Capcom rambling

[FM-77]

Looking at the Gamefaqs website, I noticed today's poll... What's your all-time favorite Capcom series?

Breath of Fire
Darkstalkers
Devil May Cry
Ghosts 'n Goblins
Mega Man
Monster Hunter
Resident Evil
Street Fighter

I realized that I couldn't vote today, because I would never play anything in either of these series even if I would get paid for it. I guess nobody except Keranu will understand me on this. How could Capcom get so popular with all these non-solid series? Are they really worth the massive popularity they've gained? Everybody knows about most of these series and they are considered great, but at the same time they have ALL been accused of being too repetitive, i e all the games in the respective series games are practically identical, etc. Basically, Capcom likes milking. A lot. Moreso than ANY other company, I dare say. Why are these games so successful? Do you like them?

Flame away, please. :oops:

[Keranu]

Well I voted anyways even though I do hate a strong hatred for Capcom. Though just because I hate them doesn't mean I can't like some of their games . I voted Street Fighter just because SFII was a huge revolution and I play a couple of other games in the series, though I'm not really a fan of the series in general and pissed about their milking of the series.

I think the reason why Capcom series are so popular is because they have a style that appeals to people, no matter how much the series might suck in general. Now even though I hate Mega Man to death, I can honestly say that he's a great iconic character that looks like could make for a fun game. Same with Resident Evil; it looks really cool because you're killing zombies and stuff and there is all that suspense, but I think that alone is what makes the series so successful despite how crusty some might find the controls.

All Capcom needs to do is think of a style that will appeal to lots of people and focus on that soley to please people and then they can milk it out for every penny it's worth .

[Turbo D]

funny story, my friend named his son after the dude in devil my cry 

[nat]

Wow...

I never really thought about it, but I guess Capcom DOES have a habit of overdoing it when it comes to series.

Not that their games are bad as a general rule, but did we really need 20+ MegaMan games? Milking indeed! I really like MegaMan X4, though.

[Keranu]

Wow...

I never really thought about it, but I guess Capcom DOES have a habit of overdoing it when it comes to series.

Not that their games are bad as a general rule, but did we really need 20+ MegaMan games? Milking indeed! I really like MegaMan X4, though.

You see, it's a big shame to me because I really want to get into games like MegaMan, but there are just some things that I just don't like ab00t it. Megaman 1 - 6 (or 2 - 6 rather) are basically the same game with different levels, just imagine if each one of those games had taken the time to be improved upon instead. We could've seen new gameplay abilities like the ability to shoot up or even diagonally, improved graphics, extra features, etc... and this is just for the NES games. Hell I would've rather seen three Mega Man games made for NES that had better development than six quick titles. When I see game companies do this (including SNK, who I love), I just think it's a sad way of showing how much more they care about profit than games.

[MotoRoaderMike]

Mega Man only made second place?? WHAT THE f*ck??!! It should be #1!!!

[esteban]

OK, I'll be lame and defend Capcom .

I like Capcom, because they made a lot of really great games. I don't care about series, because as soon as you start talking about a series, you are going to talk about the extent to which a franchise is milked (and milked, and milked).

Capcom's titles for NES are the reason I love them. Sure, I love their arcade games, but I think the NES games kick ass!

Bionic Commando (NES). Friggin' great -- why the hell didn't they make another installment? I would be happy if it was the same game with different levels! I'm serious.

19XX -- I like the series in general, but I really liked this installment. Of course, 1943 (NES) kicked ass!

Duck Tales and all the other Disney titles for NES -- good stuff!

Nemo (NES) ....

Section Z (NES) / Sidearms / Forgotten Worlds -- I like these games

Commando (Arcade) -- Yay!

GUNSMOKE kicks ass!

Mercs...

Strider...

Come on, there's a lot to like about Capcom, and I haven't even touched the series listed in the poll...

[Michael Helgeson]

I agree with you,the catch is the trend on that is different between arcade and home to a degree. SNK and others use that practice to improve on titles that they know make money,Like FF2,then FF Special. And Real Bout and RB Special or SF2 to SF 2 Champion Edition.Thing is with those they tend to do some very nice updates to a solid game. I can deal with this practice when it comes to arcade games.Its needed. I know its their formula they have used for years,and it works,and it helps them keep money coming in so they can put out completely new titles too that are not considered safe releases typically.the only one to ever really completely abuse this practice was Capcom when they lost alot of their creative staff to SNK. That hit them really hard and they did not cope real well.

You might offer up the argument that this also happened on the AES too,because they share the same titles as the MVS,so SNK was just trying to make more money. The argument would fail however,because the AES was not making SNK much money at all. Their main money maker was the MVS.This is why the bootlegging of MVS carts hurt them so much. It was the most accessible to players and the easiest for them to sell until the bootlegging started. The AES benefited from the selection of titles the MVS had released for it,and it was a method for the hardcore buyers and players out there to get a chance to bring that selection home if they chose to and could afford to. They knew what they played in their arcade is what they got when they got the AES cart. People knew what they were getting into on the AES,and were getting what they expected. Its a arcade system made for home use with  a 3 credit limit.

The practice is sadly used on normal mainstream home system franchises too where it does more harm then good however. To me Mega Man 1-3 were the best,it has been down hill from there. This tends to go with any Capcom series past the year 1992 most def. Doesn't mean all the latter releases suck completely,its just that they rehash alot of the old and don't get creative and risky which is what put the originals in the top spot. Home system series should have at least a 2 year gap in between sequels. This would allow for more programming time. The thing is though is that these series move from the unsafe seller status to a safe bet seller,so they get less creative effort put on them,its all directed toward other things,or they even hire out other groups to handle the game,like RE Code Veronica because they tend to know that the name of the series alone will sell the title.

[SignOfZeta]

Breath of Fire
Darkstalkers
Devil May Cry
Ghosts 'n Goblins
Mega Man
Monster Hunter
Resident Evil
Street Fighter

Well, um, the poll is favorite "series", so therefore there are going to be a lot of games to think about.

I f*cking love Street Fighter. I loved it when SFII hit arcades, and I've loved it ever since. Obviously there are some stinkers (the EX series), but for people who actually like Street Fighter, the vast majority of all SF, and SF-related games were eagerly anticipated by fans, so therefore they deserve to exist.

On the other hand, I think even the most die hard Megaman fan would have to admit there are far far too many MM games, and far too many shit ones.

As for milking, I think Bandai has got Capcom beat hands down. Also, any company that makes a WWII FPS at this point needs to have its headquarters burned down. I know WWII isn't an actual series per say, but it might as well be.

[Michael Helgeson]

I like SF 2,Champ,Super SF 2 Turbo,Alpha 1-2,SF 3 normal to Third Strike alot.

As long as its a vertical shooter I typically like the WW2 based stuff. I also like to read alot and research that war time period quite a bit via books or film. I always have since I was maybe 11-12 so thats prob part of the reason why I like the Capcom 194x titles and Striker 1945 stuff by Psikyo... I also am a big fan of Return to Castle Wolfenstien and other FPS based on WW2 too. Those are my favorite types of FPS titles.

[Keranu]

I agree with you,the catch is the trend on that is different between arcade and home to a degree. SNK and others use that practice to improve on titles that they know make money,Like FF2,then FF Special. And Real Bout and RB Special or SF2 to SF 2 Champion Edition.Thing is with those they tend to do some very nice updates to a solid game. I can deal with this practice when it comes to arcade games.Its needed. I know its their formula they have used for years,and it works,and it helps them keep money coming in so they can put out completely new titles too that are not considered safe releases typically.the only one to ever really completely abuse this practice was Capcom when they lost alot of their creative staff to SNK. That hit them really hard and they did not cope real well.

You might offer up the argument that this also happened on the AES too,because they share the same titles as the MVS,so SNK was just trying to make more money. The argument would fail however,because the AES was not making SNK much money at all. Their main money maker was the MVS.This is why the bootlegging of MVS carts hurt them so much. It was the most accessible to players and the easiest for them to sell until the bootlegging started. The AES benefited from the selection of titles the MVS had released for it,and it was a method for the hardcore buyers and players out there to get a chance to bring that selection home if they chose to and could afford to. They knew what they played in their arcade is what they got when they got the AES cart. People knew what they were getting into on the AES,and were getting what they expected. Its a arcade system made for home use with  a 3 credit limit.

The practice is sadly used on normal mainstream home system franchises too where it does more harm then good however. To me Mega Man 1-3 were the best,it has been down hill from there. This tends to go with any Capcom series past the year 1992 most def. Doesn't mean all the latter releases suck completely,its just that they rehash alot of the old and don't get creative and risky which is what put the originals in the top spot. Home system series should have at least a 2 year gap in between sequels. This would allow for more programming time. The thing is though is that these series move from the unsafe seller status to a safe bet seller,so they get less creative effort put on them,its all directed toward other things,or they even hire out other groups to handle the game,like RE Code Veronica because they tend to know that the name of the series alone will sell the title.

Good post, I agree with most of that. Some people might think SNK was milking the KoF series by releasing one each year, but I don't agree with this from '94 - '98. From looking at each KoF from '94 - '98, SNK was making some big improvements in those games, especially the '95 to '96 jump and the '96 to '97 jump and by '98, they had the game mechanics just right so they could make the perfect competitive fighter. The series did loose it's charm after '98, but SNK still improved KoF'2000 over '99, even though '99 was a big disaster in my opinion.

[Michael Helgeson]

And see with me I love 94-99,don't care much for 2000-2002,and love 2k3. I agree however they did make mistakes with 99. There are things they did well on it,and some things they did not do too hot on,like some of the characters in it. 95-96 are both my top favorites of them all.

[Tatsujin]

for me without any doubts the makaimura/ghosts'n goblins serie! best ever made!!

after that the first gen. of the street fighter II serie.

never played their RPGs (as well a lot of other RPGs).

[Joe Redifer]

What the hell is Monster Hunter?  I  honestly have no clue what that is.  Somehow I feel like I'm not missing out.  Anyway I generally like only one game in each series.  Examples:

Mega Man 2 was clearly the best in every respect, though parts 1 and 3 were almost somewhat decent.  The rest suck ass.  Mega Max X4 is decent, but not great.

Ghouls N' Ghosts was, by far, the best game in that series.  I hate Ghosts N' Goblins and Super Ghouls N' Ghosts quite a bit, probably because they suck.

Resident Evil 4 is the only game in that series that is even remotely worth playing.  The rest can go to hell and burn in a vat of boiling feces.

I didn't know (or care) that there was more than one Breath of Fire game.  I like every Darkstalkers game, though Night Warriors is nearly a clone of the first so I'll take NW over DS.  Devil May Cry sucks ass, I hate it and most other games were I play an emo queer.  I like most Street Fighter games such as Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 1 & 2 (I like 3 but it seems weird) and Street Fighter 3 2nd Impact.

[Michael Helgeson]

Devil May Cry sucks ass, I hate it and most other games were I play an emo queer. 

LOL,Agreed.