The right to be God...I've always loved Capcom. I can't think of anything they've ever done which is extremely terrible; even those spin-offs and odd little experiments seem to be, if not excellent payoffs (Devil May Cry), at least fun demonstrations which aren't bad at all and never feel like a waste of time (Resident Evil Gun Survivor). Something about what Capcom does just clicks; unlike say, Square-Enix who is a little too aware that video-games are a cultural artifact and try to cash in on their fruits with twenty FF7 spinoffs, FF remakes, and talking about their own accomplishments like they were holistic video-game canon (I get it I get it! Final Fantasy has been around for 20+ years), Capcom sort of just goes with the flow - Mega Man instantly comes to mind as a corporate and cult mascot, yet we aren't constantly bombarded with reminders that the blue bomber is a gaming tradition that must be respected. Hell, thankfully he isn't a sacred cow - or else spin-offs like the Zero and Legends games wouldn't happen. Also, instead of trying to make games that imitate popular art, Capcom just borrows and sometimes damn near plagiarizes concepts - Dead Rising, Resident Evil, and Mega Man once again come to mind. Let's take Astro-boy and Blade Runner and mix in midi's inspired by 80's Rock - boom, Mega Man X is made.
Gotta admit it takes more than copy and pasting to make the idea appealing.
By doing this a few things get accomplished: (1) The game is rooted in familiar pop-culture themes and concepts, it's easier to delve into and spread among the masses Easier to understand. You don't come off like a crazy neckbeard who smells of cheetos and mountain dew - the game is *gasp* somewhat attractive and holds mass appeal. (2) The game is self aware of what it is doing, rather than trying to march around as high art it realizes it's a videogame. Devil May Cry and Resident Evil 4 work really well because they embrace over-the-top situations that can only be pulled off in video-games; any other medium wouldn't be able to maintain the suspension of disbelief. (3) Being self-aware and embracing the fact that you're a video-game, not an interactive movie or an interactive novel, along with some semblance of artistic style and themes allows games to be made that, while not extreme deep, mind-altering endeavors, are extremely well put together and fun. They work. Mega Man 5 may be the worst in my opinion of the classic series, but it still works - and for an NES game, it still has what was for it's time an excellent little story boiling with all kinds of plot twists and cut-scenes which for an NES game were quite impressive. Mega Man 5 is also an example of the "Ain't Broke Don't Fix It" mentality the company runs with. So yeah...Code Veronica.
