You've got to hand it to Keiji Inafune. The man waited until Capcom finally greenlit Mega Man Legends 3 before quitting. His sacrifice will be remembered for years to come…if the game is good.
News Blips:
Keiji Inafune, head of global research and development and global head of production at Capcom, announces he is leaving the company because there is no room for him to advance further. On his blog, Inafune said he reached the highest position of software development within Capcom and could have remained there as industry leader, but he chose not to. "Settling down means death for a creator," he said. "As long as you are a creator, you cannot settle down." Inafune also stepped down from his position as CEO of Daletto, a subsidiary of Capcom, stating he could no longer work as he feels a CEO should. "I've lost the authority to evaluate my subordinates and the qualification to speak about my dreams." While I'm sure much of this is true, I imagine Inafune's criticisms of the Japanese game industry and Capcom itself have a lot to do with this as well. [Andriasang]
Nintendo announces the limited-edition Super Mario All-Stars for Wii will be available in North America for beginning December 12. In addition to the visually updated versions of Mario's four NES platformers from the original All-Stars release, the limited edition will include a soundtrack featuring music from the series and an illustrated booklet commemorating the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. Nintendo released the limited edition last week in Japan, where it was the first new game in five weeks to outsell Pokémon Black and White. You know you have it good when your re-release of a collection of remakes can bump the latest installment of your own carefully marketed kids craze from the sales charts.
Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360, claims Kinect will "definitely" sell more sensors at launch than Wii or Xbox 360 consoles on their respective release dates. Speaking with Eurogamer, Greenberg said the company hasn't given sales projections beyond the holiday season but believes it will be the biggest launch in the Xbox brand's history. "We feel safe we'll do three million this holiday, which puts us in pretty high territory for even a consumer electronics product," Greenberg said. He doesn't provide the context, but Greenberg's comments are probably more of a dig at Nintendo's inability to meet customer demand when the Wii launched rather than a prediction that Kinect will be more popular.
Take-Two announces its CEO Ben Fedder is leaving the company to travel with his family. Fedder is stepping down to travel Asia with his family for an extended period of time. Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two's executive chairman, will take over Fedder's responsibilities to the company in addition to his own. Fedder said Take-Two's optimistic future allowed him to take his leave. "Now that the company is in a position of strength and is poised for solid performance in the future, the time is right for me to honor certain commitments that I have made to my family," he said. A man related to the Grand Theft Auto series is honoring commitments to his family? Shouldn't he be morally bankrupt by now? Those family groups against video games have a lot of explaining to do.
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