Capcom Officially Responds to Resident Evil 3DS Controversy
Posted on June 29 2011 by Nathanial Rumphol-Janc
If you are unfamiliar with the current controversy surrounding Capcom’s Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D for the Nintendo 3DS, all you need to know is that the game doesn’t allow players to delete save data. This prevents players from selling the game second-hand.
 
After a lot of confusion regarding various reports from Gamestop stores, Campcom has released an official statement regarding the problem. It’s about time.
‘In Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, all mission progress is saved directly to the Nintendo 3DS cartridge, where it cannot be reset. The nature of the game invites high levels of replayability, encouraging fans to improve mission scores. The save mechanic ensures that both original and unlocked game content will be available to all users. Secondhand game sales were not a factor in this development decision, and we hope that all our consumers will be able to enjoy the entirety of the survival-action experiences that the game does offer. ‘
 
The idea was to have the game function like an arcade game; once certain aspects of the game were unlocked they were meant to stay unlocked.
 
The statement continues with a short Q&A
 
Q. Is it true that the game can only be played through once? 
A. No. 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. 
Q. Does the inability to reset the save game data mean that those purchasing a secondhand version of the game will have content missing? 
A. 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.
 
So if you’re interested in buying the game used, it is safe to buy. Unfortunately, you will be robbed of the original playing experience. If you don’t care about getting the chance to unlock characters and levels yourself, this isn’t an issue
 
Game developers hate second-hand games. Why shouldn’t they? They don’t profit from a gamer buying a second-hand game. I’m relieved that I can still get this game at a discount, but it’s ridiculous that Capcom didn’t make their save system clear enough before this whole debacle started.
 
Source: Wii Nintendo
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