Mega Man 9 – My Proudest Achievement
Well, it’s finally happened. I’ve wished so hard for a game to exist that it has has taken corporeal form. It’s real! I’ve done it.
Of course, this puts me in a great position to obtain information from the inside of development. So, here’s my interview with myself, the chief project visualization manager of Mega Man 9 (a title I bestowed upon myself this morning).
Catchy Name News: Well, it’s great to have me here.
Justin Strong, Chief Project Visualization Manager: It’s great to be here.
CNN: So, tell us a little bit about what persuaded you to create Mega Man 9.
JS: Well, the idea came to me about 14 years ago, when I was 6. I played the recently released Mega Man 6, and thought “You know, this is really fun. They need to make another one.” So I waited, and waited, and waited. Of course, there were other ones along the way, such as Mega Man X, and of course the direct sequels Mega Man 7 and 8. I didn’t complain, because those games fucking ruled. But…
CNN: But it wasn’t exactly what you were waiting for.
JS: Well, I mean, yeah, it was. But I still wanted another NES one.
CNN: So, it wasn’t what you were looking for.
JS: I just said that it was.
CNN: Look, I think I know what I’m fucking thinking, alright? It wasn’t what you were looking for.
JS: Yeah, alright, sure. Anyway, so Mega Man 9 kind of came out of that idea.
CNN: I see. But surely you knew how unlike that would be, what with the end of the NES’s life cycle and what the gaming industry evolved into after that.
JS: Well, I did, but at the same time, I always secretly hoped that they’d make another one. I continued working on it in my head, planning out the way the game worked. In early 2006 I had the idea of being able to play as the robot masters you defeated, at which point Capcom contacted me (via a direct satellite uplink they have to my brain to monitor my thoughts and make my dreams become manifest) to use that idea for Mega Man: Powered Up! for the PSP. The success of that game paved the way for the creation of Mega Man 9.
CNN: So it was used to kind of test the waters for the viability of an NES-style Mega Man.
JS: Presumably. I don’t know what they were thinking.
CNN: But I know what you’re thinking! And it’s very smart.
JS: Yes, it is! Thank you. You’re quite handsome!
CNN: Likewise! Anyway, what can we expect to see in this new Mega Man?
JS: Well, first of all, it’s going to be a return to the ingeniously simple gameplay of the NES era. The music is really shaping up, too. Of course you know, the Mega Man series has some of my favorite music ever. Oh, and one other detail I can let out: thanks to Capcom’s brilliant programming team, we were actually able to cause the sprites to flicker for that extra NES atmosphere. They’re working in some other bugs too, just to make it as authentic as possible. Just look at this “box art”!
CNN: Wow! That’s awesome.
JS: I know, right? It’s gonna be rad. I can’t believe I came up with it. Of course, the friendly folks over at Capcom had a hand in it too.
CNN: Well, this looks fucking amazing. I can’t wait for it to be released. Have you set a release date yet?
JS: Well, I haven’t HEARD anything yet… I’ll have to check on that.
CNN: Well, when can we see some footage, at least?
JS: Well, no footage has been officially released yet, but I’ll let you know when it has.
CNN: Kotaku had footage of it a month ago.
JS: What?
CNN: Yeah, this was a month ago.
JS: Well, I…
CNN: You really have no idea about any of this, do you?
JS: Well…
CNN: You’re completely clueless! You have nothing to do with this game, do you?
JS: Well, yeah, I mean, kind of…
CNN: You’re making an ass of me!
JS: You’re making an ass of yourself!
CNN: THAT’S WHAT I JUST SAID!
JS: This interview is over.
Well. That’s how that went. It’s almost sad that so many game nowadays are shitty that I’m more excited about Mega Man 9 than I am about any of the major releases left this year (unless you count Fable 2, which I am equally excited about). But it’s not sad, because Mega Man fucking rules. Look at this:
Mega Man 5 was awesome. But guess what? THIS ISN'T MEGA MAN 5 FUCK YES THIS IS GOING TO RULE
I would continue talking about it, but every sentence would just be a variation on “FUCK YES”. So, instead of keeping on, I’m going to just salivate over it. I suggest you do the same.
