It’s no secret that Capcom had some lean years–years when both the quality and sales of their games floundered. Recently, though,they have been on a roll. Key franchises have posted extremely good reviews and sales numbers: fromDevil May CrytoResident EviltoMonster HunterandMega Man, everything Capcom touches seems to turn to gold (except forMarvel vs.CapcomInfinite–RIP).
Like all companies, Capcom doesn’t just want to achieve success–they want to maintain it. In a recent fiscal report, they outline the way in which they plan to do so. Their plan involves three distinct goals:
(1) [to] strengthen digital sales,
(2) [to] bolster [their] title lineup through the full-scale execution of [their] 60-month and 52-week maps,
(3) [to] awaken dormant intellectual properties.
What really gets me excited here is the third goal: to “awaken dormant intellectual properties”. After all, Capcom has a lot of amazing but “dead” IPs that people love–Darkstalkers,Dino Crisis,Onimusha,Ōkami,ViewtifulJoe,Rival Schools,FinalFight,Ghosts ‘n Goblins.If Capcom revives any one of these series, they’d make a lot of fansveryhappy.
Darkstalkers 4, for instance, is probably my deepest desire in the whole world. The character roster ofDarkstalkersis incredibly eclectic and interesting, and I’d love to see them reinvented for next-generation platforms. That said, I will not get my hopes up. I refuse to have my heart broken. There’s just no way Capcom plans to give this to me.
I do thinkDino Crisis 4is a very distinct possibility, though. Capcom’sRE Engine is obviously great for third-person action games, and it seems like it would suit “Resident Evilwith dinosaurs” perfectly. It’s funny–Dino Crisisinitially released on the heels of a lot ofResident Evilsuccess, and it looks like history may repeat itself. I wonder if we’ll see a newOnimushaa little further down the line, too.
I’d also be on the lookout for a newFinal Fightgame.Final Fightcharacters keep working their way intoStreet FighterandMarvel vs. Capcomgames, so they’ve never really left the public eye. Furthermore, those characters–Guy, Cody, Haggar, Poison–really seem to resonate with people. I bet we’ll see a new beat ‘em up sooner or later.
The long-shots, to me, areŌkami2,Viewtiful Joe 3, and a newRival Schoolsgame. Clover Studio, which developed bothŌkamiand theViewtiful Joegames, was dissolved by Capcom, and the team moved on to form Platinum Games.Rival Schoolsdoesn’t have any such complications, but it is a bit of a forgotten series. I’m not sure if it has the kind of cultural cachet that would warrant the development of a new game.
