Following the reveal of Street Fighter X Mega Man, Capcom USA Senior Vice President Christian Svensson sat down with IGN to talk about all things Mega Man. Of topics discussed, Svensson hints there will be some news to share come December 17. Hit the break for all the details.
Svensson on how it was difficult speaking about mega Man following the cancellation of Legends 3 and Universe…
“After the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3 and Universe, there was
a cooling down period where even discussing the prospect of a Mega Man
title was difficult. The wounds were still fresh for us (just as they
were for fans). We’re at a point now where it’s not as painful and
constructive discussions are happening again.”
Svensson on finding the right balance with the amount of Mega Man games released…
“We had some years where there were more than 7-8 Mega Man SKUs being
released. Suffice to say, that was probably too much. Right now, we’re
at a point where it’s clearly not enough. Hopefully Street Fighter X
Mega Man helps that situation a little.”
Svensson on how much Capcom was involved with Street Fighter X Mega Man…
“We funded development of the project, provided creative input and
direction, handled QA, marketing (including the great trailer created by
Capcom-Unity’s own Chris Antista), sorted out legal clearances and
naturally, handled distribution via Capcom-Unity.com. I don’t want to
downplay in any way, Zong Hui’s contribution. He was the creative
visionary behind the game’s concept and execution. He was amazingly
responsive all through the development process to our feedback, often
turning builds into us every couple of days for more feedback. The
iterative process was among the best I’ve seen.”
Svensson on how different Mega Man ideas have been discussed, like a retool or fresh approach…
“You’ve hit upon the very nature of the discussions that we’ve been
having for so long now. I think there are core aspects of the franchise
that can transcend genres, ages and platforms. While I’m far from the
only person with an opinion internally, I’m firmly in the camp of
wanting ‘jump and shoot’ as a core tenet of any project we do. Beyond
that, I think the ground is still fertile with room for creative
expression.”
Elston on what lies ahead; December 17 and beyond....
"When pressed about what's coming, and specifically asked about bringing
the Mega Man games to the Nintendo 3DS's eShop (as they are in Japan),
Elston wouldn't get into details - but he did provide a timetable for
when that information would be shared - December 17, the same day Street
Fighter X Mega Man will be available for download. And that won't be
everything. More announcements will even be made after that date."
Other notes
- SF X Mega Man developer Seow Zong Hui approached Svensson at EVO 2012
- Svensson was shown a couple of demo levels
- After seeing this, Svensson assembled a few key Mega Man fans from the
Capcom office, including senior community manager Brett Elston, to
check on the project
- SF X Mega Man could arrive on other platforms, but PC version takes priority to make it on time for Dec. 17
- Staffers were impressed the game, so Capcom brought in some of its resources to assist with development
Well, friends, it looks like we can finally start anticipating some 25th anniversary news. It's difficult to predict what these announcements may be, but things will become clear soon enough.
We'll keep you posted.
Source: IGN (via Nintendo Everything)
We haven't had an actual brand new console Megaman title in 4 years. I will not count the EXE1 Remake with the extra chapter of SF in it, nor the second retro 8-bit Megaman WiiWare/Live/PSonline title, and I will most certainly not count the iOS newgrounds flash game. Street Figher X Megaman is nice and all but technically it isn't a new console Megaman title. Speaking of which, when was the last HOME console Megaman game? That was X8, right? X8 came out in 2004...which was 8 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm crossing my fingers for Dec 17th, but my expectations are extremely low.
@ Rock - Technically, wouldn't the last home console Mega Man game be MM10? Also, way to get butthurt and claim OSS and Xover AREN'T real Mega Man games.
ReplyDelete(crosses fingers for MM11, SF4 or ZX3 sometime in the future)
Top men.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's all I have to say about that.
I'm sorry, but Megaman's 25th, and it's a tie-in?
ReplyDeleteReally?
Who does a tie-in to celebrate anything?
And don't even say Xover, that thing's fucking ridiculous. Even if that is supposed to be the 25th Anniversary surprise, it's so horrible on a basic level, that it shouldn't even be acknowledged.
@ HyperSonicEXE: Well, that's not very nice. Just because Xover doesn't live up to your expectations doesn't mean it shouldn't be acknowledged.
ReplyDelete@Hyper
ReplyDeleteIt's a tie in to Celebrate both series, 2 birds with 1 stone kind of thing.
Like many articles have stated, they see it as a nice way to close out SF's 25th celebrations, and start off Mega Man's 25th celebrations.
I can't wait to see what new ambitious project they announce and then cancel six months later.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy with CoA and Svensson right now that I could hump them.
ReplyDelete"We’re at a point now where it’s not as painful and constructive discussions are happening again."
ReplyDeleteAmongst whom? Capcom or the fans? From what I have seen, things are still pretty volatile amongst the fans. I guess that is what you can expect when there has been nothing but disappointment after disappointment.
Anyways, there is always that microscopic glitter of hope that something big will come. As long as it is not another Xover (synonymous with half-assed) attempt at expecting us to be happy just because they released a stale game with their company name on it, then I will eat crow and say "good job, Capcom." From their track record, I'm not getting my hopes up.
Sorry, but I am not impressed. This is fan-game quality (and yes, I know it originally started as a fan game) and, while not to knock fan games (mostly because since this entire fiasco began, the fan games have been kicking Capcom's royal behind left and right) we all KNOW Capcom has more money and resources to make higher quality games than the fans. They are BETTER than this.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it is good that hey, a new Mega Man game is coming out, and not only that, it's FREE. But this game, was not what a lot of us have been asking for. They (and by they I mean all three branches of Capcom) KNOW what we have been asking for; we've been extremely vocal about it. And while this is nice, it isn't NEARLY enough to start healing the mammoth rift between us fans and them that they caused, in my eyes.
If they REALLY want to show us that they are sorry, they need to man up and release the MML3 Prototype already. We know and they know that it is DONE and in a playable state; to be sitting on something like that, when it could be out there, at the very LEAST, making them a partial return on their initial investment, reeks of either extraordinary incompetence or something far more shady. The fact that they haven't given us a concrete reason yet as to WHY they did not release the Prototype when, as said, it was in a playable state, makes things look even more suspicious on their end and gives credence to the "shady" side of things.
So yeah, as it stands, my faith in Capcom is still not restored nor is it even beginning to mend. But here's hoping they can make me believe in them again, though I am honestly not holding my breath at this point.
BTW, and I am being sincere when I say this, had they gone through with at LEAST the Prototype and, even if the full game hadn't gone through, I'm sure that most if not ALL of us wouldn't be as miffed with things like X-Over these days. It's only because of their colossal screw-ups one after the other that they have us fans laying siege to them.
Good goddamn, you people are never going to be happy again. *eyeroll*
ReplyDelete@Zerker: Xover is a Mega Man game. Just a crappy one. :3
ReplyDeleteAnyways, super hyped for this! Even if it's just a fan-game (funded by Capcom, mind you), I'm still excited! Small step in the right direction for Capcom; hopefully this COULD be the start of something new!
You know after rollin around the internet and seeing fans reactions to this, I can totally see why Capcom canceled Legends 3 and Universe.
ReplyDeleteMost Megaman fans won't be happy with anything.
Wait... so why is he acting like we're all over this and can be friends now? No one is over this. Maybe Capcom is, but f*ck them.
ReplyDeleteI never asked for a crappy fan-made game in 8-bit. We've made it abundantly clear that MML3 would fix everything.
This isn't gonna mend anything between fans and Capcom, not yet at least. They're releasing a fan made game to kick off Mega Man's 25th? If it's just a small step into what will be something bigger I have no issues with that, I'm sure this game will be at least decent enough although whenever I hear or read fan game I always think of some crappy Newgrounds flash game so I am cautious, especially with Capcom's recent Xover travesty (and yes I know this fan game is not being made by Capcom, just funded). Here's to hoping!
ReplyDelete@Over-1
ReplyDeleteHard for me to say your evaluation of the game is objective, much like it'd be difficult for anyone to say my reviews of S3&K and MMBN games would be objective.
That game is flat out lazy, at a minimum. It's the assets for MMX2 iOS (thus the Giga Crash) with a slightly different coat of paint.
@extremesonic
Yeah, I'm starting to see it's SF's 25th.
I guess it confused me because they just celebrated the 20th of SF and MM. Like the Kirby collection for Wii for its 20th.
Why the 20th is even celebrated, I'll never know.
@JinzoNingenX After all that's happened, do you think the fans wouldn't complain? We've been spoiled with getting games pretty often and then hit a spell of lazy games (OSS and Xover in particular, although I wanted OSS), cancellations and finger pointing. Some of us are still angry; a lot of us are just bitter. I'm not saying it's right that we're complaining so much; the SFxMM crossover won't win me over, but at least it's acknowledgement that fans exist. But honestly, Capcom hasn't made all that much effort to reconnect to fans. Giving a fangame a seal of approval is a good starting step, but that's mostly all it is. A starting step. We're not going to throw ourselves at whatever Capcom says since most of us don't trust their word anymore.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, we're should wait for the concrete before flying off the handle (again). It's too much to hope for MML3, but a little attention is nice once in a while.
Does nobody realize that CoA has really no say on Legends 3 coming?
ReplyDeleteThey are at least TRYING to give us something cool and you people spit in their faces because "wah its not Legends 3"
Blame CoJ, because at least CoA is trying to be cool.
I think a reboot it is a bad idea. I mean, 25 years of gaming, wooosh! Down into the drain for a reboot.
ReplyDeleteWhy not just finish the Classic series, the X series, the ZX series, and the Legends series before thinking about creating a reboot? I mean, you wanna reboot something that’s not even finished yet?
And as for SF x MM: I like the looks of it. Definitely getting it (hey, it’s free!). And it looks loads better than Xover.
Actually, thinking about it, a free fan game or two does seem like a good idea to start the mending process properly. It's sort of like Capcom saying, "we acknowledge that you care about Megaman, so here's some of the community's efforts regarding that." The question I suppose that is on everyone's minds is whether they take that next step and continue with a contribution purely of their own.
ReplyDeleteObviously, if it weren't for the fact that this game is half Street Fighter, Capcom wouldn't have touched it (Let's not kid ourselves.)
ReplyDeleteBut it's nice to know that it isn't just a fan game with Capcom's rubber stamp on it.
I still want it on a Nintendo system, but it's fine.
And you can put me in the "Jump & Shoot" Camp as well. If not for Mega Man 9 & 10, I'd be quite the MM hermit by now.
I gave Legends, Battle Network, Zero, ZX and Starforce a try solely because they bore the name "Mega Man" but none of these games lived up to the timeless quality and fun of the NES/SNES Megaman/X titles.
They were slow, they were ugly, they were inflated, they were loaded with character worship and they all ignored/bastardized the most basic principle of Mega Man: Run. Jump. Shoot. Kill boss. Get weapon. Repeat. It takes real incompetence to get that fundamental aspect dead wrong in so many different ways. I pray they don't try to reinvent Mega Man, some very ugly concepts come to mind.
The Zero series was slow? Bullshit.
ReplyDeleteSo can we has MML3 plz?
ReplyDeleteI really hope Legends 3 remains cancelled.
ReplyDelete@Thetis the Ice Mega Man:
ReplyDeleteThat's cold!
I agree that this is a first step in the right direction and hope it continues. I hope Capcom comes out with a huge Anniversary Collection box like they did with Street Fighter... A Mega Man figure, Art Booklet, a 11 disc soundtrack, the Ruby Spears Cartoon, and OVA on bluray... I said this in another blog post too... If Capcom can't do something like this or something much cooler then I'm done with them...
ReplyDeleteIn this thread: unrealistic expectations, unrealistic expectations everywhere.
ReplyDeleteGiven that the fan-game is called SFxMM, I'm hoping (expecting, given the double-franchise 25th anniversary) that Ryu is an unlockable playable character or something.
Or Ken. Or Dan. Whatever.
Mega Man has a future in video games? I'll believe it when I have one in my hands, you'll have to forgive my lack of faith in you and your "TOP MEN" Mr. Svenson.
ReplyDeleteIf Mega Man is to have a future in video games he needs to evolve. No more looking back at those 8-bit sprites with rose-tinted eyes, let's move on to the HD era with an art style that captures Keiji Inafune's artwork. Instead of 8 robot masters, have 10, maybe even 12 and make the levels a bit longer. Try something new with the story instead of the old "Oh no, Wily is back and he's doublecrossed us again!".
ReplyDeleteAnd no more spin-off series, work with what you've got.