Simply because of recent films, it doesn't mean he's less popular. His toys and merchandise continue to be best-sellers, he's got a new animated series coming out, fresh off the cancellation of his old one, and he has several comics coming out every single week. He's being more whored out than Wolverine, Iron Man or Deadpool. Even with the recent low sales due to the OMD bullshit, the series continues going strong and appealing to people of all ages, and he still is Marvel's most appealing and timeless character. It makes absolutely no sense to announce him like this.
An announcement is an announcement. After all, Japan loves Spider-man too, as he's probably one of the first Marvel personalities they got to know. (Tokusatsu adaptation decay/WTF not withstanding!
).
And arcade needs to evolve for all people to play, as I told you a thousand times. The simplified control scheme is just THERE. You don't need to like it, and you certainly don't need to play with people using it. Just pretend that it doesn't exist.
You misunderstand. I'm not fighting the "Simple" control scheme, by virtue of it being there. In this way, it's nothing more than the "Easy Auto" that existed in numerous fighting games before. Hell, even the likes of Bayonetta and old school DMC had that kind of things in place to make things easier for first-timers. That much is fine.
No, what I have a bone to pick with, is how the DEFAULT control scheme was already "streamlined" as it is, compared to previous Marvel games. As it stands right now, the game's default configuration is Light, Medium, Heavy, "Exchange" and the two Partner Buttons. Quite different from MvC2's control scheme, and definitely the source of much annoyance amongst seasoned players who, more than the aspect of it being "changed", don't like how the new control scheme will take options away. But whatever, some of us expected/accepted such, because Niitsuma was on board this time. And it seemed that they wanted to try and make a control scheme that would be more "welcoming" to possible new players. Whatever, we were stuck with it.
But now, lo and behold, we now have confirmation of a "Simple" control scheme which pretty much renders all of that pointless! For those people who are going to pick up the game to play through the story mode, get any trophy/achievement data that was to be had and etc., this mode is clearly for them. Meanwhile, those of us who were most hoping for a MvC3 over this last decade have again been short-straw'd, and apparently, for no good reason at all.
So, again, I ask: What was the purpose of changing the default control scheme, if they were planning this Simple mode, any way? Capcom and Niitsuma would have avoided so much in the way of backlash, if they had just put in the Simple mode as an option, and left the MvC2 control scheme verbatim in MvC3.