So Devil May Cry 4 is out and i've just finished purchasing it online, despite not having a next-gen machine to play it on... yet. I was always going to get a PS3, and rightly so, me having over 100 PS2 games and all. And whilst the next installment of one of my favourite franchises doesn't really look like an imporvement from the last, it is the first next-gen game in the series and i guess something to get excited about. Oh, and the reason i bought the game now instead of waiting and getting it cheaper later on in the year (which it will be no doubt) is becuase it's the Limited Edition version. It was the same price as the normal version and i know how hard it will be to get hold of it later, so better to pick it up now. Agian of course this is a marketing ploy, but who cares? Everything is these days. I'm a fan of the series and it will look good in my collection, having previosly purchasing the Limited Edition version of DMC3; even if it was just a fancy slipcase!
My main arguement however is with Capcom's supposed "betrayal" of fans by releasing the game for the first time ever as a multi-format title.
Yes, Devil May Cry finally comes to Microsoft's playground, much to the dismay of Sony fans who have openly aired their anger directly at the culprits.
360 owners jump in joy as they don't miss out on the series, whilst Sony fanboys frantically write petitions to boycott the game and their alegiance with Capcom. But this whole multi-format announcement was come to be expected anyway, it makes perfect sense as Capcom is no stranger to multi-releases. Initially i was slightly miffed as I bought my PS2 all those years ago specifically for Devil May Cry, and news of number 4 being a Sony exclusive cemented which machine i was going to purchase. But i don't care, I was never going to buy a 360 anyway.
So for all the Sony fanboys out there, just calm down. Capcom is a buisness after all and their main goal is to make money and profit. It's common sense to branch out to other formats for maximum sales. The GC-only Residentl Evil series was a nice idea to help boost the GC as a console and to also showcase the power of said machine (and lets face it REmake, 0 and RE4 are some really stunning looking titles made entirley on the GC hardware).
But look what happened as soon as the GC bit the dust- Capcom released RE4, the supposed "GC-Only title" onto the PS2, amisdt previolsy claiming matter-of-factly that RE4 wasn't possible on the PS2 becuase of hardward limitations, which is why they opted to do it on the GC instead. What a load of garbage. I agree the PS2 version doesn't looks as good as the GC version, but it's still adequate and perfectly playable. Capcom making 360 games is perfectly normal too, the machine being the only next-gen system that has been out the longest.
Dead Rising and Lost Planet were experimental titles to showcase what they can do with next-gen titles, with Dead Rising easliy being a prototype for Resi 5. I wouldn't call it 360-favouritsm either, they had to make games at some point, they couldn't just specifically make games for the PS3 and wait till the machine came out, that's silly and they would lose a lot of money. They practised making games for the machine that was out already, which was the 360. And look how much experience they got from it. Capcom seeing sales of their games do well on the 360 is more than a good enough reason to keep making games for it too, and lets not forget that there are more 360 users currently than there are the PS3, hence it makes perfect sense to release DMC4 as a multi-platform game.
Even though releasing a game which was originally a Sony exclusive series (to me, Devil May Cry is the true eptiome of the Sony PS2, along with Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo and God of War amongest others), they would make hell of a lot more money to release the game on the 360 as well. True, it insulted a lot of Sony fanboys, but at the end of the day who cares- gaming is a buisness after all, and it's a lot of money that Capcom make this way, they would rather upset a few fans than lose out on potentially thousands. Fair point, anyone would rather make extra bucks than to listen to some fanboys cry. And who knows, maybe making games for the 360 is easier than for the PS3, a lot of companies have expressed how fussy it is sometimes making games on the hardware, it being easier on the 360 becuase it is a Microsoft PC after all.
I think we will see a shift in the next year or so, when the PS3 user-base increases and it (hopefully) becomes the next "definitive" next-gen machine, where we will see Capcom make more games for it.
Of course this is going by the speculation that because the 360 is slightly older, it will date quicker and fizzle out, with the PS3 finally becoming the machine it was initially hyped up to be, and taking over the race. However this is hardly the case, the 360 has a fantastic catalogue of games and nothing ive seen on the PS3 so far can even compete in that league...yet.
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