Air Man’s Theme, as Played on a Piano

The Robot Master known throughout the world as Air Man has quite the memorable theme, one which has been played and remixed numerous times. Today, Robert Kovacs dropped us a line to let us know that he has taken his own stab at performing the classic 8-bit arrangement via the piano:

In addition, he’s produced a version with a slightly-different alternate ending:

Excellent work, Rob! But can you handle the theme from the first leg of Wily’s fortress?

Those interested in obtaining the sheet music for this piece can contact Rob by e-mail at rob[at]returnofsimple[dot]com. And if you have a similar performance you’d like us to feature, feel free to drop us a line at the.mega.man.network[at]gmail[dot]com, and we’ll try to bring your work to the masses. Who knows? Maybe someone at Capcom will even catch wind of it (no pun intended), and bring it to their audience as well!

At Long Last: The Conclusion of the “What am I Fighting For?!” Contest

It has been a long, bumpy road since first announcing The Mega Man Network’s “What am I Fighting For?!” Contest, but finally, all the pieces are in place and we can bring this thing to an end.

When Jaxel first told me about the acquisition he had made for us to use as a prize in a contest of some sort, a picture of Zero autographed by Lucas Gilbertson (who portrayed the Wily’s crimson creation in Mega Man X8, Command Mission, and Maverick Hunter X), I knew I wanted to do something special, something different. We had done trivia contests before, and I thought perhaps fanart, which had also been done before, would be too limiting.

So in the spirit of Mr. Gilbertson’s remake of Zero’s most (in)famous scene (and arguably the franchise), we decided to take advantage of this new “YouTube” thing, which all sorts of people have made really fantastic creations with. Alternatively, we were also willing to accept non-YouTube videos or even simple sound recordings.

And in the end, when the submissions were counted, there were seven, and they are as follows (note to the entrants: contact me if you want your name changed):

JuVeNiLeJRoCKeR:

The Link:

Rockman 2900:

lucariotrainer16:

RockEsper:

CLShadow5114:

And finally, the winner, as chosen by a panel of judges from The Mega Man Network’s staff, SuperWittyName’s “Astronomic Gentlemen X Four Cinematic:”

I should add that these are not the seven finalists, but that there were seven submissions, total. Admittedly, it was a little disheartening. Nonetheless, lesson learned (hence the more traditional contest for Mega Man 10).

With that being the case, I’m sure there are any number of you wondering what the hell took so long. Besides dealing with numerous… personal circumstances, let’s say, I made it my mission to procure a small prize for each contestant who did not win the big prize– runners-up, shall we say.

So while SuperWittyName will get to take home the grand prize Zero/Gilbertson autograph, each of the other entrants will receive one Mega Man E-Tank Energy Drink as a way of saying “thanks for taking the time to enter; we really appreciate it.” Thanks go out to our staff member MainFinger for obtaining some of the cans, while JGonzo from the Capcom Unity generously donated the remainder. We will have those prizes sent out shortly.

Thanks once again to everyone who participated, and congratulations to SuperWittyName. This was a fun little experiment, and perhaps we’ll try something new again sometime. And once more, I apologize for the lengthy delay in announcing the winners, and hope you understand.

GameSpite Examines Mega Man

Following their “Welcome to 20XX” article from earlier last week, GameSpite Quarterly 3 has added a new article about Mega Man to their character profiles, which give a sort of VH1 Behind the Music-styled look at the history of some of gaming’s greatest (and not-so great) characters.

This time, in the odd company of Frogger and The Foreign Prince, is none other than the original Blue Bomber, Mega Man. Learn of his rise from day-to-day laborer to world savior, and the vices which would soon accompany his new role in society before once again rising to claim the spotlight.

Kirby Krackle’s New Song is About Mega Man

For those unaware, Kirby Krackle is a “Nerd Rock Band” based in Seattle, WA. The duo writes songs about the things they love: “comic books, video games, zombies, girls and more”. Their latest song, now streamable on their site, is titled “Take it from me” and is about the blue bomber himself, Mega Man. The band had this to say about the new song:

“There are video games you grew up on, and then there are video games you were RAISED by. For us, that was the 8-bit parent we and 1.5 million other kids who loved it called MEGA MAN 2. For a long time we wanted to write a song about Mega Man but didn’t know how we were gonna do it until we wrote the opening riff and had our Eureka moment. See, if we were born in the year 20XX and Dr. Light sent us across 8 levels to kick ass, this is kinda song we would hope to have running though our headphones hooked up to our blaster arm. Just sayin. With shredding solos provided by good friend Patrick Porter, we wanted to create an-in-your-face song worthy and confident of kicking robot ass…not matter what those bastards were made of…”

“Take it from me” will be part of their new album, “E for Everyone”. The 11-song album comes with a full illustrated, 8-page lyrics booklet. You can pre-order it now for ten bucks (plus $2 S&H). They’ll also be playing a live, CD-Release show at Emerald City ComiCon on Sunday March 14th at 2pm.

You can stream “Take it from me” as well as other songs on both their site and their blog. You can also read all of the Mega Man song’s lyrics at the bottom of this post.

ScrewAttack’s Top 10 Worst Robot Masters, Plus GT Review of MM10

ScrewAttack has added a new Top 10 list to their archives, and this time the focus is squarely on– what else? –Mega Man. And with the release of Mega Man 10 this week, that means no Mavericks, no Neo Arcadians, and no NetNavis– it’s all about the Robot Masters.

Specifically, they detail who they think are the ten worst Robot Masters Mega Man has conquered. Not included on the list itself is anyone from Mega Man 10, though they note that Sheep Man was the inspiration for such a list. And without further ado:

Video Games | ScrewAttack | Top 10 Worst Robot Masters

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

There was one that we thought would certainly be on there, but was not. Any guesses? And for that matter, how many would you agree with?

As a bonus, GameTrailers also added their review of Mega Man 10 itself, so we’re throwing that on here as well:

Video Games | Mega Man 10 | Review

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

All said, not a bad score, and it is in keeping with other sites’ praise for the title. Now, let’s just hope that Capcom shows that discretion is the better part of valor, and gives the Classic Blue Bomber enough of a break for the developers’– and fans’– batteries to recharge. In between now and then, a new Mega Man X game might be a good way to keep momentum up without overdoing it, wouldn’t you say?

Capcom of Japan Begins Rockman 10 Package Design Contest

Mega Man 10 may very well be the most “contested” Mega Man game ever. Capcom of Japan has just announced their own Rockman 10 contest: create a package design for Rockman 10, provided it actually came in a box. I’d always wondered why Capcom of Japan wasn’t revealing their own package art for the game (as they did with Rockman 9), and it seems this is the reason.

Designs can be made in either in landscape “Rockman” format, or portrait “Mega Man” format. Images must be 300dpi, stay within 2MB and be saved in JPG, GIF or PNG format. The contest page gives specific layout details for the required image dimensions, including the border area. Submissions will be sent to Capcom via e-mail with the title ロックマン10のパッケージイラストを描いてみた コンテスト (Rockman 10 package illustration contest).

What will become of the design chosen as the winner? Well, it will be used to make an actual package, albeit for what purpose I’m not entirely sure.

There are some additional things to note. All entries will be uploaded to Niconico Seiga, and become materials on Niconi Commons. Furthermore, entries will become property of Capcom of Japan.  Because of this, you may not submit an illustration that has already been submitted to another contest. Only the creator of the illustration may enter on his or her own behalf. Do not enter multiple works at the same time. Finally, if you are younger than 16 you need your parents’ permission to enter.

While this may seem like a Japan only thing, a blog post on the Rockman 10 homepage by assistant producer Akiko Ito states she wants to see many entries from not just Japan, but from abroad as well, making it both a Rockman and Mega Man contest. I’d presume then that official guidelines will be presented on our side soon.

Well, better get drawing!

Edit: Actually, the English instructions appear to be right here!

Edit 2: Capcom Unity is pitching in to help out as well. Find out how by clicking here.

Mega Man X: Welcome to the Year 20XX

While the Blue Bomber talk of the week is all about the newly-released Mega Man 10, Jeremy “Toastyfrog” Parish has posted an article from the recent edition of GameSpite Quarterly has decided to take the opportunity to reminisce about the other game that people knew as “10″ (though such people were/are collectively known as “slack-jawed junksluts“), Mega Man X.

In all, it’s a nice look back at how the move to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) managed to breathe some new life into the series. It also points out, as others have, that the year 2010 is written in film copyright indicia style as “MMX,” thus making this year the official year of Mega Man X. Sort of.

So long as Capcom managed to give us Mega Man 10 in 2010, wouldn’t it be nice if they gave us a new Mega Man X in MMX? Fingers are crossed here.

Mushroom Kingdom Fusion Visits Slash Man and Napalm Man

I had thought we had spoken of this previously, but a search of our news archives seems to indicate that is not the case.

For those unaware, a group of fan game designers known as “Fusion Team” have been working on an ongoing project titled “Mushroom Kingdom Fusion.” Unlike some fan games, this is not a hack, but an original from-the-ground-up creation.

The idea behind this is a massive crossover between various video game worlds from the likes of Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, The Legend of Zelda, Halo, Metal Slug, and more. And of course, among those is also the world of the Blue Bomber himself, Mega Man, else we probably would not be covering it in this space.

Throughout the course of the game, players can assume the identity of numerous gaming icons, including Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Link, Wario, etc. However, not included among their ranks is Mega Man himself, with the reason for this being very simple: Mega Man icons (such as a Mega Man 1up for Mario) would allow the players to don a suit giving them the powers of different characters: Mario becomes Mega Man (Mega Mario?), Luigi takes up Proto Man’s shield, Wario becomes Guts Man, and so on.

At least, that’s how it was. Now, it seems that Proto Man, Roll, Zero, and even Vile playable. Mega Man, however, remains a captive of Dr. Wily, and is said to be an “important NPC that figures into the story of the game.”

As for why we are bringing this up now, the answer is simple: a new video has surfaced on YouTube, depicting Mario fighting his way first through the Jurassic-styled park of Slash Man and facing its master before proceeding through the base of Napalm Man for a showdown. And along the way, the Mega Man Suit is used quite a bit:

For many more videos of this game in action, check out JudgeSpear2’s account on YouTube. You can also learn more about the game at the Mushroom Kingdom Fusion Wiki.

Inside Games Gets People in the Rockman 10 Spirit

Much like they did for Rockman 9, Japanese gaming news site Inside Games has decorated their site with Rockman 10 to celebrate the release in Japan this month. Most notable thing is a music player which plays clips from the title theme, Nitro Man’s stage, Commando Man’s stage and Strike Man’s stage (I totally called the “main theme” being Nitro Man). I’d rip them and everything, but… it’s just another three hours until the game’s out anyway, you know?

The Mega Man Network’s Mega Man Mega Toy Mega Post

There has been a lot of toy news on the Mega Man front recently, and we’re just going to lump everything into one big mega post here to help catch things up, okay?

First, we remember that Capcom put out a call to we the fandom about the Mega Man Kubrick figures, and it looks as though fruit is borne of our desire:

Click to enlarge.

These were spotted by Protodude in an eBay auction which currently has a Buy It Now price of $52.20, with five available. As you can see from the packaging, it is in English, thus hopefully confirming a North American release.

As an aside, note the side of the box and the pixel-version of the Bearbrick Mega Man figure. Nift.

In other domestic news, Tomopop (via Protodude) caught up with Scott Levine of Jazwares to discuss their line of Sonic the Hedgehog toys, as well as other lines, including Mega Man:

Among the issues discussed therein are figures in a 3″ and 3.75″ scale, as well as the possibility of more Retro Roto figures, specifically the unproduced Wave 2, which included such faces as Heat Man and Wood Man.

And speaking of the Retro Rotos, it appears that Jazwares was showing off re-releases of the first line at Toy Fair in New York City, which had been hinted at previously. However, unlike the original releases, it appears that the Build-a-Bot pieces used to create the “Fully-Charged” Mega Man figure will no longer be included, thus making the figure (and for those who keep such things, the complete packages they came in) a rarer item for collectors.

Finally, on the unofficial front, it appears that Rockman924 (via Protodude again) is at work on new sculpts to be released at the next garage kit convention, Spring’s Wonder Festival. And the identities of these sculpts?

Click to enlarge.

That’s right! It’s none other than Harpuia Tornado Man and Sniper Joe! Joe is 12cm tall, and will be decorated as per his Mega Man 7 appearance when completed. He’ll come not only with his trademark shield, but also an interchangeable eye, allowing you to decorate him with a red or green optic.

Sadly, Tornado Man has no such accessories, but looks cool anyway.

We do apologize for the lag in news here; it’s been a rather rough month, but hopefully we can get things rolling again in March.

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