Keiji-Inafune
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'Mighty No. 9' demo gets a Humble Bundle and a new release date
Even though Mighty No. 9, the new crowdsourced video game from venerated MegaMan creator Keiji Inafune, won't be available until some time in 2016, fans can still get a slice of the action. The game's production team tweeted Friday that the game had both a new release date and that it's playable demo has arrived on Humble Bundle. Per the game's Kickstarter page, Mighty No. 9 will hit American consoles on February 9th, 2016 and launch worldwide on February 12th. And, according to the Mighty No. 9 official site, users must log in to Humble Bundle using the same email address as their Kickstarter/Paypal pledge and follow the download link for the Special Demo Version.
'Mega Man' creator says Japanese publishers need to 'wake up'
If you grew up playing any installment of the storied Mega Man franchise, the name Keiji Inafune should carry some weight. Inafune's one of the masterminds behind the beloved metallic man in blue we first met in the NES era. And with his new game, Mighty No. 9, a spiritual successor to his Capcom legacy, he famously kicked off a new wave of Japanese developers who've struck out on their own with the help of crowdfunding. But Inafune didn't get to this point solely because of a desire to try more modern things; he was essentially forced to turn to Kickstarter when Capcom refused to innovate the beloved Mega Man IP he helped create. "As a creator, as myself, the best thing that happened to this project [Mighty No. 9] is that I have the IP," he says of the experience with Kickstarter. "The IP is mine. The IP is the company's IP, so we can do whatever we want. And that 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. We can just make the decision."
Mighty No. 9 will feature English voice acting thanks to vote
Mighty No. 9, Comcept's spirtual successor to the Mega Man series, will feature English voice acting according to an update on the game's Kickstarter page. A vote which drew more than 20,000 participants was the deciding factor, and according to the update, the vote was never more than 1,000 votes from going in favor of English or Japanese. Back in July, Comcept updated their crowdfunding efforts and asked for $200,000 to add both English and Japanese voices. However, at the beginning of October, a Kickstarter update explained that funding was insufficient for supporting both languages. "Rather than stick to the revised target of $200K for both English and Japanese voice acting and close it down short of the goal, we've decided to lower the goal back to the original $100K for one language," the update reads. "And, rather than dictate which one voiced language we offer in the game, we want to put it to a vote and let you, our loyal backers decide: English or Japanese!" Now that the votes have been tallied, it appears the former is the winner. Mighty No. 9 is due to release in spring of 2015 for ten mighty systems: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U and 3DS. [Image: Comcept]
Mighty No. 9 starts backers-only beta
Early access keys for Mighty No. 9 have been sent to the game's beta-level backers, Comcept announced on the game's Kickstarter page Sunday. Those that pledged at least $80 to get a taste of Keiji Inafune's latest creation ahead of the rest of its community should have received their keys in the past few days. Additionally, backers will also receive a free copy of Mighty Gunvolt, the retro-style crossover of Mighty No. 9 and Inti Creates' Azure Striker Gunvolt. Mighty No. 9 was announced during PAX Prime last year. It went on to earn over $3.8 million on Kickstarter, the most of any project during a full year that saw 340 other successful Kickstarter games. The developer also recently issued a new video, found after the break, that shows the Mega Man creator play-testing a competitive multiplayer mode in the game, online race battle. Mighty No. 9 will launch in spring 2015 for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mac, Linux, 3DS, Wii U and Vita. [Image: Comcept]
Azure Striker Gunvolt includes free Mighty No. 9 crossover minigame
Players who hop on the Azure Striker Gunvolt bandwagon when it launches in the 3DS eShop next week will receive a free bonus minigame that features a playable character from fellow Keiji Inafune project Mighty No. 9. Mighty Gunvolt is a five-level, NES-styled platformer starring Azure Striker's Gunvolt, Mighty No. 9 main character Beck, and Ekoro, a supporting character from developer Inti Creates' Japan-only rail shooter Gal*Gun. Players who purchase Azure Striker Gunvolt within its first three months of release will receive a download code for Mighty Gunvolt once it premieres in the 3DS eShop. Azure Striker Gunvolt launches digitally in North America on August 29.
Mighty No. 9 seeking $100K more to add Japanese voice acting
Comcept revealed additional stretch goals for Mighty No. 9 a few short days ago, giving fans the opportunity to bolster the game's development with funding via PayPal on its official site. The $100,000 stretch goal was introduced to fund English voice acting for the game, which the original game's funding support won't cover. Mighty No. 9's funding page has since changed, however, upping the developer's goal to $200,000 and adding Japanese voice acting to its list of ambitions. Additionally, a Japan-only Makuake crowdfunding project from Comcept popped up with a 10 million yen (roughly $98,296) goal, specifically geared toward providing Japanese voices for Mighty No. 9. We've reached out to Comcept to clarify the two funding avenues and whether the two goals for Japanese voice acting overlap. The game, a project by Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune, earned over $4 million combined from Kickstarter and PayPal in October 2013. It was by far the biggest earner in the crowdfunding space in the past year, which saw a total of $35 million spread across 341 gaming projects. Mighty No. 9 is expected to launch in spring 2015 for many platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mac, Linux, 3DS, Wii U and Vita. [Image: Comcept]
Mighty No. 9 footage looks mega-familiar
Looking undeniably like the latest project from the developer behind Mega Man comes our most recent glimpse at Mighty No. 9, a work-in-progress demonstration chock full of classic gameplay concepts. From the single-room boss battles to the jubilant way the protagonist jumps, this clip reinforces the idea that Mighty No. 9 is a direct descendant (if not spiritual sequel) of the Mega Man franchise. "Spritely blue adolescent blasts robots in noble quest to defeat world-shaking evil" works equally well as a descriptor for both Mighty No. 9 and nearly any Mega Man entry. Normally that could be seen as tired and derivative, but its been four years since the release of Mega Man 10, and with no further Blue Bomber adventures on Capcom's horizon, fans are starved for Keiji Inafune's particular brand of plucky heroics - that $3.8 million in crowdfunding success stands as proof. Unfortunately, fans still have about a year to wait for Mighty No. 9. Though Inafune's team has yet to determine a specific release date, the above trailer reinforces a commitment to launch the off-brand Mega Man's debut adventure during the Spring of 2015. [Image: Comcept USA]
Read up on Azure Striker: Gunvolt at its new English website
To whet the appetites of prospective players, developer Inti Creates has launched an official, English-language website for upcoming 3DS action-platformer Azure Striker: Gunvolt. If the site reminds you of any number of Mega Man games, that's to be expected. Azure Striker: Gunvolt is being developed by much of the same team responsible for Mega Man spiritual successor Mighty No. 9, and Mega Man character designer Keiji Inafune serves as the game's director. Likewise, both games center on heroic, idealistic young men battling foes with agile jumps and projectile weapons while wearing almost exclusively blue clothing. We'd mention the similarities between Mega Man's "Blue Bomber" nickname and the "Azure Striker" of the title, but you get the idea. Unfortunately lacking from the newly-launched Azure Striker: Gunvolt website is a specific release date. Like our earlier report, the site is only willing to assign a nebulous "Summer 2014" window to the platformer's debut. [Image: Inti Creates]
Mighty No. 9 alpha gameplay video looks mega, man
Comcept released a new gameplay video of crowdfunded platformer Mighty No. 9 running in alpha, and it showcases some familiar-feeling run-and-gun gameplay along with images of Mighty Numbers 1 to 8. If we had to pick a favorite it would have to be Mighty No. 6, because he's got a cross between a bomber plane and a helicopter for a head, and missiles that launch out of his ankles. He looks like he'd be a lot of fun at a party. Keiji Inafune's new platformer was one of the most successful gaming fundraisers of 2013, amassing a mighty $3.8 million through Kickstarter alone. While Comcept is starting to show more and more gameplay we're still a good year away from the estimated release date of spring 2015, when the game will rock and roll onto Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360, Vita, 3DS, Windows PC, Mac, and Linux. [Image: Comcept]
Azure Striker: Gunvolt coming to 3DS eShop this summer from Mega Man 9 studio
Japanese developer Inti Creates (Mega Man 9, Mega Man ZX) will launch its latest game Azure Striker: Gunvolt via the Nintendo 3DS eShop this summer, with Mega Man character designer Keiji Inafune serving as executive producer. Azure Striker: Gunvolt is a 2D side-scrolling action game starring a character with psychic powers, allowing him to harness the power of lightning for ranged attacks and other special abilities. The game shares much of its creative staff with Mighty No. 9, a Mega Man spiritual successor funded via Kickstarter last year. Azure Striker: Gunvolt will premiere in the Japanese eShop (as Armed Striker: Gunvolt) this summer. A North American release date has not been confirmed, though the game's official website notes that an ESRB rating is pending. [Image: Inti Creates / 4Gamer]
Abandoning Olympus: Mega Man's creator on going indie
Keiji Inafune's been making games for nearly 30 years. He's the man behind one of gaming's most iconic characters (Mega Man) and several huge franchises (Dead Rising, Onimusha). After 23 years working at Capcom, one of Japan's largest game publishers, he suddenly quit back in 2010. "Settling down means death for a creator. As long as you are a creator, you cannot settle down," he announced on his blog. Just six months after being appointed Capcom's Global Head of Production (overseeing the company's entire gaming catalog, from Resident Evil to Street Fighter), he quit. With that, he set off on his own and created two new companies: Comcept and Intercept. When we talked with Inafune last week at DICE 2014, he spoke of his plans for Comcept in detail. "I was a publisher for 20 years, so you'd be right in thinking I brought some ideas from there into Comcept," he said. That means, first and foremost, retaining ownership of IP. That's a major component of going with Kickstarter for the latest Comcept game, a Mega Man-esque action game titled Mighty No. 9. The project sailed past its target goal of $900K and took in $3.8 million. Without a publisher, of course.
Mortal Kombat: Legacy house plans Mighty No. 9 live-action adaptation
Keiji Inafune's Mighty No. 9 is getting a live-action spin-off. Contradiction Films, the same outfit responsible for the first season of Mortal Kombat: Legacy, is in charge of production. "We are building the story right now," Tim Carter, co-owner of Contradiction Films, told Electric Playground. "Inafune-san created [Mega Man], and he has now created Mighty Number 9. We don't have the rights to Mega Man, obviously, but we are working with him on a live action adaptation of it." Carter added, "I was a little apprehensive about it at first until I got his notes, and thought 'Dude, you should be working at Pixar!'" No delivery method for the planned adaptation - digital release, a physical disc or some type of feature-length film - was announced. Mighty No. 9 began life as a project on Kickstarter and earned $3.8 million throughout its pledge drive. Mighty No. 9 is Inafune's spiritual successor to Mega Man and stars a robot named Beck - the ninth in a set of combat bots called The Mighty Number. After an evil computer virus infects Beck's fellow bots and all variety of machines across the world, Beck and his partner, Call, attempt to save the world. [Image: Comcept]
Inafune has unexpected plans for Mighty No. 9; Soul Sacrifice Delta planned for March 6
Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man, spent 23 years at Capcom, but now he's working on Mighty No. 9, a crowdfunded, independent game reminiscent of the blaster boy in blue. During our conversation with Inafune today at the DICE executive conference, we wondered if he felt that Mighty No. 9 was a step backward. "Although it has very many similar elements to past titles such as Mega Man, we're trying to do something new with it," Inafune said. "Something different, something that will, in a manner of speaking, betray the fans in a good way. Completely do something unexpected, as well as keeping that classic Japanese action that people are looking forward to." Inafune didn't offer any specific examples, but he told us to stay tuned and that more information is always coming out. Mighty No. 9 is currently in development and planned to launch sometime around April 2015. Pulling back to look at Inafune's efforts in a broader sense, the concept behind his company, Comcept, is to be a publisher with the ideals of a developer. Comcept's portfolio currently includes a diverse set of co-developed games such as Soul Sacrifice, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z and Mighty No. 9. The company's next game, Soul Sacrifice Delta, is planned to launch on March 6, Inafune said. [Image: Comcept]
Mighty No. 9 co-op character design wins fan vote by less than 3%
Back in September, Keiji Inafune and the team developing Mighty No. 9 held a vote to determine the design of main protagonist Beck's helper, Call. Those votes have been counted, and developer Comcept has revealed the winner to be ... Design F! Take a bow, F! The pigtail-sporting Design H came in third, with 15.47 percent of the vote. The stewardess-looking Design E came close with 41.14 percent of the vote, but F came out a hair (in this case a ponytail) ahead with 43.39 percent of the vote. The design was created by Yuuji Natsume, of developer Inti Creates. Some of you may have just met Design F, and think it's crazy, but she's got the numbers, so she's Call now, baby. Yes we know we made that joke last time.
Mega Man designer's Kaio: King of Pirates docks in 2014
Bad news, landlubbers: It looks like Keiji Inafune's Kaio: King of Pirates won't hit the 3DS until next year. The game's official website includes both English- and Japanese-language versions of its text, and as you can see at the bottom-right of the page, the game's release window has changed to a firm 2014. Unfortunately, waiting for Inafune's cutesy pirate adventure is nothing new for fans. We first reported on Kaio: King of Pirates in 2011, at which time it was supposed to hit the 3DS in 2012. Obviously, that never happened, and almost nothing has been said of why the game has been in development for all these years.
Crowdfund Bookie: Inafune's mighty $3.8 million haul
The Crowdfund Bookie crunches data from select successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns that ended during the week and produces pretty charts for you to look at. The power of Keiji Inafune's name couldn't be more evident than in this highly-profitable week in crowdfunding, which covers the Kickstarter projects for Mighty No. 9, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, Sunless Sea, DCS WWII: Europe 1944, Neverending Nightmares, Penguemic, Mysterious Cities of Gold, Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora, Data Hacker: Corruption and Neo-Victorian Skirmish Squad. Mighty No. 9, the action platformer project from the Mega Man creator earned the most money this week ($3,845,170) and had the highest number of backers (67,226). LearnDistrict Inc's educational game Penguemic: Word Domination had the highest average pledge per person of the group ($160.81). Head past the break to see the week's results and our set of fancy charts.
Mighty No. 9 concludes funding with over $4 million
Keiji Inafune's Mighty No. 9 has ceased asking for donations on Kickstarter, managing to secure over $3.8 million in a month's time. That's beyond some of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns yet, including Double Fine's $3.3 million for the Broken Age adventure game, $1.2 million for Massive Chalice, and the close to $2.3 million pulled in by Cryptozoic Entertainment's Hex. That $3.8 million figure is just counting Kickstarter donations, though. With additional pledges through Paypal, which Comcept says make up $186,380, the final amount is $4,031,550. Mighty No. 9 is perhaps best described as Inafune's spiritual successor to the Mega Man series. It's a retro-inspired action-platformer starring a robot boy named Beck who must battle a series of robot bosses infected with a mysterious virus. The game is planned for launch sometime in the spring of 2015 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, 3DS,Wii U, Mac, Linux and PC.
Call out your favorite design for Mighty No. 9's co-op character
Mighty No. 9 has hit its $2.75 million stretch goal, which means the game will feature an online co-op challenge mode starring Beck (the titular No. 9) and robot pal Call, whose design will be chosen via popular vote. There are nine designs to choose from on the Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter page, and everyone - backers, non-backers, potential cosplayers, robot enthusiasts, etc - can vote between now and October 1, when the Kickstarter ends. The three most popular designs will be announced on October 1, after which they'll be colored and put up for a second round of voting, which will only be available to backers. Until then, there's a variety of designs to choose from, including one seemingly inspired by flight attendant attire and a nerdy archetype with huge glasses. Hey, we just met her, and this is crazy, but you'll decide soon: how Call will look-zy.
Mighty No. 9 adds Vita and 3DS to stretch goals
Mighty No. 9 will head to 3DS and PlayStation Vita if its Kickstarter project reaches $3.5 million, a project update revealed today. Comcept has raised over $2.6 million in its crowdfunding campaign so far, which is scheduled to end on Tuesday, October 1. Meanwhile, the campaign's previously announced $3.3 million goal would bring the game to PS4 and Xbox One, and the game will already come to PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U thanks to reaching its $2.2 million goal. Mighty No. 9 is a 2D side-scrolling platformer from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune. The retro-inspired Mega Man spiritual successor includes a Boss Rush mode and will seek a balance between old-school difficulty and fair, modern gameplay. Comcept noted that, providing the $3.5 million stretch goal is met, Abstraction Games will be in charge of the Mighty No. 9 port to handheld systems, the same developer that brought Hotline Miami to PS3 and Vita.
Watch the first mega Mighty No. 9 documentary episode
The Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter isn't even over and there's already a documentary. Made by 2 Player Productions, who you may recognize from similar films for Mojang, Double Fine, Penny Arcade, and Sony, the first episode captures the lead-up to the Kickstarter's launch around a month ago. If it seems weird to see a documentary for something still being fundraised, bear in mind this is for Keiji Inafune's spiritual successor to Mega Man, and that it's already achieved nearly $2.6 million with four days to go. It's weirder for me to see Inafune in the famous Super Potato retro gaming shop in Akihabara, as only last week I was lucky enough to discover it/nearly lose all the money I have to it. Talking of all the money, by reaching $2.55 million the Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter cleared stretch goals for a challenge mode and an extra end stage and boss. The big stretch goal, however, remains the PS4 and Xbox One versions at $3.3 million. As it stands, Inafune's Comcept is set to bring Mighty No. 9 to PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Mac, and Linux in 2015.
