Capcom director Shinji Mikami is celebrating its 30th anniversary in the video game industry this year. On the occasion of this special occasion, he has done a long interview with Variety to discuss everything related to his long professional career.
For one section, reflect Resident Evil 4, which, as you may recall, was originally exclusive to Nintendo’s GameCube. Prior to the game’s release, Capcom signed an agreement with Nintendo, and the reason behind this was supposedly due to its own concern for the video game industry at the time.
Mikami explained how worried he was that Sony “could only go back to what they’re good at and what they’re known for” if the PlayStation 2 didn’t work. Apparently, he felt the same about Microsoft and its original Xbox. This left him with only one option:
“At the time, I was thinking,‘ Well, Nintendo might be the only one left in the future that would have games for people, not just for kids, but for adults as well. That was the thought at the time. “
He admits he was wrong, “with Sony up to its fifth version of PlayStation console and Microsoft in its fourth iteration of Xbox hardware.
Mikami, as you may have heard before, was also firm at the time about keeping Resident Evil 4 exclusive to Nintendo, when talks began about transporting it to other platforms. He even launched his work at one stage:
“I remember Capcom president Tsujimoto Kenzo-san calling me and asking,‘ Will we really not launch on other platforms? “And I had to say, ‘Well, if you want to do this, you can do it, but first you have to fire me.'”
In the end, he realizes that the cross-platform launch paid off; the game sold 10 million copies during its lifetime. If all this has made you want some Resident Evil 4, it will be available for download from Switch eShop.