Capcom has claimed that the "main user group" for Resident Evil has now reached their late-30s to early 40s in a new feature on its Investor Relations website aimed at detailing the future of the series.
Capcom says that as this window of the series' main fanbase increases, they will soon outgrow video games altogether. The obvious solution is to focus on making the series appeal to younger generations again through fashion retailers, horror shows at Universal Studios and even a Resident Evil themed cafe in the heart of Tokyo.
All that sounds fine and dandy, but we all know the real way to attract younger gamers is to make it fun again. Since Resident Evil 4 came around and knocked us all out of our socks, each subsequent game has not exactly lived up to the high praise earned by generations past. Aside from new marketing, its time to take the series in a new direction. Smaller budgets, new ideas, scarier scenarios.
There has to be something Capcom can do on the development front to make these games worth investing a lot of time in again. Resident Evil Revelations was a fabulous little title that stuck to the basics and avoided all the access baggage of a huge console production. A Nintendo 3DS game ported to the consoles in HD proved worlds better than the ill fated main entry, Resident Evil 6.
Now that Capcom has a dedicated next-gen graphic engine, Panta Rhei, maybe they can focus more on fun gameplay ideas and less on overbloated graphics and plots. It should give them a chance to really sit and understand what made Resident Evil Revelations work so well. Here's to hoping.
I'm 28-years-old, but I wouldn't really call myself a die-hard fan of the series. Just a random entry here and there. Do you fall within Capcom's window?
