What's Capcom's Beef With iPad?
Despite a healthy portfolio of iPhone games, the company continues to neglect Apple's million selling tablet.
It's no surprise that some of the biggest third party publishers are a bit shady when it comes to App Store games. There's Square Enix, the company that charges $10 or more for RPGs that debuted over a decade ago.
Then we have Capcom. The company kicked off 2011 on a sour note by releasing MaXplosion for the iPhone, a blatant rip-off of Twisted Pixel's critically acclaimed Xbox Live title, Splosion Man; imitation is the sincerest form of flattery though, right?
We'll gladly take Street Fighter IV Volt for the iPad.
Our biggest issue, however, involves the iPad, as in a near total lack of support.
How bad is it? Capcom only has one iPad game, Resident Evil 4 HD.
The iPhone, by contrast, is a whole other story. Here, players can download such titles as Street Fighter IV Volt, Mega Man X, Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting, Final Fight, Phoenix Wright and a Capcom Arcade app that delivers hits like 1942 and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts.
Granted, we can play most of these games on the iPad, but we have to blow up the screen 2X to see anything, thereby making the graphics look pixilated (a real bummer for 2D efforts like Street Fighter II Turbo).
We just want to know what the deal is. Capcom is among the most successful third party companies in video game history, with a stable of talented programmers that should be able to port these iOS games to iPad, either with straight HD versions or universal support.
Mega Man X HD for iPad? Please, Capcom. Let us give you money.
Final Fight on the iPad? We want Final Fight on the iPad.
In fact, one of the big reasons we turn up our noses at most Capcom iOS games is because of that lack of iPad support. We prefer the much larger screen (getting old, you know).
Bottom line, there's no excuse for this. There are thousands (perhaps millions) of iPad and iPad 2 owners out there that would fork over the dough to experience Capcom's apps. If the tiniest, most unknown developer can program his or her games to be universal, certainly the house that Street Fighter built can invest the same amount of love.
