How would a photojournalist do in a brawl against people who can throw fireballs, control magnetism, and just generally pound any normal human's face in with one finger? We were supposed to find out next month, but sadly it isn't happening anymore.
Frank West from Dead Rising already showed that he could hold his own in a superpowered fight in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but he won't get a chance to strut his stuff (and his ever-present camera) against Marvel and Capcom's roster of superhumans in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.
Even though they've already invested quite some time in developing Frank West for inclusion in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, producer Ryota Niitsuma revealed that they ultimately decided to cut West from the upcoming fighting game.
"As for Frank West, he was actually in the process quite deep, and in one of our high quality CG trailers he was actually part of it," said Niitsuma in an interview with VideoGamer.com last week."But we've taken him out, due to the fact that we've foreseen some extra work involved, just from the nature of his moves," Niitsuma added. "We felt we could direct our resources to better use, so we've taken Frank out."
In Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, West's moves centered on a mix of grapples and zombie attacks. He also had this comparatively easy-to-execute infinite combo glitch. Perhaps smoothing out the kinks in this glitch is among the extra work Niitsuma is talking about. His attacks were also quite powerful, so there must have been balance issues to work out as well.
Frank West isn't the only casualty. Phoenix Wright also didn't make the final roster, although there's still hope for those who are looking forward to seeing Capcom's favorite lawyer yell "Objection!" as he pounds his opponents' faces into mush.
"Phoenix Wright is obviously a famous franchise - especially in Europe, actually. It would be interesting to see him, although he distinctively lacks the number of moves he might have [in a fighting game]," said Niitsuma.
"But if Marvel vs. Capcom 3 does well, he's definitely up on the list as one of the characters to add, given the chance."
So there you go. If you want Phoenix then convince all your friends to buy Marvel vs. Capcom 3 when it comes out on February 15.