Name every single villain Mega Man ever squared off against. Right now. Yes, including Sigma's legions in the X series. Go ahead, I'll wait. You can't do it, can you? At least not without looking at some kind of Wikipedia.
In the 30 years Capcom's been around since launching the formerly mentioned blue bomber and Street Fighter in 1983, the developer / publisher has established a slew of other well known franchises, and keeping them and all of their characters straight is a Herculean feat. Hell, just naming all of Resident Evil's Tyrants and the Umbrella scientists and researchers responsible for their creation requires an employee directory.
Now that the company is celebrating its 30th anniversary, a new book is out to not only give props to Capcom's legacy, but to help fans keep its contributions to the medium and dozens of characters straight, from Final Fight to Monster Hunter and Devil May Cry to Aliens vs. Predator. Yes, they did that old arcade beat 'em up, remember that? Possibly the only decent game to feature a character based on Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The cleverly named "Capcom 30th Anniversary Character Encyclopedia" is mostly a fan guide to the Capcom's various games and associated characters, as well as a 208-page dedication to the company's laundry list of its contributions to video gaming.
"Established in 1983, Capcom is one of the world's most well-known video game publishers and is recognized for creating many important game franchises, such as Mega Man, Resident Evil, and Street Fighter. Full of facts, statistics, and historical information, the Capcom 30th Anniversary Character Encyclopedia will offer any fan of Capcom's illustrious library of video games insight and background for all of their favorite characters and video game series. The Capcom 30th Anniversary Character Encyclopedia celebrates Capcom's 30 years in the industry and gives fans concise information about every major Capcom character, their key artwork, statistics, background information, and interesting notes on the history of each character and game franchise. Including almost 200 characters from the Capcom family, this Character Encyclopedia sheds new light on these characters in a way nothing else does."
Characters featured include Resident Evil's Jill Valentine and Ada Wong, Mega Man X's Zero, the titulat Vietwiful Joe, Darkstalkers' succubus Morrigan, and...by my count, about 190 something more.
It's a welcome addition to any gamer's library and/or coffee table. Anyone interested can pre-order the book now from DK.com. "Capcom 30th Anniversary Character Encyclopedia" is out on October 21, and will retail for $16.99.