bad press that the PS3 has endured as of late, saying that Sony’s console shouldn’t be underestimated--during the interview he almost seemed giddy about the technical prowess of the PS3.
As for Capcom itself, Bellfield said that the company is in the best shape now than it has been in years. With the performance both critically and commercially of recent titles (Resident Evil 4, Dead Rising, Phoenix Wright, Okami), a promising slate of upcoming titles (DMC4, RE5, Lost Planet) and recent strong financials, it's hard to argue with him.
Next-Gen: How’s the balance going to look like as far as the titles that you produce for the next generation of consoles? We know that Devil May Cry 4 is supposed to be coming out for PS3, Lost Planet for Xbox 360, but as far as overall support goes, how’s it going to spread out?
Bellfield: Well we’re equally committed—not equally committed—we are committed to all…. As we go forward and discuss Xbox and PS2 content we’ll evaluate that, we’ll evaluate it on an ongoing basis. We’re certainly committed to bringing out content for PS2 such as the bundle we have for the fifth anniversary collection of Devil May Cry. I think there’s more of a value proposition for consumers to get those three games for $29.95, it’s a great value proposition for PS2.
With regards to 360 and PS3 and Wii, I can say to you we’ve got some really exciting announcements coming up next spring and in terms of the content for those three platforms, we are absolutely committed to continuing the relationship with Microsoft as you’ve seen with Dead Rising and that you will see with Lost Planet.
Actually, it’s really interesting reading some of the comments that [Resident Evil 5 producer] Jun Takeuchi-san had told GameSpot about a month ago [answering] questions [about] the creativity and vision of Japanese developers in looking at a global market. He actually said that Capcom has made these mistakes [of serving too narrow of a market] in the past as well, and in essence we [now] look at the global market and work with all the platform companies.
We are really excited about potential also in PS3. And certainly, with what gamers or consumers are seeing with Devil May Cry 4 in terms of what we can do with that system, it’s a really exciting opportunity for us as well so going to next year.
There’s been some pretty negative press about the PS3, and a lot of it has to do with the price of the system, the launch quantities and other production troubles. But it still wears the PlayStation brand, and there’s still tons of excitement about it among consumers. What does Capcom think about the negativity in the media surrounding the PS3? Does Capcom still have a lot of faith in the system?
Well the one thing that we’ve got over you guys and consumers is we have the ability to pick up the phone and speak to senior executives at Sony, and we do. We meet them frequently, and I have a meeting with them again next week. We have that in-road straight to the core of the company. In many ways I know what the tension is, I know what the hardware can do, I can appreciate it every day when I look at DMC4. I know what its potential is.
I must admit I would like more positive angles of PS3 to be portrayed within the media than what’s going on at the moment. It has a huge potential; firstly as the PlayStation brand and it’s got great technical capabilities. I see it every day through our content—and I would like that positive story about it to be out there. You know, I’m an ex-hardware guy [Bellfield was the PR chief at Sega during the Dreamcast launch], I mean you’re taking me down a path I really shouldn’t go down because I’m not with Sega—I’m a third party publisher now, and we like everybody! But, yeah, I would definitely like to see more of a positive story about PlayStation out there in the marketplace.
You’re mean, because you know I’d love to go and comment on the hardware!
But at the same time, the 360 has been pretty good to you guys as well. Are we going to see some more cross-platform games?
Well certainly you will see us support multiple platforms. Resident Evil 5, for example, that’s on 360 and PS3. And I think that’s a good example of the future direction of where the company is going because we’re further along with our time line now for DMC4.
So Devil May Cry is coming to Xbox 360?
No, I was just saying, I mean, [RE5 is] a good indicative example of where we’re going in the future because RE5 is [coming] after DMC4. And we have announced that.
On Clover Studio--“The king is dead. Long live the king.”
So what exactly is the status of the three Capcom designers Mikami, Inaba, and Kamiya? What exactly is their status?
Let me start with Mikami. Mikami-san remains and is retained as a contracted producer of Capcom. So he’s actually still part of the company. He’s a contracted producer which is a pretty standard crossover there. And he’s actually doing most of [the development in Japan].
Inaba-san and Kam—Kamiya—they have both left the company. So they’re no longer affiliated with Capcom, and to be very honest with you I actually don’t know what they’re doing next, but they are no longer with Capcom.
There’s definitely a lot of speculation about if they’re starting their own company and whatnot.
Yeah. And you know I wish them best of luck in the future. They’ve been, obviously, very integral to Capcom in the past, certainly with the critically acclaimed Viewtiful Joe as well as Okami. With those types of games, we absolutely give credit to those individuals, but I think it also gives credit to Capcom as a company that is willing to invest in that type of content as well. That doesn’t change. Capcom remains the same type of Capcom we’ve always been and that we always will be. We’ve prepared—we are prepared—to invest in our franchises, to invest in our development talent, and to invest in our content. And, you know, [two year ago] we would have been mad to invest in Xbox 360 exclusive titles out of Japan, with the likes of Dead Rising and Lost Planet, but look what [we invested in] and what we can deliver consumers. That doesn’t change.
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