Death of a Legend(s3?)

So despite my earlier snarkyness, I am pretty disappointed that Mega Man Legends 3 is not getting released.  I had my problems with this game from the beginning.  The fan participation seemed, at the time, like either a case of too many cooks in the kitchen, or a dumb marketing gimmick.  I was pleasantly surprised the former was handled with much care to prevent that from happening, and obviously the latter was ineffective or nonexistent.  I also have problems with the series in general being basically Mega Man in name, and having very little to do with it's predecessors.  I'm all for innovation, but Legends always felt like the apple that fell just a bit too far from the tree with me.

That said, I did enjoy Legends.  The controls were terrible, the camera could be a pain, but overall these games were fun.  Perhaps it was that intangible good feeling that's hard to get with a game, or perhaps it's how 1up.com's Jeremy Parish put it, that Legends was a game with heart.  While I'm not taking the news as hard as some people, I do feel like this string of cancellations is a bitter pill to swallow, and Legends 3 was the closest thing to the series ever moving forward that there has been in a long time.



Speculation of what is going on at Capcom is all over the place.  One theory is that Legends 3 was a scam from the start to sell the Nintendo 3DS.  This rumor flies in the face of all logic.  Games are EXTREMELY costly to develop, and the Legends Dev team didn't work for free.  This theory equates to the Capcom board of directors (or perhaps an approval committee) agreeing to commit funds to a development team as a favor to Nintendo, then taking an eventual and predictable huge PR and funds hit when the game is canceled at the expense of its shareholders.  That's active sabotage, with the only goal of losing tons of money and hoping it boosts Nintendo sales.  I'm not saying it didn't happen, I'm saying it's extremely counter-intuitive, and a screenshot from 4chan is flimsy as all hell as proof.

The other rumor is that the game was turning out pretty bad and was canceled because the worry was that the final product would suck.  The 3DS hasn't met expectations in sales, so the install base is already low, and low review scores would kill the game even further, hitting capcom for further losses than they've already had with the development.  I think this rumor has some truth to it, particularly the idea of the 3DS making the game unprofitable (admittedly this is playing into my own biases though) but the other point about the game being bad seems an attempt to me to lay too much blame with the developers.

It's certainly possible Eguchi dropped the ball and the game was turning out terribly, but as early in development as Legends 3 was, it's hard to say for sure.  The prototype being released would give us a sure sign if something was wrong, and Capcom's criteria for what makes a good game seems to be all over the place these days.  If Inafune's words are any insight to the situation, a good game is a game attached to a great one, and Capcom is big on sticking to low risk sequels.  Aren't you pumped for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3?

I really don't think the developers are to blame here.  I think some of the asinine decisions by the executives held this game back from the start.  The point of releasing for the 3DS was to cash in on early console sales, but so far the majority of the public hasn't been fooled by this stupid nintendo gimmick.  Pushing to an imaginary install base was the first mistake.

The second mistake was relying on the tired and true method of retail releases.  This is one of the key points Inafune was talking about with the insane unwillingness to digitally distribute certain games, and an absolute cornerstone in his point about the death of the Japanese gaming market.  Fire up Steam, XBLA, or PSN, and you will find a disappointing lack of major Japanese releases.  This reliance on the old system of retail distribution is absolutely killing them.  Retailers sell a lot more games used than new, which sees no profit to the developer.  Meanwhile, gamers are showing to be perfectly willing buy these games online when they are available, Mega Man 9 was absolutely proof of that.

If they wanted to make Legends 3 profitable, they'd have designed it that way from the start.  Develop it for a digital release on PSN and Xbox Arcade.  Hell, split it into episodes and charge for each individually, then you'd see a return on your development quicker as the cycle continued.  This isn't rocket science, but it seems like Inafune is the only man in Japan willing to cast away the old traditions to meet the new market.

What we have now is Capcom burning its fans really hard with nothing to show for it.  I didn't invest myself too heavily into Legends 3, but those long time supporters that did are rightfully pissed off about it.  Some have been careful to not say that Capcom owes us anything, but frankly they're wrong.  Capcom does owe it to their fans to work with due diligence and not string them along.  Video games as art are constantly downplayed by naysayers, but Mega Man has given many fans as much, if not more, as any other art form.  And in return, the fans showered Capcom in support for just as long.

Unfortunately, gaming companies, especially the Japanese ones as of late, treat their clients as adversaries, rather than partners.  And this attitude, more than anything, is what is killing the market.

I'm not advocating a boycott, and I will continue to buy Capcom products that I feel will meet my gaming needs (albeit with the rate they are canceling games that hold my interest, nothing is on the horizon).  As a consumer though, you should feel absolutely entitled to handle this situation in any non-violent, non-criminal ways as you see fit.  You are well within your rights to completely stop supporting the company and take your money elsewhere, and if you want to bombard Capcom with your dissatisfaction through emails, web postings, organized petitions or what have you, more power to you.  Do not let yourself be silenced, and do not convince yourself it's futile.  The fans got Legends 3 on the radar in the first place, they can get it finished.

I assure you the developers will not publicly say it, but you can be sure that your outrage with the executives is a show of support for them.  Even if they are silent, they are not happy with this outcome.  Stand behind Eguchi, Kinako, Greg, and all the others who worked hard to get this far, and speak up for where they can't.