Hey, I know you.
Back in August, I posted about Capcom’s promotional piece for their upcoming virtual console game, Mega Man 9. For those unfamiliar, Mega Man 9 is a game created with the limitations of the 1980’s Nintendo console in mind. 9 is a nod to old-school gameplay and its roots - Mega Man, as a series, has spawned across many consoles and generations.
The image above is another attraction piece, created with as much care as the tee print. The game itself is a download, which is why the package in that image is a limited edition. The retail version of this game comes on a CD, which is encased in an NES cartridge, which comes in an NES box. It started out as a press kit, but the demand from fans became so loud that Capcom decided to run a limited number for the public.
You should clap clap for Capcom, but not because they listened to Mega Man fans and offered to mass-produce what was supposed to be swag, since all this was one giant madeleine calculated from the word hell-yeah-let’s-go-make-this-game. They knew the audience, and they knew what had to be done to pull them in. When you not only make the eighth sequel to a series that started back in the late eighties but make it in the image of its predecessors, you aren’t banking on a new audience. If they did want a new generation of Mega Man players, putting “9” in the title probably wouldn’t be the way to go - Capcom has rebooted the series more than once.
And from a financial perspective, all this talk of nostalgia and knowing the audience means Capcom doesn’t have to spend nearly as much on development as they do with a game made for current consoles. Look at the screens for 9 - does that game look like it had a 150-200 person team, with a 10 million dollar budget?
September 23rd, 2008 by Mike / 0 Comments / Trackback / games, marketing