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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.
'Mighty No. 9' won't arrive until early 2016
Mighty No. 9, the new game from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune, isn't going to be arriving until some point in the first three months of 2016. It's the second delay for the kickstarted title, which was originally slated to drop this spring before being pushed back to September. According to an update posted to Kickstarter, the reason behind the push back is that while the core functionality of the piece has been finished, there's still a raft of bugs and issues relating to the online components that have yet to be fixed. Considering that so many recent high-profile releases have been sold with bugs that make them almost unplayable, it's probably wise to hold off. Still, judging by the comments on the post, it looks as if plenty of backers would much rather have the game now and wait for the features to come later.
'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 protagonist Beck gets a color change
Beck, the hero of Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune's upcoming Mighty No. 9, has taken a look in the mirror and deemed his duds too drab - or rather, developer Comcept has. In an update post on the Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter page, game director Koji Imaeda explains that Beck's color scheme has gone from one dominated by gray to one defined by white. "From the very beginning we designed Beck to have a neutral, grey base, with the idea of wanting to make something completely new and unique," Imaeda writes. "But development soldiered on, and as we approached the last leg, we started looking closer at Beck. As a protagonist that could absorb the abilities of his siblings and take on various forms, our image of his appropriate color shifted from 'neutrality' to 'containing all possibilities' ... and since white is a combination of all colors of light, we felt that would actually suit his character better!" Makes sense to us. The justification also sounds a little familiar ... [Image: Comcept]
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.
New Mighty No. 9 footage is ready to rock, man
At this point, the best thing that could happen to Keiji Inafune's Mighty No. 9 is if Capcom straight-up sued. Free marketing, great debate, battle lines would be drawn. We don't know what the grounds for the lawsuit would be, but the latest footage of the game comes so close to sharing similarities with Mega Man, it's almost difficult to tell the two apart. Go ahead and test it yourself. Take the Mighty No. 9 footage found after the break and play it to someone who has general video game knowledge. Take out all the context and just ask: What game is this? Actually, please go ahead and do that and let us know what the other person says.
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 gets additional stretch goals, animated series, pre-orders open
Mighty No. 9 developer Comcept USA gathered more than $4 million in its initial fundraising campaign for the Mega Man-esque sidescroller, but that pile of money could grow a little mightier. Comcept has announced a second, PayPal-powered funding campaign to cover additional stretch goals for Mighty No. 9, starting with a $100,000 target for English voice acting. The update explains that anything collected in this new effort will only be used to address new features – the original donation total is still dedicated to the base game and the first round of stretch goals. According to the update, this second fundraiser is meant to allow anyone that missed the initial Kickstarter a chance to chip in to the project. Newcomers will also be able to contribute by pre-ordering Mighty No. 9, with tokens being offered for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, 3DS, Wii U, PS3, PS4 and Vita versions. While a standard $23 pre-order tier only serves as a digital pre-order, two pricier options will contribute to the new round of stretch goals: a $50 tier that bundles a pre-order with a retro-themed manual, digital art book/strategy guide and soundtrack, and an $80 tier that offers the same content along with Early Access for Mighty No. 9 on Steam. If you can't even fathom giving Comcept more money, there's still Digital Frontier's incoming animated series, which was revealed with the above video. A separate FAQ explains that Digital Frontier is "seeking investment" for this series, so no, your pledges shouldn't be siphoned off into a cartoon fund. The series is described as an "action-packed comedy aimed at kids 6-11," but the involved voice actors, directors, editors and a targeted release date are all to-be-announced. [Image: Digital Frontier]
Crowdfund Bookie: One year, $35 million
The Crowdfund Bookie crunches data from select successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns that ended during the month and produces pretty charts for you to look at. A total of 341 video game projects were funded on Kickstarter and Indiegogo in the past year. Those games earned $35,945,510 from June 2013 through May 2014 thanks to the generosity of 782,147 people. It was a year that saw games like Double Fine's Massive Chalice and Keiji Inafune's Mighty No. 9 pull in over $5 million alone. The crowdfunding year was marked by projects like these which, when measured over time, consistently tipped impressions of average Kickstarter and Indiegogo earnings to appear more favorable. The 341 projects in question earned a mean average of $105,412, though creators really earned closer to the median average of $25,457. Removing the more costly projects drags the mean average of money earned down towards that mark; it drops to $61,152 without the top ten projects for the year, $45,153 without the top 20 and $37,862 without the top 30. It was an ever-changing year, as well. Just glancing at the monthly comparison charts after the break shows a gradual decline in most categories, such as the average amount an individual project backer spent on a given project. The first three months of the year saw an average of $49.40 pledged per person, which dropped to $39.80 in the last quarter of the year. This reflects the averages for the entire year; the year showed a mean average of $45.96, though funders spent closer to the median amount of $36.10. By the end of the year, fewer projects earned far beyond their initial goals, potentially reaching fewer stretch goals as a result. The first quarter of the year averaged an earning rate of 211 percent, over double the amount of money projects set out to achieve. The final three months amounted to 166 percent of the combined goals, even after the average combined goals per month dropped $453,639. Relative to their ambitions, project creators earned more to start the year than those whose games were funded late in the year. The year also featured a number of fascinating stories in the crowdfunding space. It included the highly-questionable campaign for Gridiron Thunder and the related fallout of Ouya's Free the Games Fund program. More recently, it looked favorably on Harmonix's new Amplitude game, which was an anomaly among crowdfunded games. Head past the break for another look at the year in crowdfunding, including the top 20 projects and the year's breakdown by genre.
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]
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Joystiq Weekly: Sonic's scarf, The Banner Saga and heart-monitoring horror
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Sonic has a history of being a bit too social for his own good, but the roster shown for Sonic Boom's reveal on the 3DS and Wii U? Not bad! We can deal with Amy Rose and the newly tank-like Knuckles, but if Silver the Hedgehog shows up at some point? The deal is off. Aside from a new Sonic cycle, this week brought rough news from Sony, a review of The Banner Saga and an awards show that didn't hurt to watch! We've got that and much more ready for you to devour after the break.
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 alpha screens recall Mega Man's glory days
Japanese indie developer Comcept has released a series of screenshots showcasing the current alpha build of its crowdfunded Mega Man spiritual successor Mighty No. 9, giving backers a peek at the team's progress so far. The backer-exclusive screens, obtained and reprinted by NeoGAF, show protagonist Beck facing off against minor enemies while navigating Mega Man-inspired environments. Mighty No. 9 wrapped up its crowdfunding campaign in October, earning over $4 million from backer pledges.
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.
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z's classic side-scrolling mode spotted in new trailer, screens
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z will receive a special Ninja Gaiden Z mode, Team Ninja announced. The retro-inspired mode offers side-scrolling action similar to past games in the series along with 8-bit-style cut scenes and menus. In addition to the trailer and screens showing off the classic game mode, the developer issued an additional quirky parody trailer, seen after the break. What's more, Team Ninja noted that the game's main character Yaiba will receive a downloadable alternate costume thanks to a collaboration with Comcept. Players will have the ability to dress their ninja warrior up like Beck, the lead character of Keiji Inafune's Mighty No. 9. Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z is slated to launch on March 4, 2014 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
