Beginning on May 1, 2014, a classic Game Boy / GBC Mega Man game will launch on the North American 3DS Virtual Console each Thursday of the month. The first game is up to you , but after that we’ll likely be going in chronological order. That means (assuming it doesn’t win, of course), things kick off with Mega Man II, originally released in 1992.

If you’re not familiar with the black and white Game Boy games, you wouldn’t be at fault for thinking the handheld versions were mere ports of the NES originals. But no! In fact they’re clever remixes of two NES games at a time, plus loads of new content. And even the content that repeats tends to present itself in a distinct way.

In the case of MMII, it blends elements of NES Mega Man 2 and 3, so you get eye-rubbing, reality-questioning screens like those below. An Air Man weapon with the Rush Jet? Sliding in Mega Man 2? Besting Needle Man with the Air Shooter?

Each of the GB games (save V) mixes things together in this way, creating a game that is more than a mere “recycling” of old assets. I’m sure many fans would agree Mega Man IV is a perfect example of this – but today we’re talkin’ MMII!

You get familiar levels, bosses with new weaknesses, brand new Wily graphics and in some cases all-new story elements told through cutscenes. In some ways, certain GB games move the plot forward – or at least intensify it – more than their corresponding NES numeral.

As an example of new content, the weirdo Wily level (with its Persistence of Memory-style clocks) and Quint, the jackhammer-pogo-stick-riding Mega Man from the future make appearances at the end. But no matter what Wily throws his way, Mega Man always prevails – even a daring battle in space ends with another loss.

Harsh! But somehow he lives to fight another day.

Vote for Mega Man II, III, IV, V, Xtreme or Xtreme 2 in our poll!

When Captain America throws his mighty shield, all those who chose to oppose his shield must yiiiiiiield …

It would certainly seem The Walt Disney Company has me buy the short and curlies these days, and once again, it’s leaking over into Unity. I mean, at least DuckTales: Remastered provided a somewhat legitimately reason for gushing about Mouse-related properties, but what I did with Monster Hunter and the new Muppets movie teeters upon the line being inexcusable. So thank goodness for the release of Captain America: Winter Soldier, as it puts crossover nerdom into much more justifiable Unity territory!

We’re all excited about Marvel’s new film after all, so why not concoct a soaring tribute to one of their most enduring heroes with the wonderful representation he’s enjoyed via Capcom throughout the last two decades?! Here’s to you, Cap!

GOOD WORK, SOLDIER!

How about shooting  sun light arrows while looking like  Amaterasu ?

Well, I’m not the  Okami expert here, but this sounds super sweet for  Monster Hunter !

This absolutely beautiful fan art comes from DeityofShadows   and is actually the second MH x Okami crossover I was able to find. The following ” Zinogaterasu ” piece is from InferorumCanis :

Hey, a couple more lovely Okami x Monster Hunter fan art pieces and I can an album or series… get on it artists! 😉

The results are in for Round 3 of our ongoing Strider Leaderboard Showdown. This round challenged all you Xbox One Striders to compete for the best completion time on Beacon Run #4, “Plasma Perimeter.”

Coming in first place with an impressive completion time of 00:46:86 is vgBR LOP, otherwise known as vgBR.com here on Unity, and as Videogames Brasil in Brazil! They also nabbed the #1 completion time  worldwide.  That’s certainly one way to advertise your website! Great job, vgBR. You get a scarf! Strider badges for all the rest.

Tune back in tomorrow for Round 4…. 

Tune into Twitch at 4pm PT today to watch the action live. Meanwhile, let’s discuss our precious Bionic Commando memories in this discussion thread !

Ah, the tale of Mega Man through the ages. We have many pieces of the puzzle, and heck, we can paint a pretty clear picture of what went down, but there are all kinds of “probably” and “maybe” and “most likely” qualifiers that have to follow a lot of plot statements.

This video (from ‘tuber dookieshed) spends a solid 12 minutes walking through what we know, then poses a few theories of his own…

Thoughts? I do like the idea of Wily “winning the war,” so to speak, even if it’s a grim take on the saga. But then again, despite the squeaky clean presentation of the Classic games, there’s a very clear arms race between Wily and Light, one that can only lead to bigger and badder technology (Bass, Zero…)

And even if ya disagree or have your own thoughts, it’s still a fun watch!

Earlier last month I announced the arrival of the Capcom Pro Tour . In the announcement we mentioned that there were going to be six spots available for the Capcom Cup, which would be awarded to those who accumulated the highest amount of Capcom Pro Tour points this year. In addition to the points gained from the premier events and ever growing ranking events, we are now pleased to introduce the online events, hosted by Virgin Gaming. Head over to Capcom Pro Tour for the official announcement. 

Via damnwyverngems

MEANWHILE, ON RESIDENTEVIL.NET … a handful of online events are underway, and some are about to expire so get on over to the site and check ’em out!

EX3 event – the goal was met so hop in for a ticket good for one of the bonus costumes!   Six days left [RE6]

Compete for RE.net points, good across the site for all kinds of bonus material AND bonus items will be awarded based on the number of enemies killed!  Five days left [Revelations]

Target enemies are worth more experience, but only 10 hours remain for this event! [Revelations]

After three years of top-notch comic bookery, the Archie Mega Man series is about to set its sights on the (far) future with “Dawn of X.” This storyline, as you likely guessed by now, will delve into the X world and its darker themes.

Comicosity recently posted an interview with MM writer Ian Flynn and editor Paul Kaminski, so hop on over and get caught up before issue #37 arrives this summer!

MSG: The world of Mega Man X is now split between humans and reploids, robots that think and feel like humans, unlike where Mega Man is fairly unique. How do you feel that development defines the course of society in the future, and is that in fact key to its dystopian nature?

IF:  We live in an age of technological wonders.  Modern telecommunications alone are staggering when you consider our grandparents needed operators to physically make connections for land-lines, and today we have lag-free, real-time video conferencing from any point in the world to another.

Now imagine if that kind of technology were to spring up, literally overnight, during World War II.   Imagine how completely different things would’ve turned out if either side had gotten its hands on email, or instant global telecommunications.

That’s basically what we’re looking at in X’s time.  In a matter of months, humanity was forced to coexist with a new race of beings.  We’re currently wondering if we’ll ever achieve true artificial intelligence, and the people of 21XX wake up one day to find it a fact.  There’s been no time to adapt, no time to accept this new reality.  And with such suddenness, there’s going to be friction.

UPDATE: stream archive now on YouTube !

5  Monster Hunter Mondays for the price of 4! Seriously, did you notice March had 5 Mondays? And we streamed  Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate  in 4 of them already, so let’s close the month with some good old hunting at  3pm PT – twitch.tv/capcomunity

I know I’m going back on my (sort of) promise to stream  Monster Hunter Freedom Unite again but I wanted to give this one to  MH3U , since it came out a year ago and all that.

But worry not! We will be streaming  MHFU again soon, and I promise to coordinate with you guys so we can hunt online via the ad-hoc party. It’ll be fun.

For now though, let’s meet up again at  Help D Lobby 10 and twitch.tv/capcomunity   at  3pm PT ! See you there!

You have until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT to place your order or be forever buttonless!

This immensely classy Ace Attorney case is this close to enshrouding your 3D XL in a sturdy aluminum shell of dual-pieced security. And as promised, everyone who has already pre-ordered the case, minimalistically modeled after the Fenny’s famous suit, will receive a FREE “Objection!” button for their vote of confidence. But these cases are just about ready to head into the wild, and that free button opportunity is going to disappear in under 24 hours .

You have until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. That’s 12am Tuesday, Pacific Time, to order your Ace Attorney 3DS XL case from the Capcom Store. Any order made before that time will receive the free Objection! button. Not a bad bonus for a case as sweet as this:

Speaking of incentive, I sure hope Capcom fans have seen the Capcom Store’s MegaJacket . This stunning designer denim jacket (not a “cheap hoodie” as so many have cynically labeled it at a glance) needs 200 pre-orders in order to go into production. As of this writing, on its final day for pre-orders, the MegaJacket is currently at 184 orders. I personally would really like to see this thing become a reality, so I encourage those interested to get off the pot NOW and help it land the sweet sixteen pre-orders it needs to come into existence .

Even if you’re not interested, tell a friend who might be! Be sure to also let him or her know that they can save $10 on that pre-order with the code “MEGA10” and it’s likely you’ll be receiving a hug from an extremely fashionable Mega Man fan in the very near future. God speed, MegaJacket …