Resident Evil 6 is due for the Xbox 360 and PS 3 in just one week. A PC version is slated for an undetermined time, but one player in the video game industry is getting no love form Capcom and its new Resident Evil game: Nintendo. Is a Wii U version of Resident Evil 6 possible?
Back in April Capcom producer Hioryuki Kobayashi stated that "Unfortunately, Resident Evil 6 will not be available at this time on the Wii U. Right now we're concentrating on the PlayStation 3 version, 360 version, and the PC version of the game." The key words are "at this time" which could imply that it may be due for Nintendo's console at a later time.
If this were a different company then there is no reason to ever doubt the words. But this is Capcom we are talking about and there is reason to wonder about Resident Evil 6 coming to the Wii U. Back when Capcom launched the remake of Resident Evil on the Nintendo Gamecube in 2002, they did it as part of an "exclusive" contract that would give Nintendo the remake, Resident Evil 0, ports of Resident Evil 2 and 3, and most importantly, Resident Evil 4. And Nintendo got all of these games, including the first version of Resident Evil 4.
But then Capcom stated that RE4 did not fall under the exclusivity deal with Nintendo and released it on the PS2 just five months after the Gamecube release.
And then the floodgates opened as Capcom shipped its best selling game to as many consoles as they possibly could. PC got a version in 2007 and then Wii got one in the same year. An iPhone and iPad version was later released and even the PS3 and Xbox 360 saw a version come in 2011.
The reason behind this was clearly money. RE 4 holds the record for the "Best Selling Horror Survival Horror Game" in the 2012 Guinness World Records' Gamer's Edition as it has sold 7.03 million units across all formats. The PS2 version is best selling version of the game with 2.2 million copies sold. If RE4 had not been such a huge success upon its initial release on the Gamecube, I doubt Capcom goes this far with the game.
RE6 is as highly anticipated as RE4 because it enters the industry in the same conditions as RE4 did. RE4 was highly anticipated because many felt that Capcom had lost its touch with the franchise and fans were desperate for a high end Resident Evil installment. It has now been seven years since Resident Evil 4's release and fans are questioning Capcom's magic yet again after a tepid reception toward the action packed Resident Evil 5.
With such high anticipation, Resident Evil 6 is likely to make a tremendous amount of initial sales as Capcom has done its part to release two demos in anticipation of the game. Fans want this game to be good and they will buy it. If the sales are strong (and they should be) there is no reason to believe that Capcom won't try and pull in the Nintendo audience.
Some will argue that Capcom has no interest in Nintendo since Resident Evil 5 was not on its last generation system. However, the Wii did not have high definition graphics and would have required a different model of the game. This was an unnecessary and time-consuming expense that Capcom was not willing to deal with and they simply ignored the Wii. Additionally, the Wii was marketed at casual gamers and was not popular with hard core gamers, the audience that Resident Evil 5 was aimed at.
But the Wii U is different. Nintendo's new system has similar graphics hardware to the PS 3 and Xbox360 and it has more storage. Nintendo also wants to market it to the hardcore gamers and has already taken steps to secure this audience. More importantly, a number of companies seem to be on board as the Nintendo console will be getting such games as "Arkham City," "Mass Effect 3," "Call of Duty Black Ops 2," and "Assassin's Creed 3." Even though these games have already been released on the PS3 and Xbox 360, the companies behind them obviously feel that the Wii U is a viable market for their products and have decided to bring the Nintendo fans into the fold. Better late than never seems to be their modus operandi. And why shouldn't the same hold true for Capcom? The 2007 Wii version of Re4 sold more than the 2005 Gamecube version, meaning that Nintendo owners are still very interested in Resident Evil games.
It may not be soon, but given their history with ports, it would be unrealistic for Capcom to ignore millions of Nintendo fans with their latest Resident Evil.
For more coverage on Resident Evil 6 Click the links below.
Watch the Tokyo Game Show Trailer HERE.
Read Critics Reviews for the Demo HERE.
Read/Watch Conan O'Brien's Review of Resident Evil 6 HERE.
Read about Resident Evil 6 Rumors HERE.
Read on the First Review of Resident Evil 6 HERE.
Read about Tasks and Achievements HERE.
Read about the Xbox Multiplayer Modes HERE.
Read about the release date information HERE.
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