Ex-Clover dev team buries 'Seeds' to form 'Platinum Games'

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Sep 27th 2007 at 5:00PM }

Shortly after producing the strikingly beautiful Okami and relentlessly challenging God Hand, Capcom's Clover Studios was duly rewarded with cold commercial apathy and prompt liquidation. In February, the studio's lead designer trifecta -- Viewtiful Joe's Atsushi Inaba, Resident Evil's Shinji Mikami and Devil May Cry's Hideki Kamiya -- formed a new studio, Seeds, and began the process of hiring new employees.

Just over seven months later, it appears that Seeds will wither before producing even a single game. The company's recruitment website now states that Seeds will undergo a merger with a company called "ODD," resulting in a change of name to "Platinum Games" as of October 1st. No upcoming projects are mentioned, though one would hope that the new title becomes reflective of the success that's eluded Clover for so long.

[Via IGN]

Tags: Capcom, Clover, God-Hand, Okami, Platinum-Games, Seeds

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Sep 27th 2007 5:06PM

The last for Viewtiful Joe for the Wii, please. That was one of my favorite series in the Gamecube. Just imagine the VFX powers that they can do with the Wiimote.

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Sep 27th 2007 5:07PM

The last *part...

Trev @ Sep 27th 2007 5:41PM

As great as a new Viewtiful game would be, it sounds really ill-suited for the target audience of the wii. Those games were hard. Really hard. They took a page from Devil May Cry's dastardly book on game difficulty.

I would feel bad for anyone that picked it up seeing the cartoon like graphics and expected it to play nice.

Personally, I don't think you could pull of motions for VFX powers with the timing necessary for these games, which isn't to say there's an issue with the controller, just that the previous games have required mantis-like reflexes on the higher difficulty levels.

If there were more than this completely non-existent VJ3 game that I was interested in, it would get me to buy a wii when the price came down to the point where I buy my secondary consoles.

Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Sep 27th 2007 5:46PM

Im a Wii owner... and Im 100% sure that I can play a lot better Viewtiful Joe than you.

Besides, It was a lot better on the Gamecube than in the PS2

Trev @ Sep 27th 2007 6:53PM

Just two problems Fernando.

One, it doesn't matter how good you are, there's no way to compare our level ranks and times. You can say you're better all you like, but you'll never be able to back it up.

Since nintendo is focusing on the casual gamer with the Wii and given how much time you spend here it's safe to say you're not a casual gamer, you aren't a good example for the majority of wii owners. Viewtiful Joe is by far not a casual game. If Metroid Prime 3 got some complaints about it's non-casual nature, the even less casual Viewtiful Joe really isn't a game for the target Wii consumer.

Two, you just can't avoid being a fanboy can you? That's a rhetorical question, since everyone knows you can't. You have no idea how to make a post without either praising nintendo or trying to take a shot at sony. For the record, I played it on gamecube since it was out first and I didn't want to wait even if I knew the port was coming. Ever thought about just talking about the game, even if it's a game that you just made up?

Nice work on taking a whole 39 minutes before shitting things up again though. New record. Next time try for the rainbow V rated "forever".

t_m @ Sep 28th 2007 6:34AM

i never finished it on the gamecube... too hard...

i think i traded it in for driv3r on the xbox...

NATO_Duke @ Sep 27th 2007 5:14PM

Is it just me or does the name "Platinum Games" just scream bargin bin? Seeds was a much more intriguing name.

t_m @ Sep 28th 2007 6:37AM

i was thinking the same... time to crank out same bargain games...

LaughingTarget @ Sep 27th 2007 5:14PM

I wonder why they think changing the name of the company will have different results...

Cutty @ Sep 27th 2007 5:21PM

I hope this doesn't affect their output in any way. After the beautiful Okami, I was looking forward to see what Seeds were going to put out.

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Sep 27th 2007 5:21PM

First, this new name sucks ass. the clover/Seeds thing was so very poetic. This? Generic and lame. Makes me think they're going to pump out generic and lame FPS games.

I wish they'd merge with Nintendo instead. All of Clover's games, even God Hand, I'd wager, would've sold better on the Gamecube. Not to mention that usually developers who are second party to Nintendo generally are met with great success...which Clover more than anyone else in a looooong time deserved.

That said, anyone who gets Viewtiful Joe 3 or (a spiritual successor to) God Hand, be it Sony, MS or Nintendo, automatically gets their console bought by me.

Chris @ Sep 27th 2007 5:24PM

I'm sorry I can't contain this any longer. Your icon bugs the hell out of me.

She's too saggy! Perkin her up a bit!

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Sep 27th 2007 5:36PM

Haha- nah, she only looks that way because of the crop. I have a...fell version where she's quite rounded out at the bottom. They are, however, the size of grapefruits.

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Sep 27th 2007 5:36PM

Haha- nah, she only looks that way because of the crop. I have a...full version where she's quite rounded out at the bottom. They are, however, the size of grapefruits.

Jose @ Sep 27th 2007 5:30PM

I was under the impression that Okami didn't do too poorly at sales. Please help me out anyone

colin @ Sep 27th 2007 5:34PM

try www.google.com

Jose @ Sep 27th 2007 5:41PM

Yeah douchebagel, I did, and this is what I found:

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/okami/news.html?sid=6155616

Anyway, if Capcom had put half the effort to promote Okami in the US as they did (the mediocre at best) Lost Planet things would be very fucking different.

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Sep 27th 2007 5:41PM

Okami wasn't the epic failure that God Hand (TRAGICALLY) was, but it still only sold around 200,000 copies in America and about 66,000 in Japan. I don't know about Europe.
God Hand only sold around 17,000 copies.
Viewtiful Joe sold around 500,000 on the Cube and around half that on the PS2.
I believe, VJ 2 on the Cube outsold the PS2 version, but both were only around 250,000.

colin @ Sep 27th 2007 6:54PM

ok, smegmaman,

try googling "okami us sales" (easy enough?) click search, and then under the section titled "results", click on the first blue text that is listed. that is the one that google thinks is the most relevant. a new website will open and there will be the information you want.

or copy/paste this:
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/toppers/?id=14308

or see this summation:
at the end of last fiscal year (sept 06) 87,000 US units sold; 150,000 JP units sold; #'s will have risen some since then.

Meloche @ Sep 27th 2007 5:47PM

Seeds sound so much better than "Platinum Games".

PhoenixSS @ Sep 27th 2007 6:39PM

I actually picked Okami back up about a week ago and now I can't put it down. It's such an inventive game and I really wish it had done so much better.

I think Okami is the product of a dying art form. It's part of a very rare and select group of expert artists and developers alike who don't produce a game exclusively for mass profit, but because they want to write a good story. (read: Shadow of the Colossus. I'm not saying that profit isn't their goal, because it is. But in getting their, they want to do something amazing. I for one, think they did.

As NATO_Duke stated above, "Platinum Games" reminds me of "Platinum Hits" which reminds me of things like oh.. I don't know, "washed up"? "Old News"?

It's real sad seeing these great developers being washed under the bridge because they just don't hold a candle to the Halo 3's and GTA's and Gears of War's, and so forth.

I'm sick of the run & gun and miss the more memorable characters and stories. The kind where you beat it, then wake up with that heartfelt sickness like; "Oh man... it's over... GAME OVER MAN, GAME OVER!!"

Knoxximus @ Sep 27th 2007 10:47PM

Platinum Games....now with extra Bling Bling!

...srsly, that name is HELLA generic/corporate. :|

heckthor @ Sep 28th 2007 4:21AM

Hey as long as they keep making REALLY, REALLY GREAT GAMES, is ok... I mean just cuz they changed names does not mean the talent is gonna be any different... I Played the crap out of OKAMI... it was worth every minute... every brush stroke... I kind of liked SEEDS better though... but oh well, here's to Clover, Seeds or whatever the new name is...