What the Hell is happening with DmC?

[Chaos Raiden]

http://www.made2game.com/xbox-360/dmc-devil-may-cry-another-dante-new-look/attachment/banner_dmc/

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With Capcom’s annual showcase event, Captivate, just around the corner, Ellis Covington ponders as to whether or not we’ll see a new-look Dante make an appearance.


The 15th of September 2010 is a day that will live in infamy for the fans of certain silver-haired demon fighter. Gamers across the world had been waiting since early 2008 for some whisper of a new Devil May Cry game. In the lead up to the Tokyo Game Show, Capcom had been coyly leaving hints and teasers of an announcement to sate their appetite. Speculation was wild over the involvement of the talented UK studio, Ninja Theory

When Capcom and Ninja Theory finally gave the gaming world their new vision for Dante and the Devil May Cry universe, the Internet went bananas. And not in a good way. The reason? This:

http://www.made2game.com/xbox-360/d...ante-new-look/attachment/devil-may-cry-dante/

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A quick view on any message board relating to DMC: Devil May Cry and you’ll quickly realise that poor Dante’s sullen teenage look is not a fan favourite. If Internet jibes could bruise then the above picture is a good representation of the kind of state Dante would be in. Among other things, he’s been called ‘Emo’, ‘Crack Whore’ and ‘Failed J-pop Visual Kei band member’. With comments being almost universally negative, is there a chance that fan reaction could cause a change of heart in the developers and return Dante to something more like his former self?

http://www.made2game.com/xbox-360/d...ook/attachment/tgs_trailer_screengrabs_023-2/​

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Will Ninja Theory call in Gok Wan to give Dante a makeover? Actually, Trinny and Susannah might be a better bet...

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It’s certainly possible. Game developers often go through several designs of their characters before settling on one that they like. This is most evident for new characters and games but sometimes even existing characters can get a visual change mid-development. This is often very tricky for developers to accomplish, as fans get attached to certain looks and styles and it can often be difficult to sway their opinion with anything new.

You only need to read some of the forum hoo-hah from last year over the redesign of Infamous 2’s main man, Cole McGrath. Fans took an instant dislike to his new hairy, tattooed look and pretty much forced developers Sucker Punch to revert back to (or at least compromise on) Cole’s previous look. Perhaps Ninja Theory will do something similar with Dmc: Devil May Cry.

It is also worth noting that all we have seen of DmC so far is a promo trailer, a few posed screens and some character concepts. The game itself is still very much in development so nothing is yet finalised. There is still plenty of time to decide to change the look or feel of the game, and indeed the main character. In fact we’d suggest that this decision will already have been made following the initial backlash.

It’s common enough for games to evolve and change nearer to release date. One of the most drastic changes can be seen by comparing the original Borderlands trailers to the finished article. The shift from a ‘serious’ and realistic looking desert world to a cartoony and humorous one took a lot by surprise. The fans didn’t like that one either, but I think most can agree that Borderlands turned out pretty well.

In the end though the decision will come down to Ninja Theory and Capcom and how concerned they are about the wailing and gnashing of teeth at the game’s announcement. It was the plan all along for them to come up with a completely new design in order to distinguish DmC from its franchise stablemates. As DmC: Devil May Cry features an original story, Dante will also have to look younger, and he was never the oldest looking character in video game history anyway.

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Lie back and think of boffing Buffy all you like, sunshine, she's too cool to go with someone who smokes. Er, apart from Spike.​

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A teenage demon hunter in a modern city setting may not sit well but there was not much further for Dante to go in his old guise, in my opinion. The designers even admitted to expecting fan backlash and the possibility of using this to generate discussion and awareness.

The current feeling we get is that that the new Dante is here to stay. In just a few days Capcom will stage their regular Captivate press event. Expectations are for some pretty hefty reveals from the company so here’s hoping we get to see some more of DmC: Devil May Cry plus confirmation that he no longer has that ridiculous chest strap and has given up the fags.

Words: Ellis Covington

Source: http://www.made2game.com/xbox-360/dmc-devil-may-cry-another-dante-new-look/

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

Hey, I'm glad they're not changing his design. That would just prove that they're willing to bend to the fan's demands and the fans would slowly demand more and more.

 

[Darth Angelo]

Hey, I'm glad they're not changing his design. That would just prove that they're willing to bend to the fan's demands and the fans would slowly demand more and more.

Exactly, no matter how the game turns out now I at least have a bit more admiration and respect towards Capcom for being ballsy enough to take a leap of faith with something they want to do apart from just desperatly looking to the past and trying to recreate what has been succcessful with fans. For that reason alone I am willing to give it a fair chance as the former was what I was dreading the most.

 

[aka958]

Hey, I'm glad they're not changing his design. That would just prove that they're willing to bend to the fan's demands and the fans would slowly demand more and more.

But it's a game for the fans either way. A game made just for fan service is known as one of the best amongst the ones who are fans.
That would just prove that they are willing to try and please more of the crowd instead of ****ing of one half and please the other.

Really, if they just changed his design to a more Dante-looking image I'd be a little more okay with it, even consider buying it. I bet many others would think so as well, and you others?
Would you DT, or you Darth not wanting to buy this game if the main character had a more Dante-looking image?
If not, then what's there to lose if Capcom does change the design?
I thought being a game company was about milking the cash, making a drastic move likes this displeases most of their main fanbase, I can't understand it fully other than they just don't want those fans and want to try to go mainstream like most other popular games. Not that I understand how that kind of setting in a game is mainstream nowadays I am still very biased in my ways of liking it.

So I'm just guessing that Capcom just wants to give their old fans the finger and try out a more "popular" game style, with Ninja Theory as their meatshield if it would get bad feedback.

Changing his design would maybe give the game setting an undesireable setting, but they could still make him look like Dante but still hold that rough style of his. So, what's there to lose DT? Why shouldn't a game company listen to their fans?

 

[Darth Angelo]

Personally the way he looks doesn't really bother me either way, change him back, keep him the same whatever to me Dante carries more on his character than style and appearence even when he was wearing cowboy boots and chaps I wasn't really taking any notice. That said the new look seems be go hand in hand with the changes they will be making to his character and the world he is living in which I am fine with atm.
My biggest fear was always that they kept his character the same as in 3 and 4 with an "if it aint broke" approach, kicked Nero out because the fans didn't like him as much as Vergil who would come back to life (possibly through Nero with a "kill 2 birds with 1 stone attitude") as a Liquid Snake-esqe rival until the very end of the series.

Although this is far from what I was expecting the fact that it is not the above pleased me enough to let all the changes and sacrifices slide.

 

[aka958]

Personally the way he looks doesn't really bother me either way, change him back, keep him the same whatever to me Dante carries more on his character than style and appearence even when he was wearing cowboy boots and chaps I wasn't really taking any notice. That said the new look seems be go hand in hand with the changes they will be making to his character and the world he is living in which I am fine with atm.
My biggest fear was always that they kept his character the same as in 3 and 4 with an "if it aint broke" approach, kicked Nero out because the fans didn't like him as much as Vergil who would come back to life (possibly through Nero with a "kill 2 birds with 1 stone attitude") as a Liquid Snake-esqe rival until the very end of the series.

Although this is far from what I was expecting the fact that it is not the above pleased me enough to let all the changes and sacrifices slide.

Exactly, but you weren't one of the fans disappointed. There still are those who are, like a very big part of the fanbase. Which my argument still stands there, you don't seem to care at all if they change his looks. Now, does DT think the same?

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

I agree with Darth and have nothing to add further.

 

[V's patron]

I wouldn't want them to completely change it back because that would undermine their authority this late in the game. I'd rather they re-tweak it because even thought i don't mind the design, i cant tell its Dante. So just make him look more like how Dante would look like at that age without fully replicating the look from the last games at the beginning at least. We are suppose to see how this Dante becomes Dante.
The main problem with using infamous as a comparison is that i found the infamous fans to be bitching because sucker punch did redesign Cole but they kept what made Cole, Cole and not make him a Nathan drake douche wannabe like everyone thought he was. Besides they gave a credible reason for the change.
I also have a friend who hated Dante's old design because he thought he looked metrosexual and like a jpopstar but thats neither here nor there.

 

[aka958]

I agree with Darth and have nothing to add further.

Then I wonder, why are you glad that they don't try to please as many as possible?

 

[Lili Rochefort]

well I like the old Dante better but I think if you aren't satisfied with his appearance you can be satisfied with the story... or maybe gameplay.... I don't know... but I thing it must have a really cool story!

 

[V's patron]

Then I wonder, why are you glad that they don't try to please as many as possible?

Because everyone is bitter to each other.

 

[aka958]

Because everyone is bitter to each other.

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What, you are Storm Silves?

And what do you mean everyone is bitter to each other? I don't get it. >.<
If a change doesn't matter to you, how can you possibly be happy if they don't try to please as many as possible with that change? You should be completely neutral on the subject if that was the case. Not directed at you as in you Z218, but you as in you in general.

If you are somehow biased, why? It's so selfish to think like that it's not even selfish, since you don't care but still you don't want them to change. Either that or you... sorry to say this, lie. Then you must actually not want the change as you like it how it is already.

 

[aoshi]

I think capcom are trying to toughen up dante from vanilla-looking to a bad ass of current generation.After all the game is directed at a mature audience.

If the gameplot demands dante to smoke,then its fine afterall he jus a video-game character targeted at an audience over 18.I think we need to wait till "captivate" to hear from capcom.

 

[aka958]

I think capcom are trying to toughen up dante from vanilla-looking to a bad ass of current generation.After all the game is directed at a mature audience.

If the gameplot demands dante to smoke,then its fine afterall he jus a video-game character targeted at an audience over 18.I think we need to wait till "captivate" to hear from capcom.

Vanilla-looking?

I don't know about you but I thought the previous Dante looked alot more badass than this version. In my opinion this version does look like a person who've had it rough and got some street experience. But couldn't that still be made without changing his looks completely? D:

 

[Esura]

I think capcom are trying to toughen up dante from vanilla-looking to a bad ass of current generation.After all the game is directed at a mature audience.

DMC games have always been aimed at mature audiences.

And did you just call OG Dante "vanilla-looking"? After seeing the redesign? Wow. If they wanted Dante to look more bad ass than he originally looked, they already failed. And its not even about the hair either, as I think black hair wouldn't be bad.

I wish they designed new Dante more like this instead of the Twilight-esque smack we got...

Pictures of Jackie Estacado from The Darkness

 

[aka958]

DMC games have always been aimed at mature audiences.

And did you just call OG Dante "vanilla-looking"? After seeing the redesign? Wow. If they wanted Dante to look more bad ass than he originally looked, they already failed. And its not even about the hair either, as I think black hair wouldn't be bad.

I wish they designed new Dante more like this instead of the Twilight-esque smack we got...

Pictures of Jackie Estacado from The Darkness

Now I've got to agree, THAT is badass!
Still, they could keep Dante in DmC Dante looking. After seeing the Dante in the DmC trailer I could immediatly say "That is now how Dante looks". I mean I just don't think he looks like a Dante. General speaking that is, but still just imo.

 

[V's patron]

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What, you are Storm Silves?

And what do you mean everyone is bitter to each other? I don't get it. >.<
If a change doesn't matter to you, how can you possibly be happy if they don't try to please as many as possible with that change? You should be completely neutral on the subject if that was the case. Not directed at you as in you Z218, but you as in you in general.

If you are somehow biased, why? It's so selfish to think like that it's not even selfish, since you don't care but still you don't want them to change. Either that or you... sorry to say this, lie. Then you must actually not want the change as you like it how it is already.

this is slightly disconcerting but I'll try and answer your question.

I mean that by this point in time, we have been arguing with each other over viewpoints and items of interest that have so little information to back any point of view so we are essentially nitpicking. We are mostly projecting what we want or feel or desire instead of looking at the game for what it gives.

So we are basically just like a group of fangirl shippers from a shounen anime fighting each other over shippings that are barely developed and not even hinted. For example, If the character sasuke from the manga naruto goes over to a character named Hinata's house and use her bathroom, then automatically a shipping is formed.

And so now we are in a way all just tired and bitter at each other because we have so little to go on.

 

[Darth Angelo]

Still, they could keep Dante in DmC Dante looking. After seeing the Dante in the DmC trailer I could immediatly say "That is now how Dante looks". I mean I just don't think he looks like a Dante. General speaking that is, but still just imo.

Maybe they want him to look like a Tony, maybe thats where they are going with this who knows.

You can't really put an image to the name Dante only personally associate the name to Dante to the videogame character with white hair as a template for the name Dante. And now they have taken away his most distinguishing feature, his white hair. It's understandable that a lot of people feel that his identity has been torn down as well.

As neutral as I am on the issue at the moment I am most certainly not neutral on the idea of screwing with more than his hair, before the announcement the chances of getting a more vulnerable, down to earth and gritty Dante felt slim to none but boy was I clinging to that slim hope. If they backpedal on his appearence (even the slightest thing) for the fans, they may as well backpedal on everything and I fear it will snowball because I don't think the people who are unhappy with DmC will ever be happy until everything is back to normal. I would rather they stayed strong and powered through with wherever they are takng this.

 

[aka958]

Maybe they want him to look like a Tony, maybe thats where they are going with this who knows.

You can't really put an image to the name Dante only personally associate the name to Dante to the videogame character with white hair as a template for the name Dante. And now they have taken away his most distinguishing feature, his white hair. It's understandable that a lot of people feel that his identity has been torn down as well.

As neutral as I am on the issue at the moment I am most certainly not neutral on the idea of screwing with more than his hair, before the announcement the chances of getting a more vulnerable, down to earth and gritty Dante felt slim to none but boy was I clinging to that slim hope. If they backpedal on his appearence (even the slightest thing) for the fans, they may as well backpedal on everything and I fear it will snowball because I don't think the people who are unhappy with DmC will ever be happy until everything is back to normal. I would rather they stayed strong and powered through with wherever they are takng this.

Now that's a sound reasonable response. Has to be liked, thank you Darth. ^_^

 

[aoshi]

@aka: Looking badass is relative to age. Smoking is a bad habit,agreed,but so is fighting with a sword and killing demons or AI jus for fun of it. Fighting games are aimed at a generation who like to brawl. But dante is a brawler of different kind. I mean i play other games as well.Compared to other capcom games aimed at a mature audience(Resident evil), Dante is vanilla- looking compared to chris redfield. But if u like character based games like MVC3, you might think otherwise coz MVC3 is not aimed at mature audience. Its aimed at an audience that likes to play with toys...Yes...toys with no story mode or enough cut scenes or gameplay that lacks depth as other games such as resident evil.

Devil may cry 4 was refreshing with new character nero and i think thats the direction capcom should have headed with dante in it.