Well, yes and no. What's known for sure is that Capcom has dissolved Clover, but motivations are a lot harder to ascribe. All the comments in the linked article about Capcom doing it because of Okami's poor sales are, notably, unattributed and presumably the blogger's; all Capcom has said is that they want to 'concentrate management resources', which may mean that they just don't find running independent studios a useful way of spending their time or money (it isn't the first they've shut down). For a slightly different take on it, have a look at Joystiq's article, which suggests that it may even be that Clover jumped ship and Capcom is covering.
And yes, Okami is a gorgeous game. *grin* By far my favorite this year, the first RPG I've played to completion in forever. I presume you might've seen already, but BitsBytesPixelsSprites has a pointer to 16x12 wallpapers, as opposed to the 12x10 versions on the US site...
Yay if they went off to do their own thing! That would be SOOO cool! Especially since I'm buying the game for nearly everyone I can think of who would be interested. :-)
Oh, that sucks! :( I understand the points being made in that post and the comments, but...
I'd happily pay full price for a game with primitive graphics and cheap production values but top-class story, dialogue and characters. Innovative gameplay is nice but it's not what hooks me - it just needs to not be clunky.
I wonder if at some point it will become possible to produce games like Okami, Planescape:Torment, Ico, etc, more cheaply. If Okami could have been done for half the cost and sold at $20, it might have made enough to satisfy the company.
Reason #4 to become a millionaire: being able to invest in and encourage 'prestige' games.
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Date: 2006-11-28 07:30 pm (UTC)And yes, Okami is a gorgeous game. *grin* By far my favorite this year, the first RPG I've played to completion in forever. I presume you might've seen already, but BitsBytesPixelsSprites has a pointer to 16x12 wallpapers, as opposed to the 12x10 versions on the US site...
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Date: 2006-11-28 08:56 pm (UTC)Yay if they went off to do their own thing! That would be SOOO cool! Especially since I'm buying the game for nearly everyone I can think of who would be interested. :-)
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Date: 2006-11-28 07:32 pm (UTC)I'd happily pay full price for a game with primitive graphics and cheap production values but top-class story, dialogue and characters. Innovative gameplay is nice but it's not what hooks me - it just needs to not be clunky.
I wonder if at some point it will become possible to produce games like Okami, Planescape:Torment, Ico, etc, more cheaply. If Okami could have been done for half the cost and sold at $20, it might have made enough to satisfy the company.
Reason #4 to become a millionaire: being able to invest in and encourage 'prestige' games.
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Date: 2006-11-28 08:57 pm (UTC)I love the "reasons" to be a millionaire. *grin*