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Inafune - Capcom wants to continue reviving classics, hopes that Wii will bring new success to Monster Hunter series
A portion of a Game Informer interview with Keiji Inafune…
GI: Within the past few years, Capcom has done a great job of revisiting older well-known—and maybe some not-so-well known—IPs, and done it in a really respectful way, rather than just doing quick and dirty Xbox Live Arcade ports of things, it’s the HD remake of Street Fighter II Turbo, 1942, Bionic Commando, obviously. Is this something that Capcom plans to continue to do? It seems as though it’s part of an ongoing strategy—is that very important to the company moving forward?
Inafune: Since I became the head of development for Capcom, there’s really three main pillars to my approach to development. The first one is original titles. Every certain number of years we will make a certain number of original titles. Then, sequels for fans of our current series. The third one is using older IP. Really, it’s a matter of granting what the fans are looking for. We started making those games and people have continued to look for them, and really there is interest out there. As you say, it’s really about respecting the IP and then doing a remake that follows as an extension. Mega Man 9 is one of the games I would add to your list. We’d certainly like to continue doing more of those. The basic idea is that if there’s demand out there—if there’s interest out there—we will respect the IP and go forward.
GI: There are certain games like Monster Hunter, which is phenomenally successful in Japan, and doesn’t do quite as well in the United States. Is that a function of the game being available on platforms like the PSP, which aren’t quite as popular in the U.S. or is it something about the gameplay that maybe doesn’t attract Western gamers? And if it is something with the gameplay, is it worth tweaking that to make it more accessible to the West at the risk of potentially putting off Japanese gamers as well?
Inafune: I think there are lots of reasons why Monster Hunter hasn’t met with the same level of success overseas. It’s important to bear in mind that the game wasn’t initially a success in Japan. When it first came out, it still had people playing together cooperatively, but it was based online in a much more limited way compared to PSP. When it moved to the PSP and you could have four people sitting around together to play on an ad hoc network, that’s when it really took off in Japan. So you’d get friends playing together and get people of different skill levels and experience levels helping each other out and interacting that way. This plays a big part in why it was so successful in Japan—it’s a game that takes a long time to find interesting. There’s quite a long ramp to get to the point where you’re actually into the game. If you’re playing with four other people in that way, you’re much more likely to hit that point than if you’re by yourself. For the U.S., really, we need to convey how fun it is to play to people and to get to the point where you find the game interesting. Probably playing on infrastructure mode isn’t really the way to do that, that’s my feeling. It’s about getting people together and having them go through this experience together. That’s my feeling.
GI: Do you think putting the game on the Wii is going to help?
Inafune: Well, there’s certainly an opportunity, because it’ll give people a new way to look at Monster Hunter on a new platform, and it’ll contribute to the brand as well. I’m hoping that this could be the chance.