Another Comic On The Way

Starting November 5th, Capcom will begin posting weekly 4-panel Rockman EXE web comics on the official Operate Shooting Star homepage. The series will conclude in December, and will be compiled into a single graphic novel shortly afterward.  A glance at the comic's art style below:

4-panel comics are noteworthy for their lighthearted (and sometimes crude) humor, so expect your typically wacky Japanese antics here. If you're looking for action, then look forward to Ren Takahara's unrelated EXE comic currently circulating in Coro Coro Special.

Nooks and Crannies

Whilst browsing a local market, Rockmanx121 stumbled upon a handful of interesting Rockman trinkets that are just too obscure to not share with you all here:

"Rock Buster", an electronic keychain game.  Shaped in the image of a Super Famicom (aka Super Nintendo), you press a button in time to the lights to detract hit points (HP) from Napalm Man.  Hit the buttons at the wrong time, and Napalm Man will replenish health.  The goal: Get Napalm Man down to 0 HP.  It's almost like a real boss battle!

Capcom approved Valentine's day badges and buttons. The backsides are blank, so you have room to write a little messages to loved ones.

 

Left: A 100 Yen dispenser.  Right: 'Battle & Chase' themed bubble gum. Each canister of gum comes with one of eight collectible metal pins.

Last, but not least...

Oversized Rock and Roll Gashopons. Supposedly, they're water proof and make great substitutes for rubber duckies.

OSS Promo Campaign Kicks Off, New Footage (UPDATE)

Today, Capcom announced a brand new OSS promotion: the Double Rockman Present campaign --  a collaboration between Capcom, Coro Coro and Kids Station where participants can partake in a scavenger hunt to win copies of OSS and a set of stickers:

"So how does it work? Well, you need to find a special letter on each of the participating websites. For example, on the Capcom page linked above, clicking on the Mr. Program reveals Capcom’s special character. Next, head over to the CoroCoro website and solve this puzzle, revealing their special character. Finally, drop on by Kids Station and watch the video on the top of the page with the guy who’s waaaaay too excited about his job. Incidentally, this video shows off some new footage from OSS, including the appearance of ClockMan."

Sounds like fun, but this is a Japan only promo, so it's probably not relevant to most of you!

UPDATE - Direct footage:



Credit: The Mega Man Network

OSS Commercial Incoming

Capcom looks to be stepping up its advertising for Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star.

According to an in-store pamphlet, a 15-second TV spot will appear during popular children's programming on Kids Station a week prior to the game's release.  If previous commercials are any indication, expect to see cel animation mixed in with in-game footage.

Additionally, there's also brief mention of a forthcoming promotion on Coro Coro Comics' official website, with no other specifics given.

Thanks, Sal.

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

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.