The Rise and Fall of Dino Crisis

[Music] thank you [Music] [Music] Capcom published the Shinji makami at takuro fujiwara created Resident Evil for the original PlayStation in 1996 lighting the way for survival horror as a genre and reinvigorating interest in Zombies across popular culture several sequels and spin-offs followed in the wake of its meteoric success and though makami produced each one his Hands-On involvement in the franchise's day-to-day development significantly reduced after the release of Resident Evil 2 in 1998. such a pivot gave the Visionary room to lead production on Dino Crisis another tension-filled adventure That Shook survival horror to its core makami set his sights on a sub-level of the horror Spectrum however conceptualizing the Panic horror sub-genre to differentiate resident Evil's Fear Factor from that of Dino Crisis like its Undead enemies the Zombie series induced Terror slowly evoking tension at a plotting pace which allowed players time to escape hide and gather their thoughts Dino Crisis permitted no such reprieve its prehistoric antagonists proving faster stronger and smarter than the average Resident Evil foe this change in Tempo along with the introduction of a 3D engine began a winning recipe one that turned Dino Crisis into capcom's next big franchise naturally sequels were pursued and developed many would contend Dino Crisis 2 stood Head and Shoulders above its predecessor others were unconvinced reverence for the dyno crisis follow-up entries effectively stopped there with most fans harboring no love for titles such as Dino Crisis 3. worst still the Brand's dormancy following the third Mainline outing suggested Capcom struggled with how best to bring its digital dinosaurs back from Extinction this is the rise and fall of Dino Crisis foreign Studio 4 entered development on the project that later became Dino Crisis in 1996 reportedly mapping out plans for a jungle-based experience wherein players would bump heads with wild animals like apes and reptiles production hit a standstill in early 1997 when Capcom reassigned much of its would-be Dyno crisis team to assist with Resident Evil 2's final stretch the sequel internally dubbed Resident Evil 1.5 originally bore a May 1997 deadline yet even the extra help couldn't Salvage the project in time as a result re2 fell apart culminating in a late development reboot defined by widespread changes and a greater emphasis on dramatic presentation to say the zombie Sequel and its predecessor profoundly influenced the making of Dino Crisis would be an understatement the publisher placed Shu takumi in charge as director on Dino Crisis though the developer himself later admitted he knew not what the role entailed unsurprisingly takumi's inexperience often left the crew in a state of disarray Shinji makami represented the remedy coming on board later in development to take over as director while Capcom demoted to Kumi to planner makami most notably introduced the dinosaur concept telling PlayStation magazine for its May 1999 issue that he believed the extinct creatures made for compelling opponents in a modern day setting in addition dinosaurs allowed for the exploration of Humanity's primordial fear since their minds and her workings remain alien to mankind depicting the ferocity of dinosaurs and Dino Crisis thus became a top priority the team accomplished as much by deeply considering how the creatures and players reacted to one another in game whereas outrunning or hiding from zombies and Resident Evil proved a viable gameplay tactic Dino Crisis predatory enemies gave Chase and could even bulldoze their way through locked doors enter the Panic part of Shinji makami's Panic horror conceit which revolved around evoking constant fright thanks to the quickness and intelligence of enemies naturally these themes informed the minute-to-minute action forcing developers to rethink how players defended themselves for example since some dinosaurs would realistically absorb more damage than others it made sense that a barrage of gunfire attacks often did little to whittle away at their health but constant roadblocks did not beget a gratifying gaming experience the team found makami figured the smartest approach resided in giving players the ability to knock dinosaurs out with tranquilizer darts this gameplay mechanic effectively introduced another layer of panic given uncertainties about how long subdued beasts would stay out of commission developers intensify the general unease by implementing injuries as a survival element in addition to the ammo scarcity feature from Resident Evil dinosaur bites and other physical ailments could cause a bleeding effect that if untreated steadily diminished protagonist Regina's health over time any blood that soaked the floor attracted nearby enemies too turning Regina into easy prey if users found themselves unable to manage her health speaking with Edge magazine ahead of release makami pondered the possibility of the bleeding status killing players should they fail to heal before the health meter hit zero yet he wasn't convinced of the future's practicality evidenced by its absence in the final product as opposed to killing Regina then the untreated bleeding effect depleted her health to one HP plenty of other proposed ideas fell by the wayside during production quite a few of them due to Hardware limitations I don't think these guards hit anything before getting sliced and diced people's earliest installments famously operated with a fixed camera and two-dimensional backgrounds these design decisions worked in the franchise's favor considering the relatively primitive Hardware of the day but Shinji makami and Company had little interest in simply retreading old ground thus the team built a custom 3D engine for Dino Crisis making way for a fully polygonal 3D game World the new technology and real-time environment Supply Dyno crisis with seamless camera transitions higher quality action and a cinematic presentation arguably absent from Resident Evil at the time Production Studio for developers even managed to push the envelope in terms of graphical Fidelity and animation lacking a genuine frame of reference for dinosaur Behavior their crew studied animals like lions and tigers to craft enemy movements in game especially homing in on their innate tendency to attack whatever they deemed as prey in particular animation showing dino crisis's raptor-esque dinosaur mauling the protagonist were influenced by what makami described as the biting actions of dogs and crocodiles creature AI Behavior similarly took inspiration from everyday animals yet the deficiencies of the PlayStation 1's Hardware Forrest makami to make concessions regarding his plans for smarter artificial intelligence the director spoke briefly of his hopes for the Dino Crisis piece in an edge interview waxing poetic about initial plans to ensure each dinosaur possessed unique AI code had things gone makami's way instead of preset actions the deadly creatures would have read into player Behavior enough to choose alternate paths and perform Ambush Maneuvers Hardware limitations hampered sound and visual design as well makami noted in a sit-down with gamepro that the ps1's inner workings made his ambitious vision for Dino Crisis difficult to attain specifically with respect to the player character dinosaurs and backgrounds he argued that while the console still had enough juice left to produce truly great experiences the Sony branded technology was showing its age in a way that adversely impacted game development a jungle scene fell to The Cutting Room floor during production because of unspecified technological shortcomings for instance ultimately hardware-induced restrictions proved more of a blessing than a curse shoe takumi who served as director before makami told reset era moderator jaw muncher that technological impediments informed much of Dino Crisis survival horror design because the entirely 3D World negated the use of some action-oriented gameplay mechanics according to takumi cutting corners on the technical front also explained why only a select number of dinosaurs appeared on screen which developers rectified by amplifying the overall challenge makama echoed this sentiment in a PlayStation magazine interview divulging the Studio's goal of implementing only key dinosaurs to emphasize the quality of design overheading a menagerie of the Mesozoic Era reptiles the game's critical and Commercial Success validated these decisions tenfold makami purposely avoided sharing too many details about Dino Crisis during the pre-release period wary of ruining the experience for players prospective buyers were thus told the bare minimum about the narrative that special forces members tasked with finding scientist Dr Kirk at a secret Island research facility would come face to face with the unlikelist of creatures while the survival horror titles Jurassic Park and alien influences Drew players in along with its obvious Resident Evil trappings what kept them invested was distinctly Dino Crisis from The Cinematic camera perspective and gameplay controls to the Eerie setting and dinosaur encounters capcom's Panic horror Adventure constantly proved itself worthy of High Praise which it received in Spades and the captivating red-haired protagonist designed as such to stand out from the rest of the cast came across as plenty intriguing in her own right despite makami's misgivings critics and players generally felt the enemy Ai and sound design Rose to the occasion too the sound effects especially work their magic whenever the fixed camera managed to disappoint compensating for instances where foes were only heard instead of seen and while the threadbare story left much to be desired the unique qualities of Dino Crisis namely the dinosaur antagonists guaranteed Capcom had an instant hit on its hands upon the game's July 1999 release on PlayStation as such the story Japanese publisher didn't waste any time capitalizing on the success of the new horror class Dino Crisis surpassed 800 000 units sold in Japan Alone by December 1999. with Resident Evil 3 Nemesis and Resident Evil Code Veronica launching in September 1999 and February 2000 respectively it became abundantly clear that Capcom had cornered the survival horror market and board no intention of seeding ground to its competitors however as opposed to doubling down on the already tried and true Resident Evil formula for Dino Crisis 2. Capcom developers used the sequel to shift Direction and raise the bar even further they did so with Shu takumi returning to take another stab at captaining the ship tsukumi spearheaded much of the original entry before his demotion to planner once disclosing that Shinji makami came in as a Mr Fixit type figure later in production but even as a planner tsakumi played an integral role in the fabric of the experience notably designing all of his puzzles and leading the charge on stages in the first half still well over a decade after the sequel's release takumi admitted he couldn't pinpoint why Capcom named him director on Dino Crisis 2. he took the assignment in stride nonetheless reflecting on past mistakes to improve upon his way of working and thinking it also helped that he was tasked with directing a follow-up to a previously established IP yet that didn't mean takumi and the crew at Capcom Production Studio 4 had any intention of playing his safe although the switch to a fully 3D game World benefited Dino Crisis on many fronts Dino Crisis 2 Revisited the static 2D backgrounds that shaped the haunted Halls of Resident Evil the production crew deemed the inclusion of pre-rendered Graphics necessary to accomplish certain technical Feats such as increasing the number of dinosaurs that could appear on screen expanding the enemy count enabled more action-oriented fare further bolstered by a faster combo-based combat system consequently ammo conservation and other crucial survival focused mechanics from the first installment received the ax puzzles lost favor heading into the sequel as well due to Dino Crisis feedback that labeled them too challenging in short Capcom left behind touchstones that slowed the pace of progression where Dino Crisis as survival elements encourage the methodical approach to Dinosaur encounters because of scant supplies the second game's reward field combo system enticed players to charge in guns blazing the title awarded points for every dinosaur kill with successive victories and a short span of time equating to more points earned as combo points stacked offending dinosaurs grew increasingly hostile the chaos heightened by sizable groups of the Prehistoric Beasts all attacking at once most significantly players could spend their accrued points at terminals replete with ammunition weapons and medical supplies this inventive gameplay Loop both challenged and rewarded those who played aggressively and though the combo chain concept served as a precursor to similar mechanics in capcom's Devil May Cry and Resident Evil 4 Ventures Shu takumi lamented that it largely went under-appreciated the server leather odds and ends complemented the action-oriented additions to Dino Crisis 2. the ability to simultaneously run and shoot constituted one example as did the inclusion of backpedaling animations game-changing advancements which came in handy for dealing with larger groups of enemies dual wielding weapons entered the mix too introducing yet another intricate level to the revised combat mechanics however one of the most transformative changes manifested in the form of a second playable hero named Dylan Morton a tactical reconnoitering and acquisition team operative possessing gears similar to returning heroin Regina a fair few differences separated each character's gameplay style for instance only Regina could access electronic locks thanks to a stun gun meanwhile Dylan's machete represented the only tool capable of tearing through Vine covered walls and given the threat the pair faced throughout Dyno crisis too special tools felt like a necessity more often than not independent developer Flagship whose employees joined capcom's main studio in 2007 penned the script for Dino Crisis 2 building upon the original as the government's continued tinkering with third energy experiments engendered time ruptures transporting a research facility to another historical period Capcom announced the new adventure in December 1999 not six months after the original hit store shelves the action-packed follow-up launched in September 2000 to higher critical praise than its predecessor with reviewers and players alike deeming it among the most satisfying third-person Shooters available Dino Crisis 2's visual presentation garnered much Acclaim the animation for human characters and dinosaurs having improved since the first installment a stunning number of graphical details stood out as well including blood trails and visible dinosaur wounds the quality of the franchise is already incredible audio design had also increased evident in subtle differences between the sounds emitted by footsteps on various surfaces few would challenge the belief that Dino Crisis 2 raise the bar for third-person action fewer still truly appreciated it Capcom deployed the title exclusively on Playstation 1 in September 2000 seven months after the PS2 launched in Japan and only weeks ahead of the new console's North American debut thus while Dino crisis's sophomore effort warranted consideration as the most graphically impressive PS1 experience its proximity to the game-changing sixth console generation meant it quickly slipped from the memory of the masses Dino Crisis 2 sold about half as many worldwide units as the original makami-led title as of December 31st 2008 the first game had moved 2.4 million copies whereas the sequel sales Milestone topped off at 1.19 million Capcom evidently believed in the franchise enough to Greenlight a third Mainland entry which had unveiled as an XBox exclusive during Microsoft's E3 2001 conference scant details shared in a press release promised Dino Crisis 3 would take full advantage of the Xbox's processing power neither hide nor hair of the project would surface for the next year and change though in its absence the Japanese publisher revealed and shipped another prehistoric era Adventure the tacit link between Dino Crisis and Resident Evil came full circle with the light gun game Dino stalker the third effort in Resident Evil's gun Survivor offshoot series while the first person shooter bore the title of gun Survivor 3 Dino Crisis in Japan capcom's preeminent survival horror franchises still lacked any real connection thus many were perplexed by Dino stalker surprise March 2002 announcement and subsequent PS2 launch in Japan North America and Europe that same year Capcom Production Studio 3 helmed the light gun Adventure the core narrative following that of the primary Dino Crisis story after a dimensional Rift in the baldinia Republic devastated the Cretaceous period's ecosystem the United States Senate enacted the Noah's Ark plan to circumvent a disaster capable of threatening humankind's creation the mission itself involved bringing creatures from the Cretaceous Era to modernity and holding them captive until their time's ecological catastrophe subsided with series protagonist Regina sitting on the sidelines Dino stalker players assume the role of United States Air Force pilot Mike wired a World War II soldier who suddenly found himself transported to the age of dinosaurs beyond the new camera perspective and lead character Dino stalker also introduced the franchise to light gun peripherals specifically namco's guncon 2 controller reviewers asserted however the shooter played best with the DualShock 2 given the guncon's frustrating control scheme dismal visuals Additionally attained the overall appeal as did its timed missions is an unrefined storytelling as the lowest rated Dino Crisis outing it should come as no surprise that Dino stalker launched to minimal Fanfare a handful of outlets played preview builds but capcom's limited marketing denoted the title's low effort production and since development related details remain vague fans and pundits have surmised that Dino stalker constituted a fast-tracked side project to compensate for Dino Crisis threes protracted gestation period continue Shinju makami served as executive producer when Dino Crisis 3 production began around 2001. the Legendary game developer even took part in the E3 announcement noting in a press release that Xbox's powerful Hardware would allow his team to create interesting software naturally Capcom had next to nothing to show out of the gate given Dino Crisis 3 then remained in the embryonic stages of development but the company outlined a few Baseline goals in those early days for one the third major installment would stake its claim on a dilapidated City overrun by dinosaurs with players leading a rescue mission to save trapped humans from a facility Under Siege secondly makami and Co planned on devising a system whereby users could team up with multiple AI controlled Partners it all sounded rather ambitious on paper and the only viable Touchstone for said plans the sole bit of proof that such ideas even existed subsisted in a single piece of imagery shared by Capcom senior managing director yoshiki okamoto during the May 2001 reveal the promotional art in question depicted humans on the street of a crumbling Metropolis duking it out with hulking dinosaurs other particulars on Earth by Reddit user Forerunner 49 hinted the original vision for Dino Crisis 3 involved a modern-day storyline set after the events of the second game this version also featured time riffs from the sequel that would have transported displaced dinosaurs to various periods throughout human history these uncorroborated details seem to follow the natural course of progression when taking Dino Crisis 2's Cliffhanger ending into account to the Chagrin of franchise faithful the originally teased project was not the Dino Crisis 3 that made it to Market Capcom never divulged specifics but the consensus posits the makami produced iteration fell out of favor after the 9 11 terrorist attacks the publisher may have considered it distasteful to ship a game set in a ruined City regardless of context and thus instructed developers to shift gears speculative though it may be this widely accepted Theory could explain Dino stalker's connection to the first two games perhaps Capcom wanted the light gun shooter to explore some of the narrative threads left dangling by the reworking of the original Dino Crisis 3. the company's presumed concerns about Optics post 911 may have also been why the final version of Dino Crisis 3 looked so radically different from previous entries after a lengthy stretch of Silence Dino Crisis 3 re-entered the spotlight at Xbox's Summer Conference in June 2002 Capcom only peeled back the curtain ever so slightly teasing an all-new Adventure aboard a constantly transforming spacecraft instead of Regina or Dylan the title starred Patrick Tyler A Space Marine equipped with a jet pack to provide a range of movement across 3D play spaces several more months passed before Capcom finally began sharing firmer details by early 2003 Dino Crisis 3 had morphed into a futuristic sci-fi romp set in the year 2548 centuries removed from the events of The Originals the narrative revolved around space agency Special Operations and reconnaissance or soar tasking Patrick with investigating a six mile long vessel the Ozymandias that appeared to materialize from thin air while the space agency thought the ship housed colonists who vanished with other Terrace 300 years prior Patrick's inspection revealed dinosaurs and the Twisted truth about their Origins the premise-born interesting enough hook even if it lacked deeper connections to Dino Crisis 1 and 2 some would contend it most notably came up short in terms of creative leads as previous stewards of the brand Shinji makami and Shu takumi were too busy to oversee production thus tetsuroyama and hiroyuki marohama took over joint directing duties despite the latter being the only director with somewhat comparable experience Capcom filled out the development crew with noteworthy Talent from different disciplines though Shinji higuchi who later directed the attack on Titan and shin Godzilla movies joined Dino Crisis 3s CGI storyboarder and Makoto kamiya the filmmaker behind Resident Evil CG films assumed the role of CGI and The Narrative of interactor higuchi's influence in particular proved instrumental according to the Dino Crisis 3 Premium fat file the ozymandia ship's transforming design Drew inspiration from the 1984 film sayonara Jupiter which higuchi worked on as a production assistant but awe-inspiring mechanical designs did not a visually appealing game make apart from striking creature designs models from compelling narrative twists Dino Crisis 3 looked rather dull by most accounts sure the high-tech futuristic setting allowed the series to explore Uncharted Territory yet the metallic Sheen coating nearly every surface of the Ozymandias turned an explorable space that should have radiated with Wonder and awe into Bland environments absent any personality and this was despite Capcom producers insisting Dino Crisis 3's Xbox exclusivity would facilitate a profound visual experience that PlayStation 2 Hardware couldn't possibly deliver a hybrid camera system and return to 3D backgrounds ensured navigating the unimaginative environments would prove as equally exhausting as looking at them as producer hiroyuki Kobayashi explained in an IGN interview the updated camera Harvard's situation-based automatic and player-controlled functions the static camera perspectives compounded the already janky jetpack controls Above All Else and often felt at Oz with Dino Crisis 3's action-based gameplay mechanics as such on top of pursuing an adventure that journeyed far off the beaten path Capcom Production Studio 4 had also developed in-game systems that rendered the third game unplayable in some respects capcom's attempts to do something wildly different from the first few titles as Kobayashi put it in a post-launch sit-down with GameSpy ultimately culminated in Dino crisis's second worst rated entry and if the critical bombing and poor user reception wasn't disastrous enough Dino Crisis 3 even failed to meet the Publisher's modest sales expectations of 580 000 copies sold across Japan Europe and the United States notably estimates indicate the title reached a milestone of approximately 400 000 units sold by the end of fiscal year 2003. the franchise once perceived as capcom's next Golden Goose had fallen from Grace with just a handful of Mainline Adventures under its belt I think we need to cool off now let's move to a safer Place one month ahead of Dino Crisis 3's June 2003 rollout on Xbox Capcom unveiled Dino Crisis dungeon and Chaos for the 505i series of cell phones the mobile Capcom developed action game launched in Winter 2003 inviting players to explore a first-person shooter as soldiers tasked with investigating another third energy experiment at a military facility unfortunately dungeon and Chaos Mark the Dino Crisis franchise's final new release the IP has laid dormant for some 20 years with Capcom occasionally shining a Beacon of Hope only for it to Blink out of existence soon thereafter while admitting the brand went off the rails and Dino Crisis 3 VP of strategic planning and Business Development Christians Fenson told IGN in a 2010 interview that Capcom hadn't ruled out the possibility of resurrecting the property yet he mentioned that though Dino Crisis discussions internally cropped up every so often neither the r d nor business side of the company knew how to reignite the flame Svenson himself argued pre-rendered backgrounds and tank control dinos were unlikely to sell well enough on Modern platforms to justify AAA budget apparently the publisher maintained this mindset for several more years Dead Rising developers who spoke to did you know gaming about the collapse of Capcom Vancouver claimed that amid concerns over a potential Studio closure throughout 2013 and 2014. the team pitched multiple reimaginings of classic IP Resident Evil X represented the first of such proposals its action-oriented event causing Capcom to reject the idea because of fan fatigue following re-6 the Vancouver outfit then advocated for Dino Crisis return putting forward a modern take that reportedly never developed beyond the pitching phase developers assume the disinterest stem from an unwillingness to invest in the costly technology necessary to bring the digital dinos back from Extinction the reveal of dinosaur battling game exoprimal during a March 2022 PlayStation state of play suggests Capcom at least understands the Market's longing for a Dino Crisis Revival franchise veteran hiroyuki kobayashi's confirmed involvement with exoprimal further insinuates the spirit of Dino Crisis will live on in a brand new IP one boasting mechs and over-the-top action instead of an emphasis on Survival horror but perhaps resident Evil's lucrative return to a survival horror Roots will embolden Capcom to revisit the panachora sub-genre that secured the original Dino Crisis a place among Gaming's most beloved yet underappreciated gems foreign [Music] we'd like to take this time to thank by name the generous patrons who have pledged to our Hall of Fame reward year Alex Moretti and those currently subscribed to our producer rewards here Brock Peabody getrek.com Kira May Landy K Hayes Mario Herrera milkshake if you enjoy our content please consider subscribing to our Channel and backing us on patreon [Music] [Music]

Channel: GVMERS

Views: 216,684

Keywords: Dino Crisis, Dino Crisis 2, Dino Crisis 3, Dino Crisis 4, Retrospective, Capcom, Resident Evil, Documentary, History, 4k, Gameplay, Reveal, Leak, Remake, Exo Planet, Turok, Exoprimal

Id: lnly1FlWWFs

Length: 28min 46sec (1726 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 21 2022