When it comes to keeping PC gamers in the loop on their console games, Capcom have long been one of the good guys. And how do PC gamers repay the favour? Same way a lot of PC gamers always do: with mass acts of piracy. When quizzed about the state of Devil May Cry 4's PC sales on Capcom's forums, Christian Svensson replied:

I'm not sure about how Capcom in general feels but It's not doing as well as I would like in the US at retail. It's such a good version and it really deserves better sales. I know it's getting pirated to hell and back (it was up on torrents literally the day it shipped).

Leading Capcom to throw their hands up and complain about the state of piracy in the PC market, right? Nope! Svensson instead goes on in great detail about the company's big plans for future digital distribution on the platform, which is encouraging reading for the kind of people that think playing DMC4 on a PC is a good idea.

Are Capcom pleased with DMC4's PC sales? [Capcom]

Capcom's console game business was the primary driver behind the company's 11.5 percent net sales gain on the fiscal year, the company announced today, crediting overseas performance of Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, Umbrella Chronicles and Devil May Cry 4 in particular.

Shipments of RE4 and Umbrella Chronicles for Wii "greatly exceeded" expectations, with shipments surpassing one million units, Capcom said, while DMC4 brought "record" sales for the company with over 2 million units. Additionally, PSP's Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd G" is off to a "strong start," Capcom said, with nearly one million units sold.

Sales increased to ¥83,097 million ($US 805.79 million), while the company's operating income saw a 15.7 percent gain on the year to ¥12,267 million ($US 118.95 million). Net income increased 33.4 percent to ¥7,807 ($US 75.70).

The company forecasts a 14.7 percent increase in net sales to ¥95,300 million ($US 924.12 million) in the coming year, alongside 20.6 percent income growth to ¥14,800 million ($US 145 million) driven by "the steady growth of each segments, which will be the best records of Capcom Co., Ltd."

We've already heard that Devil May Cry 4 is coming to PCs, but now we almost know when. This winter. Yes, that's as specific as Capcom is getting at the moment. In addition, a demo is promised and DMC4 PC will be sporting some new modes, too:

Turbo mode will turn-up the action to insane speeds, while Legendary Dark Knight Mode will harness advanced PC processing power and fill the screen with an unbelievable number of enemies for extra difficulty. Moreover, familiar enemies from the console versions will show-up in new locations in the PC version.

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Capcom did a fine job handling the multi-platform Devil May Cry 4. You know, making sure all versions looked the same. But was that easy? Producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi explains:

The Xbox 360 and the PC are close in structure, so it was easy to switch over. The PS3, the CPU and the design are unique... our programmer is extremely talented, and was able to figure it out. I think after repeated meetings with Sony that we were able to tap into the PS3.

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Infinity Ward continues to take down the competition on the software side, with Call of Duty 4 for the Xbox 360 narrowly outselling Devil May Cry 4 in February. Capcom's decision to go multiplatform for its newest stylish action game was clearly a smart one, with the 360 version outselling its PlayStation 3 sibling by a good 60,000 copies.

The month saw some impressive debuts, including strong sales for Lost Odyssey and Turok. Wii Play and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games continue to be lapped up by the masses, with Guitar Hero III and Rock Band taking the open slots on the top ten. Numbers are after this.

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Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw and I can agree on one thing. Devil May Cry has long been, in our shared opinion, "as aggressively juvenile as a 12 year old on pixie stix" and suffers from "truly obnoxious level design". But that doesn't mean it's not fun. It just requires the shutting off of a cynical brain, one that's jaded from one too many mid-air dick-waving sword fights, infinite ammo and the constant din of stylised violence to enjoy the demon puppet juggling.

Zero Punctuation: Devil May Cry 4 [The Escapist]

Devil May Cry's always been a rather sexy series. Effeminate heroes, long red coats, exposed man-chests, you know how it goes. But a slutty series? No. Not until today, anyway. High-brow British men's lifestyle magazine Front has subbed Dante and Nero from the game's screens and replaced them with the demure, classily-named Vikki Blows. What will those marketing types think of next?
Devil May Cry 4 [TVG]

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Whenever a PS3 or Xbox 360 game comes out, Wii owners say it would be great if Nintendo's console got a port. And for some games, it really would! For others, it wouldn't be so great. Devil May Cry 4 is one of those games, says the title's producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi. According to him:

You know, a lot of people ask us if we are going to bring out a Wii version. I simply don't think you can make the game the type of game it is, with the awesome graphics and control -- I don't think that would work on the Wii. So, I don't think we're going to bring one out, no.

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Multi-plat pays — big time. Just ask Capcom! Its multi-platform title Devil May Cry 4 is the fastest selling entry in the DMC series, shipping two million copies. Until Devil May Cry 3, the games were PlayStation exclusives, and DMC4 was originally announced as PS3-only. Then Capcom realised it wanted to make way more money! And so, we have a multi-plat version selling like hotcakes. Mmmm... And who doesn't like hotcakes?!
DMC4 Hits 2 Million [Gamespot] [Pic]

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Capcom dropped us a line late yesterday to let us know that the Xbox Live demo of Devil May Cry 4 reached one million downloads back on the 9th of February. This means that the demo averaged 25,000 downloads a day since its release on January 24th, making it one of the fastest downloads to reach the million mark in Xbox Live history, as well as the first demo released this year to reach such a lofty number. Now to see how many of those demo downloading peoples actually went out to the store and picked up the game. Me? I rented, skeptical that the game was simply more of the same. Enjoying it so far, but not quite "buy" enjoying it.

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