Can anyone explain to me why The Hollywood Reporter thinks Nakamura was a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3?
I don't think there's too much to tell from what info is out there: Namco got a special deal when they first signed on to make Famicom games, but after the 5-year arrangement ran out and Nintendo was huge and Pac-Man wasn't a "get" any more, Namco was given the same deal that every other third party had. So Nakamura said he'd support the competition, and this is why you had so many Namco game in the early days of the Mega Drive.
This is the dude that publicly called out Nintendo on trying to create a monopoly back in the NES era, and he didn't get iced by Yamauchi's hit squad. I'd say he had balls. Also Namco is great. RIP.
Eh, Nintendo did similar with Square when they left. "Oh you're leaving us? Don't bother to return" was the sentiment according to the developers that talked to Polygon when they did an oral history about it.
This is the dude that publicly called out Nintendo on trying to create a monopoly back in the NES era, and he didn't get iced by Yamauchi's hit squad. I'd say he had balls. Also Namco is great. RIP.
and it wasn't gonna be sega either with their arcade rivalryThis is probably why Namco had such a huge alliance with Sony during the PS1 era.