Pushed to the Edge #11: Birth, Death, and Resurrection

No Leaf Clover

Last weeks' closing of Clover Studios should be seen as an indication of the further corporatization of game development. The studio was Capcom's creative jewel, a collective that built games as much on artistic content as commercial potential. Viewtiful Joe put them on the map, but Okami, one of the most beautiful games to hit the PS2 or any console, was their crowning achievement. The rigors of scheduling mean that Okami wasn't the studio's swan song -- that was the modestly entertaining and goofy God Hand.

Okami may be some kind of masterpiece, but Clover's cumulative work wasn't a resounding success. While Viewtiful Joe surprised players and critics and was strong enough to launch a franchise, the series was allowed to stagnate over the course of sequels and handheld spinoffs.

And so the studio was killed just like that loudmouth Japanese ganglord in Kill Bill -- at a board meeting. The studio meant to "inspire the future of gaming" has no future, and barely any past, as the doors will officially close at the end of March 2007 after three years of work.

Dead Rising Dead Rising

This is the depressing official word: "Clover Studio Co., Ltd. has met the goal of developing unique and creative original home video game software, however, in view of promoting a business strategy that concentrates management resources on a selected business to enhance the efficiency of the development power of the entire Capcom group, the dissolution of Clover Studios Co., Ltd. has been raised and passed."

In other words: nice try guys, but make some money next time, eh? Capcom has been dogged by dire financial circumstance since it filed a $163M loss in 2003. Resident Evil 4 aside, it hasn't had a big seller in far too long. You've got to wonder if it's the main marketing department that should get the boot -- how can games like Dead Rising and Okami not be total blockbusters?

Over at his Game|Life blog on Wired, Chris Kohler claims that a confidential source has stated that key minds at Clover intend not to disappear or be folded into Capcom, but to found an independent studio, hopefully to produce the sort of content hinted at by Clover's best games.

But it's not all depressing news signaling the death of creativity in games, because in California, Telltale Games is doing what some say can't be done: raising the dead.