The more I think about it, and you’ll have to excuse my rather personal rant here, the more this whole Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D issue really gets my goat. On a number of levels too – it’s not just the fact that Capcom seemed to think that removing the ability to reset the game was an OK thing to do, but more that they’re flat out refusing to say why it was done.
Apart from saying it wasn’t to do with trying to cut down on second hand copies of the game. Which, in my humble, personal opinion, is tosh. It’s literally the only reason I can possibly think of – there’s no technical reason within my comprehension that suggests there’s a reason why a few bytes of data can’t be overwritten at will (it’s been like that since, well, Zelda on the NES if my memory serves me correctly) so what else can it be?
[drop2]And for anyone that thinks second hand sales won’t be affected – have a look at the Japanese resale value: about four quid. And the UK selling price? A staggering RRP of £40. Yes, really.The fact is, nobody wants to take home a pre-owned copy of a game and be forced to stare at someone else’s save game. Sure, it’s not like Mercenaries is a fully fledged Resident Evil game – cynics might suggest it’s an expanded mini game with an exciting demo of another game thrown in – but even for a score-based game it’s hardly enticing to know that you’ll be using someone else’s scores.
And then there’s the matter of Nintendo letting this one pass, too – it might well have been Capcom’s decision but there’s a cartridge manufacturer (and in some territories) a publisher at fault too. When your game has a big bold ‘controversy’ section on its wiki page (and little else) it’s clear there’s an issue here.
And no, I’m not being stingy. I’ve only played the game briefly and haven’t read many reviews so don’t know whether it’s worth the full asking price yet, but this was something I was planning to pick up in a couple of weeks second hand whilst Zelda’s still taking up most of my 3DS time. Not any longer, this whole situation has put me right off the game and I’m hardly alone here.
Am I over-reacting? That’s up to you to decide, of course. But I don’t want to run the risk of having to play the game with all the guns, perks and costumes already unlocked – doing so is part of the appeal of something like this. And there’s only one save slot too – which means my family can’t play through the game separately either.
So, no, I don’t think I am over-reacting. Instead, I’m voting with my wallet. And of course, just to really stir things up, there’s always the iPhone version for 59p…
This is a personal blog and may not represent the views of TheSixthAxis.
Jim H [Teabags]
I can understand why publishers are trying to tackle the pre-owned market, but this isn’t the right way to do so. I was looking forward to picking this up, and then perhaps passing it onto a few friends or family members, and though only a few of them are hardcore gamers, none of them will appreciate playing on my save file.
KeRaSh
Very weird move by Capcom. However, it’s a real bargain if you don’t care for unlocking stuff yourself. :P
Rocket_345
I buy the majority of my games new. Why cause i trade in games that i dont play anymore. In my life i’ve only bought 2 games pre owned. Killzone 2 and Dead Space and that was because i couldn’t find a new copy. I was going to get a 3DS for christmas and as the price would of gone down by then this as well. Well fuck that now. When i get bored and want to sell it. It will be worth fuck all cause the pre owned selling price is too low. As i was going to buy it new Capcom should care about me as a consumer but now them and their game can royally fuck off.
hazelam
another thing, besides the legal ramifications of this preowned jihad.
there’s also the history of the industry to take into account.
what about decades from now when people want to look at old games, maybe they’re studying the history of gaming the way people do with music, movies and books now, or maybe they just want to play some classic titles from years ago, and they find none of the titles can be played any more, because they’re all locked to a single user.
most of the preowned games i’ve bought are older titles, titles that would otherwise be gathering dust on a shelf somewhere or getting damp and mouldy in a box in somebody’s attic.
they’re willing to throw away the history of gaming for their short term, short sighted greed.
i happen to think that’s terribly sad, and i don’t mean in any slang usage of the term sad, i mean the literal dictionary definition of sad.
sad/sad/Adjective
1. Feeling or showing sorrow; unhappy: “I was sad and subdued”.
2. Causing or characterized by sorrow or regret; unfortunate and regrettable: “a sad day for us all”.