Saturday, June 18, 2011

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!

26 comments:

  1. You-- I--

    Is that a Capri Sun? XD

    You look so completely rad there. Good job. *thumbs-up*

    --Flash

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  2. My thoughts exactly regarding SF4. There'd be no point in making a sequel given SF3's ending; they'd practically be better off booting up a new franchise that takes place in the same timeline after Star Force.

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  3. Well... I will work on OSS after i'm done with exams, in July. I'll try to finish it, by doing my own tool first. I wish i could say more, but i can't.
    Almost forgot, the new Title Screen codes will be on the Readme, we can't really change the game to give clues, and as it only works when you finish the game... Also, certain GameShark codes won't work anymore, on purpose.

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  4. "Also, certain GameShark codes won't work anymore, on purpose."
    Challenge Accepted.


    PS: What flavor juice is that?

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  5. Protodude, you look like an old friend of mine.

    Sadly, his name was not Brian.

    LONG LOST TWINS!

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  6. @Rockman:

    It was something really obscure... like strawberry banana or something.

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  7. Your friendly, inquiring Metool.June 18, 2011 at 2:58 PM

    I have a question:
    Some time last year or so, both you and LBN (Or maybe just LBN) were working on getting the original MM cartoon promo (The one on Mandi's site) distributed to the internet. How's that coming along?

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  8. I'd rather have a new BN than a SF :3 on 3DS with epic online stuff like BN3's squares. Making an actual online community. xD Makes the game feel more real. :3

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  9. @Protodude: Oh yeah, that one has a dragon on the front, made out of strawberries and bananas.. :'P It tasted pretty nice though, imo.

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  10. @Met:

    Last I heard, LBN had it laying around on a VHS tape somewhere. I haven't spoken with him about it in a while, but I can run it by him again.

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  11. As much as I completely and utterly despised Mega Man Universe's entire existence, I guess it would be nice to get ahold of a prototype somehow. Betas are usually always interesting in some way, shape, or form, regardless of what game it is.

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  12. So the moral of the story is absolutely nothing is happening besides Legends 3 which is still up in the air.

    Wonderful.

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  13. You don't look at all the way I imagined. :P

    Anyway, I don't think Capcom will ever make a SF4 either. However, I only think it's because of the sales. Having no plot to go off of hasn't stopped them before. BN3 ended pretty perfectly, too, and was supposed to be the last one in the series. Then came BN4 with little, if any, connection to the previous three. X6 is another good example, except in that case they basically changed X5's ending.

    So I have little doubt that if at least SF3 had done well, there'd have been a fourth one with some random story.

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  14. Really wish to play Mega Man Universe to see how it is. A pity it was cancelled, I liked the new features and different art style.

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  15. @Protodude
    You, sir, are a fine-looking gentleman.

    On topic, thank you for these little news bits. Word regarding virtually anything MegaMan has been scarce,aside from, of course, Legends 3.
    Which kinda makes me sad.

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  16. Protodude you remind me of Jgonzo lol.

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  17. Hey Protodude, this is something that concerns all of us.

    With Marvel vs Capcom 3 getting no mention at E3, and Comic-Con in July, it looks like there's a better chance of DLC or a 'super' getting mentioned there. As a result, we need to know:

    Will Capcom be at Comic-Con 2011? We know for sure Marvel is.

    Thanks for reading this if ya do.

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  18. @Anon:
    Capcom will be attending Comic Con this year. Better yet, they plan on holding a special event:

    http://thesilentchief.com/2011/06/16/capcom-planning-special-event-for-comic-con-2011/

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  19. OSS is still working on an english adaption? I'm down with that.

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  20. Hey, Protodude, you wouldn't happen to be able to ask actual capcom guys a few of our questions, would you? It'd be nice to be able to ask them some questions...

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  21. Unfortunately, Role, my closest contact, Jgonzo, is no longer with the company :/

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  22. Blarg, that sucks. If you can get ahold of a new contact, let us know! I'd love to hear them answer questions we actually submitted here.

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  23. Is Megaman 6 out yet? I have a snes and I have been waiting years for it to come out. Also when does Battle network series start?

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  24. WHY DID YOU NOT ACCEPT MY POST! I WANT TO KNOW WHEN MEGAMAN 6 COMES OUT!!!!

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  25. Ah, about 17 years ago. You can find yourself a decent copy up on the many auction houses, albeit at a pretty penny.

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  26. An Idea- you know all of Megaman starforces transformations each had a power sourcce. well using the three powers- starforce, tribe, red metoreo(red wave). Megaman would transform into his most powerful form. Mega's head would be the front of megaman's breast plate, his hands would have retractable claws and a cannon on his shoulder (look at shadow from Megaman command mission) and in this state Megaman would hover/fly
    also to add to megaman's power he would level up after a certain amount of exp was gained like a Rpg of another game you would still gain hp memmory (level up would increase hp and defence buster level would depend on equip ment which doubles because megaman will gain a second weapon slot. still you would need a good storyline for four if it is ever brought up again. comment on this if you want a response

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