Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Additional Mega Man Legacy Collection Details from Frank Cifaldi


Mega Man Legacy Collection producer and director Frank Cifaldi has been answer your questions non-stop on Twitter. For your consideration, here's a few interesting morsels you might want to know about...



On saves/save states:

On new or unseen concept art:

On filters:


 On the project's intent:


On the decision to focus on Mega Man 1-6:


 On 3DS stereoscopic 3D:



On 16:9 display:



On restoring unused Mega Man 3 content:


On audio quality:



That's pretty much the noteworthy stuff for now. Frank is still fielding question on Twitter, though. If you're going to ask anything, be aware he cannot talk about unannounced features or platforms. Wii U and Vita discussion should be directed to @Capcom_Unity.

42 comments:

  1. There seems like a lot of contradictions here...

    Wants to keep collection true to its source; adds save states.
    Can't add Mega Man 7-10 because of "additional features" ; museum art pulled directly from 25th Anniversary art book.
    Promises visual update: 16:9 widescreen stretch and 3 filters (less than your average emulator).
    Not a cheap cash grab; developed by Capcom.

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    Replies
    1. I like your style, Anonymous.

      But yeah. It's basically another Anniversary Collection, despite running on the "Eclipse Engine" cross-platform commercial (semi?-)emulator.

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    2. Saving - He doesn't specify how the save files are used. Could just be saving after you beat a level like later games... basically making it so you don't need to write down the passwords after each boss. Not a big deal and a very welcome feature for me.
      Games - He said the team chose to focus on other features over more games. It's likely similar to the clone argument in Smash. It takes a fraction of the time and effort to add a mode (clone in Smash) than it would to add an entirely separate entry (new character in Smash).
      Visuals - It's still going to be in 1080p and likely crystal clear. So there's a visual upgrade regardless of the optional features you pointed out.
      Cash Grab - I guess that's up to you. You seem to be set in your cynical ways and want to dislike this project. I guess just don't buy it and prove him wrong. That there isn't an audience for this kind of project.

      I'm gonna get it and enjoy it for what it is.

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    3. Even if this has less games than the Anniversary Collection, the Anniversary Collection kinda sucked. The sound was garbled, the graphics were a blurry mess, and there was even slight input lag. If this new collection doesn't have any of those issues, I'd say it's worth it on those merits alone.

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    4. 1. The sound was fine 2. The graphics were fine as well but maybe the gamecube version didn't do it well but the xbox version did it fine. 3. There is no input lag. 4. So quality you can get from a emulator and the anniverary collection makes this worth $15 yeah......no.

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    5. @AnonymousJune 10, 2015 at 2:18 PM
      1. The sound was not fine. Sound effects played at the wrong pitches, especially in Mega Man 7 and 8.
      2. The graphics actually were fine, for the most part. The only thing I can think of that looked like crap was the Mega Man 7 ending... which was completely nuked into oblivion for some reason.
      3. The controls are a little unresponsive, I've heard... but moreover, you cannot change the control scheme. This is especially important on the Gamecube version, where the B and A buttons are reversed.
      4. I'd say it might be worth $15.00 if it's not just an emulation of the games. But from my understanding... it pretty much is.

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    6. The sound on the xbox version was fine for the most part including MM7 and 8. But I do agree that the megaman 7 ending being pretty much taken out was stupid but this collection doesn't even have MM7. And the controls being unresponsive are not even noticeable if there are any. When I played it on gamecube I could see and hear the problems but on the xbox version there are little to no problems at all. This new next generation collection has nothing going for it and I believe it is being emulated. Also for about $11 to $13 I could get MM1-8 plus the MM power battle games. Honestly if this had MM1-10,MM&B,MM power battles games and the MM battle and chase game with better emulation for $15 to $20 then I would think this is amazing deal but it is not.

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    7. @Anon2:18: This is like mob mentality, now people are gonna start to demonize AC to hell, as if it were the worst compilation ever create, all to hype up this new collection release. They are gonna start outright lying about in on a whole other level soon too, don't be surprised when you hear/see people start saying it had badly edited the levels, hitboxs, reworked speeds etc etc etc

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    8. Technically, if you purchased all of the games on the Virtual Console separately, it would total up much more than just 15.00. To a person who does not own the whole NES collection, this collection release is actually a good deal.

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    9. @Anon June 10 6.38 PM I agree with you 100% People are just trying to find ways to justify this collection because they feel this succeeding is the future of mega man. And like you said people are going to start complaining about this one too for little stupid reasons like fact that it emulated and not running on a custom engine. I want to point out a few things Frank Cifaldi says:

      "My god, though, I promise this isn't a cheap cash-in collection. This is our attempt to prove there's a market for respecting our heritage." and then this

      "We are trying to build a business out of doing this right. Capcom has put a lot of faith in us, and I really think we did MM justice."

      I don't think this guy is confident in this collection and then when say people "dude where are the rest of the games?" This is his response:

      "because I'd rather spend time on extras than on making more games work"

      CLEARLY this is a work of hardworking guy who wants to keep the mega man games available for YEARS TO COME because it's like he said:

      "This is our attempt to prove there's a market for respecting our heritage."

      Yeah because leaving at least 5 games out is respecting mega man. Oh yeah and apparently according to him mega man 7-10 and bass are not classics why do I say this? Well because he said this:

      "the original 6 are classics, I wanted to give them all the care and dedication I could, to do it RIGHT"

      Soooo aren't 7-10 classics too or are you going to release legacy collection 2 in a later date like you do with every other old capcom game? (I'm looking at you street fighter collections for the ps1!) There's also the cop out alternative where he could say "Hey guys the AC sucks the LC is better buy it now" just to make a quick buck off of picky mega man players. One more thing to point out that he said although I don't mind that much but other mega man fans do and it is for a good reason:

      "we're allowing people to STRETCH 16:9 if they want, but we're not altering the games. It's way too difficult to do"
      No proper 16:9 because it takes to much effort. Yep because this the collection that will surpass the AC.

      And @Anon June 10 2015 6:47 PM The AC cost about $11 to $13 on ps2 and xbox which has 8 mega man games plus 2 extra games this collection has 6 games and it cost $15. It's obvious that the $11 to $13 collection is better by far in price and in content!


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    10. Oh yeah I forgot to add this that he said to someone: "Xkeeper: Are you guys getting any cool looks at unreleased/early stuff? I know MM3 had a bunch of neat leftovers in it. Frank Cifaldi's response: @xkeepah to be honest, nothing you haven't seen already if you have the ridiculously comprehensive MM25 art book

      Lets go back to what he said earlier: "My god, though, I promise this isn't a cheap cash-in collection. This is our attempt to prove there's a market for respecting our heritage."

      My response to this whole idea of a collection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWEsjX45EiQ

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  2. I'll be willing to get it on my 3DS if it has the 3D effects.

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  3. "because I'd rather spend time on extras than on making more games work"-

    really?.

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  4. A little surprised none of my conversation with him made it into this post. I felt that information was pretty interesting, myself. Ah well!

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  5. Seriously, what about the gameplay and the modes, i dont care about HD on a 8 Bit "style" or 16/9 display, what a shame, what are those questions??? -_____-
    Ask for the contents! Will there be some new gameplay features !?? (like infinite mode or hard mode with more ennemies?.....

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    Replies
    1. Doubt it. He said they didn't want to mess with the original...
      I guess it's possible, but I bet not.
      -Logan O.

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  6. I really hope stereoscopic 3D is in. This would make up for the absence of the 3D Classics Mega Man 2 we saw the concept picture of before the 3DS was released.

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  7. Not to downplay this in any way (I'll probably end up buying it for the extras), but I can't understand Capcom's logic in choosing to release another collection. They won't release new Mega Man games because they think that only the hardcore Mega Man fans would buy a new Mega Man game, and there supposedly aren't enough hardcore Mega Man fans to make releasing a new game financially profitable. However, they instead choose to release a collection that is cheaper to produce, but seem to ignore the fact that most of the hardcore fans will probably already own multiple re-releases of the games in the collection. I don't see why Capcom thinks that this is a better business decision than making a new game. With that said, I'm glad to see Capcom hasn't completely abandoned Mega Man.

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    1. I believe that MAYBE they want to create some interest about the games for people new to the franchise now that Mighty No.9 is around the corner. That's why they don't make something new and keep doing re-re-re-releases on virtual consoles and collections.
      But stil...this is a MAYBE situation.
      I for one will wait for some fan-made games like MMX Corrupted. It promises more than any recent news.

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    2. I would think Smash would have helped with that too. Which is why I find it so strange there is no Wii U version.

      I mean, I know Smash was on 3ds, but Mega Man has been getting a good amount of support on Wii U besides that as well.

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    3. I knkw right. Plus,The mega majority of Mega Man fans are Nintendo Players. I'm glad the 3DS js getting more love,but still a WiiU version would've help the console greatly. Oh well,here's to a superior Mega Man collection for Nintendo's NX.

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  8. Someone know if there will be a infinite mode or hard mode for the games? like more ennemies or others?

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  9. Since no one seems to understand that translating rockman complete works fully into english is the best option for preserving these games, I will only buy this if the emulator that Digital Eclipse is using is a updated copy of the venerable NESticle.

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  10. "to be honest, nothing you haven't seen already if you have the ridiculously comprehensive MM25 art book"

    ...

    "because I'd rather spend time on extras than on making more games work"

    ...

    I think my excitement and optimism for this just went down like a lead balloon.

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    Replies
    1. you expect more games for the collection than the 12 years old collection? what idiot would think that?

      Delete
  11. I honestly dont see whats the point of buying all of this collection game when it can easily played in many emulator and even in a freaking phone.There are no new stuff let along any innovation apart from the extra mode which is like many challenges people have done in many megaman playthrough like no damage run,buster run only and etc.

    Also seriously,"updated graphics" and save state?Is this really the best feature that they can do...

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  12. Seeing as MM1 does not have a password screen, I do not mind the option of save slots.

    But yeah, the guy didn't elaborate on how those would work (and I don't think he would be allowed to say at this point). If save slots can only be used after beating a stage and not during, then I find that perfectly acceptable. He also called them save "slots", not save states, so it does sound like it might be handled differently.

    The Virtual Console re-releases also use save states, so you can't really shit on this collection for having those.
    - Dr. Jerk.

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  13. People complain it doesn't do anything that emulators can't do and they can emulate all the games anyway, so they work on challenge modes (new content) and whatever instead of more games.

    People complain they focused on challenge modes instead of adding new games.

    Can't win, don't try.

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  14. A heads up for people wondering about any of the other titles that aren't part of the collection.
    https://twitter.com/frankcifaldi/status/608654374731014145

    Gonna go out on a limb here and say if this does well, Capcom will give them the ability to add the other games to the collection, as of right now they just gave them 1-6. So for those complaining that it doesn't have enough games compared to Anniversary, you can blame our favorite abusive parent of the blue bomber.

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  15. so, i tried to talk to this hipster who think he's doing mega man the "justice he deserve" about having less games and features than anniversary collection but he blocked me before i start to tweet him about it.

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    1. Seriously this "Frank Cifaldi" blocked you? Well I am not saying your info is false but can you provide evidence? If what you are saying is true then there are going to be problems. I understand someone blocking people for something the answered 5000 times but when comes to something like this he should have made one more post saying why he didn't put it in. Instead of blocking people.

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    2. http://s7.postimg.org/6e2j61gor/New_Bitmap_Image.png this is the proof you asked for. go to my twitter user and you'd see i haven't made any tweet bashing him or anything beside calling out angry joe.

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    3. Wow I am surprised this is not on youtube yet. This guy needs to take positive feedback as well as the criticism. All he is doing is chickening out when he gets hit with hard questions. Instead of him saying something like:

      "Hey guys I know this collection is lacking but I want to make sure that I can handle these six games before doing the rest of the games. Please understand that it is not easy and I am sorry for the missing content but this is what I have to work with at the moment."

      But no this is to hard for him to do instead he says stuff like:

      "because I'd rather spend time on extras than on making more games work"
      and when it comes to people asking for extra content in the game his response is

      "to be honest, nothing you haven't seen already if you have the ridiculously comprehensive MM25 art book"

      And instead then taking the hits and thinking about things he should do and shouldn't do he praises himself saying stuff like this

      "that is the level I'm going to here. I'm calling myself Head of Restoration, and I mean it."
      link here for the post https://twitter.com/frankcifaldi/status/608110868270706689

      He wants to look like the hero of mega man but when people point out the faults of the collection or things that should change he starts backing off saying "I am putting effort trust me" and blocking people when point out any contradictions in his post.

      This is unacceptable and cannot be defended I understand we shouldn't spit on him but when a dev does stuff like this there are problems that need to be pointed out. We do not point out his faults to make fun of him we point out his faults to help him. To guide him to making the collection the best it can be just like the G1 transformers show collection was. When the G1 transformers show was getting it's dvd collection the makers shout factory went to the fans for help and because of this while not being a perfect collection it was a great collection. Capcom needs to do this if they want to make this best collection the best it needs to be and they need to go to the fans for help because it will not only satisfy the fans but it will help capcom too.

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    4. This guy reminds me of Hideki Kimaya...

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  16. If I were working on the game, honestly I'd be hurt by a lot of what I'm seeing here on this blog's comments, and around the fan community at that. A lot of it is accusatory and negative. Critiquing the differences between this announced collection and the one from ten-plus years ago is one thing. Going full on 'oh it's a waste of time' or 'this is dumb' or what have you is incredibly toxic.

    The guys working on this know this series has a legacy and a pile of fans who would love to see the blue bomber get more love than he has in the last five or so years. Give them a chance, don't just spew negativity everywhere you can. That only stands to hurt potential sales, and thus the chance for any new Mega Man games to happen.

    At risk of stirring up a hornet's nest, seriously, guys, chill on this. Younger fans likely don't have as easy access to the Gamecube or PS2 Anniversary Collections now, and this is a cool $15 for six games. That's $2.50 a game! That's a hell of a deal, especially for newer fans who have yet to really sink their teeth into them. It's a very convenient package deal! It's too bad it's not headed to Wii U as it stands, but the fact it's coming to PC ensures it stays commercially available and accessible for a very long time to come.

    Developers are people too. No one intentionally sets out to do a terrible job on anything.

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    1. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00019HNNC/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2S8FYJPJ7F7M6&coliid=I1QZH1J10ERJE

      funny, i can easily find anniversary collection for less than 15$. also, those 6 games are easily found on psn, virtual consoles and most of digital stores.

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    2. I understand where you are coming from, but it seriously feels like the developers and corporate heads behind Mega Man are just poking us with a stick and patronizing our intelligence just to see what happens. I"m not saying this is how it is, I'm just saying this is what it seems like.

      There are inconsistencies in motives, ethics and execution with this project and we are suppose to just sit here and twiddle our thumbs and be like OK(!) this is sooo wonderful, without question.

      What I'm saying is try to be straight forward,
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      just be like: 'hey guys Capcom is giving us a chance to show how popular Mega Man is with a low budget collection of older titles, we're adding official artbook stuff at high resolutions for those that don't have it, we are adding saves, leaderboards, bios/strategies for characters/bosses, and instant boss battles along with maybe somemore extras down the line, we are also doing our best to try and make the emulation as accurate as possible, spread the word and show Capcom there is still a market for Mega Man.'

      Now what you'd have is comments like: Well if Capcom is using this to gauge popularity to get MM back in the game, I guess I could pick it up I would like the artwork from the artbooks at high resolutions and separated as I did not like the positioning of some of them in the books.
      -----------------
      I would love instant boss replays and bios, now I don't have to get the feild guide hopefully.
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      I already have these games and the 25th artbook (I scanned it myself) I have a friend at my collage that might be interested in this package might pick it up for him as a gift.
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      ^What are you crazy, Capcom is just using this to sale the game they are not planning to pick the series back up, just riding off the hype MN9 is getting and trying to capitalize on desperate fans to make a quick buck on the side. -always the negative comment-
      -----------------
      ^I don't know man, with the announcement of the MM TV series that is upcoming, and the placing of a new manager for the franchise, it seems like an effort from Capcom is sharping up. I also don't want to be one of those fans that is all talk and no show, Darkstakers is in a constant state of flops, I don't want that to be the case for the Mega Man franchise. We all gotta start somewhere, and if Capcom makes nothing new, at least they can't blame sales for it.
      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Or some stuff like that.

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    3. If the guy didn't outright avoid hard questions and didn't block people just for asking them, then maybe it'd be easier taking this seriously. That's not how you respond to anyone concerned about the collection. Jaxel, in the previous news posting, posted much more insight into this collection than Frank Cifaldi did.

      I mean yeah, I'll get it because it's a nice deal instead of having to purchase each NES MM game individually off the VC, but people do have their reasons for not being too particularly excited for it when the games included are already officially preserved and out there in some shape or form. You can't deny that beyond the challenge mode and museum, it doesn't offer much.
      - Dr. Jerk.

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    4. This: "It feels like we're in a weird transition where consumers are still expecting the amount of expensive polish from a decade ago" Source: https://twitter.com/frankcifaldi/status/609471335656484864

      So wanting devs to put a good a amount of effort and money is expecting to much according to him. and this:

      "I am so sick of seeing people posting about "lazy developers," as if that's even a thing. Actual lazy developers don't last long." Source :https://twitter.com/frankcifaldi/status/609471780206575616

      "You can't be lazy and make games. Every game you play was bled out of people's souls." Source: https://twitter.com/frankcifaldi/status/609472055726206977

      He says EVERY game you play was bled out people's souls so according to him devs who made games like Sonic 06,Sonic boom,Ride to hell retribution,Spy hunter II(1987),Spy hunter 2 (2003),Teenage mutant ninja turtles 1 2 and 3 (2003 era).Sonic free riders gave their sweat and blood to make GREAT games. Right it's obvious he is just trying to defend himself for his cheap decisions.. This dev can't be defended anymore he doesn't like to respond to hard questions he blocks people for disagreeing and asking about some of his cheap choices and then tries to say ALL game devs put love and care into games to make people think he is doing the best he can to bring back mega man.


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  17. I just want to point out the fact that today at E3 Rare announced a collection of 30 games for $30 on Xbone. In other words, that's $1 per game. Compare Rare's actions to this developer's, in which case 6 games will be sold for $15, or $2.50 per game.

    Honestly, I think that the MM Legacy collection just doesn't have enough "oomph" to justify the suggested price point for these games, especially when the majority of the "special features" are available elsewhere.

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    1. Exactly I was going to point this out earlier but you already said it. Not only that but the Rare Replay collection has games from the zx spectrum to the xbox 360 with new features like the rewind mode in the collection that be used in the games and it is like you said each game cost $1. If this Frank Cifaldi were to make this collection reasonable it would have to be $6 instead of the over priced $15. Honestly this guy is very cheap and unprofessional atomic planet's anniversary collection has more effort then this cheap cash grab of a collection that has ridiculously nostalgic fans and a play of words to defend it. I hope this gets cancelled or changed because the future of megaman should not be focused on selling collections.

      Capcom wants to sell this collection and IF this one does well they MIGHT consider making a legacy collection 2 with megaman 7-10. This feels more like capcom is black mailing fans the giving us a nice treat because capcom is pretty muh saying if we want a proper megaman collection with 1-10 we have to buy this first legacy collection. And if we throw enough cash at them out of fear of not wanting another megaman game to disappear again theb they will make legacy collection 2 and we will have to buy that one too if we want a fresh and new megaman game. If this is NOT what capcom is trying to do then they need to say so NOW! In their current state now it is hard to trust them but I know there are some devs who care about the games they make I just wish every dev cared about the games they make.

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  18. https://twitter.com/frankcifaldi/status/611588277259231232

    On top of him bashing a good game he has no right to bash he says this about wii u:

    https://twitter.com/frankcifaldi/status/611614210754088961

    So the reason why he doesn't want this collection to come out on wii u is because he hates it. SCREW THIS GUY I am done with him he needs to get fired NOW! He is a hypocrite he does not want to take criticism for not giving what us fans what we wanted and block them for pointing fingers at him for his poor choices and then bash nintendo for making the metroid game he didn't want and then BASH THE WII U. No one can defend this guy he is a terrible dev and cannot be defended by anyone.

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