Someone needs to connect Akio with Yuzo Koshiro to combine the best 16-bit sprites and music for some future project.
With the recent announcement, it might happen someday if Akio is still up for the task. We have to keep in mind he's in his 60s and cannot work at the pace he used to. He pretty much revealed it in a post yesterday and yeah...
I will post the following English redaction by a guy called GSK/gosokkyu of what the comic reveals:
"AKIO shared a comic about his eventual retirement from SNK in 2010 & return to freelance work... on top of the insane working conditions on Metal Slug, he was rear-ended & (unknowingly) broke his neck but went right back to sleeping under his desk. His neck issues eventually manifested as full-body pain, dizziness, etc & he'd secretly been getting painkiller shots in his neck for 7yrs prior to quitting, at which point they'd stopped working.
Post-retirement, he wasn't quite bedridden, but pretty close, but after ~1yr he'd reached the point where the dizziness has faded and the pain in his arm had subsided to the point where he could use chopsticks, etc.
And at that point he'd run out of money & had to return to work anyway. His neck/arm pain persists & he can't work at the same pace anymore and there are times when he can't work, but he's glad he's been able to contribute to things like MtG [Magic the Gathering] since he went freelance, and he's extremely appreciative of all the attention he's received recently, so he wants to keep at it & hopes ppl will continue to support him."
www.timeextension.com
