The problem is they ALWAYS play it safe. ALWAYS. They have played it safe with Mega Man long before this. It's why we got X8 the way it was after X7 bombed as a 3D X game, and Command Mission, different genre aside, most likely didn't sell enough units to warrant trying 3D again. It's the reason they never wanted to go back to Legends. Because it failed them and they just didnt want to take the risk despite ever increasing fan demand for a Legends 3.
It's the reason they went for a retro revival too. They know for a fact that hardcore nostalgic gamers who played the original NES games growing up will definitely buy a new NES game. Especially if it tries to emulate Mega Man 2. The fan favorite.
Capcom has done nothing but play it safe for a long time. And it's done nothing but cause the franchise to suffer. So people dont buy the games as they get worse, and therefore Capcom plays it safer still. But if we support one of their mediocre products, they will IMMEDIATELY jump at the chance to cash in on that one specific thing, since in their eyes, that is what people want.
It's such a ridiculous lose lose situation.
I just wanted to say that I agree with you 100%. That's exactly what has been happening to Mega Man since the beginning. The developers are the biggest reason Mega Man has gotten as far as he has.
If any kid under 12 owns their own iPhone, their parents should be smacked. Hell, I'd go as high as 16 for a freakin' smart phone, especially one as expensive as an iPhone.
Kids don't need to own the iDevice to play it. They just need to ask their parents to play on it, or sometimes it'll be shoved into their hands to shut them up.
If by "cool" you mean "apathetic". What's worse, he expects the rest of the MM fanbase to be just as apathetic, and never want Capcom to treat the series with respect. A series that many of us grew up with in some form or another, and if we feel even the slightest indignation over its current treatment, we're "entitled".
He never said any of that. You're putting words in his mouth. Here's the breakdown of what he said:
-Xover is unimpressive, not thrilling, and forgettable.
-Xover could turn out to be better than the demo
-He's not apathetic towards Mega Man, but he's not enraged at them either over Xover because it's a free to play iPhone game and raging is generally fruitless in that case
-He also takes the view that as a fan, Capcom doesn't technically owe him anything, and that emotional investment doesn't come with voting rights
You're mischaracterizing his stance at point 4. This isn't him dictating what the fans should or shouldn't want, this is him explaining why it's pointless to go into knee-jerk ragefests. I don't entirely agree, since fans can and should influence company behavior with their own response, but only to a point. Once you get into blind ranting and raving, you end up twisting or ignoring observations to serve that emotional stage, and you're really serving no greater or useful purpose than mutually angry masturbation, which is fine if you don't assert an important pretense of outrage and activism.
I'm fairly certain that yes, they are. They're not stupid; if you try to give them garbage, they'll know, and they won't like it.
One man's trash is another man's treasure.
When you're a kid, chances are you're going to be taken in by visuals. Once you're in, you'll be taken in further by easy controls. Xover offers both nice visuals and simple controls, so off the bat it's very approachable; especially to a kid who doesn't know
Mega Man X or recognizes that the animation frames are off. I don't doubt that kids could get bored of Xover, but then again, maybe a decent amount of them won't. We don't know enough about the game other than how it pales in comparison to what it's based on. Plus, I'm not arguing they'll become diehard fans of the game; I'm arguing that they might have a nice time playing it.
This is all moot, though, if Capcom can't resolve to prioritize Mega Man and take more risks with the brand.
But in case I'm giving the current generation too much credit and they really are that gormless: do you really think that the kind of person who'd enjoy Xover (in which Luka is invincible to all but the stage boss, and even then he apparently can't lose) would care for any other MM title? Those games are actually challenging, but Hypothetical New Audience is too used to easier iPhone games to care about the rest of the series.
I consider Xover a plausible gateway to deeper, more challenging Mega Man games. This is more about hooking them to the look and feel than it is about hooking them to an easy game. It might not be the best gateway, but it may just end up being a serviceable one.
I can criticize Xover all day on the grounds of production value, timing, assets, and everything else, but if I can't recognize what kind of real impact it could have, then I'll just be puffing my cheeks in vain.
Try that logic on the Breath of Fire fanbase, or any fans of a series that Capcom has completely abandoned save for occasional re-releases, and see how well it ends for you.
What exactly do think people should do? What can they do?
I think they can make their voices heard, show their dedication, and try to drum up interest in an old, forgotten franchise; but without the organization, capital, and clout of a big company, how effective will they be? There's nothing they can logically boycott or purchase for the most part to show that the object of their fandom is a viable business opportunity. That risk has to be taken by someone inside Capcom. So yeah, what else can we really do besides either waiting at the edges of our seats or getting up and doing something else?
We're technically not being ignored in the sense that we're getting a dumbed-down iOS rail shooter for the 25th and virtually nothing else...but look at what Capcom's doing for Street Fighter's 25th. The SF fans get all that nice stuff, and we have to settle for Xover and an overpriced collection of music we already had for free.
That's just how the cookie's crumbling right now. I don't know what to tell you.