In an interview with 1UP, Rockman creator Keiji Inafune said that creating a Rockman game for the next generation consoles would be a gamble towards CAPCOM's finances. "I'm not even saying it has to be Capcom money. It could be EA, actually. I should say a company we have ties with, so maybe Rockstar," said Inafune in the interview, saying quite honestly that the potential $15m for development could break put CAPCOM down a fair bit. From a producer's standpoint, Keiji also said that "Realistically, I would have to say, I would be worried if it would recoup the money we spend."

Also during the interview, when asked about what he would like the game to be, Keiji responded with Rockman DASH 3, and "If I was able to make a sequel without having to worry about money in any shape or form, I think it probably would be Mega Man Legends 3. And that's not just me -- a lot of the original team members would also love to make a sequel. They talk about it. I talk about it sometimes. I know they love that series and so do I. If I were to say right now, I have a tiny, tiny, tiny dream that I wish I could realize, but I don't know if it's possible, it would be to do a sequel in the Legends series. The framework that we used for our next-gen titles, creating it was not easy -- it took talented individuals. One was the main programmer on Mega Man Legends. He said, while creating it, he was envisioning how Lost Planet would fit in it, and how Dead Rising would fit, and on top of that, now 'any time you want to make a Mega Man Legends game with this framework, it's ready. All I need is the go and we can slap Mega Man in there."

This could mean that with all the latest series that have been created (ZX, Ryuusei), that there could only be a chance of a brand-new game on the latest platforms, if another company funded it. Here goes towards this happening.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3159987

This wins the WTF award of the day...

What ? What are you saying ?

That's what he's asking you.

I still do not understand. What kind of comment ?

Dr. Cossack, what's he saying? Is this an insult? What's going on ?

You want to be a good example, but foul language won’t get anywhere. ... or anything like that. I’m not one to do something like that. Please don’t do that, man.

I don't care if its a success or not, I'd leap at a Mega Man Legends 3 game.

I wouldn't, but console Megaman games are definitely appreciated.

Ahh, I understand. Thank you!

In addition to that, the cost of development has risen with the more powerful new hardware. More niche titles like Megaman(while he has a decent fanbase they don't actually sell that well) will cost more to make than Capcom can expect them to pull in.

This reminds me of that rumor that Microsoft wants to buy Capcom. Oh wait...Legends 3 on 360.

This makes me kinda sad...

*sighs* Ya know, a few years ago I remember reading something about how there would never be any new games that take place in the classic series anymore. This news is kinda worse in some ways, though...

This is only a reminder to me of how long it has been since a solid console MM game has come out...

*sighs*

I'm agreeing with Breakman. MegaMan can make the generation leap, especially the legends series. And with so much innovation going on, the 2-D series would also find a good home. I'm guessing that the usual more-of-the-same-thing style that's come through MM sequel after MM sequel is killing off the Blue Bomber. Capcom is so used to recycling now that they can't innovate to adapt the series to the next generation.

And I can see how the games would play. As soon as I read this, I saw a Wiimote and Nunchuk contolling MMLegends 3 quite fluidly. I can see so much promise in this new generation - the money problem would be solved if they'd just innovate a bit and make a game that would be recommended for everyone.

The thing with Sonic is, however, is that he has had such a setup as Mario's rival - that only shot his popularity through the roof, to the point that nowadays so much of it is undeserved. The Sonic Adventure games ditched the great roots the series had, and yeah, they fell flat. But I personally wouldn't praise the handhelds either - they also screwed with the idea of just running - to many gizmos and funky tricks turned what should've been speedy speedy speedfest into slow, GO, slow, GO.
And now, with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games coming, the two are about to skyrocket. Why? Because they are big names, and they will always survive.

Unforunately, I thing MegaMan has lost that. So many people were turned away by the BN series that they disregarded the other games that they missed. Of course, there are tons of people who will stay by MegaMan no matter what, but I don't think the series still has the Sonic/Mario immortality - that bad games can be overlooked as easily. I do think the generation leap is one well worth taking for MegaMan, and it should go fine - it's just that if they screw it up, the risk IS big. But I doubt they will, as long as they don't lose sight of what makes MM so darn awesome.

Edited by HighMaxOmega on June 4, 2007 at 22:41:13.

Mario and Sonic actually aren't that big of names anymore, sadly. They may still be respected and get alot of love from some gamers, but neither characters are anywhere near the popularity that games like GTA, Halo and Madden have acheived. I hate to break it to you but the video game fanbase has changed drastically the last generation and with it becoming more mainstream, gamers like us who enjoy more old school titles like Megaman and Mario are actually the minority.

It is no secret that the new generation of consoles with the exception of the Wii have high developmental costs. A Megaman game could easily be made on any of the three, but with two of the consoles it would cost more to make than Capcom would expect to bring in. Don't be surprised if developers stick to what they expect will sell alot on the new consoles because of the high cost of developing games at this point.

The Wii is an exception and would likely be the candidate for a Megaman game of any the three new consoles, but I wouldn't really expect it either.

I guess I'm going to disagree. Games like GTA and Halo have naturally limited fanbases for obvious reasons - I would see the average six-year-old with a game system playing Halo, would you? And on the note of Halo, while I hear that the games are good, most of thte fanbase that I've seen is a crown of fanboys that overrate their favorite series. And although I do love to play Madden, I can't see it ever achieving the Mario/Sonic mark.

Among OLDER gamers, Mario and Sonic have fallen quite a bit. Among gamers as a whole, though, they're still strong. You could go most anywhere a kid would bring a gameboy to and you'd see Mario, Sonic, or some other big name - I see Pokémon in so many places now to D/P, I'm shocked that the games have spread that much. While Halo and all the rest have a target older audience, games like Mario and Sonic are made for everyone - and most of that fanbase doesn't jump out and brag about the games - they keep playing them, anticipating the next.

And with the gen leap, Keiji can say what he wants. I'll still be waiting for MegaMan Wii, because I know it'll have to come. Either MegaMan gets off all the handheld and does something big, or it'll die out. Simple. We'l still love it, but many others who play consoles 99% of the time will see MegaMan as a no-name. And that is bad.

Still, any of the Halo games will probably dwarf the combined Mario or Sonic games of the last three years in sales.

I never liked Halo series. I hate it.

*high fives*

I guess the big issue here is money. But seriously, if they don't have the money for ONE console games, why do they have enough to add yet another version to SF?

Meh, I enjoy it. I just don't treat it like it's Christ on his second trip.

Actually, I have seen a six year old play both GTA and Halo. You really shouldn't use such an arguement because it's pure conjecture and really won't go anywhere. Just because you don't see something doesn't mean it isn't there.

Futhermore, I brought up GTA, Halo and Madden because of their mainstream appeal; this had very little to do with the quality of the games themselves. I'm not a fan of either GTA or Halo so it isn't my place to talk about their quality one way or another, but I recognize just how popular these series have become this last generation.



Sonic I believe has fallen but that's account on interest in the series slowly dying from lackluster releases. I don't believe Mario has really lost respect from a significant amount of gamers and this is evidenced by the sales of New Super Mario Bros. Instead, the percentage of gamers that play Mario has shrunk because video games have become much more mainstream during the last generation and as a result, there are alot of people who play video games now that wouldn't before. It's a well known fact that the PS2 has sold more units than any of the consoles before it.

As a side note, here is an interesting piece of information - the average age of gamers is reportedly 33, meaning that there are more older gamers than there are kids. I wouldn't say it was the case, but if Mario and Sonic aren't in favour with older gamers, they're not in favour with the majority of gamers going by what you said. Shazam!

As far as Pokemon goes, I'll concede that Pokemon is extremely popular and has the sales to back it up. I'm basing this on nothing but conjecture but I wouldn't be surprised to see Diamond/Pearl pass NSMB as the top selling DS title sometime this year.



Capcom has the money to make a Mega Man game for the 360, PS3 and/or Wii. The issue isn't so much that they don't have the money to do it, but rather that it wouldn't be profitable to do so. There is no reason for any developer to make a game that they don't expect to pull in as much money as it will cost them to make the game. That's just bad business.

As far as Street Fighter releases go, all of the recent ones have been ports of older games. There hasn't been an actual new Street Fighter game in a long time - I think Street Fighter Ex 3 was the last when the PS2 launched. Porting existing games and adding abit of new content to them isn't nearly as costly as developing an entirely new game. Which makes the release alot less risky since if they bring in less it won't matter as much because it cost lest to make.



I don't know the reliability of the site, but:
New Super Mario Bros. : 9.71 million
It's close to the number you found so I don't think it's that off if it is at all.
Halo : 6.43 million
Halo 2 : 8.19 million

I don't think that necessarily reflects the exact size of the Halo fanbase because of the nature of the game. Most people who play it play multiplayer and you only really need one copy of the game to do so. On the flip side more than one person could be playing one copy of New Super Mario Bros. and there is no way to really tell just how much this would effect the sales for either game. It's just something I felt was worth noting but I concede that the new Mario has sold more than the Halo games(though that wasn't my arguement to begin with).

Still, the reported sales of the PS2 GTA games smash both Mario and Halo's sales. And that's the PS2 versions of these games alone. Still, nobody was really arguing that Mario was selling more than GTA.



There is no arguing that the Halo fanbase is quite vocal, but I have to disagree with that the silent majority of gamers are following the releases of Mario and Sonic games. Video games have become much more mainstream and as there are more people playing video games these days than ever before. As a result, I believe that gamers are now a collection of minorities playing the kinds of games they prefer. The days of the NES where almost everyone who had one owned and played Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 are gone.

Edited by Necro on June 7, 2007 at 0:44:22.

I really didn't like Sonic Heroes or Sonic Rivals, it's like Sega's milking the franchise and castrating the series at the same time. The only concept good about Rivals is the Boss battles. I could say the same thing about Crash and Spyro. I'm confident that Jak won't be harmed by Ready At Dawn if a Jak X2 were ever produced for the PSP. Now that would be a good multiplayer game using WiFi functionality.

As for Megaman, it would only make sense that the short games are on the portable systems such as the PSP and DS.

Edited by (O (O.O) O) §hmu©k on June 16, 2007 at 9:10:44.

I had written a nice long post here but my browser crashed and I lost all of it.

However, I later talked about this same issue in a Castlevania chat channel (#cv on irc.mandog.com), and I took a log of what was said in the channel that pertained to my ranting about my opinion on the issue:

(The log has been censored of the s- and f-words and irrelevant portions have been removed.)

<GMH> got some commentary about styles of games, eras, and audiences
<GMH> y'know, newer games these days
<GMH> all these newfangled things, like GTA and Halo and Madden and other <censored>
<GMH> i feel they appeal to a different audience than what classic games appeal to
<GMH> it's like
<GMH> these days
<GMH> all these companies are afraid to release anything for a console that's any lower-tech than really-pseudo-realistic graphics
<GMH> *3D graphics
<GMH> (except for handheld systems)
<GMH> and you get all these games that seem to have this premise
<GMH> about realism and the gaming experience
<GMH> not realism as in "it seems like real life"
<GMH> but realism as in "it feels like i can reach out and touch it"
<GMH> like
<GMH> who the <censored> cared back in days of pac man and NES mega man and mario?
<GMH> i was thinking
<GMH> capcom should make some new NES-style mega man games
<GMH> they're pretty low-cost to make
<GMH> that's one thing
<GMH> but the other thing is that
<GMH> the nintendo wii presents a pretty awesome opportunity
<GMH> virtual console = CURRENT PEOPLE can access old-style games
<GMH> like
<GMH> you don't have to dig up an NES seller on ebay just to be able to enjoy SMB3
<GMH> you can easily do that on VC
<GMH> for example
<GMH> but that means that, because of the nintendo wii
<yeahx> and the Wii's limitations can force developers to be more creative with gameplay
<GMH> there's a SIGNIFICANT market
<GMH> limitations?
<GMH> what limitations?
<yeahx> graphic limitations
<GMH> it has graphical limitations?
<yeahx> they wont be able to do the super realistic crap that ps3 will have
<GMH> really?
<GMH> looked close enough to me
<yeahx> so they will have to try to make games actually play right
<GMH> also, thankfully, the ps3 is almost certainly going to flop.
<yeahx> so far they have used it as an excuse to make <censored>y looking games, but some of them have admitted to it and claim they wont do it in the future
<GMH> but like
<GMH> the NES mega man games had a very nice gameplan
<GMH> because this was back in the day
<GMH> when nobody really cared about plot
<GMH> they had the cheesiest plots ever, but the games were awesome
<Bluecheese> or they gave you just enough plot to carry you over
<Bluecheese> robots? going crazy you say? I gotta go kill'em? 10-4
<GMH> well yeah
<GMH> they give yo ujust enough plot to barely justify the game
<GMH> unlike series directors (both IGA and Inafking) these days trying to "carve out" places within timelines for stuff to take place
<GMH> just make another damn MM game--don't even bother with the timeline, seriously!
<GMH> Release it for VC, and then let it rip!
<GMH> i PERSONALLY trust that there's a market for "simpler" games.
<GMH> don't have to have super-awesome graphics and voice acting and role-playing and battle systems and stuff
<yeahx> simpler games with lower price tags
<yeahx> right now there are a few that have nice budget prices that they should, but there are some that come out at full price for some reason
<GMH> one thing i want to do
<GMH> i assume y'all have played Cave Story?
<GMH> i want more people to play Cave Story
<GMH> because (1) it's a "simple-style" game, as in the older-school style
* Heretic hasnt played it.
<GMH> like, it doesn't need a crapload of graphical detail and other stuff for it to have a coherent (and very touching) plot as well as excellent gameplay
<GMH> and (2) it's for computer
<GMH> you don't have to buy a console to get into this
<GMH> most people own a computer.
<yeahx> I have bought many VC games already
<GMH> and a third reason
<Heretic> I still enjoy newer games too. I like Zelda Twilight Princess. I like Resident Evil 4 Wii. Im not biased.
<yeahx> mostly zelda though
<GMH> it was all made by this one person
<GMH> there are gonna be some people who are like "oh wow"
<yeahx> and a few games I wish I didnt get, Im not much of a mario fan
<GMH> and will be somewhat more interested in it because of that
<GMH> so just an extra selling point
<GMH> but point being, i hope to use it to spread a "revival" of interest in older styles of games
<yeahx> maybe it will come to the new channel for new indie games
<GMH> and Heretic: the Zelda series is getting somewhere
<GMH> partly because they don't seem to care much about plot
<GMH> on the other hand the Cv and MM series are suffering
<GMH> my ranting about this was partly motivated by this topic here: http://interordi.com/mboard/topic.php?id_topic=11850
<GMH> (note: don't just read the first post, read on)
<GMH> the problem here isn't that mega man games arne't fun anymore
<GMH> it's that gamers aren't being connected to fun things

(Just for reference, that link is this very topic, and IGA is Koji Igarashi, the director of the Castlevania series. Both Cv and MM are burdened by having to organize their games into timelines, and I think that both series would benefit from some timeline-ignoring to allow for much more flexibility in developing new games.)

Edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on June 22, 2007 at 16:29:26.

I see what you mean by all this. It's true that games are suffering these days because it's gotta be realistic stuff. Cave Story is a great modern example of awesome gameplay without realistic graphics (though I do appreciate the story involved as well).

I honestly believe that the basic concept of gaming has changed. In my college classes, I've heard many people say "Video games are for nerds, but I play Halo. That's all I play." It's sad, really, because there's so much better stuff out there.

Random thought: It seems to me that the only people playing Halo and GTA really ARE 6 years old. At least that's what I gather when I'm browsing GameStop and people walk in with their kids.

The last really "good" game I played (new release) was Twilight Princess. There's enough reason to back up the perfect 10 reviews, and I can only see it going down to a 9 over the years because of its first-generation wii-swordplay (I expect No More Heroes to improve on it a bit). I expect good games like this to become less and less viable in our current "casual-gaming" market bubble. Once it pops (5 years maybe) we should start seeing the epic titles we were so used to in the mid-late 90s. Right now, there is no innovation. Think about what you've heard about BioShock, then go play the demo. There is no innovation whatsoever, just another shootemup with good AI (the current formula). If I wanted to play a game like that, I would play System Shock 1/2, since those "spiritual predecessors" were innovative for their time, even though they're no different by today's standards.

Also, don't expect great titles on the Wii aside from the occasional Mario or a well-known Japanese developer. Casual/crap games outnumber action, adventure, fps, etc 2:1. Movie license games are becoming standard for every big production, so expect more mediocre action games. Kids games are getting worse and worse. Try to find an original game that's suitable for or geared towards kids. Where's Math Blaster these days? Oh, that's right, it wasn't a TV license so it can't be popular...?

So this is how I predict that gaming is going to turn out over the next few years:

Wii - Developers make the money they need for big titles by making crap titles for Wii. The Wii succeeds in its own league, and keeps the hardcore gamers with Mario and Zelda, maybe a Star Fox RPG-adventure like Morrowind (how awesome would that be, and why don't we have it, minus the dinosaurs)

Xbox 360 - Basically becomes the PS2 of this generation, minus the massive sales. There's a variety, but the core demographic is the "urban" 20somethings. Now they can play Madden, basketball, AND Halo, all on one system. Somehow Mistwalker is stuck in that field, so the hardcore are going to find themselves making the move in desperation for good RPGs.

PS3 - PS3 will become the Xbox of this generation, but with the good sales of the PS2. Still, it's more of a media platform than a gaming machine. MGS4, RE5, and FFXIII will sell to the hardcore, but we also get tons of generic and crappy stuff. Squenix's platform of choice, but FF died when Mistwalker and Monolith were formed. There goes any hope of Chrono Break.

PC - PC gaming has been down the drain for a while now. I plan to get UT3, since I don't want to use a mouse/keyboard on the couch in front of the PS3. Aside from that, there's really nothing left. Generic FPSs and Warcraft, neither of which hold my interest for more that 5 minutes. I finally quit FFXI, so there's no reason for me to keep my comp up to date. I see myself using my laptop more once I phase out of PC gaming altogether.

So that's my rant. The industry is killing itself with crappy games, much like the entertainment industry is killing entertainment by limiting the taste of the masses to what is placed before them. People like me have to delve deeper into the annals of the internet to find the stuff that's unique from the mainstream, which results in me having to pay shipping for stuff instead of being able to walk into a store and buy it. Variety is dead, the genres are too well defined, and we call combining two of them "brilliant innovation." Let me know when something reaches the innovation level of Katamari, but I guarantee that it'll be a while. If these companies cared more about quality and less about their bottom line, well, no, world hunger is going to be solved first. (they could use the profits from casual gaming...)

That's not true. The PC has some great games if you know what to look for. Like BioShock, and, assuming Bethesda doesn't screw it up, Fallout 3.