Tiny Cartridge

Guild02 has Inafune and other rad dudes

Yes, Guild01 hasn’t released in Japan yet, but Level-5 has already announced a sequel to the 3DS omnibus. The collection of names involved in this follow-up might not seem as hype-worthy at first — 01’s Suda51, Yoot Saito, and Yasumi Matsuno are hard to top — but I am here to tell you that we are in the midst of a dope situation.

Guild02 features four games from ex-Mega Man producer Keiji Inaune, My Summer Vacation creator Kazu Ayabe, and Chunsoft’s Kazuya Asano and Takemaru Abiko. Let us discuss the dopeness levels after the break.

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“I know the 3DS is fighting a tough fight, but a samurai should never pick an easy fight. I want to participate in the fight to turn the tide of battle.”

Keiji Inafune, Capcom veteran and Comcept head (Kaio: King of Pirates), in the latest issue of Game Informer.

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Kai-oh, or Sea King, an original 3DS project from Mega Man producer/Capcom veteran Keiji Inafune and his new Intercept studio. I thought for sure his new outfit was going to focus on smartphone games or some social stuff, but I’m glad to hear he’s going HAM on the 3DS.

This curious action RPG, which will be published by Marvelous AQL in Japan some time next year, is a new One Piece-ish take on the Three Kingdoms/Sangokushi formula with a pirate-theme and a penguin hero.

It’s interesting that Marvelous put out this subtitled trailer, and even have an English version of the game’s official site up — a Western release definitely looks to be in consideration. Now we just need a non-CG gameplay trailer to assure us that this is worth our excitement.

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A Mega Man Legends/Keiji Inafune moment remembered by, uh, PhallusKnifeFight. who grabbed this from /V/ or some guy named SteelAJeeg or whatever.

Inafune, who served as the producer for the Mega Man series before his departure from Capcom last October, commented on the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3 on his blog (translated by Andriasang):

“The decision for the cancelation was out of my sphere, but as someone who took part in the development, I’d like to convey something to the staff: I’m sorry that I couldn’t be of assistance. … I’m truly sorry I couldn’t take part until the end.”

Inafune went on to say that he had hoped to play the Mega Man Legends 3 Prototype Version demo that was supposed to release on the 3DS’s eShop, but that, too, was canned for no discernible reason. :o/

Buy: Mega Man Legends games

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See also: Mega Man Legends 3 posts

[Via Blood, Sweat, and Pixels]

Keiji Inafune’s Megaman Legends 3 Project talk from New York Comic Con. You won’t see any new footage of the Nintendo 3DS game here, but the series producer does talk a little about its development and shares some artwork for possible heroine designs — vote for your favorite here!

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See also: Brief preview of Mega Man Legends 3

Dancing panda from Strider (Genesis/Mega Drive). Hidden in an out-of-the-way corner of Strider’s third stage, a small panda waits behind a stack of artillery shells. After you destroy the shells and find the little guy, he does a jig, rotates his head, and disappears. This silly Easter Egg went unexplained for more than 20 years until LSCM tracked down and interviewed Strider’s designer Kouichi Yotsui recently: “The graphic staff and planners will sometimes conspire against the planner and put something in without his knowledge. For Strider, someone put a panda in the battleship’s cannon room without my knowing. The person who did that later became [Keiji Inafune]’s wife, fully supporting her husband’s success.” So, the prankster who coded the dancing panda in Capcom’s Strider went on to marry Mega Man character designer and Onimusha/Resident Evil producer Keiji Inafune! [Via Danny Cowan]

Dancing panda from Strider (Genesis/Mega Drive). Hidden in an out-of-the-way corner of Strider’s third stage, a small panda waits behind a stack of artillery shells. After you destroy the shells and find the little guy, he does a jig, rotates his head, and disappears.

This silly Easter Egg went unexplained for more than 20 years until LSCM tracked down and interviewed Strider’s designer Kouichi Yotsui recently:

“The graphic staff and planners will sometimes conspire against the planner and put something in without his knowledge. For Strider, someone put a panda in the battleship’s cannon room without my knowing. The person who did that later became [Keiji Inafune]’s wife, fully supporting her husband’s success.”

So, the prankster who coded the dancing panda in Capcom’s Strider went on to marry Mega Man character designer and Onimusha/Resident Evil producer Keiji Inafune!

[Via Danny Cowan]