Amazon Japan Preparing For DASH 3 Pre-orders?

Make of this what you will, but according to a few tweets from some keen-eyed overseas fans, Amazon Japan created a page for Rockman DASH 3 over the weekend -- a possible sign that the retailer is gearing up for pre-orders.

Though it is pretty bare bones at the moment, the very existence of the page certainly seems to warrant the above notion. There's no indication that pre-orders will be accepted soon; however, customers are encouraged to sign up to be notified when it's a-go.

Admittedly, It's a little peculiar that Amazon would list a game that's supposedly not even green-lit into production yet... but it couldn't hurt to keep an eye out on this one. After all, Amazon is a pretty reliable source when it comes to release date/window leaks.

Thanks for the tip, Jason!

Rumor: Mega Man 25th Anniversary Project

There's a gnarly of a rumor currently floating around on the web, and since it's a rather slow news day, I figured I'd go ahead and share it here. Prepare your salt.

According to the PaulGaleNetwork, a Capcom representative confirmed the publisher is hard at work developing a new Mega Man game, in addition to Mega Man Legends 3 and Mega Man Universe. The game, said to be revealed at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), will celebrate the franchise's impending 25th anniversary (December 17, 2012). Concurrently, the rep also said the show will play host to the unveiling of a new Street Fighter and a "big splash" from Devil May Cry, likely the return of DmC.

While it's entirely possible Capcom has something up their sleeves for Mega's big 25th, I highly doubt we're going to see (or hear) from it at this year's E3. Capcom's got there hands full with Universe and Legends 3 as is, so anything else at new at point seems almost trivial.

We'll watch where this one goes, but I wouldn't get you're hopes set too high. Pre-E3 always ushers in waves upon waves of rumors; some true, others not.

Sources: Event Hubs, Cosmic Book News, N4G

Rockman X Coming To Virtual Console

At long, long last, the original Rockman X (i.e Mega Man X) is FINALLY headed to the Wii's Virtual Console... in Japan.

A report at over Siliconera indicates the SNES classic was recently added to Japan's April Virtual Console release schedule, in addition to another beloved classic, Chrono Trigger. As with all SNES/SFC games, Rockman X will run you 800 Wii Points ($8).

As for a release outside of Japan, we can certainly be hopeful for the game to arrive a short while after the Japanese release. Usually (but not always) games released on the Japanese VC make their way to the rest of the world from anywhere between a week to a couple months later. Best to keep an eye out on the ESRB; impending Virtual Console releases often get "leaked" there. 

Fingers crossed for a release sooner rather than later!

Ippo Yamada Prepping New Soundtrack (Update)

Ippo Yamada is at it again; dropping vague hints about his next project via Twitter. In his latest tweet, the producer behind the music of the Zero and ZX series says he's working on a new Rockman album, set to be officially unveiled next week.

The contents of the album are left entirely up to speculation, unfortunately. However, there's been a curious amount of attention focused on Rockman Zero recently; with the re-release of Zero Collection in April and Kotobukiya Zero in summer, perhaps Yamada's project is something related to the Zero series? New remastered tracks, maybe?

UPDATE: Yamada has confirmed it is a Rockman Zero soundtrack of some sort. We'll have all the details next week!

Credit: The Mega Man Network

3D Mega Man Posters Spotted In The Wild

While 2011 may be lacking in terms of actual Mega Man games, the year is definitely looking to trump '04 when it comes to merchandise. Comic books, manga, art books, apparel, birthday party supplies, model kits, action figures and now... posters. Yes, it's one of those news days.

Officially Capcom licensed Mega Man posters, sporting fancy lenticular 3D effects, have been spotted at a Barnes & Noble in Orlando, Florida. The poster measures in at around 11x17 in dimensions, and (accurately) recreates the classic Mega Man 1 stage select with its yellow and blue motif. Humorously, a quick Google search of the item reveals that poster was produced by Poster Revolution, perhaps best known for their popular and inexpensive replica of 'The Kramer.'

While the item itself may not be hugely interesting, it's worth noting that this really shows just how far Capcom is willing to market Mega Man present-day. It's the little trinkets like this -- the t-shirts, posters, and trading figures -- that help to raise series awareness for the masses. It certainly worked for Mario and friends, and Capcom looks to be following suite.

Sure enough, you don't need to look too far to pick one of these up for yourself; Poster Revolution is selling the poster directly for $8.74 -- quite a steal, really, as the site notes it regularly sells for $20.00.

If this is something up your alley, click the above link to order! Thanks for the tip (and pic), Quick123!

Kotobukiya Zero Revealed

A short while back, Kotobukiya began teasing fans that a Rockman Zero model kit is in the works. Tonight, however, the first image of the figure has surfaced, albeit in grey prototype form.

The attached scan from a nameless Japanese magazine shows off just what we can expect from Zero, which looks to be boasting equal if not more points of articulation than the previous three Kotobukiya model kits (Rockman, Roll, Blues). Details concerning accessories and price are still a mystery, it seems.

The Zero model kit is said to be releasing in Japan at an unspecified summer date. Kotobukiya USA has not announced any plans for this kit, but I think it's safe to assume we'll have Zero on our shores following the release of Rock, Roll and Blues.

Credit: The Mega Man Network

Tentative Release Dates For Mega Man Tribute, Gigamix 2

Amazon has come through with release dates for UDON's Mega Man Tribute and Mega Man Gigamix Volume 2. Having not been officially announced by UDON themselves, these dates are likely tentative and are subject to change upon a moments notice.

Mega Man Tribute
Price: $26.57 (reg $39.99)
Release: July 19, 2011
300 pages
ISBN: 1926778308
Authors (and possible artists): Jeffrey Chamba Cruz, Hitoshi Ariga, Sean Galloway, Omar Dogan, Long Vo, Joe Ng, Sanford Greene

Mega Man Gigamix Volume 2
Price: $12.95
Release: August 2, 2011
220 pages
ISBN: 1926778278

If Amazon is correct, it sounds as if Hitoshi Ariga himself will be contributing to Tribute, in addition to other high-profile artists such as Sean Galloway (Spectacular Spider-Man), Long Vo (Gaia Online) and Sanford Greene (DC Comics). UDON has yet to confirm the presences of these folks, but it sure seems likely.

The UDON crew usual follows up with official announcements shortly after these Amazon "leaks" bubble up. Hopefully, we'll get the official word on release dates and other details soon!

Rockman DASH 3 Demo Event Cancelled (Updated)

Capcom Japan brings us some unfortunate news tonight, though it really shouldn't come as a major surprise. In light of the recent disasters currently taking place in Japan (i.e Touhoku earthquake), Capcom has chosen to cancel the "3DS x Capcom Premium Demo Event" and subsequently the public Rockman DASH 3 playable demo.

The event was originally set to take place on March 29, but, at this time, there is no mention of a reschedule. Capcom staff apologizes for any discontent this may bring its fans, as they are well aware of how anticipated the demo was. Demos of Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition and Resident Evil Mercenaries were also scheduled to make an appearance.

The good news is this has no bearing upon recent news of DASH 3's green-light troubles. At best, the delay is giving the team more time to prep the demo, and it will benefiting from it in the end. Make no mistake, please: this news has no bearing upon DASH 3's development.

Capcom's been canceling a lot of events recently , and it was only a matter of time until 3DS x Capcom was affected. Perhaps as compensation, the dev team can give us a nice, legitimate look at the game in action come the 29th. Hey, it's the least we can hope for.

UPDATE: Capcom USA has confirmed the events cancellation as well.

Source: DASH 3 Devroom

Cover Art For Mega Man Issue 3 Unveiled

A set of covers were revealed today for the third issue in Archie's upcoming Mega Man comic book series. Yes, issue #1 isn't even out yet, and we already have ourselves covers for the third.  No matter, Enjoy!

The covers are being penned by Patric 'Spaz' Spaziante (left) and Ben Bates (right) respectively. Bate's cover looks to be continuing the tradition of a second "villain variant" cover, which spotlights a Robot Master. Issue two's variant is none other than Guts Man.

Collector's looking to score variants can do so by checking out specialty comic shops -- these won't be included with subscriptions, unfortunately.

Credit: The Mega Man Network

Check Out Some Early MMBN1 Previews

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Rockman EXE/Mega Man Battle Network, I thought I'd share some neat little treasures of mine: images of the very first preview assets for Battle Network 1 -- press releases and such that hail from when the game was first announced! These papers reek of early '00 nostalgia; you might have seen some of them quite some time ago... I know I have.

The first batch (below) yields from E3 2001 back when BN was first announced for release in North America..

In addition to some nice pre-release screenshots looming in the background on the left page, the booklet also seems to indicate Capcom was once planning on retaining Lan's Japanese name, Netto, for localization. And hey, check out that slightly different abbreviation of PET: Personal Exploration Terminal. Sounds a tad more appealing than PErsonal Terminal, if you ask me.

The right-most images a rare site, these days. It was in an file sent out to the press a couple months before E3, shortly after EXE's release in Japan. The images suggests that Capcom once considered on naming the series in the U.S as Mega Man EXE as opposed to Battle Network, OR it's merely advertising the character MM.EXE himself, although the Roll variant seems to suggest otherwise. Feel free to speculate.

Now, On the other side of the world, Capcom Japan took to Coro Coro Comics to get the word out about Rockman EXE, a partnership that would last for the next decade...

What you see here are the very first Japanese previews for Rockman EXE, which date back even further than E3 2001: fall, 2000.

Keen eyed fans will note a few striking differences from the pre-release version of the game pictured in the above magazine scans. The leftmost scan features a handful of beta battlefield shots, including a small glimpse at an an early Custom screen. Also of note, a slightly alternate mugshot of Enzan (Chaud) is present on the right page. The Middle scan houses one of the more popular beta screenshots, which features the ever-peculiar "A/B" gauge at the bottom of the screen. Finally, the right-most scan... is that concept art of Gow? Why, I believe it is! Perhaps he was originally planned to appear as early as BN1?

I've very fond memories of that middle scan, in particular. IIRC, that was the first time I ever laid eyes upon Rockman.EXE... and I hated it. Colorful, yes, but there was something about his posture -- his lankiness or something, that really irked me initially.  Of course, I grew to love the design; it was different than anything we've ever seen before from the franchise, and for that I admired it.

I'm kicking myself for this one, but since my recent hard drive crash, I'm unable to restore this neat video presentation from E3 2001 which has Keiji Inafune talking about MMBN. Lot of nice beta stuff in there, too. If I can find a backup of it somewhere, I'll be sure to share it!

10th Anniversary Of Battle Network

March 21st, 2001 -- Battle Network: Rockman EXE launched in Japan, better known here in the States as Mega Man Battle Network. Ten years later, the series has gone on to be one of, if not the most successful ventures in the franchise's history, spawning numerous games, merchandise, and multiple television series. Battle Network was, undeniably, a money making machine.

Whether you love it or hate it, we can all agree MMBN was an immensely successful IP for Capcom; one could even say that without it, we wouldn't even have Mega Man today. By Battle Network 4, the series was in its prime, financially. Both games would go on to sell well over a million units, Takara was rolling in the merchandising dough, and television ratings of Rockman.EXE Axess had never been higher.

A similar trend was happening in the U.S as well. NT Warrior quickly became one of the highest rated Saturday morning cartoons on Kids WB!, and Mattel's NTW toy line was quite popular at the time, with PET units often selling out during its first few months of shelf life.

Unfortunately, BN's winning streak would eventually wain, and come 2009 with the release of Operate Shooting Star, the bubble had finally burst. With lackluster sales and largely negative criticism, the "remake" of the original classic is seemingly the last hurrah from the series. Seemingly being the key word here; you never know what Capcom might have up their sleeves.

Battle Network forever holds a special place in my fanboy's heart, for it was this very series that led me to become a leading member of the now defunct PET World and its offspring, Rockman Synergy. When both ended, I went off to my own little corner of the web -- here.

So here's to you, MMBN. Capcom never could keep you down; I'm sure you'll be back again before we know it!

Playing Mega Man Legends In The Name Of Charity

In another instance of gaming for a cause, my good pal ClevelandRock of The People's Republic of Rockman DASH Republic kicked of a Mega Man Legends marathon just a few short minutes ago. Dubbed "Endless Water", ClevelandRock is set to playthrough the entirety of the Legends series all for the sake of raising awareness for the need of clean water throughout the world. Tune into the stream below and, if you're able, make a donation or two at Water.org!

Live Broadcast by Ustream.TV