Official Rockman Band Performs "Dr. Wily Stage 1" From Home!

Members of Capcom's official "Rockman Special Band" have reunited for a little stay-at-home performance of Dr. Wily stage 1 from Rockman 2.

Noriyuki Iwadare is joined by Rockman Unity's Ucchy-san, MCU, Noriyuki Kamikura, Daisuke Miyazak, Mari Matsubara, Atsushi Enomoto and even the Hanayashiki Park Rockman and Blues mascots. What a fun little gesture, no? 

It sounds like there might be more stay-at-home performances in the near future, too! Make sure to subscribe to Noriyuki Iwadare;s official YouTube channel for the latest!

Icon Heroes Acquires Mega Man License for New Figures and Goods

Collectable manufacturer Icon Heroes has announced that they are partnering with Capcom to produce a brand-new line of Mega Man products. Figures, bobble heads, pins, key rings and other odds and ends are currently in production.

While no further details or images are available at this time, artists and toy designers for the Mega Man line told me that they are aiming to create some "real high quality stuff". You can get an idea of Icon Heroes' quality at their website here. I'm partial to their line of DC Comics figures and statues. Nice stuff.

We'll have more news on this front sooner than later. I may have a scoop or two coming up soon!

Source: Icon Heroes

Mega Man & Bass FC "Demake" Fan-Game In The Works

For those of you with good longterm memory, you may recall a small series of fan-games by a group called Mend who produced "de-makes" of both Rockman 7 and Rockman 8. These de-makes became known as Rockman 7FC and Rockman 8FC ("FC" meaning "Famicom"). Way back in 2009, we reported that the group was also looking at de-making Rockman Rockman (Mega Man Powered Up), Rockman Mega World (Mega Man: The Wily Wars) and Rockman & Forte (Mega Man & Bass). Unfortunately those projects never reached completion.

However, there is now renewed hope for a Rockman & Forte de-make in the form of "Mega Man & Bass FC"!

Second Armor X and The "Prince of the Skies" Event Now Available in Rockman X DiVE

Following routine Thursday maintenance, Rockman X DiVE has been updated to include Second Armor X and a new event called "Prince of the Skies". Additionally, the game will be celebrating its first month in the hand of the players tomorrow! Find all the details after the break!

Get Equipped with Official Rockman Virtual Meeting Backgrounds

Is your living room, kitchen or bedroom not quite up to snuff for those professional or personal virtual meetings?

Thanks to Rockman Unity, now you can meg-ify your Zoom meetings with the Rockman 1 title screen, Dr. Wily's lab, the sprawling green pastures of Rockman 2's ending cutscene or the Rockman 2 stage select screen. Hit up those links and give 'em a download. They're pixel perfect, too! You can read how to set up Zoom backgrounds here.

Remember: wash your hands, don't touch your face and if at all possible, stay home. If you happen to find yourself completely bored, there's 154 different Mega Man games you could play, too. I guarantee there's at least one or two in there you haven't played. I, for one, really should knock out Super Adventure Rockman one of these days.

Source: Rockman Unity

Don't Forget to Backup Your Capcom Unity and Mega Man Legends 3 Devroom Content!

In case you haven't heard, a number of major changes are coming to Capcom Unity on May 6th. You can read more about that here. Long story short, 14-years worth of user created content, forum posts, blog posts, private messages, etc. will disappear. That includes everything from the Mega Man Legends 3 Devroom, too.

If you have anything, anything at all that you'd like to preserve from Capcom Unity, now is the time. You'll have to manually backup your forum posts, conversations and PMs. Your blog posts, however, can be downloaded. Simply click on your profile, click on the blog tab and then click on the "DOWNLOAD" button at the top right. This is a newly-added function courtesy of the Capcom Unity staff.

In terms of Devroom content, a few colleagues and I have most of the media backed up (Images, videos, etc). However, there's still work to be done in terms of backing up and cataloging Devroom blog posts written by then-MML3 staff members. If you'd like to help out on that front, shoot me an e-mail.

And with that, I bid Capcom Unity a hearty farewell! I loved that place.

Dimension Studios Zero Model Kit Now Available to Pre-Order

It's been a little while since we heard anything from this guy! Dimension Studios' upcoming Mega Man Zero series Zero model kit is currently up for pre-order from Play-Asia. Reservations will be accepted between now and May 21st, 2020. (Note: the images shown do not represent the final kit) In terms of additional retailers, there is a strong chance more will trickle at in the very near future. So if what Play Asia is offering is a bit out of your price range, hang in there.

As previously reported, the kit stands at 17cm (roughly 6.70 inches) and features a high degree of articulation and detail. It even features an interior"skeletal system" for a greater degree of pose-ability! Accessories include the Z-Saber, Bust Shot, Triple Lance, Shield Boomerang, left and right hand Z-Knuckle parts, and several different face plates.

The kit is on track to ship sometime in Q2 2020. Additional details are forthcoming soon!

Source: Play-Asia

First-Ever Gameplay of the 1990 Mega Man 2 Tiger Electronics LCD Wristwatch

This, ladies and gentleman, is the Mega Man 2 Tiger Electronics LCD Wristwatch. It is one of, if not the rarest incarnation of Mega Man 2. And while it is by no means a perfect representation of the NES classic, its novelty alone - the mere fact that something like this exists - makes it a treasure.

The D-Pads' Rick snagged the watch for a staggering $400 off of eBay. After a heated internal conflict, Rick decided take it out of its original, ageing packaging and record a good 40-minutes worth of gameplay. It's one of the most unique, obscure "Let's Plays" I've ever encountered.

Also, I should mention that there are early talks about disassembling the watch for preservation and emulation. So yeah; you may yet have the chance to play it!

Rockman X DiVE News Roundup - Ferham joins the Deep Log, Hunter Badges and More

Following today's maintenance period, there were a few notable updates to Rockman X DiVE, such as Ferham joining the roster plus the addition of "Hunter Badges". More details and a recap of other events that happen in the last few days can be found after the break!

Mega Man Voice Actor Keiji Fujiwara Passes Away at Age 55 Due to Cancer

Keiji Fujiwara, who voiced Gate in Mega Man X6, Mr. Famous and Pharaoh Man.EXE in the Rockman EXE anime, among countless other iconic video game and anime roles, died on Sunday, April 12th at the age of 55. According to his talent agency, Fujiwara died from cancer.

Fujiwara is perhaps best known for voicing Axel in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Ardyn in Final Fantasy XV, Reno in both Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Final Fantasy VII Remake, Maes Hughes in Full Metal Alchemist, Leorio in Hunter x Hunter, Hannes in Attack on Titan, and Crayon Shin-chan's Hiroshi Nohara. He voiced the latter for 24 years. You can find his complete resume here.

Rockman Corner extends its condolences to Fujiwara's family and loved ones. May he rest in peace.

Source: Oricon (via Anime News Network)

Rockman X DiVE Passes 1 Million Downloads

The Rockman X DiVE team announced today that the game has achieved the 1,000,000 downloads milestone. This news is nothing but outstanding taking into account that the game is not officially available in North America, Europe or Japan and it has been online for only 23 days.

To celebrate this milestone, the team has prepared a couple of special events. Find out about them after the break!

Ninja Captor, the Toku Series That Heavily Influenced Mega Man's Design, is Now on YouTube

Several years ago, Mega Man creator Akira Kitamura revealed that he initially wanted Mega Man's appearance to change whenever players equipped a different Weapon. Although this idea wasn't fully realized until Mega Man 11, the concept has been there since the very beginning, owed in part to a little television program called Ninja Captor.

In an 2011 Rockman Maniax interview (translated by Shmuplations), Kitamura said:

"In the beginning, I imagined a character like Mega Man equipped with some kind of weapon, but when you transformed, your whole appearance would change. You know that little protrusion on the top-front of Mega Man’s helmet? When you changed weapons, it was supposed to change like the Ninja Captor character’s helmets, and show a little symbol depending on the weapon’s element (fire, water, lightning, etc)."

Unfortunately for Kitamura's team, they weren't "allowed to use symbols like that".  They were concerned about infringing on Ninja Catpor's copyright, in other words. Instead, programmer Matsushita-san came up with the idea for Mega Man's color changing mechanic; a trait that has followed the blue bomber ever since.

Today, we can look back on Ninja Captor with posterity. Thanks to Toei's newly launch "Tokusatsu World" YouTube channel, we can watch the show with English subtitles for free and legally. I've embedded the first episode above.

If you've never seen 70s tokusatsu, you're in for quite the treat!

Team Shachi's "Rockman 20XX" Game is Getting a Physical Release... Sort Of

Earlier in 2019, Capcom partnered with Japanese idol group Team Shachi for a special Rockman collaboration. The crossover spawned concerts, an album and, perhaps most noteworthy of all, an official Team Shachi x Rockman game called "Rockman 20XX". In it, the Shachi girls are turned into super robots in order to save an old, wheelchair-bound Rockman, Roll and Blues from a diabolical virus. You can check it out here.

The game proved to be so popular that, as announced by members of Team Shachi on livestream, it will be released on an actual Famicom cartridge!... but not really.

The Mega Man Movie is Probably Headed to Netflix as Chernin Entertainment Inks First-Look Deal

Chernin Entertainment, the production company behind the live-action Mega Man film, has signed a first-look deal with Netflix, reports Deadline. Although terms of the multi-year pact were not disclosed, it's largely implied Netflix will become the exclusive home of future Chernin Entertainment projects... Mega Man included.

The live-action Mega Man movie was originally slated to be distributed by 20th Century Fox. Earlier this year, however, Chernin Entertainment part ways the company after it was absorbed by Disney. Chernin were able to retain the rights to 80-plus film projects it had in development at 20th Century Fox.

Mega Man will be directed by Henry Joost, produced by Masi Oka and written by Mattson Tomlin, the co-writer of Matt Reeve's The Batman (2021). As the film is currently in pre-production, there are no details on story, cast or a release date.

Source: Deadline

CG Render of X From Cancelled "Maverick Hunter" FPS Surfaces

Capcom and Armature Studio's Maverick Hunter may be gone, but it certainly isn't forgotten. Not by one of its key artists, anyway. 

Jaehoon Kim, who previously posted concept art and stills from the ill-fated first-person shooter, recently published a pair of videos (here and here) showing the ins-and-outs of X's actual model from the game (albeit untextured). Both clips are very short but we get a good look at just how "animated" X's body was intended to be. The Iron Man influence is unmistakable and for good reason: Adi Granov, the artist who designed Iron Man's armor for the MCU, created this incarnation of X.

While I, personally, was not a fan of the direction Maverick Hunter was aiming for, it's always fascinating to see more of what could have been. You can read more about Maverick Hunter here!

Source: Jaehoon Kim

Original "Unarmored" Command Mission X Model Discovered After 16 Years

Sit down, close your eyes and take yourself back to 2004. Recall, if you will, that the earliest screenshots for Mega Man X: Command Mission featured X wearing his original blue armor (albeit slightly stylized). This was a time before Capcom incorporated the now fan-favorite "Stealth Armor". If memory isn't your strong suit, it originally looked like this and this. In 2010, additional screenshots of this unused, unarmored state were discovered lurking inside the E3 2004 demo build, too.

Flash forward to today, I am pleased to report that a startling discover has been made among The Cutting Room Floor community. A one Chris Shade was poking around inside the retail GameCube version of the game when, to his surprise, he found a "demo" folder. Inside, Chris found model and texture data for X's unused armor. That's right: it's been hiding under our noses this whole time. Sixteen years, in fact.

Chris took the liberty of extracting the model, which you can download here. If you have the know-how, you can restructure it to look like the above image. And if you're a real wizard, you might be able to mod it *back in* to Command Mission. You could even put it in Grad Theft Auto V, I dunno. I leave that in your hands.

So yeah; this is a pretty neat discovery. It goes to show you that we're still learning new things about some of our favorite games after all these years!

The Making of the Rockman ZX Series Part 5: ZXA Character Designs, DASH Connections

Rockman Unity took an extra week to publish the last part of Makoto Yabe's interview about "The Making of the ZX series", but it's here, translated once again by Sidier. The final entry discusses the creation of Grey and Ashe, the connection between the ZX series and the DASH series, among other topics. Check it out after the break!

April Fools: Play as Prometheus & Pandora in Newly Discovered "Chapter W"

(April fools! We tried to carry on the old "Cpapcom" tradition! This may indeed become a fan-project one day courtesy of Tomycase!)

Original story: A major new addition to Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection has been hiding under our noses this whole time. Rockman Corner reader Sidd Finch discovered a new sidequest in Mega Man ZX Advent that unlocks "Chapter W". The new campaign features a brand-new area and the ability to play as Prometheus and Pandora.

You can find all the details after the break!