Mega Man Cartoon: "Night of the Living Monster Bots"

Because it's Halloween, and there really isn't much going on on the news front...

Happy halloween, everyone!

Mega Man Tribute Winner Revealed

Lo and behold, the Mega Man brick wall:

Maxime's labor of love takes the top spot in Capcom's Mega Man tribute contest at number one. Kind of a bizarre twist on the phrase "hitting the wall", no?

Congrats Maxime!

Click here for more photos of the wall and previous tribute entries.

Papercraft Mega Man Dioramas

Spotted over at The Toy Zone, here's a couple of handsomely made Mega Man dioramas created by Ryo007 and sgonzales22.  Templates available at the provided links below.

Mega Man vs Cut Man (download template)

Mega Man.EXE vs Mets battlefield (download template)

Credit: Capcom Unity

Retailers To Host OSS Demo Play Event, New Manga Coming Soon

Japanese retailers Sofmap and Messe Sanoh plan on holding a Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star demo play event on November 3rd.  Customers will be allowed to play an "over-the-counter" demo build of OSS, and receive a set Nintendo DS decals.

In related news, the new Rockman EXE manga should be surfacing any day now with the arrival of the Dec. issue of Coro Coro Special, the sister magazine of Coro Coro Comics. The issue shipped yesterday.

For the uniformed, this new manga centers around Rockman EXE and an original protagonist that isn't Netto/Lan.  Not much is known about this character at the moment, but some have speculated that he might be Raito, the son of Netto and Mayl briefly mentioned at the end of Rockman EXE 6.

We'll find out soon enough...

Credit: SSR, The Mega Man Network

Maverick Hunter X Blasts Onto PSN

Starting today, Maverick Hunter X is available for download off of the PlayStation Network for $19.99 USD.  The download will run you 413MB of memory, and is compatible with all versions of the PSP including the recently-released PSP Go.

Who knows, maybe if sales are sufficient enough, Capcom might go ahead and green light the much demanded sequel. Can't hurt to be a little optimistic, right?

New Mega Man and Roll TvC Artwork

The latest update to the official Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars website brings forth new character illustrations for Mega Man Volnutt and Roll:

These new pieces continue Shinkiro's trend of re-drawing character art for the upcoming UAS version. Personally, I found the older art to be a bit more appealing, but these are still quite neat.

More Tatsunoko vs. Capcom character profile art here.

Ariga Drops Fans a Message

On his blog, Hitoshi Ariga posted a brief message for fans who submitted robot entries for the second volume of Rockman Gigamix.  In short, Ariga conveys just how surprised he was at the number of designs, and how he plans of utilizing them in a 'spectacular scene.'  He then goes on to apologize for entries who didn't make the cut.

Well, the best of luck to those of you who entered; hope to see your entries in the scene!

Credit: Skylagoon

D.I.Y Mega Man Costume

If you're looking for a last minute costume for young siblings or children of your very own, perhaps a D.I.Y Mega Man suit will do the trick.

Remember that insanely awesome Mega Man Halloween costume Kevin made for his son last year?  You know, the one that was not only to scale of the Blue Bomber, but also came equipped with light-up buster?  Well, it's back: Instructables is hosting a complete step-by-step guide on how to build the costume for yourself - images included.

This costume is not for the faint of heart, mind you. It requires a lot of materials, time and the utmost devotion.  Should you have the patience to complete the costume in time for trick-or-treating, be sure to send in a photo or two. We'd love to see what you've got!

Gigamix Postcards

Purchasing the Rockman Gigamix manga at select retailers in Japan yields a special bonus in the form of limited edition postcards sporting exclusive art by Hitoshi Ariga.  Dark Messiah was fortunate enough to collect all three, and has graciously put them up on his blog for all to see:

Postcard artwork varied depending on where customers purchased Gigamix: e-Capcom customers received the left card, Fukkan the middle and Tanomikumo the right.

Pretty neat bonus, sure to be collector's items one day, no doubt.

TvC: Ultimate All-Stars Boxart Features Zero, MM Volnutt, Roll

... and the rest of the gang:

It's a fine piece of artwork, a significant improvement over the original Japanese version, if I do say so myself.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars is slated to release on January 26, 2010 exclusively on Wii.

[via GoNintendo]

Auction - Advanced PET II

Many fans of Rockman EXE will be happy to see this... the return of the Advanced PET II electronic toy. This version of the popular hand held is quite a rarity these days, though fortunately, a lone unit has made its way onto Ebay.

The auction consists of the PET unit, instruction booklet and an assortment of 14 battle chips. Current price is at $11.95, however, with four days left to bid, there's plenty of time for the item to skyrocket in price.

Check out the complete auction here.

Custom Forza 3 Servbot Mobile

It's amazing what one can do with a little imagination, and Forza 3's paint editor system:

This Servbot themed Ford Fiesta was created by Capcom Unity member Baboon who designed the paint job in about an hour's time. Spiffy, no?  I imagine this will be the first of many Mega Man themed F3 cars...

See more of the car at Baboon's blog.

Inafune Attending Micromania Game Show

 Keiji Inafune and Street Fighter's Yoshinori Ono will be attending the Micromania Game Show on October 31st, a convention hosted by Game Stop in Paris.  According to Gamekult, Inafune will lead discussions on future Capcom games coming in 2010, and will be signing autographs for fans.

If you're in Paris between October 31st - November 1st, stop on by -- should be fun.

Thanks for the tip, Shifty.

This Figure Really Blows

Jin Saotome, the mastermind behind those zany Mega Man/G.I Joe crossover figures, recently revealed his latest creation: Air Man.  Setting itself apart from his other figures, Air Man comes equipped with a real working fan!  Check it out below:

Jin's toys usually make their way onto Ebay, so expect to see this guy pop up on the auction block sooner or later!

More images of Air Man available here.

Rockman And Blues Kubrick Figures Revealed

Looks like Rockman and Blues are getting the Kubrick treatment. CapKobun reports that toy manufacturer Medicom plans on releasing 7cm Kubrick renditions of the blue bomber and the red rocker in February of 2010 for ¥2,940 (approx. $32 USD)

The figures come with interchangeable heads, facial expressions and removable Busters. As a bonus, each figure comes with a their own translucent Be@rbrick. Cute!

Hopefully, we'll see these guys pop up on import shops in the near future!

Musicians Discuss Chip Tuned Rockman

Rockman series composers Ippo Yamada, Akari Kaida (ZXA, & Forte), Ryo Kawakami (ZX, RM9) and Hiroki Isogai (RM9) discuss their work on the Chip Tuned Rockman music CD in this round-table discussion from Nobuooo.  Definitely worth the watch if you're a fan of either composer's work!

Rockin' In the Bleep World - Musicians on Chiptuning Mega Man from Jeriaska on Vimeo.

TvC Producer Talks Zero

Ryota Niitsuma, the producer of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, recently posted a blog entry discussing the stories behind the new characters featured in the English version of the game, Zero included:

"There was an opinion from R&D that they wanted to include another character from the Mega Man series so I talked to Inafune-san. We were most careful about not letting those hardcore fans down, so we had to make something good.


"During the early stages of game design, this character was to be a character which would technically borrow some moves from other character datas, and not made from scratch, which meant that it wasn't one of the higher priorities. But, as I mentioned above, it is something we had to do right, and as I rejected many of the team's ideas, I kept on asking for something different, something that felt more like Zero - the guys said at the end: "Fine, you're asking us to make it from scratch right!?"
But then Zero turned out to be very good quality work again.


The attack moves that they implemented are taken a lot from the original series, and it is very cool character in a fighting game. Level 3 super is Dark Hold...? Good stuff guys! "

Good stuff indeed! I'm loving what I've seen of Zero so far, and I can't wait to give him a whirl.

Check out Niitsume's complete post at Capcom Unity.

Thanks, Flame!

Rockman In Newtype Magazine

Thanks to fellow reader Thomas, here's a small character profile from the newest issue of Newtype Japan Magazine which discusses Rockman and his success over the years, with commentary from  Keiji Inafune.

"Rockman was born in 1987. The mainstream of those days was for robots to have weapons like that of Gundam. But that wasn't like the robots I saw as a child who understood the heart, and I wanted to revitalize the world with that kind of robot," says Inafune.

"Even now, the boss character contests done since Rockman 2 are huge. When I saw those submissions I got, I never would have thought of those designs by myself.  It always reminded me that it's not just me who's building Rockman, it's the fans too."

More TvC Zero Footage

If I'm not mistaken, there's at least one or two new combos in here:



Blue armored Zero:



Blue armored Zero vs. Roll




Thanks, Bowsersenemy.

More Megamix Heading Our Way, Cover Artworks Revealed

Looks as if a third Mega Man graphic novel is coming down the pike.  According to Amazon.com, Mega Man Megamix volume 2 is slated to ship out on May 14th, 2010 -- a mere three months between volume 1's release (Feb. 13, 2010).  Given the fact that Udon's recent MM books have seen their fair share of delays and bumps, this release date is most likely subject to change.

On a related note, LilFormers has posted the English cover art for Mega Man Megamix volume 1 and the upcoming Mega Man ZX graphic novel:

From the looks of it, they're both practically identical to their Japanese counterparts. No complaints here!

OSS Site Updates

CoJ made a sizeable update to their Operate Shooting Star  homepage today.

The latest section offers a peek at SSRockman's various abilities such as locking onto foes from afar, shielding minor attacks and the rapid buster. These moves are exclusive to SSRockman, and can be fully utilized in multiplayer.

Next, we have a Program Advance section which shows off the new "Double Rockman" PA. The PA summons both SSR and Rockman EXE onto the field to deal some heavy duty damage. SSRockman's battle chip is required to execute this maneuver.

In the prologue section, there's some nice screens of OSS' new scenario wherein Mayl's Navi, Roll, is kidnapped. SSRockman is believed to be the culprit, but we all know who's really behind such a detestable act...

Clock Man takes center stage in the next section. Nothing really new here except a few images of Clock Man summoning SSR3's final boss, Crimson Dragon.  Surprisingly, stopping time isn't one of his attacks.

The finals section details the Rockman Colosseum multiplayer game. There's two modes in all:

• Free-for-all: No teams, players fend for themselves
  
• Team battle: work in groups to defeat opponents. In one scenario, team members must take down Forte/Bass.

Additionally, points earned in the Colosseum can be redeemed for rare chips in the main game.

Credit: Irish_Marcoos, Mega Man Network

Mega Man And Co. Re-Imagined As Transformers

Mega Man and Transformers, together at last. A match made in heaven?






[via hiropon204]

More OSS Imagery

An auction over at Yahoo! Japan offers a better look at the Operate Shooting Star dept. store ad from last week:

Quite spiffy looking; much better than the supposed "final box art" in my opinion.

While we're on the subject of Yahoo auctions, there's an auction for a OSS promotional DVD who's contents remain undisclosed.  It most likely contains the TGS '09 trailer, but you never know...

TMMN Presents The "What Am I Fighting For?!" Contest

The Mega Man Network is kicking off a brand new contest based around the infamous Iris death scene from Mega Man X4. Fans are invited to show off their own interpretations of the scene for a chance to win an autographed picture of Zero signed by Lucas Gilbertson, the voice behind the red crusader. Contest details below:

" You know the scene; you’ve likely seen it dozens of times, if not more. You’ve seen it remade by Mr. Gilbertson, you’ve seen it parodied, you’ve seen it hacked, and you’ve seen it in other contexts. Now, it’s your turn to give us your take on it.

We want you to give us your own take on the infamous scene. You can make submissions by YouTube videos, or just send us an MP3 of you (and perhaps some friends) re-enacting Zero’s tragic moment.
You can be dramatic. You can be humorous. You can remake the scene with startling detail, or you can put it into another context entirely. Be creative. Just reusing the original sound-byte (or Gilbertson’s) isn’t going to do it, unless you compensate for the recycling in some other way. Woo us, impress us. Make us laugh, make us cry. In costume or out, or some other way. The sky is the limit.
The chief condition is simply that you must use the line “what am I fighting for?!”, or at least some close variant. If you’re unsure whether or not your concept will count, mail us at mmncontest (at) gmail.com. That same address is also where you will direct your entries, or links to those entries.
The contest begins now and runs until midnight PST on Friday, November 20th. "

Complete contest details availbel at The Mega Man Network.

Best of luck!

MM Titles On IGN's Top 100 NES Games

IGN ranked the top 100 NES games of all time recently, and to no one's surprise, Mega Man titles are abundant throughout. The rankings:

• Mega Man 4 (#95)
• Mega Man 5 (#84)
• Mega Man 6 (#58)
• Mega Man 1 (#30)
• Mega Man 3 (#16)

and finally at #4.... Mega Man 2, just behind Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.

Agree/disagree?

The full top 100 is located here. Each game that placed gets their own dedicated page complete with videos and IGN staff commentary.

Thanks, Fabiano.

Megamix, ZX Graphic Novels Get Price Cut

Udon's Mega Man Megamix and Mega Man ZX graphic novels aren't even out yet, and we already have ourselves a price drop from Amazon...

...and they're both eligible for free shipping! Pre-order your copies here.

EXE Zone

Rockman EXE sound effects collide in this new rendition of "Red_Zone", a popular music-video based internet meme.

Kinda catchy, no?

Operate Shooting Star vs. Battle Network

Considering we have a sufficient amount screens now, I think it's about time for the inevitable graphical comparison between the soon to be released Operate Shooting Star and its eight year old counterpart Mega Man Battle Network.

OSS left, Battle Network right:

Only keen observers can really pin-point the slight graphical differences between the two. The most obvious are the new mugshots and overall screen resolution. A bit disheartening, isn't it?

Graphics aside, OSS does have its fair share of gameplay differences, such as the inclusion of a fully-playable Star Force Mega Man, new scenarios and a few minor bells and whistles. But, is that enough to warrant a purchase?

OSS Demo Screens

Game Watch is running a brief report on the Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star demo that hit Japanese Wiis earlier this week. While nothing new is stated, the report does offer a better look at the demo via a handful of screenshots.

More screens here.

Star Force Anime Arrives In Hong Kong

According to PRC reader the Dark, the Mega Man Star Force anime started airing last week in Hong Kong practically without warning.

It's known as "The Star Hero Mega Man" there, and airs on channel One on Saturdays at 5:00 pm. Reruns air the following Sunday at 4PM, and Wednesdays at 8PM.  Like the US version, episodes run at 20 minutes in length.

"We'll Find Dr. Wowie."

Voice acting seems like a pretty straight forward job -- you read the lines (with effort) and get paid. Simple!  Well, not exactly.  As evident below, Mega Man 8 is a prime example of how not to do voice work.  Behold, Cripsy Gamer's "Greatest Moments In Voice Acting: Mega Man 8":

Chip Tuned Rockman Out Now

Want to get a hold of the Chip Tuned Rockman music soundtrack but don't live in Japan? Fear not, because Otaku has begun accepting orders for the CD at $29.95.

The soundtrack consists entirely of newly arranged chip tune-styled songs from the classic series. The 20 individual tracks are arranged by different artists, each specializing in chip tune mixes. A full track listing and a lone sample track are available here.

The album is also said to include a booklet featuring interviews with the composers and artwork from series artists Hitoshi Ariga and Shigeto Ikehara. 

Grab yous here!

New OSS Box Art (UPDATE)

Nintendo's Touch! DS website is showing off what's apparently the final Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star box art. It's significantly different than the one we saw earlier, which featured old OSS promotional artwork, but everything here seems new!

Thumbnail size is all that's available at the moment, though I expect we'll see something a bit larger as OSS nears closer to release. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

UPDATE 10/18 - Medium size version available at Maruchi :

Mega Man: Official Complete Works Out Today (UPDATE)

Today is the much anticipated release of the Mega Man: Official Complete Works art book from Udon Entertainment.  Copies should have gone in the mail sometime earlier today for those who pre-ordered online.  As for finding a copy in-stores, you might want to call ahead before making the trip; Udon titles are sold at select retailers.

Next up on our grand Mega Man book list is Mega Man X: Official Complete Works, slated to hit store shelves on December 14th, 2009. Pre-order yours here.

UPDATE - It's delayed...at least according to Amazon.

"We're [Amazon] writing about the order you placed on April 16 2009 (Order# XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX). Unfortunately, we are unable to ship the item(s) as soon as we expected and need to provide you with a new estimate of when the item(s) may be delivered:


Capcom "Mega Man: Official Complete Works"
Estimated arrival date: November 13 2009 - December 10 2009""

Please, don't let this be another MMZOCW...

Operate Shooting Star Demo Hits Nintendo Channel (UPDATE 2)

Surprise, surprise: As of today, Japanese Wii owners can download a free demo of Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star via the Nintendo Channel. Based on Nigoli's breakdown of the demo, it appears it is the same build that was featured at the Tokyo Game Show a couple of weeks ago.
 
Pictures, and impressions of the demo available at Nigoli's blog.

UPDATE - Footage:

UPDATE 2 - same footage; higher quality with in-line sound

Zero Confirmed For Tatsunoko vs. Capcom

Need I say more?

Images, screenshots of Zero at IGN.

November Coro Coro Report (Updated)

Another month, another Coro Coro. Details from this issue are a bit scarce at the moment, but here's what we got so far:

• Operate Shooting Star demo on Nintendo Channel (Wii) and DS Download Stations later this fall.
• The sister magazine of Coro Coro Comics will begin running a new comic starring Rockman EXE and a new operator that isn't Lan/Netto (red-haired boy on left scan).
• Forte is a playable character in the Rockman Star Colosseum mini-game.
  
• new Navi chip for SSRockman, deals 100 damage and coded S.
  

• UPDATE: Insight on Clock Man's scenario:  he wants to make Roll and Harp Note his wives... (possibly a joke on 2ch's part).  According to TMMN, the third scan states that Clock Man "has run off to 200 years in the past with Harp Note. Here SF MegaMan is at WAXA with his friends and Dr. Goodall saying he needs to go after them. Meanwhile, 200 years in the past, Mayl claims that Roll has been kidnapped by a blue Navi. Naturally, Lan and MegaMan EXE go to rescue Roll. This in turn seems to pin SF MegaMan as the criminal, which will likely lead to their battle."
  

• New mugshot for Mayl.
• Scan confirms presence of Bud, Luna, Zack and Dr. Goodall.

More info as it comes in.

Credit: Tarbosan (scans), The Mega Man Network (translation)

Operate Shooting Star Dept. Store Ad

With about a month until its release, an ad for Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star, has been spotted by Tarbosan at his local department store in Japan.  The poster shows new artwork of Rockman and Netto as they strike a pose against a starry sky while SSRockman looms in the background alongside a blazing meteor.

Hopefully, we'll get a clearer shot of this soon.  In the meantime, there's a few more shots available for viewing at Tarbosan's blog, but they too are a bit on the blurry side...

Because You Asked For It...

...high-res versions of the lovely front/back cover artwork of the Irregular Hunter X+Rockman Rockman original soundtrack.

My copy arrived earlier this week, and I simply could not resist sharing these pieces with you all... pure awesomness.  Use them for whatever!

Auction - Rockman Battle & Fighters Trial Edition

A rare little nugget has made it's way onto Ebay: Rockman Battle & Fighters trial edition cartridge for the Neo Geo Pocket.

The cartridge contains an early demo build of the game, likely stationed at Japanese in-store kiosks. We saw this exact same cartridge a while back, and it does have its fair share of subtle differences from the final build of the game. (Click on the link provided for a breakdown of the trial version's contents.)

Bidding begins at $48; free shipping.  Complete auction here.

Yet Another Soundtrack

Hot on the heels of Chip Tuned Rockman comes "Capcom Songs", an 11 track music CD featuring various songs of several Capcom titles. Rockman wise, it's pretty bare bones, but does contain newly arranged versions of Battle & Chase theme songs. Sweetness!

The disc is out now as of Oct 8th; available exclusively through E-Capcom for 3,150 Yen (roughly $35 USD).

[E-Capcom]

Get Your Characters In Rockman Gigamix

Hitoshi Ariga is looking to adapt fan-made robot designs to use as "extras" for future volumes of the Rockman Gigamix comic. As such, he's created a special Oekaki board where by fans can draw entries or upload existing designs for Ariga to review.

There are a few things to keep in mind before submitting your creation: these characters will end up being destroyed in some manner, and thus should not be overly complex, for their appearance in the comic will be a short one at best (one or two panels).

For the uninitiated, Oekaki boards are web browser based drawing programs. These plenty of them throughout the Mega Man community, the ones I'm for familiar with are  The Mega Man Network and Rockman Perfect Memories. 

Ariga's Oekaki (located here) requires you to enter in your name, a title and description of your creation. Of course, everything is in Japanese, so go at this at your own discretion...at least, until some generous soul provides a handy English tutorial.

Feel like participating? Draw and send your entry here.

Credit: The Mega Man Network

Here's Your Capcom Game Club Assignment

Mega Man 1 kicks off Capcom's first ever Game Club event, a community-wide feature where fans and Capcom staff play through the game together, and discuss their experiences on the Unity forums.

Each week, jgonzo will post an assignment, a sort of challenge for fans to tackle. The following Monday, fans and staff are free to discuss the challenge in a sort of "book club" manner. Tonight's assignment:

" Assignment #1 is to get through two robot masters. The order is up to you. Try to keep track of how many times you die and what things you hate or enjoy about the levels that you play through. On Monday we'll reconvene, but in the meantime, you can use this thread to talk to other game club members about Mega Man 1. Remember that all forum rules are in place (no discussion of illegal items, profanity, etc). "

Sounds like a lot of fun! Feel like partaking? Check out this post here for full Game Club details.

"Suspicion"

A charming illustration by B People, inspired by those tricky Mets in Mega Man 9 who hide behind fake 1-Ups waiting ever-so patiently for a moment to strike.  Oh, how I hate them...


[via Pixiv]

Stop Motion Man

If you loved the Mega Man 9 'Rockin-Paper' stop motion short, then I'm sure you'll absolutely enjoy this:

[via Capcom-Unity]

Mega Man Volnutt: Excellence In Design

In the August 2000 issue of PSM magazine, Mega Man Volnutt (of Mega Man Legends fame) was declared the tenth best designed character of the PlayStation 1 era.

I found this recognition to be particularity interesting due to the fact that Volnutt's design is under constant fire from fans and the gaming press for being a bit on the unorthodox side ("no helmet"). Still, I can't help but love it. Truth be told, I even dressed up as Volnutt for Halloween back in 5th grade!

Bonus Sports Cup With Purchase of OSS

Those who pre-order Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star through E-Capcom will receive a limited edition sports drinking cup.  Oh, and this isn't your run-of-the-mill cup either: the image of the two Rockmen on the side of the cup changes to a blue color when cold contents are poured in.
 
 Pretty "cool", eh?

[via E-Capcom]

Maverick Hunter, Powered Up Coming To PlayStation Store On Oct 29/Nov 5?

Last week, Capcom Unity posted (and removed) a blog entry announcing the release dates of several PSP UMD Legacy titles heading to the PlayStation Store, Maverick Hunter X and Mega Man Powered Up, included:

• October 8: Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Dark Tower
• October 15: Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max
• October 22: Capcom Puzzle World
• October 29: Maverick Hunter X
• November 5: Megaman Powered Up
  

Joystiq, seeking to confirm the legitimacy of these release dates, spoke with Capcom's Chris Kramer:

"titles are correct and the dates should be fairly accurate." He added, "it's "hard to pin down digital release dates almost until they happen."

Sounds reasonable to me.  So, what about pricing? No word on that just yet, but if previous Capcom UMD Legacy titles are any indication, a $19.99 price point is likely.

More news as it comes in; I'll keep you informed.

Credit: Joystiq

NT Warrior 'Mega Value' Set Sighted At Retail

PRC reader Jen spotted this Mega Man NT Warrior value pack at her local Costco in the clearance isle. The oversized boxed set contains four Mattel NTW products at a bargain price:

• 5.5'' CrossFusion Mega Man w/Battle Chip 
• 12'' Electronic Deluxe CrossFusion Mega Man
• 100 piece mini-puzzle set
• a booster pack of trading cards.

The price? A cheap $11.99 -- a "Mega Value" indeed!

A bit odd to see NT Warrior merchandise these days; Mattel discontinued the line a few years back, and has since to release new products. Maybe this item is an exception?

Thanks for the tip, Jen.

From The Weird News Department...

Sure, you might have thought Mega Man was just a bold android video game hero, bent on stopping Dr. Wily at every juncture....but, what you probably don't know about the Blue Bomber is that he has an off-shore corporation specializing in energy-efficient light bulbs:

What you just witnessed was the inner sanctum of MEGAMAN® corporation , a European based lamp and light bulb manufacturer with stations in China.  The relation to Capcom's Mega Man is in title only, so don't expect these guys to produce lamps or bulbs named after Robot Masters and the like.

What a peculiar name for a light bulb company...

Play Mega Man 1 Alongside Capcom

Capcom-Unity plans on getting more involved with their loyal fans with the introduction of the Capcom Unity Video Game Club:

"With this club, we'll be able to play through a Capcom game together via game assignments and discussions in the forums. We'll focus on discussing the game's design, story, art, and anything else that results from the conversation between us (the community team) and you folks (Unity members). Think of it as a type of book club. The Capcom games can be new or classic." --jgonzo

The Unity team is leaving it up to the fans to decide which game they'd like to play first via vote.  The choices: Okami, Strider, Captain Commando, Legendary Wings, Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Resident Evil 1, and current poll leader Mega Man 1.

If you'd like to play the original Mega Man alongside the Unity crew and fellow fans, then head on over to the link provided and add your vote to the tally.  The winner will be announced this Friday.


Full Capcom Unity Video Game Club details here

Teisel Bonne's Secret Toy Stash

According to the Mega Man Legends 1 manual, the eldest member of the Bonne family, Teisel Bonne, has a "secret affinity for animals, toys and model kits", yet the game presents no evidence to support this tidbit...or does it?

Using the custscene control code, TauVertex discovered this possible reference to the Tiesel's love of toys hidden within one of the earliest cutscenes:

^Boxes upon boxes of toys in Teisel's room.  Such a site cannot be seen through normal means, only through the use of the aforementioned cutscene control code and some clever camera positioning.

The original cutscene, minus the boxes of toys, here.

[via Mega Man Legends Station]

Capcom Re-stocks Mega Man 9 Press Kits (UPDATE)

As of this writing, Capcom's online store stocked a limited number of Mega Man 9 press kits, nine copies to be precise. The price? $99.95 -- far cheaper than those on Ebay...

Undoubtedly, these will sell out in no time, so if you've been searching for an inexpensive press kit, now's your chance. Grab your Zenny and order your copy here!

Thanks for the tip, Jones!
------------------------------
UPDATE: They're gone.

Otaku Offers DASH 2 Art Book, Soundtrack

Online shop Otaku.com is currently accepting orders for the Rockman DASH 2 "Capcom special selection" art book for $29.95. The 32-page booklet is chock-full of official and conceptual artwork, some of which contain unseen character designs.

What of the soundtrack? Well, in a rather peculiar move, Otaku has decided not to bundle the "free" 17 track soundtrack with the book; instead, it's being offered separately for $29.95.

[via Otaku.com]

Rockman Gigamix At A Glance

Akihabara Channel has a brief report on Rockman Gigamix, the latest comic anthology from Hitsohi Ariga.  The report summarizes the book's contents, and best of all, offers several images of the newest stories covering Rockman 7, Rockman 3 and Battle & Chase. A portion of the article follows.

" This vol.1 of Gigamix features two new stories, over 100 pages long, that go with Rockman 3 and Battle & Chase/ Rockman 7 respectably. What is awesome about his work is that he makes great faithful arrangements to the character designs and personality. In the case of Rockman 3, Blues (Protoman/Breakman) and Shadow man kicks ass.

The Battle & Chase story is a lot more comical, but it has its moments. The underlining theme of Ariga’s rockman seems to be, can all robots be friends regardless of their background? The rivarly and teamwork between Rockman and Dr.Wily’s Robots feels great to read."

Full report, more images at Akihabara Channel.

Mega Man 2 Being Used To Demo HDTVs In Japan

Spotted at a local BIC Camera in Tokyo...

Hi-Def TV demonstrations usually tout visually impressive spectacles that really show off what the output can do, but here we have Mega Man 2, an old 8-bit game that's not as technologically advanced as one would suspect.  Interesting choice for a demo, wouldn't you say?

[via Elhark]

Custom 'Guts-Dozer' Figure

It's no secret that I have a thing for custom Mega Man figures, thus I feel obligated to bring this godly creation to your attention. Lo and behold, Donald "KodyKoala" Kennedy's hand-made 'Guts-Dozer' action figure:

The menacing Guts-Dozer, an iconic mid-boss from Mega Man 2, is just one of many awesome creations from Donald Kennedy. His previous works include a mech suit bound Dr. Wily and an Air Man with working fan!

More shots of Don's Guts-Dozer and his other works available here.

credit: Tiny Cartridge

Chip Tuned Rockman Hits YouTube

As expected, the denizens of YouTube have gone ahead and uploaded the entire Chip Tuned Rockman soundtrack for all to hear.  A morsel of their efforts, below.

Click here for more!

For the uninitiated, Chip Tuned Rockman is a collection of 20 something songs composed by various chiptune artists. The soundtrack itself is scheduled to release in Japan in a matter of weeks, but advanced copy was sold at the Tokyo Game Show a few days back.

If you like what you heard, I advise you go ahead and purchase the CD when it becomes available online. Usually, Play Asia is your best bet when it comes soundtracks, but you can't go wrong with Cocoebiz either. Or Ebay.

Chip Tuned Rockman releases October 15th for 3,000 Yen (roughly $33 US).

So, How About Some Mega Man X Manga?

With Mega Man ZX and Mega Man Megamix manga coming down the pike, one wonders if Udon Entertainment has any plans on translating Yoshihiro Iwamoto's famed Rockman X manga series in English.  PRC reader Valiant Knight put that very question to Udon Entertainment. Their response:

"Currently, we have no plans on translating this particular series. What I can tell you is that if our upcoming Mega Man manga/art books meet expectations, you can count on seeing more of the 'Blue Bomber' from us in the future!" - Udon Rep.

A bit of a vague response, but it's definitely something to ponder.

Thanks, VK!

Ippo Yamada Talks Chip Tuned Rockman

Famed Rockman series composer Ippo Yamada discusses his work on new Chip Tuned Rockman soundtrack in this highly informative interview from Jeriaska.

Ippo Yamada introduces Chiptuned Rockman from Jeriaska on Vimeo.