My Reaction to the Cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3

Now that we’ve had about a day to let things sink in, I just wanted to editorialize a little bit here, to share my thoughts on the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3 and what lies ahead.
First, regarding the site: we aren’t going anywhere. Though Capcom may not seem to support Mega Man any more, we do. As far as I am concerned, Capcom and Mega Man are effectively separate entities now, and whether that changes any time in the near future is up to them.

In a way, this is a sort of mixed blessing… very mixed, and honestly, and not what I would opt for if offered a choice. To be honest, I would rather have lost Mega Man 9 and/or 10 before Legends 3, despite the longer wait, as Mega Man 8 and Mega Man & Bass did not really leave us hanging in the way Mega Man Legends 2 did.

Nonetheless, this does provide us with a bit of an opportunity to “catch up” on things, especially if we don’t have to worry about keeping a constant vigil for the latest updates regarding a new game.

Well, aside from maybe Rockman Online, but even that hasn’t updated in some time, leaving us to wonder what its fate may be. And as Legends 3 has proven, you don’t need six months without news for something to be wrong.

Moving forward… well, before we jump the gun on anything, we are going to wait and see if Capcom has any moves in store. We have San Diego Comic-Con later this week, and the Tokyo Game Show later still, so it’s possible that something could come from those. Beyond that, there are ideas, but we’ll have to see how things play out.

On a note related to the above, I know some of you are saying that the reason Mega Man Legends 3 and Mega Man Universe have gotten the axe is because of Keiji Inafune, a charge Capcom denies (not that we would expect them to admit it, true or not). Others feel that the line they gave about Mega Man still being an important part of Capcom, etc., is a load of Metool scraps.

However, here’s a thought for you: what if Capcom isn’t trying to kill Mega Man, but simply Inafune’s Mega Man. In other words, they may still have plans for the franchise, but would rather separate whatever comes now from Inafune’s handiwork. It’s still a depressing thought, but at least it offers some hope for the franchise, if not for Legends or Universe.

As for me, personally? I still intend to support Mega Man, and that includes comic books, manga, figures, models, art books, and whatever I can afford. Sure, Capcom may still be seeing some of my money, but as long as every dollar they count has a blue tint to it, that’s what matters to me most at this point. With any luck, they’ll get the hint.

Of course, without games, there will be a certain emptiness to it. While the comics, the books, the figures, all that fun stuff is great, the absence of any video games, the core of the Mega Man franchise, makes them like moons without a planet to orbit.

Some may say that Mega Man is dying, perhaps even dead now. While that may be so, anyone who has played the games knows that death is merely an inconvenience for the Blue Bomber, and that he can return with a new life, fully-charged and ready to go. Perhaps the break will even do some good? Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait as long as we did for a new Bionic Commando.

Only time will tell with that one, though I have long felt that Mega Man needed to evolve, and that trying to sell us the same eight Robot Masters/Mavericks-four Wily/Sigma Stage format could only go so far at retail.

As for Capcom, I’m not going to say that I am going to boycott them (pending some announcement). This isn’t because I’m trying to set some sort of example or prove some kind of point; the simple fact is, I don’t need to. Prior to this sad news, Capcom had all but done the job for me.

This year, I finally had the chance to attend my first Electronic Entertainment Expo. And I had always felt there were a small handful of publishers who I could count on to deliver something to interest me. Nintendo, SEGA, Konami, Namco-Bandai, and of course, Capcom.

Attending the show, I had lots to see: all sorts of things from Nintendo, Sonic Generations and Shinobi from SEGA, BurgerTime World Tour at Konami, and Pac-Man and Galaga from Namco-Bandai, as well as the new Power Rangers Samurai game being developed by none other than Mega Man Zero, ZX, and 9/10 developer Inti Creates.

But at Capcom’s booth? To be perfectly honest, nothing really grabbed me.

Dead Rising? I still need to play the first two.

Resident Evil? To be frank, I’m a part of that little subset who likes the story and characters, but would rather play the Chronicles games than a regular RE title.

Street Fighter vs. Tekken? Looked nift, but I’ve never been a huge Tekken fan.

I did give Street Fighter III: Third Strike a try, but came away largely unsatisfied as the joysticks provided lacked enough weight to be useful.

But, they are making a sequel to Ace Attorney Investigations! …except that we aren’t getting that here.

And of course, Legends 3 was nowhere in sight, perhaps for what is now an obvious reason.

So, yeah. As I said, I don’t really feel any need to take any stand against Capcom, as their lineup has already pretty much cast me aside. I’ve long been a fan of Capcom’s games, but Mega Man has always been the keystone of that appreciation.

Oh, and I suppose I might as well bring up Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I really don’t know how I feel about that. Sure, we were slighted before by the absence of a proper Mega Man in the game, but the Legends 3 cancellation is just so much worse, and the name “Capcom” does leave a slightly bitter taste in my mouth at the moment. And that’s not even touching on how much Marvel has managed to sully their brand over the years…

Capcom has been on a bit of a tear lately when it comes to ticking people off. I don’t think I need to run down the list of things they have done, and not only does this hit closest to home, but it also feels like the worst of it all.

We had been told that the Prototype Version is what the company would release and use to determine whether they move forward and complete the rest of the game, but they never gave us that opportunity. They never even featured it at Captivate, or as noted above, at E3, so it’s not even like they got a reaction upon which to base releasing the Prototype Version, never mind the full game.

It’s pretty much the biggest slap in the face they could have delivered.

Of course, they are perfectly within their rights to do so. That doesn’t make it right, though. I won’t even go so far as to say they “owe” us anything, but by putting this out there and then yanking it away, it does tarnish their word.

Sure, they don’t owe us anything, but in the same sense, nor do we owe them anything. One might say they owe their success to us, the fans who have supported them all these years; someone else might say they owe their career in art or music to being inspired by what they saw or heard in a Capcom game. Even so, odds are that neither one would hold up in court.

In an instant, Capcom granted ten years’ worth of wishes from its fans, and just as quickly, they snatched it away. So it goes, but they should really be careful about how far they push their customers. Sure, some of us here and there may not matter much to them… but bring in customers who are dissatisfied with another practice, or those from another, and it begins to add up. Not to mention the overlap from certifiable Capcom fans who feel the affect of each and every move they make across a number of series.

Incidentally, making such an announcement less than a week before appearing at San Diego Comic-Con, when people are still going to be seething, seems nothing short of foolish. Perhaps they should have been reminded that “fan” is short for “fanatic,” and that fanatics are not typically known for rational thinking.

Images courtesy of our affiliate, The Mega Man Legends Station. Go there to check out plenty more, and relive fond memories of Legends past.