Your Questions Answered (By Me!)

I get a hefty amount of e-mails every week. Mostly news tips, but more often than not, I receive a lot of questions primarily related to the Mega Man franchise's recent going-ons.  While I don't have the time to get back to all of you, I figured it'd be nice if I addressed some of the more common questions I receive right here on the blog. It's a new thing I'm trying out so bear with me. No names; you know who you are!


Where is the English Operate Shooting Star Patch?

Although lead translator LuigiBlood hasn't gotten around to updating the project's status on the official translation site, he informs me development continues. Admittedly, the project has taken a back seat in priorities, as LuigiBlood is frequently busy IRL (aren't we all?). L.B had hoped to design a specialty program that would have sped up the hex-editing process, but that has hit a bit of a snag. Nevertheless, OSS in English is coming... we just don't know when. Bear in mind, these projects can take quite a while, years in most cases. Have patience and look forward to the final product!


Any word from 'The Shadow'?

While I continue to remain in contact with the famous leaker, we've nothing specific to divulge at the moment. The Shadow was made famous for leaking the first word on the existence of Mega Man 9  and Mega Man Legends 3 -- but, I'm afraid, he has nothing new to share at present. Should something appear on his radar, you'll hear about it here.


On your Twitter, you once mentioned something about a pre-release/beta Mega Man X4 dump. What's up with that?

A good friend of mine, who previously contributed to the dumping of the two Rockman 8 beta versions, recently acquired an early build of Rockman X4. How early of a build? Hard to say at the moment, but he's currently evaluating its contents. We haven't discuss the prospect of publicly dumping the game yet, but I think we'll get around to it eventually. Wish I had more to say on this one -- I'm a sucker for pre-release stuff. When news hits, I'll let you know!


I heard Capcom is making a Mega Man Star Force 4. Is this true?

As far as we know, Capcom is not developing a Star Force 3 successor. While I cannot speak for the company internally, there's enough external evidence that suggests a fourth title isn't in the cards. From a financial standpoint, the Star Force series wasn't nearly successfully as its predecessor series, Battle Network. Each title in the SF series sold worse than the last, with Star Force 3 barely breaking 100k units. Lack-luster game sales resulted in the end of numerous cross-media ventures. In fact,  Star Force 3 marked the first time in a little under a decade a "Network timeline" game was not accompanied with an animated series or toy line. The brand simply wasn't financially viable enough by the time of SF3.

From a plot standpoint, there's really not much Capcom can do with the characters to warrant a fourth adventure. Star Force 3 ended, for a lack of a better word, perfectly. Events concluded nicely, and character resolutions were plentiful (and satisfying). Star Force 4 would only be milking it, and that's not what the franchise needs right now. Gameplay-wise? Ask yourself, is there really anything more they can do with the SF formula? You can throw in all sorts of gimmicks, transformations, and whatnot, but that's all trivial -- superficial, even. None of that really solidifies or enhances the core gameplay elements of Star Force. It's just sprinkles and glitter.

The Network timeline, consisting of both Star Force and Battle Network, is resting. It isn't dead, it's resting. Where it will go from here is anyone's guess: revert back to a winning formula with a new Battle Network (while attempting to keep things fresh)? Or proceed forward with something new entirely? The ball is in Capcom's court.

  
Even though Mega Man Universe is dead, do you believe a prototype version will ever get leaked? 

It's only a matter of time. "Betas" of current-console generation games are extremely difficult to come by, but within the next few years, things should slowly begin bubbling to the surface. In the case of Mega Man Universe, cold-hard data of the game does exist -- it's been demoed publicly at various events throughout last year. It's the hope of many circles that some brave soul who's closely tied with Capcom will release it under-the-table. That's how these things usually go: it's always either a former member of the press, or a former developer that brings this stuff to light. However, I gotta say, MMU's hypothetical prototype release is years down the road; I wouldn't be surprised if it took ten or more years, even. Once this console generation comes to pass, then you can begin crossing your fingers.


Alright, that's my spiel. If you've any more questions, send me a line: rockman20xx(at)yahoo(dot)com. I can't guarantee a swift reply, but I read everything. Hey, if I keep getting questions similar to the above on a frequent basis, I might turn this into a weekly thing!