with the recent rumors of Project Justice perhaps being brought to current consoles to test the waters for Rival Schools support,
Capcom would greatly benefit from bringing Project Justice to PS4 (the best market in the industry) right.
Darkstalkers Resurrection was a flop because its focus was divided between porting the arcade versions of Night Warriors and Vampire Savior, neither of which are up to the content standards that the best PS1 and Saturn Darkstalkers games have for playable selection and overall modes.
Some fans appreciate Capcom’s attempt at lifting up Darkstalkers, but the execution was not designed well enough to entice people to buy the latest edition, and the oversaturation of fighting games and DS ports people already played on 2 to 3 platforms wasn’t helping matters.
but to Rival Schools advantage, there hasn’t been a Rival Schools port since the ps1 port on PS3 store, but the previous game is sorely outdated and there has yet to be a modern console with Project Justice playable.
the board game mode translated and available on the PS4 version of Project Justice would greatly boost it’s sales numbers
(the most innovative and creative mode in the entire fighting genre’s history and industry in general!! even if it’s not your cup of tea,
millions screaming for something different in fighting games would appreciate it. )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQBsoyjoKmQ
and the Japanese version’s character creation is better than just premade edit characters as extras
Project Justice has a local tournament mode which is extremely valuable and allows even a single player to enjoy it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr0RZBQ0vzc
and it has a lot of competitive potential
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuF1BZ-9y8o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy5G81kO3ZU
but the timing of promoting a CvS2 remaster/new edition is going to hurt Rival Schools hype if Capcom releases CvS2 before or close to Project Justice remaster (just like how Resident Evil 4 ruined Outbreak File #2’s hype, attention, and sales).
there’s already a lot of fighting games distracting consumers, SFV included. if Project Justice is to dominate the “alternative fighting game” market, Cvs2 remaster should not release the same year as Project Justice.
As you can see from fighting game community reactions, they are talking about CvS2 more than Project Justice, which is unfair considering CvS2 has more ports and marketing over the years, and been in more arcades, while Rival Schools hasn’t been marketed since even the Dreamcast days.
of course Street Fighter got to the popularity it has today BECAUSE of the priority marketing, development, and sequels attention dedicated to that franchise. same for Resident Evil. Capcom believed in those franchises, and they prospered.
Project Justice/Rival Schools series can reach those numbers if Capcom gives it the red carpet treatment, AND doesn’t set up internal competition due to promoting CvS2 alongside it. You know CvS2 promotions/presence will eat up Project Justice hype, so it’s not smart business to promote CvS2 while expecting Project Justice to achieve optimal sales when it has an overrated crossover game to compete for sales.
and Capcom vs SNK’s future is uncertain considering SNKP now is developing KOFXIV and new KOF games, and surely don’t want people to buy a new CvS instead, which they profit little from the licensing. However, Project Justice/Rival Schools franchises can flourish if the Project Justice PS4 remaster is done right, establishes itself as the definitive version beyond the Japanese Dreamcast version, and Capcom totally focuses on that remaster and save CvS2 remaster for perhaps another year.
A lot of effort is being put to make SFV a success, just like SFIV was. if that effort was put into Project Justice remaster on PS4 (and Xbox One and PC if Capcom plans that), the sales and popularity can exceed expectations and raise the standards even further with each new Rival Schools sequel
If they at least do a faithful port of the english Dreamcast version of Project Justice, that is the bare minimum that a modern port should be, though of course adding online would be a plus. Though as Darkstalkers has shown, even online with GGPO isn’t enough to entice people to play it for months/years, so Project Justice on PS4/modern platforms, has to have content that westerners didn’t have access to, like the Japanese version’s boardgame mode and player creation options. those two things would elevate a modern Project Justice remaster beyond the previous version and emulated PC version. and the boardgame mode would be all in English (or at least translated enough to make it playable), making it even better.
Capcom could screw this up in different ways:
a. announcing/promotingCvS2 remaster alongside Project Justice remaster,
b. releasing CvS2 same year as Project Justice (but even a CvS2 remaster announcement would really take a lot attention away from Project Justice)
c. porting the arcade version of Project Justice instead.
d. porting any Rival Schools that isn’t Project Justice,
e. porting Dreamcast Project Justice without the boardgame, character creation modes, nor online
(though it would still be worth getting, though like PS2CvS2 on PS3, it wouldn’t have much sales and play hours without online, which is essential for modern fighting games. but still a straight port is of dreamcast version is better than arcade or any other RS game. though it still reduces its purchase incentives by 80%.
f. if they remaster the graphics make it look worse, with no option for original graphics.
g. lazy half hearted marketing push
h. no merchandise, no tshirts
i. no physical release version
j. no physical Collector’s Edition
**k. no Hideaki Itsuno, Ono, Combofiend, and other FGC celebrities promoting it, supporting it, playing it, pushing for a EVO tournament for the latest edition of Project Justice **
I mean really, it’s not hard making Project Justice a major success in the modern market.
I mean millions of fanatics bought Final Fantasy VII at least 3 times, and countless Street Fighter games ports/editions.
It’s really in FGC and Capcom’s hands what becomes of Rival Schools franchise.