Chiptune Friday: The Mega Man 9 Mixtape
Wow, we’re just on a Mega Man streak right now, aren’t we? Far be it from me to break up a good thing.
Regular readers may remember back in April when I posted the mashup of Memphis Black’s “Like That” with Mega Man 4’s Skullman theme off of Tae K’s impressive Mega Man mixtape. Well less than a month later Tae K came back with a new mixtape using samples from Mega Man 9 and the results were more often than not fantastic.
I had a hard time trying to figure out which track to feature here; the opening theme with Lupe Fiasco, Hornetman with Eminem, Splashwoman with Q-Tip, or Jewelman with Kanye? Hitting an impass with this decision, I’ve decided to post the whole damn mixtape instead. Enjoy! Continue reading »
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Tags: capcom, chiptune friday, derrick sanskrit, eminem, kanye west, lupe fiasco, mash-up, mega man, mega man 9, mixtape, q-tip, t-pain, tae k
New Mega Man 2.5D Trailer: This Thing Better Be Real
A few months ago, graphic designer Peter Sjöstrand uploaded a creation to YouTube that threw the familiar world of Mega Man into a crazy, plane-switching, 2.5D experiment. Gamers gasped, gaped, and drooled, but this little project was nothing more than a non-interactive animation, and a tantalizing look at what some elite programming skills could bring to the world of The Blue Bomber.
Yesterday, Sjöstrand made it clear that he’s not done torturing the Mega Man fanbase by releasing yet another 2.5D video that’s much cooler than his first one; this update sees Mega Man fighting Dr. Wily’s massive dragon (from Mega Man 2), and teaming up with Proto Man for some co-op fun–all in glorious 2.5D.
If you don’t watch the video after the cut, you are a horrible monster.
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Tags: 1up, bob mackey, fan project, mega man
Licensing Tragedies: The Brazilian Mega Man Comic
The other day, I looked at Dreamwave’s halfhearted attempt to bring a Mega Man comic to a deserving world. Though the comic was indeed impotent, it wasn’t necessarily bad; it simply filled up shelf space and delivered an all-inclusive story that was never in danger of engaging or exciting anyone.
But that wasn’t Mega Man’s only foray into a non-Japanese comic. Brazil published a Mega Man comic as well. The Brazilian Mega Man comic was, as the kids say, batshit insane.
I’ve never met any of the staff at Capcom’s licensing department, but I have a mental picture of how this particular proposal went down. Some key member was sprawled on the couch like Homer Simpson, heavy-lidded in front of the television, gut dusted with chip crumbs. A hopeful Brazilian artist timidly approached the bloated figure and asked, “Capcom, can I–” and Capcom dismissively mumbled “Yeah, yeah.”
It’s likely Capcom still scrambles to hide ”That comic” from Keiji Inafune—unless someone on staff thought up a good defence for Roll’s origin in the comic, which involved a child sex slave ring.
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Tags: brazil, comics, dreamwave, manga, mega man, mega man comic, nadia oxford, novas aventuras de mega man, rockman
Licensing Tragedies: The Mega Man Comic
I don’t know if I can properly call Dreamwave’s Mega Man comic a “Licensing Tragedy.” It’s more like a licensing misfire accompanied by wasted potential. Either way, its mediocrity made my soul sad.
The Mega Man comic had four issues published through 2003 and 2004. It was illustrated by Mic Fong for its first three issues before duties were passed on to Patrick Spaziante (“Spaz,” who has illustrated the covers for the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series for many years). The art was passable, though Mic Fong’s character designs rarely ventured far beyond Anime Cliches 101 (when humans blush, the blood doesn’t elevate above their skin. It just doesn’t). The comic’s writing, however, was a flat tire. Brian Augustyn was the series’ chosen scribe. Augustyn’s work can still be found in non-offensive Ninja Turtle storybooks sold at supermarket check-outs. Now you have a good idea of the safe, oatmeal-flavoured plot that was dished up for gaming’s favourite robot.
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Tags: capcom, comic, dreamwave, licensing tragedies, mega man, nadia oxford, sonic the hedgehog
The 61FPS Review: Bionic Commando, part 2
Be forewarned: Here be spoilers.
GRIN made a bold statement when they announced Bionic Commando, saying that this dreadlocked, be-wifebeater-ed fellow with the hotdogs all over his metal arm was the very same Radd Spencer from twenty years ago meant this game was a bonafide sequel. For most players, the story in a videogame is inessential, a throwaway. You and I, being the devoted weirdos we are, might care about the thousand-year continuity from Mega Man to Mega Man Legends 2, but the average hardcore videogame player doesn’t give it a second thought. The Legend of Zelda’s on to something. The series’ creators know that it’s character, setting, and a sense of history that’s most important for giving your tale weight, not an actual history.
Bionic Commando begins ten years after the NES game. Radd’s in jail and has been stripped of his bionic arm. He was, we are informed, married at some point in the past and his wife went missing. Super Joe, the legendary soldier Radd rescued back in the day, is now a disgraced figurehead. Turns out he ran the TASC, the military branch in-charge of making bionic soldiers like ol’ Radd. Those same soldiers, once relied on to blow up Hitler’s head, are now enemies of the state, feared by the powers that be for being too powerful and unstable. When a terrorist military made up of “bionics” blows up Ascension City, Radd is sent into the wreckage to retrieve an unnamed weapon of mass destruction the terrorists are after. In exchange, he gets his freedom and Super Joe promises to tell him where his wife is. By the end it’s revealed that Super Joe, in league with old Bionic Villain Gottfried Groeder (introduced in Rearmed,) was behind the evil scheme all along. More than that, it turns out that bionic enhancements like Radd’s arm were made from organic parts. The most effective soldiers were those augmented with organic parts they had a strong sentimental attachment to. Yes, Super Joe made Radd Spencer’s arm out of his murdered wife.
Now, all of this is told through mercifully brief cutscenes, text retrieved from hacked communicators, and in-game radio transmissions. There’s a lot of story given to the player and it doesn’t, for the most part, interrupt the flow of actually playing the game. It doesn’t, however, make a damn lick of sense. No character’s motivations are properly explained and while continuity is shoved down your throat throughout, the details of history are left out completely. When Super Joe turns evil, it’s never really explained why. He just wants the WMD MacGuffin to activate some giant secret base that’s never even mentioned until the last twenty minutes of the game. It is mindnumbingly stupid. Of course, the story in the old NES game was mindnumbingly stupid as well. This story’s offensive not because it’s hamfisted camp, but because it keeps you from actually playing throughout the game’s beginning and its finale.
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Tags: ben judd, bionic commando, bionic commando rearmed, capcom, grin, kenji inafune, mega man, metroid prime, nes, ninja gaiden, playstation 3, shigeru miyamoto, super mario 64, team ninja, xbox 360
The 61FPS Review: Bionic Commando, part 1
Ever since Shigeru Miyamoto remade Mario into a bouncing mass of yelping polygons in 1996, game designers across the world have been asking the same question: how do we bring our old 2D games into the third dimension? This has never been a creatively bankrupt ambition. Videogames are, and always have been, an iterative medium funded by familiarity. The rules of a game are polished over time and mascots, franchises, brands are insurance on their evolution. Taking the fundamentals and characters of classic games to explore the potential of three-dimensional design wasn’t selling out; it was buying in.
Over the past thirteen years, only a handful of designers have effectively translated two-dimensional games into 3D. More often than not, old franchises have been modernized as completely different games. Team Ninja’s Ninja Gaiden games are about weighty melee play, not the vicious platforming gauntlets of the original series. Mega Man’s first polygonal outing was a kart racer, not a speedy run-gun-and-jumper. But games like Super Mario 64, games that truly capture and add a new dimension to their predecessors’ play, are rare. Retro’s Metroid Prime did it, managing to translate the rules, architecture and style of its 2D parent series perfectly, even while sacrificing the thrill of seeing Samus onscreen. GRIN’s Bionic Commando gets it right too. But in their effort to recreate the rock solid rules of 1987’s Bionic Commando, GRIN failed to make a complete work of art.
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Tags: ben judd, bionic commando, bionic commando rearmed, capcom, grin, kenji inafune, mega man, metroid prime, nes, ninja gaiden, playstation 3, shigeru miyamoto, super mario 64, team ninja, xbox 360
Happy Birthday Keiji Inafune
Keiji Inafune, the half-father of Mega Man and the whole father of a few other video game franchises worth playing, turned 44 today. That means he’s been working on video games for over half his life. That also means, more than ever, my lifetime achievements are bupkus in comparison. Good thing I’m content to sit on the couch and play video games. That’s where I’m a viking.
By a curious coincidence, today also marks the unofficial 25th birthday of the Transformers franchise. Though both properties involve robots that adapt to their surroundings, it’s interesting to note that Mega Man and Transformers don’t parallel one another all that much. Rather, Inafune’s inspirations mix domestic and foreign ingredients: Tezuwan Atom/Astro Boy, Terminator, Blade Runner, and music from Japan and abroad (mostly abroad). The Astro Boy pedigree is especially strong, as Mega Man titles have always addressed the gains and difficulties of humanity living alongside robots. Osamu Tezuka was likewise fascinated, perhaps morbidly, by the struggles of man versus machine.
Inafune’s ability to draw the best from his inspirations while adding his own creative spin has earned him a solid reputation as an A-list game designer. His games give players the opportunity to mow down zombies in a shopping centre (an opportunity I ached for in my years of mall retail and janitorial service), hang out with supernatural samurai, and experience buckets of fun. If nothing else, he’ll always have my admiration for his smart approach to Mega Man Legends.
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Tags: birthday, dead rising, keiji inafune, mega man, mega man legends, nadia oxford, onimusha
2K Employee Quits Through Mario
The average human divides his or her time between eating, sleeping, breeding, working, and fantasising about not working.
Sometimes we get lucky and are given the opportunity to move on to greener pastures. It’s customary to provide your boss with two weeks’ warning before buzzing off forever, which provides a golden opportunity for a creative person to burn their bridges using a particularly colourful flame. People on job hunts are going all-out with their cover letters/videos/tapestry-draped elephants in order to get noticed; why not apply that passion to parting messages as well?
A former 2K Australia employee evidently agrees that something has to be done about boring “Dear Bozo” parting letters, and has gone the extra mile with his own.
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Tags: 2k games, fan stuff, industry, mega man, nadia oxford, super mario bros
A Day As Mega Man
What would it be like to live a day as Mega Man, the gaming world’s most favouritest hero? The best way to find out would be to emulate the actions of a certain enthusiastic Japanese gentleman. Dress in blue, drink Energy Cans, rely on your brother to pick up your spirits, and for God’s sake, don’t touch those spikes. Go, Mega Man! For best day!
Video after the jump.
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Tags: fan stuff, japan, mega man, nadia oxford, rockman, video
John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself. 
Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.
Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.
Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines.
Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.
Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.
Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.
