Capcom isn’t new to the mobile scene, but it also hasn’t fully devoted itself to creating high-quality mobile games based on its most popular IPs until now. Capcom’s mobile-focused subsidiaries haven’t been doing too well the past few years, so it’s done a little bit of shuffling around and created a new mobile division called – you guessed it – Capcom Mobile. When I saw Capcom was gauging interest in a new Mega Man game within a survey that also asked Japanese fans’ feelings on mobile games, I thought that maybe we were headed this direction. I hate to say it, but it looks like the only new Mega Man game we’ll be playing in the near future will be on our smartphones or tablets.
This is the trend right now. Capcom joins Square Enix, Sony, Konami, and Nintendo in its newly renewed commitment to a more prominent presence in the mobile market. There’s a lot of money there, and mobile giants like Zynga, GameLoft, and King have proven that free-to-start games can generate substantial revenue. This is especially true in the East, where most gaming takes place in small chunks as people commute to and from school or work.
Are we about to see a major renaissance in mobile gaming? High-end phones and tablets are already cranking out visuals that look as good as what we play on our home consoles, and now the biggest names in the industry are expressing their collective intention to put out great mobile games featuring their strongest characters. Square Enix already has a great track record with games like Final Fantasy Record Keeper, Lara Croft GO, and Hitman GO. Mittomo is off to a fantastic start, and Nintendo (like Capcom) plans to put out a few more really strong games by March of next year. This could really change the way we play our games, but I’m still a bit skeptical.
I tend to stay away from mobile games, mainly because I hate playing games with a touch-screen; it only works well with a few genres. Puzzle games, visual novels, RPGs, match-3s, and runners all work fine with touch-screen controls, but I’d never want to play an action game – like Mega Man – or anything that required precise controls – like Monster Hunter – on a smartphone or tablet. Maybe if a wide range of bluetooth controllers are supported and I could just throw a Wii U pro controller in my backpack I’d be down, but I don’t think too many people are going to do that.
That’s what has me worried. I don’t want the new Mega Man to be an automated runner of some kind, and I don’t know how many more match-3s I can handle. I’m all for a new wave of mobile games, but I don’t know if I’m for my favorite IPs initiating that wave. I suppose the downside of this new focus on mobile is the possibility that our favorite developers and publishers start taking our favorite games and focusing their time and attention on creating cheesy, dumbed-down versions of them that no one wants to play for more than five minutes at a time. Games like Puzzle and Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, Final Fantasy Record Keeper, Lara Croft GO, and remastered versions of classic games I’d be excited about, but I just can’t imagine getting excited by a mobile Mega Man or Monster Hunter.
I’m willing to keep an open mind, and I hope that Capcom is capable of producing something that proves me wrong, but I really don’t think that our favorite characters have a bright future in mobile gaming; none bright enough to merit a publisher’s time and resources, at any rate. What about you guys? Are you excited that the industry is finally catching on and ushering in the golden age of mobile gaming, or do you see this as a big threat to some of the most iconic games in the industry?