Deep down, we knew this was coming, but we didn't want to believe. I certainly didn't. My initial optimism clouded rationality, I admit that. But it was only a few days before yesterday that it hit me: Legends 3 was in trouble. Big trouble. Sharing in these sentiments, Heat Man, Dashe, and myself quickly set out to kick start the Legends Never Die campaign. In a cruel twist of fate, the game was cancelled just hours after LND launched. Hours.
I spoke a little of my feelings surrounding L3's cancellation at Ask Capcom the other day. However, I've had a chance to wrap my head around things, so here's more of my spiel.
You can imagine how we were feeling when the headline hit. It cut deep. I, personally, can attest to being one of those fans who legitimately waited ten years for this, so news of MML3's cancellation certainly hit a soft spot. It's still difficult for me to describe how I am feeling. Angry? Disappointed? Helpless? It's a mix bag.
I tell myself it's just a game. But that doesn't sooth anything. It wasn't just a game: it was an entity, an embodiment of months of hard work and collaboration between fans around the world. Legends 3, for all intents and purposes, was an interface. It united us; binded us towards a single, common goal. For a community often divided and separated by series bias and diverging opinions, Legends 3 succeeded in bringing us together. United, there could be only one path we would inevitable followed in the wake of Legend 3's termination.
The decision to pull the plug on Legends 3 has awakened a sleeping giant.
Frustration has come to a head, and fans across the globe are now sitting up and taking notice something isn't right with Mega Man lately. Last night proved that and it was simply glorious:
- Rockman DASH 3 was among the top three trending topics on the Japanese Twitter. Top three. An entire country, albeit a small one, was crying out. By midnight, it hit #1
- The anonymous collective that is 4chan was even considering a DDoS attack on Capcom's servers in retaliation. (Do not be mistaken: I do not condone this.)
- Both Capcom's Facebook and Unity were under heavy fire, a fire that continues to burn as of this writing.
- Capcom's Wikipedia page was vandalized; so to was the pages for Street Fighter, Devil May Cry, and Resident Evil.
The general consensus, form my observation, is that Capcom "owes" us Prototype Version. They owe it to us to play the very game we helped build. Truthfully, I'm on the fence with this one. As much as I'd like for Capcom to say "Fine. We'll give out PV to a select number of fans", it's release just doesn't seem feasible. Even so, you still have every right to rally and "boycott" however you see fit.
The passion you have for Mega Man Legends 3 and this franchise is enormous. Passion can be a valuable tool. I implore you, all of you, to see to it your opinion on the matter does not fall upon deaf ears. Use this newfound unity to instigate a change in the franchise. Join petitions. Join the Facebook group. Take to the forums. Snail-mail Capcom. Join the revival campaign. Hell, picket during Capcom's Comic-Con press conference, if you feel like it. Do something (safe)!
We cannot undo Legends 3's fate. However, our voices united can influence the course the franchise takes next. As a CONSUMER, you pack a mighty punch. You are both feared and worshiped by developers. You can instigate change. Use the anger you are feeling in a positive way. Help lay the foundation for a brighter future for Mega Man and speak up.
As for me, I will continue to support Mega Man. I'll see this guy through thick and thin. Capcom, however... well, I'm on the fence.
I just have one request for every one of us Mega Man fans. In memory of MML3 and the Dev Room, use the designs and characters made before the cancellation. Show them some love, right? They deserve it.
ReplyDeleteI made a video with my thoughts.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jex5Wh_Vio
I'm doing everything I can (snail mail, forums, ect) to make sure this sees the light of day. I don't want to wait another decade for another chance at Legends 3.
This is just the beginning. Capcom, if you think we're going to let this go, get a fucking clue. This is our last stand, so we're going to put up the biggest fucking fight you've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteI also strongly think that cancelling Legends 3 with the addition of not giving the prototype version a shot was indeed a very awful idea.
ReplyDeleteFans have hoped and waited for 10% of a century for a game that shines the limelight on one of the most liked incarnations of Megaman. It was announced and open to fan support, they were as if we are about to enter a new, heavenly age for gaming. But that light of hope was just taken away from us, after all we have been through trying to support it!!
It's like Capcom was giving us a false sense of hope for the entire time!
And plus, I would not be surprised if I hear that it's about to go out of business due to the poor direction it is taking for the games it makes.
But one thing's for sure. Megaman will live forever in the hearts and spirits of the fans and supporters, and will only die if we allow it to do so.
I appreciate your post dude, but.. I feel like L3 can still be saved.
ReplyDeleteGod, I hope Capcom gets the hint. It's not likely, but we can try.
ReplyDeleteI'm still a hard core Mega Man fan, but my trust in Capcom is not what it used to be. The worst part about this whole thing is that all the work the development team and fans put into the project just to have it cancelled without even releasing the demo which was suppose to test interest for the game.
ReplyDeleteI'd say I'm not gonna buy their products, but I pretty much only buy Megaman games anyway. So, I guess they made that decision for me.
ReplyDeleteLooking around and googeling and checking every gameingnews site I know and could find shows I hate and rage over the cancellation of Megaman Legends 3 I could not imagin. And I have to say share in it a 100%. capcom unity is no different. there is no less comments on un mml3 related news too. the screams of boyvott and other cries of anger at this huge scale must have some sort of effect.What im wondering is if someone know anything about capcoms reation to this. Im not really intrested in any "official" statements from capcom. We all know they are crap by now. But they must at least ahve had a meeting or something about this rage and I soooo want to know how their REAL reaction to this is!
ReplyDeleteDidn't know that 4chan people were thinking about hacking them, though they deserve it if they do get hacked. Your picture of a FIRE is exactly how most Legends fans feel.
ReplyDeleteI'm no longer buying CAPCOM products until DASH3 is made. Not even another MM Game. You can't toy with the whole fanbase, even holding the final version hostage about demo sales (yes, sales for a demo....) without RELEASING the DEMO. CAPCOM has lost all credibility with me as a game company. To everyone else who stays with them, enjoy your 8 versions of SF4 on the 3DS and WiiU.
you should be angry. they've taken something from you that you helped build, and something that you've waited so long for. i've never really been a legends fan, and even i'm upset by this. mainly for those that wanted it so badly. and protodude, i'm surprised you didn't mention continuing your LND campaign. at this point, the angry one might actualy prove perfect for the situation. it even still has the statement "for a game i've waited for" or something to that effect.
ReplyDeleteVery well written, I can tell that's from the heart.
ReplyDeleteI think at this point, the best thing Capcom can do is sell the Megaman IP to Nintendo or Inticreates. I feel that one of those two would do the best job of staying true to the franchise's roots.
To be honest I wish Mr Inafune could just buy the whole Megaman Brand back from Capcom. :/ The cancelled Legends 3 was really a shock, like you described in your Post for some people it wasn't "just" a game. It's really a shame. Really.
ReplyDeleteI am very disappointed about Capcom.
Capcom need to know what they have done. While it might not bring back Legends this goes to prove Capcom wrong in every sense, they have severely misunderstood the Dash fanbase.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Capcom would love for everyone to forget and move on from Legends 3, but they've underestimated their fans and disrespected us for the last time.
ReplyDeleteWhen they got the fans actively involved in the creation of the game, they reached a point of no return. As the owner of my own business, I would never even THINK about cancelling a project after reaching that point, simply because the PR nightmare that would ensue (is ensuing) afterwards.
Any money they would have lost from creating the game is nothing compared to the money companies can lose via a bad reputation. A reputation can not be bought, it is a privilege that is earned.
You don't know how much a reputation means to you until you've lost it.
Well said. It's been a pretty frustrating week for all of us...
ReplyDeleteCapcom will not offer a concrete reason for the cancellation for us to rally around. It'd rally the fanbase, and give the news media something worthy of another article. You can safely expect them to start openly talking about it months, or a full year, from now.
ReplyDeleteBeyond that... most Mega Man games are made and released in under a year.
Legends 3 had been going for a year, with no Prototype Version in sight.
Food for thought.
I feel the same way T_T
ReplyDeletefrom Venezuela will continue to pressing and sending mails
Speaking as perhaps the only member of the ELB crew who hasn't had a chance to play the first two games, my sentiment may be less passionate than others, but I'm most definitely disappointed at this turn of events. Legends 3 was going to be my chance to see what all the "fuss" was about. And then Capcom pulls this stunt.
ReplyDeleteI question their dedication to the franchise that put them on the map. Sure, they've got Street Fighter and Resident Evil, but RE didn't even show up until the PS1 and Street Fighter et al. weren't the juggernaut series they became until the SNES days.
But Mega Man? I remember back in those crazy days when the NES was the only thing around, I'd hang out with the kid next door and we'd try to muscle our way through Mega Man 3. My first experience with the franchise is still my favorite of the Classic series to this day.
They cancelled Universe, which was a questionable decision regardless of the character designs they had shown off. Now they cancelled what is probably the most wanted Mega Man game of all time? After teasing the fanbase about it for MONTHS prior to its announcement?
That's just ASKING for trouble.
I find it interesting that they pull this in the same year that Sonic Generations is slated to release. Sega may have their own failings but at least they TRY to please their fanbase.
We cannot undo Legends 3's fate? Hokum!
ReplyDeleteWe anonymous are already planning the DDoS attack on Crapcom's servers. They'll pay for this!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous is everyone, and no one. We are everywhere and nowhere. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.
He's right. We have to do something on this.
ReplyDelete"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to do nothing."
-Thomas Jefferson.
If we don't do something, we're effectively telling Capcom that by doing this, they've won. I won't allow that to happen, will you?
A select few fans? What the hell Capcom. Everyone should be able to play it.
ReplyDeleteMost other games get cancelled with a 'oh well, that sucks' reaction. Legends 3 got cancelled to lots and lots of rage. One has to understand, all this rage is basically the continuation of everything Capcom has been doing these past few years that has also gathered up a lot of rage.
ReplyDelete1: Revive Street Fighter only to milk it right off the bat again.
2: Revive Marvel VS Capcom only to seemingly milk it right off the bat again as well. Don't blame the MvC fans for being in the 'fightan games' buisness, for it seems they are about to be screwed over by the Street Fighter model too.
The PR for MvC3 was glorious. The actual game, not so much. Many half-excuses at the exclusion of specific characters, no Story Mode that was hyped up last Summer in sight, lack of modes that should have been standard for any fighting game (No VS mode with the computer? Can't watch matches while in an online lobby? What is this?), and absolutely horrid netcode. Even more, the game's release date was actually bumped up to Feburary rather than the previously projected Spring release.
On top of that, it seems that a Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 is going to be announced at Comic-Con, perhaps later today - which would be a first for the MvC series, which never had any 'super' versions until now. Do note that the original MvC3 was just announced a year ago.
3: Westernized and outsourced DmC game. I don't think this needs any further explanation.
4: Horrid marketing for the games that actually NEED the marketing. Ghost Trick, Okamiden, and even Mega Man... Capcom spends millions on marketing Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and most recently MvC3.
Ghost Trick was niche and flew under the radar for many people, Okamiden wasn't really advertised much outside of gaming magazines (and it was released during new generation Pokemon month, to boot), and when was the last time we saw a Mega Man commercial here in the States?
5: Locked DLC content on-disc. In regards to MvC3 again, there were two characters that were for those that bought the Collectors Edition or bought DLC for them in March. They were fully locked on-disc content. Now take into consideration that the game was originally stated to have a Spring release. Makes you wonder why they pushed up the release date, eh?
6: RE Mercenaries with no way to completely erase saved data. Admittedly the [censored]storm was kind of unjustified since it is an arcade-style game. But this is Capcom. I saw quite a lot of people who felt that they had to speak up about Mercenaries' lack of save clearing, because they were worried that Capcom would one day try this on a non-Arcade game. A non-arcade game like Legends 3.
This shows how little consumer trust Capcom has nowadays. If it was any other company, very few would probably say anything (in fact, this did happen several years before with a Super Monkey Ball game).
I can understand the disappointment from fans but seriously, some of you need to grow up. The words used in this post almost sound as if one of your family members has been brutally murdered. The attacks on Capcom are nothing to be proud of, they're just bits of noise that probably won't be heard by those who run the business. I do agree with your post to Capcom Unity though Protodude, it was a mistake hype people up with a game a was never going to be released, but c'mon... "mourning" it isn't going to get it back. An organized petition? Maybe.
ReplyDeleteI've been following Protodude for 2 years now and this cancellation was the saddest Mega Man news I've seen ever. I don't thing I'm gonna let Capcom just do this...
ReplyDeleteHell yes! I will not let this come to an end! Not after all those contests, all those polls, all the (now empty) promises!
ReplyDeleteI remember someone posted the following on Capcom-Unity's "Moving On" post: In short, it was "I'll move on, just don't expect me to take Capcom with me."
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't blame anyone who shared this sentiment.
I agree wholeheartedly, I've written to Capcom, emailed, etc already to let them know they no longer have my support. Ive told them that I will no longer support ANY of their products by buying used only to guarantee they dont see a dime. I'd rather give my money to Gamestop or Ebay/Amazon users (which is saying something as I buy all games new unless rare or old)
ReplyDeleteThis was the biggest co** tease I have ever seen a company pull. In Ask Capcom they even said that the Prototype version had been Green-lit for release while the full game hadn't. They were pulling our chains and announced Prototype's release a couple weeks b4 the release of the eshop, only to delay it (knowing full well that they were canceling it)! I am angry because I went ahead and bought a 3DS for Prototype when they said it would release in less than a month, only to have it sit collecting dust for months.
I mean their were a few games that I was going to buy for 3DS but they came much later and many would be just to tie me over until Legends' release. I have now put my 3DS on Ebay and will likely get less than 75% of my initial investment back. I'll probably get another one later on but it wont be until the day Kingdom Hearts 3D releases as that is the next big game Im looking forward too (was going to be RE Revelations, but not anymore).
You know whats sad? Every dick movet they pull reduces their sales. Thinks about it. MvC2 probably received massive amounts once it was rereleased. Now looks at MvC3. Released on 2 systems with a total of 100 million units, yet the game itself only sold over 2 million because of their f*ck ups with the roster(lack of megaman and other franchoises and the fact they brought back Sentinel in his OPed state despite people saying WE DONT WANT HIM BACK.) and those other mistakes. Capcom is slowly going down the tubes kids. This move just greasened up the tubes for them. You shake the Megaman fanbase, much like Mario and Sonic fanbases, and you shake the OLDEST and MOST FAITHFUL fans you have, the ones you need to keep. If you lose them... you're screwing yourself over for generations to come.
ReplyDeleteWho made that picture?
ReplyDeleteEverybody must be together to save ROCKMAN, together:" ROCKMAN! ROCKMAN! ROCKMAN!"
ReplyDeleteMegaman Legend 3 was a megaman next gen, we need this game for the good future of the serie! ALL TOGETHEEER
>FACT: They didn't just pissed off the Legends fans. They pissed off a LOT of people.
ReplyDelete>FACT: Legends 3 was a promising title, and a 3DS seller.
Calling those people "a sleeping giant" sounds a bit too over-the-top. But then again, Capcom's market (Japan) felt L3's cancelation as a bad business move. They were looking forward to it. I mean, it was not a sure fire, but you could see why people were expecting it: it had a vast improvement on Legends's gameplay. It had, that's a fact.
@CutmanMike
Oh, but it isn't. I loved Legends. I grew up with it. I wanted this game to happen for +10 years. I had hopes for this game, it had the potential to be a smashing seller simply because it was fun and creative, just like it's past itinerations. And Capcom canned it just for corporative reasons.
They killed my hopes for the videogame industry. That's something you just don't do, like killing a family member. Even if there's a chance to take back what they did, our trust towards the company is already compromised. And just look what happened to MMU: people still want it back, and bleh.
@Katherine
wait what?! NO U, you're not from Venezuela!
I AM! NOW SIT DOWN!
6 Capcom characters for UMvC3:
ReplyDeletehttp://static.capcom.com/character_api/umvc3/profile/phoenix-wright.png
http://static.capcom.com/character_api/umvc3/profile/vergil.png
http://static.capcom.com/character_api/umvc3/profile/nemesis.png
http://static.capcom.com/character_api/umvc3/profile/frank.png
http://static.capcom.com/character_api/umvc3/profile/firebrand.png
http://static.capcom.com/character_api/umvc3/profile/strider.png
LOOK WHO ISN'T THERE! :(
protodude, don't print this one. it's for your eyes only.
ReplyDeletefirst off, what the heck are you doing? you let posts about the DDOS attack be posted? why? i can understand being upset at capcom, but supporting the attack on thier servers is like doing it yourself! are you that desperate to hurt them? what if thier reasoning was legitimate? you don't know, and by allowing the attackers to post this on your site shows that you're willing to blindly attack a company because they did something you didn't like, without even knowing why. i thought you were better than that. from the way it seems, you're going beyond being a fan, and instead just being obsessed.
if these attacks go through, and i still see the posts for it on your site, i'm sorry, but you'll have lost a reader, and thier respect for you. i understand you don't like what they did, but attacking them won't bring the game back. at best, it'll only harden thier resolve. you may not be able to stop the attacks, and i don't expect you to try. but don't support it. look at what anonymous did to PSN. do you really support someone that dangerous?
More like Sleeping Colossus (TMoTB)
ReplyDelete@One of the Anonymous:
I like Sentinel (in single-player). It seems Capcom wanted to add new characters in MvC3, and I don't really mind the choices at all, but I agree that they should have added at least one "Mega Man", no matter if it's from classic, X, ZX, Legends, EXE, or even Star Force.
At least we got Tron (one of my favs in MvC2) and Zero. What about fans from other series like Strider and Captain Commando? And don't forget Power Stone.
MvC3 aside, Crapcom got nuts! Nuts, I tell ya! They pushed the Nino Island button!
stealthwoman of The Mega Man Network says:
ReplyDelete"The point is, the failure all boiled down to sales. Capcom isn’t soulless. Capcom actually did care to make an awesome game, but you also can’t expect to make them lose money over it either. Capcom has a right to make money for it’s products. The point of making a game is usually to make money, and if they put themselves under to sell a game, where does that leave the rest of their franchises (and yes,their other franchises do fanbases!), or even future megaman games?
It leaves them high and dry with less put out. While we wanted this game, it should be kept in mind that you can’t put the company in debt just because you want to play the game. Boycotts will only hurt want we want more. You have to give before you take. Capcom needs money to make the games you want.
All in all, the 3DS simply did not sell well enough to put this game out, and production of this game would have hurt Capcom financially. Learn to understand that time= money and without it, there is no Megaman or Capcom unless you’d rather force them to make the most low budget piece of crap and have us end up with Duke Nukem forever. The economy is hard on everyone, including Capcom. Boycotts only serve to hurt them, and the franchises we cherish more. It will not force them to put out a game if they have no money to put it out in the first place. I mean, would you make something if the final product wasn’t worth more than what you put into it? The business aspect ties more into the sentimental aspect than you think! Stop treating the higher ups like heartless bastards. It isn’t their fault. It isn’t the devs’ faults, it isn’t Nintendo’s fault and it isn’t even the fault of the consumers for not buying enough 3DS to port Legends 3 onto. No one’s to blame but the economy for the low sales of the premier console for this game."
And I agree with her. Again, hating and boycotting Capcom will not solve anything.
lol @bowserenemy
ReplyDeleteWhere did Protodude say he supported the DDOS?
I completely agree with what stealthwoman said. Sure, it's fine to be disappointed, but you're all taking this way out of line. Understand that Capcom is a [i]business[/i]. Money needs to come first. Understand that the economy isn't so great, especially with the whole crisis in Japan. We don't live in a utopia, as much as you'd all like to think. Capcom is just doing its best to make ends meet.
ReplyDeleteThis is my favorite article. The line "Capcom has awakened the sleeping giant" gave me chills.
ReplyDeleteLong live Megaman!!
@Tayo: I hear Capcom's actually doing rather well. And even if the economy were to blame, THEY DON'T SAY THAT. They didn't say much of anything.
ReplyDeleteNow, I think hacking Capcom is going WAY too goddamn far, but I can understand the sentiment behind it. Very few of us want to just sit back and take this, especially when we have no answers.
And honestly, if Capcom is just some poor downtrodden developer who needs to be forgiven for this lest they fall like a house of cards...couldn't they have just postponed development until things got better? That would be understandable; instead, they just gave up.
I mean, that wouldn't be the first time a developer did that, right?..
@Alilaitas: I hope anyone else who comes in here just to laugh/yell at us at least reads your comment first. That's a lot of context to consider.
It's just a bit late for most of us to suddenly say we're shocked, disappointed, disillusioned, angry, vengeful, saddened, bitter, spiteful or to pronounce boycotting Capcom.
ReplyDeleteIf you didn't feel this way when Inafune quit or when MegaMan Universe got cancelled, you missed the boat.
It's like passively accepting Shigeru Miyamoto's resignation, then passively accepting the cancellation of Super Mario 3DS, only to finally get upset when they canceled Mario Party 3DS.
I told you guys you should have been furiously pissed months ago, some of you even called me a "Bad Mega Man Fan". And now you're the ones protesting and boycotting.
Oh, the irony...
If we're going to try and get Legends 3 back up and running, because SCREW CRAPCOM and their message of "not going to be coming back in the future", if we truly care about this franchise/sub-franchise, we have to get word out that MegaMan Legends is great!
ReplyDeleteThe first big step is to only have 1 petition going and that it's the only one referenced to. PRC, TMMN and other sites seem to be pretty chummy with one another, so I would think it'd be simple to do.
Second big step: Get the Japanese involved! It should be the MegaMan Legends 3/RockMan DASH 3 Revitalization Project, just so that the Japanese people can easily find and lend us aid!
Third, and this is very important... even more important than the first two steps: WE MUST GET LEGENDS 1 and 2 ONTO DOWNLOADABLE ONLINE GAME STORES AND WE MUST PERSUADE NOT JUST FANS BUT NON-FANS TO TRY THOSE OUT! Remember, just cause they're old games doesn't mean they can't be a treasure to come back to every once and a while. Hell, I want to play Legends 2 because I HAVEN'T played it! Give me those games, Capcom!
Those are the BIG, BIG steps needed to get MegaMan Legends back to being a top franchise! We can do this people, just follow these steps!!
It saddens me that there are no Mega Man games in current production, considering that there is a market for it. Wouldn't it been a better option to instead of making the game (MML3) on the 3ds, make it as a download-able game available on current consoles and/or even steam etc? I understand that it was a business decision, but considering the way gaming (as a whole) as expanded, if the 3ds would fail, there are other forms of media where it can be distributed and still make a profit.
ReplyDeleteAll I have to say. http://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=5110511
ReplyDelete@MusashiAA & Katherine
ReplyDeleteWow guys I'm so happy to find more Venezuelans around here(Venezuelan here)
I second whoever said that we should let know the japanese fans about this.
They even probably planning something similar to support the game.
OMG that drawing tore my heart out. ='(
ReplyDeleteIf they were smart, this would be all a part of their plan. Cancel it to bait more interest in Megaman Legends 3 as a whole and get the audience to stop being the audience and storm onto the stage with passion enough...to increase sales dramatically. The problem is, there's no way they would've thought ahead that much on such a ridiculous decision.
ReplyDeleteSo...
ReplyDeletehttp://i.imgur.com/0mF5C.jpg
To start with, it is imperative to distinguish that the true alive God articulated of in A Course in Miracles is a non-dualistic Being, in Whom undeniably no contraries reside. The Holy One is the Creator of all life, a Being of clean Love and the Foundation and First Cause of non-physical truth and totality, the flawless One Who is all-encompassing, outside of Whom is factually nothing, for He is Everything. Our Source's nature can’t be defined or really understood at all, as Jesus’s explanations in the workbook:
ReplyDeleteOneness is simply the idea God is. And in His Being, He encompasses all things. No mind holds anything but Him. We say "God is," and then we cease to speak, for in that knowledge words are meaningless. There are no lips to speak them, and no part of mind sufficiently distinct to feel that it is now aware of something not itself. It has united with its Source. And like its Source Itself, it merelyAwakening
Looking back at this, is kind of funny. Not to mock the reactions since they were justified, but I do find them unintentionally funny along with Capcom's decisions like they were putting on a circus act for a subseries that never sold well even though I do like it. What made them consider doing this(the devroom, the retail demo) when they already knew they didn't want it due to sales in the first place? It all fell like a house of cards like some were thinking. If you want faith(hope) then dedicate it to religion and God not to man nor a creation of man(videogames, but in a deeper meaning, franchises).
ReplyDelete