Maximo Updated Preview

When Capcom's upcoming PlayStation 2 title Maximo is released early next year, it will mark the rebirth of the company's US-based development house, Capcom Digital Studios. Quite possibly one of the company's best kept secrets, the current incarnation of CDS first garnered attention at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, where Maximo was officially unveiled at Capcom's booth. The three-dimensional spiritual successor to one of Capcom's most beloved classic games, Ghouls 'N Ghosts, Maximo displays a level of polish and refinement that has never been seen in Capcom's US-developed material. We recently sat down with the team, and they gave us some insight into the studio's rebirth and how they were able to produce a game like Maximo their first time out of the gate.

While Maximo is the team's first original effort as a group, many of the team's members worked together on Capcom's last Saturn game, Final Fight Revenge. Released in Japan in March 2000, the game was a port of an arcade fighter developed on Sega's Titan arcade hardware. The conceptual predecessor to the Naomi arcade board, the Titan was created to allow easy porting of arcade titles to the Saturn. The game required the 4MB RAM cartridge and was therefore never released in the US, so Maximo will be the first original game to be released in the US by this incarnation of Capcom Digital Studios.

The current team at CDS brings a wealth of gaming experience and passion to the table. Made up of veterans with years of experience from working at developers such as Sunsoft, Ocean, Acclaim, and Namco, the team definitely knows games. Check out our video interview here, and keep checking GameSpot for more on the game as its February release approaches.