Thursday, May 19, 2011

Mega Man Legends Not Coming To PSN

The fight to get, at least, the very first Mega Man Legends title on PlayStation Network has raged on for well over a year. Capcom US has been diligent in getting the title's IP  cleared for release all while keeping fans up-to-date on the process. Unfortunately, there were far too many complications to overcome: Mega Man Legends 1 cannot release on PSN.

On today's Ask Capcom Live stream, corporate officer Christian 'Sven' Svensson officially announced the game's ineligibility to release PlayStation Network due to a failed IP sweep. Jump to the 14:20 mark in the following video for the explanation in full:

         

While Mega Man Legends 1 may be down and out for the count, there's hope for MML2 and The Misadventures of Tron Bonne. As stated by Sven, more PS1 titles are coming to the service, and if Capcom's tendency to release Legends 2-themed PSN avatars is any indication, Legends 2 may be on the horizon.

Capcom may want to consider alternate means to get series newcomers caught up in terms of story. Fans living outside of Japan don't have an accessible or legal way to play the original games. The prospect of full blown remakes is something that's very much alive in all of our minds, but Capcom hasn't been too vocal on that front.

You never know what the future could hold.

25 comments:

RADIX said...

Why do I keep hearing the words "this doesn't bode well"?

MM Model Q said...

Their explanation was nice, but it was also very vague. It would be interesting to know what exactly it is that's holding them back.

Flame said...

Capcom. forget PSN.

re-release them in a bundle pack.

God damn.

Techokami said...

I'm not hearing any audio from that video, and it buffers very, very slowly. Someone mind transcribing?

Anonymous said...

They should put megaman 64 on wii virtual console then. problem solved.

MegaMac said...

@MM Model Q:

It's probably that damn kid who voiced Volnutt. He wasn't solely a voice actor to my knowledge as he appeared in shows such as Goosebumps and shit. Probably some contract stuff going on there...

Anonymous said...

@Techokami: refresh the page, works for me.

Anonymous said...

What a let-down.

kenshinmeowth said...

They pretty much said the same exact thing two years ago:
http://www.themmnetwork.com/2009/07/15/no-plans-for-legends-on-psn-yet/

If they're referring to Legends specifically when talking about that, then it does make me think they're having some trouble with voice acting rights. Which is really weird but I guess it's a real thing.

They also mentioned in this how they don't want to mess with the ROM to remove/edit things because it would mess up the emulation. Obviously you CAN do that, and companies like Nintendo already have with games like Wave Race to edit and remove the Kawasaki logos. Maybe it's a Playstation thing? Have their been any edits on classic PS1 uploads before?

I guess the bottom line is, the only way they're going to re-release Legends 1 and 2 is if the games are remade, so good luck there.

Axem White said...

So, another Playstation Network release gets cancelled (just like Powered Up)? Wow, didn't see that coming. Just watch me faint in shock.

Zerokun said...

24 ep prequel anime. Nuff said.

Anonymous said...

Mega man legends 1 is fairly common.
So no big loss.

turianx9 said...

This is dumb. Just remove whatever is conflicting and release. Or, give the games a rerelease on 3DS with new voice acting and upgraded graphics. Do something, cause it's been ten years and not many peeps will buy a threequel unless they have played the other two.

Shin Star said...

I thought when you sign the contract or whatever, you basically sell your soul and it's all Capcom's property or something.

Of course I don't know anything so....lol.

Rockman said...

What about the PSP version? Does that avoid the issues because it isn't sold in the US or because it doesn't have any of the trouble in the first place? In the latter case, just relocalise it.

Matthew said...

I think they should just bring the first two games to the 3DS in one pack, tweak them to fit the resolution and add more depth to cutscenes for the 3D effect, add a few bottom screen features like a map or whatever MML3 uses it for, and like someone said, redo voice acting with the current team in the US. Thus, Nintendo fans who never got to try it beyond Mega Man 64 would get to, and it possibly solves the issues.

... where's that part of the MML dev site where I can suggest this again?

Anonymous said...

Yea They should release the Nintendo 64 verison !!!

VoiceOfReason said...

If they can't release the PS1 version with new content then what in the hell is possesing some of you to believe MM64 could be released instead? The reason it's not coming has to do with some rights that capcom no longer holds and I'm assuming that it is Voice over related. The virtual console is just as limited as PSN's PS1 ports. In other words if it can't be released on PSN it won't come to VC. Damn shame to, it really does seem like the Mega Man I.P. has hit a curve recently doesn't it? I still to this day haven't played the Tron Bonne spinoff...

undamned said...

I guess I don't see this as a big deal. MML is not a rare PS1 title, nor is it expensive. Jump on ebay and buy one, already.

MML2 & MTB, on the other hand, are very expensive and should definitely have a push to become DLC titles.

Professor Megaman said...

Between the cancellation of Legends on PSN and the delay of Legends 3, it seems Capcom can't help dropping more and more torpedoes on the MegaMan franchise.

Krazy Monkey said...

@VoiceofReason:

Weren't the voices muted in the Nintendo 64 version? If all this copyright crap is only about the voices and those alone, then that shouldn't be a problem when it comes to release it on the Virtual Console.

Anonymous said...

@Krazy Monkey

The N64 version had just about all the voice acting that the PS1 version had. The N64 version's sound quality was simply lower overall.

VoiceOfReason said...

Yeah but I don't think sound quality is the problem with Legends 1. Rather one or more voice actors (I'm thinking Teasel or Volnutt himself) are what is not allowing the game to be released. Since many developers say they can't release files on the wii shop due to space issues I highly doubt Capcom would re-dub Legends 1 and release it on the Virtual Console. Rather if they were to release a Legends game on wii it would be a bundle pack or something. I'd love to be wrong though, even though I own Legends 1 I want more people to experience it.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see the first two on 3DS.

If they started porting now, there could be a bundle with 3! XD

Also, Powered Up on 3DS. I never got to play that.

Nick said...

This is a bunch of bull