Nintendo Vs. Capcom: Why this cannot be made

For proper context about what this is about, please click the following link: http://wii.ign.com/articles/114/1148074p1.html it is an IGN editor apologizing for a previous entry (which is linked in the article).

In short, this IGN editor is hyping Nintendo vs. Capcom as the best game never made, and that "everyone wants this". False.

Here's why I think it's false.

Fighting games have just had a resurgence in popularity thanks to Street Fighter IV. Love it or hate it, people can't get enough of it, it's "deep enough to drown an elephant, and shallow enough a child can play in". If you remember the fighting game boon in the 90's, we were seeing a lot of crazy things, like the mvc series, the cool twists on existing characters in alpha 3 (shin akuma and evil ryu), pocket fighter etc. But that was before games cost a fortune to make and companies didn't want to take risks. Now the SF team has incorporated newer twists on older twists (revamped evil ryu and oni akuma) and the community, that before was unreceptive to this concept, is lauding these additions.

It took a long time to get to this point. The 10 year gap between SFIV and 3S, the next couple years to see super fulfill almost everyone's dreams (no rolento :-() and now AE. What could destroy this fan-fest? Over extending and trivializing how important this boon is to fans.

I'm guessing more than half (probably 80%) of the people that want NvC to happen play Nintendo games almost exclusively, which is why they remember Mega Man so fondly. They know nintendo makes "great" fighters because they play smash bros. Don't get me wrong, SB has tournies, but Evo is the creme de le creme of fighting tournaments and I don't know when SB was last there, people just aren't hype to see tournament level SB play.

Next, look at the graphic at the top of the IGN article I linked. On the one side you have capcom characters, realistically drawn and looking cool, on the other side you have very cartoony and undetailed Nintendo characters, most of them are not considered cool designs. To give the game continuity, you'd have to let either capcom OR nintendo have creative control on this project, which would mean you'd see either pocket fighter-style capcom characters or "realistic" reinventions of nintendo characters. Either way it would not be pretty.

The main reason SSFIV has had such a large hardcore base, and that it remains so popular, is because of youtube and live streams. Never has it been easier to watch the pros play these games, share tips and tricks and show how fun the community can be. Wii players might have had a glimpse of this if they played TvC (I wonder how many NvC fans played that one?). The community that continues to support the game and the pros that continue to play the game in tournies feed off each other and blow it up to almost mainstream status. It may even happen this year, that Evo will be on G4, who knows.

People get a rush from playing the game that is supported most by the pros. They may never win money playing it but they love playing and honing their skills at the thought they might play daigo or J.wong someday. More and more casual players are leveling up in SSF4 that you almost have to know something about the game to get anywhere in ranked now. This is a very good thing.

NvC, to have a chance, would have to be marketed to the casual market, which makes up the majority of the Wii's installed user base. I.e. i don't think you'd see fight sticks marketed for this game. You also would cut out a lot of potential characters, such as the resident evil and devil may cry games, as these characters may be a bit "mature" for a game marketed with mario in it. you have to think of the concept.

We want capcom to take risks. But did everyone forget the project schedule? SSFIV AE, with strong rumors it will be brought to consoles (with possible additional characters), SSFIV for the 3DS (with pro mode, a feature fans wanted on the consoles), not to mention MvC3 coming out in a week. Thats just in the next couple months. We also have Tekken v SF and SF v Tekken (yes 2 projects, one by namco one by capcom), as well as 3S online. All of this takes man-power, money and resources. All of these games need to sell a certain amount of copies to be profitable and worthwhile. And how many risks will Capcom be willing to take while some of them will not even be one when MvC3 hits shelves?

MVC3 will sell well and be supported because the pros are already playing it. end of story. TvSF and SFvT will probably NOT do well because these 2 communities are generally mutually exclusive. The big names on the one side differ from the big names on the other. And also, more buzz was around a MK vs SF game, I had never heard a desire for TvSF before (though I admit that doesn't mean there wasn't demand). Why do I think they did it? The biggest names in Evo teaming up for a game is good publicity. but 2 games competing? That is madness.


In short, the fighting community has come too far and has waited to long for this renaissance for it to be risked on a poorly thought-out concept. The target market is too niche and hardcore gamers would have to buy a wii to play it since there would never be a cross-platform game with Nintendo characters. You have to understand how deep this cuts numbers. Please, for our sake, pray for a couple capcom characters in the next SB instead of a full fledged vs. series.