The hype is on for the next Mega Man/Sonic the Hedgehog crossover, "Worlds Unite." Archie Comics recently posted the above covers for the story arc's first chapter, which is set to kick off in Sonic Universe #76.
On the left we have the work of Patrick 'Spaz' Spaziante. The right, a great CG piece by Rafa Knight. Take a close look at both -- there's a few surprises lurking for fans of both franchises.
Sonic Universe #76 is due to hit newsstands later this May.
Source: Archie Comics
I hate the fact that Mega Man isn't popular and has to relegate to crossover or cameo status just to get buy. Why is Mega Man so unprofitable? Ahh whatever Mega Man has the worst luck in that sense.
ReplyDeleteI have nothing aganst Sonic but MMX and Sonic (especially Boom), I'm just not feeling it.
It's the sort of thing that happens when the company making the IP doesn't really try to support it. Mega Man has always been fairly under-advertised outside of Japan for example.
DeleteOf course this was done to help keep costs low for the franchise as a whole, which was how Capcom made it profitable. To say the franchise is "unprofitable" isn't really accurate. It wouldn't have lasted this long if it were. It's just Mega Man has always been about really safe profits. Capcom has moved away from that strategy a bit in recent years.
They want to put all of their resources into big AAA games, and now there's an easier way for them to make inexpensive games for those "safe profits," and that's through making ios games. A lot of people may not like it, but in reality Capcom is kind of keeping the same strategy with the franchise they have always had with games like Xover and GoGo, it's just the quality of those games is lower than what most people are used to.
It's why I personally remain cynical when someone says they thing Mega Man will be "back" in the future. If my theory is right, Capcom already has Mega Man "back" where they want it.
I think the reason Mega Man kept going as long as it did was because the developers/creators loved the series and worked on it any chance they got, and pushed and fought for its continuation mostly, not because of profits from the stories I've heard/seen.
DeleteOr maybe it's always been a niche market here in the west and it's impressive to see how long it lasted because of that. =P I say this franchise has had it pretty good compared to other IPs.
DeleteWell I'm sure the developers/creators was certainly a part of it. But the only story I've heard about that sort of thing is the original Mega Man. But you don't go on for that long just because the creators love the series. Ono loves Darkstalkers after all, and we know where that's at, among plenty of other Capcom IPs. There's also the case of X 6, where a number of the original creators didn't even work on the game. That sort of thing had to be pushed, likely largely because of the profits (brought partially on by how easy/inexpensive it is for them to make games in that style by re-using assets and all that).
DeleteAs for the "niche market" in the west, I definitely understand there's a history for that, but the fact that it's niche is partially, and potentially largely, brought on by the lack of advertisement I mentioned earlier. Not only that, times change. Capcom themselves said that Mega Man 9 and 10 sold more in the west than they did in Japan after all. Maybe Capcom could have done something with that information to build a larger base for the franchise in the west, maybe release a game with some advertisement. But it ultimately just turned out to be another instance of squandered potential for the franchise as nothing came after it.
Smash has given Mega Man more promotion outside of Japan than anything Capcom has ever done, but seeing as there hasn't been any announcements or anything significant, I have to think this will just be another opportunity for the franchise Capcom will just let slip away. I'd love to be wrong though.
At this point I personally would like to see Nintendo get the rights to the franchise. If they can continue to bring Fire Emblem to the west while also making new Kid Icarus and Star Fox games, I feel like they can do pretty much anything. Given enough time of course.
Actually a lot of the developers of X6 were mainstays of the Mega Man franchise, even people who left Capcom and were no longer a part of the internal development like the original X team showed massive interest in continuing the series externally.
DeleteIn cases of Darkstalkers I believe there are two major differences, the first being there was never a precedence indicating that it can even be remotely successful, something Mega Man had from time to time in the form of single entries. The other being that the staff that worked on the original games that loved it were fractured internally due to the various fighting games under Capcom being produced frequently at the time with many of the same staff, and none of them had the influence necessary to make a difference at a time when Capcom really wanted to step away from the highly competitive and risky fighting game market, promting many of the original team to split up and pursue other interests. Whereas the Mega Man developers usually stayed close, gathered together or had large influence and creative development methods to underhandedly have the production of games green-lite.
One more thing, even Street Fighter, easily one of the biggest and most well know fighting games, was put on hold and went through a resurgence process, with the rerelease of Hyper Fighting and subsequently SFIV. This chance was given to Darkstalkers in the form of Ressurection which was considered a failure unlike the former. On top of this Capcom still couldn't develope a Street Fighter and had to generally outsource development to the very few groups of people in the industry that are experienced with making successful competitive fighters, or specifically Street Fighter, and were still able to do so at the time.
Mega Man on the other hand if not for political and legal issues would be having a game developed as we type these text right now. It also has several groups of competent developers experienced with the franchise on standby, at the ready to continue the franchise's legacy.
The Megaman comic isn't doing that well because the only games available are over 20 yr old ports in E-Shops.
DeleteSay what you well about Sega's poor handling of Sonic games, but they never stopped making them and they take every advantage to make people know of them.
Axl? Sigma? Color me intrigued. Which be blue in this instance.
ReplyDeleteWait, Axl is going to be in it as well? That's... unexpected. He hasn't made a new appearance in anything until now.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we needed another crossover this soon.
ReplyDeleteIt's to help sell Mega Man comics, that's the only reason I can see them doing this, since crossovers normally sell really well.
DeleteI know covers lie, but I'm hoping the Archie exclusive characters will not be making an appearance, particularly on Sonic's side. =P I'm still intrigued by this and really want to see what they have in store.
ReplyDeleteThey will, you can be sure of it. Specially since the trigger of this event seems to be Xander. I personally love most of the original chars on both sides, being a long time reader and Ian has been doing good work with them after the "forced" reboot which Sonic comics had to pass.
DeleteAlso, Axl? The Deadly Six?? Color me 10000 times more interested. I don't mind crossovers if they're well done, as Worlds Collide was.
Hoping to see the Mega Man comic going strong for many more years.
Dust off those cheap sales gimmicks, Archie needs money! That's not to suggest that they squandered it all on payroll or publication costs, 'cause that's obviously not the case.
ReplyDeleteA company doing something to earn money? Color me shocked! It's almost like they want to continue making comics or something!
DeleteWhat do you care, anyway? You "subscription canceled" years ago.
Initially crossover was great and the current Mega Man,Sonic AND Sonic Boom comics are all great as well.This crossover will be pretty cool. I wouldn't see any problems on the off chance that they bring more Mega Mans(BN,Legends) and Sonics to the battle (Sonic X, AoStH...).In Archie we trust.
ReplyDeleteTina Long.
Sonic the Hedgehog is Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man is Mega Man, MEGA MAN X especially is MEGA MAN GOTDAMN X! Let people who enjoy each enjoy each, cause some of them have things that conflict with the others in major ways. Has X series ever remotely attemted to use comical cartoon effects, or attemted to characterize its characters comically at all in the games? No! Does Zero allowing an anthropomorphic creature braid his hair seem really out of context for the character? Yes! Have some integrity and discipline for your work Archie.
ReplyDeleteI hate that hedgehog (obvious reference) now anyway.
And in the last crossover, Eggman and Wily totally played Smash Bros, camped out, and rode two-seater bicycles together.
DeleteThey're the covers, genius. They're supposed to be over-the-top to grab attention and make people want to pick them up off the newsstand and read them. Zero's not getting his hair braided, and there's no indication that the crossover is going to be any less of a serious affair then the last one was, comic relief characters and occasional sight gags aside.
Anyway, what's wrong with branching out and letting X and company have their characters expanded beyond the limiting confines of the games?
>Zero's not getting his hair braided
DeleteOh boy. Just wait until later issue covers.
If it discredits the characters' established personalities and iconic appeal, that would be what's wrong with branching out established iconic characters. Which is what is happening in this case.
DeleteThat Eggman and Wily stuff appealed to? You guessed it, the comical lighthearted side of both series, something both those series have been known to have significantly. In comparison to those, the X series doesn't seem to even remotely want to incorporate those attributes, and over time leans more and more away from it. It is blatantly clear that is the direction the X series is going for as spectators see more and more of it officially. So no its not the same thing when Classic series does something comical in comparison to X.
BTW your reply is heavily based on the fact that I agree with the Eggman/Wily stuff to begin with. I generally hate crossover stories for many reasons, and the misrepresentation of characters with conflicting interests due to companies usually trying to appeal to all groups of fans, is only one of them.
I bet if the situation was reversed and the cover had Zero kneeling over a pool of blood containing disemboweled little cartoon-like humanoid animals, with severed limbs all over the place, you'd get a different tune from the remainder of the Mega Man fandom, one of disapproval.
I also hate the Sonic community and what the Sonic franchise became, and I really don't want to associate with it. Half the time the fans of that series are fantasizing and producing content about which of its characters to pair up in romantic/sexual relationships. That or how intensely "hardcore" they think the series is, talking about power levels like some DBZ diehard or something. Who can blame them anyway, Sonic is a series with some of the least cohesive creative directions of any series.
Actually, my reply was sarcastically pointing out that the stuff that happens on the alt covers usually has nothing to do with what's going on in the comic itself. I really don't give a crap whether or not you approve of what's going on in the comics or the covers. Obviously, they're not not your thing. But if you're going to come here and denounce entire series and their fans because they're not your cup of tea, that's where I step in
Delete1. Half the fun of crossovers is putting characters together and seeing, not only how their similarities work together, but also how their differences contrast. Sonic and Megaman are both blue, fight mad scientists with robots, and have friends who help them, but their personalities, powers, and the way their friends help are markedly different, and seeing their differences clash, or compliment withe each other is a major part of why it's so fun. In this case, the grim, but idealistic X is going to have to team up with the laid-back, but also idealistic Sonic. There's loads of storytelling potential here, and to denounce it just because "If it discredits the characters' established personalities and iconic appeal" is just nonsensical. There's nothing here that goes against established personalities. (If you're going to be anal and insist that Amy braiding Zero's hair is OOC, the covers are non canon anyway.)
2. X doesn't ever remotely want to incorporate humor, eh?I guess that's why some of the mavericks are really goofy looking, and why Command Mission had humorous character interactions between the party and the NPCs. And anyway, again, the appeal of a crossover is taking elements that contrast, putting them together, and watching the fireworks that result. If that's not your thing, fine, but stop acting like you're the only fan worth pandering to.
3. Gratuitous violence and comedy are like apples and oranges. A. They're not mutually exclusive, B. Comic relief isn't out of place in the X series. (Again, Axl, the goofier looking Mavericks, a good deal of the conversations had before battle with the Mavericks,) C. Gore isn't appropriate for a wide audience, and having Zero gut Amy on a cover would shut out a good deal of the fanbase, which is a cause for frustration, as opposed to humor, which can be appreciated by all ages. (Can be. I already got that you've lost your funny bone.)
4. And you've never seen XXZero shipping? BassXRoll? RockXBlues? ZeroXLayer? Shippers are everywhere, and to denounce one fanbase while holding up another that does the exact same thing is pure hypocrisy. And, seeing as how I am a fan of Sonic who doesn't ship, and Sonic Retro is an entire community of Sonic fans that care more about the gameplay then shipping relationships, and how one glance at Deviantart or Tumblr will show that their child/manchild users will ship any characters under the sun, no matter the franchise, and your reasoning for hating Sonic fans in particular falls flat. You're just playing into the stereotype of the idiot Sonic fan so you can hold onto your prejudices and feel superior.
You're free to not care for Sonic. That's fine. I don't give a crap about a lot of series. But hating fans and telling them "Stop liking what I don't like!" is pure arrogance. You're not gonna attract a lot of people to your point of view with that attitude.
1. Conversely just how you don't give a "crap" (which is bull crap) about my approval (which I'm not even offering or alluding to) I don't give a crap about your sarcastic overtones . I've never discredited the content of the covers as implicit to the going ons of the main comic story. All I've stated was relative to the two that engaged in the crossover before, X doesn't lend itself well to those things done by the other two. Purely basing the logic that the other two did something thereby making it appropriate for another to do so, is faulty at best. As for you garbage on covers misrepresenting what goes on inside the comic, that's your initiative in this discussion, my subject was only on the content matter itself, which in this case is the comical style.
Delete2. Goofy looking mavericks is hugely subjective. A lot of people see Tornado Tonion as goofy, or Wire Sponge. I think of them as effective designs for their functions. The Rockman X universe is widely based on the theory of the natural ecology being the basis of mechanical progression, being as nature has created effective design structures. Using the templet of natural design, engineers of that world develope highly advanced robots based on advanced A.I and internal systems introduced at the time, to meet the beneficial needs of society and the environment. In conguction with this many designs provide multi use fuctions such as basing a design concept on an onion's layering for multi layered wind turbines, or a grappling propulsion sea sponge shaped entity being able to maneuver through thick series of vegetation. Also the conversations with mavericks a lot of the time are to indicate insanity. I can go on and on with counter arguments to your drivel.
Humorous character interactions on occasion does not equate to herp derp comical in overall style. It would be wildey unrealistic to the point of inability to relate to the vast majority of spectators if the series never incorporated personality traits like occasional banter or slight humor in the series. You're just selecting very few and practical situations to address the approach and direction of the overall series. In other words you are reaching and stretching with you examples. Like with Axl, he is constantly reprimanded for his immature and carefree approach to situations that require professionalism. Even then he still wasn't liked by the majority of the fanbase because he didn't fit well with X and Zero. So much to say on this but I'll just have to leave it at that.
3. I never stated comedy and violence were antonymous, or that it had to be Amy who was gutted or any of the main cast, I was suggesting that Zero doing those things would reflect the kind of atmosphere and content the X series and the character was known to have, that wouldn't work well with the other series. You're just twisting my words to find meanings not intended by me to strengthen your position.
4. To answer your shipping question, no. Not to the extent or openness of the Sonic community. Is there porn lurking the interwebs pertaining to Mega Man characters? Yes, but that is true for almost every series to a degree, Rule34 definitely applies. Are you gonna find the occasional fan or group disccusing or sharing content on the topic of shipping Mega Man characters? Sure, it is bound to happen. Are you gonna find all this at the same gigantic prominence or magnitude levels as in the Sonic community? Hell NO!
Last but not least, never before this post have I stated I am addressing the thoughts of anyone else but myself, nor that everything needs to pander to me, although that is the only opinion I can express because I can't think for others. I thought that was an obvious thing not worth specifically stating to anyone that can comprehend basic context.