Number: DWN-039

Weapon:  Napalm Bomb

Weakness:  Crystal Eye

A robot who protects Dr. Wily’s secret munitions factory. The explosive range of his Napalm Bombs isn’t as wide as it appears to be. So don’t worry, and just dodge.

Finally, a Robot Master that looks like he was designed to do some damage! Napalm Man is quite literally a walking tank—a bipedal robot with tank treads for feet, armed to the robo-teeth with explosives. No frills, no gimmicks, just firepower. By this point in the Mega Man series, you’ve already fought robot birds, robot fish, robot shrimp, robot hippos, and all manner of impractical costumed clown. You’ve got to wonder why Dr. Wily didn’t just start with Napalm Man.

Napalm Man will use an array of missiles as well as his trademark Napalm Bomb to lay some serious pain down on Mega Man. Lean on the Crystal Eye weapon to make the fight a little easier, but make sure you don’t miss any shots! They’re a hot commodity in this fight. Beat Napalm Man, and his bombs are yours.

David Oxford (The Mega Man Network)      
A submarine, a helicopter, and even a steam engine… why did it take Dr. Wily so long to get around to making a Robot Master based on a tank (complete with tread feet, no less)?

Napalm Man’s heavy-duty appearance and armaments are just awesome to behold, and makes for one of the more memorable moments in the opening to the Ruby-Spears cartoon show. As such, it’s all the greater a shame that he never actually got to appear in a cartoon episode itself, especially since his modified design for the show’s aesthetic looks even more wicked!

Despite being named for it and even having his main weapon be the Napalm Bomb, his attacks don’t seem to have very much to do with the actual real-life weapon/substance. Even so, Napalm Man has proven to be one of the more controversial Robot Masters in the series’ history. 

Number: DWN-038

Weapon:  Charge Kick

Weakness:  Power Stone

Yeah, I think we can all agree that steam locomotives are cool, but what if you made one that replaced those inefficient wheels with big, meaty legs, and gave it thrice as many cow pushers? Why, then you’d have Charge Man.

Now Charge Man is a pretty burly dude, so rather than devise some clever strategy to take out the Blue Bomber, he’s content to just “charge” at you full-force, striving ceaselessly to occupy the space you’re in. This can make for a frustrating fight, but carefully timed jumping and sliding will see you through it. Just watch out for when he spews flaming hot coals from his smokestack.

He also has a weakness to the Power Stone, and let’s face it, who doesn’t have a soft spot for the Dreamcast series’ unique brand of frantic, arena-based combat? Bwahaha, a little Capcom humor for you. Seriously though, equip Stone Man’s weapon and take this sucka out.

Doing so will yield the Charge Kick, which turns Mega Man’s normal slide move into a deadly attack. You’ll want this for later. 

David Oxford (The Mega Man Network)

The trend of vehicular Robot Masters kicked off by Dive Man is really in full force for Mega Man 5. Following Gyro Man’s cool copter-ninja, we’ve got Charge Man, who looks like Thomas the Tank Engine on a bad day (and is awesome for it). Making him even better is that he’s a train that you fight… while riding a train! (Yo, dawg…)

Apparently, Dr. Wily designed him to look like a steam locomotive as a means of camouflage. How that’s supposed to work, only Wily knows for sure.

Also: Why has no one made a Quad City DJs/Charge Man remix yet?  

Another episode of the Capcom Unity Official Podcast is up, and you can listen here or on iTunes! In Episode 31, Brett, Harrison and I weigh in on the impending release of Mega Man Legacy Collection,  and attempt to debate which game is the best. Spoiler: the debate resolves nothing. Hope you like it anyway! 

Number: DWN-037

Weapon: Star Crash

Weakness: Water Wave

A robot who manages the satellite base. You can only damage him when his barrier is down!

Built for space exploration, Star Man would’ve felt right at home in Mega Man 3’s planet-hopping tale. This time, however, he’s helping… “Proto Man”… harass Mega Man and prevent him from rescuing Dr Light.

Clobbering Star Man earns you the Star Crash, which is an odd name given that it actually protects you! It joins the shield/barrier tier shared by Wood Man , Skull Man and Plant Man. Which one do you think is best?

I do want to give a shoutout to his stage though – it takes the floaty jumps of Bubble Man’s underwater stage and repurposes them to simulate a low-g environment in space. Pretty cool!

Keisuke Mizuno (TruForce)

To me, this was a great design—powerful, dynamic, and understandable at a glance with its star imagery. I remember Star Man being popular among my friends because he was so cool.

I’ve got a lot of nostalgia for the Star Man plastic model kit that came out back then. I assembled mine kind of sloppily, so the star-laden torso parts would always break off I’d have to repair them with glue.

David Oxford ( The Mega Man Network )

Star Man has an awesome low-gravity stage in an unused space station orbiting the Earth. Why doesn’t Mega Man go into space more often? Wait — forget I said that.

His design is pretty cool, with the large inverted star covering his chest giving him a neat flared collar as well, to say nothing of all his star-shaped bling adorning his knees, elbows, and forehead. He even keeps up the motif with the barrel of his arm cannon — talk about commitment to your gimmick!

His special ability — the Star Crash shield — protects him from a wide assortment of attacks. Interestingly enough, just saying his name reminds me of another star which grants invincibility…

The results are in for Round 4! Hit the jump to see who this round’s Finalist is, along with the rules for Round 5 (Vergil), which starts now!           

GuardianE takes this week’s round by a landslide thanks to some impressive footwork, a very slick taunt application, and one brutal finisher. Congrats, Guardian! You secured 38% of the vote and are eligible for the Final Round.

Coming in second once again was GarudaPSNwith 22% of the vote, followed just behind by IKevinX with 19%.

Now then! Onto the rules for Round 5!

First, be sure to check the  initial tournament post  for important information about how to submit. 

FULL CONTEST RULES

Round 5 Rules: 

Character: Vergil

Difficulty: Dante Must Die

Modifiers: Turbo Mode is optional! You may choose the costume of your preference. Super Vergil is optional!

Mission: 17

Fight: Business District/Terrace. This is a huge fight with lots of different enemy types and plenty of open space. Just try not to let the objects in the road obscure your (and our) view of the action!

You do not have to perform the entire fight in 60 seconds, but the clip itself must be limited to a 60-second (or shorter) piece of the fight. It may, of course, be shorter than 60 seconds.

Please upload your video at 720p or better if possible! This is for your benefit as an entrant. J

Deadline: Monday, August 17th @12:00pm (noon) PDT

Good luck, and may the most stylish player win!

Hey everyone!

We are pleased to announce that the Capcom Cup will be held at PlayStation Experience (PSX) this year as a one-day special event on Sunday, December 6 ^th!

For months on end, players have been battling in events all over the world for CPT points and qualification spots, in order to make it into Capcom Cup. Out of thousands of hopeful players, only 32 will make the cut and have a chance to compete for the title of “Street Fighter World Champion” and a shot at the massive $250,000 prize pool, making this THE must-attend tournament of the year.

PlayStation Experience Event Details:

• Date: December 5~6 (SAT~SUN)
• Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
• Venue: Moscone West

San Francisco, CA, USA

• Ticket Prices:
  • Two-Day Early Bird Ticket: $60 // Early bird available until September 20th or while supplies last (whichever comes first)
  • Regular Two-Day Ticket: $75
  • Saturday Only Ticket: $45
  • Sunday Only Ticket: $40

Additionally, the Capcom Cup VIP Package is available for those who want the ultimate event experience! For an extra $75 on top of the PSX ticket price, you will get:

• Premium front area seating at the event
• Capcom goodie bag
• Exclusive access to the Capcom Cup after party, hosted by Twitch and Showdown.gg

Early bird PSX tickets, as well as the Capcom Cup VIP Package, are on-sale right now , so be sure to get yours before they sell out! It’s also highly recommend you register with your PSN ID when purchasing tickets.

For those traveling from out of town, you can book hotels at a discounted rate from any of these links: 

• San Francisco Marriott Marquis for $249 per night
• Courtyard by Marriott San Francisco Downtown for $209 per night
• Hilton San Francisco for $179 per night

Remember, you need to get either the Early Bird 2-day, Regular 2-day, or Sunday Only tickets in order to watch Capcom Cup! If you get the Saturday Only ticket, you will NOT be able to watch the event.

With a few months of the CPT season left to play out before Capcom Cup, the competition is sure to heat up as players scramble to qualify. The best has yet to come this season, and we hope to see everyone in San Francisco in December!

Number: DWN-036

Weapon: Gyro Blade

Weakness: Gravity Hold

Dr. Wily’s limited budget is what forced him to have a propeller. He will cowardly hide himself in clouds, but if you have the weapon that plays on his weakness, he’ll go down quickly!

So, we can all agree “gyro” is less intimidating than something like “chopper” or “jet,” right? And even the official description above suggests Gyro Man’s design is a little bit… ineffective. However, I’ve always liked this design, especially his landing-gear style feet that look plucked from a helicopter.

So yeah, poor Gyro Man. The fact he has a propeller is used as a rare example of Wily’s formerly limitless budget colliding with reality. If only he got that jet engine…

And in the end, you even take away his propeller as your own weapon! It’s actually kinda cool too, as you can fire and then control it afterward. It can only move straight up or down, but with so many enemies on ceilings, it has its uses.

Brian aka “Protodude”

From a design standpoint, Gyro Man is my absolute favorite of Mega Man’s rogues gallery. He’s essentially a walking helictopter… of doom! According to Mega Man & Bass’ CD database, Gyro Man is a huge fan of greek sandwiches. Ironically, he dislikes jet engines — this despite the fact he was initially designed to have a proper engine on his back!

David Oxford (The Mega Man Network)

It’s hard not to like Gyro Man’s design. Like Dive Man, he’s another of the pre-transforming vehicle-type Robot Masters who looks like a cross between a helicopter and a ninja — and there’s just something cool about those skids he has as feet. Seeing as Wily had to make some budget cuts to the design, one has to wonder what we could have wound up with instead — a jet samurai? We may never know.

When he’s not taking over hanging gardens and trying to destroy Mega Man, I hear he plays a pretty mean lead guitar. Some might even say that his tunes are hypnotic.

For many Capcom fans and pretty much all Devil May Cry fans, Reuben Langdon is a familiar name. In addition to providing the voice and motion capture performances for protagonist Dante in Devil May Cry 3 and 4, he’s worked heavily with Capcom and many other major video game creators as an actor, stunt coordinator, and mocap expert on an impressive list of hit games.

Reuben recently took some time to field a brief interview with me in celebration of  Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition’s release earlier this summer. Hit the jump to read on.

————————–

Capcom Unity: Some folks may not realize that you’re the man behind a number of beloved Capcom characters and games—not just Dante and Devil May Cry. For the uninitiated, can you give us a quick run-down of your various contributions to Capcom games?

Reuben Langdon: Yes, for many years I have been portraying or embodying Capcom characters. It started back in 1997 when I was selected to do the motion capture for Chris Redfield in the Dreamcast version of Resident Evil: Code Veronica. The audition and job took place in Japan and from what I understand it was the first time motion capture had been used in the game. 

Several Years after that I worked on Resident Evil Outbreak, doing some Zombie moves then I was cast as Dante in DMC3. I revisited the Chris Redfield role in Resident Evil 5 and 6, performing the motion capture for the character and also revisited Dante in DMC4, DMC4 Special Edition and Marvel vs Capcom, performing both voice and motion capture. Another Capcom fan-favorite has been the voice of Ken Masters in the English versions of Street Fighter 4. 

↑ Reuben in character as Chris Redfield

CU: You’ve been dealing closely with motion-capture technology for many years now; were there any notable improvements or changes to the technology between DMC3 and DMC4, and then from DMC4 to more recent video game projects you’ve done? And if so, what effect have those had on your work?

RL: Yes, the tech is always improving. The big leap from DMC3 to DMC4 was the use of facial capture. In DMC3 we didn’t do that, it was all animated by hand. For DMC4 we used a head-mounted camera system which got in the way of the big action sequences and even the more intimate scenes. Nowadays we use pretty much the same set up but the headcams have gotten smaller and easier to work with. 

CU: To what extent did the mocap and voice recording process itself help flesh out Dante as a character? Did you find that you were doing a fair amount of adlibbing and figuring out the character on the fly, or were his mannerisms and behavior pretty much set in stone from the outset? What guided your performance?

RL: For DMC3 it took a couple of days to really get a “feel” for the character. There were a lot of notes to read and become familiar with, because in DMC3 Dante was a complete re-creation of the character. Maybe not as much as the more recent DmC but still a big difference from the first two games in the series. Everyone seems to have a different take and it was very frustrating to try and make everyone happy. I finally got so frustrated at all the over direction that I just did my own thing and I used the frustration to create the character. He came out to be a cocky, rebellious teenager. Everyone loved it!

Dante in DMC4 was different and I started getting a whole new set of notes, but Itsuno-san being a fan of the Macross series told me that his image of Dante in DMC4 was Roy Fokker. Being a big fan of Macross myself, and Fokker being my favorite character, it was easy to relate. 

↑ Suited up for a shoot.

CU: How do you expect motion capturing technology and techniques to evolve from here?

RL: It is evolving quickly and I do see that one day we will have markedly less capture. Meaning we won’t have to wear the silly spandex or the head cams. Might be a while down the road but that day is coming! 

↑ Silly?

CU: What have you been up to lately? Anything you’d like to plug or tease?

RL: Ken Masters in Street Fighter V! 

CU: Any final message for all those adoring fans out there?

RL: I love the fans as I am one myself. For years I have been playing Capcom games and have fallen in love with the characters. I feel so blessed to have the opportunities to work on such epic games and help to give life to these amazing characters. It is a dream come true! I really honor the relationship I have had with Capcom over the years and I look forward to more collaborations in the future! 🙂

—————

Big thanks to Reuben for taking the time! Can’t wait to see more of him in action.

There’s a new round of T-shirts to vote on in the Resident Evil 0 In-Game T-Shirt Contest , so place those votes! Remember, anyone who votes at any point during the contest will get free early DLC access, so take a couple minutes!

If you’re up for a deeper dive, there’s still time to submit your own T-shirt design as well. Good luck to all entrants!

Number: DWN-033

Weapon: Gravity Hold

Weakness: Star Crash

He can control gravity, albeit within a limited range. Attack him when you fly past each other!

Whoa – somehow G-Man’s gravity powers distorted space and time, causing his blog entry to leap into the future – today – instead of its intended location back on Monday! Yes, that’s surely it, and not us accidentally skipping over him…

Anyway, Gravity Man may have a cherub-esque  face but his battle capabilities make him (on paper at least) one of the most formidable Robot Masters in the series. Throughout his stage you’ll be flipped and hurled around as gravity reverses, then returns to normal… and then inside his chamber, he’ll use this very power to flip around the room.

Being able to alter gravity, even in a small field around you, is a pretty cool power. But when you beat Gravity Man and obtain the Gravity Hold, this power is visualized with a flash… presumably symbolizing the crushing weight of gravity?

Ryuji Higurashi (Series Illustrator)

“Gravity Man’s unique silhouette and composition are terrifically designed, lending a strange sort of credibility to the claim that he can control gravity. The gravity reversal the occurs throughout his stage and during the boss fight are also unique and very fun.”

Takekuni Uchida (RockmanUnity administrator)
“It’s not the character himself so much as his entire stage that I love! I’m guessing all our readers have experienced it for themselves, but the first time I played that stage and the gravity reversed on me, I was so surprised! 

“‘Am I falling up?! Am I rising down?!” Next thing I knew my neck hurt from twisting my head upside down while playing. I even tried holding the controller upside down (between you and me, I even tried playing while doing a headstand! It makes you lightheaded though, so I don’t recommend.)

“In any case, it’s super-fun, and that’s why I love Gravity Man(‘s stage). The Super Famicom (SNES) had already come onto the scene at that time, but this boss(‘s stage) showed us that even without the increased capabilities of new hardware, there was a lot that could be done with ideas and innovation alone.”

David Oxford (The Mega Man Network)

“Gravity Man is sort of like the mascot for Mega Man 5. Part of this is due to his being featured so prominently on the American box art, but also because he has one of the most unique gimmicks in not only the game, but also the series history as Mega Man has to quickly learn how to do his best Lionel Richie impression to reach the end.

“Sadly, despite his uniqueness, this would remain Gravity Man’s one and only appearance as any sort of active character in a Mega Man game. Perhaps if he didn’t dislike space so much, he could have found his way into the Game Boy game of the same name?”

All right people, the Lady submissions are in, the Top Five has been selected, and the vote begins now. Hit the jump to watch and vote!

The Bianco and Alto Angel enemies featured in this fight are some of the most mobile enemies in the game in contrast to the relatively immobile Lady, who only has a couple of tools for quick repositioning, and very few defensive options. Nevertheless, this round brought us some interesting applications of her moveset; look out for slick and creative evasive maneuvers, some aerial melee with jump canceling, and some devastating—and frankly bizarre—parries.  

Voting Deadline: Friday, August 14th at noon (PT).

• Mr. X
• GuardianE
• Leo Omega
• GarudaPSN
• IKevinX

May the most stylish player win!

Another important update today from producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, regarding the buzz surrounding a possible RE2 remake. As you can see from the video below, we (will) do it!

Fans have been asking for an RE2 remake for years now, and we’re happy to finally confirm one is coming. However, as H mentions in the video, you’re learning this news practically as fast as it happens, so further updates may take some time. Game development is a long process and the team wants to deliver a remake that lives up to expectations.

With RE2R a ways off – but nontheless confirmed! – this is a good time remind folks about the Resident Evil 0 HD remaster coming early next year. With it, the RE1 remake and now RE2 coming, the opening acts of the Mansion and Raccoon City incidents will live on well into the 21st century 🙂