A possible Strider sequel/follow-up was also brought up in a past EGM issue too, so that's at least two sources that are starting to possibly give "wink winks" in that direction.
Any way, I can't imagine them NOT doing Rockman 10 and 11 eventually. I mean, regardless of how many units it sold exactly, I remember hearing things about how 9 did quite well, especially on the Wii (further cementing the notion that Nintendo is the place for the blue bomber, it seems). And more importantly, the games CAN'T cost that much to make, as they're relatively low-budget expenditures that could feasibly be banged out in a couple of months, if they have to.
Frankly, what would be the most "risky" and high-budget thing that Inafking could do with Rockman, currently, would be to FINALLY give us DASH 3. I'd like to think with how positively received Trigger's been in the last few years thanks to cameos, maybe he, like OG Rock before him, may be in line for a dramatic come-back.
In any case, I look forward to seeing what the February edition of Nintendo Dream has to report on its "new and exciting" Rockman update.
I don't like this, at all.
It's sad, but really, what can you expect otherwise?
Most, if not all of the development team behind these games are either a) with Inaba and crew over at Platinum Games or b) scattered all over Capcom's own brass, probably doing other things. In either case, being able to do sequels to ANY of these games would likely require the presence and interest of at least some of the people who worked on such games.
The best that we can hope for, is that maybe some ambitious/new director wants to do something with these Clover properties for themselves, and then it could just be a matter of getting the right people, possibly with the help of some code monkeys like Dimps or 8ing, to make it happen.
Otherwise...as some one said over a Capcom-unity, Joe may end up being on his "vacation" for a while longer, yet.