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| Guest post by Santiago Casale |
DISCLAIMER: The following is a speculative piece that includes data not verified by Capcom unless otherwise stated.
The Nintendo data is complete speculation based on very basic mathematics: the sum of all the versions’ data minus the official sales number from Capcom.
I’m not deliberate being biased here, but it’s easy to assume that -- based on the trends you're about to see -- the Switch versions will be the dominant platform for these games. This goes hand-in-hand with the strong association between the brand and Nintendo from general consumers. In the same way, it's is safe to assume the Xbox version is the lowest-selling.
Without further ado, these are the results:
First off, I will point at Mega Man 11 and the Zero/ZX Legacy Collection as the most “safe” stipulations. There's nothing inherently contradictory with official data.
Now, the first issue we can see is that Mega Man Legacy Collection on Steam already surpassed Capcom’s own, official data as recent as Dec. 2020, which could suggest that they aren’t taking Steam into account. But even if they did, the numbers still wouldn’t line up as the PS4 and Xbox numbers, alone, match the total sales with no room for the Switch version (or 3DS, for that matter). It's also entirely possible that Capcom stop keeping track after a certain point in a title's lifespan. Once it's become a "back-catalogue title", perhaps.
Mega Man Legacy Collection 2’s numbers haven’t been reported explicitly. However, in 2019, it was stated by series producer Kazu Tsuchiya that MMLC1 and MMLC2 sold 2 million units combined. We can assume, therefore, that MMLC2 sits at around 800k. This, too, is barring the spike caused by MMLC2 addition to Xbox Game Pass.
Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1+ 2 were reported to have sold 1.4 million units combined... BUT this data is from 2019, so we can expect some growth from it. However, while the pattern suggests that X Legacy Collection 1 sold the most of the two, it’s not ranked on Capcom’s Platinum titles. Despite my calculations, it's very possible that XLC1 hasn’t *quite* hit that 1 million mark on it's own just yet. It may be sitting at 900k, give or take.
"Why is Mighty No. 9 on the chart?”, you ask? Because it provides a bit of perspective that sales numbers aren’t always the end-all, be-all that they're often made out to be. For Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection, this is important.
Mighty No. 9's notorious bargain-bin status has it going on sale for as low as 80% on Steam. In fact, if you add the people who played for free when it became part of PS+, that number goes as high as 1.3 million units. It's sold about as well as Mega Man 11... yet Mega Man 11 is considered the success story. Why?
Look at it this way. No one from Deep Silver or Comcept (Level-5 Comcept?) celebrated ANY milestones or immediately announced a Mighty No. 9 sequel. The game may have sold a lot of units, but that doesn't mean it was profitable. When you take into consideration how much money had to be spent onmultiple versions (two of which failed to materialize), multiple SKUs, marketing campaigns and even other ill-fated projects, it's no wonder why the Mighty No. 9 brand -- at the time of this writing -- is effectively dead.
That's the difference, folks. Profitability. When games are green-lit and move into production, they're given a budget based on project sales. Projected sales are expectations set by the performance of past titles and a summation of general brand interest (revenue accumulated from goods and merchandise, for example). Mega Man 11 and the many Legacy Collections succeeded because they're in-line with the realistic, reasonable expectations Capcom laid out pre-production. And they were profitable.
Zero/ZX Legacy Collection may have sold far less than its counterparts, yes, but that doesn't outright spell doom and gloom...
You have to remember, the individual titles in both the Zero and (especially) the ZX series never moved more than 200,000 units on their own. Zero and ZX have always been pretty niche, due in large part to the perception that they're "very hard" games. When putting this collection together, Capcom had to consider that. There was simply no way ZZXLC would have the same kind of reach and impact as MMLC1+2 or XLC1+2. So while ZZXLC's numbers may look disappointing to us, there's a very good chance that it was profitable. And that's enough.
Make no mistake: the picture being painted here is good. Very good. It's blazed a path ahead for, what could be, an ambitious future for the franchise.
While we cannot directly link you or go into great detail at this time, the Capcom breach in November did cue us in on the next "major" Mega Man game set for 2022. We're going to refer to it as "対戦" or "Taisen" here. Again, can't get into specifics, but because of how well recent Mega Man games sold, "Taisen" not only has a larger-than-usual budget for a Mega Man game (it's reportedly the size of Monster Hunter Stories 2), but a projected sales target well above even the best selling Mega Man game in the franchise's 30-year-plus history: Mega Man 2.
This isn't speculation or exaggeration. It's all all there in the breach.
Whatever "Taisen" turns out to be, it is an unquestionable testament to how well the brand has recovered in the last five years. If this were 2010, there would be no way a Mega Man game with that kind of "Zenny" behind it would get the green light.
Yes; we're in a drought at the moment. But you know what? It's all good. For the first time in a long time, we can breathe easy knowing that this quiet period wasn't brought on by poor sale figures or key staffers leaving the company. This time is being spent developing something different. Something that's taking a lot of time and, well, a lotta Zenny.
We're in the waiting game again, yeah. But it's different. There's no uncertainty this time. There's assurance that things are fine - the franchise is in good health - and something cool or maybe a little weird awaits us in the new year.
Mega Man is here to stay.
Man, I hope Mega Man 11 did better than Mighty no.9. Mega Man 11 is one of the top 3 best selling Mega Man games and to say an indie knockoff did better is an insult. Also, I hope it's true that Mega Man 11 did better on Nintendo than all other systems. Mega Man and Nintendo go like bread and butter.
ReplyDeleteCan I ask you to PLEASE not be so ignorant?
DeleteIndie developers can do whatever they want. I personally want them to create as many MegaMan inspired games as possible.
Also, Mighty no. 9 was created by a lot of the same people that made older MegaMan games. In fact, MegaMan 11 was not.
A lot of people in MegaMan 11's team were new, which makes it look more like the indie "knockoff" as you call it.
But the difference is, is that one is complete garbage (mighty no.9) and the other is really good (mega man 11).
Delete@Kleev Can I ask YOU to not be so ignorant?
DeleteOf course indie devs can do whatever they want that's why there're a couple of good games in a sea of crap.
So what if mn9 was created by devs of the original games? It still doesn't invalidate that is a lazy and unfinished knockoff. Overall it was a complete scam.
Note for anyone that claims I'm an apologist of AAA companies: Just cause triple A games have gotten worse it doesn't mean indies are suddenly good.
I feel that Taisen may as well be X9. BN have the potential to reach at least a million units.
ReplyDeleteI am concerned about this "Taisen" thing. If I got my Japanese right, it's basically "Rockman War". So, it sounds like a crossover event. Which likely means this is going to be something completely new. It could either be really cool, or really devastating because that's nothing anyone has asked for for the last decade. Sometimes I just don't understand Capcom...
DeleteWrong taisen, that one is 大戦. The kanji used for this one is 対戦 and refers to a match in a competition. So maybe a fighting game?
DeleteWe need sequels to the main timeline; not silly fighting games. MM isn't supposed to be a fighting game. I would say 'just continue the main timeline. is that so hard? Tired of the fact they release either toys, Dive stuff, or stuff unrelated to the Mega Man canon timelines that involves classic, X, Zero, ZX, and Legends, and anything in between that is not invented yet. I do miss the days when MM games were released often (2 main timeline series games every year or every other year). Taisen should just be a well made Legends 3. That is more akin to what people want, and with that budget they are putting into it, I would think it would be 3D like Legends.
DeleteToo used to Super Robot Wars/Taisen I suppose lol
DeleteDude, the fact that we had multiple games every year is the reason why most games sold poorly and the series died for 8 years. We don't need that. Taking things slowly is the best thing for the series.
DeleteSorry for the rant and long post, but:
DeleteWell, if they have more people working on it simultaneously, they can get it done faster and still do good quality. Maybe they lack people power? Also since it kept up for 20 years and much of that time, they released yearly at least one game a year, I don't think they sold badly until near the end (mid 2000s), which could have also been a time where there were changing gameplay interests (changes in gameplay interests happened in the mid 90s too when the 64 came out and 3D was getting popular). Also I liked the games back then and even into the 2000s, even X7 and X6, despite its flaws, was somewhat fun, and X8 was good, and I was actually alive playing MM on the NES probably before many around here were even born. I played the first one as a child when I was probably 5 when a friend of the family rented it from the store (Ice Man's stage was hard at that age especially, especially with the NES's often unresponsive controller tech where the gameplay did not let you turn in mid air Mario Bros original style or with latency), though I did not know what the game was or its title until a few years later when owning, playing, and beating MM4, then going back and playing prequals for the first time (MM2 + MM3 after revisiting MM1 and thinking, this is familiar, stage select screen and all, and beating that for the first time) and I grew up with the NES then SNES, when games were harder than later.
People say games are hard these days but it was harder back then when limited lives and credits were the norm in games like Life Force or Gradius or Contra even with a cheat for extra lives (I'm talking before games like Donkey Kong Country made it easier and was so generous with 1ups) were the norm, or even older MM games where they lose your check points and start at the beginning of the stage after you lose your 3 lives. The 1st two NES MM games much harder than the newer ones, especially playing them as a child, unless you learn the correct boss order and use special weapons. MMX5 was easier and odd since you lose your lives, get a game over, yet you don't lose your checkpoint in that level, so why even have lives, 1ups, and game overs if that is the case? 1ups are useless in X5 and X6 where you never lose your checkpoint.
I do miss the days when MM was on fire, and that was sustained for 20 years, so I doubt releasing more than 1 game a year had anything to do with it since it would have flopped long before that if that was the case. I remember when 1 classic and 1 X game was released almost yearly in the 90s, and it sold fine obviously since they kept churning them out. They weren't out always 2 games a year, or even 1 a year, but they released enough to please us.
I don't want to wait 3 years before 1 new MM game. They can get more teams working on individual games and multitask, and it doesn't have to come at the cost of quality if enough teams and members working on it dividing the work + our good computer tech. If they were designing it to be 3D like a well made Legends game and the size of a Zelda or Doom Eternal game with state of the art graphics and that long and complicated, I could understand that, but that isn't how MM does things. If it is a 2D game, even with good graphics like MM11, with the productive high tech hardware we have nowadays + the simplicity of MM gameplay and design even with upgrades and collectibles, it shouldn't take that long to do a good quality game. They did with X4 less than 2 years after X3, and it had a new engine PSX, yet the quality was good. Explain that. Maybe they had a bigger team and better at multitasking back then?
Taisen = Rockman Strategy HD?
Delete@Gary Daniel I'm no business expert, but we have to take into consideration that the production costs for a game (specially for a big company) isn't the same as it was 30, or even 10 years ago.
DeleteIf don't remember the exact number, but if you read the credits of the classic NES and SNES Mega Man games, probably there wasn't even 20 people in the staff. In fact, if I recall correct, even Mega Man 2 probably hadn't even 10 people in the staff. It was developed by a small and really dedicated team to bring it into fruction (clarifying that I'm not implying there that other titles didn't have a dedicated team).
Now, go to Mega Man 11 and see how much people are there in the credits roll. A lot of people. One of the things that made possible in the past to have 2 or games released per year is that Mega Man's budget usually wasn't so high (when compared with other franchises), so even if the games didn't hit the 1 million/500 thousands mark, they could still be very profittable.
Other thing we can consider is that nowadays, platforming isn't the most popular genre of the industry. Things are best those days, but in the mid 2000's, most people were talking about how 2D was "dead", and the future was all about 3D games. Some franchises (like Mega Man) were hardly criticized for maintaining their core 2D gameplay intact. 2D games returned to the trendings only by 2008, with the retro/indie game wave we got there.
Last but not least, as you yourself said, Mega Man games are considered hard. Even Mega Man 11 with everything it does to be beginner friendly, is considered hard by today's standards. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, but it's a fact that there are people who give up on the series because even the easier difficults are too hard for them.
But I don't want to sound pessimistic there, because I also love Mega Man, and agree that waiting for 4/8/10 years for every new games is hard - harder than the games themselves in my opinion, hehe. There are a lot of games nowadays that sell themselves by being marketed as "challenging, hard games" (like a certain game with a lot of Souls, or another with coffee Cups and heads), so I think maybe marketing Mega Man games like that could help bring new waves of players that like challenging, hard games.
I'm also all for them experimenting new things. Even 3D games again - may it be Legends, or a new style of gameplay -. There are plenty of Mega Man inspired games out there that give a glimpse of what a Mega Man with other mechanics and styles could look like. Even if it's different, as long as it still has solid controls, polished gameplay and that jump and shoot feel and challenge, it will still be Mega Man.
Anyway, be it a traditional game or a more experimental one, if it's Mega Man, I will also still want to play and support it if I can.
Yeah, I'm ok with 3D too and society in general as well as games and stuff need to keep evolving, and I favor progress in all its forms and improving the human condition. I like new stuff too, hence I bought Doom Eternal for Steam and build and upgrade my own PC. I would be getting a new video card once this chip shortage ends and video card prices deflate, and the 3080, the Ti version, etc looks good, but way too costly and always out of stock on newegg. No way am I paying $1000 or even $700 for a video card. My 980 Ti from 2015 was more reasonable ($500 for high end is acceptable). So I might wait for the 4000 series...
Delete...but as for MM games, I think if they introduce a new series and choose 2D for its 1st title, they should stick with 2D for the rest of that series, but with 3D effects X8 style (the 2 3D stages were ok, I guess, but even then, boss fights were 2D though). I wouldn't mind them re-releasing all the prior MM games with MM11 graphics while keeping all other stuff in each game the same (that would be great). But if they start a series with the 1st title being with 3D, like Legends, stick with 3D for the remainder series. I do admit it would be a turn off to see Legends go 2D like some fan made MML3 demo was trying to do. However, certain games, like the majority of MM, games like R-type, Contra, Gradius, Raiden, and shmups that are 2D, etc, are just better keeping the 2D play, I feel, but I like good graphics for sure, like ones that do 2.5D, like R-type Final (PS2) and the brand new R-type Final 2 (I do Steam these days, so bought it on that, but many SNES, Sega, PS1 and even PS2 or even Wii games can be emulated and use a gamepad). Even a DS or GBA game can be emulated very well and actually not force a person to use silly things like wiimotes or a stylus. Forcing people to use a specific controller isn't freedom. I should be able to choose what controller to use; not a company. One of many reasons I stick to PC these days and not consoles, aside from Using PC for so much more than just games, and much more modding ability from fans you can download (new levels or graphical enhancements, etc). Some source ports for older games make them look up to date and add newer features, and more.
I bought the living S*** out of Zero/ZXLC I have it on Switch, PS4 and PC(best and favorite version). This makes me incredibly sad. damn... Oh well.
ReplyDelete...sigh... Here's looking to X9...(sobs)
I did the same. I feel for you man
DeleteNo idea why MM 11 sold so many copies - mostly forgettable and wasn’t even a “full” mega man game (no intro stage, side characters or side story)
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean by "full"? MM 11 was exactly like a full mega man game in the same way 9 & 10 are, and those came out about a decade ago. And may I remind you they were "back to basics" type of games inspired on the original games that came out in the NES era of gaming, without most of the stuff you described and which many say belongs more with the X series than with the Classic series.
DeleteBy that standard, most classic series Mega Man games aren't "full" Mega Man games.
DeleteWell, intro stages have merely padded out Mega Man games in the past, making them superfluous. It's a shame that Proto Man and Bass don't even appear in the background, yeah, but that's made up for by the concrete story about Dr. Light and Dr. Wily's history. In fact, thanks to Mega Man 11, the classic games now provide better drama than any of their cartoons ever have.
DeleteI agree in part @Marcus Hesse. Most Mega Man games after the PS1 days have truncated end game. The final stages are short. There are fewer of them.
DeleteThere used to be something like AT LEAST 4 full length stages if not TWO castles. MM11 had a very short endgame. I was very disappointed.
Capcom reportedly went the "safe" route. They went too safe IMO. They could of at LEAST made the end game a little longer if not include additional playable characters.
I want to see Mega Man return to the length of MM3. Ah... Those were the days.
Out of 12 Mega Man games, only 3 had intro stages and side characters.
DeleteI'm also amazed at all the bonus side modes people love to conveniently forget 11 came packed with.
I love Mega Man 11, at least Capcom didn't corrupt the series with loli waifus and wild fanfic ideas like the vocal fandom seems to want and it had the raw essence of Mega Man leading the charge.
DeleteAs for content it is only mildly shorter than any other Mega Man game which need I remind people were mostly full priced games using very similar engines and graphics. 11 generally I think had longer RoMa stages too but its neither here nor there to any significant degree. Most importantly tho IT WAS FUN, fun levels, fun mechanics, fun controls just freaken fun. Just thinking about it makes me want to play it again. The visuals are magnificent, just masterful aesthetics. The presentation could be better but overall the menu designs, cutscene art and voices are a nice progression of standards and traditions set before it. Animations are pretty good too, I even got use to the run cycle people have issues with, but it could be more expressive and dynamic I must say. It's only real "flaw" is the music and even then it's not bad it is just no not even close to near ROCKMAN standards. Mega Man 11 might actually be my second favorite game in the series maybe first if not for my nostalgia for MM3.
That said provided Capcom stays true to Mega Man, 11 could have used a DLC or two. Which is odd cause normally you have to beg companies like Capcom NOT to milk things with DLC... Strange
Man thats awesome sales are good. It shows that people are craving for more megaman games. No matter what mm game comes out ill support it.Slap that green on the blue bomber!
ReplyDeleteNice estimatives. Can I repost this in my local language?(Brazillian Portuguese)
ReplyDeleteI Hope and Pray to God that Taisen is NOT a New Mega Man Series. We have Enough Mega Men as is. And I Still fear X9.
ReplyDeleteTaisen's translation to "competition" makes me worry that it's going to be a battle royale game. It sounds like X DiVE has done well in the mobile space, and Capcom is being this uncharacteristically optimistic about a Mega Man game makes me wonder if they're hoping to create something that's basically Rockman Fortnite. So that has me a bit concerned.
DeleteWhy do you fear X9? Just askin'.
DeleteAnonymus, no, they started to work on the game after DiVE was revealed but before it even got to the Closed Beta (the work on this new major title started in October 2019). I don't think they would've just shifted to a different concept BEFORE that major Capcom leak before seeing DiVE make the great profits (which was reported in January this year. The leak happened in November last year). And I don't think they were thinking of just making a better version of DiVE for the consoles before even seeing how DiVE performed with the players.
DeleteI think it might be a fighting game for 35th anniversary, but I'm not sure.
@Anon If it's a Fortnite-type game or a one-off Fighting game using already exizting characters I'm all for it.
Delete@JazzCommentsStuff Because I hate what they did with the series post-X5. Not only is the X Series storyline screwed up,but the focus has been taken off of X. This is His Game Series. I also hate the poorly thoughtout level layout of X8. So I fear that Capcom may incorperate these into X9.
Hopefully,my fears are unfounded,as I was also worried about 11 a bit before it came out. Aside frome the long levels and lack of Bass and Protoman,Mega Man 11 was a good game with a solid story.
@Stefan, Well.
DeleteX6 had focus on Alia, as well as X and Zero. X7 was... I won't defend it, even though I liked it (not as a game, though X_X), but it was fully Axl's title. Command Mission was... whatever, it focused on everyone but Marino if I remember correctly (because she just didn't appear in the main cutscenes after her chapter at all) and X8 was pretty healthy. It focused on the three playable characters equally. I don't know what's wrong with the level design, I thought it was fine (but I still can't understand why they made the live-system like this. I was able to go through it without dying recently, but still).
But I understand why you're upset at every X title after X5. For me, at least, the existance of X6 and onward just ruins all the impact and original intentions of X5.
And X6 and X7's level designs are a total garbage, I can agree. X8 is fine, I think.
Fortnite? Fighting game? What? If I want to play Fortnite (and I don't) I'd play FORTNITE!
DeleteCan I just get a Mega Man game that plays like a Mega Man game? Is that so much to ask for?
Define "plays like a Mega Man game". X plays nothing like Classic. Zero has a bunch of nuances that makes it a completely different from X. ZX tosses a wrench into the Zero formula not once, but twice. You have the RPG spin offs that all play completely different from one another, and even within those sub series, they have unique systems that makes an entry completely different from the last one. Then there's the Legends games, where all 3 of them have a new spin on the 3D formula.
DeleteMega Man is always trying to reinvent itself, even within its own sub series. You need to be very specific when you say "Plays like Mega Man" because this franchise has been around for decades and it means different things to different people.
@JazzCommentsStuff Fair enough.
Delete@shrap We likely will,though if Capcom Japan and the Rockman Team are going to go for a bigger budget,then this game must be more than just the standard Mega Man game.
@Anonymous May 26 "X plays nothing like Classic" BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
DeleteUnholy mother of COPE. Especially for X1 where dashing is optional until the Sigma levels.
I'm looking forward to seeing what they're working on. A fighting game would actually be what I've been asking for, lol. But what we need is something new, something that gets Mega Man up to date with all the new innovations made to games the the part 10+years. Whether that needs to be in one of the existing series, we'll have to see what they do. Maybe a reboot of sorts for one of the arcs? I wanna see what a big budget Mega Man game looks like.
ReplyDeleteTaisen is actually Xover 2, my dad who works at Capcom told me
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lie.
DeleteIf this upcoming game happens to be Mega Man 12 or some other Classic series entry, here's hoping they'll at least do the bare minimum of adding characters like Proto Man and Bass this time around. Honestly, to this day, I'm still pissed that they were left out of 11, and weren't even considered for DLC despite the overwhelming amount of demand for it. Of course, it doesn't exactly help that the explanation that was given for their exclusion was a blatant insult to the intelligence of anyone who has even the slightest bit of knowledge about the Mega Man series.
ReplyDeleteMega Man 11 is fun with Mega Man, it's really not that big a deal people can't play as slightly different variants of his gameplay that may require reworking the delicate game design that could break due to said variants.
DeleteRight... Cause Protoman And Bass REALLY broke the fine balance of those OTHER games they were in...
DeleteRight... Cause Inti really didn't design those games with DLC in mind and purposefully gimped Mega Man for an otherwise basic NES style Mega Man game taking what they've removed and rationing it between the three. Even then THEY STILL GIMPED BASS, so why have him?
DeleteBTW even then DLC is one thing but having them there from the rip would require designing the game around them.
Right... Cause Inti really didn't design those games with DLC in mind and purposefully gimped Mega Man for an otherwise basic NES style Mega Man game taking what they've removed and rationing it between the three. Even then THEY STILL GIMPED BASS, so why have him?
DeleteBTW even then DLC is one thing but having them there from the rip would require designing the game around them.
@Anonymous/Mark Havoc:
DeleteActually, those abilities were shared between Mega Man and Proto Man, not Bass. The latter had his own unique abilities in Mega Man & Bass and 10. Since Mega Man got the charge and slide abilities back in 11, all they'd have to do is give Proto Man his own moveset. Problem solved. It's not that difficult.
Even so, the reason given for Proto Man and Bass's exclusion from Mega Man 11 didn't have anything to do with "breaking" the game. According to Tsuchiya, the reason he and the rest of the development team left them out, is because they felt that newcomers to the series would "feel confused" if they were included. Really? That's the best he can come up with? As irritated as I am about Proto Man and Bass getting shafted (again, in the case of the latter), I find Tsuchiya's excuse for doing it to be even more infuriating than the act itself; again, because of how much it insults our intelligence.
@ Krazy Monkey, makes sense I actually wasn't the first anon, my second comment is there as anon the second time cause I for some reason thought my comment didn't go through so I tried it in another browser.
DeleteAnyway, Yeah I wasn't really making a comment about why the initial decisions happened my comment was more of once they decided to make Mega Man the sole character they probably designed Mega Man in a way that felt more complete so that it wouldn't feel as bad to exclude other characters from past games that were playable.
But yeah I actually agree with you more than the first anon I was directing my comment at shrap, you kinda just got caught in the mix sorry.
@Mark Havoc:
DeleteSure, fair enough. Apologies for the mix-up on my part, too.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
ReplyDeleteAnd there goes my hopes of seeing ZX3 anytime soon. Happy to see that ZZXLC was profitable, but the surprisingly low ZZXLC sales (in comparison to the other collections) makes me think that Capcom wouldn't be willing to allocate money to create a brand new game. Very sad.
ReplyDeleteI also want a zero 5 or zx 3
ReplyDeleteMega Man x Sakura Wars? Just me then? XD
ReplyDeleteI...would be completely okay with this. I'm a huge fan of both.
DeleteI think the math is a bit screwed up. If MMLC sold 2.1 million on Steam, how can the total sales be 1.2 million?
ReplyDeleteIt's unusual but the math is correct. That is the number Playtracker has. https://playtracker.net/insight/game/6717
DeleteHonestly, Mega Man X Corrupted is the only game I see that can sell more than 2 million or even more, becoming the best-selling megaman game. Trust me, that game has a lot of content and is fun, something very important that people base their purchase on. I'm convinced that this game will be the megaman game with the highest score in Metacritic (another important thing), and who knows it could win a nomination in the categories of the best games of the year. Capcom must make that game official (like Street Fighter x Mega Man) and release it to all possible platforms. I hope Capcom will support JKB when the game is out, and I would like Protodude and Rockman web site inform Kazuhiro Tsuchiya of the great potential of that game in sales. That game has the potential to score a unprecedented commercial succes in the franchise. Megaman is popular and sadly not reflected in his sales, but that can change with an ambitious game, and X Corrupted is the only one that can achieve it.
ReplyDeleteMM11 was the biggest dissapointed as a MM fan, I would play any other MM classic before 11.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Because it wasn't another piece of 8-bit retro trash like all those lazy fan-made Mega Man titles? Mega Man 11 was a step in the right direction while 9 and 10 were twenty steps back. The series can't evolve if it stays stuck in the past, and neither can the developers' abilities.
DeleteYes, we need to evolve. I prefer modern graphics in MM as long as the gameplay is MM style, though I'm open to 3D MM if it is Legends. Just as I prefer MM8 and its graphics over MM7 or Rock Man and Forte. R&F had crappy explosions but MM8 had nice ones with nice particle effects and much better sound and music quality. The only issue I see with MM11 is the lack of Protoman or Bass and a little shorter than it should be. X8 looked pretty good too.
Deletei think he was talking about 11 being a soft reboot that didn't have Blues and Forte featured at all.
DeleteI liked 11. At least its level design was fair. Better than some past titles (although that mainly happened to X-series if I remember right).
I know 11 is a sequel, but I was scared of the possibility of it just being a restart of classic (an outright reboot) since all the stuff that happened in the previous games is ignored and no Protoman or Bass, though Auto and Rush and Beat from older games appears, and the creator mentioned it was a continuation of the story since Auto and the gang are there. Also there was a description in some storyline data describing an enemy in a database that did say 'based off Protoman' or something, and the Yellow Devil is called Mk III, I believe. Further evidence of it being a continuation. Wily seems too non-evil here compared to his MM7 and MM8 self though. He outright had a cape in MM8 and Rockman and Forte, and talked more evil in 7 and 8.
Delete@Gary Daniel:
DeleteYou've summed up exactly why Tsuchiya's explanation for excluding Proto Man and Bass from Mega Man 11 was utter horseshit. Rush and Auto debuted in same damn games as the two of them, so according to his logic, shouldn't have been included, either. The same goes for Beat and Eddie, who debuted in the series after Proto Man. Plus, as you pointed out, there is an in-game database with character profiles that not only mentions Proto Man, but does so without providing any context as to who he was. They did the same for Dr. Cossack in Tundra Man's profile, the former of which also didn't appear in the game.
These things blatantly contradiction the ridiculous notion that their presence would have somehow "confused" new players if they were to be included. All of that aside, one character is Mega Man's older brother/prototype design, while the other is rival. How the hell are these such difficult concepts to grasp?
...Crap, I didn't realize I made such typos. In the second sentence, I meant "they shouldn't have been included, either", while in the first sentence of the next paragraph, I meant "contradict", rather than "contradiction". Too bad there's no edit button.
DeleteOf course I'm into MM sequels, not outright reboots, so I'm happy that MM 11 is a sequel instead. The time they spent on the Maverick Hunter X could have been put into making a MMX9. Well, I guess MHX is more a remake of X1, not a total reboot, but still.
DeleteSpeaking of remakes and reboots vs sequels, it was a bummer that way back when I was a member on the Megaman Network forum who went by the name 'High Max' all the way back to 2005, there was mention that an X9 was in the works but was canned early on, supposedly. I think one of the mods of that forum said that. That as also around the time I used the Gameboy player for Gamecube to Play MMZ4, though I started with Z1 with the player back in 2003 of so. It let you play GBA games on the tv through the GC and this was before I discovered emulators, though who needs that now with the collections on Steam (which I bought)? The SNES even had the super Gameboy that let you play GB games on the TV back in the early/mid 90s which I had.
On the contrary to most of the comments, I'm all for a Mega Man fighting game if that's what Taisen turns out to be, that would be dope. If one just wants a regular classic style Mega Man game, well, the older games are still there and it's not as if Capcom would just drop that style of gameplay anyway. Personally, the franchise would get real stale if it's just the same thing with every new entry, so more the reason I'm down for something new once in a while. That's how we got Legends and Battle Network after all.
ReplyDeleteI agree. One of the things I love about this series is its huge adaptability (like Mega Man himself, always adapting to the obstacles and getting his weapons ready for every new adventure), so it would be sad if we were to only receive mainline traditional games from now on - even if they continue to be as good as they always are.
DeleteI love the main games, but I also would be all into something new, be it a fighting game (or a platform-fighting hybrid like Power Batte), a racing, a coop, a 3D or even a FPS one, hehe!
Exactly. I would be down for any of those, it would help Mega Man to expand more. The sprite era was fun and all but it's about time the series started to evolve more and even adapt other genres for a change. Personally, I really want to see a big budget Mega Man game at some point, whether it's mainline or any of the other games.
DeleteI appreciate that perspective. There's a side of me that would love to see a Mega Man game with triple A budget, with lots of mechanics, secrets, stages and for lots of platforms - also with 2D animated cutscenes, hehe -, but even if the budget is more modest (when compared with the bazillion of millions of other franchises), as long as we have new Mega Man games, I'm happy, and always will be happy to play them.
ReplyDeleteI was really worried about the possibility of future new games of the series after they didn't show the number of sales of MMZ/ZXLC, specially for other sagas like Legends and ZX, that probably would be more expensive and risky to produce those days. But if they take into account the costs and predicted margin of sales beforehand, they can produce new games and have profit even if they don't sell 10 millions units on the launch day!
I'm really happy with that thought, and am also excited for that new project. Be it something more risk-safe or more unexpected, I can't wait to have more news about it!
Something something mega man 11
ReplyDeleteThe problem is we have no idea how much the games cost to make but it’s highly implied that no more games = bad sales in capcom’s eyes. Like DMC was in limbo too for years until dmc5, which broke expectations. So it’s safe to assume that MMX8 was a failure and that’s why it hasn’t had a game in 15 years. Fans need to support more and get new people to play.
ReplyDeleteOld and new RE fans alike went to bought RE8, despite it being required to play 7 because of an old tall woman.
I had to laugh at how much the author stretched to explain the poor Zero/ZX series sales numbers. MMZ fanboys are the loud minority in our fanbase
ReplyDeleteRight? Like how can anyone see going from 1.400.000 to 212.290 as a good sales number? Granted the former is from the combined numbers of the X collections and X collection 2 did 466.980, but still the latter is a low number. Expecting that Capcom considers that a profitable number just because individually they sell lower than that is quite the reach.
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