Ninja Soldier (M2)

[KAI]

http://m2stg.com/en/mononoke/
Trailer






I'm still surprised the EXA arcadia team didn't make an announce today.

[BrianC]

The dog is named Kuhga Vapor Trail!

edit: The movie like credits also mention another dog named Raiga. I wonder if that dog is a "Strato Fighter".

[KAI]

Maybe the Fang trilogy could be the next titles on the Shoot Triggers series (!?)

[NTSC-J]

"Team Varginha."

The Famitsu article is the only thing that makes me think it isn't an April Fool's joke.

[CRP]

The dog is named Kuhga Vapor Trail!

edit: The movie like credits also mention another dog named Raiga. I wonder if that dog is a "Strato Fighter".

I think when the dog divide himself the otherone is called Raiga

This really great. Right down my ally. Loving it all just the upl scoreing fonts makes me happy .

[OmegaFlareX]

Neat, assuming it's not a fakepost. Looks and sounds similar to Z80/PSG hardware games. Saw some things that were lifted from Star Force.

[Chacranajxy]

Alright, so it's not April 1 anymore. Is this still a thing? Because it actually looks pretty cool.

[mamboFoxtrot]

well, silicon era is claiming a 2018 arcade release date, but.... they don't mention where they get that date from
http://www.siliconera.com/2018/04/02/m2 ... apan-2018/

hopefully it will be a thing

pretty cool how its supposedly made using abandoned plans from 1988

[z0mbie90]

I think it is a April fools joke. I hope I'm wrong. But the thing with the abandoned plans from 1988, according to M2's website they started August 8th, 1991.
But even if it is a joke, they could still do it

[Stevens]

Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for an April Fool's joke.

[mycophobia]

yeah I'm pretty sure I heard about this on Twitter before April 1st

[Chacranajxy]

It does seem way too well done (and also not particularly jocular) for an April Fool's joke.

[NTSC-J]

Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for an April Fool's joke.

It does seem way too well done (and also not particularly jocular) for an April Fool's joke.

It's M2, they don't do half-assed. Knowing them, they'll release the full game with multiple modes and display options, but the credits will end with "Thanks playing this game, Happy April Fool's!"

Other Japanese gaming sites are reporting it now, so it does seem legit.

[brentsg]

Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for an April Fool's joke.

It does seem way too well done (and also not particularly jocular) for an April Fool's joke.

It's M2, they don't do half-assed. Knowing them, they'll release the full game with multiple modes and display options, but the credits will end with "Thanks playing this game, Happy April Fool's!"

Other Japanese gaming sites are reporting it now, so it does seem legit.

Yeah an M2 April Fool's joke would be better than most ports/games from other companies.

[EmperorIng]

I'm an idiot - has M2 made their own games? I've known them mostly as superb port-jobbers.

Love the cutesy throwback style from the trailer.

[Chacranajxy]

I'm an idiot - has M2 made their own games? I've known them mostly as superb port-jobbers.

Love the cutesy throwback style from the trailer.

They have, on occasion. The best-known ones would probably be the Rebirth series they did for Konami on the Wii (Castlevania, Contra, and Gradius Rebirth)

[GSK]

I'm an idiot - has M2 made their own games? I've known them mostly as superb port-jobbers.

Love the cutesy throwback style from the trailer.

Entirely original, self-published games? Not really, but they've made several more-or-less new games for other publishers: the Konami Rebirth games for WiiWare, the Twinbee Da remake included on the PSP collection, the System 16/3DS version of Fantasy Zone 2, etc, not to mention many other contract gigs for mobile, handhelds, etc.

Hiroshi Iuchi's been at M2 for several years and has been working on an original STG for most of that time, on and off, but it's hard to say if it'll ever go anywhere.

yeah I'm pretty sure I heard about this on Twitter before April 1st

The announcement went live at 00:00 April 1 with advance briefing for several media outlets, which you can interpret however you like.

[Oniros]

Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for an April Fool's joke.

It does seem way too well done (and also not particularly jocular) for an April Fool's joke.

It's M2, they don't do half-assed. Knowing them, they'll release the full game with multiple modes and display options, but the credits will end with "Thanks playing this game, Happy April Fool's!"

Other Japanese gaming sites are reporting it now, so it does seem legit.

Yeah an M2 April Fool's joke would be better than most ports/games from other companies.

Ain't that the truth? I think this might be real. Japanese companies take April Fools' kinda seriously it seems. Just look at what Arika pulled with Fighting EX Layer last year.

[mycophobia]

yeah I'm pretty sure I heard about this on Twitter before April 1st

The announcement went live at 00:00 April 1 with advance briefing for several media outlets, which you can interpret however you like.

timezones I reckon

[Frenetic]

Maybe it's real?

http://www.siliconera.com/2018/04/02/m2 ... apan-2018/

[Squire Grooktook]

I adore the cutesie character/boss sprites and "fantasy zanac/star soldier" spartan background tiling. I really want to believe this is real, despite the unfortunate timing on the announcement. Thankfully, the recent reports on it by JP news sources seem to cement it as more then a joke.

[Sumez]

Definitely getting a Hudson vibe from this.
I wish all the promo images wouldn't be comprised of 60% boob. Of course, that only serves to prove the game is real, I guess. That's how you sell stuff in Japan nowadays from what I'm told. By my PlayStation Vita.

[Despatche]

This is extremely cute.

Would just like to point out that Raiga has nothing to do with the Kuhga trilogy.

[Pointman]

I don’t know, it might be suspect. How modern is the M2 logo? It appears in the top right hand corner of the supposed documents from 1988 in the trailer. In fact according to Wikipedia M2 were founded in 1993. I might be another case like Fighting EX Layer, a game that started as an April Fool but evolves into an actual game. I hope so, it looks funky, if a little too Star Soldier-esque.

[NTSC-J]

I don’t know, it might be suspect. How modern is the M2 logo? It appears in the top right hand corner of the supposed documents from 1988 in the trailer. In fact according to Wikipedia M2 were founded in 1993.

I thought those were just watermarks added recently, but if you look at the first page of the documents, it says the name of the company, (有) エムツー, and as you said, they weren't around in 1988 (they were actually founded in 1991).

It makes me wonder if the idea that it was some long-lost game they unearthed was the joke, but they are in fact making the game, they just used that as a reason to do it in this style.

[Squire Grooktook]

It makes me wonder if the idea that it was some long-lost game they unearthed was the joke, but they are in fact making the game, they just used that as a reason to do it in this style.

Yes, I am thinking the same. The "long lost" may have been a joke as well, delivered with a wink and a nod, rather then something that was intended to be taken seriously.

My only concern at the moment is that I haven't seen any mention of what platform this is intended for?

[NTSC-J]

Siliconera claims it's for arcades. If not for EXA Arcadia, I'd think that would be a huge giveaway.

Also, at the risk of reaching DEL levels of conspiracy theory, the date on the old document, January 4, 1988, may be another clue: 1/4 can also be read as 4/1, and '88 could refer to August 8, the day the company was founded.

And Kuhga Vapor Trail came out in 1989.

[Shepardus]

My only concern at the moment is that I haven't seen any mention of what platform this is intended for?

The trailer says at the end "on you arcade cabinet!"

If this is an April Fools' joke, it's a phenomenal amount of effort for one, but it's working - I really don't know what to think. The fact that it's already April 3, though, makes me lean towards it actually being real.

It's M2, they don't do half-assed. Knowing them, they'll release the full game with multiple modes and display options, but the credits will end with "Thanks playing this game, Happy April Fool's!"

I'm still waiting for Gmail to abruptly shut down one day with a message "Thank you for participating in April Fools' Day 2004 with us!"

[Sumez]

1/4 can also be read as 4/1

I'm almost certain USA is the only country in the world that uses that super weird backwards date format? 1/4 is most definitely the 1st of April.

[Stevens]

1/4 can also be read as 4/1

I'm almost certain USA is the only country in the world that uses that super weird backwards date format? 1/4 is most definitely the 1st of April.

Along with using English units of measurement. That shit makes no sense.