Street Figther X Tekken's "Mega Man" (Henceforth MegaManSFT) has caused quite a commotion among the Mega Man community. People have taken it as a trolling middle finger to the all Mega Man series, especially to Mega Man Legends. But as I said before, if Capcom's PR was actually doing their job, I believe there were things that could of been done to prevent the hard feelings and sentiments that has occurred among many customers. And No, I'm not talking about "getting rid of the character" either, thus ruining the whole Namco versus Capcom crossover with Pac-Man.
Creating Some Separation
The new digouter for Roll to exploit
during Rock's absence. Art By Nazza
during Rock's absence. Art By Nazza
Those with a keen eye will notice I speak exclusively of Mega Man in this fiasco and not Rockman despite this being explicitly a "Rockman website". This is because those who deal exclusively with the original names and the Japanese Language, totally understood the humor of MegaManSFT. This isn't because they somehow have a better sense of humor, but because MegaManSFT is named "Mega Man" in Japan, and not "Rockman". This gives a breathing room divide between the parody and the originals so that people do not see MegaManSFT as a intentional undermining of Rockman. But such a separation is "lost in translation" in English with the Mega Man name. What could Capcom PR have done to create this same separation?
A slightly subtle Rock cheering for his lampoon
The simple straight forward way would be to introduce a legitimate Mega Man into the game. While the best goodwill could be earned if he's actually a fully playable character, it would be possible to get the desired effect simply having him as a cameo. This way, you don't have to purposely call attention to the issue while satisfying the very observant fans who are quite savvy in picking on the details. By throwing the original in the game in some capacity, it shows that there is real awareness of the original concept, and the goofy playable character MegaManSFT is more easily acceptable as just a fun exhibition for the crossover. His cameo could be as simple as a stage background add on. And if he is too obtuse to go with any existing stage, you can just make a extra stage for Rockman to reside. Or another idea would be include in the character's back story some direct reference to the original characters as distinct individuals separate from MegaManSFT.
Rework The Fellow to Fit the Roots
Something closer to this
probably would of not set off the fans.
probably would of not set off the fans.
If you are going to give a hat tip to Bad Box Art Mega Man with MegaManSFT, why would you go and change him up? The joke of the original BBA MegaMan is that he is suppose to represent the misguided marketing sense and skill of Euro-American Capcom's early days, thinking they needed to play up a "serious hardcore" Sci-Fi drama to sell Rockman. If you were true to the hat tip, there already is a very nice straight arrow story that has booth lampoon-able elements yet respect the fans of the series.
Give us the super serious and stoically heroic adult MegaMan that's out of the pages of old science fiction. Fighting fit, and properly proportions but with all the gaudiness of the box art his outfit, and his awkward box art stance. And of course, make him totally oblivious of how ridiculous and out of touch he is. And bring with him the whole Hero of Monsteropolis storyline, which the character can quote endlessly of his feats from that time in game. And you could even keep him short, as a throw back to how he is suppose to match up with original.
If this was done instead of "past his prime angry and confused" MegamanSFT, I think the fans would of happily approved. Even if it is technically wrong and a joke in comparison to the original Mega Man, it was still in fact true to an actual concept of the series in an historical sense. A big part of the anger with MegamanSFT are because of the extra layers he currently adds, which people naturally try to piece a reason for. Considering there is already plenty to lampoon about already, what function is there to go pull stuff out of nowhere?
To sum it up, I really see little reason for public relations management for Mega Man to have gotten to this state. It honestly feels like no one is even remotely paying attention to what they are doing over at Capcom. Though I doubt anyone is ever actually going to be fired for this fiasco, it's going to take something really big and crazy to turn the Mega Man Fanbase's opinion around. At the end of the day, "taking the fans seriously" means always being aware of what you are doing and the implications it has. Even if the intent is well meaning, you have to manage how it looks and do what you can to communicate this intent. After all, perception is reality a lot of the time.
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