14 DAY TRIAL // Capcom says that Bionic Commando: Rearmed, the re-make of the original game launched in 1988, has managed to sell more than 130,000 units in its first week on the market. The game is currently available through the Xbox Live Arcade service, the PlayStation Network and digital download from the PC.
Ben Judd, who is one of the producers that worked on the game, says that no digital download title released by the company has achieved this kind of success until now and he pointed out that the players "basically have sent the message loud and clear: We are tired of meta-emulated crap; we want the titles of yesteryear to be paid the proper respect; we want them done right, and if the price is right, we'll buy".
It seems that the review scores for Bionic Commando: Rearmed are also very good, with the Metacritic average currently standing at 84% for the Xbox 360 variant, at 88% for the PlayStation 3 version and at 93% for the PC game. Judd himself points out that there are a few complaints regarding the game, but also mentions that none affects the overall playing experience.
Ben Judd sees all these developments as being very positive. He says that with Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Capcom has "set a standard in digital gaming. The bar has been raised and you have let developers around the world know that if they invest the time, money, and heart into making (and remaking) some great games, you will support that initiative".
On the one hand, it's nice to see that a digital download title with good production values and a nice idea is doing so well but on the other hand, a lot of developers might take this as a sign that remakes are now cool and we might need to brace for a flood of uninspired games based on successes from the 1990's.