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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Overall, has Capcom been the best Third Party dev/publisher for Nintendo?

 

Overall, has Capcom been the best Third Party dev/publisher for Nintendo?

Yes 12 31.58%
 
No 20 52.63%
 
Maybe 6 15.79%
 
See Results 0 0%
 
Total:38

I was recently pondering about which developers and publishers have released well-received games for Nintendo platforms since the Famicom first started getting third party support in 1984. Lots of names came up time after time, such as Square/Enix/Squenix, Ubisoft, Level 5, and even SEGA. But overall, looking back at all of Nintendo's major platforms, I can't think of any company whose total output on Nintendo platforms is rivaled by any other than Nintendo themselves.

Let's review this platform by platform:

  • NES - Capcom releases dozens of games on the NES, many of which are exclusives. Loads of them are critically acclaimed, either at the time or in retrospect, including the Mega Man series, their Disney licensed games, Sweet Home, etc. Several of their NES games sell over a million units, including Mega Man 2, Ghosts n Goblins, and Ducktales.
  • GB - Capcom releases less Game Boy titles, and they are generally inferior versions of NES titles, but games such as Mega Man V and Ducktales 2 are well regarded.
  • SNES - Capcom is probably the third party biggest supporter of the SNES besides Squaresoft, thanks in large part to the success of Street Fighter II. Street Fighter II: World Warrior is the most successful 3rd party game on a Nintendo console until the Just Dance craze on the Wii, and between its various versions, Street Fighter II sells about 12.5 million copies on the SNES. This is in addition to more million-sellers from Capcom, including Aladdin, Final Fight, Mega Man X, Super Ghouls n Ghosts, etc.
  • N64 - (Capcom releases a couple of ports. This is honestly their weak point in their history of supporting Nintendo.)
  • GBC - Capcom support is not quite up to the standards of the SNES, but they release games like Mega Man Xtreme and publish games like Toki Tori and Shantae.
  • GBA - A major revival for Capcom supporting Nintendo. The two flagship Mega Man series for the system are Mega Man Battle Network and Mega Man Zero, which end up with ten GBA games between them. Note that the Battle Network series includes some of the Mega Man series's biggest commercial hits. Additionally, there are plenty of ports of classic retro games, as well as the Japan-only Ace Attorney series.
  • GC - Capcom is one of the biggest supporters of the GameCube, with lots of exclusive or timed-exclusives. The biggest hits are Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil Remake, and Resident Evil 0, which are all million-sellers on the underselling GameCube. Other notable hits include Viewtiful Joe and Killer7.
  • DS - Nintendo released less major hits on the DS, but there were plenty of acclaimed Capcom games on the system. Titles included Ace Attorney ports and new entries, Okamiden, Ghost Trick, and some more obscure Mega Man titles.
  • Wii - Not as strong as SNES and GameCube support, but still solid. Capcom releases the third entry in their growing Monster Hunter series as a Wii exclusive. In addition to polished ports of games like Okami and Resident Evil 4, there are also new successful spinoffs for Resident Evil. Other critically remarkable games included Zack & Wiki and Tatsunoko vs Capcom. They also support the Wii Virtual Console, with eventually 28 available titles in North America for various platforms.
  • 3DS - People jokingly referred to the 3DS as the Capcom 3DS based on the amount of support they were giving the platform at points. Highlights include releasing the best-reviewed launch title for the system in Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition; not only porting over Monster Hunter 3 but launching Monster Hunter 4 and Generations as 3DS exclusives; releasing both updated versions of their Monster Hunter games as well as spinoffs on the 3DS; continuing the Ace Attorney series on the 3DS, despite the series being increasingly brought to other platforms; continued support for the Virtual Console; and releasing two Resident Evil titles in the first year of the 3DS's lifespan, one of which was actually pretty good.
  • Wii U - Considering how third party support for the Wii U was similar to that of the N64, I think Capcom porting over 3DS titles like Monster Hunter and Resident Evil while occasionally releasing digital exclusives like Ducktales Remastered and Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara is practically a minor victory.
  • Switch - In addition to the upcoming Monster Hunter Rise and Stories 2, Capcom has already released countless older games in collections and HD makeovers, along with releasing games like Mega Man 11.

Overall, out of the 12 platforms mentioned above, Capcom is a major contributor on 5 of them, a more modest contributor on 5, and only an effective non-entity on the N64 and Wii U. Lots of third parties have been major contributors on one or two Nintendo platforms, but can you name any other that has THIS many high points and THIS few low points?



Love and tolerate.

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I agree Capcom has been very supportive with Nintendo since the beginning and it shows. My current issue with them is just their high price on old games for the Switch.



Ah, you mean overall? Then maybe. Though a case could be made for Square.



My (locked) thread about how difficulty should be a decision for the developers, not the gamers.

https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=241866&page=1

In the 90s they were No 2 as Square was No 1. As for Switch not when half the game is on cart and the other half a download or selling each DMC game for $20 when the HD collection on PS4 is $30 for all 3.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

Overall its possible, but the highs are higher with Square IMO.



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shikamaru317 said:
Nautilus said:

Ah, you mean overall? Then maybe. Though a case could be made for Square.

Square and Enix support were pretty strong for Nintendo early on, but it seemed to me like they largely abandoned Nintendo starting with N64. Square dropped Nintendo for FF starting with FF7, while Enix dropped Nintendo for DQ 7 and DQ 8, returning to Nintendo on DQ9. Square only gave Nintendo some of the KH spinoffs and none of the main series games so far. Nintendo does get some Square support still, with Bravely Default 2 incoming for instance, but Capcom seems to be supporting Switch even stronger, they already released several games on Switch, with some MH exclusives inbound for Switch. Seems to me like Capcom Nintendo support has been more consistent across all generations. 

Square support for Nintendo platforms only saw a real decline for the home consoles, and of those only N64, Gamecube and Wii U to an extent.

As far as I know, the handhelds received great support and were somewhat pretty consistent over the decades, with games like DQ, FF(mostly spin offs), one time franchises like The World Ends With You(though a sequel is now comming) and so much more.

I do think Capcom has a real shot at being first here, but Square presence on Nintendo systems is as strong, in my view.



My (locked) thread about how difficulty should be a decision for the developers, not the gamers.

https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=241866&page=1

Square is the other main competitor for the Top spot, and its heights were definitely higher than Capcom's (dat SNES support). However, I feel that Square/SE's low points of support were generally lower than Capcom's, to the extent where they had literally no support for the Game Boy Color and N64. And even more recently, I'm not sure how great Square Enix support is for consoles compared to Capcom's.

I'd givee Square and Squenix top marks on the SNES, GBA, and DS, but overall that's still only three outstanding platforms, compared to 5 for Capcom.



Love and tolerate.

I mean, including every Nintendo console ever, it's probably Capcom, just because Square's home console support wasn't very good after the SNES (despite having great handheld support), whereas Capcom maintained good support for both handhelds and home consoles (I guess aside from the N64 which even then got a port of one of their most iconic games that was actually pretty good, so). I think the problem, however, is that Square kind of had their renaissance on the SNES, whereas Capcom ended up (which isn't really anyones fault, lol, just the way things work) having a LOT of their breakout franchises after Nintendo being their main platform, such as Dead Rising, Resident Evil, and Devil May Cry. Hell, even Monster Hunter's breakout outside Japan is half Nintendo's doing and half Playstation's. It's weird, the association % of Sony to Nintendo is probably about the same for Square and Capcom. But whereas Square kind of had all their biggest franchises made by the end of the SNES era, Capcom was really just starting.

For Switch, it's by far Square, but I think Capcom could get much closer by the end of the Switch's life. 

Last edited by AngryLittleAlchemist - on 01 December 2020

Yeah you are right. Square could've been the one, their support on Nintendo handhelds was phenomenal but on the home console department they only came back strong with the Switch, the consoles between Snes and now barely saw any support from Square. Capcom so far was more balanced and they had tons of exclusives on Nintendo consoles over the generations, even though most were temporary.



Switch Friend Code: SW - 1286-0025-9138

Capcom supported Nintendo's home console, the 64, through thick and thin. That's gotta count for something. In terms of consistency and quality, it has to go to Capcom.