All Fired Up Over "Cuts"

When Resident Evil Director's Cut was released with mistakenly-edited full motion video sequences, gamers were up in arms. Resident Evil fans had anticipated being able to see the uncut, uncensored intro - without it, the "Director's Cut" feel of the game was lost.

Capcom has responded for the time being by putting the gorier intro up as a Quicktime movie on its web site.

This unfortunately has done little but fan the flames for a situation that, some would argue, has been blown out of proportion. When we asked for comments on what gamers thought about the cuts, we opened the floodgates to a lot of e-mail.

Most of the responses were negative comments directed towards Capcom. "It doesn't do anything to the gameplay. It has everything to with Capcom's credibility. The whole point of a 'Director's Cut' is to include anything that was removed. Sure they add a new harder mode, which is one reason I bought, but they promised uncut cinemas. I think they better fix it."

"I think they should leave it the way it is, but Capcom should be criticized for their extreme ineptness," said another player. "It's not like they just made this game and shipped it last week. They've had months to make sure everything was correct."

There were also a number of people who responded in negative ways that bordered on extreme, including mentions of boycotts or lawsuits against the company. "I am going to boycott Capcom's games. It kind of pissed me off when they didn't put the full version intro in the REDC. I am going to return my game and get my money back."

Some accused Capcom of lying. "You bet it matters! I waited all this time and never bought the first release. I wanted it because it was intact. Capcom has made a fool out of anyone who buys this version. By calling it a DC version and not restoring the footage is an out and out lie. Capcom should remove the DC caption from the cover if they can't fix the mistake. I presume there are people out there that won't ever know what happened, but for every one they fool, there are 10 others that are as mad as hell, and I'm one of 'em."

The addition of the RE2 demo didn't add much in the eyes of some fans. "There is no way that I would buy this game when the only draw to it was having 'Biohazard' and Resident Evil in one package. The RE2 demo is just that, a demo. Why would I pay $35.00 for a demo? And the best they can do is say, 'We are sorry for our mistake, here, watch the Quicktime of the real demo that you paid $35.00 for on our website, www.friggin'morons.com.'"

Capcom fans have also voiced their displeasure with the company's attitude. "At this point I don't know whether I am sad or just downright angry at Capcom's decision. To the Capcom heads, 10-20 seconds of missing footage may not seem like much, but to us fans that have waited months and shelled out $40+ for the game 10-20 seconds may as well be 10-20 hours! I am deeply hurt at the fact that Capcom does not care for their fans enough to even recall the games. I guess this proves that Capcom's loyalty lies, not with the fans, but instead with the almighty dollar."

Some called what they consider the "legality" of Capcom's error into question. "Am I supposed to believe that these were part of the same copyright mishap? I have signed on to two different lists for class action suits if Capcom does not do the right thing and either recall their games or make sufficient amends. It wouldn't cost them a whole lot of money to send out discs with the missing scenes to everyone who is unhappy and they should sticker every copy in distribution to say that this version is indeed edited. I can't believe Capcom has such blatant disregard for the law in this country."

A few people said that the cuts didn't really matter to them, and that the game is the thing that matters. "While not having the extra full motion video images in the game, this is still fun to play. Although I was disappointed when I didn't get to see the cutscenes, the gameplay is really what the game is striving for....Capcom has a winning game that will be fine if players step back a little and look at the most important part of the game, the gameplay."

That is, of course, what Capcom thinks too.

The game itself hasn't been affected. It's still a remixed version of the game along with a demo of Resident Evil 2. For its price, Resident Evil Director's Cut delivers what it promises, which is two versions of the original game and a remixed "arranged" version of the game on one disc. The FMV, like it or not, isn't going to affect the way the game plays, and equals about 10 seconds of game time. While the screw-up in stating on the back of the box and in advertising that the scenes would be uncut cannot be forgotten, Resident Evil still is a best-selling PlayStation title without the scenes.

Capcom is sending out an official response to the cuts via e-mail to people who inquire or fire off angry letters to them about the game. Capcom is still thinking of solutions so that people without Internet access will be able to view the uncut video if they are unhappy about it not being included in the game. Those haven't been decided upon yet, so stay tuned. Capcom's official response to the cuts is as follows:

"The more violent Japanese intro was planned to be in Director's Cut. An unfortunate mistake with trademark approval caused the Japanese intro to be substituted with the American intro. By the time this error was discovered, manufacturing had already begun.

"Director's Cut was always going to include only one cinema intro, albeit the more violent version than the original US release. Capcom apologizes that this unfortunate error occurred and the disappointment it has caused you.

"We have posted the violent intro on our web site (www.capcom.com) in the "Buzz Bin" section as well as in the "Resident Evil Director's Cut" page. We do caution that the intro is violent and, like the product, rated "M" for mature adults.

"We are investigating other ways to provide the intro to you without delaying Resident Evil 2 due to release in January 1998. You will be notified if we can reach an alternative solution to this problem.

"Capcom apologizes for your disappointment. We hope you enjoy the other enhancements included in Director's Cut such as the advanced mode offering new camera angels, a new monster, and the Resident Evil 2 demo."