Welcome To The New Protodude's Rockman Corner! *APRIL FOOLS*

I've grown quite bored of Capcom's Blue Bomber recently. As of today, PRC shall no longer focuses on that particular franchise, no sir.... instead, I intend to share with you my new found love, the Rockman guitar amplifier, the sole device that defined Tom Scholz's career. It's a godsend I tell you. It can touch lives.

Rockman offered built-in compression, volume control, and auxiliary stereo input/output, allowing you rock out on the guitar anywhere, anytime, without anyone hearing you! It's the only amplifier you'll ever need! No amplifier ever since has matched such quality and reliability -- Rockman is unbeatable. *high fives all round*

Now if you really want to heat things up, you'll want to invest in the Rockman Sustainor 200! More on that tomorrow! Plus, I got some great footage of how to maximize output performance; you've never heard sound so crystal clear in your life, I kid you not.

I the meantime, I would like to apologize for such an abrupt format change. My love for this scrumptious tool is so strong I just couldn't wait to share it with you all.

EDIT: I'm touched right now, really touched. My idol, Tom Scholz has just given the new blog his blessing. What's the good word Tom?

"After opening for acts such as Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath, there isn't much in this world that amazes me.

But after googling my product like I do every evening, to see a young man give up a former passion to blog about my high quality guitar amplifiers gives me More Than a Feeling. It gives me Peace of Mind.

Don't Look Back, Mr. Proto Dude. Don't Look Back.

Sincerely,
Tom Scholz ~ guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer for '70s supergroup Boston

PS. Fun fact: Did you know Def Leppard's Hysteria was created solely with Rockman technology? And it also led to a Maverick revolution. A Maverick revolution of heavy metal proportions!"

Such a once in a life time honor. Thank you for your blessing Tom, keep rocking you S.O.B!

Only in Japan: "Mockman"

Learn To Read With Mega Man!

Times are tough. For you, for me and especially the small family driven businesses like my all time favorite local bookstore. After thirty years of business, "Abraham Books" is closing up shop, falling victim to the "everything must go" demise. So I dropped by, scavenging for books that piqued my interest when I stumbled upon this little nugget: "Mega Man NT Warrior: Robotic Fish Gone Wild!" a "learn-to-read book" for children.

The book, (written by Tracey West in 2005) is a faithful adaptation of the NT Warrior episode of the same name wherein "DenTech City" is attacked by a swarm of nutty robotic fish.

As you can see to the left, the dialogue is simple and charming, clearly written for first time readers. Older fans won't get much out of it as you can whip through it in under two minutes. What's really cool are the pictures, full color screenshots from the actual episode.

Simply put, this book is just awesome; it's great for teaching kids how to read especially those who have a fascination with the Blue Bomber.

You can purchase the book at Amazon for a measly $0.19! New copies will run you $5.00 -- way cheaper than what I got mine for. :)

A Look At RnROCW

Heat Man recently got his copy of Ryuusei no Rockman Official Complete Works in the mail and as one would expect, he graciously posted some photos of the book's contents at The Mega Man Network. Heat writes:

"The book is pretty standard as far as the Official Complete Works series goes. It may be understandable why, when the book was first announced, it was tentatively named Ryuusei no Rockman 3 Official Complete Works - pretty much the first two thirds of the book are dedicated to that one title. Numerous pages are devoted to not just showing artwork, but slices of various levels of detail of that artwork. There’s also plenty of unused stuff, such as Pirate and Angel Tribe forms."

You can check out the complimentary photos here.

PUMA Shoe Design Inspired by Mega Man

This has to be one of the coolest news stories in a long, long time. PUMA apparel are gearing up to release a brand new sneaker with a design inspired by the Mega Man franchise, the 917 Lo Mega

"A fantastic material and color update inspired by Mega Man, a video game first released by Capcom in 1987. Whether you're familiar with the character or not, this synthetic leather material looks and feels like vinyl, giving the upper a shiny, retro-futuristic look. The addition of the perforated underlays, painted eyelets, & video game inspired pixelated emboss on the toe bumper complete this awesome look."

You can order the 917 Lo Mega! here in blue and black format.

News Credit: GoNintendo

Udon Dates R20 For North America, Coming In Two Volumes

According to Udon's release schedule, the company plans on releasing "R20: Rockman & Rockman X Official Complete Works" in North America in two individual volumes, splitting the original 336 page book in half:

The first volume, Mega Man: Official Complete Works, will presumably contain all the classic series contents of R20 while the second volume, Mega Man X: Official Complete Works will represent the later, X series half of the book.

The books won't be released simultaneously; MMOCW is coming sometime September 2009 while MMXOCW will arrive in November. No additional information other than that, but this is great news to say the least.

Thanks for the tip Anon

Auction: Various Complete Bandai Sets

Flash Man EXE gave me a heads up on this insane Yahoo! Auction: complete sets of various Bandai Rockman figures including the "Fruta"figures (complete with the only known Colonel figure), "Super Max Rockman" candy figures, and a whole lot more. The toys are in near perfect condition, half of the lot being in their original boxes unopened.

Such a "perfect" collection won't come cheap; the auction starts at 120,000 Yen -- that's around $1,200. Holy. Crap.

Check out the complete auction (with pictures) here.

Video: Tron Ni Kobun Promo Reel

From the depths of Nico Nico Douga arises yet another buried treasure: an old promo from Tron Ni Kobun (The Misadventures of Tron Bonne). As with most pre-release promotional video, this footage contains a handful of minor differences from the final build of the game. Can you spot them?

What I got:

-Health bar appears "smoother", less mechanical looking.
-Kobun heads on HUD appear more squared off
- A scene shows Glyde outside of his mech; completely removed from the final release. (Ugly looking character model isn't it?)
-Periodically, you can see "think bubbles" above the Kobun's heads, almost as if they're thinking about food....very strange.
-Footage of the Aurora Stones mission depicts text boxes above items of significance. Removed from final.
-Tron's profile on the Gesellschaft appears less refined when compared to the final.
-The "text sound" is a bit higher in pitch.
-Mission Briefing Room looks a bit different from the final release, dimmer almost.
-Oh, and young Inafune was pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

IGN Pulverizes Mega Man 2 For iPhone

There are times when nostalgic value simply cannot outweigh utilitarianism. Such is the case with the Mega Man 2 iPhone port. IGN reviewed the recently release port and, man, they certainly did not hold back. A few segments from the review:

"Mega Man 2 for iPhone is obviously and unapologetically a complete cash-in, and so far removed from its original gameplay that it's not only virtually unplayable, but a completely different experience altogether. This feels less like a Capcom-published offering, and more like a thrown together hack made by a first-time hobby dev team. Skip it. "

"There’s no other way to say it: Skip this game. I’m a huge Mega Man fan (one look at my IGN blog should tell the story) and would love nothing more than to see the series do well on any and every platform possible, but this is unquestionably a cash-in move, and could go down in history as the worst Mega Man offering ever. Jumping is completely broken, enemy spawners are random and inconsistent, the sound offering is chopped up and incomplete, and the game is virtually unplayable in its current control setup."

Over all score: 1.0/10 (Abysmal)

As I see it, this port is a great example as to why the iPhone simply cannot replace old fashioned button based portables; these types of games just can't be done without buttons.

Read the full review here.

Mega Man Pinball Comes To Europe

I'm not entirely sure when this happened but according to Capcom-World, Mega Man Pinball is now available for download for a verity of mobile phones and services in the UK:

"Battle your way through classic Megaman 2 style levels and in this pinball action game! Defeat old enemies such as Bubbleman, Airman, Quickman and of course……Dr. Wiley!!"

I find it really interesting how we're seeing a sudden surge in mobile MM games outside of Japan; the first being MM 1-3 followed by Rocket Christmas and now this. Who knows, maybe one day we'll see Rockman DASH: 5 Island Adventure localized...maybe.

Custom Mega Man Cap Up For Bidding

Another week, another batch of Capcom-Unity auctions/raffles! This week there's only one Mega Man item up for grabs, a custom MM hat crafted by Unity member Rio.

Rio's creations have won the praise of Capcom staff in the past, and to my knowledge, one of her designs was actually given to Keiji Inafune as a present. Awesome.

Check up on how to bid on auctions and raffles here.

Ryuusei no Rockman Official Complete Works Ships

Looks like RnROCW shipped ahead of schedule, four days to be precise: Amazon of Japan has begun shipping copies out to those who preordered as of yesterday. The art book was originally slated for a release on April 2nd, 2009.

Be on the lookout for inevitable scans!

News Credit: Heat Man via The Mega Man Network

Mega Man 2 iPhone Gameplay

Mega Man 2 Now On iPhone/iPod Touch

Mega Man 2 in all its nostalgic glory is now available on the iTunes App Store for a mere $5.00 USD.

This will be like, what? My eighth time re-purchasing MM2? I couldn't be happier.

Thanks for the tip BoltStorm!

Mega Man Dons Final Issue of 'Anime Insider'

According to an informant over at Topless Robot, Anime Insider, a monthly magazine devoted to all things Japan, will cease publication after an eight year circulation. Former editor of the magazine, Robert Bricken notes the entire editorial staff has been laid off. Harsh.

Donning the cover of the presumed final issue is none other than Mega Man of Star Force fame, acting as a figurehead for the issue's coverage on upcoming video games-- Star Force 3 included.

The issue is available on newsstands now. Order online here.

So long AI.

News Credit: Anime News Network

Poll Shows Japanese Less Interested In Video Games

Doom and gloom! The Rockman franchise hasn't been a hot seller in Japan lately; Shooting Star Rockman 3 met expectations at low numbers, while fan favorites such as ZX Advent totally bombed. Somethings gotta give, right?

Many of us pen a lack of sales on the supposed "diminishing quality" of the games or the belief that the formula is just getting stale, aka, the "Japanese have grown tired of the Blue Bomber" tirade. However, there might be something bigger going on, something that is effecting the Japanese gaming industry as a whole and not just our beloved franchise: lack of interest in games in general.

According to a poll ran by the Japan's Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, interest in video games between Japanese individuals significantly dropped between 2007 and late 2008. 30.3% of those polled, between the ages of 3 and 79, no longer consider themselves gamers because, well, they aren't interested in video games. According to Kotaku, if we expand that percentage upon the Japanese population, that 30.3% equals a loss of 6 million gamers nationwide. Kind of scary isn't it? Japan use to be where the market thrived, and now it only accounts for 6% of the industry's total sales. Ouch.

For more statistics, read the complete article at Kotaku.

Trick Out Your Google Experience With Mega Man

Yesterday, Google introduced a slew of new iGoogle themes based off of popular video game franchises. Lo and behold, Mega Man is but one of the many available themes. Very cool, It gives off a nice vibe. Another cool feature is that the theme is constantly rotating according to the time of day. Neato!

Download the theme here.

Auction: Rockman EXE Movie Program Book

The Rockman EXE theatrical film marked the Blue Bomber's first foray onto the silver screen even though it was billed as a double feature alongside a similar Duel Masters movie. To celebrate, Capcom released a plethora of theater goods such as game bundles, collectible coins, and the traditional movie program booklet, the later of which is currently up on the auction block.

The book, containing concept art and developer commentary (entirely in moonspeak), has a starting price of $9.99 with an additional $14.99 shipping. It's a neat little book, worthy of belonging in anybody's collection, but I think you can find it much cheaper; I got my copy two years ago for a mere $5.

Nintendo Wii Storage Solution Announced/Released

If you're like me, you can barely fit Mega Man 1-3 and Mega Man 9 on your Wii; with all the other Channels and save data clogging up the system's memory, there's very little room to download anything from the Virtual Console and WiiWare in the future. Well friends, today Nintendo finally addressed the issue at their GDC keynote:

As of today, a new firmware update is available allowing Wii users to add a special SD Card Menu onto the system menu. This new functionality enables you to download and play games from the VC/WiiWare directly off of the SD Card. The SD Card menu supports up to twenty screens of twelve channel a piece, meaning depending on the size of your SD Card, you can carry a little over 200 or so games. In addition, the new functionality allows the Wii to read 32GB SD Cards!

All I can say is, thank you Nintendo. I REALLY needed this. The firmware update is available right now!

News Credit: Joystiq

Unseen Mega Man 8 Prototype - Frost Man's Stage w/Alternate Music

An anonymous PRC reader brought these videos to my attention: footage of a work in progress version of Frost Man's stage from a prototype build of Mega Man 8.  Differences include incomplete backgrounds with no lighting effects, completely different background music, unused sound effects (see second video) and a bunch of other superficial stuff.

Jump to the 2:52 point for the prototype stuff:





For comparison, here's the final version of Frost Man's stage (skip to 2:30):


Thanks anon

New Astro Boy Trailer Brings Thrills *Update*

Not quite Rockman related but still newsworthy: Imagi Entertainment released a brand new trailer for their upcoming CGI adaptation of Astro Boy today. The trailer shows a whole lot of action which in the eyes of the common Rockman fan, look all too familiar:

UPDATE: YouTube has removed the video due to copyright claims. Below are a few alternatives, same video just from different users in the event of one being removed.





Very excited about seeing this, rather long wait ahead though; October 23rd, 2009.

That's One Expensive Gashapon

I'm a sucker for Rockman goods, I collect just about anything branded with the Blue Bomber's good name. However, there are times where even I have to draw the line, times when collectibles are too much and too ridiculous. Such is this case with this nugget over at Yahoo! Auctions: a Rockman 7 Gashapon.

Not only does it bare a resemblance to the Van Pookin, the midboss of Shade Man's stage in RM7, but it's also the only one (of this color) in existence. As such, the seller has priced the item at a jaw dropping 29,800 Yen...that's $317.00 USD.

You'd have to be one obsessive collector to lay down money on a piece of rubber. But, if you got the money and the spirit, by all means don't let me stop you.

Roll, Is That You?

Fun little story for you guys:

Outside of my daily PRC musings, I am currently in the process of becoming a teacher, undergoing many rigorous hours of off campus training to observe classroom/student behavior. One such classroom was watching Little Bear, an educational cartoon that use to air on Nickelodeon back during the "golden age" of the network (Ren & Stimpy, Doug, Rocko's Modern Life).

While idly jotting down my observational notes, I heard a very familiar voice emitting from the television. Looking up, I caught sight of the character known simply as "Duck." Her voice struck a cord within my mind, tickling my inner Mega Man fanboy. "Where have I heard that voice before?"

A quick visit to IMDb indicated that "Duck" was voiced by none other than Tracy Ryan , known to you all as Roll Caskett of Mega Man Legends fame. Needless to say, I was amused at this little encounter.

For the fun of it, I managed to find that particular episode of Little Bear on YouTube. "Duck" (aka Roll Caskett) enters the scene approx. 00:20 in. A bit odd hearing Roll "quack" over and over, isn't it?

Care to see Tracey in a live action role? Check out this scene from Dark Angel in which Tracy plays the role of "Mia" (0:14)

I don't know about you, but I would love for Tracy to reprise Roll if the opportunity ever came about again...

GBA/GB Games Coming To DSi ?

Very cool rumor floating around: according to a Club Nintendo event, Nintendo supposedly announced plans to bring Game Boy Advance and classic Game Boy games to the Nintendo DSi:

- downloadable Game Boy and Game Boy Advance titles are coming
- first party titles only at start of service
- region locked- save/run from SD card

If this rumor holds true, then we as Mega Man/Rockman fans might be seeing some of our favorite portable titles hit the console in the future. Hopefully more details soon, Nintendo's GDC conference kicks off Wednesday morning.

News Credit: GoNintendo

Blast From The Past: Advanced PET Toy Commercial

In Portuguese!

Director Hopes To Release Mega Man Fan-Film In July

Talk about old, unreported news: According to Eddie Lebron's blog, the director is hoping to release the fan-made Mega Man film close to or on the fourth of July, 2009. The first screening will likely coincide with Screw Attack's Dallas gaming convention with an eventually online release afterwards.

In addition, Mr. Lebron notes the possibility of screening a 15 minute preview of the film sometime in April at an unspecified Clearview cinema. Sweet!

Wishing you the best of luck with the film Eddie, can't wait to see the finished product.

A Look At The 'Battle & Fighters' Trial Cartridge

Remember this auction from way back when? As luck would have it, PRC reader Shadowman16 won the trial cartridge and graciously offered to share the little differences this build has over the final release:

- As soon as you boot the game up a disclaimer screen pops up. This is the standard "work in progress, may not represent final game blah blah" text that all demo's have.

- The title screen has some text in the top right hand corner which is something like "trial" or "demo" version.

- As soon as you press a button to start the game, it goes straight to the game select screen (Power Battle or Power Fighters), this version does not have the menu screen which lets you select records, database, options etc.

- One of the biggest differences is for each game, you can only select the first scenario. For Power Battle you can only choose the "Megaman 1 and 2" scenario while Power Fighters only lets you choose the "Track down and defeat Wily" scenario. The other 2 scenario's for each game are shown but are grayed out and cannot be selected.

- Character and Boss select is identical to the final version. All 3 fighters for Power Battle and all 4 for Power Fighters are available, as are all 6 bosses for each scenario.

- The gameplay is identical to the final version.

- The game will only let you fight 2 bosses in either scenario before coming up with the "Game Over" screen. At this point another splash screen like the disclaimer screen pops up which just mentions the full games release date (again, like most other demo's). After this it goes to the highscore screen and then back to the title screen. Losing a match either by time over or death will also result in a Game over (as opposed to the full game which lets you continue)

- One thing that does seem missing is Dr Lights small cutscene which usually occurs when you collect the dropped device from one of the robot masters.

Peculiar Canon Behavior *UPDATED*

MegaRock brings us yet another cool finding, this time in the form of unused Canon behavior in Ryuusei no Rockman 1. The maneuver yeilds from the beta build of the game wherein the Canon foe rotates 360 degrees rather than standing still.



UPDATE
For comparison, here's the debut RnR trailer showing the original behavior intact (1:37)

Play-Asia Spring Sale Deals

Play-Asia's annual Spring Sale has kicked off and with it, a handful of Rockman related deals:

Rockman EXE Battle Chip GP for $4.90
Rockman Zero 2 for $9.90
Rockman X6 notebook for $1.90
Rockman X6 notebook (X and Zero) for $1.90
Ryuusei no Rockman 2 Wave Command Card Perfect File for $7.90
Ryuusei no Rockman 3 Noise Kaizou Gear Diabolos Stage Packs for $1.50
Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Saurian for $19.90

Thanks for the tip rob

Don't Point The Finger At The Mavericks

Gameist compiled a list of "misjudged" villains, the bad guys who's motives are misinterpreted by the "good guy bias." The Mavericks made the cut as they aren't the ones to blame for all the bloodshed and crises that plague the X series and onwards; it all comes back to the mild mannered Dr. Cain, the man who singlehandedly created the Reploids. A portion of the article below:

What they Do: In the year 21XX Dr. Cain finds a robot in the ruins of Dr. Light's lab. The robot was his last creation, Mega Man X, the first robot to built with the ability to make its own decisions. After awakening X Dr. Cain takes it on himself to build more robots like X, presumably because the future has a severe lack of heartless killing machines. He dubs them Reploids and builds many more of them to aid humans; some are designed for military purposes, others for construction, and others still for the purpose of building more Reploids, a decision that couldn't possibly go wrong.

Why they're misunderstood: Though the major Maverick Sigma defects from a virus, many of his allies suffer from a horrific design flaw because the man that built them was a fucking botanist. No, not “robotanist.” Botanist, as in a guy that studies plants. So yeah, Dr. Cain is directly responsible for a cruel future ruled by robots. Thanks, jackass!

It's never explained what lead Dr. Cain to think that after twenty years of studying Butterwort he could successfully build and maintain a legion of sentient robots but we're pretty sure his high school guidance counselor never chatted with him about setting realistic career goals.

In all seriousness, this makes complete sense, however, if we want to take things a bit further, we can also pen the rise of the Mavericks on Dr. Light. According to the ol' reliable Rockman Zero Official Complete Works, the origins of the infamous Irregular/Maverick Virus were given an alternate scenario that may or may not be canon:

"The virus actually originated from one of the circuits that Dr. Light installed in X's brain. The circuits function was to keep X neutral and unbiased in matters concerning humans and Reploids. Tragically, the very same circuit condemned X to a life plagued by the philosophical question that weighed the value of humans against that of Reploids - a question to which there was no answer. Zero was the first Reploid to be infected by the virus, but as an android created solely for evil, destructive purposes by Dr. Wily, the virus affected him uniquely. Instead of going Maverick, the virus turned Zero into a warrior driven by goodness, not evil. Unfortunately, by tirelessly fulfilling his destiny as a Maverick Hunter, Zero inadvertently spread the virus throughout the world. Eventually, as the host of the virus, Zero was taken to a research facility for study."

So, who's really to blame?

News Credit: GoNintendo

Is This The Secret Of Mega Man 9?

This clip has been making the rounds lately, it's supposedly the MM9 secret that's been driving us nuts for the past few months or so.




I've beaten MM9 several times and not once did I notice this. What say you? Have we finally found it? Keep in mind, s-kill did say it was a "little nugget" of a secret, no some huge mumbo jumbo secret weapon.

"ZX3 Is Certainly a Possability"

Nearly a year after an array of rumors and speculation, we may have some concrete information regarding the probability of a Rockman ZX 3. Capcom of Japan's head of strategic marketing, Yuji Itou, apparently responded to a fan's concern for the title:

"We're working on a few strategies, a ZX3 is certainly a possibility. Together, let us determine the franchise's future!"

And there you have it. I can't vouch for the legitimacy of such a response, but I can assure you that the fan who e-mailed Itou-san is a trusted friend of mine and a frequent PRC visitor (who has chosen to remain anonymous). Best not get your hopes up; ZX3 rumors are known to fall over like a led balloon.

Classic: Mega Man vs. Eva Unit 04

A classic stop motion fan-made video pitting the ever lovable Blue Bomber against Neon Genesis Evangelion's ill fated Unit 04 . It's an odd pairing but entertaining nonetheless:

Rockman Goods At Capcom-Unity Auctions

It's that time again: Capcom-Unity's giving you the chance to win a plethora of rare Capcom goods including an adorable Rockman plushie and a spiffy Ice Man badge. All you have to do is bid a desired amount of "Unity Points" (currency), wait it out and see if you've won. Simple.

For more instructions on how to bid, head on over to this topic.

Dibs.

I think this pretty much sums up our reaction to Splash Woman's unveiling:

Thanks for pointing this out Flash Man!

More Findings From Prototype Battle Network 5 DS

Scrummaging through the ROM image of the first Ryuusei no Rockman game, MegaRock made a most unusual discovery; a series of lost 3D elements from a presumed prototype build of Mega Man Battle Network 5 DS. The first batch of findings, a collection of crude, unfinished 3D models such as Lan and Mega Man.EXE, and full sized ACDC Town can be seen in video form here.

As a follow up, MegaRock recently managed to unearth near complete models for Lan, Mega Man (pictured) and an assortment of other items of interest that are vastly superior to those featured in the video, giving us a much better look at this scrapped project. Check out the newest findings at MegaRock's Photobucket.

Kind of makes you wonder why such a project was ultimately scrapped. Care to fill us in Mr. Christian Svensson?

"Twas before my time at Capcom so I don't know the answer.

There is something you are presuming: that it was ever actually in production just because of the existence of a few assets. This could have been just exploratory R&D/preproduction with no budget associated or greenlight happening (it wouldn't shock me if that were the case). And for whatever reason (maybe from what was learned during pre-pro) that it wasn't put into full production."

Regardless of its origins, very very cool findings. Who knows what wonders lay dormant within the many other Rockman games...

Mega Man 2 In Glorious 2.5D

Fund it Capcom, fund it now

Rockman Complete Works Promo Unearthed

SuperMega233 dug this little gem up from the depths of Nico Nico Douga; an old promotional clip for the Rockman Complete Works lineup, a series of enhanced remakes of RM1-6 for the original PlayStation. (a good chunk of Complete Works assets appear in Anniversary Collection)

The clip features a slew of gameplay montages, including footage of the highly obscure PocketStation mini games (1:17 mark):

Capcom PS1 Titles Coming To PSN Soon

The North America PlayStation Store is in dire need of some classic PS1 downloads. Thankfully, Capcom USA is stepping up to the plate to address this need.

Our go-to guy for all things PR, Christian Svensson, confirmed that Capcom recently submitted the first batch of PS1 games to Sony for an eventually PSN release.

"The first PS1 titles for PSN were submitted last week... when I have some dates for them, we'll let you know what and when is going to happen. :) "

Hopefully this means we'll see some Mega Man Legends love sooner or later. What better way to test the demand for MML3?

News Credit: the Mega Man Network

Analyzing The Boss Contest Promotional Splash

While we eagerly await further news from Coro Coro Comics' much hyped mystery Rockman title, I figured I'd go ahead and analyze this famous picture used to promote the boss contest in a number of occasions (here and here). A common belief is that the image, featuring the profiles of four Rockmen, was created specifically for the contest and subsequently, the new game. However, upon further investigation, this assumption might not be correct as each of the profiles have been seen somewhere in the past.

Let's start off with classic Rockman's profile shall we? This particular profile shot actually hails from classic series reference materials used when developing all sorts of heroic poses and the like. You can find this picture on page 248 of R20.

Moving along to X's profile. This one should be familiar to you as it can be seen on X8's title screen and in numerous promotional artwork (example).

Next up, Rockman.EXE. At first, I thought that shot came directly from the "EXE4/4.5/5 soundtrack", but upon further investigation, I realized it comes from a non cropped version of EXE 3's box art (picture).

Last but not least is Shooting Star Rockman's profile: It looks a bit like a similar profile shot from SSR2 (picture), but that Rockman notably lacks the white "neck stripes" and flattened earpiece featured on the boss contest splash. New art perhaps?

Whatever the case, the boss contest splash is certainly interesting. Does it merely represent he boss contest or is it hinting of some sort of crossover? Only time will tell.

Homemade E-Tanks

Can't afford/find one of those awesome Rockman 9 E-tank energy drinks? Then you might want to take a cue from Ginrei and make one of your very own. I present to you, Ginrei's custom E-Tank soda cozy:

"So I wanted one of those E-tank sports drinks... but didn't want to spend a fortune getting one.

I asked myself, "Why bother? You could just make a blue soda can cozy and put an E on it and have almost the same thing... Hey!! I could make a blue soda can cozy and put an E on it!!"

Be sure to check out Ginrei's other Rockman knitted creations here.

Google To Bring Iconic Game Characters To Life

Not literally of course, at least I think so.

According to Kotaku editor AJ, Google Inc., plans on announcing a slew of new personalized iGoogle themes based off of popular video game characters. The themes are said to "bring the gaming industry's most iconic characters to life and allow you to ride through their adventures."

Who will appear on the themes? Google's not talking, but you can bet your bottom dollar we'll be seeing the likes of Mario, Sonic, Link and maybe even Mega Man.

The themes will be officially revealed during Google next conference on March 25th, 2009.

News Credit: Kotaku

Keiji Inafune To Speak At Nordic Game Conference

This coming May, Keiji Inafune, the father of Rockman, will speak at the sixth annual Nordic Game conference, a two day convention that brings the best game developers around the world to discuss industry happenings.

No word on what Inafune will discuss, but I'm sure it will be something interesting.

Thanks for the tip haman.

A Look At "Intuition! Rockman"

Rockman games have a long history with Japanese mobile phones, a good majority of them being ports of older titles, with the occasional exclusive such as Rockman Tennis and the famous Rockman DASH: Great 5 Island Adventure. Among these exclusive mobile phone games shines "Intuition! Rockman", quite possibly the most obscure Rockman title to date.

I!RM isn't your typical Rockman game, it's more of a collection of mini games with a very interesting twists: all twelve mini games are controlled through a motion sensitive phone known as the D904i.

Gameplay is executed through a series of gesture based controlsranging from shaking to tilting. One such game goes by the name of "Spinning Wily." (above) The goal here is to defeat Wily by making him dizzy. All you have to do is tilt your phone in various angles until the evil doc is down and out.



Other than the collection of mini games, there is also a multiplayer mode of sorts, an "album mode" (?), and a online score ranking board.

Unfortunately, because of the game's obscure nature (and lack of motion controlled phones outside of Japan), there's very little hope of it getting a localization. Still, that won't stop you from ogling at these pictures, quite possible the best look at the game you'll ever get.

The Zero Figurine That Never Was

I shed a tear every time I look at this.

Back in 2006, it was reported that Jazwares Inc., makers of several Mega Man toys, would develop an over sized poseably Zero figurine that was roughly a foot tall. To say the least, it was a figure designed for the fans, especially those who were disappointing in JW's previous attempt at MM toys.

Early reports indicated that Jazwares outsourced the sculpting of the figure to SOTA Toys!, renowned for their popular Street Fighter Action figures. "Rene," the sculptor of the figure left fans this brief message of what to expect from the final mold:

"He's got the Z-BUSTER, pair of Z-SABERs, CHAIN ROD, and a pair of RECOIL RODs. The chain rod is made in segments and looks pretty bad@$$. Nothing is set in stone but I think those are all the weapons he's getting. Jazwares right now is trying to solicit it so that it won't be something you only see on here and can't own. So tell everyone you want this line to happen. From what I know Capcom really wants this to happen. I want this to happen to. Go spread the word. TELL EVERYONE!!

PS. Don't treat this like a SOTA thing. This is something I'm doing on my own. Also, suggestions are welcome. Who do you wanna see get the super poseable treatment?"

It's a bit of a mystery why the project fell through as we (the fan base) were never informed of its fate; Rene disappeared as well as some of Jazware's Mega Man team, leaving us hanging.

What a shame.

Quote source

Coro Coro Update

COCOROG reports that the April issue of Coro Coro Comics contains no announcement of any sort regarding the mystery Rockman title; just tips and tricks to defeating various bosses in Shooting Star Rockman 3 and comparing the abilities of Giga Cards between both versions.

Looks like we have to do just a bit more waiting as the next issue, coming in April, will supposedly announce the boss contest winner.

The suspense is killing me.

Debug Text In Battle Network 6

MegaRock stumbled upon a series of debug text within Battle Network 6's code, used to test various game play functions. My personal favorite? "0 Zennys cleared."

Coro Coro Offers Downloadable Noise Gear Card

Coro Coro Comics' official website has begun a brand new Shooting Star Rockman 3 promotion in which site visitors can download and print out Noise Gear Cards. New cards will become avaliable once a month.

Speaking of Coro Coro news, various Japanese sources have yet to report anything about the April issue, so we're kind of in limbo. I'm expecting some sort of annoncement regarding the following issue however, the one that will supposedly reveal the boss contest winner.

Humor: Chill Penguin Spotted In The Wild

Well, not exactly...

PRC reader Relena spotted this interesting label at a local shopping mall. It comes from a stuffed penguin from those Madagascar movies-- which I'm not afraid to admit, are pretty darn funny movies.

Thanks Relena!

GameStop Tentatively Dates Mega Man Star Force 3

Although Capcom USA have yet to announce an official release date, GameStop's online listings indicate that Mega Man Star Force 3: Black Ace and Red Joker are slated for a June 9th, 2009 release in North America.

This should come as great news for those of you eagerly awaiting the third (and possibly final) iteration in the Star Force series. Bear in mind, this date could change upon Capcom's whim, so take this with a grain of salt for now.

ESRB Rates Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 For 360, PS3

Back in mid October, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) mysteriously re-listed MvC2 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. What does this mean? Well, if we take last night's news into consideration, this could be a sure fire sign that an HD remix of the title is coming along.

To make matters a little more interesting, NeoGaf members discovered that MvC2 showed up on PartnerNet, a special version of Xbox Live used on 360 developmet kits.

I'm liking these coincidences.

Auction: Special Edition Mega Man X Nintendo Power

Currently up for auction on ebay's block is a rather fine issue of Nintendo Power magazine: a metalic embellished guidebook compiling everything one would want to know about the original Mega Man X.

Not much else to say than that. You can buy this issue now for a surprisingly low price of $5.99 and $4.75 shipping.

'Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 HD Remix' On The Way?

According to an interview with Capcom's Christian Svensson, the company is looking into developing more high definition remakes ala' the highly successful "Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix". Their prime target? The ever popular Marvel Vs. Capcom 2:

"Are we done doing HD Remixes? No we're not done. But the next ones that we do will be even better, based on what we learned."

When asked if Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was a game that didn't need the HD Remix treatment, Svensson replied: "I won't say it doesn't need it. Marvel would be great to do. There's obviously a fan base for it. It's probably our most requested title. Unfortunately, I wish I had news to share on that front but I don't." --Christian Svensson

Sounds good to me, but what are the chances of a "Marvel Vs. Capcom 3" after all these years?

"I would never say never but I would say the barriers to doing that are much higher than the barriers for MvC2."

I don't know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed SFIITHDR, so I'm definitely looking forward to whatever Capcom churns out.

News Credit: Thomas via Videogamer.com

Auction: Rockman Key Chain Set

Not enough crud dangling from your keys? Then this auction's for you.

Up for bidding is a self proclaimed set of "uber rare" Rockman keychains, complete with the original store display. Apparently, the set was given to the seller as a gift from a friend who paid a "handsome sum against collectors." Well then, I guess there must be some sort of value behind these little nuggets.

Bidding starts at $9.99. You up for it?

They're nifty looking and all, but one has to wonder: will they make it impossible to slip your keys in your pocket? Look at all those edges...

Ariga Reveals New Pet Project

It's been a little while since we last heard from Hitoshi Ariga, creator of the ever classic Rockman Megamix comics. What's he been up to lately?

Besides feverishly creating the newest Megamix volume, Ariga is apparently working on a small side project entitled, “Rockman Development Secrets: The Men who Created Rockman."

The project will presumably chronicle the secrets behind Rockman's history and development, planned to be included within the pages of Megamix 4. Ariga states he wanted to make a similar book over fifteen years ago, but due to a number of circumstances the project never came to be.

As a small bonus, Ariga plans to make a parody comic called, “Secrets of the Rockman Development Secrets : The Man who Depicts the Men Who Created Rockman" (talk about tongue tied), a fictional dramatization of his encounters with the Infaune and other Rockman staff. Sounds like fun.

Ariga hopes to bring more information to us soon.

News Credit: the Mega Man Network

Capcom Still Bent On Localizing 'Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom'

Regardless of the hurdles, Capcom USA is hell bent on bringing Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom stateside.

In an interview with VideoGamer.com, Capcom's VP of Strategic Marketing, Christian Svensson, stated that we "should not rule [a North American release] out. That is all I can say right now. I can't say it's happening definitively. I couldn't give you a time frame, but as badly as the fans want it, we want to bring it."

In addition, Svensson once again brought to light various issues holding back a Western release:

"There are licensing issues to contend with," he said. "The Tatsunoko rights are split as far as how they are held in the west. Tatsunoko obviously holds all of the rights in Japan so they can grant all of those characters usage through Japan very easily. But when they license those properties out to various stakeholders in the west, aligning all of those things properly, and to be fair the team that did it is working on something else now, so actually also clawing back the resources to do a localised version, to make any changes that are needed to get through those licensing issues, these are all things that need to be aligned before we can actually profit from this happening."

"The team that did it is a very talented team in high demand. And unfortunately they're not an internal team so we don't have 100 per cent control of saying OK just pull those guys back in. They have their own business to run."

Very comforting to know the guys are still on it. From what I've gathered, TvC is a great game, definetly worthy of a localization. Here's hoping for the best.

Capcom Very Happy With Mega Man 9 Sales Numbers

Destructoid sat down with Capcom's Seth Killian to discuss a number of issues, the most noteworthy being Mega Man 9's performance:

D: While on the topic of Mega Man 9 secrets, Capcom has been pretty secretive about how well the game sold. Is there anything you can tell us about how successful the game was, like which console the game sold best on, and if it meet Capcom’s sales expectations?

SK: We don’t discuss specific numbers, but we were definitely happy with the sales of Mega Man 9. I can tell you it was our best-selling title ever on Wiiware (also our only title there so far.)