Rumor: OSS Multiplayer Coming to DSiWare?

Rumor has it that rather than risk sinking money into a DS port-plus version of MegaMan Battle Network in Operate Shooting Star, Capcom may instead simply lift the multiplayer mode from the title and release it independently on Nintendo’s DSiWare downloadable video game service.

The mini-game, known as “Star Colosseum,” allows six players to battle wirelessly to collect stars using one copy of the game and a variety of familiar Battle Network and Star Force faces. The rumor also says there could be additions to the download version, such as multiplayer via Wi-Fi and perhaps one new playable character.

Capcom has yet to comment on this, but we’ll keep you posted if anything more develops.

Source: Protodude’s Rockman Corner

OSS Coffee Mug Available at Demo Event in Japan

Later this month, Capcom is planning on hosting an event for people to try out Rockman.EXE: Operate Shooting Star. While it seems many of us have already tried out most of the game in 2001, there will be a little new content shown at the event. No, not a new gameplay feature. Instead, I refer to a limited edition coffee mug featuring the promotional art we’ve seen so many times through the course of the game’s development.

While the mug is currently exclusive to the Japan-only event, don’t be too surprised if these pop up online later.

News Credit: Famitsu

Review: Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star – The Case for Content

Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star, Capcom’s “plus alpha” remake of MegaMan Battle Network for the Nintendo DS, was released in Japan last week. Having had the chance to play the game and try out its new features, I’m here to give you my impression of this title. I must warn, this review contains a fair bit of spoilerish information concerning the game. I’m normally not this candid about a game that has yet to release in North America, but considering the kind of game Operate Shooting Star is, it’s hard to get around. Regardless, if you don’t want to be spoiled you should not read on.

Now, there’s something I want to make clear right away about my impression of Operate Shooting Star. It is not a remake of MegaMan Battle Network. It IS MegaMan Battle Network, with some additional features thrown in. If you have played MegaMan Battle Network before, you have essentially played this game already. “Plus alpha” is a Japanese expression that roughly means “a little something extra,” and in Operate Shooting Star’s case the emphasis is on “a little.” I can’t say this is a bad game though, because I do like the original MegaMan Battle Network. But I cannot understand why this game needed to be made. It is truly disappointing just how little new content was put in this game when you consider the whole package.

Since the game essentially is MegaMan Battle Network, I’ll only bother to discuss the game’s new elements. The largest new addition, of course, is what gives the game the subtitle of “Operate Shooting Star.” Capcom has made a lot of effort to hype the game as a crossover with MegaMan Star Force, a “dream collaboration” between both MegaMans. Star Force MegaMan, aka Geo Stelar, even makes a large, mysterious looking presence on the game’s box design.

In actuality, though, the Star Force connection this game has is incredibly weak. It amounts to little more than a side story about Geo needing to go back in time 200 years to stop ClockMan, an out-of-control experimental Net Navi who has kidnapped Harp Note. You first get the gist of this story in the game’s prologue, which curiously is separate from the game itself – you can only watch it from the title screen, and return to the title screen when it’s finished. Aside from that, this involvement only plays into a single additional scenario, where Geo finally does arrive in the past to stop ClockMan, who has taken Roll as well. The event itself is pretty fun and feels fresh, though it’s fairly short. The banter between Lan, Geo and Omega-Xis is very entertaining. What’s truly surprising, however, is that the event doesn’t take place until after the ElecMan scenario, which is well three fourths into the game. By this point you’ve probably forgotten that this game had any connection to Star Force, especially since the previous scenarios are exactly the same. What’s more, once the Star Force scenario is done, it’s back to Battle Network as usual. The event makes no impact on the rest of the game’s story.

Of course, after this event you can choose whether you want to play as BN MegaMan or SF MegaMan in battle. SF MegaMan generally has all his abilities from his own series. He charges automatically and rapid fires when you hold down the B button. Pressing Y generates his shield, and pressing X enters his lock-on mode, which lets him warp in front of enemies to perform chip attacks. This is way better than BN MegaMan, who doesn’t have such an easy time with short ranged attacks, although using X to lock on is a little cumbersome. SF MegaMan’s demerits are that he cannot use Program Advances, and if he’s hurt in the middle of a lock-on attack he’ll become paralyzed for a few crucial seconds. As much fun as he is to battle with, the game is nearly over by the time you get him.

The other major new feature is the Star Colosseum minigame. This is also available from the title screen, and can be played with up to six people wirelessly using just one copy of the game. The main competitive mode of this minigame plays out in the style of the game’s overworld view. Players, who can use either BN MegaMan, ProtoMan or SF MegaMan, compete to gain the most stars in either a free-for-all match or a team match. Stars appear on the overworld to be collected, but you can also steal stars from opponents by attacking them. The catch is, every player has a rock-paper-scissors attribute, and your attribute has to best theirs (i.e. if you have rock, you can only steal stars from people who have scissors). Aside from stars, other items appear on the field that can be activated with the B button. You can only carry one at a time, and there are items that can change your attribute, give you a temporary advantage, or set traps for other players.

Additionally, there is also a Vs. Bass cooperate mode. Instead of collecting stars, all players must work together to defeat Bass by using bombs on him. Bass is capable of knocking players out in one hit, though knocked-out players can be revived if another player comes to touch them. The game is over if Bass is defeated or if all players are defeated, but Bass is definitely challenging, as he continuously hunts players down, and becomes faster as his HP decreases.

I was only able to try the Star Colosseum mode with one other friend, but we both had a bit of fun playing it. We definitely enjoyed the Vs. Bass mode the most, and though we tried about seven or eight times we couldn’t defeat him. The star capturing competitive modes are a little more complex but just as frantic. I don’t think my friend got into as much, especially since he couldn’t read Japanese, so he wasn’t sure what was happening all the time. But it was still fun, and I imagine it can get extremely exciting and chaotic with six people. The matches are short but sweet, lasting roughly three to five minutes.

There are other additional features in the main game of Operate Shooting Star. The internet areas now have maps in the lower screen which can be helpful, though personally I think it would have been more helpful to make different areas of the internet have a different visual style, as all the successive Battle Network titles did. The game’s battle system takes a few elements from Battle Network 2, such as the inclusion of * coded wildcard chips, limitations to the amount of same chips in your folder, and the amount of chips you can gain with the add button. There are also a few new chips, a couple new program advances, and slight graphical updates here and there (mostly some new character mugshots).

All in all, though, Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star is largely identical to MegaMan Battle Network of the Gameboy Advance, and I can’t really feel that its new features justify the game’s existence enough. The story is the same, the graphics are the same, the music is the same and unarranged, aside from the title theme (the Star Force event and Star Colosseum use music directly from the Star Force games as well). All this sameness makes for a rather tepid attempt at an exciting new game.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s not a big issue that what they did use from Battle Network isn’t updated at all. I can accept the same graphics and same music. Some believe they make the game feel dated, but I don’t think this is a major concern. What is a concern to me is, since Capcom did just port over so much of Battle Network’s content, why did they not very much new content? Why couldn’t they throw in more new scenarios, or switch up the game’s events a bit? Why couldn’t they add more new Navis and new enemies? As I’ve mentioned before, enemy characters are one of the biggest draws to Mega Man games, and having more new Navis would have made this game much more appreciated. As it stands, the only new Navi really is ClockMan. And I’ll give it to OSS that ClockMan is a pretty cool new character, if not very unique at the least (his personality is quite eccentric). But if you knew that Operate Shooting Star were to only include a single new Navi, would ClockMan really be your first choice? I didn’t think so.

There has been some comparison of this game to Ace Attorney on the DS. After all, it’s the same game as the Gameboy Advance version, with the same characters, same graphics and same music, with a single new scenario and other minor new features. However, this argument is rather flawed. First of all, just because Ace Attorney does it doesn’t necessarily make it a fine practice. But more importantly, before its DS porting, Ace Attorney was only available in Japan. While the new features in the DS port were to test features they intended to include in the series’ fourth installment, it was also to see how well the game would sell in North America and Europe. Of course, the game was eagerly enjoyed in those regions, which prompted the more hasty porting of the second and third titles for the DS as well. Still, I cannot imagine Japanese consumers had much reason to purchase these ports (although the original port did have a new scenario, and an additional secenario in a game like Ace Attorney amounts to much more new content than does an additional scenario in a game like Battle Network). Since MegaMan Battle Network has already been released worldwide, it will not enjoy this same advantage the Ace Attorney games had.

Additionally, people have also argued that this is a typical Capcom “cash-in;” that it’s a simply made game to maximize profits. However, I disagree with this argument as well. While I can’t imagine this game did take a whole lot of effort to make in a year’s time, I also can’t see it being that profitable since I think most Mega Man fans will realize there’s not much new going on here. Imagine this. Capcom could have instead made a brand new entry in the Battle Network series, with new characters and events, and still had a Star Force crossover and the Star Colosseum minigame. They could have still used many assets from the previous games, such as character and environment graphics, combat systems and other engines, and so on. But the game would be much more attractive for having actual new content. Such a game would not take too much more effort to create, but would easily be much more profitable because people ultimately buy (and don’t buy) games for their content.

So I cannot honestly understand the purpose this game was made. It’s hardly original. It’s a poor excuse for a cash-in. And I don’t feel Capcom had a need to make a game just to gauge how much people are still interested in Battle Network. The strong worldwide sales of Battle Network 6 should alone prove that. The only conclusion I can draw is that Capcom just needed to buy time as they work on the direction they really want to go for Mega Man’s future. I can only hope whatever they’re working on is worth it for this disappointing excuse of a remake. With the excitement that Mega Man 9 created in 2008, 2009 will look pretty pitiful in comparison with this being Capcom’s only offering for Mega Man.

In the end I can only recommend Operate Shooting Star to people who have never played the original MegaMan Battle Network, or to fans who are just really excited over Geo and other Star Force characters entering the game, however briefly it may be. And again, it’s not like Operate Shooting Star is a BAD game. It’s just hardly a new game, and I don’t think it lives up to the hype Capcom of Japan drove up for it. I just want to make sure you understand what kind of game you’re getting if you do decide to purchase it once it comes out in the western regions.

MegaMan vs MegaMan, Place Your Bets Now!

WARNING: There will be spoilers here for Rockman.EXE Operate Shooting Star. I advise hitting BACK on your browser now if you wish to avoid spoilage.

Anyway, Operate Shooting Star has been out for a couple days now and seeing how it’s almost exactly the same as Battle Network, you can bet it doesn’t take long to progress through the game (the BN Guide written by Magnet for example helps tremendously when you don’t know Japanese). That being said one of the most frequently asked questions has been when does the Star Force stuff happen and when do you get to kick the tar out of Geo Stelar?

After the ElecMan scenario actually, so it’s almost right before the end for those keeping track. Following ElecMan’s defeat Mayl is harassed by Count Zap and Madoi and calls Lan over. Some talking ensues and you Jack into the net and come across an imposter MegaMan that you gotta chase down through Internet-1 and 2.

Shortly past the Shop area you pin down Geo and…

After this some scenes happen and you get to use Geo in battle. Y Button brings up a shield, X activates the lock on attack on the first thing in your line of sight and your buster is overall weaker than MegaMan.EXE’s. Random battle music is replaced with the Virus busting theme from Star Force while boss fights use the Star Force 2 Wave Battle theme.

I was kind of hoping for some Star Force 3 songs myself. Anyway this is as far as I’ve gotten, so I’ll go back to slugging away at this now.

Rockman.EXE: Operate Shooting Star Brings GBA Deja Vu in More Ways Than One

An excerpt from an interesting piece at Protodude’s Rockman Corner:

Guess the game I’m describing:

It’s a DS “port plus alpha” of a GBA Capcom hit which spawned a successful franchise, marketed as a ‘revival’ of the series. In it, a blue-suited hero proudly wearing the symbol of his profession on his chest does battle in an unusual environment to protect the innocent. This DS update adds a new scenario near the end of the game where the main character comes in contact with a new villain. However, the graphics and music are much the same as the GBA version. Budget-priced, the game is clearly meant to appeal to the fans, and sells about 50,000 copies its first week.

As you might have guessed from the picture, the answer isn’t as clear-cut as it may seem. In fact, it seems almost as though history is repeating itself.

Learn what it all seems to point to and mean by reading the full post at Protodude’s Rockman Corner.

Nintendo Channel’s Operate Shooting Star trailer

Here’s the trailer for Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star that’s appeared on Japan’s Minna no Nintendo Channel. It’s some new footage mixed with old. Furthermore, if the trailer is to be viewed as the final product, this close to the game’s release (it practically is out now), it seems they kept the majority of the game’s music sounding similar to the GBA version of the game. Rather unfortunate.

News Credit: Gamersdag, via GoNintendo

Golden Mr. Prog Brings EXE Concept Art

If you check out Capcom of Japan’s official website for Rockman.EXE: Operate Shooting Star and check out the “brain section,” then there is a chance that you might run into this cheerful little fellow:

His appearance is random, but if you do encounter him, then he will reward you with a piece of Rockman.EXE concept art:

Click to enlarge.

Of course, now that it’s been posted here, I suppose that all but destroys any impetus to actually look for the golden Mr. Prog on the official site…

News Credit: Protodude’s Rockman Corner

EXE OSS sees original jacket bonus at select stores

For what appears to be a mere remake, Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star is getting a lot of special promotions. The latest reported on the OSS homepage now is a pair of special jackets you can use to place in OSS’s box. There is a “light version” that features both MegaMans as well as Lan, and a “dark version that features Bass and other Navi bosses. The special jackets will be available in limited quantities at select retailers such as Toys R Us, Bic Camera and GameTSUTAYA stores.

Capcom starts OSS comic strip; groaner already ensues

As another small, special promotion, Capcom of Japan’s Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star homepage will release eight yonkoma (4-panel) comic strips through November and December. The first is out now, which as you can see above I’ve mediocrely translated. I’m not much of a typeset guy, or very funny, as this one in particular required a little improvisation, so bear with me on these. This is definitely LBD’s taste in humor though.

Now for the Japanese nerditry corner. As you can tell, this comic’s humor is derived from wordplay. Net Battle, written in Japanese, is “netto batoru” (ネットバトル). However, we find out in this last frame that is is actually a “nettou” (熱湯) battle, which means boiling water. In Japanese it seems there’s little else to pun “netto” with. But what’s funnier than some wordplay and scalding your friend horribly with boiling  hot water? Though in fairness, I guess Mega and Proto aren’t friends yet in this game.

Aside from “ket battle,” the only other thing I could come up with was “wet battle,” but that lacks the implication of hotness. Also it just sounds… disturbing somehow.

The next comic comes out on the 12th, OSS’s release date. I can’t wait.

Capcom, CoroCoro and Kids Station team up for OSS promotion + new footage

Capcom, CoroCoro and Kids Station are teaming up for the “Double Rockman Present Campaign” to promote Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star. What kind of promotion is it? Why, it’s a scavenger hunt! Ten lucky participants can enter between now and November 30th for a chance to win a copy of Rockman EXE Operate Shooting Star and a sticker set. However, there will also be a second chance (hence the double theme) running from December 1st until January 4th. Of course, the promotion is naturally Japan only, so that probably stops a lot of you in your tracks.

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. At the end of the video, crazy man sticks the special character to his head. Why not? He already has so many things stuck to him.

When you have all three, you can head back over to Capcom, accept their agreement for entering and then input the special character from each site. Incidentally, the special characters from each page spell the name Netto… but you’ll have to see each page to figure out who provides which character! Or, you can just buy the game like I am.

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