Thursday, May 15, 2003 at Capcom's Offices at their E3 Booth

Unlike our first interview with Chad Okada, this interview is open with little dialogue or text that was taken in verbatim, but more of an open discussion. The interview/discussion lasted about an hour long, so let's just say we got alot of questions answered and facts cleared up. Please also keep in mind that some answers were not clear cut, but the insinuations to the facts are obvious and we take them as a "yes." But again, that's what we think, not necessarily what's exactly going to happen. All we can first say is, all Capcom Fighting Game Fans will be happy in some way or another.

So let us go through a few topics of interest:

Marvel License, the True Story

A year after Marvel vs. Capcom 2's release, Capcom gamers naturally speculated if there would be a sequel, since Capcom is known to release sequels pretty much every year or every other year. We've heard rumors across forums, magazines, inside sources that Capcom no longer has the rights to the characters and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 would never come out. Well, maybe MvC3 will never arrive, but the licensing issue that many of us has thought thus far between Capcom and Marvel has been far from accurate. Activision owns rights to some of the Marvel characters, which most of us are aware of. What most of us don't know is, Capcom owns the rights to ALL of the Marvel characters...and more importantly, they still do.

So yes, the Capcom's license to Marvel's characters expired the end of last year, but since then, it has been renewed. =) Good news? No. Great news!!! What does this mean? MvC3? Well, not really. We'll explain later.

Capcom's Outlook on Home Consoles

I'll be the first to say that I love Sony's PS2. Many of their games are just spectacular and simply fun to play, but there is one element that the PS2 does not have: on-line play for Capcom's Fighting games. One of the pleasures of LIVE on CvS2 is to be able to play in the comfort of your home and challenge many players from all over the world without the travel and hassles involved. Just what many of us gamers have dreamed up for years.

The good news for Capcom about PS2: They are the #1 system worldwide in terms of systems sell through. The bad news: Terrible on-line functionality. What we mean by this is for every on-line PS2 game you want to play, you have to register each time to play that game. Simply inconvenient for the heavy gamer. With XBox Live you register once for all LIVE games (MS has a few centralized servers to make this possible).

Capcom though, sees the future in PS2 (& Gamecube), which would make sense given how many systems are out there. For games such as Omnimusha, A Devil May Cry, or Megaman the PS2 would be a wise choice, but for fighting games with limitations to it's on-line function, well, any competitive (non-pulling) player would choose MS's XBox Live over Sony's on-line.

We don't have the numbers, but I haven't touched my PS2 version of CvS2 since I got my X-Box Live version. Furthermore, for all future Capcom fighting games, I would wait until the LIVE version comes out, before even consider buying one that isn't on other systems. Until Sony or Nintendo set up their network to be optimized for all it's users, the LIVE versions still rule in my book.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 XBox Non-Live

After being released years ago, MvC2 remains one heck of a popular game, at the arcades and on the home consoles. Like most fighting games, fighting the computer is pure boredom, hence Capcom decided to implement the LIVE feature in it's MvC2 for the XBox. Uh, well, we all know that didn't happen, so what went wrong? Even myself, I thought the license ran out, so maybe they could still release the game (because it was in the contract, but the LIVE feature wasn't, so hence, no LIVE)?

Well, the license didn't expire, but the LIVE was taken out. Makes no sense. I can't get into the details of why, but let's just make it simple and say the LIVE feature was not an agreement in the contract between Marvel and Capcom. Generally, the statement above is accurate of what happened. So forget the theories of massive slowdown, non-connecting combos on-line, etc. No agreement in the licensing for the LIVE feature means no LIVE! on MvC2 for Xbox. Simple as that.

Capcom vs. SNK 3 (Updated 05/23/2003. This topic was in my notes, which I forgot to add in at the initial post of this interview).

So one of the "must ask" questions we asked was if we would ever see CvS3. s-c.com and everyone else expected the answer to be a simple "yes", but our answer was "I can't comment on that right now." To some extent I was shocked, but then again, if such a obvious title was to be released, there must be a good reason as to why it's not officially in development. So I asked again, "So Chris, this game is expected by the fans, and isn't it so obvious it should come out?" Chris probably realized that I wouldn't let the subject go, says, "It has something to do with rights ownership at the moment." I was a little baffled, but honestly, I haven't been keeping up with what's been going on over in Japan, so his statement made sense. After a few minutes, I realized the intellectual properties issues Chris was talking about was between Playmore and Aruze. To make a long story short, Aruze bought a large stock percentage of SNK Japan a few years back and when both parties broke it off, there still remains no resolution of IP ownership to this day. So until these IP's are settled, don't expect CvS3 anytime soon.

A New Street Fighter?

Heck, it's been pretty darn dry with the Street Fighter Franchise after Alpha 3 and SFIII: 3rd Strike. So we asked,"Capcom fighting fans are dying to know if there will be another Street Fighter of any sort out soon." Chris's response,"I can't discuss that at this time." Fair enough...only if you ask a non die-hard fan, but little did Chris know I have spent a few thousand hours doing research about the history and finding out facts about Capcom, so I asked nicely again, "I've traveled thousands of miles (I live in Marina del Rey, 15 miles from E3, but he knew I was kidding) and I get no news of Street Fighter? Unbelievable!! There's gotta be something, even a little news."

So Chris sits back, probably feeling sorry for me (knowing I have no wife to come home to), gives me his first hint. "Well, next year will be Street Fighter's 15th Anniversary. This year, it's Megaman's 15th and you see the games we have outside for it." Swell guy, Chris is. This hint alone is good enough for me and c'mon, it's pretty obvious on the 15th Anniversary of what we consider Capcom's staple (The SF series), that they will not release some sort of game, whether it'd be for the arcades or the home, would be completely out of character for them. I don't know about the die hard Capcom fighting game fans, but I would prefer arcade first (for tournament reasons) and then a port later. So next year, we shall see another Street Fighter of some sort and as much time as Capcom has had in between what's coming up and SFIII: 3rd Strike, I think the next SF will be once again, amazing and revolutionary. Anything that tops Street Fighter Alpha 3 would rock my world.

3-D Future and Capcom All Stars

The idea of having a 3-D fighter during the 2-D days was quite fascinating, moreso in visuals than anything else. Today, I don't see anything changing. Sure, the gameplay of a 3-D fighter has gotten better, but what it lacks is speed and the combo madness that makes viewers go "awe" like what a 2-D fighter can provide. As much as I dislike (because I get schooled at it) MvC2, the combos in it is simply stunning. With the amazing combos comes the extremely fast gameplay. Of course most games are a matter of personal opinion in terms of it's flair and appeal, but very few can deny that a viewer watching a mad MvC2 will make the audience laugh, yell, go into combo shock moreso than one in a 3-D fighter. To simply prove this theory, go to a tournament that hosts these games and see for yourself.

That being said, Capcom has gone back and forth with the producers of Capcom All Stars and has finally decided to can the project altogether. Sad, sure, but from what I've heard, CAS was purely dull, not even meeting the excitement level of Street Fighter EX 2 Plus. Up to last month, the project was still moving forth, but given the tough arcade market throughout the world, further investment in CAS would not be a wise choice for them at this point. Get those protos if you can.

Any BIG plans? Why not Marvel vs. Capcom 3?

Of course there's BIG plans, that's why we met up with Capcom in the first place. =) I've always viewed Capcom as a company that delivers in a big way. Let's forget about the 40 versions (I'm being sarcastic and have to mention this for legal reasons) of Street Fighter II. As of recent, the choices of fighting games Capcom has put out some quality stuff. Most notable "recent" titles would be, Capcom vs. SNK 1 & 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, SFIII:3rd Strike. If this was the old Capcom, you would have a Turbo version for each one and probably make money...back in the day. As said before, today is not the early '90's where you can milk a lush arcade market with pretty much any fighting game. It's the new millenium where every single arcade release must be towards the appeal of the majority of gamers, otherwise, expect to drop your shorts and stocks to the bottom.

So we ask, "what is the next big fighter for Capcom?" "No comment," says Chris. Here we go again. (*Sigh*) Everyone makes my job so hard and I'm just a fan and not getting paid a dime for this. Alright, let's redirect the question.

TRIEU: Is it safe for me to guess that Capcom is making another versus series? (To respect Chris and Capcom, the question is not direct, but it get's to the point). You don't have to tell me "yes, there is a versus game coming out from Capcom, but you can tell me if my guess is good."

Jelinek: (*Chris pauses for a few seconds*) Yes, it's safe to guess that. (Good enough for me. Heal yeah!!!)

TRIEU: Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Chris? (*A moment of silence...*)

Jelinek: No, not exactly. (*TRIEU tries to find his cigarette from the pressure, but realizes there's no smoking indoors*)

So I throw out a few guesses. "How about Capcom vs. SNK 3?" "I can't comment on that right now, there's a few things we must work out" Chris says. (From what s-c.com knows, the IP's of SNK, which are now in possession of Playmore are still in legal battles with Aruze, which is the reason why CvS3 would be delayed if it was ever made). Bandai vs. Capcom? Chris smiles, "no." Of course, I ran out of ideas and related questions to ask that I threw that one out just for the heck of it, as silly as it may be. Hey, I'd be happy with Cabbage Patch Kids vs. Capcom. We just need a new fighter from them!!

I continue my whining (I didn't really whine, but felt like I should, because darn it!! I'm a big dawg Capcom fan and I ain't finding the bone!), and press on.

TRIEU: C'mon Chris, give us something. A guess, whatever!! Marvel vs. Capcom 3, please! Something!!

Jelinek: (*Pauses*) Why does it have to be a versus? How about a versus, versus another fighter?
After this comment, I felt, as my members on s-c.com would say, my *** has fallen out.

TRIEU: You mean X vs. Y vs. Z? Uh, you're kidding. (*Wipes the sweat off his forehead and checks his pulse....sees it at 250 heartbeats a minute*)

Jelinek: Take in theory, Batman vs. Spiderman. (At this point, I've heard enough. But the greedy info. bastard I am, I want more).

TRIEU: Wait, you mean DC vs. Marvel vs. Capcom? (*TRIEU is near the state of cardiac arrest*)

Jelinek: In theory.... (lol. Whatever, as I thought in my head). We're looking into it.

So there you have it folks.

There's more to this meeting/interview I had with Chris and some of it needs to remain completely confidential.

Making Marvel vs. Capcom 3 would be too easy, and could possibly make less money for them in the arcade market. Some may disagree, but personally, I have a bit of experience with how the arcade industry works and with buying and selling new products, a rehash (especially when the name of the game is the same with a # after it) may drive vendors away and may see it as too risky.

During the course of this meeting Chris asked me about the market and if it's fans would like to see another versus game, hence s-c.com has placed a poll here:, which Chris (and Capcom) will view and make some decisions based on it. So if the responses are against vs. fighters, it's possible their plans may change, but so far, it's looking like we're getting another vs. fighter on our hands.

I don't know about you guys/gals, but you're nutz if you don't want to see DC vs. Marvel vs. Capcom. If anything this title is in the planning stages and nothing has been programmed to this date.

So why not ante the bet up and go for it all? DC vs. Marvel vs. Capcom is not the next logical choice, but the 2 steps above choice that any great producer would do. Don't match or copy anyone, but be ahead of the game. Something Capcom is great at doing in it's fighting games...simply enhancing not only gameplay, but the features in it.

Capcom and Chris, you guys rock!!