Today, August 12th, is a special day for our website… It’s our 13th anniversary! Naturally, our site has changed a lot visually and content-wise over the years. But we always strive to bring the wonderful Mega Man Battle Network and Star Force content to you good folks out there!
Speaking of, today, we have a translation for especially rare interview that was published only once in an issue of Weekly Famitsu. Originally to commemorate the Crossover Battle feature in Battle Network 5 and Boktai 2… Here is a special Interview with two of gaming’s biggest icons, Keiji Inafune and Hideo Kojima! The entire interview can be read in the skip.
MMBN-inspired, grid-fighting indie game EndCycle VS is making the jump to mobile devices soon! The announcement was just made on stream by the game’s developers, 12B3, and we have all the details below.
The Android version of the game is expected to release somewhere around August, so we won’t have to wait too long for it. An iOS version is also planned for later, when the full game is finished. Pricing details have not been announced yet. The game will be playable both in landscape and portrait orientation, with the touch controls being optimized for one-handed play for the latter. You’ll also be able to connect a Bluetooth controller to your device and play the same way you would on the PC version.
At launch, the mobile version of the game will feature all of the same content that’s present in the PC version, including single-player and multi-player modes–with the exception of local multiplayer. Future updates will also be published simultaneously for both versions. In addition, custom mods made for the PC version will also be compatible with the mobile version.
The best part: the mobile version of the game will have full cross-platform multiplayer with the PC version! From the PC version, you’ll be able to battle it out online with your friends and enemies playing the mobile version, and vice versa. For the time being, you will have to start the game over from a new file in the mobile version, but 12B3 are planning to add a data transfer feature in the future.
By the way, EndCycle VS (PC version) is currently available on Steam for 30% offuntil July 9th, so if the game’s caught your interest, this is a good time to jump in!
Check out some screenshots of the EndCycle VS mobile version after the jump!
As most fans probably already know, a Rockman EXE anime series was running from 2002–2006, when the series was still in its prime. The anime was later brought stateside by Viz Media as MegaMan NT Warrior, with a heavily revised English script and dub. But did you know there was a second English dub for the Rockman EXE anime? An alternative version of the anime, simply titled Rockman EXE, was independently edited and dubbed into English by Voiceovers Unlimited for the South-East Asian market, and saw limited distribution in that region.
The SEA dub was thought to be lost for a while, but one of our writers MidniteW recently found a Malaysian VCD of the first 29 episodes! Unlike the Viz Media version, the Voiceovers Unlimited dub is far more faithful to the Japanese script, and retains the original Japanese soundtrack that got replaced in NT Warrior. It even uses the Japanese names of the characters, such as Netto instead of Lan!
Hold onto your hats, because we have some shocking new relevations from Rockman Corner: story details for Mega Man Star Force 4, said to be in production sometime in 2009-2010! The info comes from Rockman Corner’s source “The Shadow”, who previously leaked a fair number of accurate Mega Man 9 tidbits prior to their official reveal.
As those of you who played Mega Man Star Force 3 to completion might recall, the post-game story ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. After defeating Sirius, the game’s epilogue villain, Geo is forced to absorb an ancient Murian artifact in his body, and Solo swears to do whatever it takes to reclaim it when the time comes. Star Force 4 was never officially revealed, but according to Rockman Corner’s source, it may not have been so centered on Geo and Solo’s rivalry as we had been led to believe.
If it’s been a while since you last checked out EndCycle VS, now is a good time to give it another look! EndCycle VS is an MMBN-inspired fighting game with familiar grid-based combat, with the main focus on fast, think-on-your-feet 1-on-1 battles.
Ever since the game was released on Steam Early Access at the start of the year, the developers 12B3 have been hard at work adding new features to the game. Today, the game received its biggest update yet: the Azure Update.
Fight online ⚔️ Experience thrilling single-player stories 🛡️ Create your own challenges and share them with others 🛠️
Once you’ve updated the game to the latest version via Steam, you’ll gain access to a host of new features, including a single-player Campaign Mode which pits you against AI-controlled Noise enemies. Play through each character’s story to unlock even more characters and campaigns to play. You can also use the extensive in-game modding tools to make your own campaigns and share them with friends.
An Amazon listing has shown up of a hardcover version of the Mega Man Battle Network Official Complete Works (English version). Much like the hardcover Mega Man Zero Official Complete Works that Udon had announced, it sports a pixely, brand new logo. The original print of the English book has been out of print for a number of years. It’s considered hard-to-get and can even be found for more than double its retail price in the aftermarket! This reprint is more than welcome for people who missed it the first time, or want a nice, fancy hardcover version of it.
The first print of Udon’s MMBN Official Complete Works came out in 2011. The book was softcover and the covers were holo-foil.
Japan also reprinted their version of the book in 2016 to celebrate the series’ 15th anniversary. The JP reprint kept the book the same as the first print, typos included. However, the section with Boktai and Duel Masters were completely omitted, but we don’t know if this will carry to the English version. This book was not hardcover.
A little while ago, composer Akari Kaida tweeted about the music of the Battle Network series. Particularly its inner workings, the intricacies of working on the GBA, and her opinions on the soundtrack’s quality. Kaida worked on BN1, EXE4.5 BN5, and Star Force 3.
This is a rarely seen commentary straight from the composer herself, and English fans can read a translation for them in the jump!
The book’s information page showcases the work-in-progress cover with Rockman characters taking center stage, alongside other characters of anime he’s worked on! The page includes samples of his work, including his key art for Ryūsei no Rockman Tribe.
While most renowned for his work on Sword Art Online, Shingo Adachi previously worked as an animator and animation supervisor on every Rockman EXE TV anime series, as well as its movie, and both Ryūsei no Rockman TV anime. He was also responsible for the anime character designs in Rockman EXE Beast+, succeeding Mitsuru Ishihara, then later taking full helm for the Ryūsei no Rockman series. The animator last released his Ryūsei no Rockman animation works in his dōjin artbook, Ryūsei no Hanashi (also known as Shooting Star Story or Story of Meteor), in 2008.
Shingo Adachi Artworks can be pre-ordered now from certain Japanese retailers, such as Amazon Japan.The book will cost ¥4,320 and is set to come out on July 5th, 2019.
If you’re a longtime fan of the Battle Network series, you’ve probably heard of the BattleChip Gate. The Chip Gate was a peripheral supported by EXE4 through EXE6, that connected to your GBA via the link port and allowed you to slot in BattleChips and NaviChips in real life that would then be used in the game. These BattleChips could also be used in PET toys and arcade games. Aside from the BN4 PET toy and a limited set of BN4 BattleChips, however, none of these peripherals were ever released outside of Japan.
For a long time, the only way to play with these Chip Gates in the games was to buy a real Chip Gate and chips from Japan. Until now! In the past few days, two GBA emulators, mGBA and GBE+, have added support for all the different versions of the BattleChip Gate and their in-game uses, thanks to the efforts of their developers endrift and Shonumi. Currently, all in-game single-player features of the Chip Gates are functional, including chip slotting in, Operation Battle, Navi unlocking, Navi Change, and LinkNavis. (Which features are available varies per game. For more info, check out our Wiki!)
As a bonus, even though imported Beast Link Gates normally do not function in the English version of MMBN6, the new Chip Gate emulation for mGBA and GBE+ does have limited support for this. For the first time, aside from using cheat codes, you’ll be able to use the permanent Beast Out that comes with connecting a Beast Link Gate, and slot in BattleChips, in the English version of MMBN6! Sending LinkNavis is not supported, however, as the related menus were removed from the game.
To try out the new Chip Gate emulation, you can grab one of the nightly builds for mGBA. The feature is only supported in the Desktop version for the foreseeable future. Simply load up your game backup and go to Emulation → BattleChip Gate to attach the Chip Gate to the game. Then, you can select from the available BattleChips and check “Inserted” to slot in the chip. Chip Gate emulation has also been added to GBE+, but there are no nightly builds for this, so you will have to wait for a new version release or build the emulator yourself.
A little while ago, composer Akari Kaida tweeted about the music of the Battle Network series. Particularly its inner workings, the intricacies of working on the GBA, and her opinions on the soundtrack’s quality. Kaida worked on BN1, EXE4.5 BN5, and Star Force 3.
