One cannot help but get the impression that Capcom isn't super into Mega Man these days. After cancelling Mega Man Universe back in March, all that was left on the franchise's development docket was Mega Man Legends 3, a 3DS sequel to the long-dormant Mega Man Legends action RPG series propelled heavily by community input.
Today, Capcom threw a goose into that propeller, as it officially put the kibosh on the entire project. According to the company's official blog entry, "it was not felt [by Capcom management] that the Mega Man Legends 3 Project met the required criteria" to go into full production. Both the full game, and the Prototype version, have been entirely shelved.
Since the sequel was announced last year, Capcom had been taking feedback from enthusiastic community members on the content of the game. The Prototype version of the game was even planned for launch with the 3DS e-shop back in June. When that didn't happen, that probably should have been our first clue that something was amiss. Actually, come to think of it, series creator Keiji Inafune's departure from Capcom (and the project) back in November probably should have been our first hint (even though the blog entry proclaims that Inafune's departure had nothing to do with the cancellation). So, really, we had two hints. We really are thick-headed sometimes.
This latest cancellation does seem to leave the Mega Man brand between a Rock(man) and a Hard (Man) place. Capcom has nothing announced for the foreseeable future, leaving fans of the little blue robot boy bereft of anything to look forward to. Capcom's FAQ does state that, "Mega Man is still an important franchise within Capcom’s portfolio and we will continue to pursue opportunities to create new titles in the series," but exactly how long we'll have to wait for them to "pursue" those "opportunities" remains unknown.
Now excuse me as I pull out my copy of Mega Man 2 and sob uncontrollably for the remainder of the day.