The Best $150 Million to Spend in Gaming

Nintendo, Microsoft, tired of looking up at Sony this generation?



Still trying to figure out a way to catch up?



Well, I have a deal for you.


There is a Japanese company in utter shambles and is most likely available at a cheap, cheap price. Back in 2013, this company was down to a mere $150 million dollars in the bank. It is currently so bad that they are developing multiple million-dollar buildings just to do research and figure out how to turn the company around---even though the actual answer is merely release good games and don’t depend so much on the downloadable content and barrage of quickly-released remakes and re-releases. And….well….not try to drive out creative people like the folks behind the closed Clover Studio and the creator of the classic Mega Man games.

Although this company is only worth $150 million, they could still deliver you tons more in sales if you provide enough support once you purchase them. After all, this company is the main owner of:


Street Fighter
Devil May Cry
Resident Evil
Viewtiful Joe
Dead Rising
Gargoyle’s Quest
Okami
Monster Hunter
Mega Man
Mega Man X
Ghost n’ Goblins
Bionic Commando
Breath of Fire
Captain Commando
Final Fight
Lost Planet
Phoenix Wright
Power Stone

In other words, they have created a lot of profitable and potentially-profitable franchises that would be very suitable to your liking. Can you imagine being the sole owner of Street Fighter and Resident Evil? Can you imagine having the only console with Mega Man, Marvel vs. Capcom, Breath of Fire, and Monster Hunter? Can you imagine potentially being able to revive Power Stone, Viewtiful Joe, and Final Fight?

The opportunity exists. It costs only $150 million. Every major console-making company has this money lying around, and can really create some powerful dividends when you place the right minds in it.



That’s right Nintendo and Microsoft, you should buy Capcom.

Is Capcom on sale? Not really. Does it matter? Of course not. Marvel wasn’t really on sale when Disney shockingly took over. Guys, 150 million. That’s it. There are movies and video games that have had higher budgets. Grand Theft Auto 5 has a budget of roughly around the same price, and has earned 1 billion faster than any form of entertainment in history. That’s just one game that produced such a quick profit. See all the games I pointed out?

Capcom is sitting on a gold mine of ideas and possibilities, but has been run by all the wrong people. Delivering the right staff and supporting it with the proper amount of money and effort and you will see magical profits soar. Do remember that Street Fighter is one of the top fighting game franchises in gaming history, Resident Evil is the top horror game franchise out there, and Mega Man has sold nearly 30 million copies since its original conception in the NES days.

Can you imagine Final Fight 7 for the WiiU and 3DS exclusively? Can you imagine

Nintendo (The company that is far more suitable in making this purchase), Microsoft, listen up. Capcom is a wreck that can still make you good money. Open up the checkbook and lay that money down. You’ll be happy you did.


P.S. This article was the extremely long-delayed part 2 of my series about Capcom.

The Financial Downward Spiral of Capcom (And How It Can Still Be Saved) [Part 1 of 2]

So Capcom has a mere 152 million in the bank. Is 152 million a lot of money? Of course it is, until you realize that there are movies that cost more, there are modern-games with $50 million invested, and until you realize that those millions applies to the entire company. And with a new generation of gaming literally around the corner and rising costs guaranteed, Capcom is in deep, deep trouble.


But before you feel bad for the Japanese company and its struggling ability to stay relevant (Similar to Square Enix) in these dark times, let’s bring this one major point up:


Capcom brought this upon themselves.



And here are the backwards steps Capcom took (not in any order) leading to their dire situation:


1) Breath of Fire VI Disaster

Instead of working on a legit Breath of Fire game, a deeply appreciated franchise in the RPG community, Capcom takes the stupid route and makes the sixth installment an android-only game. So instead of taking a multi-million selling franchise and giving it a next-generation uplift or even make a handheld installment they make it a phone game. Way to crap on a classic 90s franchise.




2) Mega Man Disaster

They cancelled the last FOUR Mega Man games, even though this was the franchise that essentially put the company on the gaming map in the first place. This was similar to what would happen if the next 3-D Mario game was abruptly cancelled altogether without explanation. Mega Man 9 and 10 were good hits on the online marketplaces within the three systems. So instead of a Mega Man Legends 3 for the 3DS, instead of Mega Man 11 for the next-gen systems, instead of a Mega Man X9, we have----nothing. Its pretty much the death of Mega Man as we know it. No wonder the original staff from the previous Mega Man games took off running....


3) Resident Evil Disaster

Resident Evil used to be the peak of survival horror. But recently the franchise went in a totally different direction and tried becoming another Uncharted or God of War leading to disappointing results. Capcom has yet to learn that we want a horror game, not an action game with lots of monsters. And even with that, the games pale in comparison to games of similar structure. Stop trying to become Halo and be more like your old-school Resident Evil games.Resident Evil's recent-depleting numbers should tell you that message.


4) Nintendo/Capcom

Remember when Capcom promised Nintendo 5 exclusive games on the Gamecube and it turns out that each of these games (that succeeded) went to the PS2? Remember when the Mega Man brand was dying and Capcom asked Nintendo to put the blue bomber in Smash Brothers Brawl and Nintendo (of course) turned them down? Hey want to know what happened to Brawl? Became the best-selling fighting game of all-time, toppling every Street Fighter game in the process. Who has the last laugh there? Capcom’s backstabbing of Nintendo was a major blow and a total contrast to what happened to Sega when they partnered with Nintendo and got some life after losing their ability to make hardware. I am sure Capcom could have used Nintendo's 100 million Wiis userbase between the years 2006-2011 when the Wii was at its peak.


5) Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Hey remember that Marvel fighting game missing Rogue, Loki, Gambit, Mega Man, Venom, Silver Samurai among dozens of others? How on earth did Marvel vs. Capcom 2, a game older by a decade, have twice as many characters? And then re-releasing the game with an Ultimate edition the very same year was a low disgusting blow. Just to rub this in, here’s a nice tally: Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2.27 million) Smash Brothers Brawl (11.79 million).


6) Street Fighter IV Super Mega Ultimate Turbo Hyper Alpha Marathon Pickles

The tiring amount of variations of the Street Fighter games used to be fun to witness on the SNES/Genesis days, but nowadays with the economy and rising costs of being a gamer, its very stupid to witness. What has held off the sales of fighting games and most Capcom games nowadays is knowing that there is a superior version around the corner waiting to come out. We gamers are far more informed than we used to be, and that sort of nonsense just won’t be tolerated. You think GTA V would have made one billion in sales in three days if Rockstar adopted Capcom’s technique in releasing games?


7) Tatsunoko vs. Capcom

The one fighting game that surprised many was the Wii’s Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, by making 25 million with minimal hype or fanfare. And this goes back with the strained and bizarre Nintendo/Capcom relationship, which didn’t allow this franchise to flourish for some odd reason. This was the one surprise-hit franchise in Capcom’s watch in the past half-decade and yet nothing was done to enhance the momentum—no sequel, no multi-platform release, no porting to the 3DS, nothing……why?


8) The DRM/DLC Disaster

This one takes the cake. Capcom’s treatment of these two subjects is the main reason for its downfall. There was the Resident Evil 3DS controversy, which disallowed for gamers to erase any save data, destroying its chances for re-sale. It was a low move that resulted in terrible sales for a game released in a handheld that is outselling all other systems by a substantial amount. This was the first attempt at a DRM-style change in gaming as game companies across the planet have started combating Gamestop and all the small resale markets that sell old games.


Then the DLC mayhem. If you sell DLC content that’s fine. But when the DLC content is within the video game itself, it causes problems because it leads the gamer to believing that they are paying full price for a game they don’t have full access to. This resulted in games like Street Fighter X Tekken, Resident Evil 6, and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 getting hacked and revealed to be games with the DLC attached and forcing you to pay extra to unlock. Utter nonsense. If you think gamers don’t rebel against this I have a story for you Capcom: you are down to less than $150 million right now. Time will tell how much farther you are going to fall.


So with all this, can they be saved? Of course, stay tuned for the YouTube video that will be my Part 2 to this massive article about the issue of Capcom’s slow death. It will be released next Monday. 




But until then Capcom read these words: Stop Your Nonsense.

How "Mega Man" Can Help Microsoft in Japan

Kenji Inafune is a video game legend that wound up leaving the company that helped jump-start his career. In simpler terms, Capcom is a horrible crappy company that is a mere fraction of what it used to be. Anyways, he needs money to fund his next game---which is a spiritual sequel to his classic Mega Man franchise.


The Xbox 360 did not sell over 600 copies of its system in Japan in its latest week. Again. Japan has not bought 2,000,000 Xbox 360s yet during the system’s entire run.


Inafune needs money. Microsoft needs Japanese support and love. I smell a potential relationship.

If Microsoft ever plans on becoming the world leader in the gaming industry, they must tackle the Japan issue. Their sales in the Far East are above and beyond pathetic. They can’t get anything going outside the United States, whom has been there for them since the very moment that Halo burst onto the scene. 57% of the Xbox 360 sales were in North America, far bigger than the PS3 and the Wii (34% and 44% respectively). Guess which one is currently in last place this generation.

Another fun piece of trivia: whichever system sell the most in Japan wins the generation—it has remained true since the NES sold nearly 20 million copies back in the 80s/90s. The SNES, PSX, PS2, and Nintendo Wii each outsold the competitors in the Asia market and ultimately became the big seller. Japan can also save systems, as the country breathed life into comatose hardware like the 3DS and especially the PSP.

Financing Inafune’s game could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and a friendship involving a legendary Japanese gaming figure. The Mega Man games were absolute hits in Japan, and seeing that the Green Machine’s 3rd model is the exclusive system holding the creator’s next invention could stir the pot and raise some curiosity.

Inafune is requesting a mere $900,000 for his game is a cakewalk for Microsoft. Halo 4 cost more than $60 million to produce and market, would a cool million honestly hurt Microsoft in exchange for a potentially good Mega Man-like game built directly from the legend himself?

If Microsoft was smart, they would put down the money, give him creative freedom that Capcom refused to offer towards the end of Inafune’s time there, and potentially get a good hit that would resonate in Japan. This will not solve all their problems in appealing to the Japanese and Oceanic audience, but it would be a giant step forward.



Mighty No. 9 needs to be made. And the Xbox One would benefit from its release more than anybody else.