Resident Evil 3DS re-uses console assets
"Blurs" portable/console visual divide.
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D's graphics are so good they "blur the line" between portable and home console visuals.
That's the verdict of Capcom producer Masachika Kawata, who is in charge of the Resident Evil franchise.
The Mercenaries 3D, due out this summer and based on the Resident Evil action mini-game of the same name, is built using Capcom's MT Framework Mobile engine.
"We're very proud of what we've been able to achieve with the hardware," Kawata told Eurogamer. "In our opinion it looks pretty impressive. It's getting to the point where the line between the portable systems and home systems is blurred."
The Mercenaries mini-game first appeared in Resident Evil 3 before popping up in third-person style in home console video games Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5.
According to Kawata, when converting to the portable Nintendo 3DS Capcom was able to re-use some of the home console assets.
"When the engine team got the specs for the 3DS they asked, 'Can we make MT Framework move on this thing?'
"They laid the groundwork and got everything moving to the point where we were using some of the same assets from our home console games - and they were working on the 3DS.
"After they laid the groundwork we got the Mercenaries team on there, and they went wild with seeing how far we could go in making the game look great on the 3DS.
"We're very proud of how far we've come with it. It was definitely a big challenge."
Mercenaries 3D, which was playable at Capcom's April Captivate event, is perhaps the best-looking Nintendo 3DS game.
But Kawata said the Nintendo 3DS is capable of much more, hinting at great things from upcoming 3DS game Resident Evil: Revelations.
"We definitely are not using the full power of the 3DS or our engine at this point," he explained. "The engine team, their initial orders were to get it working specifically for Mercenaries.
"If we're talking about a different kind of title that has a different focus – maybe there needs to be more emphasis on graphics – we have every confidence we can implement that in the Framework and also on 3DS.
"You will see even better things coming out on the platform."