Inafune Answers Your Questions… Finally!
Perhaps you remember that back in December, during Mega Man’s great 22nd birthday hurrah, Capcom*Unity was hand picking questions from Unity members to be answered by the Mega daddy himself, Keiji Inafune. I have to admit, I actually forgot about it myself! Of course Mr. Inafune is a busy guy, but not one to pass up a promise. The answers to the selection questions have finally come. Here are the first five, straight from Capcom*Unity.
1) Bigopinion asks: Inafune-san! Rockman is getting pretty old! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful franchise with the world for all these years!! If you could take the Megaman franchise into any new direction — away from the 2D sidescrolling action adventure we have grown to love through the years — where would you go with it??
Inafune-san: Thanks to you for many years of your support for Mega Man! You are right, the Mega Man game is known for its 2D side-scrolling action. But we are also constantly seeking for a new direction. We don’t want to do just something new in a random manner. It’s got to be not just new to the series but something completely original, something you have never seen when it comes to Mega Man. I hope I can share exciting news with you sometime in near future. Till then, stay tuned!
2) Overdriveostrich asks: I was wondering, why did you choose to make another 8 bit original series MegaMan with MegaMan 10? Did you consider doing a MegaMan X9 with 16 bit Super Famicom(SNES) graphics?
Inafune-san: One of the biggest reasons for going with the 8bit style was the success with Mega Man 9. MM 9 succeeded beyond our wildest expectation. We had initially thought of bringing back to the series the feel of the NES to create a sense of nostalgia with MM9. Receiving the great reaction from the fans over it, we decided to establish the style as the game genre for Mega Man. In line with this concept, reviving the 16 bit game style in the series seems like a great idea. We certainly would like to consider trying it out in future when there’s a chance.
3) Akuknives asks: Inafune-san, are you thinking of brushing off the old Robot Masters contest? and have you thought about other contests such as a Stage Theme Music submission contest? With 8-bit music being so popular these days, surely there are plenty of musicians with tracks to submit, don’t you think?
Inafune-san: Unfortunately this time, we are not able to hold the Robot Master Contest. But we want to bring it back in near future if an opportunity arises. What I hope to do with the Robot Master Contest is to create Mega Man together with all the fans. The Stage Theme Music contest sounds really interesting so I would love to setup a system for the fans to submit their music and make it happen.
4) Manson asks: Was there any overarching theme when choosing boss robot ideas for each of the classic RockMan games? If so, could you give us some examples?
Inafune-san: Mega Man has had many unique boss characters throughout the series. What I work hard most on in creating these characters is to come up with a design that clearly represents each character’s not only physical features but its personality and battle style. We make variations in illustration details by series, such as making the design further simpler or adding more lines depending on the series, but the fundamentals of Mega Man character designing is focused on creating distinct and imaginative art that tells a story of a specific character to the players.
5) Rockmasterx asks: Hello Keiji! I’m from Spain and a Megaman/Rockman fan, I have aprox. 57 original megaman games in my collection and my goal in life is complete this collection! xD Well here are my questions:(sorry for my bad english) Is there any possibility that you make the next Megaman X with graphics style of “odin sphere” or “muramasa: demon blade”? I think that is a good 2-D Style and the gameplay of megaman X-X6 can be restored.
Inafune-san: 57 of them!? That is amazing!! And I should thank you for that. I think Odinsphere and Muramasa are really good games, but we probably would not mix Mega Man X series with those styles. We would love to work with brand new 2D game ideas rather than borrowing one from elsewhere.
More Inafune answers will be posted on Unity tomorrow, and later on we’ll get some answers to questions asked to manga artist Hitoshi Ariga. Stay tuned!
Filed under: Community Developments
Only about half of these were even given proper answers. I could hope that the others were given better attention, but…what are the chances?
A “new direction”, huh? How about a “MegaMan X: Elf Wars” TBS? That might be cool, IMO.
“But we are also constantly seeking for a new direction.”
A new direction, he said? Like what? Like a mature-themed Mega Man game (i. e. a deeper game; mature is not just butts-and-guts, you know)? Like a non-mediocre post-MMX5 sequel?
No. All this guy understands for ‘new direction’ is a new glorified .nes ROM (right, MM10?) and sequel-after sequel of the same.
Inafune is definitely not the best guy around to talk about ‘new directions’.
Who wants to bet that there won’t be a single question about MML that’ll be answered?
J.L. I disagree completely. MegaMan has over 5 different series, all quite different from each other enough to stand on their own but similar enough to be still feel like MegaMan. I think Inafune is probably one of the BEST people in the industry to talk about new direction. The only other series that can really compare to the vastness of MegaMan, is Mario. Take into account that while he is the creator of the series, is doesn’t direct every MM game, nor is it ultimately his decision to make sequels to the series. He DOES have a boss too ya know.
On a side note, HE ANSWERED MY QUESTION!!!!!! MegaMan 11 Music Contest, here I COME!
‘In line with this concept, reviving the 16 bit game style in the series seems like a great idea. We certainly would like to consider trying it out in future when there’s a chance.’
-Gets somewhat excited-
The first two X games were my favourite, I would love to see another X game in the same design. (I just couldn’t get into X3 so I didn’t play that one as much)
Anyway, excitement.
You guys getting bent up about him not giving clear, concise answers-
When has anyone in the gaming industry ever answered a question regarding future or even current projects straight and to the point? In this business you can never tell what can or will in the future, and the moment you say something with any degree of clarity or adamancy, it WILL hover around you and bite you in the ass first chance it gets.
Inafune is not so stupid as to announce he’d like to try such and such idea and then invite the inevitable storm of questions/demands/etc from fans, when it’s not fully up to him to do anything about it.
Ask questions that can actually be answered with certainty and aren’t begging to be dodged, and maybe you’ll get an answer other than rambling.
So this is only Part 1? I wonder how many questions he answered in total.
Can’t wait to see the rest of the questions and answers.
Oh gosh, I really hope X doesn’t go back to 16-bit style. The X series has always been about the evolving style of Mega Man, and where there were better graphics, there were more in-depth stories.
Example: MMXCM, while not a traditional Mega Man game per se, had one of the most in-depth plots of the X series.
Now this does not hold true for every Mega Man game, the Zero series was freakin’ epic, and it was in 32-bit, but with the X series, the better the graphics were, the more meat a story had to it.
I 100% agree with PhantomCobra.
If the Zero series was epic and in 32 bit, there’s no reason why future X games can’t be as well.
I’m not saying Capcom should invest everything in being retro again, but I can’t see how X7/X8 would be considered successful.
Mind you, I’ve never played CM, and from what I’ve heard that’s pretty good.
I think the appeal of SNES quality X games is the same reason MM9 was so well received off the bat, because it was almost unanimously agreed that the earlier games were drastically better than the later ones.
While the fandom differs a lot more, X5-X8 have gotten overwhelmingly negative feedback, and even those that liked X4 acknowledge that there was a large discrepancy in quality between visual/audio and level design.
People want 16-Bit because X1 did it and it was an excellent game. X2 and X3 are also more well received than the Playstation-onward games.
I agree with Playswithsquirrels. Although I think X4 is probably the overall best game in the X series, I still find that X through X3 are much more fun to replay simply because A) load times are practically non-existent, B) no story means more thrills quicker, and C) Jet Stingray’s level (WHO thought these types of levels were a good idea?!).
Now, normally, I am ALL about story in a video game, and I have the army of JRPGs to prove it; also, when I was a kid, I wrote probably over a hundred pages in total of Mega Man fanfiction. That being said, Mega Man X5-X8 all were story-intensive, and NONE of them were very interesting. I think it is X9′s duty to get us excited about the series again rather than contrive a new VIRUS CRISIS. Heck, if the official story of X9 started with, “Axl died in a fire. Yeah, it was tragic. Oh and Lumine’s dead but HEY LOOK IT’S SIGMA! QUICK, X AND ZERO, GET HIM!”, I would be entirely content. Throw in Dr. Doppler too!
Oh, and “The X series has always been about the evolving style of Mega Man?” The original X and X4 kind of agree with this statement (and X7 WISHES it could agree with this statement), but come on. X2-3 and X5-6 are not exactly “evolution,” and X8 is a big step back toward earlier games. And seriously, does anyone really care about graphics in a Mega Man game? I mean… Really?
To me, a large part of the appeal of a downloadable fanservice x9 would be:
-Wall kicks.
-Chargeable boss weapons.
-Capsules with upgrades.
-Rider armor.
Things that do not need “prettier” visuals that the notably **** games in the series possessed, in order to be implemented into the gameplay. X1 had these, and the level layouts were quite diverse and creative without needing high-res pseudo-3D graphics.
Also, considering such a project would not exclude the Wii in its release, and that a “full” X game would be expected of this (let’s say an intro stage, 8 maverick levels, and a 4-level Sigma fortress) a line would not only be drawn as to how advanced the visuals would be, they definitely would not replicate those seen in X4 and onward.
I think what I enjoyed about the earlier games was that I was actually compelled to use the weapons you obtain throughout the game. The later games (again, looking at you 7 &
the weapons were redundant, and more importantly, weren’t as much fun to play with.
Also, the wall kicks in the 3D games were just weird.
Same old, same old…No real information packed in all of his “answers” like usual. :/
I don’t know about others, but I would like to see Megaman X9 have the same or better quality of Metal Gear Solid 4, Final Fantasy XIII, Street Fighter 4, Legend of Zelda which were all originally created in 1987 along with Megaman yet this is the only series that took a step backwards. I know this same people would uproar if MGS 5 became 8-bit, or FF15 became 8-bit.
Did he just say he wanted to try 16-bit X9?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Why do I feel that MegaMan is moving backwards instead of forward? Just because X7 failed as a 3D game (I still enjoyed it personally) doesnt mean we have to give up on 3D MegaMan X as a whole
I actually have more Rockman games than that Spanish guy. 94 not including Rockman 9 since it is a downloadable though I still own it. I hope to see Rockman 9 and 10 with a hard copy though. I like collecting and owning, but I don’t feel ownership with downloads which is why I’m buying the RM10 soundtrack to make it seem like its a hard copy.
I also think RMX9 to 16-bit would be a bad idea. At least make it art like Blazblue, Wario Land Shake, Oboro Muramasa, or any other type of 2D HD. I mean Capcom has artists and the work would be more respected if it were all freestyle versus rehash.
I don’t see why all the hate for X8. Personally I love it.
If they were to go back to sprites I would go with X4-6 style.
And X9′s music should be X1-3 style, for ROCK’S SAKE!
@HeatPhoenix –
Yes it does. 3D Mega Man X should NEVER, EVER happen again. X7 and the 3D stages in X8 were absolutely atrocious.
Now, that doesn’t mean that the X series necessarily needs/has to go back to 16-bit X1-X3 design. I wouldn’t mind that, though personally I’d like to see X9 produced in the vein of X8; 2D with current-gen music and visuals but gameplay inspired by X1-X4.
But 3D? No. Never again. X7 was one of the worst games I have EVER played. Capcom thankfully learned from that mistake and X8 was a fine game because of it. But even the 3D stages in X8 were terrible. I think it’s pretty obvious: X and 3D never have and never will mix.
Yep. Anyone who wants to see a 3D Mega Man X is a lunatic.
If Inafune wants to make a new Legends or create ANOTHER new Mega franchise, then by all means, he can explore 3D. But oh God, keep 3D the **** away from the X series! Now, the X8 style of 3D graphics/2D gameplay is a reasonable compromise, but I’ve always had a soft spot for sprite graphics. I don’t really care whether or not they decide to HD-ize the graphics though; as long as it’s 2D, I’m content.
here’s what i think a bout a 3d MegamanX game play devil may cry and ask ur self dose this feel familiar a 3d MegamanX game can work
Here’s what I think about the 3D issue:
A transition from 2D to 3D within the same series CAN work… If it doesn’t [censored] end up sacrificing gameplay in the process. From the looks of it, the various Rockman fanbases treat the idea of 3D as something more of a gimmick rather than an advantage, as a result of how the few 3D Rockman games have turned out to be like.
Unfortunately, it would seem that the various Rockman development teams do not yet understand this.
Heh Megaman Legend 3 wouldn’t be too bad in Devil May Cry style lol. He certainly would move faster.
I think a 16 bit X9 would be perfect. The series already ventured into 3D, why not go back to it’s SNES roots? It would be nice if it had a storyline that connected to the Zero games, and if it also wrapped up the X series as a whole. I know it’s sad, but the Battle Network series has come to an end, the Zero series has come to an end, and I think it’s time for the X series to say it’s farewells, too. But the classic series doesn’t have to end, it can go on forever! I do agree however, that there definitely need to be some next-gen Mega Man games.
This is bull****. He only answered a munch of boring questions.
all i care about is if he has any plans to continue ZX. otherwise meh…
NekoKnight, I understand where you’re coming from about series ending, but I do not agree. Under your line of reasoning, the original Mega Man series should be coming to an end relatively soon, and, well, there’s no basis for something like that to happen. Even the original Mario formula has been revived with New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, thus proving that there is always a new trick to teach an old, established series. As such, there is no reason why the X series cannot continue indefinitely (aside from issues of plot consistency) as the classic series seems to intend.
In my opinion, the reason the Zero series ended was because its formula was too specific. For instance, the classic series is the definition of pick-up-and-play: anybody can press Start, pick a stage, and start shooting. The X series, although offering a more complicated story and controls, is still pretty pick-up-and-play. This isn’t the case for Zero. Zero presents a much more elaborate format of having to talk to people around the base, select missions, maybe backtrack on foot to old locations, etc. The more elements you incorporate into a game, the less room you have to alter anything, but paradoxically, the more the player expects changes from game to game.
Like Final Fantasy! Final Fantasy IX was boo’ed by some for being a return to old-school gameplay after the major changes that occurred in Final Fantasy VIII. Those are very sophisticated games and players require sophisticated differences between entries in the series. Not Mega Man! It is simple by design; players are turned off when there are too many changes (never mind Mega Man X7–even X5 is a good example of people getting turned off by changes).
But to get to my point, the Zero series couldn’t really change itself enough from game to game to stay interesting indefinitely. The plot and the use/application of Cyber Elves were generally the only major differences, which is not enough change for a sophisticated series. The classic series and X do not pose these problems. I would argue that even Battle Network does not pose this problem.
I’m a little late, but you lot rambling about the Zero series are all morons.
The Game Boy Advance is a 16-bit handheld. Don’t start making up this “X is about evolution in the series” bullcrap.
I’m so sorry to burst your bubble “Fishman” if you had done your homework you would know that the zero series is in fact 32bit on an 32BIT PLATFORM. Goggle it if you want to know.
As for the evolution of the X series, I find that to be true since the story is epic and keeps up building the story with the zero series so yeah I don’t think it’s “bullcrap”
Why do you always insult people?
I insult people because they’re wrong.
As for you, Arbiter, The Legend of Zelda went from 16-bits to 2-bit when they released Link’s Awakening.
One could argue that Metal Gear Acid was also one of several steps backward, at least graphically.
Fishman
That is because Link’s Awakening it was a Gameboy game…….
Metal Gear Acid is a PSP game……
Plus the others know what they are talking about, but I’m not going to start today.
I almost totally agree with Nilakantha. I would definitely go for a 2D HD MMX game. Even if it was something basic looking like Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix, it would play and look great if they went that route.
Meh, If a 3D megaman comes out it should either be legends or a new one.
Though I in now way support new 16 bit Megaman X , This whole thing is becoming a gimmick. -.-
Even still, they didnt ask about MM legends 3! Also, they should have asked when megaman powered up, and legends 1 and 2 were going to come out on the American PSN!!!
oh well, do any of you guys know?
“J.L. I disagree completely.”
That’s OK, I wasn’t expecting someone to agree (or not) with my opinions. You have yours and are as valid as mine, right?
Anyway, you said Inafune had a boss. True, so does Kojima, and David Cage, and so many others that did manage to take their series somewhere. That shouldn’t be an excuse for anything, you know.
That Megaman has 20 “different” series isn’t indicative of anything, either. How different are the Zero games from the X ones (aside from the MINOR distinctions between them), or the Star Force from the Battle Network ones?
“How different are the Star Force games from the Battle Network ones?”
Not the best comparison for your point, as it’s ALMOST EVERYTHING between the two series. And the differencs aren’t minor at all.