Mega Man 10, 11, Breath of Fire 6, Strider 2 are real possibilities, says Capcom boss Keiji Inafune

23 December 2008

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Posted by:Josh

In a recent interview Keiji Inafune discusses the possibilities of Mega Man 10, Mega Man 11, Breath of Fire 6, Strider 2, a revival of Mega Man Legends and more, much more.

Keiji Inafune is the head of Research & Development and Online Business at Capcom and the creator of one of videogaming’s most popular characters, Mega Man. He also produced the Onimusha and Dead Rising videogames for Capcom and is not only a well-regarded figure in the gaming industry but also overseas all videogame development at Capcom, quite the task. And the guy has quite a lot to say as well…

Here are a few choice quotes:

Regarding a Mega Man 10 or 11 sequel:

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?

Keiji Inafune (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.

Regarding a new Mega Man Legend 3:

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.

Regarding a Strider revival (Strider 2 or Strider 3):

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 Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix 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.

Regarding Breath of Fire 6 or a new Breath of Fire game:

1UP: One last question for the RPG fans out there. Any chance of seeing a new, current-gen Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is one of my personal favorite RPGs ever, and I’ve been dying to see a follow-up or anything in the BOF universe that isn’t a remake for DS. Gimme the scoop.

KI: There are currently no plans on making a new Breath of Fire game. Apart from that, regarding RPG titles, they are very popular in Japan, but only certain RPG titles sell so Capcom doesn’t really need to even consider making these titles as an option. There’s a low possibility that we’ll be making one in the near future. But, I realize that there are fans of the series, and we have staff who are interested so it’s not out of the question. We actually have a lot of titles in a similar situation, where there’s an interest by users and our staff, but where we just don’t have the resources. Square Enix and Namco Bandai have 1,200 development staff but we only have 600. There’s a lot more that we want to do, titles that would probably sell well if we made them, but we just don’t have enough staff.

* Keiji Inafune image courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/86757288@N00/355533938