Keiji Inafune - Mega Man 10 could happen, Mega Man Legends 3 still possible, Strider may return, no interest in Viewtiful Joe, and much more
A portion of a 1up interview with Capcom’s Keiji Inafune…
1UP: If the game is successful and you go on to make, say, Mega Man 10, what would you do to keep the game from being a rehash of previous Mega Man games?
KI: This title has been revived based on our users’ feedback. They indicated that they wanted to see it again, so if we can continue to find ways to involve users and use their feedback to evolve the game, I think we can go on to continue to make MM10, MM11, and so on. The main point is how and if we can continue to incorporate user feedback into the creation of the game.
1UP: You have some Mega Man Legends characters in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Will their appearance build a case for a Mega Man Legends sequel, at long last?
KI: [Laughs] I think you’re reading into it too much. I have hope to make a new Mega Man Legends, but that’s not the reasoning behind including those characters in Tatsunoko VS Capcom. I think you’re reading into it too much.
1UP: So, we’ve all heard about how the Bionic Commando revival began because some intrepid game journalist had the game’s title written on his business card. With that in mind, I’d like to present to you this business card bearing the likeness of long-lost Capcom favorite, Strider.
KI: [Laughs] Capcom has a lot of good characters, both past and present, and I have a strong interest in bringing some of the past characters back. When you’re in Japan you don’t really think about the popularity and interest in Strider or Street Fighter characters, and so we’ve kept them on hold. But since making the HD remix of Street Fighter II and Street Fighter IV, there’s a possibility that we could make another Strider game. It’s one of the franchises that I have an interest in reviving, so I think there’s a real possibility that we will make another Strider game.
1UP: I might as well shoot for the moon. Ben Judd [Producer on the Bionic Commando revival] mentioned having “a fucking ace up our sleeve. It’s an ace, a fucking ace…” I’m assuming he was talking about Bionic Commando in specific, but would you care to offer any insights? Any big announcements coming up?
KI: Well, we have a lot of big announcements coming up so I don’t know which announcement he was referring to, but Capcom has a lot of surprises in the works and I think there are a lot of expectations from the users for new releases. But I really don’t know which one…
1UP: Regarding the former Clover Studio’s properties –Viewtiful Joe, God Hand, Okami– what will you do with them?
KI: At this time, we have no plans of making sequels to any of those properties. I can’t say we won’t, for certain, but it’s not very likely or appealing. If we had no other properties to depend on for making new games, we might be desperate enough to create sequels to those titles, but that’s not the case. We have a lot of titles that we want to make and other sequels that are waiting to be made. So, there’s no interest at the moment.
