Keiji Inafune comments on the launch version of Mighty No. 9 "it’s better than nothing"

From GameWatcher: "Poor Keiji Inafune. Inafune was part of the team that created the original Mega Man games. He has experienced some wonderful highs, but the launch of Mighty No. 9 has to be one of his career lows. At first it seemed like Mighty No. 9 would work out well, earning close to four million dollars in just one month. However, lots of money didn’t seem to help Inafune’s studio, Comcept Inc create a good game."

[DesignatedDevon]

"Better than nothing" ??

I'll take a hard pass on this one.

[Brandnewfan610]

His troll level is through the roof lmao

[hay]

He took 4 million dorrar and says it could've been nothing? Dayum. It's a fucking scam, you could do A LOT with this kind of budget.

[exkalibur97]

4 million isnt that much considering how many platforms its on. let this be a lesson to anyone who is thinking of donating to a kickstarter

[SourtreeDing]

now we know this guy is a piece of shit to work with

[hulk_bash1987]

Their mistake was trying to put it on too many platforms. They didnt have enough budget or focus to make a worthy successor successor to the Megaman throne. Sad indeed for the people that put faith and money into the project.

[freshslicepizza]

the whole process has been an embarassment.

[Null1980]

"Hey, I ordered the filet mignon."

"Shuttup and eat your dollar menu burger," he says.

[harv052]

hahahaha! That's a great analogy! Made me laugh!

[-Foxtrot]

What a douche

This could have been something special

[Hold_It]

Well said Foxtrot, well said!

[BattleAxe]

Hey, just buy the game, play it, and keep quiet! /s

[Godmars290]

Or what he said originally was translated poorly.

Not that it excuses the game. especially if its true that it bricked a console, which is hearsay based on someone's forum post.

[Zeref]

the thing about crowdsourced games is that you cant listen to everything fans want in the game. Because most of them don't know game development and end up ruining the game in the end. I think that's what happened here. There is such a thing as listening too much to fans.

[XanderZane]

The fans aren't the ones who control the development of the game though. Inafune is the one who kept making the promises if fans donated more money. They should have just stuck with PC, PS4 and XB1. They tried to do to much and then when it got tough they had to keep delaying the game and pushing it back. I'll never back another one of his games after this mess.

[Deadpooled]

Should not have tried to put it on so many platforms, resources would have then been used better and more efficiently to make a better game overall instead of halfassing every version to meet a deadline

[KentBenMei]

It is an out of context quote. MN9 is decent.

[RashBandicoot]

This was actually spoken independently by the translator. It's proven to be false. http://n4g.com/news/1923302...

[Loadedklip]

I hope this is taken out of context .... because if it's not ... damn.

[mushroomwig]

Yup, what a disgusting thing to say to the people who funded the game with their own money.

[Erik7357]

They didn't agree to pay for a amazing game, they agreed to fund development for a game they thought they would be amazing. Only obligation he had was making the game and that was his only job, not for your personal enjoyment or the people who funded it to enjoy it. What matters is that he made his game and his vision of that game, those people agreed to fund that whether they knew it or not.

People need to give this guy a break, its hard to make a game. When you go up on kickstarter your asking the community to pay for the vision you have for your game, not for their enjoyment.

[remixx116]

@fries

What the hell dude?

He promised a worthy successor to Megaman which in turn is promising fans of mega man a good game.

What you said is like going to a restaurant and paying before hand, ordering a mango salsa porter house with a side of steamed vegetables and getting a Tyson freezer porkchop, you question your chef and he says "hey my only obligation was to make you a meal after you paid me, the slab of meat you got is better than nothing".

I can completely understand if the last guardian sucked (which it won't) and it would be okay because studio japan's only obligation was to make a game even though people have been waiting for it, primarily because the studios money is what paid for the game.

This situation on the other hand is different, various people paid for your product in hopes of getting quality and waited quite a while. You ship them some bullshit and tell them to deal with it. GTFO

[LackTrue4K]

@Fries

The guy asked for a dam handout, and now you defend his lack of effort and ask to "people need to give him a break"

...?!
Hope people get the opportunity to get reimbursed kick starter/game purchase.

[senorfartcushion]

He did say "even if it is not perfect" before hand so it was mistransgribed for one BUT

Regardless of context, what Inafune said was essentially leaked because it didn't come from his mouth. It came from his translator.

[Sirk7x]

I do agree with this. I was thinking about it the other day with Aonuma. Japanese and English are not really fully compatible languages. Someone asks a question, and then the translator has to interpret into Japanese, not only remembering what the English speaker said, but then shaping it into something that will work. He then has to reverse the entire process, and I'm sure there is an amount of information that is lost between the original two speakers.

[YoungPlex]

I don't know bro, it's certainly not the time to be making sarcastic remarks...

Pretty f'd up! I really enjoyed Soul Sacrifice Delta and Azure Striker Gunvolt, both recent and are damn fine games and, I'm highly anticipating Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 coming real soon. Idk, I picked it up but have yet to play it. I'm almost tempted to just say screw it and take it back...

[Hold_It]

Lol, we almost got nothing. You don't just get $4m + for a game FUNDED BY FANS, and then turn around and provide almost no updates with what's going on. This is just a prime of example of what Ubisoft would/could do if they had something on Kickstarter.

[Tobsesan]

lol

[Erik7357]

No...you can do whatever the hell you want as long as you get a game at the end your fine.
I don't do things for your enjoyment, if we give you a update on development be grateful we took that unnecessary risk and we aren't obligated to do that its just a nice thing to do, when a kickstarter pays for my project they pay for my vision and my art...not for you to enjoy it. You just think you will enjoy that game and you then expect the artist to feel a obligation to make you happy when actually all he agreed to was to take the money your willing giving him to develop HIS game, not yours!

We dont force you to pay for our development, you willing did it and the only person to complain to is yourself.

[Hold_It]

It's apologists like yourself that have contributed to the decline of gaming. I look forward to the future hypocritical post you will make with almost the same message as mine above.

I'm not the only person to complain, just about everyone who contributed to the kickstarter of Mighty No. 9 has complained. Because they have screwed over those who contributed. Obviously you don't have the slightest clue how game development works if you think people who fund games aren't as equally important as the ones making the game. Without us, you are nothing, and you don't exist as a company, and as a developer. With your mentality, you will be lucky if you ever make one friend in life or have any kind of career at all.

Igarashi, and company are showing how you should do a kickstarter, while Inafune and team have hardly shown any progress. You can't do whatever you want as a development team. Look how that turned out for Hideo Kojima. People are not going to give you money if you can't make good on paying people back with the same generosity as those who gave it to you. When you pay for a product the product is supposed to work as advertised, and be as advertised otherwise you are being scammed with a defective product. You will learn that the hard way when you try to make your so called "games" with RPG Maker.

[s45gr32]

Definitely, I am not funding any game you make. Game developers must let the gamers know how the game is shaping up through game updates, forums, etc. Do you really think publishers publish games without having one to one communication with the game developer or allowed the game developer to do as they please with the publishers' money no right. When it comes to kickstarter same principle applies because without the fans funding the game, guess what their game does not come to fruition

[XanderZane]

That's all well and good, but in the future these same gamers and fans will never fund another one of your games. Other developers may not want to work with you as well. So keep that in the back of your mind when you have another opinion.

[Erik7357]

No, I'm just not self inclined to what you want. Its first world millennials who think they are obligated to everything they want. I am not impacted by how you will look or think about my game, its whatever I want it to be cause its MY game. And when you go on kickstarter you're agreeing to fund MY GAME not yours.

You can complain and criticize sure but you shouldn't get mad at the developer they didn't make what you wanted, they MADE WHAT THEY WANTED CAUSE THEY MADE IT.

You want your version of Megaman? Go make one instead of complaining about this one on the n4g comment section.

[slinky123456]

The issue with everything you're saying is that they did lie in the original kickstarter. It's not what the game turned out to be at all. The problem with them not releasing updates just contributes more to their lies on how the game will be. It's released not at all how they said it would be when they were trying to get money out of people, which contributes to it being a scam. It would be fine if it was JUST a bad game, it really would be.. But they didn't try. And his quote proves it.

If they said they were gonna make this mega-man-like game mighty number 9 and show all they showed... then released a game like Skyrim it would still be scammy and filled with lies. Sure the games great, but they lied to get money out of people. Extreme example but it's true.

[s45gr32]

It was advertised as a spiritual successor to mega man, plus it was widely advertised as a modern version of mega man. If it doesn't play or look like how it was advertised, then it falls under false advertisement. The people that fund the game are part of the game development process: they tested the game, advertise it, and gave advice to the game developer what worked what did not work.

[IanTH]

Holy crap man. Are you serious? Are you a developer on Kickstarter? What game are you making so I know to keep all this in mind if I ever come across it...

What I find super weird is that you are acting like everyone didn't like the game but he was super proud of it. It's pretty clear he didn't even end up making the game he wanted to make. And even if he did, he is absolutely making it for other people's enjoyment. No one, save for you, is sitting out there asking people for money and saying "I don't care if you enjoy this, give me your money to make a game I care about - and ONLY I care about - and then you can go and f*&k off". Obviously I'm not saying developers need to listen to backers every beck and call, nor do I think backers have any thought other than "this guy is going to make something he thinks is cool, and it sounds cool to me, so I'll likely enjoy it". Why else would they give money?

You don't think that backers deserve updates? You think that's "being nice"? That's called good business. That's called good will. That's what you want to do if you want to keep your backers happy and spreading positive word of mouth about your game for possible future customers and purchases. If you took this to a company and the company funded your project, you think they wouldn't require you to give them progress updates? Why do you think this is any different?

Also I think first world milennial describes your thought process perfectly. I want you to give me money to do something I WANT and I have absolutely no need to take anything you say into account. I'll do what I want, the way I want, without needing to give you any input or insight into my progress. Me, me, me. I don't know how when someone gives you money that you think they are acting entitled when they might want a few updates over a year or two development cycle. You have a really terrible world view friend.

[Pancit_Canton]

He don't ****ing care. It's not his money.

[Sirk7x]

It is his name however, and that's very important in the independent gaming scene.

[oasdada]

Guess he was too busy working ob recore.. now my expectations for that game are lowering too damn

[XanderZane]

He's not the only one working on Recore and there are publishers who are watching everything they do and their progress. If it's not up to snuff if could easily be pulled just like Fable Legends. With Mighty #9, there aren't any publishers really keeping track of what Keiji Inafune is doing.

[Hoffmann]

Others create better games with only 300k through kickstarter.

[Hold_It]

For once, I agree with you.

[Hoffmann]

Gardevoir

[Summons75]

Better than nothing...on a train wreck of a launch or a game that already went through development hell...

Yeah, that's not really the attitude you should be having right now.

[Dir_en_grey]

Inafune is a joke. Nothing but a hack since the beginning. And No he didn't create Mega Man.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Who did?

[CrimsonWing69]

Akira Kitamura

[Relientk77]

That's messed up. I thought this game was gonna be a great Megaman clone

[DreadGara]

Sadly, It's a Megaman clown.

[2cents]

Wow!
I think ill pass...
Nothing is in fact better than paying for a P.O.S.

[DillyDilly]

& shit like this & how Sony is treating Shenmue 3 is why I will never back anything on Kickstarter

[Tdmd]

How is sony treating Shenmue 3? Just curious.

[WeAreLegion]

You mean giving them time on stage at E3 to announce their independent game that Sony will see no financial return on? Yeah. Real dick move...

[tanukisuit]

Sony isn't developing the game and if you were a true fan, you would know Suzuki HAS been updating the game and keeping in touch with fans! I have some e-mails from him and staff, so you are completely wrong - Sony held up its part of the bargain.

[MilkMan]

LOL

[MaxCompiler]

Shame...

[MilkMan]

Inafume and Platinum are fucking up big time. Keep it up bro.

[Concertoine]

What did Platinum do?

[JEECE]

They started trying to make a ton of games at the same time, and their quality level tanked.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Blame Activision for giving them Legend of Korra, Transformers and Ninja Turtles.
Ever since Nintendo funded Bayonetta 2. Publishers has been hit them up.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Yea what about Platinum?

[Sirk7x]

Turtles was received poorly, as was Star Fox Zero and what they showed of Scalebound at E3, granted, I was initially very excited for it. Basically people are thinking that they started to stretch themselves too thin. It makes one wonder after seeing the quality that was Bayonetta 2.

[TheROsingleB]

Well, as much as I have/had deep respect for Inafune, I'm glad I did not support this Kickstarter if this is how he respects his fanbase.

[opinionated]

He knows people have short attention spans. He knows he won't be held to account by backers like he would a real investor. The way he used the fanbase is pretty shitty. I hope it was worth it, he has a high climb to regain my respect back.

[JEECE]

Well, this is going to be good for the future of crowdfunded games.

[slappy508]

This game looks like it's a Mighty No.2

[TheTwelve]

Oh sh--, no you didn't

[Orionsangel]

I'll get it for $4.99 in a Steam sale.

[kingdom18]

Yeah, honestly that looks like what it's worth. It most certainly does not look like a game that had a 4 million dollar budget.

[danny818]

i hope this journalist heard something similar and ran with it. If not, thats harsh. Super degrading to fans who believed in him and donated

[TXIDarkAvenger]

From VG24/7

“The reality is they put everything into making this game,” Inafune explained on a livestream. “They didn’t try to microtransaction it out, they didn’t try to DLC it out for extra money. They put it all in. So, for now, this is what you see and what you get, for the Mighty No. 9 world. But, again, we can hope that if things go well, there’ll be sequels. Because I’ll tell you what, I’m not getting my 2D side-scrolling fill. And at the end of the day, even if it’s not perfect, it’s better than nothing. At least, that’s my opinion.”

Given context and everything, I feel like he might of actually said something along those lines.

[antikbaka]

yeah, he got only 4kk !! it's not enough even to buy a god mansion in the usa!

[PizzaSteve]

The people choose to fund this game. They not happy with it oh well. It's just like taking a gamble with buying a lottery ticket. Gamers shouldn't fund games anyway because you may not get what you want and you don't make any money. I would help fund schools and poor people instead you know something meaningful. I have never funded a Kickstarter game and never will. Publishers got the money for that.

[Sirk7x]

Well, this is what they implied it would like originally: http://oyster.ignimgs.com/w...

[DJ]

Maybe publishers aren't worthless after all

[Germany7]

Come on Inafune, tell us again how other japanese developers don't know how to make games, also that the japanese gaming industry is dead.

See folks, the answer for games like Bloodborne, another Souls games, Bayonetta 2 and Mario Kart 8 is Mighty No. 9. /s

[DialgaMarine]

Though he's not wrong, and the game is only $30 brand new, thats still such a shitty thing to say. That's the same thing as selling someone a literal clump of crap, and telling them "its better than nothing!"

[NecoTehSergal]

Maybe Nothing would've been better than crushing the dreams of all Megaman fans you once had - and pissing your future away in the gaming industry. :P

[Good-Smurf]

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[senorfartcushion]

Kenji Inafune says the launch version of Mighty No. 9 IS "better than nothing."****

[ScorpiusX]

I will take a game instead of no game to play

[gamerswin24]

Its sad and a big F.U. to gamers who were looking forward to a new Mega Man type game on their console.

[barb_wire]

Well, that's a fine attitude to have isn't it.. hope nobody buys the game then, so they can't fleece people out of their money again.

[CrimsonWing69]

Man can you believe this guy? Yea thanks for giving me something instead of nothing after u went home with my money.

Boy, I'll tell you fellas, I've learned a lesson from all this.

[PurpHerbison]

I'm not quite sure what people expected.

[Chaos_Order]

I hope Yooka Laylee and Bloodstained blow this game out of the water.

It needs to be shown that crowd-funded games can succeed in giving fans what they want, and not leave their backers feeling bitter and disappointed.

[Tobsesan]

This pic sums it up
https://pbs.twimg.com/media...

[GrimmyReaper]

Wow.
Dick.
People threw 4 mil your way and this is the response?

[rataranian]

Its not as bad as media portrays. But not nearly as good as we wanted or expected.
I think also even if its Ifune working on it, times have changed and you cant replicate Mega Man. Especially after countless games have made it legendary status. The art syle was even a bad choice. MM was an 8 and 16 bit game. Plenty of indie games use that and they are amazing games. This semi 3d hd attempt wasnt needed. This is only 1 game. The team he had probably mismanaged money and time. And at the time kickstarter indie games werent that awesome. So if it would have come out within a year maybe it wouldnt have gotten a bad rep. But after like 3 years indie and kickstarter games are now actually reputable and almost on par with anything else you must deliver a bad ass game. And this wasnt it. Let it be a learning experience for them and maybe in the future his next game will be better.

[Monkeycan8]

I agree I just played through the first mission and was actually having fun. There is also a lot of meat to the game so you can play for a long time at least that's what it looks like. I also think it should have been 2D and not 3D.

[Monkeycan8]

While I understand to complaints about the game. I am a backer also and Not super happy about how it looks. They game itself is actually fun. No joke. Just played the first Mission and was actually enjoying myself. Inafune should have made it with 2D HD sprites instead of going 3D. So don't let all the negative press get in the way if you actually enjoy Megaman games.

[fatneal]

LOL inafune said put some respect on his name

[thejigisup]

actually its not better than nothing. Nothing costs no money. No one gets their hopes up for nothing. Fans of a classic series don't have to have their childhood memory tainted by nothing. Nothing would have been better, in fact you should have just said nothing. Nothing is better than Mighty No. 9, and that's not a good thing.

[PlatinumGX]

Lol, Inafume is finished. Good luck restoring your public image.

[oasdada]

How disrespectful for the people who backed this project..

[Urbz7870]

This games is not as bad as ppl are portraying it to be and he is right it is better then nothing worse case senario is the game could of got canceled

[Rezka]

All of this could have went towards soul sacrifice 2 what a shame

[DC777]

Well "nothing" is free actually.

Enjoy your retirement.

[KentBenMei]

That is a partial quote taken out of context, and possibly mistranslated. Quit jumping down his throat just because you group thinkers smell blood. The games is decent.

[hellhunter75]

I want to say thank you for making this game, i bought the signature edition of this game and i am very excited to play it. i grew up on mega man and i played every single one of them. Thanks t those who funded the game allowing me the privilege to play the creators vision.I will enjoy this game to the fullest just like i enjoy Assassins creed syndicate...before you say i'm comparing this game to assassins creed i am not, i'm just going to enjoy as much. :) Again thanks...wish i could have funded this game to receive some cool items , THANKS!

[Enigma_2099]

Someone commented that this game was a victim of its own hype. I believe that to be true... BUT, all that other shady s*** that went down didn't help things either!

[TomVanDamm]

Definitely a translation issue. Inafune's translator was Ben Judd. Ben has said some douche bag things in the past when he was working on Bionic Commando Rearmed. So I blame it on him. Inafune has always been a class act.

[jeremyj2913]

Can't believe so many people had faith in this guy. I've hated him ever since he put Capcom in their sorry state during the PS360 cycle.

[Interloper]

And here's how you ruin any credit in the gaming world you have, ruin your reputation and any chance anyone will ever buy another game from you.

[mark_parch]

hopefully he can redeem himself with recore

[r3f1cul]

way to spit in peoples faces... and way to tarnish kickstarter ... i really wish this guy nothing but the worst honestly ... go jump off a cliff you d bag ...

[Miss_Weeboo]

Another great Inafune's comments:
1) "Hey, be thankful that at least we gave you something for your hard earned money, and this wasn't like a TOTAL scam"
2) "Arigato gozaimashita, you suckers!"
3) "All in, baby! We are winning, winning, winning, winning."
4) "DRM is the future"
5) "If it was left to me, I would send a Hanafuda game to the suckers"
6) "Sorry I don't get the drama around making a bad game. Almost every game now these days is Sht: DEAL WITH IT!!!"

[Neonridr]

Shame, I backed this project on Kickstarter. And this is what I get to look forward to?

[mogwaii]

Backers should sue the fuck out of him! What a scumbag!

[Tzuno]

Hahahahahhh right in your face, gamers.