Capcom Knew Dante Change Would Incite Fan Backlash

We've heard what the gamers have to say. We've heard what Ninja Theory has to say. But what about the publisher?

The overhauled Dante, set to debut in the new-look Devil May Cry from developer Ninja Theory, has met with widespread criticism since being unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show. Now, speaking to IGN about the subject, Capcom VP of Strategic Planning and Business Development Christan Svensson says this design change was necessary for the game's new setting. And remember, don't blame Ninja Theory if you don't like it; they've said Capcom kept telling them to make Dante "crazier," and Svensson echoes that fact:

"The original concepts that came back for Dante were actually extremely close to the Dante everyone knows and loves. The feedback that came back from [Keiji] Inafune and [Hideaki] Itsuno was, 'No guys, this needs to be completely different, we need you to go much further and be much more creative.'"

Svensson added that Capcom knew there would be fan backlash but says it's "all part of the plan."

"I will argue that any changes will bring about a knee-jerk reaction from fans. We know that; we knew that going into it. To be fair, I think some of the strategy here was to create that discussion and dialogue, and I think it drastically raises the visibility of the title versus if we had just done another Dante."

Svensson also says that DMC is "an origin story, so this is Dante before you knew who Dante was." Therefore, there are going to be plenty of changes along the way and we just have to accept that. If the fans can accept this new track for the franchise, they might be more open to the new Dante, which is indeed a departure. What say you?

Related Game(s): Devil May Cry

Tags: dmc, devil may cry, dante, capcom, ninja theory

10/20/2010 9:18:36 PM Ben Dutka

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Comments (67 posts)

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Mamills
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 9:37:27 PM
Reply

i actually like the new dante (so far)
didnt like the look of the old to begin with
white hair anime pretty boy.
lol

3 up, 11 down

hellish_devil
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:54:00 PM

White hair anime boy??

So you like Twilight machos better??

4 up, 5 down

LimitedVertigo
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 11:12:28 PM

::raises hand::

Yes...

3 up, 2 down

eLLeJuss
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 11:14:56 PM

He looks more like a roughed up version of Peter Parker.

3 up, 3 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 11:49:22 PM

Twilight guys aren't macho.

6 up, 0 down

bigrailer19
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 1:06:36 AM

Yeah I'm confused, which part of twilight is macho?

7 up, 0 down

Catastrophe
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 12:53:05 PM

its called sarcasm....

0 up, 1 down

Snaaaake
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 9:42:44 PM
Reply

If the story eventually leads "Dante" into becoming Dante, I can accept that fact.

Oh and Capcom, you do know that fan backlash also mean lost of fans right? And it also translate to lost of sale.

It'll be interesting if Bayonetta 2(It's coming, I know it) and DmC are gonna release on the same year.

Last edited by Snaaaake on 10/20/2010 9:44:27 PM

2 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 9:45:33 PM

Meh, not really. When the new Star Wars movies came out people complained about certain actors but people still lined up for more. The same goes for videogames. If they offer the same gameplay as the first 4 games the fans will still buy the game, even if they're pissed about a certain hair color.

Last edited by LimitedVertigo on 10/20/2010 9:45:55 PM

4 up, 1 down

Mamills
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 9:47:02 PM

yea, it also leads to new fans

2 up, 0 down

Snaaaake
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 9:48:21 PM

With Ninja Theory, I doubt that the gameplay will be the same.
But I'm hoping it to be better.

Last edited by Snaaaake on 10/20/2010 9:48:43 PM

0 up, 0 down

main_event05
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 12:07:16 AM

Don't bite your tongue snake.

You mean Hayden Christensen.

He ruined Jumper, Well, him and that Girl.

2 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 9:44:11 PM
Reply

You know if they didn't want Dante to look the same in this game they should have just told them the first time.

Anyways I'm all for the change and I'm enjoying all the negative fan reaction.

3 up, 1 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:29:09 PM

You always do enjoy the pissed off fan reaction. On that note, I'm trophy hunting in FFXIII while I wait for New Vegas to come and just noticed for the first time that if you make your player dance in place by wiggling the joystick they get upset with you and express their frustration. Didn't encounter that in the entire 1st playthrough. I loled.

Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 10/20/2010 10:30:00 PM

3 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:30:15 PM

Haha, really? I'm going to have to check that out. I wondered what you were doing playing XIII last night (it was last night I believe).

0 up, 1 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:48:50 PM

I still think it's a sweet game, and I'm kinda in the mood for the macro-management battles. It being FF lite, I can put it down any time. I swear :)

0 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 11:13:48 PM

I hear ya. I'm blasting the XII (no I didn't forget an I) soundtrack and after I finish with a couple more PS3 games I too have a feeling I'll be going back into XIII. I routinely have FF in my life, there is no escaping it.

1 up, 1 down

gangan19
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 9:49:11 PM
Reply

damn right it did...go eat some food! new dante!

3 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:30:28 PM

"You a clackhead? I can't have no clackhead dying in my cab man."

1 up, 0 down

gangan19
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 12:22:56 AM

what?

0 up, 1 down

Shams
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 2:32:08 AM

Quote from movie Crank, i believe. By "clackhead", he means "crackhead". And by "crackhead", he's agreeing with you about Dante's new emaciated look.

3 up, 0 down

Alienange
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:13:50 PM
Reply

No matter how hard NT tries, I'll point my finger squarely at them for this atrocity. They had an open door of creativity before them, and they gave us this queer. I wouldn't call that "much more creative." It's much more embarrassing is what it is.

2 up, 5 down

Jawknee
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:22:16 PM

Blame Capcom. They are the ones that approved this sissy, wannabe vampire from a Stephenie Meyer novel.

3 up, 1 down

LimitedVertigo
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:31:07 PM

Oh come on Alienange, the controllable character doesn't have to look good enough to f^ck for the game to be fun.

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:31:32 PM

I wonder what Capcom was thinking when they saw the image of new Dante while his doppelganger Antionidas was pitching the design.

2 up, 1 down

Shams
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 2:53:14 AM

He must've been like after a couple rejected attempts: "What? My hair is not good enough for you?"

Capcom: "No, it's not that...it's just that..."

Tameem: "...Perhaps the Japanese are not in the know, but here in the west, this hair is the new madness! It will sell millions!"

Capcom: "Rearry?" *cosults amongst themselves*..."Well, if you take DMC as seriously as your hair..."

Come to think of it, Antonaides seems to have modeled Monkey's face from Enslaved after his own as well. Some may call it narcissism, he calls it dedication.

3 up, 1 down

GuyverLT
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 6:25:18 PM

1 up, 0 down

Shams
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 11:54:02 PM

Tameem?

0 up, 0 down

Temjin001
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:20:53 PM
Reply

I'm more worried about NT's ability to make a good action game that's technically sound.

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:22:02 PM

Judging by Enslaved and the continued use of Unreal 3, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

3 up, 1 down

Jawknee
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:22:50 PM

LOL! World took the comment right out of my head.

1 up, 1 down

Temjin001
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:31:27 PM

Oh no, not holding my breath. I'm still waiting for the A-bomb news to land that the game will only be 30fps...
Perhaps, many won't care and may even prefer more visual detail, but these types, for me, earn big points for running fluidly. Granted GoW3 runs sub 30-45fps but it is the slowest of the bunch.
A fighting game dev (Tekken, SC, VF, DOA etc) wouldn't dream of designing a game of theirs @ 30fps, and I would hope fast action game devs wouldn't either.

1 up, 1 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:32:54 PM

I'm with you Temji, fluidity is more important in certain titles. If I go from a 60fps game to GOWIII it looks so sluggish.

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:21:30 PM
Reply

Well, I don't have a huge problem with it because I was never a dedicated DMC fan, more like a sideline fan who has played them all and beaten none of them. (Woulda gone through part 4 if the save error wasn't there)

Still, was it part of the plan that I would be buying this on the cheap?

0 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 @ 10:32:04 PM

I'd hope so. I bought GOW3 for $18 and I'm sure I'll get this game for around the same price.

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 12:41:35 AM
Reply

This is good news actually. It means capcom isn't totally clueless. They just WANTED to piss everyone off. Well, it seems to have worked.

3 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 12:52:24 AM

Anytime you make changes to a series there are going to be pissy people. They just admitted they saw it coming. No biggie, I'm not pissed about it.

3 up, 0 down

Snaaaake
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 8:11:55 AM

Capcom and Square Enix are competing who can piss more fans off.

0 up, 0 down

___________
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 2:19:07 AM
Reply

so disappointed by this, when will Japanese developers learn we dont want new games WE WANT THE GAMES WE KNOW AND LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sigh, looks like ill have to look towards NG for my propper true action fix.
now the masters gone from that, it too will probably go down the shitter!
oh well, devils third is only 2 years away.

0 up, 5 down

Lawless SXE
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 2:20:11 AM
Reply

Eh, shoot the whole damn lot of them. I know that they're now saying that this is canonical to the original series, but I thought DMC3 was the origin story. I don't mind the new character design so much, but all the BS that seems to be swirling about is starting to grate on my nerves. Just give us something that we can like.

Sorry for the pessimism, I'm not exactly feeling happy right now, and don't feel like pretending to.
Peace.

2 up, 2 down

McClane
Friday, October 22, 2010 @ 1:44:08 PM

I feel your pain, same here...

0 up, 0 down

KNG201
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 2:46:56 AM
Reply

im looking at it as if i never played a dmc game before...just forget what you know. i think change is good if done good. take movies for example i liked all three reboots of friday the 13th, a nightmare on elm (emo freddy) & holloween. someone elses vision of something cant be bad all the time...can it?

1 up, 1 down

main_event05
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 3:11:46 AM

Those reboots were bad anyway you slice it, even as stand alone titles. Its just all those damn stiff actors.

movies today are for brain dead people. Or the "Generation Xbox" as I like to say.

*Generation Xbox is trademarked, not to be used without written permission of main_event05, Inc.

**go on and use it anyway.

Last edited by main_event05 on 10/21/2010 3:27:00 AM

2 up, 2 down

McClane
Friday, October 22, 2010 @ 1:43:38 PM

Reboots?? More like "remakes" and crappy ones...

0 up, 0 down

johnld
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 4:22:31 AM
Reply

So basically they said screw the fans, we'll find new ones. also, correct me if i'm wrong, but isnt this feedback coming from the same person who said he hated his job? is he trying to mess up the games on purpose just because he doesnt like what he does?

1 up, 0 down

Ultimadream
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 4:33:03 AM
Reply

What so this is another prequel.... i could accept that... but its hardly a way forward is it.

Last edited by Ultimadream on 10/21/2010 4:33:31 AM

0 up, 0 down

RebelJD
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 8:18:54 AM
Reply

I say some people don't know what the hell they're doing now a days.

0 up, 0 down

A2K78
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 8:37:52 AM
Reply

"If the story eventually leads "Dante" into becoming Dante, I can accept that fact."

Have you even played DMC3 before? If not the game practically the origin story of Dante in itself.

" Svensson also says that DMC is "an origin story, so this is Dante before you knew who Dante was."

Nice attempt at PR, but its already known that this DMC is essentially a reboot.

As for Svensson, I scratch my head wonder why this guy haven't been fired as yet because he really need to be.

1 up, 1 down

Snaaaake
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 10:36:24 AM

Who knows right?
Will he become the Dante or will "Dante" stay like this forever?
Will he go on to become a demon hunter or will he just be a street-fighting emo drug-dealer?

And since it's a reboot, very likely a completely different story.

0 up, 1 down

Underdog15
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 9:05:05 AM
Reply

Ya know, I like BJ Novak. I'm ok with him being the new Dante. He'd better be funny, though.

1 up, 1 down

SplendidBlended
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 2:13:59 PM
Reply

I'm sorry but... this guy looks like a douche.

0 up, 0 down

GuardianMode
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 2:31:35 PM
Reply

Sorry but all this PR filth is giving me a headache. Like I posted before. This is not DMC. This is a shameless reboot to cash in on the Twilight craze. This Dante is a sell out and I will not buy it.

2 up, 1 down

GuyverLT
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 5:52:35 PM

I'm still trying to wrap my head around how a made up character can be a sell out.

2 up, 1 down

GuyverLT
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 6:03:42 PM

I'm mean really why are you calling a fictional videogame character a sell out. You sound like you 2 were once the best of buddies & then he just stole your girlfriend behind your back or something.

Last edited by GuyverLT on 10/21/2010 6:05:57 PM

2 up, 1 down

TruthIsWithin
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 4:36:21 PM
Reply

yeah same here i think he looks really gay first of all dante has white hair n dont forget his twin brother vergil he also has white hair to... i mean wouldnt that $#@$ the story up n hell with another prequel!!!

0 up, 1 down

GuyverLT
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 5:56:47 PM

Did you even read the article or did you just skip straight to the comments.

And just so you know the new Dante does have a patches of white hair on his head. How do you know that his hair won't turn back all white when he fully unlocks his powers. You guys need to learn how to not be so damn judgmental.

Last edited by GuyverLT on 10/21/2010 5:57:37 PM

2 up, 1 down

FlyingKickPunch
Friday, October 22, 2010 @ 3:52:30 PM

I put the "mental" in "judgmental".

1 up, 1 down

TruthIsWithin
Thursday, October 21, 2010 @ 10:20:57 PM
Reply

well ur forgetting that his father was a full demon with white hair n no im not being to judgemental its my opinion. Well what im saying that the white hair was like a logo for DMC series well for dante, plus if thats the truth about his hair turning back when he unlocks his ful powers that would be pretty stupid for the story its just to simple

1 up, 1 down

FlyingKickPunch
Friday, October 22, 2010 @ 3:51:51 PM
Reply

Team Edward? Team Jacob? Pfft. Now the emo kids have Team Dante to choose from! ...This is the new Twilight movie, right?

0 up, 2 down

GuyverLT
Friday, October 22, 2010 @ 5:01:27 PM

This isn't some werewolf/vampire chick flick 3-way love story so in other words not only does your comment make absolutely no sense, but it's an epic fail.

Last edited by GuyverLT on 10/22/2010 5:03:01 PM

1 up, 0 down

FlyingKickPunch
Saturday, October 23, 2010 @ 8:38:30 PM

You're awful defensive when someone talks bad about your new Dante. Do I detect a man crush?

0 up, 1 down

GuyverLT
Sunday, October 24, 2010 @ 2:03:00 PM

LMAO.

1 up, 0 down

KNG201
Friday, October 22, 2010 @ 6:07:19 PM
Reply

i like that its dantes origin story. we get to see dante as a youngn' before he grew up and "looked cool". nobody is born "looking cool" so its good to see them try this look to show us what young dante was into at that time. nobody finds their true self until they grow up. fdp 4 me maybe i still need more info on game play and the other important stuff to make up my mind.

1 up, 0 down

bleach630
Sunday, October 24, 2010 @ 2:33:42 AM
Reply

i hope they dont give RE6 for westren developers also or am completly done with capcom

0 up, 0 down

Edito
Sunday, October 24, 2010 @ 1:35:40 PM
Reply

The new Dante sucks

End Of Statement...

0 up, 0 down

EightThirty
Sunday, October 24, 2010 @ 7:54:48 PM
Reply

Yeah, but I'm still going to play it....

1 up, 0 down

GuyverLT
Sunday, October 24, 2010 @ 8:46:39 PM

Me 2 & so will everyone else who's made a complaint about how he looks now whether it's @ launch or a rent or when the price has been knocked down to $20.

Last edited by GuyverLT on 10/24/2010 8:46:57 PM

0 up, 0 down

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