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Capcom to "Dissolve" Clover Studio

by Jonathan Metts - October 12, 2006, 12:13 pm EDT
Total comments: 33 Source: Press Release

Developer of Viewtiful Joe series will be no more as of the end of March 2007.

Capcom Japan issued a press release today stating that Clover Studio, developer of the popular Viewtiful Joe series (as well as PS2 titles Okami and God Hand), will be dissolved as of the end of March 2007. In the press release, Capcom cited the reason for the dissolution as part of a "business strategy that concentrates management resources on a selected business to enhance the efficiency of the development power of the entire Capcom group".

PGC will have more details on this announcement as they become available.

Talkback

This is really tragic news. I could live without Viewtiful Joe, and Godhand sounds terrible, but Okami is perhaps the best Zelda game ever made.

ShyGuyOctober 12, 2006

Best Zelda? Wow.. that's a charged statement there, Jonnyboy.

WindyManSteven Rodriguez, Staff AlumnusOctober 12, 2006

The only way a move like this can be justified is if Capcom wants to distribute the talent across the company studios, and not just have it all packed-in to one uber-developer. That's got to be the reasoning behind it.

Karl Castaneda #2October 12, 2006

According to Chris Kohler, word is buzzing around that the Clover folk are actually leaving Capcom. I hope Inaba's able to take Viewtiful Joe with him. It's unlikely, but I don't want to play Keiji Inafune's Viewtiful Joe 3. I really, really don't.

Viewtiful marioOctober 12, 2006

oh no!!!! this is bad news. Clover maed awsome games! And by awsome games I mean Viewtiful Joe.

I guess if it's not redident evil or mega man, any other seres capcom has isn't important to them. Oh well, I'll still have Baiten Kaitos.

NinGurl69 *hugglesOctober 12, 2006

Get it STRAIGHT

Viewtiful Joe was made by Team Viewtiful/Production Studio4. They were absorbed AFTER the game was made.

Clover was responsible for:

- Viewtiful Joe 2
- Viewtiful Joe Red Hot Rumble
- God Hand
- Okami
- Whatever-was-soon-to-be-flop-but-now-terminated-since-clover-peeps-left-the-company

I'm not familiar with their handheld developments.

Bill AurionOctober 12, 2006

Quote

Originally posted by: Jonnyboy117
Okami is perhaps the best Zelda game ever made.

Hahaha...haha.......ha...

MarioOctober 12, 2006

Hopefully this means they weren't happy with Capcoms decisions and left so they could make their own (Ruining the VJ franchise, Okami being PS2 exclusive, God Hand existing)

Karl Castaneda #2October 12, 2006

Pro, so help me God, call Viewtiful Joe 2 a flop again and heads will roll.

SvevanEvan Burchfield, Staff AlumnusOctober 12, 2006

Pro, do it now, Karl's arrest will be feature #1 on next week's podcast.

BloodworthDaniel Bloodworth, Staff AlumnusOctober 12, 2006

Don't listen to him. He's trying to off Karl so he doesn't have to (mis)pronounce his name anymore.

Karl Castaneda #2October 12, 2006

SO IT WAS ALL A CLEVER PLOY! The truh comes out, Burchfield!

....

I'm on to you!

DjunknownOctober 12, 2006

Its a shame really. Okami and the 2 original VJ's should justify Clover's continued existance.

Quote

It's unlikely, but I don't want to play Keiji Inafune's Viewtiful Joe 3.


What would happen if Inafune took over?

Quote

Okami is perhaps the best Zelda game ever made.


Actually, that's not a farfetched statement. Check here compared to here.Not too shabby...

Shin GallonOctober 12, 2006

Okami is amazing, and God Hand looks like the video game version of "Kung Fu Hustle". I enjoyed the first Viewtiful Joe, never played 2 though (other games came up at the time and I never got around to it)

This is a shame, Clover will hopefully get another publisher or the means to self publish...

IceColdOctober 12, 2006

Quote

Quote

Okami is perhaps the best Zelda game ever made.


Actually, that's not a farfetched statement. Check here compared to here.Not too shabby...
What about this?

TrueNerdOctober 12, 2006

Yeah, why buy Clover Studio games when there's tons of licensed crap available for your purchase? BASTARDS.

If Viewt is correct in saying that Clover employees are leaving Capcom, that actually is good news to me. I'd rather those guys do their thing then work on Mega Man sequels.

And as much as I head over heels LOVE Okami, it pales in comparison to at least five (soon to be six?) Zelda games in my mind. Too much hand holding and too easy to be considered the best.

KDR_11kOctober 12, 2006

Okami is definitely a Zelda game, it has everything Zelda has, even the 5 month delay for the European release.

DjunknownOctober 13, 2006

Quick update which I'm sure PGC will make a seperate article but the plot thickens:

Inaba and Kamiya go henshin-a-bye-bye...

Mikami is still around, so its not a total loss. Will he be working on RE 5, or was RE 4 his last ride with the franchise?

So what's in store for the other two? Join the ranks like Sakurai and Sakaguchi and do their own thing?

Mario323October 14, 2006

Let me translate their reason: "We are dissolving them because God Hand sucked the big one."

I'm near the end of Okami now and it just gets better and better. The story had slowed down for a long time (also typical of a Zelda game) but it takes some VERY interesting turns towards the end. Okami's visual style and the brush techniques are its main innovations; the actual gameplay and structure of the game are totally ripped from the Zelda series, but what's interesting is how Okami mixes together elements from so many different Zelda games. There are obvious nods to Wind Waker, Ocarina, even Minish Cap. And did I mention that Okami is really long? I'm at 50 hours right now. That's with doing many side-quests along the way (they aren't bunched at the end like in Final Fantasy) but also consider that I'm very familiar with this kind of game and almost never get stuck on puzzles or where to go next.

Next time I get on the podcast, I'm going to demand a couple of minutes to pimp Okami. Anyone who enjoys the Zelda series would LOVE this game. So I figure that applies to the vast, vast majority of our readers.

ArtimusOctober 14, 2006

I'd buy it if it was on the right system, instead of another Sony-whore by Capcom.

Do you really not own a PS2? I think all gamers should own a PS2 at this point. There are too many good, cheap games for the system that you will not be able to play otherwise.

Smash_BrotherOctober 14, 2006

Had one for DDR but it died in a modding accident and now I have Stepmania for DDR so I never needed another one.

KDR_11kOctober 14, 2006

Quote

Originally posted by: Jonnyboy117
Do you really not own a PS2? I think all gamers should own a PS2 at this point. There are too many good, cheap games for the system that you will not be able to play otherwise.


Yes but this site attracts the irrational fanboy kind that refuses to buy a PS2 because it's not made by Nintendo.

RequiemOctober 15, 2006

Quote

Originally posted by: Jonnyboy117
Do you really not own a PS2? I think all gamers should own a PS2 at this point. There are too many good, cheap games for the system that you will not be able to play otherwise.


I would actually like to know what games Jonny would recommend for the PS2. You see, I have one, but I never get around to buying games for it.

KDR_11kOctober 15, 2006

Hm, let me go through my stack...

Melty Blood: Act Cadenza (JP)
Global Defence Force (UK)
Disgaea
Psychonauts (not exclusive but if you can't get it on another system...)
We heart.gif Katamari (Katamari Damacy was not released here)
Project Zero (or do you have an XBox?)
Alien Hominid (for the XBox-less among us)
Gungrave Overdose
Final Fantasy 9 (PS1 title but plays just fine, play this instead of the lackluster PS2 FFs)
Some people enjoy the Devil May Cry series (I don't, I hate the camera too much).
Rumors have it someone out there likes Tekken, King of Fighters or Guilty Gear but I don't think that's true.

odifiendOctober 15, 2006

Hmm... Is Alien Hominid better on the PS2? I liked it for Gamecube.

About everybody having a PS2 at this point, meh. I am biased but I think I'm still open minded. I do hate that a lot of worthwhile games miss the gamecube, but the fact that the console is still 150 bucks, new consoles are on the horizon, and really hate the sony corporate speak is making me pass. My plan was to get the PS3 for backward compatibility, but I don't really like the direction that is going...

ShyGuyOctober 15, 2006

I don't have enough time to play all the games I want to play on my PC, my DS, and my Cube. (not to mention my gameboy) why would I go spend $150 on something I have so little time to enjoy?

wanderingOctober 15, 2006

If you have enough time to play Sprung, you have enough time to play Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

GoldenPhoenixOctober 15, 2006

I have a PS2 but hardly ever play it, though I am looking for Okami (I can't find it at any store now). THe only games I really enjoyed on my PS2 were Jak and Daxter 1 (they totally destroyed that series by giving it a "mature" look), Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, Silent Hill games, Mister Mosquito (very weird but fun) and Shadow of Colossus to a point (I DID NOT like Ico though, but besides those games my PS2 has not been a good gaming center for me (I have other games but never have the incentive to play them most of which I got for cheap).

ShyGuyOctober 15, 2006

My friend had a PS2,So I did get to enjoy Jak and Daxter 1 and Kingdom Hearts 1. Both were excellent games. Mister Mosquito was pretty weird. Unfortunately, he sold it before Kingdom Hearts 2 and Okami came out.

KDR_11kOctober 15, 2006

Quote

Originally posted by: odifiend
Hmm... Is Alien Hominid better on the PS2? I liked it for Gamecube.


Better in the sense that it's released in Europe. There's no GC version of it here.

Tuxedo.BondOctober 25, 2006

I just hope we still get more Viewtiful Joe and the other goodies that have previously come out of Clover Studios.

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