Resident Evil Mercenaries: 'One-Save' Feature Does Not Mean 'Play Once', Explains Capcom...

It has been a difficult week for the guys at Capcom. Since news about the perma-save/one save only feature included in their Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D game for the Nintendo 3DS became public knowledge, they have been busy trying to persuade the gaming community that the fact the game's save data cannot be reset does not affect the overall replay value of the game. Are they right?

 

Initial information gathered on Tuesday suggested that the perma-save function would also prevent the game from being reset back to the very beginning, meaning that the game could essentially only be played once.

However, Capcom have now begun to set the record straight on exactly how the one-save-only feature would work. According to them, the perma-save feature was added in order to give the game an intrinsically Arcade gaming feel.

According to Capcom sources, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a time-based score attack game, akin to the old 80's-style Arcade games. Players must defeat zombie hoardes in order to rack up an overall high score before the timer runs out.

As such, the game does not feature a traditional campaign mode as offered by most modern shooter games.

However, when asked to comment about whether the fact that the game's data could not be reset or deleted also meant that the game could only be played once, Capcom were quick to offer this statement:

 

"This is not true. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a non-linear experience where there is no set end to the game. It is a score attack game and progression is defined as improving upon previous high scores. Players can replay each mission as many times as they like to continually challenge themselves to improve."

[sourced from: http://www.capcom-unity.com/resident_evil/go/thread/view/7391/27944601/About_the_Save_Data_(Official)]

Capcom also responded to claims that the perma-save feature would affect trade-ins and used copies of the game by saying:

"Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D consists of 30 time-based missions, through which the player unlocks skill upgrades as they progress through the game. Anyone purchasing a copy of the game secondhand would have access to all the missions and skills that the original owner unlocked, in addition to the content that was available to the original user." [ibid.]

Nevertheless, this does not mean that trade-in prices of the game have not been affected since the news about the perma-save went public.

HMV has refused to accept trade-ins of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D when the game becomes available in the UK on Friday, over fears that customers will be disappointed with buying a game that already has all the content unlocked.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D has been dramatically reduced in price in many stores in order to get customers to purchase the game dispite its apparent low resale value.

However, the Electronics Boutique (EB Games) store in Australia has gone one step further and has actually recalled all copies of the game from its stores in protest against the perma-save feature. Speaking to Joystiq.com recently, a representative of the EB Games Facebook Group said:

"We made the tough decision to remove [the game] from sale because we have everybody's best interests in mind, and don't feel its fair that you guys would be paying $60 for what is essentially a one use game."
[Sourced from: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/29/game-retailers-go-back-and-forth-on-resident-evil-mercenaries-3/]

So, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D CAN be played more than once, allbeit with any users' highscore data and previously unlocked bonuses and weapons undeletable, which is fantastic news for those gamers who wanted to purchase the game but were afraid that the game could not be replayed or would offer very little incentive to replay the game.

Nevertheless, the inclusion of the perma-save feature still has some members of the gaming community fuming.

One of the major causes of upset amongst Resident Evil 3DS fans at the moment is that Capcom has essentially removed the right to start the game over from scratch if players wish to, which could be said to deny gamers the feeling of personal ownership over the game.

It also means that any gamer who buys this game second hand will not be able to unlock any content for themselves and will also start the game with the previous owner's highscore in place (until they can beat it), which some gamers argue is very unfair and takes away some of the core enjoyment from the game.

The 'beat your high score' type of game is most definitely reminiscent of the 1980s Arcade games, which is what Capcom claims they are trying to achieve with this game.

Could Capcom's decision to include the perma-save function be seen as a gradualistic move away from the modern campaign mode games, which tend to offer gamers a wider choice within the game and  greater customisation options than Arcade-style games. If so, then what does this mean for the future of videogames as a whole?

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is set to debut in the UK from tomorrow.

HAVE YOUR SAY:

Is the use of a Perma-Save acceptable in videogames?

Would you buy this game?

Do you agree that not being able to unlock content in used copies of the game will make Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D less appealing to gamers in the future?

Please leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts on this subject.

UK Videogame Retailers Respond To Resident Evil Perma-Save Information

Yesterday, Mini Gamers brought you the devastating news that Capcom's new Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D [3DS] game has a "ONE SAVE ONLY"feature, which means essentially that game data cannot ever be reset to its original state once the game has been completed.

The perma-save feature means that any used copies of the game are essentially unplayable as there is no way to reset the game back to its original unplayed state at all.

This means that anyone who purchases the game second-hand is essentially buying a permanently used game, as there is no way to restore the game to its original default settings and start the game over from scratch.

Today UK videogame retailers have begun announcing their plans on whether to accept used copies of the game or not.

According to gaming website VG247, retail giant HMV has now refused to take any used copies of the game in the UK. A representative said that the discision to not accept used copies of the game is to:"avoid any potential customer disappointment for those purchasing a pre-owned version". [sourced from: http://www.vg247.com/2011/06/29/hmv-to-refuse-resident-evil-mercenaries-trade-ins-in-uk/]

It is not all bad news for those UK gamers who still wish to purchase the game though. Both GAME and Gamestation has confirmed to Eurogamer that they do intend to accept and trade-in all used versions of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D and sell the game as 'pre-owned' just as with other games.

In the USA, retail giant GameStop has controversially reversed its decision to not accept trade-ins. The store originally planned to refuse trade-ins of the game but have now said that they would resume trade-ins from today.

According to IGN, a representative of the store explained: "GameStop did ask the U.S. store base to stop accepting trades on Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D as we evaluated the save system for the game...Upon further review of the process with our publisher partner, Capcom, GameStop will resume taking trades on the game effective Wednesday, June 29th."

Meanwhile, in Australia, there has been no such turnaround from the Electronics Boutique (EB) stores, who have called for all stocks of the game to be recalled from their outlets.

The gaming community has so far reacted with shock and anger over Capcom's decision to include a permanent save feature into the game. It is unclear how this decision will effect the overall sales figures of the game, but we can guess that the figures are not going to be that great.

The game is set to debut in the UK on Friday.

HAVE YOUR SAY...

What do you think? Is a game that you can only play once in its full state really worth owning even if trade-ins of the game are not affected? Please leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D: Bizzare 'One Save Only' Feature Makes Game Pointless

With only a few days to go until the UK release of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, worrying news has begun to surface on the Internet that the game's 'Save' feature contains a one-save only function - this means that the game's save data cannot be reset at all.

Resident Evil Mercenaries 3D: The game you can only play once in full...

This may not seem like much of a problem until you consider that players may not be able to trade in their copy of the game as the old save data is completely undeletable, and that the game itself can only be played through once and cannot be reset back to its original state, meaning that all unlocked items, highscores, missions and weapons remain completed and cannot be rediscovered or unlocked once the game is completed.

This means that anyone wishing to start the game over from scratch is out of luck. It also means that anyone who purchased a used copy of this game will get diminished gameplay because they will not be able to start the game from its original unplayed state.

The news comes after details of the game's instruction manual became available on several gaming websites such as Tiny Cartridge, amongst others. The screenshot below clearly shows a warning at the bottom of the page, which reads: "Note: Saved data on this software cannot be reset."

The game is undergoing an international release starting this week with Japan and Australia. However, the countries are taking different steps in the wake of the one-save-only news becoming public.

For example, in Japan, gamers are being offered the game at a very low price because of the game's low resale value, whilst (according to Australian Website, Vooks,) EB Games, a popular Australian game retailer, is banning the game from their shelves as they claim that the one-save/perma-save feature will make the game less appealing to gamers in the future.

The game was released yesterday in Australia, but is now embroiled in controversy before it has even hit the shelves, which is likely to affect Capcom's sale figures.

It is very unclear why Capcom would deliberately release a game which can only ever be played through in its entirety once, although some websites are already speculating that this move was intended to slow down second-hand sales of the game.

However, In a recent statement issued to gaming website Giantbomb, Capcom insisted that it did not take the used-game market into account when choosing the one-save feature for the game.

According to Capcom: "Secondhand game sales were not a factor in this development decision, so we hope that all our consumers will be able to enjoy the entirety of the survival-action experiences that the game does offer." [Sourced from: http://www.giantbomb.com/news/capcom-used-games-not-a-factor-in-resident-evil-the-mercenaries-3d-lacking-data-reset/3430/]

It has to be argued however that Capcom might have proverbially shot themselves in the foot with this decision. The used-game market now accounts for a large proportion of all videogame sales, how is a game which can only be played in its original state one time going to survive against a mass of games which are available for second-hand trade?

The news is likely to anger the gaming community and have a negative impact on any future sales of the game.

Let's just hope that other videogame producers don't all decide to follow Capcom's example or else the thriving videogames market that we have today is unlikely to be around for much longer...

So, what do you think, is a game that you can only fully play once and may not be able to trade-in or swap with friends really worth owning? 

Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment in our 'Comments Box' today.

STORY UPDATE: Capcom explains the perma-save/one save only feature: http://worldofminigamers.blogspot.com/2011/06/resident-evil-mercenaries-one-save.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MiniGamers+%28Mini+Gamers%29