Well… I created this account specifically to reply to this comment thread, so… I guess I better make this good. The first thing I’d like to point out is that this is called “The Angry Joe Show.” Or don’t you guys realize this? Seriously. Those of you bashing Joe, lighten up. There’s a reason this show is called “The Angry Joe Show.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he really is angry at this, but not as angry as he appears to be in the show. It’s called ACTING, ladies and gentlemen!

Secondly, for those of you who are taking Joe seriously when he said, at the end of the vid, to NOT buy this game… you’re exactly what you’re accusing those of us who will be buying Ultimate MvC 3 to be. You accuse us of being “fanboys” and buying into Capcom’s bullshit corporate marketing. And just what do you think YOU are doing by promoting Joe’s obviously not 100% serious demand of the consumers to not buy Ultimate MvC 3? Food for thought. And just because I’m kind of offended by some of the direct attacks on those of us who will be buying it (yes I’m going to buy it), think about this. I KNEW Capcom was going to do something like this. So guess what? I didn’t buy the first one. Instead I waited for the second version with a better roster, features, and balancing, and that costs 10-20 dollars less. That doesn’t make me a “fanboy” or a “sucker,” that makes me smarter than you. You shouldn’t be pissed at me for buying Ultimate, you should be pissed at yourself for buying the Original. If you REALLY want to influence the corporate side of things, you don’t do that by not buying the better version of a game you know you want. You don’t slap the company in the face for acknowledging that they fucked up and that the fans are pissed. What you do is don’t buy the FIRST game. In fact, we who didn’t buy the first game, but will be buying this one aren’t the fanboys. You who bought the first game knowing it was going to be inferior and knowing that a second version was on the way are the fanboys. You’re the ones who got suckered in by Capcom to buy the first game and gave them all your money, not me. So don’t go around saying that I’m going to fuck it up for the rest of you because I’m going to buy Ultimate. You already fucked yourself by buying the Original.

The third thing I’d like to talk about is why you are all raging in the first place: The Roster. Really? Of all things you could, and probably should, be raging about, the biggest thing you can come up with is the Roster? The most ambiguous part of a fighting game? Granted, I was kinda pissed when Capcom revealed their Roster for MvC 3 and, yes, it was a big reason why I didn’t buy the Original, but come on. It’s not like MvC 3 is a bad game. It’s Marvel vs Capcom, for crying out loud! As I said, the Roster is ambiguous, at best. No matter who you are or what your franchise is, your Roster is never going to please everyone. While I don’t necessarily agree with all of the Roster choices in MvC 3, I have to give Capcom props for having enough balls to try something new. As many people have pointed out in their comments here, a lot of you think that just because you’ve never heard of the character or you don’t like the character, that the character is going to suck. THAT is exactly the reason why Capcom and Marvel included these characters in the first place. They’re saying, “We’re going to try new characters and try to show you that some character you maybe never heard of before or you don’t like in the comics or in a certain video game are actually pretty good in a fighting game.” And let’s not forget what Capcom is GOOD at. Let’s not forget WHY they’re rich and successful. And that is because they know how to make a consistently good game engine. The Mega Man Series (and spinoffs thereof, like X and Zero) are a testament to that. We’ll get to The Blue Bomber later. Also, Street Fighter Series. Versus Series. I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point. The one thing that Capcom does better than any other developer is design consistently great game engines. Marvel vs Capcom 3 is no different. The Core of it is solid as ever and consistent with the other games in the franchise. Over The Top Supers? Check. Level 3 Awesome Supers? Mostly Check (some Level 3s are still crap, but every character has, at least, one). Hidden Max Level Supers? Bonus! Alternate Colors for Characters? Check. Alternate Costumes (many characters do have outright different costumes in addition to color alterations)? Bonus! Fast-Paced Frenetic Action? Check. Smooth Tag & Call System? Check. Beautiful Stage Backgrounds? Check. Awesome Recognizable Theme Musics? Check. Gigantic Super Boss That Makes No Sense? Check. Everything you’ve come to expect from a Capcom Versus Fighting Game is there. The staples are there in full force, the core engine is as robust and smooth as ever, and the experience is still top notch. And before you guys say it, no the game isn’t balanced. But what fighting game is? Some of you may be too young to really remember, but I’m old enough to remember exactly what made old school fighting games so much fun and so good. And I just outlined it for you. A solid roster, a robust engine, and game mechanics that work. That’s a fighting game at its core. And Capcom delivers that and then some. Now, I will grant you that with modern gaming, gamers are beginning to expect more. Especially Online functionality. On that I will say this: Put enough money into your server bandwidth, then we’ll talk. Right now, fighting games, in my opinion, suck on the Internet. I’ve seen my friend play various Tekken games on line (5 and 6, to be precise) and I’m glad I’ve never played them online. The lag is HORRIBLE. When playing a fighting game Online becomes viable, then I’ll give a crap. Until then, who cares? I will say this, however, that I agree with Joe that if you’re going to give the game Online Functionality, you really do need to include a Spectator Mode for people waiting in the lobby, What Capcom did with respect to that is just bad form. Two name plates bumping and grinding? Really, Capcom? I would also like to point out one last thing about Rosters. When a company has the fundamentals down and is consistent with those fundamentals across the board with a game series, they can do whatever the Hell they want with the Roster. Why? Because you, the player, can play a specific game out of the series for the Roster alone and never have to worry about differences in game quality because the game itself will always be the same. Case in point: King of Fighters. That series’ Roster was always in a state of flux. If you ask any fan of the series, they’ll have their own favorite game and I can guarantee you that their choice is based, primarily, on which game had their favorite Roster, not which game was better. Why? Because every game played, more or less, the same. The exceptions to that would probably be the more recent KoF games. I’ve never played… 13, I think was the most recent, so I can’t really comment on that one.

Now my Fourth and Final topic of discussion at this time… Mega Man. Let me start by saying that I understand where you all are coming from. I was pissed when I heard Mega Man wasn’t going to be in the game. And I was further upset at hearing that Mega Man Legends 3 and Mega Man Universe were canceled and that Mega Man was, originally, slated to be included in Ultimate MvC 3/MvC 3 DLC, but was axed at the 11th hour. I also agree with those of you who said that Mega Man X should be the one included in the game. However, I think many of you don’t quite understand why all of that took place. You see, the creators of Mega Man, Tokuro Fujiwara and Keiji Inafune left Capcom. And not on good terms, from what I’ve been told. So because of this, Capcom has decided to wash their hands of Mega Man and purge their calendars of any Mega Man related projects. In essence, they want to “Benoit” Mega Man (any WWE Fans out there will no what my reference is to). Unlike WWE, though, it seems that Capcom isn’t planning on purging their history of Mega Man since they ARE making that PSP Combo Pack. They’re just not going to further the franchise. It is my understanding, though I’ve not heard through official channels, that Capcom is planning on making Zero their new Mega Man. How that’s going to work, I don’t know, but he’s all over the place right now. But yes, that’s why Legends 3 and Universe were canceled and why Mega was axed from the MvC 3 Roster at the last minute. Personally, I think the decision was stupid and juvenile, but at the end of the day, it’s Capcom’s decision. I would have loved to see a Legends 3. I was stoked for Universe. And I think it’s stupid that he’s not in MvC 3. But does that make MvC 3 a bad game? No. Does it make MvC 3 a game I don’t want to buy? No. It just means I’m going to have deal with the fact that a character that’s been a staple in the Versus Games, a character that was a cornerstone of Capcom, and a character that I love isn’t going to be in the game. It sucks, but it’s not the end of the world.

Before I end this long rant/response, I would just like to say that if you look at the MvC 3 Roster, it isn’t really bad. And, also, I just realized that Capcom did something with this game that they’ve never done. They took a chance and decided to showcase the Main Characters from their most popular and beloved franchises, new and old (with the exception of Mega Man… bastards). If you look at MvC and MvC 2, the bulk of Capcom’s characters were from fighting games. But in 3, they actually brought in a slew of characters that one wouldn’t think would be in a fighting game. The Bionic Commando. Chris Redfield. Dante. Arthur. Firebrand. Phoenix Wright (and yes, I’m a HUGE Phoenix Wright fan, so sue me if I’m heavily marking out for his debut into the fighting arena). And then they have their staples. Ryu. Morrigan. Zero. Strider. They’re effectively leveling the playing field and are saying, “The Versus Arena isn’t just for fighters any more. This affects the entirety of the Capcom Universe and those who inhabit that universe should be able and willing to defend it, regardless if they’re an inherent fighter or not.” Personally, I think it’s an interesting step and a ballsy one. They’re daring to put the Main Heroes and Villains of their Core Franchises at the forefront of their premiere crossover fighting game and that’s a move that I’m willing to support. Is the Roster perfect? Not by a long shot. But Ultimate’s Roster is far better than the Original Roster. With the re-balancing and inclusion of a Spectator Mode, and a lower price point than the Original, it’s a game I’m definitely going to be buying. And if that makes me “An Evil Fanboy,” then I guess I’m “An Evil Fanboy.”