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News 
BREAKING NEWS: Resident Evil to be GameCube Exclusive
- Posted By Ryan
Eid, 09.13.2001
In a shocking turn of events, yesterday Shinji Mikami, the director of such titles as Resident Evil and Devil May Cry, announced it would keep all of the next generation Biohazard (Resident Evil in the US) games on only one system-- GameCube. "Everyone must be surprised because [the Biohazard series is now] on the GameCube, but I have a clear and strong opinion about being able to enjoy all of the Biohazard games on one system. Therefore the series will be GameCube exclusive" stated Mikami at a press conference yesterday. Capcom went on to explain that "because we don't want to force our users to have to buy many systems to play the Biohazard games, we've decided to focus on one console: GameCube."
The GameCube will be receiving not only a complete remake of the first Resident Evil (which pictures of can be found right here), but also a complete remake of the second, third, and Code Veronica installments. Capcom stated the reason for this was simple. "The Biohazard series has slowly moved away from its origin of horror. What our users have supported over the years was this feeling of horror," said Capcom. "After much thought, we have decided to return to the beginning and start from one again." After looking at the Resident Evil 1 screens, it's apparent that this is no minor porting job; Capcom has went full scale re-creation of the titles that heralded so much success on the Playstation.
On top of the remakes, Capcom reassured us that Resident Evil 0 is still in the works and still set to be released on the GameCube, as well as now Resident Evil 4, which had previously been in development for the PlayStation 2, and was reportedly unlike any RE game to date. The title will no longer make it to the PS2; it too will be exclusive to Nintendo.
Shigeru Miyamoto, who rarely attends events outside the realm of Nintendo's first party shows (and large multiplatform shows such as E3), was also on hand for the announcement. "I usually don't attend game announcement events for other games, but in fact when Biohazard was first announced I attended the event. At that time I thought the game would be a success" stated the mastermind behind Mario, Zelda, and countless other titles.
So why did Mikami and Capcom want to focus development on GameCube? "The GameCube is a system that focuses on the idea of careful attention on the games. It's true that games now must be fancy, but that shouldn't distract from the enjoyment of the game. The importance of the director's hands-on involvement is a feeling that Mikami and I share together" Miyamoto said yesterday. "Multi platform development is also fine. But porting or remaking the games for other systems basically means the creator only needs to duplicate the game for the other system. I feel, from a business point of view it might be a good, but from the creator's point of view it isn't a good idea. This time, Mikami and Capcom expressed their wish to create the Biohazard series for Nintendo GameCube and we will provide them with full support. We welcome them to a new group of craftsmen."
This is a huge step in the right direction for Nintendo. Biohazard is one of the most popular series in Japan (as well as the US), and the fact that these games are secured Nintendo exclusives just heightens Nintendo's chances in succeeding with the GameCube in Japan. Not only that, this should ensure the games themselves to be of highest quality. As Miyamoto said, if a game was designed around the PS2 architecture, and then ported to GameCube, its full potential may not be realized. But since the games will be built and designed on the GameCube, this means the games can truly tap the GCN's power.
Not only that, this disspells any of the notions that the GameCube is "only for kids" or that "Nintendo does not care about the older market". Quite the contrary. This is proof that Nintendo is making a conscious effort to appease to the older crowd. Hopefully, if these titles are a success on GameCube, other developers will drop the notion that the GCN is meant for only kids, and begin to develop the mature titles that are currently being shunned away from Nintendo's new console.
Source: IGN Cube
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