Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Capcom Offers Some 25th Anniversary Reassurance


The folks at Capcom have made a lot of noise about plans in the works for Mega Man's 25th anniversary. However, that doesn't mean you'll be hearing announcements all the time. When questioned about what's going on with the whole "no news" thing, Capcom's Brett Elston made this response...


Coming from the Ask Capcom forum:

"Like we've said many times, the MM25 plans for the west will go on throughout 2013. We had to focus on SF25 from July~December (because the grand finals ran all the way to 12/8) but ever since SFxMM we've directed attention to Mega Man. But, plans and news take time, and that's why we were clear very early on that we would have to stretch this window through to the end of 2013. When Dec 31, 2013 elapses, feel free to evaluate the anniversary efforts.

And if you want some kind of reassurance that we're doing "something," then yes, we are. I'm personally trying to get a couple of fun things moving, and other departments are moving along as well. But if you're solely waiting for a game announcement, it's true that will never happen in a forum thread and it will still be a while before that happens. When it does, we'll announce it with bluster and you will know without having to come to Unity to find out :)

I know it's been a trying couple of years. Not going to dance around it or sugar coat it. But we're working on it and hope to have better things to say and share before 2013 ends. In the meantime, I'd ask to not mistake silence for inactivity - things are happening, we just have nothing specific to say at this moment in time.

I'd also ask everyone to be weary of rumors. They have a way of setting expectations that are impossible to fulfill, because they were never in the plan at all. If you hear Game X is coming to Vita, or more Marvel is on the way etc, take it with a grain of salt."

And that's all there is to say, really. I know it's been a rough wait for something substantial to surface. But constantly worrying about it isn't going to make these next ten months any easier. Yes; we all want a new game. But you have to bear in mind quality development takes a considerable amount of time (two years on average).

Best advice I can give? Enjoy what you got. There's 129 Mega Man games out there (seriously). Have you played them all from start to finish? Take this time to play some games you haven't touched before, or revisit an old favorite. And if you have played them all? Do something. Make some fan-art; produce your own Mega Man-inspired album; create your own game. Flex the fanboy (or fangirl) muscle!

Hang in there. We'll get through it.

28 comments:

  1. Or do what I do: immerse yourself in Archie's comic.

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  2. It is too late years. We are waiting. Waiting. Too waiting. So restlessly waiting. How long can we be suffer so much? No Mega man games. I know SFXMM was there, but it wasn't good enough. Look at all loyal Megaman fans. They're waiting and patience... but they will lose gradually. We have done all Megaman games. Even on consoles and handhandle port. No more waiting. Just give us what we want. Make sure Capcom must plan with the story for Megaman, X, and others. No reboot. Just make it original and new action. That is what we want.

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  3. Sad as it sounds, I honestly have beaten all 129 of those games... I just recently finished up Legends 2 and MisAdventures (the last two games on what I had left).


    The ironic thing, is that this drought for MegaMan is almost the same as what happened years ago for Street Fighter.

    After Capcom VS SNK 2 in 2001, there was basically no real Street Fighter games or substantial Capcom fighting games all the way until Street Fighter 4 in 2008-2009. From all that time in between, fans only got rereleases, compilation games, and ports of previous games.

    The closest thing to a new game they got was Hyper Street Fighter II - Anniversary Edition and I GUESS the bonus Hyper Street Fighter ZERO/Alpha that was unlockable in Street Fighter ZERO - FIGHTER'S GENERATION/Alpha Anthology.

    If anything, the Megaman community is getting more attention and sympathy than what happened for the fighting game side, in regards to what was going on during the droughts.


    My only guess is that we're likely gonna be getting some kind of compilation game in the next few months, before we get any kind of "new" game.

    IMO, I'd love a Battle Network collection for 3DS with WiFi online battles for EXE3-6, all the cut content (Boktai content, e-Reader stuff, Battle Chip Gate modes, etc.) left intact, EXE5DS' menu and PET menu additions, and voice acting clips for the games. (I don't care if some of them reuse clips between games)
    Maybe even throw in the Shooting Star games as unlockables, with 3D effects for battle and extra WiFi support.

    Meh.
    But that's just wishful thinking.

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  4. I can't wait for the next piece of badly made merchandise they offer this time.

    Maybe a handheld car vacuum to go with the air fresheners.

    Or official Mega Man energy drinks so I don't pass out of boredom while reading the Archie comic.

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  5. These are the same guys that made a big deal out of Mega Man lanyards.

    Lanyards.

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  6. *Wakes up*

    Huh? What? CoA really thinks that CoJ cares?

    Whatever, like it matters. I'm out.

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  7. In all honesty it's not been that long since MM10, it probably seems longer due to the amount of games we should have had that have been cancelled. People tend to forget that from 1998 to 2009 we had no classic MM titles at all..

    It's also not all bad news, with the attention Mega Man has had over all these cancellations in a way it's made existing fans come together more & people who didn't previously know what the series was about have been trying it out & themselves becoming fans & demanding more (i was suprised on a recent Nintendo youtube channel video the amount of new people in the comments trying MM2 for the 1st time on 3DS VC & liking it.)

    I think Capcom are going to get grief no matter what they release next for MM tbh, if MM11 gets released in 8-bit i'll be happy but i know some people will have wanted different graphics or wonder why X9 wasn't released or why Legends 3 wasn't reconsidered. For the Anniversary i'd love to see a huge boxset with cool stuff & a compliation disc with all the classic series on (the previous Annoversary collection still never had MMV from GB or MM&B)

    As for the merchandise side people may complain but tbh this merch has been some of the best we've ever had for the series (D-arts figurines, art books etc)

    Fingers crossed we get some good news soon!

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  8. Meh. Whatever it is that they supposedly have planned, I won't be getting my hopes up. I haven't really be a hundred percent satisfied with the direction the series has been heading in since 2008, when Mega Man 9 was released, and games like Universe and Xover (the latter especially, which is really saying a lot) didn't exactly help, either. In short, I'll be keeping my expectations low.

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  9. I don't get why this still gets to be considered a celebration of the 25th anniversary.

    The date has passed. I mean, I understand Street Fighter had a little something after the anniversary in the form of SFxMM, but they also had things on and even before the actual anniversary date itself.

    As far as I'm concerned the anniversary celebration is over, though I know that won't stop Capcom from using it to market whatever they have coming out like some sort of anniversary celebration.

    Even if I didn't feel that way, for him to say "When Dec 31, 2013 elapses, feel free to evaluate the anniversary efforts." Just seems wrong to me.

    Heck with that, on December 31st the 26th anniversary milestone will have already passed, let alone the 25th.


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  10. Put your money where your mouth is Capcom.

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  11. @Raycon: Exactly.

    I'm glad that CoA wants to do something meaningful for MM's 25th, but it's just so obvious that CoJ has stopped caring.

    @2:24 PM Anon: What's so boring about the Archie comic? :/

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  12. Well, looks like we know that Capcom doesn't have any Vita games in production. =P

    Man, poor Sony....

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  13. "There are some things coming you guys!! Just keep waiting a little longer! Stop being mean to us!!"

    That's what everything he just said amounts to, essential. I also find it laughable that he thinks Capcom shouldn't be judged on the quality of the anniversary until after this coming December.

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  14. P.S.

    Whenever they get around to announcing the future of MegaMan, Capcom might as well just play this music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZodx-JZJwY

    Fits pretty well with the picture up top, too.

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  15. So, uh, have all the "Top Men" been retired or something? You know, these guys in Sven's quote from early 2012?

    "(...)let's just say there are top men thinking about and actively discussing where we're going to take the brand for the next ten years and how we're going to do it."

    Because unless I missed something, the last CoA (America, not CoJ) endorsed Megaman product for the masses was those Xbox360 avatar outfits, and if that's the direction CoA (again, America, not CoJapan) wants to take the brand in, I certainly can't see myself sticking around another nine years (as 2012 has ended, obviously).

    Again, I reiterate that I can't see MYSELF sticking around. I do not speak for any other Megaman/CAPCOM fan/fanboy/fanhater.

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  16. It'd be a lot easier if things weren't quite as bleak as they were. We've all waited, got our hopes crushed, and been met with crud before. We're all upset by something Capcom has done in recent years. It's something we can all agree with, and I too feel the heavy weight of it all. I'm tired as well after seeing the same thing for roughly two years now.

    That said, it makes it that much harder when we're being told to keep waiting, especially after what we've been given. It's hard to stay optimistic about things like this when everything so far as been bleak for the franchise and fandom overall. It's perfectly natural to feel that way, and I do sometimes feel that too.

    However, as some people have already once voiced, I too feel that it is good on Capcom's part that we're being told to wait. We've gotten early announcements and rushed development on a couple of things, and look how that all turned out. Hell, Legends 3 was announced to us months before they could even get the damn thing greenlighted. That was a stupid, stupid move on Capcom's part. The same going with Universe and RMO, those both also had fairly early announcements and hyping before anything could really be set in stone. Now those three promising games (okay well, maybe just L3 and RMO were promising) were cancelled, and the most we've gotten since is an iOS game with clear rushed development time and blatant recycling from the iOS port of X1, a quick money grab.

    I think Capcom has finally learned their lesson from this. Why should they hype us again after those last failures? And I'd rather take waiting than another possibility of severe disappointment. Maybe Capcom actually has something really good planned in store, but are just giving it more time. More time isn't always a bad thing. We've gotten great things from waiting before (Okay, Duke Nukem Forever being a notable exception, but still). It's hard waiting after what's been done recently, but it shouldn't necessarily be a detested thing either.

    On another note, that picture is depressing.

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  17. @Captain

    There likely never were "Top Men" and he said that comment to get people off his back, he flat out admitted in the press for SFxMM nobody wanted to work on Mega Man for a good year following the cancellations because it was a sore topic.

    Again Sven is a PR guy it's his JOB to say things are fine.

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  18. 12/31/2013, 11:59:50PM
    STILL NO NEWS ABOUT MEGAMAN 25TH ANNIVERSARY
    GETTING SUSPICIOUS

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  19. Yeah, I know I've said it before, and I'm going to say it here again, one more time, but this is the last group of comments I ever read on a Mega Man site. This community (the entire Mega Man community, not just the Rockman Corner group, and I want to stress I love the site and news posters, just not the community built around it) is quite possible the worst I've ever experienced anywhere. All you guys do is fuss and moan over every little thing, and hold grudges, like children. Yes, they announced some games early, to get the word out. They didn't pan out, sorry. It's happened to plenty of other Mega Man titles we've never heard about, I'm sure. They never should have revealed anything without having the green light. But really, that's all they done wrong. The rest is them having to put up with this horrible group of "fans" that just want things to materialize out of thin air with no effort and be perfect. It's ridiculous, and very, very sad.

    Oh no, you have to wait a few years before a new game comes out. Those 129 in 25 years just AREN'T POSSIBLY ENOUGH? Really? Y'know, I'm really upset the second half of my lovely Xenosaga games got cancelled, but that doesn't stop me from supporting the companies, and I moved on within the same damn day, because in the end, it's pointless not to. Sure, nothing's wrong with bringing them up time to time, or asking Namco/Monolith/Nintendo to reconsider it, but there is no point in bellyaching about for YEARS. It's a very childish notion, rather, and has destroyed any interest I had in meeting fellow Mega Man fans online. I'm just going to continue to be a singular fan, because it's much better than having to deal with this sad community. Meanwhile, I'm still going to respect Capcom, I'm still going to buy Capcom games, and when Capcom says they are working on something, I'm going to believe them. Sorry, internet, but you have just as much proof that they aren't as they do that they are. Things take time, especially in the business world. If they don't things properly, anything they prematurely announce can fall though. And guess what? Somehow, with this community, it'd be all Capcom's fault, they forced you guys to pressure them to show something or some other lame excuse.

    Other games exist, if you've finished all 129 games by some miracle, go play something. Go enjoy life, it's not like everything in your life revolves around a little blue robot. Things happen. Series go on hiatus. Star Trek had no TV show for the first time in 20+ years, then comes back with a movie that appeals even to non-Star Trek fans. Metroid went away for seven-eight years, then came back with a solid platformer and an amazing first-person adventure that everyone doubted. Ninja Gaiden vanished for 10+ years and returned, still as damn hard as ever. A gap in releases doesn't have to be a bad thing.

    But who am I kidding? 98% of you didn't even read this far, I'm sure, and decided to flame me from the second sentence. And if you didn't, you probably did around the time I said I respect Capcom. Again, at least you don't have to worry about it, because I'm not reading any more comments or posting anything else, so whatever.

    DH, Mega Man fan since 1991; Mega Man Community RIP, hopefully a better one will emerge somewhere in the future.

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  20. Two walls of text incoming


    Well since DH said he isn't going to be reading any more comments or anything I guess I'll just direct this at everyone else in regards to people like this while still talking as a response to him.
    Saying all this fanbase does is "fuss and moan" is ridiculous. If it weren't for this fanbase, Capcom would have had literally nothing but words on the day of Megaman's anniversary. Fans are making games, art, music, and organizing special events all for the sake of this series. They are the wans keeping it afloat as others have pointed out.

    That's hardly just “fussing and moaning.”

    As for “holding grudges?” Would you have the fanbase just turn a blind eye to any and all wrongdoing by Capcom over the past couple of years? I would guess so since you seem to think that “They never should have revealed anything without having the green light. But really, that's all they done wrong. “

    It goes beyond that. Issues like the Megaman Legends 3 and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 fiasco were handled horribly by the company. There have been lies and simple general mistreatment coming from Capcom but I guess we're all just supposed to ignore and forget about things like that right?

    Doing that doesn't make you a good fan, it makes you a blind fanboy, a sheep.

    As for the 129 games in 25 years, the issue of quantity is somewhat unusual. There are a lot of Megaman games, but a lot of them recycle assets. They can be made quickly and cheaply. It's not something that's uncommon in the gaming industry of course but that's how a company can manage to make 129 games in 25 years. Not only that but just because there's a lot of games doesn't mean there is a lot to those games. Looking at the classic series, the games can all be beaten in an hour, give or take a bit of time depending on how good the player is. Just because there's a lot of games doesn't mean there's a lot to play.

    And how did the Xenosaga game cancellation go? This is something I see a lot. People trying to compare apples to oranges. As I mentioned earlier, it would be one thing if those Megaman games had simply gotten cancelled, but it was the way the company handled the cancellations, the circumstances, the aftermath, that are the real problems. Pointing out perfectly legitimate complaints and problems people have with the circumstances surrounding the cancellations and company attitude towards things like that is in no way childish and simply asking for an explanation isn't asking too much.

    As for respecting Capcom, that goes beyond the Megaman fanbase for me. I don't respect them not only because of how they have been treating the Megaman fans lately, but other fanbases as well, not to mention how they have been treating their own employees. But hey, let's just turn a blind eye to all of that too, right?



    Also “If they don't things properly, anything they prematurely announce can fall though. And guess what? Somehow, with this community, it'd be all Capcom's fault, they forced you guys to pressure them to show something or some other lame excuse.”

    Isn't that a big part of the problem right now? Capcom did show things prematurely and it is their fault. How would it not be?

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  21. Continuing my last post.



    As for future prospects yes, everyone understands it takes time, but this article in particular is speaking about the anniversary. If they don't have anything for the anniversary then they should just say so instead of trying to use the anniversary, after it has already passed, as a marketing ploy. That's what is getting the majority of negative remarks in this comment section, if not all of them, and it's a perfectly legitimate thing to point out.

    Once again, yes, there are a lot of Megaman games, and yes other game series have gone on long breaks with no games and have turned out just fine. But once again the issue is the circumstances under which this “break” for Megaman started.

    Those other series didn't suffer through the same circumstances as the Megaman games/fans have and that's where the comparision doesn't work.

    Because of the tming and nature of the cancellations as well as the attitude of the company directly following, the situations are different and the Megaman fan base is upset at more than just the time it will take for a new game.

    But let's ignore all that. Let's just say the only reason Megaman fans are upset with Capcom is because they want a game now.

    I personally have gone on record saying that Capcom doesn't need to MAKE anything. What they need to do is apologize for all the circumstances this series and its fans have been put through because of their actions, as well as show that they are going to start treating not only Megaman fans, but all of their fanbases with proper respect again and it will go a long way. The games can come later if they were to do that.

    But again, let's ignore all that and just say it's because there are no games right now. As if that's the only complaint anyone could possibly have with Capcom.

    And I can't speak for the rest of the Megaman fanbase, but to people like you I have to say, good riddance. Because from where I'm standing people like you can only be a detrement to a fanbase, if only because of the line you went out on.

    “DH, Mega Man fan since 1991; Mega Man Community RIP, hopefully a better one will emerge somewhere in the future. “

    If you want a better Mega Man Community start working on it yourself. Start trying to spread optimism and maybe follow your own advice. Work on or promote fan games, make fan art, music, whatever comes to mind. If Capcom makes a mistake call them on it but keep things within reason, don't turn a blind eye to everything they do.

    But no, you'd rather just leave and hope that a “better fanbase” will emerge later. Of course if something like that were to happen that fanbase will have formed by people who actively improved the fanbase. Not people who say they aren't going to be fans anymore, such as yourself.

    I personally will be doing as I said. I'm sticking with this fanbase through the good times and the bad times. I'll promote things other fans make and collaborate with them on projects when I can. This fanbase has done so many incredible things, a lot of which they don't get enough if any credit for, and I'll happily stick around to see what else they have in store. There are a few games in the works now that I'm looking forward to quite a bit in fact.

    Raycon, Mega Man fan since 1991 as well; Mega Man Community keep going strong.

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  22. @DH:

    ...

    ...*THUNK*

    Oh for God's sake. You could not be any more pompously condescending about this if you tried.

    I don't care what your reasoning is--three cancelled projects in a row (projects that were announced to the public, specifically) is not normal for anything. Having 129 prior-released games also doesn't change the fact that MM's future is very uncertain at the moment; trying to use that to silence concern just speaks badly of you.

    And you know why people are "fussing and moaning" over every little thing? Because they care about the series and they're worried that Capcom might ultimately decide to drop it. If you'd even bothered to read the comments closely, you'd understand that. Or maybe you wouldn't, because you seem to think that showing ANY emotional reaction to MM-related news that isn't "acceptance" makes you a bad person.

    (And about Xenosaga: If no one's asking for a sequel, then they're not likely to get a sequel. Did that ever occur to you before you wrote off the notion of keeping the audience for it visible by continuing to ask for a continuation as "childish"?)

    Yes, other games exist, and yes, we'll play them (I've been playing lots of Sonic, myself). That does not mean we have to stop caring about Megaman, nor does our "whining" here mean that that's ALL we do.

    And if you decide to stick around to see what responses you got, don't you dare accuse me of flaming. I read your holier-than-thou, "I'm better than you because I say I am!" tirade all the way through.

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  23. Well seeing as CoJ is now celebrating Resident Evil's 17th anniversary and gave up on MegaMan's 25th just as it started, I think mega man fans have every right to feel worried and to express thouse worries to Capcom directly.

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  24. Capcom has had a long history of abuse of the Mega Man franchise right from its inception. Fans have always had good reason to mistrust them when it comes to marketing and selling Mega Man. They have two modes. Dormancy or saturation. Neither have been good for the franchise. Virtually every good decision made for Mega Man has been the actions of the developers, not the administration.

    Mega Man 2. Case and point.

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  25. @Raycon & Radix:

    Everything you said, I 100% approve. seriously, !$#& that noise. Given reading past year's deviantart blog posts, I wouldn't be surprised that this DH asshole also wrote those, but I'll withhold naming the Deviantart users name, though I'll give a hint in that it's named after a hotel for some reason.

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  26. Didn't Capcom state that they would have more news about Mega Man's future around the same time as the release of Street Fighter X Mega Man? What happened to that? Because the game was released ... then nothing.

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  27. Everything what Radix and Raycon said. Seriously. You guys said everything what I had in mind.

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  28. Well, it's official 2014 (January 4, 2014, as I write this).

    "But, plans and news take time, and that's why we were clear very early on that we would have to stretch this window through to the end of 2013. When Dec 31, 2013 elapses, feel free to evaluate the anniversary efforts."
    "But we're working on it and hope to have better things to say and share before 2013 ends. In the meantime, I'd ask to not mistake silence for inactivity - things are happening, we just have nothing specific to say at this moment in time."

    "Things are happening." <--Scratching my head as to what possibly (NON-CAMEO GAME-RELATED) things he was referring to. Again, I'd like to point out that Megaman in Smash 4 is the greatest thing since Sonic Sliced Bread, but he is reduced to a cameo/Guest fighter there. And that the game (Smash 4) is far from being released to the general gaming public, so that falls well outside of the December 31, 2013 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION window that Brett alluded to.

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