(no subject)
So by now, I assume everyone who cares knows that Capcom cancelled Megaman Legends 3.
Between that, DmC, and a whole host of other disappoints, I've finally reached a point I didn't think I'd reach.
I'm pretty much done with Capcom. And I've sent the company letters telling them as much, to both of the addresses I could find. The letters are below.
Dear Capcom Representative
I have been an avid player of Capcom's games for all of my life, dating back all the way to Ducktales and Megaman 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Following those games, I became what could best be summed up as a Capcom fanboy. I recall with fondness the time I spent with my father playing Street Fighter 2 on the Super NES, of slaving my way through all of the trick in Demon's Crest. As the generations shifted and I grew older, so too did my tastes. Capcom always managed to meet them, though. The fighting games produced by your company tested my reflexes, the roleplaying games were favored above anything Squaresoft could produce, and when Devil May Cry came out, I found the series that I would truly consider my own.
While I'm not sure what reaction my nostalgia will evoke, this is not a letter of praise. The above has merely been a reference for how much I valued what Capcom provided me, how much I relished purchasing the next game from what I considered were the greats of the industry. And how much it pains me to write what I am about to write. I am writing this letter to express my displeasure and dismay with the events of these last several months.
The first of these is the game in production, DmC. This reimagining of the Devil May Cry franchise, outsourced to a developer who has proven unable to develop the type of game that embodies Devil May Cry at its core, is a game that nobody wants, least of all myself. The character direction is repugnant, the art is both generic and uncool, and what the changes represent is a complete antithesis of the Devil May Cry I know and love. The echoes of the 2009 release of Bionic Commando, done by ANOTHER untested development company that dropped the ball and may as well have killed a beloved franchise, are plentiful and apparent. The radical and awful changes in Dante's appearance mirror the "Sausage Dreads" of Spencer. The shift in tone from a dangerous universe filled with hope to a game world that can only be described as "Grimdark", is blatant and disturbing. And the sheer disrespect shown to the fans by both developers? That should be a blinding neon warning sign.
But still, I was going to give the game a chance. Somewhere in me was the hope that Capcom wouldn't disappoint me.
That changed yesterday. Yesterday, July 18th, gaming media outlets across the world reported that Capcom cancelled Megaman Legends 3.
Megaman Legends 3 represented everything that was right with Capcom to me. There was open, enthusiastic communication with the fans. The project encouraged input from fans by Capcom representatives in both the United States and Japan. I could hardly go looking at a message board without seeing how excited everyone was about this game. I could scarcely wait for it myself.
And then all of that came crashing down. The demo that we were assured was coming was not released when it was indicated we'd see it. And the developers were silent. And then, the community representatives told us it was cancelled. Everything we wanted, everything we followed just fell beneath the axe, and we haven't even been told why. Instead, we've been told that the game did not meet some mysterious "number of criteria with input from different sectors of the company."
That's a direct quote from the community liaison, and it seems to me to be nothing more than some obscuring statement meant to brush fans like me away.
I am beyond disappointed. I am angry with Capcom, and I am not going to take it any more. That a game like DmC that united a fandom in opposition, a fandom that can rarely agree on ANYTHING, continues in production is staggering. That it can do so while a game like Megaman Legends 3, a game universally anticipated and desired, is cancelled and we're told nothing? That defies belief.
I was willing to give Capcom a chance before. I am not now. All that I can assume is that Capcom wants to find a new audience, one that I am not a member of. That's fine. This letter is my protest. This letter is my insignificant plea to see the games that Capcom fans WANT get made, and the games that we never asked for to get shoveled away.
But I don't have faith in that happening.
So long, Capcom. I'll remember you in my Nostalgia, and I'll remember you in the money that stays in my wallet rather than your pockets. As long as you continue down this road, seeking this audience at the expense of fans like me, I will not spend another cent on a Capcom game. My one unaired disappointment is that I don't speak or write Japanese, so that I could send this letter to the Japanese branch of the company as well. Maybe someone will see fit to pass it on. Maybe it will get opened, read, and thrown away. I don't know, and at this point, I'm not sure that I can bring myself to care.
I want the Capcom that used to be. The Capcom of today does not measure up.
With regret,
Johannes Muije
Between that, DmC, and a whole host of other disappoints, I've finally reached a point I didn't think I'd reach.
I'm pretty much done with Capcom. And I've sent the company letters telling them as much, to both of the addresses I could find. The letters are below.
Dear Capcom Representative
I have been an avid player of Capcom's games for all of my life, dating back all the way to Ducktales and Megaman 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Following those games, I became what could best be summed up as a Capcom fanboy. I recall with fondness the time I spent with my father playing Street Fighter 2 on the Super NES, of slaving my way through all of the trick in Demon's Crest. As the generations shifted and I grew older, so too did my tastes. Capcom always managed to meet them, though. The fighting games produced by your company tested my reflexes, the roleplaying games were favored above anything Squaresoft could produce, and when Devil May Cry came out, I found the series that I would truly consider my own.
While I'm not sure what reaction my nostalgia will evoke, this is not a letter of praise. The above has merely been a reference for how much I valued what Capcom provided me, how much I relished purchasing the next game from what I considered were the greats of the industry. And how much it pains me to write what I am about to write. I am writing this letter to express my displeasure and dismay with the events of these last several months.
The first of these is the game in production, DmC. This reimagining of the Devil May Cry franchise, outsourced to a developer who has proven unable to develop the type of game that embodies Devil May Cry at its core, is a game that nobody wants, least of all myself. The character direction is repugnant, the art is both generic and uncool, and what the changes represent is a complete antithesis of the Devil May Cry I know and love. The echoes of the 2009 release of Bionic Commando, done by ANOTHER untested development company that dropped the ball and may as well have killed a beloved franchise, are plentiful and apparent. The radical and awful changes in Dante's appearance mirror the "Sausage Dreads" of Spencer. The shift in tone from a dangerous universe filled with hope to a game world that can only be described as "Grimdark", is blatant and disturbing. And the sheer disrespect shown to the fans by both developers? That should be a blinding neon warning sign.
But still, I was going to give the game a chance. Somewhere in me was the hope that Capcom wouldn't disappoint me.
That changed yesterday. Yesterday, July 18th, gaming media outlets across the world reported that Capcom cancelled Megaman Legends 3.
Megaman Legends 3 represented everything that was right with Capcom to me. There was open, enthusiastic communication with the fans. The project encouraged input from fans by Capcom representatives in both the United States and Japan. I could hardly go looking at a message board without seeing how excited everyone was about this game. I could scarcely wait for it myself.
And then all of that came crashing down. The demo that we were assured was coming was not released when it was indicated we'd see it. And the developers were silent. And then, the community representatives told us it was cancelled. Everything we wanted, everything we followed just fell beneath the axe, and we haven't even been told why. Instead, we've been told that the game did not meet some mysterious "number of criteria with input from different sectors of the company."
That's a direct quote from the community liaison, and it seems to me to be nothing more than some obscuring statement meant to brush fans like me away.
I am beyond disappointed. I am angry with Capcom, and I am not going to take it any more. That a game like DmC that united a fandom in opposition, a fandom that can rarely agree on ANYTHING, continues in production is staggering. That it can do so while a game like Megaman Legends 3, a game universally anticipated and desired, is cancelled and we're told nothing? That defies belief.
I was willing to give Capcom a chance before. I am not now. All that I can assume is that Capcom wants to find a new audience, one that I am not a member of. That's fine. This letter is my protest. This letter is my insignificant plea to see the games that Capcom fans WANT get made, and the games that we never asked for to get shoveled away.
But I don't have faith in that happening.
So long, Capcom. I'll remember you in my Nostalgia, and I'll remember you in the money that stays in my wallet rather than your pockets. As long as you continue down this road, seeking this audience at the expense of fans like me, I will not spend another cent on a Capcom game. My one unaired disappointment is that I don't speak or write Japanese, so that I could send this letter to the Japanese branch of the company as well. Maybe someone will see fit to pass it on. Maybe it will get opened, read, and thrown away. I don't know, and at this point, I'm not sure that I can bring myself to care.
I want the Capcom that used to be. The Capcom of today does not measure up.
With regret,
Johannes Muije