MvC 3 Producer Explains Dead Rising's Frank West's Absence

[Logan Westbrook]

MvC 3 Producer Explains Dead Rising's Frank West's Absence

The zombie-bashing photojournalistic was primed and ready to appear, but Capcom cut him at the last minute due to technical problems.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Marvel-vs-Capcom-Worlds-Playstation-3/dp/B003IEBO9Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1295884251&sr=8-4] producer Ryota Niitsuma has explained why Dead Rising star Frank West will not be making an appearance in the crossover fighter. West was going to appear, he said, but Capcom felt that it would have taken too much work to include him.

Ever since Capcom announced the game, fans have been speculating [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105731-Ten-Unannounced-Fighters-Waiting-for-Marvel-vs-Capcom-3] about who might appear in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. West's was a name that appeared on a lot of peoples' lists, especially after his inclusion in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom [http://www.amazon.com/Tatsunoko-vs-Capcom-All-Stars-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B002EE5SAC/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1295884356&sr=1-1] on the Wii. What's more, fans took a distinctly Frank West-shaped silhouette of an unannounced character in early promotional material as proof that he'd be duking it out with Ryu, Wolverine, and the rest of the roster. That is until Capcom's Chris Svensson poured cold water on the idea, saying that fans shouldn't assume that the silhouette belonged to West.

But it now appears that this was really just a cover story, as West was in the game up until fairly recently. Not only did West appear in promotional material - he was even going to be in one of the cinematic trailers - but he was practically finished when the decision was made to drop him. Niitsuma said that West's moves had proven to be a sticking point, and the development team had found it harder than expected to get them working. The team felt that the resources needed to iron out the kinks would have been better spent elsewhere, and so West got axed.

Interestingly, the idea that West's moves had proven problematic for Capcom is an idea that was also put forward in the Twitter leak [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106148-Twitter-Poster-Supposedly-Reveals-Marvel-vs-Capcom-3-Secrets] about the game last year. The poster suggested that one of West's super combos, which attacked his opponent with a horde of zombies, was causing slowdown in online matches, and that Capcom yanked the character because it didn't have time to fix the problem.

Niitsuma also said that another character that fans speculated about - Ace Attorney star Phoenix Wright - could possibly make an appearance as a downloadable character, provided that the game proved to be popular. Niitsuma didn't say he was a definite, however, just that he was on the list. He also pointed out that Wright lacked the variety of moves that you'd normally expect from a fighting game character.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds comes out for PS3 and Xbox 360 on February 15th.

Source: Videogamer [http://www.videogamer.com/news/frank_west_cut_phoenix_wright_considered_for_mvc3.html]







Permalink

 

[Tim Latshaw]

They couldn't figure out how to get a Servbot mask on MODOK, could they.

 

[Ghengis John]

I can't see any reason Frank can't show up as DLC, but the explanation is hard to understand. If Tron Bonne can call forth a blitz of characters as we've seen in some of the trailers why not frank?

 

[Armored Prayer]

I really bummed they removed him, I always used him in TvC.

Perhaps when the game is released they can go back and try to work the problems out and release him as DLC. That seems like a good solution.

 

[DTWolfwood]

Niitsuma also said that another character that fans speculated about - Ace Attorney star Phoenix Wright - could possibly make an appearance as a downloadable character, provided that the game proved to be popular.

hah aren't they modest XD

plus thats better news than franks west absence! can't imagine they just completely got rid of all the work they did for West tho. He should make his way to DLC

 

[Senaro]

I really bummed they removed him, I always used him in TvC.

Perhaps when the game is released they can go back and try to work the problems out and release him as DLC. That seems like a good solution.

That's a good point. They did say they're already considering adding other characters if the game proves to be popular. Especially since it seems that they've already made the character and have most of his stuff ready.

Also, as I can tell from this article, West's attacks were so amazing that the online couldn't keep up with them. Shame I could never LAND that attack on other players. I'm a pretty sucky Frank.

 

[Evilsanta]

That's to bad. But they still got a big roster.

And i can't wait until it is released.

 

[Gigaguy64]

I have a feeling that lag is a major thing with frank.

In TvC the match can slow down greatly if the opponent spams too many of Frank's Zombie moves at the same time.
It gets really annoying and frustrating.

Though if he is released as DLC later ill get him.


And while Wright would be awesome, i also have a rd time seeing him with a decent moveset.


But anyway, i hope Huitzel and Jon Talbane or on that list as well.

They deserve to be in a game like this.

 

[2xDouble]

Aw... well, at least that means Frank is practically a shoe-in for DLC. All they have to do is fix the one super's lag-inducing effects, right? What do they have but time to work on it after the game drops?

Also, yay for Phoenix Wright on the "MvC 3 DLC-maybe" list (heh, that rhymes, four times!). I can just see some witty banter between he and Jean Grey's Phoenix now. Does anyone know where such a list may be posted? or should we just go ahead and make one up ourselves?

 

[Shirokurou]

Never really cared about Frank West, so... no comment.

It's sad that Victor Delacroix isn't in the game. Chaos Legion needs some love.

 

[Red Rum]

Yeah, I can see him as a DLC character.

If they send you one Marvel fighter and one Capcom fighter in each Download (like Jill Valientine and Shuma Gorath in the same DLC), who would Frank (or Chuck, for that matter) be paired with?

 

[Jazoni89]

Yeah, but remember Capcom he has covered wars y'know.

 

[Hawkeye16]

That shot of him holding a dismembered Servbot takes an even darker turn with Tron Bonne in the game.

 

[Ne1butme]

No moves for Phoenix Wright? Come on, he's got his HOLD IT!!!! (something that might freeze or temporarily make the opponent move slower), TAKE THAT!!! (where he gets the judge to throw the book), GOTCHA!!! (an air throw), inverse psyche-lock (creates chains that hit the opponent), and finally OBJECTION!!!! (which just melts the mind of the opponent).

And no one can stand up to the MEGA-OBJECTION!!!!!

 

[Geekosaurus]

Sounds like a bit of a cop-out. I guess they've got a deadline to meet.

 

[SageRuffin]

Having never played either Dead Rising, I couldn't care less. Give me Gene from God Hand or a character from Rival Schools/Power Stone and all of Capcom's current fuck-ups will be forgiven (a fleeting dream, I know... but I can imagine, right?).

 

[The_Spirit_of_Epic]

i can see them fixing the problems they had and possibly release him in a future dlc or something. im only hoping. maybe along with chuck green.

 

[Baresark]

Haha, I find the slow down explanation hard to swallow. I played the living hell outta TvC, and never had that problem... on the Wii's hardware. The internet based matches were a bit fidgety anyway. I hope he makes it as DLC, definitely one of my favorite characters. Too bad we PS3 owners are getting proper fucked on the DLC for Dead Rising 2, but that is a whole other story.

 

[Sean Strife]

Yeah, I can see him as a DLC character.

If they send you one Marvel fighter and one Capcom fighter in each Download (like Jill Valientine and Shuma Gorath in the same DLC), who would Frank (or Chuck, for that matter) be paired with?

Maybe Molly or Karolina from the Runaways?

...what? I want a fucking Runaways character to get some love in MvC3, especially since they're getting ready to start filming a Runaways movie later this year.