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So I'm reading a top 10 list that Famistu readers voted as the games that made them cry the most and was instantly disappointed that Megaman Legends 3 didn't make the list. After numerous developer diaries, direct-feed footage and a promise for a public 'prototype' version, hearts were shattered everywhere when it was abruptly cancelled in July. I seriously think Capcom needs to relook at reviving Legends 3 as part of their dawdling and foggy plans to "bring back Megaman".

Pulling the plug on the game right before the release date of the prototype was poor timing, but was probably the best indicator of how much Capcom were willing to spend long-term. Maybe the employees sniffed something amiss when their pay consisted of food stamps, small farm animals and preserved organs from former employees.

The fact is, Megaman is an intellectual property - and like any property - it can theoretically be leased, rented, sold or bought by practically anyone. So why not turn to the Indie space to see if any small studio is brave enough to rent out the IP? They could self-fund the title through a process like Kickstarter and if Capcom likes what they see, they could pick up publishing rights without having to spend a cent on development.

Capcom could even organise a competition with entries consisting of a prototype and a production document. Capcom just needs to whittle down the numbers to find the best candidate, or in other words, a group of people who won't make Megaman the next has-been mascot like Cool Spot or Pepsi Man.      

This would of course come with a different set of expectations compared with Capcom's in-house development; this would be a Legends game with a redirection and probably a fraction of what the original team intended. But active fans who are still wishing for Legends 3 to return (yes, they're still around in small pockets of the internet) are desperate for almost anything at this point, so I can't exactly see many being stubborn or bitter over Capcom's "lack" of involvement. It's not like anyone from Capcom who still gives a damn about Megaman (probably the one guy who sits alone at company lunches) couldn't give intermittent feedback anyway.

And let's not forget, if you're a small developer, you're not exactly in it for the money. You're in it for the passion. And surely for at least one competent studio, having the blue moon opportunity to work on a franchise with a revered history and a mascot who's tied to millions of fans worldwide would be motive enough to ignite that passion to unparalleled heights. It's more than trying to get your foot in the door in this industry, it's living the dream.

This age of digital distribution and small developer success has obviously fostered new ways of doing business and new methods of advertising your products. Capcom no longer has to resort to old habits of dismissing a project or canning it halfway through completion because it appears "financially risky". It not only causes a scene but reinforces everything that Inafune's been banging on about with Capcom being behind the times, supposedly along with the rest of Japan's gaming industry.

And if the indie team somehow, someway flunk the final version, Capcom's lawyers can always find a loop hole to prevent it being released under some weird defamatory law and the talented indie studio can just reskin the same game with other art assets before releasing it:

See? No one loses.

By Richard Worsley (Kabal)