Capcom tries to kill used video game sales with the one-save game

[gatti]

Check this out! I wonder how this will play out.

http://dvice.com/archives/2011/06/capcom-tries-to.php

[Stringfellow]

Wow the really stupid thing about that is that if I finish the game and want to play through again I can't.

[Dobie]

I don't like this at all. It not only punishes used buyers, it punishes new buyers whether or not they intend to keep the game. I would expect a "New Game +" after the initial playthrough, but you can never go back and start a clean save? Boo.

[Oobgarm]

Way to go Capcom, piss off potential buyers so NO ONE buys your game. I'd wager that only core gamers jumped in feet first with 3DS, and that's the target audience for this title.

This idea had better backfire, that's all I have to say.

[Vectorman0]

I can think of a few games on my shelf that are already like this, and those are just a few I know of off the top of my head. However, I believe those were just oversights. Intentionally not having a data reset feature seems silly. Here's hoping it backfires.

[skaar]

I'm sure someone'll come up with a glitch/hack/something to reset it. It is really an odd thing for Capcom to do, but with with 3DS console sales the way they are... I sorta see the motivation. Sad they went down this road.

[portnoyd]

The blowback from this will be pretty fierce that I doubt it'll happen again, even if it happened in the past.

[gatti]

I can think of a few games on my shelf that are already like this, and those are just a few I know of off the top of my head. However, I believe those were just oversights. Intentionally not having a data reset feature seems silly. Here's hoping it backfires.

Yeah, I've experienced the lacking of the "full reset" option too with one or two more "casual" game titles. I always thought that it was simple oversight though since they were made by smaller developers. But, I've never seen it with hardcore games.

My thoughts is that if the publisher doesn't want people to re-sell then they should release via DSiWare. This whole thing has the opportunity to seriously backfire on Capcom.

[Sailorneorune]

They've already told the Ace Attorney fans to piss off; I guess it's the Resident Evil fans' turn to be stabbed in the back (pun intended).

Oh, Capcom, may the depths of your stupidity come back to bite you in your nether regions swiftly and with great force.

[TonyTheTiger]

It'll backfire when the solution turns out to be some kind of exploit, probably related to gray market activity, that is the means by which to erase the save file. And whenever the gray market becomes relevant to the game buying public, piracy invariably becomes a viable avenue for many people.

Shit, Nintendo should take issue with this for just that very reason.

[Sailorneorune]

I'm going to get a huge kick out of seeing the Capcom-Unity guys trying to do damage control on this one. They know how they can make up for this - they just refuse to do it.

[Kid Ice]

Since replay value tends to significantly influence review scores, rest assured the game will be buried.

There was an adventure game for the C64 that erased itself when you died. A funny thing happened...no one bought it.

[Sysop]

There was an adventure game for the C64 that erased itself when you died. A funny thing happened...no one bought it.

This game sounds like fun, could you please tell me what the game was called?

[Kid Ice]

Since replay value tends to significantly influence review scores, rest assured the game will be buried.

IGN gave it a 7.5 for replay value.

What did I miss?

@Someone asked about the Commodore 64 game I mentioned that erased itself...I don't recall the title but it was blasted by either Electronic Games or Compute's Gazette...I'm pretty sure it was EG.

[Vectorman0]

Yeah, I've experienced the lacking of the "full reset" option too with one or two more "casual" game titles. I always thought that it was simple oversight though since they were made by smaller developers. But, I've never seen it with hardcore games.

The games I were thinking of that lacked a data-wipe feature were Metal Gear Solid for the GBC, Magical Drop Pocket for the NGPC, and now I can't recall the third I was thinking of.

So you can only play the game one single time through?

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but it sounds like you can play it again, but most of the unlocked features and or items will still be present.

[Gameguy]

I can think of a few games on my shelf that are already like this, and those are just a few I know of off the top of my head. However, I believe those were just oversights. Intentionally not having a data reset feature seems silly. Here's hoping it backfires.

Wasn't Gunpey DS like that too? I seem to remember you couldn't clear any data so everything was stuck unlocked once you beat it. You could replay the levels but the challenge was gone as you didn't have to unlock anything. It was a pretty crappy game though.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Just trying to decode the language in that article ...

Consider this: lending Mercenaries 3D to a friend, a little brother or sister will be worthless because they'll only be able to continue playing the game with your saved settings and create their own.

So ... before we march on Capcom HQ with torches and pitchforks ... it seems that users can't wipe the existing save file, but they can create their own new slot.

While I fully understand this may be the poor choice of wording by the author of the article, if there is some clearer explanation that the game can't in any way be reset I'd like to see it, because that's not what I'm seeing when I read that quote.

*EDIT*

What I'm essentially looking for is some evidence that a new game can't be started on level 1 where your character has no money/experience/items etc.

[Oobgarm]

Yes, but

According to both the U.S. and U.K. game's instruction manual "saved data on this software cannot be reset."

It would be completely and totally pointless to force someone's settings on another person while letting them start a new game. Why would they even implement such a feature and tout it as something much more serious? Seems like that would be a waste of time, resources, and public image.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Yes, but



It would be completely and totally pointless to force someone's settings on another person while letting them start a new game. Why would they even implement such a feature and tout it as something much more serious? Seems like that would be a waste of time, resources, and public image.

Since none of us know what "settings" are yet (AFAIK the game isn't out yet) ... what is to say that you can't go in and simply adjust them?

I'm just seeing the typical knee-jerk gaming press/gaming public internet reaction here, and until the game is in the hands of consumers who can verify exactly what all of this means, I'm cautious to call for the heads of those at Capcom.

If the game creates a locked-down save file that we can't erase or reset, that could be viewed as a bad thing if you're only allowed to make ONE game file that will not allow you to re-start at level 1.

If you're allowed to make more than one game file ... I don't see this as a major problem, unless you're so OCD that you can't handle having more than one game file on your cartridge.

If the game forces you to carry over all the experieince/weapons/money from the un-erasable master save file, that could also be a bad thing ... but if NOT ... again, no reason to get our collective panties in a bunch.

If the un-erasable file only handles SETTINGS ... I'm pretty sure that most games allow settings to be freely adjusted. If the previous owner had the game set to hard ... what is stopping the new owner from going in and adjusting the setting to easy or extreme?

As most people know, I'm not a fan of reacting based on hearsay so I'd like some more info before I make a decision as to how good/bad this decision was.

[TonyTheTiger]

If the game creates a locked-down save file that we can't erase or reset, that could be viewed as a bad thing if you're only allowed to make ONE game file that will not allow you to re-start at level 1.

If you're allowed to make more than one game file ... I don't see this as a major problem, unless you're so OCD that you can't handle having more than one game file on your cartridge.

That would still be a bad thing, though, since you're probably not going to be given near infinite save files. Even if you can make 10, that's going to bite you in the ass when you want to play that 11th time.