Back in 2004 I wrote a story about the founding of Clover Studios, a sub-studio of Capcom, whose job it was to make creative and innovative games. Last week, Capcom shuttered Clover Studios due to financial reasons, namely, that Capcom isn't doing well, and Clover Studio's games haven't been selling well enough.

It's a shame, really. Clover was responsibile for 'Viewtiful Joe,' 'Okami,' and 'God Hand.' The latter two recently hit store shelves. 'Okami' has garnered wonderful reviews but just didn't have the sales numbers to keep the studio alive. 'God Hand' has received mixed reviews and is not selling well. 'Viewtiful Joe' was a cult hit, but never a huge success.

As I stare at my Viewtiful Joe bobble head on my desk, I detect a small tear appearing from beneath his mask. It's not a selfish tear, knowing that he will never star in another game. Rather, it's a tear lamenting the killing of creativity in gaming.

Clover, which stood for "Creativity Lover", included two gaming heavyweights at its inception: 'Resident Evil' creator Shinji Mikami and 'Devil May Cry' director Hideki Kamiya. It was a beacon of hope. A studio that had the freedom to make a game based on a Japanese myth of bringing light to the world which used watercolors and a paintbrush as a major game element ('Okami').

Capcom is unfortunately sacrificing the short term for the long term. A studio like Clover would have excelled making games for the Nintendo Wii. Heck, it would have excelled making games for the Xbox 360 and PS3. It was a good studio with good games and it's sad to see it go.

Thus, to mourn the loss and in the spirit of creativity and Japanese art, I have written a Haiku:

Clover Studios
Thanks for good games and mem'ries
Viewtiful Joe rock'd

Alternate, angry Haiku:

Clover Studios
Capcom's financial woes suck
Die Capcom die die