Capcom have spoken to IGN about the possibility of two of its more forgotten franchises – Dino Crisis and Onimusha – making a possible return this generation. If you’ve just had a “Oh Yeah! Where the hell have they been?” moment, the main reason we’ve been starved of Dino Samurai love appears to be rooted in economics. As in, follow-ups in each series didn’t exactly bring home the bickies for the Japanese publisher.
Christian Svensson, Capcom VP of Strategic Planning and Business Development, said:
“Onimusha is tricky in particular given how Japanese-focused the franchise has been. When you look at the timing and sales trend of how Onimusha has gone each outing – I won’t give you the exact numbers, but let’s just say every outing subsequently has been about 60% of the prior – the brand doesn’t right now have quite the resilience that you might think. While Onimusha 1 and Onimusha 2 are among our more successful titles, Onimusha 3 and Onimusha Dawn of Dreams, not so much.”
The company hasn’t forgotten its demon-slashing title, however, though by the sounds of things Capcom are hardly chomping at the bit to reinvent the Demon Warrior wheel. He continues:
“It’s not forgotten internally, there are discussions that go on, but I don’t think anyone has sort has come up with the ‘that’s it’ idea of how to get the game back up to 3 or 4 million units. You may see some things of the brand pop up in the future, I can’t say what, but there are certainly discussions about it.”
It’s not a lot, but it’s something.
Things are looking less rosy for Resident Evil inspired (in terms of presentation and gameplay dynamics) Dino Crisis. It’s been eight years since its last appearance and we’re not holding our breath a new edition will ever see the light of day. Svensson states:
“Dino Crisis 3 I think is where it went off the rails if I recall. Dino Crisis’ success really was an out cropping of Resident Evil 1 and 2. There are discussions, Dino Crisis comes up from time to time, but there isn’t any burning desire from R&D or the business side to light that franchise back up again. Until there’s an internal champion with something incredible, things just sort of sit there.”
Svensson goes on to comment that the Dino Crisis model of yesteryear just wouldn’t work in today’s gaming arena. If, and it’s a big if, the reptilian franchise’s DNA is ever extracted from some amber, expect it to follow its Resident Evil cousin and have its gameplay completely reimagined.
Source: IGN
gazo69
I was only thinking about Onimusha the other day, I would love it to be released on PS3.
Jean Reno FTW!
sesameseed
I second that, fantastic game!
Phizzy
They should just re-skin resident evil 5 with dinosaurs, the way they made the original out of resi 2. Was pretty great then, could be great again now.
STILLCANTTHINKOFAGOODPSNNAME
apart from velociraptors being alot faster than african peasants
although i would have a geekasm if someone released a good dinosaur game as i was OBSESSED!! with dinosaurs as a child
warp10ck
Yeah the whole stopping and then amiming RE5 style while a raptor charges at you sounds kind of hard but at the same time kind of cool.
FoxHoundGabe
“Dino Crisis 3 I think is where it went off the rails if I recall.”
So true.
Crazy_Del
Yep I still got Dino Crisis on my PS1 and sadly only have Onimusha 3 for PS2
Man I remember deing stuck on Dino Crisis for after 5mins of gameplay lol. Stupid Keycard
Liberi Fatali
I had it on Dreamcast… I didn’t understand it at the time XD..
Onimusha is great I got all three but I gave away the first to my cousin years ago.
Kamokazi-UK
’twas and Xbollox exclusive wasn’t it?
Liberi Fatali
Yeah it was a Xbox exclusive?
FoxHoundGabe
Yes it was, and it sucked.
Peco
“Went off the rails” is the biggest understatement I have ever heard with regards to that game.
Ryan1991
No Dino Crisis makes me sad.
Mick939
I would love to see dino crisis to comeback
Shakugan
Onimusha 2 and DC 1 & 2 were badass! Let’s hope for a new one
Grey_Ghost13
Omnimusha had some of the best CGI moments ever. The opening for no. 3 (I thin it was that one) was epic.
Quinlank
They really did destroy Dino Crisis with 3. Onimusha might perhaps be a tad irrelevant these days unless it gets a complete overhaul, but then, would it even be the same series if it did?
Releasing Onimushas past as a HD collection would be a good move though. I could certainly go for another crack at Dawn of Dreams, which was massively underrated when it came out.
izkjon
I still have Onimusha “Dawn of dreams” and “Warloeds”, and I still play these games on my ps2.