Capcom defends Resi: Mercs save system

Capcom has defended its decision to deny anyone playing Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D the ability to delete their saved game file and start from scratch.

In a post on the Capcom Unity blog, community manager Shawn Baxter explained that the move wasn't an attempt to curtail used game sales, but is in fact in keeping with the title's "arcade fighting game" feel.

"There was no intention of lessening the experience of the game," read the post.

"Essentially, RE Mercs was treated like an arcade fighting game. You unlock characters, levels, etc and they just stay unlocked as they would in an arcade machine.

"There was no hidden motive to prevent buying used copies. It's not some secret form of DRM. It's simply the way we designed the save system to work with the arcade type of gameplay."

Baxter also addressed what this would mean for anyone picking up the game secondhand.

"Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D consists of 30 time-based missions, through which the player unlocks skill upgrades as they progress through the game.

"Anyone purchasing a copy of the game secondhand would have access to all the missions and skills that the original owner unlocked, in addition to the content that was available to the original user."

Furthermore, he posted Capcom's official statement on the issue, reproduced here in full:

"In Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, all mission progress is saved directly to the Nintendo 3DS cartridge, where it cannot be reset. The nature of the game invites high levels of replayability, encouraging fans to improve mission scores.

"The save mechanic ensures that both original and unlocked game content will be available to all users. Secondhand game sales were not a factor in this development decision, and we hope that all our consumers will be able to enjoy the entirety of the survival-action experiences that the game does offer."

Earlier today, HMV announced that it would not accept the game for trade-in. Game, however, will.