While my hype is still "unbound" from the new Pokken info released today, it got me thinking a few things. First is that no, Pokken isn't going to be a traditional fighting game, and that's fine. Then I started thinking that that makes two not-traditional fighting games on the Wii U, Pokken Tournament and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Then I started thinking about how there's really no traditional fighting game coming to the Wii U in the future. We had Injustice and Tekken TT2, and that's it.
When I first saw the trademark for Pokken, I was really hoping it wouldn't really be the Tekken team doing the game, because I personally enjoy Street Fighter more than Tekken. Once it was confirmed to be the Tekken team, I hoped that it would be a traditional 2D fighter so the Wii U would actually have an exclusive one to counter balance the XBO's Killer Instinct and the PS4's Street Fighter 5 (which still breaks my heart). Now we all know that it is a full 3D fighter, more akin to the Naruto Shippiden: UNS series, and I'm actually happy about that. Why? Because it means that Nintendo still needs an exclusive 2D fighter. Well, it doesn't really need one, but it would benefit greatly from having one. And that's when it hit me.
On the Wii, what was the exclusive traditional fighting game? Well, there were a few, but the best was indisputably Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars. Many call it the true successor to Marvel vs. Capcom 2.
Wait.
Capcom likely won't be able to make Marvel vs. Capcom games anymore, because of Disney's new "expanded universe" policy of their games. They even launched their own Marvel fighting game on smart phones, which is already apparently doing really well financially.
And wait.
Nintendo said last year that they are becoming more open to lisencing their IP to, and collaborating with, 3rd party devs. We've seen this with Hyrule Warriors, Pokken, Acecombat, Bayonetta 1+2, Tekken TT2, SMT x FE, and One Piece 3DS. Even with Capcom, we've scene it with Monster Hunter.
Nintendo needs an exclusive traditional 2D fighter on the Wii U. Capcom needs a new big company with big, recognisable characters, to replace Marvel for their Vs. Series. Nintendo needs to license there IPs to more 3rd party companies to prevent gaming droughts. Capcom wants to be able to sell games on the Wii U and actually make money.
All this is an absolutely perfect brewing pot for a Nintendo vs. Capcom game. A serious 1v1 fighting game with Nintendo characters is enough to sell the game on the Wii U, but with Capcom's characters along side it, it would be absolutely legendary. It would sell massive amounts for a Wii U third party game. Way more than Soul Calibur on the GCN did. If Hyrule Warriors has already sold 840K, which even surprises me, a Nintendo vs. Capcom game would be massive.
It's a collaboration years in the making and the timing is absolutely perfect. Even Yoshinori Ono commented on the idea directly and thinks it would be fun and interesting and mentioned that he would hear about it a lot from fans. Both Nintendo and Capcom are aware that there's an audience for it.
They could take the foundation they made with Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, and expand apon that. Replace the Tatsunoko characters with key Nintendo characters, and you have an instant million seller right there. It's a win for Capcom, a win for Nintendo, and most importantly a win for Wii U owners and all Nintendo fans of the future if it becomes the start of a long running franchise. And best of all, it doesn't take anything away from other console owners by existing. They could still get Capcom crossovers like with Tekken x Capcom and the like! Win-win-win-win!
