He also reflects on why a new game would be a hard sell.
Mega Man Battle Network (also known as Overseas Rockman.EXE, which is the name of the character) is one such spinoff that will live forever.
I can't tell you how many people I've met who don't care about Mega Man proper, only to find that they love the Battle Network series' strategy-oriented gameplay. He's a shining star of the Mega Man world, but here's the thing: you can only really play the franchise on stock GBA and DS hardware. That may never change, but at least it's on a few Mega Man team members' radar now.
Speaking to Capcom's Masakazu Eguchi (Director), Yuji Ishihara (Designer), Tomonori Hashinaga (Designer), Koetsu Matsuda (Programmer), Dotoku Kataoka (Programmer) and Kazuhiro Tsuchiya (Producer), TV Tokyo brought up the idea of Battle Network on modern platforms during a very detailed serial interview, and they are not opposed to the idea.
After being rushed, Eguchi was surprised by the high demand, saying he would "take notice". Ishihara "wants them ported", and Hashinaga prefers playing games on stock hardware, noting the quaint color tweaks for the GBA from the designer's perspective. As for a new entry, Eguchi feels that it was a product of the times (before Wi-Fi was widespread, and wire themes and "ing in" made more sense), it so think it would be a hard sell now.
Breaking down the social reasons why it may not work, he notes: "I think there is no longer a shared vision of the future. In the days of 'BBS', we all came together as one only place and we had fun together, but now it's the days of "SNS" You could say that "society" was the main topic, but we move to a time when "the individual" is the main topic "The future that everyone visualizes is different from the others. It's a very difficult problem to be able to summarize or compile that into the world of a game." is lost, but with a few tweaks it could work in an interconnected era if the tactical gameplay shines through.
The remnants of Mega Man Battle Network's legacy continue to shine, however superficially. Several references (including a new Mii outfit) can be found in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and the series still has plenty of fans. Hopefully something can be done eventually, but for now expect a long wait: nothing seems to be in the cards. At least the Zero/DX sub-series is enjoying a revival.
Mega Man.EXE (TV Tokyo via Rockman Corner)
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