People growing up in the early 2000s may remember a
Mega Man spin-off series of media called
Mega Man Battle Network(also called
Rockman.EXE in Japan) that added some role-playing and tactical elements to the popular series; then-known as a 2D action-adventure series.
The last entry in the
Mega Man Battle Network series was released all the way back in 2009 for the Nintendo DS and, ever since, Capcom has barely ever talked about the series as a whole, or the possibility of developing a brand-new entry in the popular franchise.
During a recent interview with TV Tokyo, scenario writer for the
Mega Man Battle Network series Masakazu Eguchi and
Mega Man series producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya revealed that they are actually open to the idea of developing a brand-new entry in the Battle Network series, but there are some stipulations that must be met before they decide to move forward.
When asked whether there exists the possibility of Capcom developing another
Mega Man Battle Network game, Tsuchiya says that making a sequel isn't that easy, since it needs to be a top quality product much like its predecessors were.
"Each series has its own fans, and I've heard a lot of voices asking for sequels. There's no rule that says "we're not going to make any sequels of this game." However, were are proud of Rockman EXE being top contents back in the day, and shallow ideas aren't the answer to the avid voices. To make a sequel, we'd need careful ideas and preparations, the trends of the age, and whether the market is ripe for it… We need all of these factors to be perfectly on our side," explained Tsuchiya to TV Tokyo.
Eguchi believes that they really need to hold this potential sequel to a high standard, especially when considering that previous entries in the Battle Network series have been top quality products.
"There are some parts that were due to coincidences, but since we’re being told that "you predicted the future", these games did satisfy expectations. Overcoming those components is no easy task. We must overcome our imagination as we meet up with the expectations. If conditions for us to be so confident happen, then there might be a chance," reveals Eguchi.
While this isn't a guarantee that Capcom will eventually make another
Mega Man Battle Network game, this is still a good start. The developers seem to have given this idea some thought, and it would be nice that the series could end up making a comeback.
With all that said, Capcom has still to revive a handful of
Mega Man-related series, and chances are that
Mega Man X9 is the next in line; meaning that we would still have to wait until the
already teased Mega Man X9 releases before we can even hope for Capcom to bring back other classic
Mega Man series.