Topic: Capcom USA Declined Release of Resident Evil 0 Remake Stateside

[Kairon]

They listened to fans when making the decision to leave the Wii remake of Resident Evil 0 as a Japan-only affair.  Not once, but twice.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=16111

 Earlier this year, Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu reported that Capcom would port the GameCube exclusive title Resident Evil 0 to Wii this summer. However,  Capcom had only planned to release the game in Japan.    

Recently, it's been revealed that not only did Capcom USA choose not to release the remake, they were offered the opportunity to localize the game on two separate occasions.  On both occasions, Capcom USA refused.    

A post from Christian Svensson, Capcom's Vice-President of Strategic Planning & Business Development, revealed the info on the official Ask Capcom message boards. Responding to a question about whether it was certain that American gamers wouldn't get a localized version of the remake, Svensson replied, "Nothing is ever final, but we've been asked twice if we've wanted to bring it Westward and twice we've declined."    

Elaborating on the decision, Svennson claimed that Capcom had listened to fans in choosing not to bring Resident Evil 0 to the states. In a separate post he explained, "given the outcry against the project when Japan announced it on these boards and others, it's pretty obvious that it's not wanted by gamers here."    

When Resident Evil 0 Wii was unveiled, there was some disappointment in Capcom merely porting an existing game to the Wii instead of unveiling a brand new project. Capcom's first game for the Wii was also a port of a pre-existing title: Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition. Capcom also had the 2004 PlayStation 2title Okami ported to the Wii this April. However, Capcom has also released new content, like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. Recently, they pulled back the curtain on the original IP Spyborgs, which is slated for a 2009 release.    

Svensson, known as Sven on the Capcom message boards, has a forum signature that reads, "The official 'I wish I could tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you™' guy." He is a common sight on the Capcom boards where he answers questions from die-hard fans.

[Morari]

Resident Evil 4 was actually worth the port. They added an fitting control scheme along with all of the extras that had been put into the PS2 port to try to make it sell. That said, I find it hard to justify Resident Evil 0. I didn't even find it to be that memorable of an installment on the GameCube, let alone wish that I could play it one handed. Maybe Capcom could take the REmake or Resident Evil 4 engine and release updated versions of Resident Evil 2 and Nemesis instead? No wait, I've got it! Maybe they could release Resident Evil 5!!!

[King of Twitch]

Nintendo's first Wii, DS, GBA, and GBC games were ports so the outrage is unusual?

[GoldenPhoenix]

I understand why it would hurt to bring it here, so far both RE games have sold VERY well and there is a market for them. So why not? Why would it hurt?

[Slade]

As much as I liked RE 0, I don't think I could justify buying it again unless it had added content and not just a new control scheme. REmake is what they should bring to the Wii, with one storyline instead of 2 conflicting ones. Or even RE 2, 3, or CV, as we were promised actual REmake style remakes and not just ports of back in the Gamecube era.

[Jonnyboy117]

I think the main source of backlash was that Capcom's Japan branch sold the RE0 port at full price with no new features.  That's the complete opposite of how RE4: Wii Edition was handled.  In order to make RE0 appealing on Wii without devoting any development resources to it, Capcom America would have to sell it for even less than RE4 Wii Edition -- on the order of $15, in my opinion.  They probably couldn't make a profit at that price without selling a lot of copies, which they couldn't do because nobody really likes RE0 in the first place.  So, it sounds like a smart decision on their part, and it's always good to hear that companies are listening to the fans.

[GoldenPhoenix]

So RE0 Wii had no new features? I did not know that.

[ShyGuy]

Good on you Capcom, stick it to the insulting ports!

Now if we can only talk Ubisoft USA into declining DogfacedBabiez.

[ATimson]

I think the main source of backlash was that Capcom's Japan branch sold the RE0 port at full price with no new features.  That's the complete opposite of how RE4: Wii Edition was handled.

Well, those "new" features were already present in the PS2 and PC versions.

Since I never picked up RE0 (or 2 or 3 or CV, for that matter) for GameCube, I would not have minded seeing a Wii port. As long as it had 16:9 support, I'd definitely be willing to pay at least $30 for it, maybe more.

[Slade]

They probably couldn't make a profit at that price without selling a lot of copies, which they couldn't do because nobody really likes RE0 in the first place.

Hey, I liked RE0! But you're right, it's a waste bringing to Wii at all. It doesn't need to be a Wii game.

[Ian Sane]

Well, those "new" features were already present in the PS2 and PC versions.

Yeah but they weren't in the Cube version.  The Wii version is like the ultimate definitive version of RE4 which I think is enough to justify it's existence.

The Cube version of RE0 is already playable on the Wii and if the Wii version is identical it really seems quite pointless.

Capcom got flack for releasing straight ports of RE2 & 3 on the Cube for full price.  So Capcom USA has probably learned from that.  They're actually listening to the fans on their site.  That's awesome!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Will Capcom listen to its fans when they say Spyborgs looks like kiddie sabotage garbage that should be canned?

[KDR_11k]

Will Capcom listen if we scream that we want Gotcha Force 2?

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

They'll interpret that as a Gotcha Force port...