Clover ain't dead yet!

[Media]

February 15, 2007 - The dagger that pierced the hearts of gamers everywhere late last year when Capcom announced the closure of Clover Studios was swiftly and painlessly removed earlier today (by the god's hand, presumably) with the quiet revelation that talent from that studio has regrouped. Welcome Seeds to the game development community.

Seeds is an all new development house formed by the creators of such hits as Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Tekki, Viewtiful Joe and Okami. Based in Osaka, the same city that former Clover parent company Capcom calls its home, the studio is headed up by former Clover president Atsushi Inaba.

Mysteries abound regarding this new studio. Everything we know comes from this website, which appears to be a recruitment site for the company rather than a site meant for the general public. The only reason we were lead to believe that the site is not an elaborate fake, aside from its professional design, is that Famitsu.com reported on this story earlier today; the company has yet to make a formal announcement declaring its intentions.

The site lists an August 1, 2006 formation date for the company which, as of January, had 51 employees. The company lists as its primary business the planning and development of game software.

The recruitment section lists the following positions: planners, programmers, designers, sound people and promotional staff (the last one seems to be for the company's website). Specific systems and game titles are, expectedly, mentioned nowhere on the site.

Outside of Inaba, big Capcom stars like Hideki Kamiya (director of Residnet Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe and Okami) and Shinji Mikami (director of Resident Evil, Dino Crisis and Resident Evil 4) are also working with the company in some capacity. The site also introduces a few lesser known former Capcom developers, including Nao Ueda (programming work on Devil May Cry, Resident Evil for the GameCube, Resident Evil 4 and Okami), Mari Shimazaki (artist for Okami and Viewtiful Joe) and Masami Ueda (music composer for Resident Evil 1 - 3, Devil May Cry, Okami and Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2).

Obviously, a good reason for any game fan to be excited. We'll let you know when Seeds decides to officially sprout.


From IGN.
Hope Seeds makes some good AAA titles for PS3!

[Sephiroth_VII]

W00t!!!! Clover lives!! Bless us with an Okami 2!!!

[LaLiLuLeLo]

LIVE! Liiiiiiiiiiive!

[Zer0-Sum]

Been posted in general Gaming, but it is good news. I am looking forward to what these guys have in store for us gamers. Great games coming indeed.

[Nameless]

Sony needs to scoop this up and use the talent in their network of developers... :stirpot:

[Zer0-Sum]

Sony needs to scoop this up and use the talent in their network of developers...

I was thinking the same thing. Buy them Microsoft style, just do it Sony!! It would be worth it for sure.

[Pluto]

^ They're supposedly being funded by a big name company.

If Capcom dropped them, that probably leaves them out..

What if Microsoft snatched them up in their quest to dominate Japan!?! You know how they throw their money at the Japanese developers to get them to make games for the Xbox 360..

If Sony did pick them up, then GREAT. A wise move.

[saud264]

http://www.seeds-inc.jp/site/staff/staff/n_ueda_08.gif

It looks like they make a xbox360 game
you can see the xbox360 control

[Pluto]

^

Erm..no, actually..we can't.

Unless the image you meant to put up was of a red "x", I'm afraid you pulled up a bad URL.

[venomv]

It looks like they make a xbox360 game
you can see the xbox360 control

Not nessicarily, that could mean a lot of things.

And I can see the picture.

[Z]

if something didn't drastically change, Clover wouldn't have been put to rest, permanetly. they would have resurrected the name again. but forming a new team tells us that there are some different working models. I hope it works out for them since I love new IPs and ideas. Clover did well bringing in new games, but they fell short financially. their games just didn't sell well.

maybe one of the new focuses of Seeds will be on network and DS games more so than consoles.

[Zer0-Sum]

Sony would be stupid to let Microsoft snatch them up, if that is so the case.:duh: if it did happen it would be another slow move by Sony in a long kine of stupid slow moves by them this gen. They need to be faster because Microsoft is hungry and fast. :duh:

If that is the case in the first place.....

[Pluto]

Is this some conspiracy?!

I can't see the image! I refreshed it, went back to the original URL..

Can someone describe what's pictured or find a copy of the image?

[Kensaki]

Actually as far as I've heard their first game will be a 360 game: Senko no Ronde.

Will try to find a source for it ofc.

EDIT: Picture is of Nao Ueda and you can see a 360 controller sitting next to a LCD monitor over his shoulder.

[saud264]

you can see it now
Attach Files

[Pluto]

So then..this would confirm that Microsoft is indeed funding them?! And that very same idea could be the reason behind them springing from Capcom? Smells fishy..

If it is, I'm going to be extremely angry.

Edit:
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1190/ssaaasna3.jpg

This is still all I'm seein, dood.

Edit:

Woot. I can see the image.

[Zer0-Sum]

If it is so then Sony is teh STUPID for letting Microsoft bu them out.:duh: DUMB DUMB DUMB.:duh: :duh: :duh: :duh: :duh: :duh: :duh:

[Pluto]

Sony did say that they'd be taking a hands off approach on exclusivity..

Lets stay optimistic. Nothing is set in stone..unless we see Microsoft's ugly head rear in from the depths of hell and confirm our worst fears. XD

[rpgamer_2k5]

Meh...I expected Microsoft to acquire them. As long as we have quality titles from Clover, I could care less about the target platform. :)

[mario25]

Is the acquisition confirmed?....I don't want clover developing a game about bald space marines shooting aliens and using the UE3.0

[LaLiLuLeLo]

Here's a funny idea. They could be developing for more than one console!!!!
Silly, I know. But don't rule it out.

[-gin-]

Sony can't win a bidding war with microsoft, it just isn't going to happen this gen

[Zer0-Sum]

Meh...I expected Microsoft to acquire them. As long as we have quality titles from Clover, I could care less about the target platform. :)

I care because I don't have the cash to buy a 360 plus a PS3 and a Wii.

Here's a funny idea. They could be developing for more than one console!!!!
Silly, I know. But don't rule it out.

This is what I am hoping is what will happen. I want them to make games for everyone. I don't care if they are owned by Sony, just not by Microsoft. I want them to make games for Wii as well as PS3 or 360.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

yeah. I mean, I've seen screenshots of kojima studios with friggin n64s and junk in them. don't jump to conclusions.

[Red_Eyes]

Sony and Microsoft are not going to snatch them until they show at least an interesting running demo on next gen consoles. Sure, they have made great games in the past, but that doesn't mean Sony and Microsoft will fund them, at least not until Sony and Microsoft know that kind of game there's going to do.

[cliffbo]

the pic does have a 360 controller but it also looks like there is a ps3 one next to it, anyway a picture of a lead programmer etc,, is no proof of developing anything yet!

:)

[LiquidEagle]

No offense, but I think you guys are really going overboard on one picture... :-/

srsly, it isn't even him using the controller and it could be there for any number of reasons.

Also, MS buying them out? Where did that come from? Like most people who have left Capcom, I expect they'll form their own company that is still contracted by Capcom for development. Last word to come out from Clover on the next-gen stuff was that the director would like to work on PS3 anyways :-p

[Sephiroth_VII]

Guys, you're judging the policy of an entire company by one blurry picture of a 360 controller on a random developers desk...

[Kiosko]

I would say wait untill the GDC for confirmations. If they will be there. Knowing the GDC is a center of developers i would expect them to go looking for more members and sharing there ideas.

[cliffbo]

Here's a funny idea. They could be developing for more than one console!!!!
Silly, I know. But don't rule it out.

it can't be that simple... can it? ;)

Hi-Def Okami would be art in motion...

[BruceWayneIII]

Most developers - even PS3 exclusives / first party - have almost every current console in the house. Simply due to competitive analysis. It's not about the consoles themselves, it's about analyzing the various games that are available.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words - sometimes it's not even worth a single word (as in this case).

[Z]

you guys are talking about acquisitions based on a controller captured in a pic of a dev team office? are you serious?!

[cliffbo]

you guys are talking about acquisitions based on a controller captured in a pic of a dev team office? are you serious?!

yes i'm afraid they are :duh:

[Red_Eyes]

And watch. 1UP is about to post a new article base on what was said in this thread and claimed to have insider source.

[Zer0-Sum]

And watch. 1UP is about to post a new article base on what was said in this thread and claimed to have insider source.

That would be hilarious shit right there.

[Diresu]

I feel this is an appropriate time to bring up the following pic.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d75/diresu/jitcrunch.jpg

[Pluto]

It's more of cumulative information that's leading us to believe that Microsoft has acquired the studio.

We know that they're being supported by another company financially. If this was a simple disbanding of the company to work on their own, then there would be no need to keep their financial backing a secret..

[cliffbo]

when forming a new company it is normal to keep financial support a secret until things can be
finalized unless whoever is financing them sees an advantage to revealing such information ahead of time.
there is no indication at all as to what platforms they are supporting at this point in time therefore no conclusions as to who has or has not acquired or financially supported them can be made.

:)