Inafune Talks Mega Man and Mighty No. 9 with Engadget

During the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Engadget had the opportunity to chat with Keiji Inafune about the process of evolving beyond the constraints he faced in working with Capcom on Mega Man to what he is currently doing with Mighty No. 9 at his own company, Comcept.

In particular, he notes that the best thing about working on Mighty No. 9 over the Blue Bomber is that, as the owner of the intellectual property, the buck effectively stops with him. “[T]hat will actually speed things up really nicely because once the backers ask for something, we don’t have to go over to the publisher or the first-party [studio] … or whoever we’re working with,” he says. “We can just make the decision.”

As to the similarities between the two franchises, he acknowledges Mighty No. 9’s roots in Mega Man, but notes that they “didn’t just want to copy that.” Instead, his hope is to evolve the genre — something the article says he was prevented from doing in such a way under his former employer.

While the game isn’t to be released on consoles until September 15th, Inafune is already thinking about the possibilities for a sequel. But even though he considers the many backers of the original game to be “staff members,” don’t expect him to return to crowdfunding for a second go-round with Beck.

“I’m more thinking of making this game by myself and, since we have such a good relationship with Deep Silver right now, maybe working with them,” Inafune explains. “Sort of starting a partnership with them and making this game from the start for them.”

Beyond that, Inafune goes on to address the proliferation of Kickstarters led by Japanese developers who found themselves in similar situations to his own, i.e. Koji Igarashi and Bloodstained, as well as Yu Suzuki with the recently-announced Shenmue III, spurred on by the “blindness” of Japanese game publishers.

For that and the full interview, head over to Engadget.

Thanks to Michael S for the tip!

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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