Post by Dr. Jerk on Jul 19, 2011 20:49:31 GMT -5
There are many possibilities on why Mega Man Legends 3 was ultimately decided by most of Capcom to be canned. The exact reason why was however never mentioned, and we were instead vaguely told that most of the other sectors in Capcom felt that it wouldn't be worth it, pulling the plug before the Prototype demo was even given a chance.
And because we don't know the details, and likely never will, we can only speculate on whatever the reason could be.
Lately, there has been a lot of speculating by many on what it was that caused it. Maybe it was a single cause, or maybe it was multiple all at once. I have decided to create this thread on listing possible reasons that seem valid or make sense. So if you've got your own idea, feel free to share it. I might add it into this post as well.
Budget:
All companies, big or small, have to work with a set budget. We all know that, I'm sure And you'd think their budget would be pretty good for a company who has been around for decades and with the big, expensive-to-make titles they announce. Well maybe they do, but like all companies, they have to handle their budget properly and wisely else it could spell doom for them and their titles. So as much as some of us would love for them to poop out certain titles that we want, they can't always go with that, especially for titles that have had a history of not selling well.
There are theories by tons of people that an unnamed Capcom associate had spoke up about Capcom's budget being put towards Darkstalkers HD Remix that will be announced soon, or into some other titles. As you can probably tell, some of these titles will be larger and therefore more expensive to produce. And obviously, more expensive things that companies know will sell well do tend to take precedence as it means that they can get back their money and use it make more games.
Let's remember that Legends never did sell all that well to begin with, which was probably ultimately enough for Capcom to never really consider a Legends 3 right after the sales for Legends 2 popped up for years. And sadder still, Legends 3 NOW probably would have sold even less than Legends 1 and 2 did back then. So in the end, it's possible that Capcom felt that Legends 3 would not have been worth it when they could put their budget into much more well-known titles that are certain to sell better.
Hell, even I can't deny that, it makes a lot of sense. Though it does make me wonder why they bother to make Okamiden given that Okami didn't sell well either. But we also have to remember that Okami has a much larger fanbase, and that games for handhelds are cheaper to make.
Which was probably why they ultimately decided that Legends 3 should have been for the 3DS.
Fan Support:
It probably took a lot for Inafune to convince Capcom to even consider working on Legends 3. So much work, that he probably had to offer the compromise of having fans help so that the development can go more smoothly, and to prove how much people wanted a Legends 3. And thus the DevRooms were set up, and people from all over the world had gathered to help make the game they wanted so much.
The numbers? Around 15,000 or so. Is that a lot?
No.
15,000 may seem big to some people here, but it is in fact not, especially when comparing to the millions of people in Capcom's other fanbases. 15,000 is actually a small amount. Whether you view Capcom as being greedy or not, 15,000 is still small for almost any given game company, and again, not worth the budget.
But what if it is a lot? Sure that may be, but that doesn't mean that every, single, person in the DevRooms had helped. Most had merely joined the DevRooms to get their Servbot Numbers and did nothing afterwards, not even offering a single idea or suggestion. And others may not have done enough. Even I kinda didn't help with the DevRoom activities, whether that be submitting or offering suggestions, as much as I would have liked to.
And lack of support kinda just equals to a company that people don't really want the game as much as they might make it seem. So in the end, it seems like you're only developing for a very dedicated few, and that is certainly not worth the budget.
I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason. A company does not make games for a select few, they try to make games for the whole world to enjoy, and it's clear that the whole world wasn't willing to show their support. That 15,000 was that 'select few'.
The same thing can certainly happen with the rallying and petitions. Large numbers to us sure, but not enough to any company.
Note: I thought that the numbers were 100,000 before, sorry about that. Either way, that's still considered small.
Inafune:
While Capcom said that Inafune was not a factor to the cancellation to this, I also find it that his departure not being a factor a little hard to believe.
Put it this way, both Legends 3 and MMU were announced last year, and both were cancelled this year. Inafune mentioned in his blog that Legends 3 was "the game" that he wanted to see made, and wanted to convince Capcom on doing it just before he left the company. MMU has also been called the pet project of Inafune as well. And given Inafune's high and mighty position that was depressing him and making him sick, he was able to make sure a lot of games would continue to be made.
And was much source for many people bashing him and wishing him to be fired. And now look what happens.
And guess who replaced him when he left? Niisuma, and Niisuma has a VERY firm belief that MM is no longer popular anymore and not worth it, been quoted saying something like that. That said, it's not just Legends that's being mistreated by Capcom, but all of the MM franchise as well.
I view Inafune as being the "glue" of the MM franchise, making sure that these projects actually happened when most of Capcom didn't think so. And by leaving the company, the MM franchise just started to go downhill. We also weren't given a definite reason for MMU's cancellation, but I wouldn't be surprised if Inafune's departure was a reason for it. That and, lack of support and more important things to budget for.
That's just a few of them. And it appears that Legends 1's and 2's very poor sales and support is back to haunting us once more.
Discuss I guess?
And because we don't know the details, and likely never will, we can only speculate on whatever the reason could be.
Lately, there has been a lot of speculating by many on what it was that caused it. Maybe it was a single cause, or maybe it was multiple all at once. I have decided to create this thread on listing possible reasons that seem valid or make sense. So if you've got your own idea, feel free to share it. I might add it into this post as well.
Budget:
All companies, big or small, have to work with a set budget. We all know that, I'm sure And you'd think their budget would be pretty good for a company who has been around for decades and with the big, expensive-to-make titles they announce. Well maybe they do, but like all companies, they have to handle their budget properly and wisely else it could spell doom for them and their titles. So as much as some of us would love for them to poop out certain titles that we want, they can't always go with that, especially for titles that have had a history of not selling well.
There are theories by tons of people that an unnamed Capcom associate had spoke up about Capcom's budget being put towards Darkstalkers HD Remix that will be announced soon, or into some other titles. As you can probably tell, some of these titles will be larger and therefore more expensive to produce. And obviously, more expensive things that companies know will sell well do tend to take precedence as it means that they can get back their money and use it make more games.
Let's remember that Legends never did sell all that well to begin with, which was probably ultimately enough for Capcom to never really consider a Legends 3 right after the sales for Legends 2 popped up for years. And sadder still, Legends 3 NOW probably would have sold even less than Legends 1 and 2 did back then. So in the end, it's possible that Capcom felt that Legends 3 would not have been worth it when they could put their budget into much more well-known titles that are certain to sell better.
Hell, even I can't deny that, it makes a lot of sense. Though it does make me wonder why they bother to make Okamiden given that Okami didn't sell well either. But we also have to remember that Okami has a much larger fanbase, and that games for handhelds are cheaper to make.
Which was probably why they ultimately decided that Legends 3 should have been for the 3DS.
Fan Support:
It probably took a lot for Inafune to convince Capcom to even consider working on Legends 3. So much work, that he probably had to offer the compromise of having fans help so that the development can go more smoothly, and to prove how much people wanted a Legends 3. And thus the DevRooms were set up, and people from all over the world had gathered to help make the game they wanted so much.
The numbers? Around 15,000 or so. Is that a lot?
No.
15,000 may seem big to some people here, but it is in fact not, especially when comparing to the millions of people in Capcom's other fanbases. 15,000 is actually a small amount. Whether you view Capcom as being greedy or not, 15,000 is still small for almost any given game company, and again, not worth the budget.
But what if it is a lot? Sure that may be, but that doesn't mean that every, single, person in the DevRooms had helped. Most had merely joined the DevRooms to get their Servbot Numbers and did nothing afterwards, not even offering a single idea or suggestion. And others may not have done enough. Even I kinda didn't help with the DevRoom activities, whether that be submitting or offering suggestions, as much as I would have liked to.
And lack of support kinda just equals to a company that people don't really want the game as much as they might make it seem. So in the end, it seems like you're only developing for a very dedicated few, and that is certainly not worth the budget.
I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason. A company does not make games for a select few, they try to make games for the whole world to enjoy, and it's clear that the whole world wasn't willing to show their support. That 15,000 was that 'select few'.
The same thing can certainly happen with the rallying and petitions. Large numbers to us sure, but not enough to any company.
Note: I thought that the numbers were 100,000 before, sorry about that. Either way, that's still considered small.
Inafune:
While Capcom said that Inafune was not a factor to the cancellation to this, I also find it that his departure not being a factor a little hard to believe.
Put it this way, both Legends 3 and MMU were announced last year, and both were cancelled this year. Inafune mentioned in his blog that Legends 3 was "the game" that he wanted to see made, and wanted to convince Capcom on doing it just before he left the company. MMU has also been called the pet project of Inafune as well. And given Inafune's high and mighty position that was depressing him and making him sick, he was able to make sure a lot of games would continue to be made.
And was much source for many people bashing him and wishing him to be fired. And now look what happens.
And guess who replaced him when he left? Niisuma, and Niisuma has a VERY firm belief that MM is no longer popular anymore and not worth it, been quoted saying something like that. That said, it's not just Legends that's being mistreated by Capcom, but all of the MM franchise as well.
I view Inafune as being the "glue" of the MM franchise, making sure that these projects actually happened when most of Capcom didn't think so. And by leaving the company, the MM franchise just started to go downhill. We also weren't given a definite reason for MMU's cancellation, but I wouldn't be surprised if Inafune's departure was a reason for it. That and, lack of support and more important things to budget for.
That's just a few of them. And it appears that Legends 1's and 2's very poor sales and support is back to haunting us once more.
Discuss I guess?