Inafune on turning to Kickstarter for Mighty No. 9, appealing to Japanese/western audiences, no Twitter plans, more

Polygon has published a new interview with Keiji Inafune regarding his new Kickstarter project, Mighty No. 9. Inafune had a lot to say about the new game, plus off-beat topics like Twitter.

You can find a good chunk of Inafune’s comments below. There’s even more to find on Polygon.

On how Mighty No. 9 is a direct response to fan requests…

“After I left Capcom, I would go to lots of different game events and almost always fans would come up to me and ask me about Mega Man, Dead Rising and the wide variety of franchises I was attached to when I was at Capcom. No matter how many times I would explain to them ‘I don’t work for Capcom anymore,’ their passion would totally overwhelm that knowledge.”

“When I thought about Kickstarter, which is a system where you’re basically putting your money where your mouth is. You say ‘I will take that financial responsibility and burden with you, the creator, and we’ll work together to make this thing come true.’ It’s not like posters who will just post on a message board and say ‘Where is Mega Man? Where is this? Where is that?’ That’s easy.

“These are people who are willing to take the plunge with the creator to make something they love. That was what really led me to think this is really perfect for doing something new that I know the fans have been asking for for a long time.”

On how Inafune was more hands-on during the development of Beck’s character design and the look of his enemies than he has been in recent years…

“For me, this is a very important character for me to give birth to. The important thing to know is that right now, at this stage, nothing is locked down,. Nothing is finished. We have confidence in what we’ve been able to build so far, but one of the key approaches to Kickstarter is you need to work with the fans and get their feedback. There’s still quite a ways to go with the design.”

On how direct fan feedback through channels like Kickstarter is crucial to the design of Mighty No. 9 and the future of game development…

“Honestly, it’s something that I’ve been working with trend-wise [with Mega Man Legends 3 and Mega Man Universe]. I knew that involving the fans would be an integral part of the future.”

“Even as recently as [PlayStation Vita game] Soul Sacrifice, the demo we released for that game probably had more content than a publisher would be comfortable with,” he said. “I wanted to push for that. It meant that the user would have a bigger end slice of what the game was and be able to provide more feedback.”

“It’s already right in front of our faces that being a creator, being flexible, listening to your fans, working with them, finding the balance of what they want versus what you want to create, that will be the future of development.”

On appealing to Japanese and western audiences…

“Back in the day, things like the package art [in North America and Europe] were largely different from what we created in Japan,” he said. “And we were told that’s just the way it was and we accepted that. Fast forward to today and being able to create your own titles from the ground up and really work with that character and name, I feel pretty confident in [Mighty No. 9] that we’ve come up with something that will work worldwide.

“We recognize the fact that it’s a Japanese game, and you’re going to have people that like the Japan art style but you’re going to have people that like the Western art style. We’re offering two package illustrations [so] maybe the main character will be holding a laser gun on the US package art, maybe he won’t. This is all fan service. We know the roots of where these games came from and we want to make sure the hardcore fans come away with something special.”

On keeping away from Twitter…

“This is actually something hinted in our announcement trailer. The effect of technology on our lives, while it can look very beneficial on one side, on the other, there is a high price that’s paid. It’s something I constantly think about. Twitter is something I feel that’s easy to control you, rather than you controlling it.”

“I don’t want to be another Japanese creator that does that, and there are certainly a lot out there that I feel misuse Twitter.”

Other details

– Beck’s character design is lead by artist Takenori Kimoto (aka Kimo Kimo)
– Design offers the “spirit” of Mega Man at a cursory glance
– The two characters are “very, very different”
– Details like Beck’s color scheme, eyes, facial features and the lack of a Buster Cannon help separate the two
– Inafune tweaked and adjusted Beck’s look, “probably to the point of being annoying” to Kimoto
– Still in the conceptual stage
– The team hasn’t begun to build out the game
– Middleware hasn’t been chosen either
– Middleware consideration will depend on how well Comcept’s fundraising goes and what platforms Mighty No. 9 might come to