Direction for Capcom

"Japan is over. We're done. Our game industry is finished"

"Japan's game industry is far from finished as long as Capcom is around"

"Capcom is barely keeping up"

"I look around Tokyo Games Show, and everyone’s making awful games"

The above quotations were made by Keiji Inafune. A quoted list of contradictions and the lack of confidence in ones ability to evolve. The Japan game industry is finished but only "far from" finished because of Capcom. However, "Capcom is barely keeping up". Investors of Capcom should be delighted to here these types of quotes. Self evaluations are critical in any business and its healthy to outline strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, Mr. Inafune should have made these evaluations internally and kept them there. As the head of R&D, shouldn't he be responsible for the "supposed" decline of the Japan gaming industry?

What has Japan produced lately? Since the release of the 360/PS3, there has been outstanding releases coming out of development studios in Japan. There have been a ton of DS/PSP games but the focus here is on "next gen".

Metal Gear Solid 4 - Kojima Productions
Bayonetta - Platinum Games
Vanquish - Platinum Games
Ninja Gaiden 2 - Team Ninja
Dead or Alive 4 - Team Ninja
Resident Evil 5 - Capcom
Street Fighter IV - Capcom
Dead Rising 1/2 - Capcom
Gran Turismo 5 - Polyphony Digital
Yakuza - Sega
Valkyria Chronicles - Sega
Virtua Fighter 5 - Sega
Demon's Soul - From Software

If the argument is that Japan is "dead", what is "alive"? If "alive" equates to game sales, there isn't much competition with the games produced by the west. Only the Gran Turismo franchise can match or exceed sales comparisons to Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto and become a double digit platinum seller. If "alive" equates to selling titles with the name "Mario" in it, that's a tall order for anyone not named Nintendo. The mega franchises of Japan that aren't developed by Nintendo are Dragon's Quest and Final Fantasy. Where have those franchises gone recently? Dragon's Quest is primarily on Nintendo systems. Final Fantasy XIII was originally supposed to be PS3 exclusive but went the route of multi-platform. If you wanted to play FF I-VI, they were all re-released with improvements on PSP/DS. Monster Hunter is recently one of the more established franchises for Japan as it's sold PSPs, but Capcom did not capitalize on its success with Monster Hunter Tri (Wii).

What's next for Capcom? Here are a couple of suggestions ...

A. Resident Evil 6 - Announce it. Announcing it enough to stir their marketability

B. Megaman Legends - A true sequel to a very popular franchise.

C. Megaman Universe - Certainly a lot of potential. Seems they are taking a tip from Media Molecule.  Capitalize on a well established franchise and give the ultimate set of tools for fans creating the most innovative Megaman levels.

D. Leverage Platinum Games - If you can tap Ninja Theory develop the next Devils May Cry, you can have Platinum Games develop on franchises that Kamiya and Mikami made famous.

E. Keep pushing new IP - Asura's Wrath is a great start! Tapping Asian mythology as the west tapped Greek mythology. Outside of Dead Rising, there hasn't been many

F. Popular old franchises - Onimusha replaced Dino Crisis for PS2. What happened to Dino Crisis? Another neglected franchise from the original PlayStation days is Strider. Isn't it worth a shot to create a sequel? Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a welcomed surprise!