A Tale of Two MegaMans: Operate Shooting Star in CoroCoro

The first info dump from CoroCoro has finally arrived, and the game is back to looking more like a cross over again, as our heroes in this remake are Lan, MegaMan and… MegaMan. Furthermore, we have some details on the new Navi ClockMan, who may or may not be the final design of the contest winner Clock Genius. But, first, pictures to soak in.

Now, here are the details that we can gather. The game seems to star both BN MegaMan and SF MegaMan in the BN time period, although it’s unaware if you can play as both. Right now, it appears as though SF MegaMan is the playable one. Furthmore, Harp Note appears too, making it likely that other SF cast members will show up.

There is a new Navi, ClockMan. He is an advanced Net Navi that was created in the SF time period, but of course has come back too. He may be the final design of the boss contest winning entry Clock Genius, but this apparently hasn’t been determined entirely. For now it appears he’s probably an enemy. His dialogue in the picture reads “By the way, I expect this plan to be fulfilled in 32 hours, 8 minutes and 12 seconds!!” This is likely the character indicated by the mysterious post on the RnR3 website.

A lot of the game’s graphics appear to be taken directly from the original Battle Network. Mayl’s room and the internet areas look exactly the same. However, the facial avatars appear to be new. Also, it looks like the game has a map system like BN5DS had.

The game will contain a slick opening movie.

This is what we can gather so far. The game’s battle system has craftily not been shown off yet, and these new revelations will likely bring up many new questions. Hopefully updates later this month will make things a little more clear. Stay tuned.

Also, much thanks to Protodude of Protodude’s Rockman Corner who helped keep track of this news, since I injured my shoulder earlier this week. This report is essentially from both of us.

News Credit: 2ch, Dark Messiah Blog

Operate Shooting Star looking more like a remake

While the big info boom on Rockman EXE: Operate Shooting Star in CoroCoro is due next month, this month’s issue seems to resolve the issue as to whether the game is a remake of the first EXE title, or a reimagining of the EXE series. This teaser for next month’s issue, which was posted on 2ch, specifically says that the legendary title “EXE1″ will be appearing on the DS this winter as a fusion of cards and action RPG. More details will naturally come out next month.

As a remake of the first EXE game, this does make it very curious how Operate Shooting Star will intertwine elements from the Ryuusei series, and the boss contest winner Clock Genius. We will just have to see.

News Credit: COCOROG

Battle Network/Star Force crossover announced

During this weekend at the World Hobby Fair in Japan, Capcom announced the Battle Network/Star Force crossover “Rockman EXE: Operate Shooting Star” for the Nintendo DS. Scarce details are known at this point, but it’s expected to be a data action RPG that will probably be released this year in Japan. Details will be formally announced in the September issue of CoroCoro. It is likely the title that will include this year’s boss character contest winner Clock Genius. At the event, series producer Takeshi Horinouchi stated he has a variety of ideas for projects in mind leading up to Rockman’s 25th anniversary.

News Credit: Dark Messiah Blog and COCOROG

Mega Man defends the seas in Mega Man Rush Marine

In the series’ continuing quest to be unpredictable, Mega Man Rush Marine takes Mega Man and his canine companion’s submersible form to defend the waters from the evil Dr. Wily. I’d almost not believe it myself except that the retro-styled shooter is slated for release on mobile phones.

It seems even Dr. Wily is feeling the pinch of the recession, and has taken to drilling for oil in the sea. But since everything Wily does causes trouble, his drilling activities begin to earthquakes above ground, and now only Mega Man can stop him. Thankfully he has a robot dog who can transform into a submarine. According to the fact sheet released by Capcom, Mega Man Rush Marine carries the following features:

• Exciting side-scrolling aquatic shooter.
• Explore three aquatic environments including Shallow Water, Volcanic Reef and Deep Water.
• Battle through ten levels and defeat as many robot masters, each with a unique weapon that you can capture and use for good.
• Fight your way through expansive levels teeming with 14 enemies and numerous hazards.

With the ability to gain new weapons, it’d stand to reason you can select stages in any order. Now the major thing to wonder is if there will be any new robot masters, or all returning robot masters that have been modified for aquatic activity.

No word yet on when it’ll come out, but with Capcom cooperating on other mobile titles like 1942, Cash Cab and Where’s Waldo?, there’s a good chance we’ll get some more details at E3.

Update: According to Capcom’s press site, Mega Man Rush Marine is set to release Q3 of 2009, and the three above screenshots are concept images.

News Credit: Examiner

*UPDATE* Seth Killian on new MM: “You’ll be waiting a while”

This past weekend held the GameStop Street Fighter IV National Tournament in San Francisco, where Seth Killian, Capcom USA’s community manager, was present to give play-by-play commentary on the unfolding matches. MMN viewer Christian was present at the event, and got a chance to chat a little bit with Seth.

First of all, Seth is still adamantly quiet towards the fabled “Mega Man 9 secret,” as would be expected. Christian then asked what Mega Man games we could be looking forward to besides the summer-bound Mega Man Star Force 3. According to Christian, Seth’s response was merely “You’ll be waiting a while.”

Of course, this isn’t hard to believe. We already have been waiting a while. Nevertheless, we will try to make confirmation with Seth and see if we can perhaps get some clarification. And of course we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled to CAPTIVATE ‘09, just in case.

Thanks for the tip, Christian.

UPDATE: We received word from Seth concerning the comment. While he does not recall the specific conversation, he was incredibly busy at the event and it likely could have happened. Regardless, he does condone the idea, so if he didn’t say it then he’s certainly saying it now. And in his own words, “Of course as to how long ‘a while’ might be, I have no comment ”.

CoroCoro Update – little else, really

A few days ago we broke the story of Clock Genius announced as the winner of the Rockman boss character contest held in CoroCoro. However, the image that accompanied the news was small and a little hard to make out. However, we’ve now gotten word from MMN viewer Fireman, who picked up the issue himself! And… there really isn’t too much to add. Only the Clock Genius entry was shown, not the completed official artwork by Capcom. Furthermore, Clock was merely relegated to a small part of the page, the rest of the page covered Ryuusei no Rockman 3 news (which may answer the wonderment some had with what looked like Rockman appearing in the BG). According to Fireman, in fact, there’s nothing in this issue that would even indicate next month’s issue will have any information on a new Rockman game, but of course that doesn’t mean it won’t.

Incidentally, if you were someone who applied to the contest, I may have some bad news for you (unless you’re Japanese). Only one USA entrant made it as a runner up, and may be the only foreign entrant to place. The lucky guy is one Lou Smith. Unfortunately they didn’t show pictures of any of the runner ups, so I don’t know what the entry was. But if you’re reading this, Lou, major congrats to you. You may win a minor prize.

X9 announced a day early

It appears the Mega Man revivals won’t end. I just got this hot tip from MMN viewer Heal Berry about Mega Man X9, and after being unable to validate it from any gaming news website, blog or BBS, I have to admit, I’m pretty convinced! I mean, it’s not like it’s April Fools day or anything. That’s tomorrow!

According to generous tipster Heal Berry, the full title is Mega Man X9: Reploid Extinction, as Berry says it’s “Repliroid no Shimetsu or something” in Japanese. All that’s known about the story thus far is that it takes place after X8, and the heroic trio must investigate the source of new copy chips turning up after Lumine’s demise.

There will also be an in-game database, which will present information and pictures concerning the game’s contents, as well as an online leaderboard. Nothing too outrageous or anything. I mean, if this were a soccer game or maybe Axl Teaches Typing, I might be a little suspicious.

Don’t just accept my blind trust though, just check out the images below. The game not only exists, but is returning to its 16-bit roots!

Pretty incredible. The spriter, err, the game developers look like they’re doing a fantastic job. No release date has been given yet, but the title is set for the PS3, 360 and Wii, which is curious, since this is apparently from a Japanese source, and Rockman 9 only released on the Wii in Japan.

Let’s just ignore logic, though. Mega Man X9 is on its way! Please be sure to give Heal Berry your thanks for this amazing scoop.

MUST-READ UPDATE: Yes, this is a joke. It is not even OUR joke. It was sent in by someone hoping to get us to report fake news. I admired the effort, so I posted it with this tongue in cheek write-up. It was not my intention to fool anyone, but if you anxiously clicked the link and went to the pics without reading, that’s your deal. Sorry to disappoint, but there’s nothing wrong with having a little humility.

Boss contest reminder

The CoroCoro Rockman boss character contest will be coming to a close on February 13th, the Friday after next. If you’ve still been meaning to enter, it’s crunch time now. You’ll definitely want at least a week to for it to send, but you should consult your local post office foremost. Remember though, your odds of winning are very slim unless you happen to live in Japan, so there’s not much point in spending a ton of money on top-class expedited postage.

If you’re still interested in entering, you can check out our original post for the details on entering. And hey, if you want to share, we’d love to see your entries. We may even display them in our gallery if that suits you. For an example, here’s our own Tabby’s entry of an X series Maverick: Serpentine Nagabra.