This weekend in Baltimore, Maryland, from Friday, July 30th to Sunday, August 1st, will be Otakon. And what has become a part of the annual Otakon experience for many a Mega Man/Rockman fan is the gathering of like-minded individuals known affectionately as “OtaRockman.”

Each year, a fans tend to converge for cosplay photos and Mega Man gaming tournaments, with the time and place usually to be determined at the show (as Otakon tends to keep a rather fluid schedule; it’s usually held behind or near the Starbucks kiosk at the main entrance). This year, the gathering begins at 11am on Saturday.

In previous years, Mega Man Battle Network games were the order of the day for tournaments, but host Terra Stardroid has decided to shake things up this year with a Mega Man 9 tournament in which you see how far you can go in Endless Mode within five minutes.

And yes, there will be trophies for the victors… or at least, there should be, if all goes according to plan. For your chance to be a champion, be at the OtaRockman gathering at noon on Saturday.

On Saturday at 8pm in Panel 6 (Hilton Key Ballroom 1-6) (date/location may be subject to change) will be the panel “The Anime & Manga Realm of Mega Man,” hosted by myself, Tabby, Terra Stardroid, Robo Nanya, and Ryouko of Rockman.EXE Online:

For the past two years our focused group of Mega Man lovers have presented comprehensive panels at Otakon, all about our famous blue bomber. This year, we have dedicated ourselves to bringing forth all the facts and interesting tidbits about the adaptations of Mega Man into both the manga and anime forms. Several of them never made it to our shores, so we’re sure you’ll experience something new and exciting! As always, we’ll also be doing our raffle for some unbelievable prizes. Don’t miss it!

We even got a “Best Panel Award” (and the photograph you see at right) from Ending B, so give it a shot if you’re in the area this weekend!

What unbelievable prizes will there be? Suffice to say that we once again have the support of our friends Matt Moylan and UDON Entertainment and JGonzo of Capcom Unity, but beyond that? It’s a surprise!

And if you’d like to make plans for meeting with others at the event, we have a forum thread dedicated to that right here.

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Credit: Gamespot

Thanks Roy L. and car2oon!

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At the 2010 Summer Wonder Festival in Japan, Roll’s prototype figure was shown off alongside Rockman’s finished figure. An info card notes the Roll figure coming out in December, though the image is too blurry to make out if there’s a price (albeit there probably isn’t).

Speaking of “prototypes,” a silhouette of another model in the works was also featured, and this is undoubtedly Blues (Proto Man). Though not yet officially revealed, this figure is proposed to release in Winter of 2010 as well. Check out the Dengeki Online gallery at the bottom for a couple more pics.

Rockman figure fans are definitely having unhappy wallets these days.

News Credit: CAP Kobun, top image from Ngee Khiong

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At San Diego Comic-Con, Capcom has just made their next big announcement: Street Fighter x Tekken. Why are we mentioning this? Only so we can show the trailer– stay tuned to the end:

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It sounds like Comic-Con has been pretty overwhelming for Keiji Inafune, at least according to his own blog.* At yesterday’s “Capcom 2010 and Beyond” discussion panel, the hall, which can house up to 2500 people, was fully packed. Inafune was astonished by the strong showing of Capcom fans support, which he again notes he doesn’t experience in Japan. But more importantly, he had this to say of the audience:

Among them were many pulling support for Mega Man (Rockman), which really moved me. I was also happy that there are many desiring a continuation of Rockman DASH. I wanted to yell that I want to make it more than they want me to. I am truly grateful. As long as the fans support me, I’ll do my best.

Inafune has spoken for years now about wanting to return to Mega Man Legends (Rockman DASH). But now having announced an “oft-requested” Mega Man game in the works, it makes his blogging that much more delicious.

*I’m kind of ashamed to realize how much I follow Capcom developer blogs these days. Makes me nervous I’ll turn this site into something like Kotaku.

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Tonight Capcom of Japan opens their homepage for Mega Man Universe. Normally this would not be an unusual happenstance, but… something about it feels odd. I just don’t know what though.

So far only two sections exist for the site, one having the teaser trailer we’ve all grown familiar with, and another listing a Rockman Unity Twitter account, with a layout that would make Geocities sob. Rockman Unity is helmed by “Ucchi,” who is a “non-development staff Rockman fan.” His aim is basically seems to be coordinating fans, a mission Capcom Unity has done for some time now.

Still, I wish I could understand what’s bothering me about this page…

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While we’re not at Comic-Con, we are closely following all the details from their event, with Mega Man Universe info and perhaps some other surprises, too. Stay tuned as we’ll update this post with any Mega Man-related info until the event is over.

- It appears that the game won’t be out for a while yet. “Please support us as we provide more information later,” they say.

- And now, they go into Mega Man‘s history.

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I’ve got no leaked footage to confirm anything on this. No anonymous tipsters, no website code hacking. What I do have is Capcom’s Niitsuma-san, the producer of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. Over at Capcom Unity, you can check out a recording of yesterday’s MVC3 livestream, which includes an interview with Niitsuma starting around the 8 minute mark. But the interesting bit comes in after 20 more minutes, where attention is brought to the new stages being shown. On this, Niitsuma comments (via interpreter):

Yeah, here at Comic-Con we’re showing off the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier stage, and the Resident Evil stage. And the reason for these stages – we had in mind, instead of just having random places to fight, each stage is tied into some of the characters in the game, so as you saw from what we have released here, like Chris Redfield, Resident Evil character, so Resident Evil stage, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier ties to some of the other characters in the game. So that was the goal behind that – we’ll be seeing more in the future.

About 8 minutes later, Joveth “jgonzo” Gonzales asks explicitly about the Mega Man Legends themed stage in MVC3. Niitsuma answers:

People who spotted that stage in the game, they’ve got some good eyes. I don’t want to go back on what I said before, about characters and stages, so just keep your eyes out for the upcoming trailers and you’ll see.

While it’s nothing official, per sé, the conviction seems pretty strong that a Legends based character has a good shot at entering the game. Of course, Tron Bonne is already no stranger to Marvel Vs. Capcom, but ultimately we’ll see what’s announced.

Thanks Joveth.

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There sure has been a lot of figure news this week. But it ends not! One of the most notable Mega Man figures to release this year is Kotobukiya’s 1:10 scale, ultra poseable and customizable Rockman. However, his sister Roll will be joining him not too long after, and her options are even more staggering.

Simple slated for this Fall so far, the figure can be arranged with Roll’s classic outfit, or her outfit from Mega Man 8. Yes, that means the figure comes with two sets of hair, top, arms and legs. It’s practically two figures in one (but alas, it’s not, and you’d need two for both forms). The figure is also customizable with three difference face plates, and three different types of hands.

No set release or price confirmed yet, though I imagine it might be a little more expensive than Rockman, considering all her available parts. As always, we’ll keep you posted on new details.

News Credit: Auto

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There has been a fair bit of buzz around Rockman figures and models as of late, what with the Kotobukiya figure and the custom Legends/DASH figures coming to Wonderfest. But in the case of the latter, it appears they won’t be alone.

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Eager to get your hands on the soon-to-be-released Kotobukiya Rockman model, but don’t want to deal with all the money and hassles which come with importing? Then there may be some good news.

Word has it that Diamond Comic Distributors are looking into getting their hands on some of these model kits for a domestic release. Price and details are to be determined, though one shouldn’t expect their release to coincide with the Japanese one– later in the year seems more likely at this point.

Of course, anything could happen still, but we’ll keep our ears to the ground for any new information on what will hopefully prove to be an easier and more affordable way for fans to get their hands on this piece.

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At long last, San Diego Comic Con will finally take place this week. And if you are fortunate enough to be attending, then you’ll be happy to know that Capcom has apparently put together a fine arrangement of freebies and buyables for fans of the Blue Bomber.

Protodude has managed to round up all the items Capcom has spoken of through their various Unity posts, and it reads as follows:

• Mega Man Universe foamies: 50 of these will be given out every hour. 2000 pieces total.
• Mega Man 10 Trucker Hats: Cosplayers who visit the Mega Man Universe kiosk will receive one of these nifty hats.
• Lithographs: lithographs of sorts will be given out during producer signings.
• Servbot Bobble Buds: 1000 of these will be on-hand for booth attendees.
• Mega Man Kubricks: Capcom will be selling the Mega Man and Proto Man Kubrick figures at their booth. Limited to 500 pieces.
• Grab Bags: Returning this year are the famous grab gabs, featuring games, collectibles and misc. promo goods. You’ll never know what kind of Mega Man stuff will be inside!

In addition, the winner of the cosplay contest (the first 50 of which will receive a hat and foam buster) as judged by Ito (Mega Man Universe Producer) and Inafune himself will receive a signed sketch from the latter.

The fun begins on July 22nd, and you may want to check out Capcom’s booth layout, so you’ll know where to go. And if you’re interested in other Capcom franchises, a list of their swag is available there, too!

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Capcom Unity and the Capcom Europe blog have literally just announced that Keiji Inafune is working on Mega Man Universe for Xbox LIVE and the PS3 PlayStation Store.

Quick update: Keiji Inafune has announced on his own blog that, unlike other Mega Man games of recent times, he is fully in charge of the concept and design of Mega Man Universe. He believes it is a Mega Man game that captures the taste of Mega Man nostalgia, and expects it to be enjoyed by Mega Man fans all over the world. He also considers it as “everyone’s Mega Man.”

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Click to enlarge.

Found on Capcom Unity. Your guess is as good as ours.

(…or is it?)

Update: When asked to comment on what this image is about, Jgonzo at Capcom Unity had this to say as an official response:

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You should already be planning on checking out Capcom’s events at Comic Con, but just in case here’s one more reason. Capcom*Unity announces they will be releasing an interesting Servbot toy, the first in a line of “Bobble Buddies Buds” figures (gj jgonzo). Not just your typical bobble head – this figure’s head opens up allowing for storage of the rest of its body. It’s nice to see that Bonne technology has not been standing idle.

Only 1000 will be available for purchase from the start of Capcom’s show, so if you plan on attending you’d better grab one fast. And if you do get one, be sure to share some pics!

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