On Ask Capcom, user PluggedBus asked whether or not the game failed an I.P. sweep; the process of determining if software infringes any copyrights and contracts. Capcom Unity Community Manager GregaMan stepped in to deliver the bad news:
"Unfortunately, my understanding is that MoTB had some copyrighted music in it preventing a rerelease =\ A bummer, to be sure!"
I haven't played Misadventures in some time, so I can't pinpoint any specific examples of copyrighted music. However, the Japanese version of the game does feature two vocalized pieces, "Love Letter" and "Magic", sung by Mayumi Iizuka, Tron's voice actress. Not that that has any relevance to the English version, but contract issues with her songs could explain the game's absence on the Japanese PSN.
So no Misadventures for PlayStation Network, I'm afraid. On the positive side, if you own a copy of the game, its value just skyrocketed!
Source: Ask Capcom
Yup, Capcom coming up with yet another bullshit reason for not wanting anything to do with Legends
ReplyDeleteMine's not -quite- as valuable because I lost the MML2 demo disc.
ReplyDeleteToo bad Capcom can't just remove the music. Maybe the people who developed the game could do it.
ReplyDelete@Rockman:
ReplyDeleteSony doesn't allow developers to change the PSOne games. They want them exactly as they were originally released.
Typical lazy Capcom. Whenever a single legal issue arrizes regarding a rerelease of an older game they make no effort to fix it.
ReplyDeleteUnless some sort of regime change occurs at Capcom, we will NEVER see the Megaman Legends games rereleased in English again.
@Anon: You know that for sure, do you?
ReplyDeleteSo spiffy them up a bit, remove the copyrighted stuff, and release them as a "non-emulated" collection.
ReplyDeleteWait...if the English version doesn't contain the offending songs, why can't the English version be allowed onto PSN?
ReplyDeleteMan. :(
I have a sealed and unopened copy..
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's sad that they can't put it up. Guess we'd need a remake.
Unfortunately this same thing will happen with all the games Capcom's been making which have characters that are based on real life actors, like Onimushas, Lost Planet 1 (I think also Azura's Wrath). I honestly don't know why they do that, the drawbacks are just too significant in my opinion.
So Mega Man fans can look forward to Project X at least...
ReplyDeleteWait, why can't the Legends games come on PSN?
ReplyDelete@Mike:
ReplyDeleteMega Man Legends 1 (and maybe 2) failed an IP sweep. In other words, there's something in the game that infringes someone's copyright. Music, voice acting, etc. Something to that extent.
You know, this sounds like such a huge cop-out. For one thing, just cause it won't be on PSN doesn't mean it couldn't go to the Xbox Live Arcade, they've certainly had no qualms wrecking old games like taking the ending track out of Symphony of the Night.
ReplyDeleteThis kinda issue with a song or reference being in a game was all well and fine in the 90's, but suddenly everyone is "afraid" to do anything.
Reminds me of Nintendo's logic behind the lack of anything EarthBound/Mother related outside of Smash Brothers.
To be honest, I don't buy this for a minute.
ReplyDeleteAt least I already have an alternative copy of the game. It's sort of unfortunate that there's no way for someone new to the series to play it, unless they take the route I did.
Of course, the conspiracy theorists would have you believe making the series inaccessible by not rereleasing Legends, Legends 2 and Tron Bonne was all part of the plan. I'm not gonna say they're right or wrong, but it definitely would appear that way.
... and I'm almost entirely sure that the Japanese version could get on PSN in Japan no problem. This is entirely on Capcom's US and EU branches. These sorts of things have a way of working out in Japan (Earthbound, Legends 1 and 2, Lumines on PSN) and yet in the US and UK, we've got all of these laws that basically ruin everything for everyone.
I expect the problem is likely some sort of public domain music that isn't anymore or something. See, the issue could be easily resolved if Capcom was willing to spend money on it... but they choose not to. Now, I understand if it was a lot of money, and I'm not about to say I know what the costs are involved, but say it's $400 to re-license said music? Why the hell not? I'm sure they'd make that up pretty quickly. 40 people at $10 a download, they've paid that off. Obviously there are the PSN fees and all that, so they'd need to sell maybe 200 copies to break even? I think they could do that. But like I said. I don't know the costs involved, it just reeks of them looking for reasons to not do it.
I realize that people are getting pretty fed up of Capcom at this point, but seriously, this sort of thing is out of their hands.
ReplyDeleteThey have to comply with copyrights, and as mentioned prior, Sony doesn't want re-releases to be changed. They can't do a thing. If you're looking for something to get angry at, then blame the copyrighted material itself, or blame Sony insisting that the re-releases be kept unchanged.
Seriously. Not everything is Capcom's fault.
It's already upwards of $100 on Amazon. No rerelease? Hungry fanbase? Copyrighted music? Come on Capcom, is this the new Earthbound?
ReplyDeleteIt doesnt matter. As long as you have a copy or backup then you can play on Ps3 and PSX emulator as well. Who care ? PSX PSN can be annoying, really. Bring Megaman Legends 3 and new Megaman games now, Capcom!
ReplyDeleteI don't know about how these things work, but shouldn't the rights to "Love Letter" belong to Mayumi Iizuka anyway? She obviously still has a good relationship with Capcom, seeing how she voiced Tron in MvC3, so how hard can it be to get the rights?
ReplyDeleteWow. Legends fans just keep getting screwed over, don't they?
ReplyDeleteyea !!!
ReplyDeleteI have my copy and it's like new !
It appears that Mega Man Legends has become Capcom's equivalent of the Earthbound/Mother series, the "butt-monkey" franchise of the company, being pushed around by the company executives, denied of any new releases because of apparent copyright stuff and so called "low sales and popularity", and an apparent embargo on the use of characters from each others series from making cameos in other series other than in specific fighting games (as well as releases outside of Japan, but that's another story).
ReplyDeleteOf course, for both series, it was the company THEMSELVES who caused the low sales of both series, Earthbound had it's infamous "This game stinks" campaign, which made people actually take the slogan literally and actually thought the game was terrible, not to mention the cartoony graphics were often bashed on and frequently compared to other SNES JRPGs at the time (primarily Square-Exix ones like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI), in Legends case, it was vastly different from the then going on Mega Man X series, though being different from the rest of the series is what made the games classics.
As for Misadventures of Tron Bonne, official game discs are hard to find (just like official carts of the Mother games have become anymore), and tend to be high prices such as 200 US Dollars, most people who want to play it tend to pirate it, and due to Sony's dictatorship declaring it to be a law that re-releases have to be 100% vanilla and must have no alterations whatsoever (even if they are rather minor such as this song), and since these copyrights tend to be hard to obtain, combined with the cancellation of Legends 3, we can only say that Mega Man Legends, like Earthbound, is completely dead to the company, and is only kept alive by the fandom. It's sad, but it's true...
@Masterge77:WRONG about Mother.
ReplyDeletehttp://gameboy.ign.com/articles/704/704589p1.html
The man obviously has had his wishes respected by Nintendo. Kid Icarus I'd like to cite the fact the director of the original was also responsible for Other M before we bring up that series.
In addition, unlike Legends, Nintendo at least hasn't been dicks about Earthbound.
Have they given promises about games/demos then gone back on it? No. Have they created a game that ruined the series image(or public outlash at it) then cancelled it? No. Has it been made fun of in a crossover game? NO.
Did Mother get a bigger representation in the THIRD INSTALLMENT of Smash Bros and contained much more content on the series than the previous game? YES IT DID.
Also Mother 3 went through development hell. It also came out at the end of the GBA life/2 years into the NDS life. After going through hell for the SNES, 64DD, and finally GBA, do you REALLY think they'd be willing to spend more time for a god damn DS release? Brownie Brown said they'd do it like a year or two after, but Nintendo probably was wary of having a repeat into the 3DS life.
In addition, Mother 2 was a Masterpiece title on the JAPANESE version of Smash Bros Brawl. However the game never debuted that VC unlike Fire Emblem(which was also a Japanese only Masterpiece). There must be a good reason why.
Also about the music part. Remember in the OoT 3D release, Nintendo said they WOULD NOT redo that games music. This was to keep nostalgia and to strengthen the memories of the old game among other reasons. Perhaps that is the same reason why they won't release mother without everything intact: Because it wouldn't be the same game, and they know some of those that played the original would be PISSED, like myself.
Legends =/= Mother. Mother has legitimate issues, especially for 2 and 3, unlike Legends.
@April, 27th, 7:11 A.M. anon:
ReplyDeleteI'm no expert on music licensing rights, but I'm pretty sure that Mayumi Iizuka doesn't have full rights to let someone else use the songs "Love Letter" and "Magic". Capcom would most likely have to negotiate with the music company that owns them, in addition to Iizuka.
Of course it doesn't. No surprise here. Copyrighted music? Don't the composers sign off the rights to their music to Capcom? Oh boy, like those composers are really doing something with the music now. Big deal. Biiig deal. Port the game.
ReplyDeleteOr don't. The original will retain its rarity in the market.
@Dhylec
ReplyDeleteAs do I. ;)
But I'm deathly afraid of opening it and such. I'd really like to play it but it's my only copy and with it being sealed and all...it's extremely valuable. Choices, choices...lol
@MegaMac, stop being such a wussy collector and open it!
ReplyDeleteCollectors are the worst kind of gamer, buying games just for the sake of having them (Or waving around a rare game that costs $100 and showing off the size of their ego) instead of enjoying them.
Lies!
ReplyDeleteI've actually been wanting to play the Legends series ever since news of the 3rd game T___T and Hoping for some sort of re-release.
( I've never had the luxury of playing the games at all, yeah I know its sad)
Only one of Iizuka's songs are used in the game (the ending theme), the other was used in the TV commercial.
ReplyDeleteYet, I can't see how this could be a problem for the English and European versions.
Maybe Capcom is afraid that Beethoven's ghost could appear to ask for his symphony rights and start a fight between him and Juno in Apple Market? :P
should have brought the game a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteA LUNCH! XD