Thursday, July 25, 2013

Capcom Further Explains Why Mega Man Legends 3 Was Cancelled


Capcom Unity's Greg 'Gregaman' Moore has dropped by the Ask Capcom forums to provide further insight regarding Mega Man Legends 3's cancellation. It's a lengthy report but, man, it's well worth the read. Hit the jump below for the full read or click here for the original post.


Hey everybody. I want to say first that I appreciate your civility on the subject. We are still examining the possibility of Legends 1/2/MOTB releases on PSN, et al, but it may be that the best we can get are the Japanese, untranslated PSP ports. And even then I can't make any promises right now.

Now then.

As these threads always exemplify, there's quite a bit of disparity even within the existing Mega Man community about what Mega Man is, what makes the brand good, and what direction it should go in the future. That's one of the big challenges of the brand. That disparity is not only found amongst fans on Unity.

At any rate, R. Case has been a devoted fan from the start of the Devroom, and while I can't give you all the answers you seek, I want to at least address this thread to the best of my ability. While I lack Sven's authority and fearless candor, I will go ahead and try to compensate for his absence. But before you go neogaffing and Mega Man Networking all this, I want to stress that the below is nothing more than a recap of things we've already expressed in one form or another. You could call it GregaMan's Greatest Hits.

>Why was MegaMan legends 3 cancelled?

To be sure, I don't think when Sven said it "could take years" to get an explanation he was promising one once we'd passed the "years" mark. We're still beholden to the same restrictions as before (although he has left Capcom, soooo I have no idea?). Although I gather you just figured this was a decent time to give us another nudge.

As some have already pointed out, it's not at all uncommon for games to be canceled mid-production, even (or especially) for major publishers, for major brands. The difference in Legends 3's case is that it was announced publicly from its earliest planning stages, while most games that meet this fate are nixed long before ever being revealed outside office walls. This of course was the whole point--an experiment in transparency for what was clearly a passion project in need of an "angle"--and frankly a pretty odd one, when you think about it. Remember that Legends 3 was essentially a 10-year-late sequel to a sequel to a spin-off, that had middling success even back when it was one of the only games of its kind--before 3D Action-Adventure was an established genre, if you can even remember that far back. And consider its place within the greater Mega Man brand. If you thought DmC was a deviation from the Devil May Cry brand, remember that MML (MmL?) changed virtually everything you could possibly change about Mega Man. Even I remember scoffing at the sight of it until I got my hands on it and realized it stood on its own merits. Then consider that the game was destined for a platform that didn't even exist yet in the wild. All that isn't to say MML3 was a "bad" project--it was just weird. But MML has always been a passion project, not a cash cow. Hence the Devroom angle.

I guess you could say, then, that the cancellation of the project wasn't actually anything out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary is that everbody knew about it. The Devroom and the MML3 project's utter transparency were nigh-unprecedented experiments with high risks. They were risks that, sadly, delivered the full brunt of their severity. Look at us. Two years later and we're still here talking about it. I want to know, guys, and please take this question in earnest: Knowing how the project turned out, would you rather have not known about its existence to begin with?

I want to believe that despite the grief, despite the years of community "managing" that have resulted for me and my team (all of whom were not in the company's employ at the time of the cancellation), there was still merit in the experiment, for you and for me. The Mega Man community is the strongest and most aligned it's ever been. We didn't get a game, but we got real stories of human beings coming together with other human beings and doing incredible things. I'm not trying to give the company a pat on the back for this incidental outcome. I'm giving you all a collective one.

We as a publisher learned valuable lessons about the role community can, should, will by any means necessary play. In my mind the Devroom marked a maturation of our still-fledgling community initiative. A milestone lesson learned and taken to heart. How lucky am I that I started my career here by helming the craziest, weirdest, most volatile experiment ever ventured by this department? MML3 realigned our compass, and whether you know it or not, you've all had an impact on Capcom. It is my hope that in time this will lead to decisions that bring happiness to each and every one of you.

>Why where fans mislead about the Prototype coming out?

It was unintentional and that's all I'll say about it. There was never an attempt to mislead anybody.

>Why did that guy at Capcom Europe think it was ok to put all the blame on fans?

I'd like to put this issue to rest once and for all, though I don't imagine that will happen since we've already tried our best to dispel those remarks and I still wake up each morning to a new volley of "Why Capcom keep blaming the fans?!" messages. As the composer of that tweet eventually tried to explain, the remark was intended to be a lament that the Devroom didn't achieve its aims as a marketing tool, not that the fans of the game were somehow responsible for the cancellation of the game. In any case, it obviously didn't come out that way, and the backpedaling was evidently too little too late. Incidentally, the Devroom was never meant to serve as a primary gauge of "marketability" or whatever--we knew this was hardcore stuff. But it bears noting that the Pan-Western Devroom was US-led and Europe's involvement was secondary, so I would chalk that sentiment up to that one individual's misconception of the project, or else just poor wording.

I don't know what was going on in that person's head, but keep in mind that this was, like I said, in the fledgling days of Capcom's community initiative. Europe in particular didn't really have much of a community presence to speak of yet, and this predated the advent of a European community manager or social media expert. Rarely a week goes by that you don't hear of some company committing some cringeworthy gaffe on social media, and I guess this was ours. But that's all it was--an individual using a corporate account to post personal musings rather than representing the company's stance. The person was spoken to about it as soon as it was discovered and asked not to Tweet anymore. To be as clear as possible: Capcom does not "keep blaming the fans"; one person made a brief series of poorly-worded Tweets once and was then removed from Twitter. The company, including the European branches, has since undergone a massive upgrading of its community initiatives, and now the UK office has both multiple designated community managers (led up by the lovable Neil) and a social media expert. So I'll just come out and say it--you can go ahead and discredit those glaring, two-year-old Tweets. The official company message regarding the cancellation is hereMy follow-up message is hereIt's not your fault.

If nothing else (and I hope that's not the case), hopefully this project has shown you why companies are rarely ever this transparent. As soon as you let the public in on something, you may as well have made a promise. And god forbid it be a premature one.

That said, I believe that the project was itself inherently good. Fan involvement and transparency are still ideals held high by my team and me, and we try to have our games and activities reflect this as much as possible. Believe it or not, we've come a long way since Legends 3, and continue to progress down a promising path. I do hope that you'll stick with us in the future, even if our successes don't take the form you'd originally desired.

Sincerest regards,

Greg

News Credit: GoNintendo

72 comments:

  1. So... we finally learned why Legends 3 was canned or not?

    Cause I think Greg was honest with that.

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    1. Nah, we didn't learn squat. He danced around it again, like Sven did the entire time he was in charge.

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    2. It's not that big of a mystery, MML3 was scrapped because it was a game that had limited appeal on platform that was doing poorly. People seem to think that megaman is some massive money maker but he's really not.

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    3. It's not that big of a mystery, MML3 was scrapped because it was a game that had limited appeal on platform that was doing poorly.

      That never stopped Capcom before. And now that the 3DS is proven successful, what's reason do they have to not try again?

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    4. Because....Keiji!

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    5. "People seem to think that megaman is some massive money maker but he's really not."

      Yeah, that must be why it's sold over 29 million copies, has made literally millions of dollars and still has fans demanding numerous games from the franchise 25 years later.

      Moron.

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    6. The PSP games, the last 2 X games (X8, Command Mission), the Legends Series, and ZX were all flops dude.

      And even when it is successful NOW, it's still no RE, Street Fighter or Monster Hunter.

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    7. Inafune: I overheard a conversation between some higher ups soon after the initial announcement of the game. They knew they could not fund this game. Capcom had already ran the numbers supposedly and found that it would be an unprofitable game for them. However, they could not back down due to the fan reaction for the game. They put in this bullshit plan of “producing” a prototype that would “not be received well” and put those forward as reasons for cancellation rather than reveal the real reason.

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  2. It doesn't seem like he actually explained WHY it was cancelled. He kinda dodged the question and answered different questions in it's place. So in other words, we still don't actually know why. :(

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  3. Ah, come on, everyone knows it was canceled to punish Inafune for leaving Capcom. That'll show him!

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    1. I don't think that's it. There must be some reason Capcom canned Legends 3 and I don't think its to punish Inafune.

      *Sigh* I can't believe people are still angry about Legends 3's death. I mean, NISA did well with its Disgea series and my favorite RPG series of all, Hyperdimension Neptunia. At least companies like Nintendo, Square-Enix and Namco Bandai are honest unlike Capcom. Just saying,

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    2. i belive inafune got screwed by capcom in someway and said "FiretrUCK YOU CAPCOM!!!" and bailed with the story line in hand thats my take

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    3. @Musashi:

      Nintendo - Tries to shut down a major tournament involving a decade old game that's only been given support by it's own fans and it's own fans alone, right off the heels of the hype of it's fourth installment. Along with rip-off style "deals" for Deluxe Promotions and store credit on the eShop.

      SquareEnix - Will take and publish games with overwhelmingly overblown budgets for the sake of using a big budget, have said games be major hits and sell millions worldwide and still call them "failures", and insult the Western developers who made those great games while ignoring their own stupid decisions with FF13-2 (DLC endings and Bribe To Victory DLC packs, anyone?), FFXIV (everything about it), the countless number of Cease and Desist orders to fan projects involving long-since dead franchises they haven't touched in years (Chrono Ressurection, for example), and constantly releasing stripped down DS ports of games to the mobile market for ridiculously high prices.

      Namco Bandai - Fighter and music games having DLC galore, many of which could have just been in-game unlocks but stripped out to be made paid-DLC. Online passes for recent games. Ruined mechanics for latest fighters on the market (SCV and Tag 2). Pay-to-Win/Free-to-play fighter released with repeated lies about vaporware title that was announced 2 years ago (Tekken Revolution and Tekken X Street Fighter, respectively). Dangling success of a niche title that got localized by pure chance in order to allow future games to be localized (Project X Zone's success to dictate if future SRW games be brought here, or their other unlocalized titles). And many more.



      Yeah, these are some really HONEST and good companies.

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    4. No, there must be some reason why Legends 3 was canned, not by what the other anons said. I still hate Capcom and annoyed at those who enjoyed Capcom's games.

      But there has to be a valid reason why Legends 3 was cancelled. Is it because Capcom doesn't see MegaMan as a selling series? They don't care about MegaMan anymore? Or is it that they see the MegaMan fanbase quareling amongst themselves like they're doing now convinces Capcom that the fanbase doesn't care about MegaMan anymore?

      Nobody knows...

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    5. @ Musashi What does NIS' Disgaea or Neptune have to do with Capcom? Your confusing me.

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    6. @Musashi: NISA's not immune to big gaffes. Remember the Rhapsody DS debacle? They really screwed that up. At least they made a public apology about it, though.

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    7. Anon 3: The Nintendo situation has been explained already and it was the legal team being overzealous because no one went to legal team to discuss it. But in the end everything was fixed in a matter of a couple of hours.

      http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2013/jul/10/evo-staff-we-didnt-do-anything-alter-smash-stream-situation-had-be-bad-pr-changed-nintendos-minds/

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    8. What? Nintendo never tried to shut down the tournament, anon 3. They just didn't want it to be streamed when permission was asked for it. Big difference. Not that it matters, though, because once they were more informed about what this was all about, they decided to give EVO the okay to stream it. But never once were they trying to shut down the tournament or take the game out of said tournament.

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  4. I, honestly, don't fucking care anymore. And really, unless they plan on re-announcing it, I wish they(and everyone else) would just shut the fuck up about it.
    They still haven't actually given us a reason why the game was cancelled beyond the usual bullshit corporate double talk, although I think we've all figured out by now that Capcom probably thought it wouldn't sell well enough since the 3DS was doing so badly then.
    It's well passed time to let this thing go and for the community to get over it. Mega Man is not that important to Capcom anymore, because he doesn't make money for them when compared to Resident Evil and Street Fighter. They fact that we're this far into his 25th anniversary and we still haven't heard shit about a new game should tell you something. Street Fighter had butt loads going on for their anniversary by this point.

    He's right about one thing though, it should have never been announced to the public if there was a chance it wasn't going to happen. The outcry over this has largely been the result of what most perceived as a promise by Capcom to make the game, when the reality was far from that and there was no certainty we'd get it at all.

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    1. Amen brother Amen.

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    2. What was it that Cortana used to always say? "Don't make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it."

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  5. Been saying it from the start, people just won't listen to me. It was a sequel to a low selling sub-series of a series that was already experiencing sharp declines in sales over the past few years, on a piece of unproven hardware that was struggling for quite a bit after launch. The only thing is we knew about this, because they simply announced the idea way too early.

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  6. "The Mega Man community is the strongest and most aligned it's ever been."

    Bull crap. The community is the most fractured I've ever seen it.

    Classic fans all want Mega Man 11.
    X fans all want Mega Man X9.
    Battle Network fans whine about wanting a 7th game, when the series is technically done.
    ZX fans want a 3rd game, too.
    All of them HATE Mega Man Legends fans because they won't shut up about 3 getting canned.
    100,000 doesn't do ANYTHING productive except sit around and circlejerk about how great Mega Man Legends 3 could be, constantly posting asking if Capcom is going to finally reannounce it yet, work on stupid useless projects that help exactly nothing, all while acting like people aren't allowed to be mad at Capcom over the whole thing because "Capcom is actually good, guise".
    And there are mixed opinions about the possibility of a reboot everywhere(Classic or X), with people on both sides of that coin getting downright nasty toward each other over the possibility of said reboot.

    Aligned my ass.

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    1. Yeah, Battle Network was a great series and it should stay ended at 6. Now, I hate it when some fans considered MegaMan.EXE to be important than the other incantations of MegaMan (Same for Star Force MegaMan) like they whine and begged for EXE to be in MVC3. Not to be rude or anything, but Classic was a living legend...

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    2. Maybe he meant they're all strong and aligned in bitching at Capcom?

      BTW, you may want to rethink your logic there. I'm a fan of original, X and Legends. According to your logic, I must hate myself.

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    3. Yeah, I didn't mean that there aren't people who like multiple series. Just that most people seem to prefer one series over the other and the rest can be damned.

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    4. I agree with you guys there, never before in a fandom have I seen so many people hate various incarnations of the title character. Personally I'm a Legends fan number 1. I totally like the other series though(well I'ver never played ZX so I can't say there and Star Force felt like a failed attempt to continue Battle Network to me personally). But, other than that, with each other fighting with each other it makes us look like complete idiots. At this point we should just be worried about the future of Mega Man. I still hold out that Legends 3 will become a reality someday. But as the anniversary has worn on I've grown more worried about the series itself. I was expecting some great news on day 1 just to be disappointed. Personally I'll accept X Over. I'm just tired of people complaining about this one the most. One little ios game won't kill the series. However, if any there's a time where the Mega Man fans of all incarnations need to come together now would be that time. All of the fans need to prove that Mega Man is an ip worth keeping around and creating better quality amazing games for. For the time being, MM's appearance in Smash Bros will keep me happy. But Capcom needs to announce something before this anniversary is over or else everyone will be outraged and we'll look like more of a disgrace than we do now.

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    5. I personally like all the Mega Man games and would like Capcom to continue with all their games. And to be fair to ZX advent, it does end on a cliffhanger leaving it open for a final installment. Classic Mega Man, I think, had it's moment right now with 9 & 10 and they should move to X then make a final chapter for ZX. I'm sure they could find a good way to alternate. As for Battle Network, that's over and done with. The anime ended long ago and the games followed the anime, same for Mega Man Star Force. And yeah, I am still kinda bitter about Legends 3 as well, he'll forever be trapped on the moon.

      Capcom keeps cancelling Mega Man projects one after the other since Legends 3 and people contribute it to a growing trend because that's around when Inafune left. I remember reading stories about Inafune always having to fight for his games to be made and in other cases Capcom would force a project against his wishes like X6. Mega Man X5 was meant to be the final installment in the X series which would then lead into Zero's resurrection in Mega Man Zero. (Also means the final boss wouldn't have been a copy of X but the actual X who had fallen from grace)

      I'd also like to note EX troopers is running on the MML3 engine and so will the new IP Gaist Crusher, that does not help Capcom's case either.

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    6. You're right Dragge, it's sad to see the fanbase like this. No offense to MM fans everywhere, I can feel your pain (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

      Hey Krazy Monkey, I have a question for you. Do other gaming companies make mistakes but fixes them unlike Capcom right now?

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  7. "Been saying it from the start, people just won't listen to me. It was a sequel to a low selling sub-series of a series that was already experiencing sharp declines in sales over the past few years, on a piece of unproven hardware that was struggling for quite a bit after launch. The only thing is we knew about this, because they simply announced the idea way too early."

    Yep, pretty much this. Cry all you want, guys, but this is the reason: it just wasn't worth the risks. I'm still sad about it, but this is the truth and we have to accept it.

    Anyway, I really appreciate those words from Greg. It's good to know there are still people like him inside Capcom.

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  8. I thought that Greg explained why Legends 3 was cancelled. It was a decade-late sequel for a spin-off game that wasn't that popular. As upset as I still am, I can understand why.

    I don't know. I just wish we heard about that thing those "top men" have been discussing for two years. And it better not be "we got the gameboy games coming to 3DS."

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  9. Still doesn't say why MML3 was cancelled. I'm beyond caring though; Unless they announce any sort of real Mega Man game, I'm still not gonna buy their games. Two years going strong.

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  10. I just want a simple new megaman game. Even Strider got a simple new game; I love Strider and the upcoming game looks promising, but the character was WAY more dead than the blue bomber. This whole Legends 3 thing happened because Inafune quit Capcom after fighting over control with Tsujimoto's family. Let's just not forget that Capcom is a family company and family business tend to be very irrational sometimes. Tsujimoto's sons are engaged on making Monster Hunter games, because they're the brainchildren of one of them. Rockman happened in 1987 and as far as they're concerned, the apex of the series was in 1988 with Rockman 2.

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  11. "had middling success"?
    Mega Man Legends (Greatest Hits)
    Rockman DASH (The Best for Family)
    Rockman DASH (CapKore)
    OK...

    But using DmC as an example was a good idea. You don't know if something is good or bad until you try it. How many purists say that Legends, Zero, ZX, Battle Network, Star Force, and even X, suck? Same with Toon Link from The Legend of Zelda. And Mega Man Universe. Different art is EEEEVIL!! :P

    It was indeed sad when the game was cancelled, but oh well. S**t happens. Get over it! (Seriously, its been over 2 years!) Look to Strider! He is back! Legends may also return in 20XX, but Capcom's Top Men just aren't interested on it in the moment, so other staff must throw cameos to call attention until the Top Men agree with it. (May take a while...)

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    1. Greatest Hits status means nothing in regards to sales. There are tons of greatest hits titles that were never hits in the first place. All it means is the company thought they could make more money re-releasing the title at a lower price. I assume the other categories are the same.

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    2. perhaps, but i'm pretty sure the two sequels do mean something in regards to sales.

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  12. Yes it was a sequel to a low-selling series, but they had prime real estate in the 3DS market at the beginning!

    ....which they probably didn't want, because the media kept doomsaying the 3DS at the time!

    Which is why I HATE bashing a console for stupid reasons! Went for the DS, went for the 3DS.

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  13. So... where did the experiment failed? Unlike "SCIENCE!", it is not like Capcom of Japan doesn't know what went wrong. Did they lose game data or something? Capcom could even use the 2011 earthquake in Japan as an excuse to cover it, but as they didn't used it even to cover Mega Man Universe's cancellation and prefer to keep their reasons hush hush:
    1 - It wasn't the quake, and as an experienced company, Capcom knows they should not lie, because Phoenix Wright will eventually discover it. Only omissions and distractions shall be used!
    2 - It was the quake, but Capcom doesn't want to admit. Why? For pride? Ego? The damage done is related to shady company secrets in its basement? Whatever. They didn't even needed to explain what damage it did, only that "it did some damage that forced the staff to cancel the game".

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  14. That actually didn't answer their exact question. Though I guess it's probably pretty easy to guess now why it was cancelled at this point. Legends is a niche spin-off series that didn't do well, and the only reason Capcom even considered it was because Inafune pressed them on the Devroom idea, and when both Inafune left (the 'glue' in this situation if you will) and the Devroom didn't do as well as expected, they decided it was not worth it. Then there was also that earthquake in Japan that delayed/cancelled the Prototype demo showing, I imagine that had hurt it as well. I guess what Greg is trying to say is... it's a pretty easy thing to guess.

    At either rate, I have since moved on. I would still love to see this project revived, but I honestly cannot see it happening anymore, especially with the way things are now for the whole franchise and hell, company itself.

    To answer Greg's question there, yes, I truly believe that Legends 3 shouldn't have been announced so prematurely as it had been. Same with Universe. Had it not been announced and cancelled completely under our noses, then none of this backlash would be happening today, and I think the whole community and fans would be in a slightly better place now. But as he also mentioned, the announcement also did bring a lot of people together and even got him a job landed. Those are probably the only positives coming out from this. But nonetheless I still feel that what Capcom did was a very stupid move on their part, and I am very glad to hear from Greg that Capcom has since learned its lesson across the spectrum. That doesn't mean there's not much hope with them right now, but it means that there's hope that they won't stupidly announce something too early like before.

    And as for "fans being in their strongest since ever", no I'm afraid I cannot really agree with that. While yes the DevRoom has brought a lot of people together, this whole backlash has caused some massive hostility between us fans. Like seriously, I kind of don't want to be around Legends fans anymore. Not to say that they're all bad, but I certainly feel better enjoying the series alone now ever since the backlashing and whining. It's actually really kind of sad.

    In the end, if Capcom is planning something great in the long run (kind of doubtful, but hey), then hopefully they'll handle it in a better move than they did with Universe and Legends 3.

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  15. That didn't answer any question about the damn cancelation! And him coming out and talking about it just makes fans more pissed off... I'm sick of hearing about the whole thing now... I've been pissed with Capcom not just about Legends 3 being cancelled but other things as well. The fact that there hasn't been any Mega Man games for a few years now is a joke. Legends 3 cancelation just adds to the damn list and that's why everyone is pissed off...

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  16. I don't understand why people think there's no explanation here. Greg clearly explained why it got cancelled. The collective community frustration stems only from the fact that we all knew about it before it was cancelled.

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  17. What do you all want Capcom to say? "We didn't think it would be successful" seems like a pretty solid reason to me. It seems like people will never be satisfied until they hear the words "we did it to spite Inafune". I really don't think they did.

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  18. Oh my god. The amount of people in here with reading comprehension is amazing.

    He says more what it was cancelled. It's right there guys. Sorry its not the dark and sinister answer you hoped it would be.

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  19. As usual, the comments section does not disappoint. This bowl of popcorn shall not go unfinished!

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    1. Hey pass it over let me have some!

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  20. I never really looked for more explanation beyond "we didn't think it would sell". That's the bottom line. Though I miss Inafune dearly, I think all this started because of him. I'm speculating here, but the more I think on it, this seems to be the "deep dark secret" in my mind.

    He announced sequels to two of his favorite Mega Man games (Mega Man Universe -> Mega Man Powered Up, Legends 3 -> Legends 2) without okaying it with the higher-ups. There were no plans for these games beyond initial conceptual design, leaving the brass miffed that he went over their heads and tried to do what he wanted with the company. As a result, he is asked to leave Capcom, and his two unofficial-but-official games get cancelled in the fallout.

    Inafune might have wanted these games and used his pull to try and make them happen, but Capcom never approved it in the first place. He was acting on his own. In our favor, admittedly, but you see the results.

    Just a theory, but I think it is closer to the truth that formal Capcom reps can't express, as it shows a schism in the company. But I dunno. At this point, I'm satisfied with the great games we have and feel like anything else would that comes down the line would be a neat surprise. Nothing will ever live up to the greatness that has come before, IMO.

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  21. He did answer it. Read in between the lines, although it's blatantly obvious.

    "MML has always been a passion project, not a cash cow."

    Thats why it was cancelled. It was a hardcore passion project for hardcore fans, and not part of a bigger spin off series.

    It was not something they could churn out game after game like Classic or X.

    that said, his seemingly sincere PR really doesn't change much, and won't heal the wounds. Because really, no matter what he says,it means little unless it were to come from the mouth of a Capcom Japan exec. And even then, it would mean little, unless they have something to show for this fiasco as far as "games" go, and even then, they would have to make one HELL of a game to impress anyone. And we know we won't get one for a while to come, because they DON'T want to spend that much money on a Mega Man game, but they know if they don't release a GOOD product, it will be the Legends 3 PR disaster all over again.

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    1. Yup, but I have doubt about the "passion". Not from the development staff (no doubt here), but from the Top Men. If they wanted to milk it, they would at least release the prototype, which was complete. They planned to use it as a means to gauge interest on the game. Instead, they decided to not risk being the ONLY game in the 3DS for a long time. Go figure.

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  22. "Remember that Legends 3 was essentially a 10-year-late sequel to a sequel to a spin-off, that had middling success even back when it was one of the only games of its kind--before 3D Action-Adventure was an established genre, if you can even remember that far back."

    "But MML has always been a passion project, not a cash cow."

    ...judging some of the comments, many of you seem to have completely skipped those parts. He did not 'dance' around the truth and he did not 'dodge' the question. If you think otherwise, you're only playing yourself.

    To reiterate, a very nice way of saying that the Legends spin-off series never sold well, to begin with. CAPCOM does not, and should not take crapshoots to please a small fanbase. It's time to accept the facts and let it go.

    Please, be appreciative they even care to address the issue (for the umpteenth time). Now grow up, deal with it and stop dragging us down with the rest of you.


    "Knowing how the project turned out, would you rather have not known about its existence to begin with?"

    I really, truly, admire the concept of major video-game development with fanbase input, but as we all learned, it was a very dumb practice. Seriously, whoever concocted it should have either been lectured and/or fired, long ago.

    On the PR-side of things, it was a decent stunt... but it backfired, for EVERYONE involved. Please, CAPCOM, learn from your mistake. If you're dev and corporate peoples are not going to live up to the hype, don't even bother wasting our time; just keep it to yourselves.

    That said, I forgive you, CAPCOM... now, enough with the commentary - go make some video-games!!!

    ~MarkGrass

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    1. "I really, truly, admire the concept of major video-game development with fanbase input, but as we all learned, it was a very dumb practice. Seriously, whoever concocted it should have either been lectured and/or fired, long ago."

      Who says they weren't? *coughinafunecough*

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  23. Seems like they answered the question to me. It just was an unpopular part of the franchise. That's it. There's just not more to it than that. Maybe Inafune might have gotten it done if he was still around, as he admitted to push his passion projects, but he wasn't around.

    I don't think they can say any more about the prototype. It's not like prototypes get distributed regularly by companies; there's probably not a whole lot they can say or do about it without someone getting fired.

    As for forgiving Capcom, well ... if / when they manage to get a decent MM game out then we'll talk. As it stands they're the little engine that couldn't.

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  24. I understand this... but I'm still mad.

    Oh not about the cancellation. No no no, I got over that. I'm mad about you bringing this back up. This gets the fanbase angry because it brings up bad times.

    In fact, if you're willing to further explain why Legends 3 was cancelled, then I and many others, would like to know why Universe, which seemed pretty final from the looks of it, got cancelled as well. We were never given a clear reason, and I'd like to learn more about it. That would help get you and the fans on even terms again.

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  25. "It wouldn't sell!" even though the Prototype would've likely been one of the first substantial eShop downloads (and IIRC it was at least five months before companies began submitting things there more frequently)...

    I dunno. To me, this reeks a bit of "We refuse to take risks", which isn't good for a company. And really, "it was a sequel to a spin-off that wouldn't sell well, which we automatically knew even though we didn't release the Prototype" does not change the fact that Capcom handled it in the worst manner possible. So enough of this "your feelings are invalid" bullshit.

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  26. "I guess you could say, then, that the cancellation of the project wasn't actually anything out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary is that everbody knew about it. The Devroom and the MML3 project's utter transparency were nigh-unprecedented experiments with high risks. They were risks that, sadly, delivered the full brunt of their severity. Look at us. Two years later and we're still here talking about it. I want to know, guys, and please take this question in earnest: Knowing how the project turned out, would you rather have not known about its existence to begin with?"

    This paragraph right here is all you really need to read. Allow me to answer Greg's question with a more valid question; At what point was it decided that getting fans hopes up only not to deliver on them was a sound business strategy?

    I was there at the New York Comic Con when this game was announced as being made, or developed, or planned, or whatever. He's absolutely right when he says that the Legends series was a passion project and not a cash cow. That was obvious from Day 1. It's why I'm never seeing a Power Stone 3 game over a Hyper Street Fighter 4. One will obviously sell better than the other.

    So its cancellation was never a surprise to me. Everything else before hand was. There's a HUGE difference between "high risks" and "utter f#$king stupidity" when it comes to what they did. "High risk" would have been making the game. "Utter f#$king stupidity" is getting the hopes of a fanbase as high as they can be and then clipping their wings and spitting in their face.

    What's really amusing, or sad, about the whole thing is that they knew EXACTLY what would happen if they did what they did. They're not stupid, people. They know their consumer. Fans would be furious. Fans would complain. But overall, fans would not stop buying their products because gamers are crack addicts. There would never be a huge enough fiscal boycott of their products that would put a dent in their profit margin, which is the only way they would've taken notice.

    Money is all they care about, which should be shocking to absolutely no one. This is why Legends 3 was cancelled. This is why the Street Fighter vs. Mega Man might very well be the only game announcement for the 25th, outside of MegaMan in Smash Bros. This is why they continue to ride the nostalgia train of porting the older games to the newer systems for cheap download.

    Until they can garner more interest from other fans outside of the core MM fanbase, namely us, we will see nothing new from them

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  27. Sorry but I really don't see the question answered the way it should be answered... Instead of saying "oh it was a passion project. If this was the case then they shouldn't of done it then if they thought that it wasn't going to sell. That's the real answer... They thought it wouldn't sell so they cancelled it. Then they shouldn't of announced that they would put the proto type on the 3DS then. They even had the date announced and everything for when it would get released, then it got delayed... Finally they come and say "Oh sorry we are not going to put it out after all... Big difference guys... I can see if they were talking about the game and it gets canned but it was announced... I believe the samething happened with Mega Man Online or was it Mega Man Universe... Man I forget now since a few games were canned...

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  28. The only burning curiosity I've managed to hold in the whole of all this drama and time is the one Greg gave the least lipservice to. Which I would phrase "Why was the Prototype canceled?" with the possible followup "Why was the Prototype announced?". The timeline for it all baffles my mind.

    -The Prototype was announced on April 21st slated to launch "with the eShop",
    -At the time the Prototype was announced the eShop was aiming to be released at "the end of May.".
    -A Nintendo event coincided with that announcement where the Prototype was announced as the only killer app for for the 3DS, so this wasn't a random slip from the devblog.
    -On May 12th the eShop was announced delayed, pushed back a week later that it was vaguely scheduled for; June 7th.
    -On May 20th the Prototype was announced delayed for the release of the game, and a meet-n-play event for the Japanese fans.
    -I feel like I'm a little alone noticing this next detail, but I think it's odd that the date specified for the eShop's launch in the 20th's article on Unity seemed unaware the eShop's launch was delayed, as the article stated the launch window was still in May. This makes it appear as if Capcom was under the impression they delayed that game a week before they intended to launch it. Whether that was the case or not it otherwise was delayed a mere two weeks before the launch.
    -Those delay announcements however did not prevent a review copy of the Prototype being sent off and having a preview of it published, which the reviewer was not only able to fill 6 pages about the game, but give more details in a Q/A session later where he insists the game was perfectly functional and seemed sufficiently complete.

    This is what continues to infuriate me. Not the cancellation, but the lack of any observable and congruent logic. What organization would do these things? Were some of these things reported incorrectly somehow? Or did they really change their minds so many times in such a short timeframe? The Prototype was announced, slated for a launch roughly 5 weeks from its announcement. Then, just about a month later it was withdrawn from that release date, or maybe even at that point cancelled altogether. Yet they didn't make any apparent effort to withhold or dissuade the scope of Nintendo Power's preview?

    What intelligent minds could be behind this, regardless of which seeming contradictions are the facts? Capcom could not seriously have that commitment approved, endorsed by Nintendo, and announced only to later have analyzed Devblog registration or another factor to decide whether or not to pull the plug on it. That seems outright stupid, and if it happened like that what conflict of egos weren't we privy to?

    If the Tsunami and Earthquake was somehow a motivating factor in the changes wouldn't it have been considered before announcing the Prototype or even before the updates were resumed? Was Capcom's greenlight board or quality control agents the force that stopped it at that time for some miniscule problem that didn't notice as an advertized beta? Did it pass Capcom's only to have Nintendo's give it the boot? If so why did a preview of it get published as a feature article in Nintendo's own magazine? Did Nintendo pressure Capcom to make a commitment they weren't realistically able to accomplish?

    I want to understand how this happened from a factual perspective, without any malice. Even if came down to a budget meeting disclosing only vague percentages. However not this nor any official, or off the cuff, or misinterpreted, or retracted statement from any branch of Capcom has even attempted to have done that. I mean when the conclusion is only described as; "Sorry, Capcom just decided not to.". All-in-all that's not a very informative or transparent way to end a project advertizing public transparency and open education about creative/business practices. .

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    1. That's the big question I find myself wondering about. The Prototype was pretty much promised to us just to have it taken right out from underneath us. I'm still baffled since it was claimed finished and we had all the videos surrounding it. The point that gets me though is that we voted on Megaman's armor. I thought for sure that with that little event we were totally getting the game because if I recall there were a few naysayers wondering where Megaman was to be found. We get this and SEE his new upgrade. Like, what the heck??? And speaking of the Nintendo Power article, I believe that was the only issue of Nintendo Power I ever bought.

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  29. Sigh...
    If they only hadn't teased so much I wouldn't be as upset.
    Though what's up with the prototype and it determining whether the game was green-lighted or not?
    I guess they decided to cut it short, huh?

    But it seems like capcom was too afraid to give it a chance since it wasn't a "cash cow"

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  30. It will never matter what reason Capcom gives, because the only answer most of the fanbase seems willing to accept is something outrageously scandalous like 'we did it to piss of Inafune'. It's understandable that's what some fans want to hear, since only a unreasonably improbable "evil" response like that would justify the hate and anger they love to perpetuate.

    I really appreciate Gregaman's effort in this, even if his words are mostly wasted on this community. Alot of what he says is honestly just common sense to me.

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  31. I think the Servbot quote from the recent Namco and Capcom crossover kinda gives us the next step.

    Tron complains about the rocket not being ready, asks the Servbot doesn't he understand how upset it makes her, wherein the Servbot quickly follows up with he does but that the rocket will take longer to complete.

    In short:
    For Capcom to make the game, it has to sell in some capacity, which means new buyers, and who wants to be part of a bitter fanbase?

    Obviously anyone can argue that the game would have sold very well had it been released in the 3DS' very early life cycle, but what's done is done.

    Megaman is in Smash Bros.
    This is it! This is THE BEST shot we've got at reenergizing interest in Megaman. And it won't work it'd we've still got an axe to grind.

    It's time to forgive. Not forget, but forgive. And get the best parts of this franchise out there in the limelight.

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  32. To be honest I think it's enough of complains, seriously.

    Look at the community right now: some complaining, some other making fun of it, other showing support, other being positive, but the point is that the fanbase is fractured and it's falling in pieces.
    Why? Because everytime something new (whatever it is) arises, the horde of complainers show up.
    People just fail to see that the cancellation it's old news and that we should focus on today's events. Like for example the release of MM games for virtual consoles, why you ask? it is to approach the newer generations so they will become interested and maybe, maybe, there might be a sequel to whatever we are expecting. I for one am still waiting for a new ZX game, but we are years behind a new release for anything if the new gamers don't show any interest and the reason it's simple: they outnumber us, more numbers more money. A new approach must be made to younger players if MM wants to keep alive.

    Do the math, if you play from, let's say MM2, how old are you? 30? 35? 27?.
    This is not a matter of perspective but a matter of money, there are more kids playing than adults, kids play games and grownups pay for them. Simple math.

    Don't like it? It's ok, nobody is forcing you to believe something else but you won't find other "real" answer anywhere, not Top Men nor CoJ.

    In other calmly words: It's time to move on, or we are gonna be like a guy who never get over from a crappy relationship and blames life for whatever happens now.

    Really, the Legends series was good, but some of the post makes sense: the sequel came too late, there's no real actual interest (hold your flamethrowers, I'm commercially speaking) for a sequel for a spin-off that the actual gamer doesn't even know where it came from.

    Let the time heals wounds and celebrate anything our little hero does to keep himself alive. Who knows, maybe in a future something like the Street Fighter effect might kick in and if not, well, be proud to be part of something that has been really awesome, treasure the moments, the magazines, the games and show them to your little ones.

    Maybe the X storyline has some truth behind it: 30-some years must pass before the rising of a new Megaman...maybe not.

    Fight for everlasting peace.

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    1. I find it hard to believe that Legends 3 WOULDN'T have appealed to the kids. The Legends series has a fairly expansive, colourful world whose inhabitants often have very distinctive, enjoyable personalities, and you get to blow up robots by the truckload. Sounds like something a kid would enjoy playing, to me.

      And you can tell people to stop their "complains" and forgive Capcom all you want, but the fact is, Capcom made some absolutely baffling business decisions regarding MML3 (see Protoman Blues's, Copyman's, and EngineR2's comments), and just assumed that it wouldn't sell even though the circumstances of its hypothetical release were different from the previous games'--and even though they didn't release the Prototype like they said they would.

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    2. I don't forget what they did, they promised something to the fans and screw up, yes I'm aware of that, but what ever we say or do it will reflect nothing, sorry but is the truth, we gave the companies this power and we have to pay a price. If you don't like it don't buy another game from them and support the FRANCHISE not the company.

      Just remember that today standards for gaming is money, it has always been, but now is more than ever with the technology revolution.

      Support the characters and the franchise. You want a new game? Pray to whatever god you believe in, because Capcom will not respond. For them the franchise is about toys and memorabilia for now. Oh! and re-re-releases for handheld consoles too.

      Werever you like or not, it's time to wait if new players like MM, if not our aging community will keep complaining how Capcom screwed up Legends 3 for the next 30 or so years because Capcom won't make our day releasing a new game for whatever storyline you may like.

      Don't misunderstood, I don't love Capcom, but I do not hate them. I rather keep playing my classic games that keep barking about how Capcom shat over MM.

      Oh and regarding the comment of kids will appeal to the series. I think is time to face reality about what actual kids do and kids our age might do. You may have a point in all the feats the series have, but if you can't catch a robot you encounter and all Pokemon-eske things with him they'll show no interest on it...
      ...for now.

      I'll say it before and I'll repeat myself let's wait after SMB comes out. Let the kids fancy the character and then after that we'll see a resurrection.

      Live the now and focus on it. Live in the past and you will never get over anything.

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  33. Most of what Gregaman said, can be taken as truth, meaning the fans should believe what he's saying. I believe what he's saying. However, I did say "most", not all. That's because of the prototype demo. This one is the most baffling decisions that still needs a proper answer.

    If Capcom was too scared about money to do anything with Mega Man Legends 3, then why in the world did they waste so money on resources to make a playable prototype for the fans, and not try to get some money back, by putting it up on the e-Shop? And that's not even all of it:

    Why did they take the assets from that game, and use them to make E.X. Troopers, a spin-off from another series(similar to Mega Man Legends' scenario, but nowhere as popular)? Something that cost them even MORE money to make, because development went to both the 3DS, and the PS3... only to have it bomb!!


    While we as fans have the general idea that Mega Man Legends 3 probably wouldn't have sold as much as Capcom would have wanted it to, we can almost be 100% CERTAIN that, compared to E.X. Troopers, just having the name "MEGA MAN" on the title would've probably made them more money than E.X. Troopers ever could've made.

    I just want the answer to the decisions made on the prototype, because that makes no business sense... at all.

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    1. What's funny is that they released E.X. Troopers as a Japan only title which baffled me. Not as much as not releasing the Prototype but it still baffled me why they decided to keep it Japan exclusive. Now they've got Gaist Crusher (their new IP) on the way and so far it looks like it's heading in the same direction. Honestly though I hope this one can get localized.

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    2. You're right, that was the OTHER baffling decision. Of course, being a huge Mega Man Legends fan, even though I was disappointed with the cancellation, it was all, but guaranteed that I'd still pick this game up, day one.

      But when Capcom made E.X. Troopers Japan-only(physically and digitally), it only guaranteed that they got absolutely NOTHING from me, which in turn, meant less money to be made off of the game.

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    3. Too expensive. In order to prevnt pirating or something like that, all the text was handdtawn/art assets. Meaning to localize would mean stripping out the existing text, having someone translate, and then several artists have to redraw every single line of text. Meaning the cost is more than localizing say AA:I2.

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    4. @Anon
      You don't understand what I meant. I knew that the reason for not localizing it was partially due to that, but I read an article that stated that there were never plans to get the game released outside of Japan and that just made me question Capcom more than ever. So in short they always intended to keep it to themselves even though western audiences enjoy games like these and trust me I've heard of people wanting to play this just to find out this news.

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  34. Every time I hear people say that Legends 3 would not of sell well because it's "late sequel" to a "niche series". I have to question them, what would that stopped it from attaching new fans? Why would this be any different from other series that's been "dead" for so long? By that logic, games like Kid Icarus Uprising should of failed and E.X. Troopers wouldn't of been made either.

    Every fanbase has haters; trolls; and un-pleasurable, loud-mouths grumps. But those of us that truly stop and think about it can see there is more to it than "The Legends series isn't a cash-cow."

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    1. Yeah, I have never played the Legends series, but after the announcement for Legends 3, I reallly want to play the previous ones. Even more so after all the hype for the new game and the awesome character designs and such.
      So maybe re-release the old ones (HD ver >.> )... but I guess thats not happening, since it's not worth it.

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  35. The difference between Nintendo's Kid Icarus Uprising and Capcom's Legends 3 is that Capcom is only in it for the money, whereas Nintendo actually does care. The fact that Capcom continuously milks the Street Fighter franchise by constantly releasing ports, remakes and extended titles should be enough proof of that.

    And unfortunately that's not really going to change.

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  36. MML is a passion project, not a cash cow.

    Then why the HELL is Strider getting a sequel? Crapcom at it again.

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