i meant like a proper new game, not...that
Except that's ALL we have been getting, and probably all we WILL get for a while. Cheap low quality cash ins that don't cost them a whole lot and therefore are not a major risk.
All fans WANT is an actual new game. Hell, new games are what started this mess. We thought we were getting Mega Man Universe and Mega Man Legends 3. Universe was met with mixed reaction, for various reasons, but legends 3 was what we all wanted. Universe was just the side dish.
To top it off, Legends 3 was an amazing PR opportunity. Something pretty original. A game for the fans, by the fans, in conjunction with Capcom. The fans would decide almost everything. Since Capcom was skeptical, it would start as just a prototype. And that prototype would be it's own self contained adventure. The Prototype would be the prologue, the prequel to Legends 3, and would determine Legends 3's actual greenlight. There were contests, polls, an all sorts of interactions between the fans and the Dev team, on a scale Ive never really seen before. The game is practically finished, and then It gets cancelled. Capcom cites no specific reasons, only that certain "criteria" was not met.
Legends 3 is not greenlit, and the Prototype, which was delayed, will NOT see the light of day, despite being basically finished. The Japanese Devroom is shut down almost immediately, and Capcom just chucks everything in the garbage. Fans are pretty upset over that, and then, to add to the situation, Capcom Europe insults the fanbase, saying that the game's cancellation is their fault, because they didn't care enough. Everything at this point leads to the conclusion that Capcom used Devroom numbers to predict how many units would be sold, and found it unsatisfactory for their investment. Despite Capcom themselves saying Fans need not join the devroom to follow the game.
And from then on, it just gets worse. Capcom remains incredibly tight lipped over the cancellation, and whenever a devteam member says something, specifically when they announce they support the fan efforts, their blog or twitter is shut down right after.
MvC3 rolls around. Mega Man fans assume that Mega Man will be in it, since he was in the previous 2. Popularity polls are created, and Mega Man tops the charts. Fans try to push for either Mega Man or Mega Man X to be a character. They get told that he will not be included because they cannot make him work in the game, and give other excuses as well. Instead they place Zero in the game, porting most of his moveset from TvC with Tron, and instead of Mega Man, put Arthur in the game. Fans get no specific reason for Mega Man's absence from Capcom. Fans try to get Mega man perhaps as DLC instead. They get told there are no plans to release Mega Man DLC. Instead, fans get the "Days of Future Past" stage, that shows several Marvel and Capcom Characters as either Slain or Captured, and show Mega Man as "Missing".
(EDIT: And I forgot to mention the shitstorm that ensued when Capcom announced UMvC3 almost right after the first, making MvC fans annoyed that they just wasted 50 bucks on an incomplete obsolete version.)
Fans try to push for X, to accompany Zero. They instead get an alternate Skin for Zero.
And for all this, there are no concrete reasons ever given. They are determined on preventing Mega Man's appearance in MvC3.
Time passes, and Street Fighter vs Tekken is announced. people hope Mega man might be a cameo, and eventually ARE teased with a blue silhouette that does not really resemble Mega Man.
The Phone game comes out. It's a cheap Mega Man X port with the graphics slightly modified in photoshop.
Capcom announces they do not know what to do with Mega Man and we get repeated PR talk of "Top Men", (with the emphasis on the "Top Men" Part) deciding Mega Man's future, and deciding a "10 year plan".
Then we get this. A variant on bad Box Art Mega Man, simply named "Mega Man". Not "Bad Box Art Mega Man" but Mega Man. This is supposed to be the Mega Man fans have wanted in MvC3. Any other time and it would have been funny. But then we look at his bio, and see that they have used Mega Man Vollnut's background for him.
Capcom has not only destroyed and completely reversed a perfect PR opportunity, but have created an even WORSE PR nightmare. With almost the majority of the fanbase angry over the way they have been treated. Capcom at no point offered any explanations, and then continued to Ignore Mega Man and make moves that are totally inappropriate for the current situation with their fans.
No, they dont OWE us anything. But they at least owe us explanations, not cardboard cutout "we still care!" PR from Sven. We need SOMETHING. Capcom may not owe us a game, but after baiting us and then pulling the proverbial football right as we are about to kick, they DO owe their fans something. Especially since their fans are what makes them money. Sure, a few less fans doesnt mean anything to them when they can just [parasitic bomb] out another Street Fighter or Resident Evil and have those fans eat it up, it is still just plain stupid, and makes them look bad in the game industry. I know nothing of business, but im pretty sure a company does not want to have a bad reputation. It's bad business practice, and gives competing companies the advantage of using the situation to win over the disgruntled fans, with the bait of "Look here! we DO care about you! Capcom may not care, but we do!" And then make a few fan requested games.
Sega seems to listen to the fans, and Nintendo might listen, I cant be too sure, but they almost always seem to follow fan demand. mainly because whatever they put out, fans like. Capcom right now, has an image that they do not listen to their fans, and in fact, do not respect them. Some people very well see the treatment of the Mega man fanbase as Capcom trolling their fanbase. Not just folks in the fanbase itself, but many outside of the Mega Man fanbase too.