Interviews// Marvel vs Capcom 3

SPOnG: Games in general are becoming more simplified. Do you think that's the right way to go for games in the future? You have things like social gaming on Facebook and they're all going for that instant, simplified experience. Do you think that's the right way forward, is there room for it and will there be room for games like Marvel vs Capcom 3 in the future?

Ryota Niitsuma: It is true that there are a lot of games with easy controls and easy experiences, but if we were to make every game simple then the majority of people who play games will probably be dissatisfied by the too simple nature.

Marvel vs Capcom 3 may appear simple, and there are certain levels you can get to by playing it lightly, but it rewards you the more technical you get. If you only play with one button, you get only this much fun – it's enough to fuel you for that first bit. Then once you get used to that, and you become adventurous enough to use two buttons, you would get that much more gratitude and satisfaction out of it.

So the depth in this game is in several different stages. If you stick with it to the end, and are able to utilise all the buttons, then you'll get all that the game has to offer.

Looking at titles like Street Fighter IV doing immensely well all over the world, I don't think the world is trending towards simple games, because in a way Street Fighter IV is a very technical game. And if a game like that is selling several million copies, then I think that's proof right there of the contrary.

I just think the apparent trend towards simple games is more a case of the game population expanding, rather than everyone's gameplay tastes changing.


SPOnG: What about arcades? The arcade scene is said to be dwindling in Japan. I assume Marvel vs Capcom 3 is getting something of an arcade release there – what's your assessment of the industry?

Ryota Niitsuma: There is in fact no arcade release of Marvel vs Capcom 3 in Japan. Super Street Fighter IV is now doing a location test in Japan, and the community seems to love it. I understand arcade games and fighting games can't really be separated – they are one entity, and I personally want to see the arcade scene flourish. However, it's quite uncertain how the arcade industry is going to survive.


SPOnG: Is that uncertainty one of the reasons why there's no arcade release of Marvel vs Capcom 3?

Ryota Niitsuma: Marvel vs Capcom 3 is actually irrelevant to what the arcade scene is currently looking like. This is because we are more bound by the contract between Marvel Comics rather than how the arcades are doing. So in our initial contract, we decided that it was going to release on PS3 and 360. If it does well, and if Marvel agrees, then there's a possibility for an arcade release. At the moment, we're still not sure about that, though.


SPOnG: Disney acquired Marvel Comics a few months ago – has that had any impact on the development of this game?

Ryota Niitsuma: The news about that came in while the game had already started development, and we were all kind of anticipating some sort of major announcement from Marvel on the matter. But we didn't hear anything, and absolutely nothing has changed. We feel like we wasted a bit of our nerves fearing the worst (laughs)!


SPOnG: Have you guys had any contact with Disney at all since the acquisition or has it really been a case of working strictly with Marvel?

Ryota Niitsuma: Although there has been this acquisition, I personally feel that Disney isn't really sure how to handle Marvel. It's been granted quite a high independence when it comes to Disney's direction.

I actually met with Disney Japan with the Marvel vs Capcom 3 team recently, just in case we were going to have a problem. They basically said that although Marvel is under their umbrella, they're not really sure how they need to treat them. And that was just Disney Japan, so Disney on a global level probably haven't even started thinking about what to do with Marvel yet (laughs)!


SPOnG: Interesting! I ask, obviously, because Capcom have developed a lot of 'Versus' games – there's always the inevitable question of whether you'll do a Disney vs Capcom game. Capcom's done Disney titles in the past, after all.

Ryota Niitsuma: (Laughs) We can't deny it, but if it does happen I would imagine it would be quite far out in the future. The nature of games and the way we cross over [with other media] has changed vastly since the classic days. I've not heard of any plans about that though, so far.