In this latest interview on GamesOnDeck, we talk to Midori Yuasa, President of Capcom Mobile, about the company's history, future plans, and its choice to develop all titles for the US market in-house in North America.
GamesOnDeck: Why did Capcom decide get into the mobile space?
Midori Yuasa: Capcom has been producing high quality mobile games in Japan for several years now, although until recently we weren't able to bring those games to the States since handset technology in the U.S. tended to lag behind Japanese handsets. However, eighteen months ago we determined that hardware had advanced to the point where we could publish titles worthy of the Capcom name. Additionally, we felt that the market had matured to the point where it made sense to enter.
GOD: Can you explain Capcom Mobile's history?
MY: The company was officially founded in November of ‘05 and we maintain offices in Los Angeles and Burlington, Ontario. In June of '06 we acquired mobile publisher/developer Cosmic Infinity and created our own internal development studio. To date we have published more than ten titles including such games as Mega Man, Ghost n' Goblins, 1942, Resident: Evil the Missions, ESPN Poker Club, Millionaire '07, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Lost Planet: Trag Zero across all major North American carriers.
Lost Planet: Trag Zero
GOD: Since the acquisition of Cosmic Infinity, all of the development has been in-house. Has there been a particular reason to develop all your mobile titles in-house?
MY: By developing in-house we are better able to maintain quality control and ensure that the titles we publish maintain Capcom's high standards. Additionally, having an in house studio gives us certain competitive advantages when it comes to deployment and back filling handsets.
GOD: Many of Capcom's action games have very deep controls, such as Street Fighter II or Lost Planet. How do you try to translate these titles authentically to the handheld systems?
MY: When we bring an existing Capcom IP to mobile we migrate those elements that define the brand, while revising the controls to make the experience fun and fully playable. In the case of Lost Planet this meant that we incorporated thermal energy, VS suits and Akrids into the game, but altered the perspective and incorporated auto targeting to make it playable on a phone. In the case of Resident Evil: The Missions we divided the original Playstation game into 100 mini missions. These missions had many of the creatures, characters, locations and weapons of the console version, so it truly felt like a Resident Evil game.
Resident Evil: The Missions
