What does a man do when work on his previous Kickstarter project has reached completion? Why, launch another TWO Kickstarters campaigns, of course!
That’s correct, with work on Mighty No. 9 wrapping up, Keiji Inafune – one of the masterminds behind Mega Man – has launched two new Kickstarter campaigns for the game and anime versions of Red Ash: The Indelible Legend, which serves as a spiritual successor to Mega Man Legends. The project’s Kickstarter page describes it as so:
“RED ASH is a very different project from a retro action game like Mighty No. 9, in terms of both scale and concept. The primary goal with RED ASH is to tell a story on a grand scale; all of the primary concepts are clearly visualized in the minds of the creative team, from the overall plot to historical background.”
The page goes on to point out that this is a very different game than Mighty No. 9 by saying, “while Mighty No. 9 is a side-scrolling action game, RED ASH is a 3D Action RPG.” In other words, imagine how different Mega Man Legends was from the side-scrolling Mega Man, and you’ve got an idea.
I can’t speak for internet, but here in my little corner of the web, I’m intrigued. However, with Inafune going back to the crowdfunding well, some worry this is getting out of hand.
Too Many KickStarters?
It’s understandable that some would hold the opinion that Inafune has gone too far. If you’ve already recieved $3,845,170 from 67,266 backers to bring your project life, it seems a little greedy to ask for it again on a new project. But this isn’t greed. It’s about opportunity, demand, and supply; you know, that economics 101 type of stuff.
Mighty No. 9 – releasing in September of this year – and Red Ash exist for one reason: people want an original Mega Man game and Capcom isn’t making one – at least not anytime soon. And I wouldn’t blame Capcom for their decision. Sure, they could make an incredible Mega Man game, but the demand isn’t big enough to warrant that kind of project. It’s a bad idea to make games that don’t forecast a decent enough return.
That’s why Kickstarter exists – to allow consumers to fund what they demand. While the demand for this kind of game isn’t substantial enough for a struggling AAA developer like Capcom to finance, the demand is there. And as long as the demand exists, Inafune and his crew are absolutely within their rights to take advantage of this opportunity.
They have the tools and experience to make the games and most of the funds to make it, but we have the ability to carry it the rest of the way. We can make it a reality. And if we don’t want it, we don’t fund it, and it never gets made. Demand always wins.
In the meantime, Inafune and his developing partners will grow and create bigger games. Over time they’ll rely less on consumer funding dollars and more upon their own. Of course, that’s the hope. We wouldn’t want to tarnish Inafune’s “indelible” reputation.
Do you think Inafune and Co. have gone too far? Let us know in the comments below!