This is not an uncommon occurance but its rarely stated so bluntly. Capcom founder Kenzo Tsujimoto in a piece on GameDaily.BIZ let it all hang out as far as his opinions on the difference between American and Japanese game development goals:

"The chief difference between American and Japanese game publishers: In the United States, publishers are very successful – they`re run by professional management. They focus on money, not making great games. On our side, we always operate under the assumption that there`s a high possibility of losing money, but that`s just our style. American publishers make games so everyone can play. The Japanese – especially Capcom – favor the hardcore gamer."

This is not the first time its been stated but personally I don`t think any part of the industry favors creativity over money - least of all Capcom with its sequel filled franchises like Resident Evil and Devil May Cry. Remember that this is also the company that killed the studio responsible for the outstanding (but low selling) game Okami last year. If it were all about creativity, Clover would have not gone away methinks.

American and Japanese companies are just that - companies - in the business to make a profit, while Tsujimoto-san may want to draw an invisible line in the sand quality wise it just doesn`t make sense when you compare the quantity of games over the quality of most of them.