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It's not like Nintendo is exactly holding up their end of this bargain. Back in 2001, when Capcom signed the deal with Nintendo, Iwata was saying there'd be
50 million GameCubes sold.
Nintendo will be lucky to end up with 25 million sold total by the end of the generation. They themselves haven't done a very good job in selling the platform to consumers, Capcom can only do so much. I don't think Capcom signed on to "sacrifice" their top franchise solely for Nintendo's sake.
The thing is, Capcom themselves hold a large part of the blame for that. If it weren't for the Resident Evil exclusivity, which is gone now, people would be arguing over whether Capcom or Konami gets to hold the title of "single worst so-called GameCube supporter".
It took a while, but you knew somebody had to do it. A breakdown of everything Capcom has done for the GameCube, with commentary. Game list and dates courtesy of a quick trip to GameFAQs.
Note that at the start of this generation, Shinji Mikami delivered the bombshell announcement that the RE series was going exclusively to the Cube, and Keiji Inafune suggested that Megaman and Nintendo consoles go hand-in-hand, so Megaman would likely end up being unofficially GameCube-exclusive (Capcom had already started work on Megaman X7 for the PS2 since the Cube wasn't out yet). So people had some reason to expect big things from the GameCube.
Shinji Mikami section.Early 2002 - Resident Evil Remake
Essentially made as part of the RE Zero development cycle. Sold slightly better than Capcom expected.
Late 2002 - Resident Evil Zero
Full restart of a failed N64 project. Sold slightly better than Capcom expected. Performed relatively better in Japan, where gamers had generally passed on getting the RE Remake.
Early 2003 - Ports of RE2&3
Sales of the games deliberately sabotaged by Capcom, as part of a pissy fight with Nintendo. Sold like crap, of course.
Mid 2003 - PN03
The first of the "Capcom 5" games, given a chance to exist because of Shinji Mikami's authority. Beautiful game, blasted by critics as having no gameplay. Sold poorly. Has been publically blamed by Capcom as one of the causes for poor financial performance.
Late 2003 - Port of Resident Evil: Code Veronica X
Heavily delayed even though it was reportedly complete, for the apparent purpose of making it a $20 artificially-exclusive PS2 game while PS2 owners were waiting for the real PS2 exclusives "Resident Evil: Dead Aim" and "Resident Evil: Outbreak" to arrive (both of which were moderate failures, IIRC). When it eventually came out on the GameCube, it was deliberately sabotaged and overpriced by Capcom, like the earlier ports were, even though the "pissy fight" issue had been resolved months earlier.
Late 2003 - Viewtiful Joe
Sold quite well. Not amazing, but quite solid. Well above Capcom's expectations. A big surprise for an out-of-nowhere non-franchise game. Since it sold well, it must have been a good game, so it deserved better than the GameCube, and was ported with extra features to the PS2, where it bombed horribly.
Killer 7
Not even out yet, but Capcom's already announced that they're porting it for a simultaneous release on the PS2.
Dead Phoenix
Cancelled by Capcom.
Resident Evil 4
Not even out yet, but Capcom's telling everyone that they're getting a port ready, and will release it on the PS2 the instant their contract with Nintendo expires. This despite Shinji Mikami's REPEATED statemanets that we should have confidence in at least RE on the GameCube, because he wouldn't allow Resident Evil to suffer the fate of so many of Capcom's other broken "exclusivity" promises.
Viewtiful Joe 2
Capcom wants to be "fair" and see what happens if they release VJ's sequel on the 80 million userbase console at the exact same time as when they release it on the 15 million userbase console. I see two options. One, the PS2 version will outsell the Cube version, which will surprise nobody and prove nothing. Or two, the Cube version will kick the PS2 version's heiney again, which will be endlessly funny, but won't be of any tangible benefit to any GameCube fans hoping for more third-party support. One thing is for sure, and that's releasing VJ1 on the PS2 didn't help the series to reach out to any new audiences that didn't already own the game, so making the PS2 version for VJ2 is essentially pointless, except that it makes for and entertaining and probably pissy horse race between the two versions.
Keiji Inafune section.Mid 2003 - Megaman Network Transmission
A Battle Network game. Not an RPG like the popular GBA Battle Network titles, but a side-scroller. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold a candle to any of Capcom's previous great side-scrollers. Add to it the fact that the Battle Network world is mostly unfamiliar to fans of the side-scrollers, and the game did poorly. IIRC, Capcom pointed to it as one of the causes for their financial problems.
Late 2003 - Megaman X7
Capcom took their last best side-scrolling series and perverted it into a cel-shaded 3D action title, rather than making yet-another Megaman series spinoff as a vehicle for those ideas. Needless to say, it bombed. Oh wait, why am I mentioning this here? GameCube owners never even got a port of this failure. Don't worry, it's just here for reference. Look down two paragraphs.
Mid 2004 - Megaman Anniversary Collection
A group called Atomic Planet ported the PSone ports of most of the Megaman games, plus a few extras, to the PS2 and GameCube. Atomic Planet decided that MIDI sounds best when you're listening to it as Redbook Audio, not as MIDI or mp3, so rather than listen to inferior music, they slashed Capcom's remixed MIDI music for the classic games out of the GameCube version. Also, AP decided to "fix" the Megaman controls for the GameCube version, which only served to mess them up. And they forgot to port the "button config" options of the PSone games, which would've helped in fixing AP's mistake. Also, the GameCube game was delayed, because the PS2 version was having problems, and it would've been "unfair" to allow the GameCube version to launch as scheduled while they spent the time to fix the PS2 version. It STILL outsold the PS2 version.
Late 2004 - Megaman X: Command Mission
An RPG sequel to Megaman X7. What the hell is Capcom thinking? Ah well, at least GameCube owners are going to get a chance to play this one, even though GameCube owners can't be expected to know anything about it's prequel.
Megaman X8
An upcoming PS2-exclusive cel-shaded 3D action title. Big surprise.
Everyting Else section.Late 2002 - Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO
Hey, there's a fighting game from Capcom available on the Cube. What are the odds of that? But... umm... just one? Where are the rest of them? I can't say I know much about this game. I'm not into fighting games. I don't think it's a "port" exactly.
Late 2003 - Auto Modellista
Oooh. A racing game. Is a port.
Late 2003 - Disney's Hide and Sneak
Not a port! We're special...
Late 2003 - Gotcha Force
No idea. Can't say I've heard of it.
That's it. I'm done.I'd post the list of PS2 games Capcom has made, but that might break this message board. Of special note, Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter bombed. Devil May Cry 2 bombed. Megaman AC was beaten by the Cube version. Megaman X7 bombed. The PS2 port of Viewtiful Joe bombed. And those are just the ones that I know about.
Capcom has simply not supported the GameCube. Shinji Mikami and Keiji Inafune have tried, but faced significant resistance.
Topic: Resident Evil 4 Not GC Exclusive (Read 45909 times)
