Too Much Fan Feedback Leads To “Creative Bankruptcy” – Ninja Theory

Posted by: Ernice Gilbert March 24, 2012 in Capcom, News, PS3 17 Comments

Ninja Theory has reiterated once more that disgruntled DMC fans need to redirect their protests to Capcom, as it was the publisher who told it to reinvent the game somewhat. The firm also said when developers take too much feedback from fans, it leads to creative bankruptcy.

That’s according to Ninja Theory boss Tameem Antoniades speaking to OXM UK. He said: “The decision as to whether DMC needed a reboot or not: it’s irrelevant what my opinion is because that decision was Capcom’s. They felt it needed something, which is why they not only decided to take a bold step and reinvent it, but to give it to a non-Japanese dev. They had their reasons and that was our mandate. They wanted a reinvention – a reinterpretation – and that’s what we went ahead and did.”

He then steered the conversation to the topic of creativity and fan feedback, contending that the only “true” way to make a successful game, is making one you love. And that’s whether it sells 1,000 or 1 million copies.

“From my point of view there’s only one way to try and make a successful game, and that’s to make the game you want to play. A game that everyone involved is proud of. So from that point of view I don’t care if it sells a thousand units or two million units. I believe the time you spend making something has to be worthwhile. You’ve got 20 productive years of work in your life; if you’re gonna spend ten or 15 percent of it on something, make it worthwhile.

Philosophically, the way to make a successful game is to believe in what you’re doing, then hope that sales follow. I’m not trying to design around what I think people will want. That’s where you get into creative bankruptcy. That, more than anything, will kill a series.”‘

Devil May Cry should see a PS3/360 release later this year.

Thanks, PSXextreme.

Tagged with: criticism Development Devil May Cry Devil May Cry reboot fan feedback Ninja Theory

About Ernice Gilbert

Ernice Gilbert here. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Gamesthirst. Thanks for stopping by, make yourself at home!

Ghost250

“the only “true” way to make a successful game, is making one you love. And that’s whether it sells 1,000 or 1 million copies.” that is the most hypocritical statement i’ve heard from them. cause i consistently remember the only reason why they stopped developing exclusively was because they didn’t have enough sells on the PS3. then they move multiplatform and their new game didn’t even get anywhere near the selling point of their game before. now all of a sudden they don’t care about sales LOL. i think its been established that the new DmC is a failure even before it came out, they have already lost the core fanbase now they have to try gain a new consumers. im sorry ninja theory but your screwed.
nick

absolutley!
that is exactly what i was trying to say the other day.
developers need to make games they want to make, not what they think will sell.
you go chasing things that are already popular your going to be beating a dead horse!
as he said best way to make sure your game sells well is make something the team really enjoys.
after all developers are game developers for a reason.
THERE PASSIONATE ABOUT GAMES!
and chances are what they enjoy is what millions of gamers will enjoy too.
follow your ideas not some sheet of paper!
listening to fan feedback is important but making it the be all end all is definitely suicide!
after all some “fans” are f*cking idiots!
the pricks who destroyed assassins creed for instance crying that the death cut scenes were too long.
THEY WERE THE BEST PART OF THE STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
create something new, something that has not done before and that the team is extremely excited about.
chances are if your 100s of staff are excited to play it, then millions of gamers will too!
gamers want something new, not the same old cow dried out a million times!
create something new and you have a far better chance of selling well then creating something that has been done a million times before!

however that said they need to grow some balls and stand up to crapcom!
ok crapcom wanted the reboot, they wanted something different.
but NT should of stood up to them and argued this is NOT what fans want!
then when they got all the backlash and death threats take it to crapcom and say i told you so.
us fans cant get through their thick skulls, maybe a developer can!
http://www.gamesthirst.com Ernice Gilbert

Weird, I’ve always been ready for DmC games…yet this one isn’t shaking me that much… We shall see how it turns out…but I think the changes have been too radical… I understand one needs to revamp every now and again, but said revamping must be gradual if it’s to be accepted by fans…. The DmC reboot is like Naughty Dog turning Uncharted 4 into a first-person shooter… What?!?!
http://www.gamesthirst.com Ernice Gilbert

See what I mean? The reaction would be overwhelmingly negative because you don’t just do a 180 on fans…you take your time and gradually change.
nick

to be honest the gameplay looks exactly the same only the style of the character has been changed.
if they have changed the core gameplay then i could understand but the environments, the enemies, the combat, everything still looks very DMC!
only difference is dante looks different.
but 1 so what?
and 2 of course he does, he has to this is suppose to take part as he was a teenager not a older grump.
ive always wanted a game prequel the DMC series and showing how dante became dante.
now we finally get to see it!
Ghost250

@nick the core gameplay is changed, its way too slow to be DMC game, another thing is that its running at 30FPS which makes even more dumbed down when compared to 60FPS that DMC 1-4 was at, plus DMC3 is when dante is a teen and another thing DMC3 is the prequel game to the series showing how dante became dante so there really is no need to make another prequel especially when this game isn’t part of the true DMC series its just some bastard child is what it really is. so i honestly don’t see what the point your trying to make here
Joshua Tompkins

@Ghost
It is their vision and we have to accept it for what it is. They shouldn’t change it because the fans have a problem with it. It is what they see artistically for the series, and we should just appreciate that.
Ghost250

@Joshua Tompkins nope don’t have to accept it just won’t buy it simple. plus this goes deeper than ninja theorys vision, my problem is with capcom and thats all im going to elaborate on. this isn’t no stupid ending crying here at least mass effect stayed true to what it really is. an ending to a game is nothing to what capcom are doing to DmC. simple as that
Joshua Tompkins

That is the problem ghost. Mass Effect did not stay true to what it is. The reason people are pissed about the ending is that all of the hype that Bioware built over three games about making your decisions, and importing your character and decisions to the next game where those decisions would affect not only the happenings of the game, but also the ending was destroyed by that one single ending. The decisions that people spent countless hours choosing became pointless at the end of the game and made the game no longer Mass Effect. The name of the game has a double meaning. Mass effect is the growth of consequences from choices you make throughout the game and once they took that consequence away at the end of the game, it no longer was Mass Effect. That is why people are pissed. Know a little about the game before you make assumptions about fanboys being angry.
Ghost250

@Joshua Tompkins BioWare didn’t change the overall gameplay, they didn’t change the character into something its not nor did they change the whole mythos than what it used to be. i said fans that are mad at a ending need to get over it, im not here complaining about DmC am i? no im not i’m correcting someone who thinks the gameplay is the same as the originals.its not an assumption anyone thats a fan or with eyes for that matter can see what they changed about the game compared to the other ones. so please know what your talking about before you comment back.
Joshua Tompkins

But they changed the game and the core storytelling mechanic into something else and that is like making a bastardized version of Mass Effect. If you ask anyone, they do not play it for the gameplay because, lets be honest, it is not that great. It works well, but nothing revolutionary. It is the story telling and choice making that makes Mass Effect, well Mass Effect. Don’t act like you have not complained about DMC. When it was first announced, you were in every post talking about how the dev. has ruined it and they need to go back to the way it was. It is the same thing Mass Effect players are doing. I personally was okay with the ending of Mass Effect 3, but for hardcore fans that play nothing but Mass Effect because they like the story telling, they have every right to be angry with the straight up spit in the face ending that they got.
Ghost250

they didn’t change the core story mechanic, what they really did is screw you fans out of endings which they are probably gonna release it as DLC anyways. now for the DmC thing. i was voicing my opinion at that time, but i wasn’t there for three weeks complaining about, i said my two cents and that was it. there is no need for to waste my time complaining about something when its pretty obvious its not changing. unlike most people i vote with my wallet if don’t like something i don’t buy it, if Mass Effect fans feel that bad about don’t buy the next game simple.
Joshua Tompkins

They are taking it a step further and getting their money back. lol.
Ghost250

lolololol thats even better.
Joshua Tompkins

I will not be getting this dmc. I will rent it because I have gamefly and already pay for it monthly. If I did not have gamefly, I would not even spend money renting it. I rented Ninja Gaiden 3 because they are doing the same as Ninja Theory. Every developer is disappointing me lately.
Ghost250

i stopped playing ninja gaiden after the side scroller ones, but from what i heard they casualized NG3. i’m guessing igataki left cause Team Ninja wanted to go a different direction which is a shame. my problem with devs is that they try to make their games into something their not. its like everyone is trying to be COD.
Joshua Tompkins

Casualized is an understatement. there is only 1 weapon, which not even upgradable, your health regens after each fight, you either use your ninpo in the fight or lose it after that wave of enemies and all you have to do to beat the game is constantly push one button and dodge every now and then. There are also constant quick time events. It is horrible. What pisses me off about the weapons is that you fight a boss later on in the game that uses all of the weapons from the last games. so you know they already programmed them into the game. They said you will get them weapons through paid dlc. Screw that.