The pages with the maps for Mega Man ZX and Mega Man ZX Advent have been looked over. The maps are now shown properly following the in-game names and the order in which you should encounter the various areas (ZX Advent only).

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The first pages are now live on the official site for Mega Man 10 on Capcom Japan's website. Most notably, the first trailer for the game is available. In a very similar way to Mega Man 9's own trailer, the preview shows the outlines of the 8 robot masters along with various gameplay clips and music segments.

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This month's issue of Nintendo Power brings us news of the Classic Series' tenth installment! Some notes that have been revealed:

- Mega Man is looking for a vaccine-making device to fight the 'Robotenza', which causes robots to overheat and go crazy
- play as Proto Man right from the start
- third playable character yet to be revealed
- computer-themed stage with mouse pointer enemies that draw boxes to throw at you, color-changing disappearing blocks, power treadmills and more
- lava level, vertically oriented, lava pools, block shaped enemies that can duplicate themselves, conveyor belts that push you down
- Sheep Man: turns into 4 clouds that hover above and attack with lightning, earn Thunder Wool for lightning attacks
- features an easy mode

All this info comes from the preview scan from the official nintendo power site's main page, so more information will be added as it becomes available.

Source: Nintendo Power

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After last week announcement of Dr. Light joining us to report on the ongoing news, one more person will step in the fray! Teej, another long-time site visitor, will be participating to cover the games, the related products, and more!

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In order to better cover the various news being released about the Mega Man series, I've appointed Dr. Light as an extra reporter. He's been around us for quite a while on the message board and is knowledgeable enough about the series to possibly unearth rare or exclusive news items.

His first post will happen whenever there's something worth reporting!

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The layout of the website has been updated to fix some nagging issues that have been there for a long time. This should also make the site easier to browse using screen readers or other types of alternate browsers. There are a few minor display differences on some selected pages, but nothing very important.

If you notice any problems coming from this update, be sure to tell me so I can fix it. Please include your browser's name and version to help me pinpoint the problem.

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I would like to remind all artists and artistic-minded people that this website accepts your Mega Man FanArt! No new pictures have been sent my way lately, but I'm always open to receiving new artworks and featuring them on this website. All of the pictures are also included in the rotation to be featured as the "Picture of the day" shown in the right column of the main page.

Don't be shy, and contact me!

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The Truth Corner section has been looked over to make several corrections and improve the phrasing of some subsections. Most notably, the future games entry now includes the latest information from Capcom about the status of the series.

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I've added tonight a new affiliate among the select list seen at the left: MegaManAyla, from mety333!

Some of the people who've been around for years might remember seeing that name around before. The site used to be live several years ago, before it was closed due to a lack of time and interest. It has recently made a comeback and is aiming to reclaim a spot among the top Mega Man websites available. Several updates have been done in the past weeks to bring it up to date on several fronts, and more is on the way.

Many sections are still under reconstruction or unavailable, but the content already offered is worth a look. Check it out!

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The SuperAdventure Rockman information page has been completely looked over and rewritten. Being one of the oldest sections of this site, it's grammar level was much lower than most other pages. This new version, while not having much in the way of new content, should be easier to understand. The review format has also being changed to match the one used in the Rockboard information page.

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And so, a new winner emerges!

The new winning picture is this coffee-spewing Luna Platz, as drawn by The Helldragon. A winner is you!

The Helldragon will be receiving his prize soon: a 20$ Amazon.com Gift Card!

Thanks to the three people who bothered to participate this time around!

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This isn't strictly related to Mega Man, but since it concerns gamers, this might very well be of interest to you.

I've finished my work on the first public version of ION Gamma. This new website, designed for gamers, allows them to store and share all of their online game IDs from a central location. Everyone can register and create a file listing their games and IDs. Then, when they want to play with someone, all they need to do is to give them the link to their file to find the required information. It works especially well for listing Nintendo Friends Codes (finally solving the problem of "where did I put that Mario Kart number again?"), but it also supports many other platforms such as MMORPGs, Steam and Xbox Live IDs.

The site covers, of course, all three Mega Man Star Force games along with several others. Give it a look, maybe you've needed ION Gamma in the past and didn't even realise it!

Also, if you have friends that play online games, it's very possible that they'd like to use this new site too. Be sure to pass the word over to them!

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During all the work done to complete the translation of the NES game Rockboard in English, I've learned quite a bit about the game and how it is meant to be played. I decided to regroup this knowledge and create a new Rockboard information page in order to share it with everyone.

This section, a work-in-progress, currently consists of a single page. You can find some general information on the game, the list of characters, a description of the levels available, and a full review. Later updates will add more details about the in-game options, the cards, and so on.

If you're interested, by all opens, go ahead!

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Once again, it's time for a new oekaki mini-contest! This regular feature of the oekaki board is held every few months, each time with a different theme.

This is a challenge based on participation and luck: anyone who submits a valid picture through the month will be entered to win a 20$ Amazon.com gift card. As such, anyone interested has a chance to win!

This month's theme: Which Mega Man character do you especially hate?

The full details are available in the latest oekaki board announcement.

The contest begins today and ends on September 30, 2009 at 23:59:59 according to Eastern time.

Good luck to all the contestants!

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As you might have noticed, there hasn't been much to report on lately. The videogames industry is now in it's usual summer hibernation, and I've been busy right and left on several ongoing tasks.

Rest assured that I'm still working hard on upcoming features for the website: this might be summer, but I'm not in the middle of a vacation!

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Relayed through axl z on the message board and the Mega Man Network comes the surprising announcement of a new game: a Battle Network and Star Force crossover titled Rockman.EXE: Operate Shooting Star!

Few details are known for the time being, although we'll probably learn more in the coming weeks and months. Most people, myself included, believed that the Battle Network series was officially ended, but it looks like side-games such as this one might still show up in the future.

Source: DMB

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It's now time to announce the results of the 2009 main drawing contest!

First of all, thanks for everyone who entered! We received only five entries, although they all deserved to win in some way: there is no half-hearted attempt to be found here!

Without making you wait too long, the end results:
- First place: Ultimate X - "Mia and the Magical Sunflower Meadow"
- Second place: ProtomanEXE - "I fail at deadlines." Which should be called "The board fails at deadlines"!
- Third place: Breakman - "One Reason..."

Congratulations to our three winners! As we've got a tie between the second and third place, the picture that was submitted first was given the advantage. See all of the entries on the results page!

All three of you will be receiving an e-mail from me tonight about claiming your prizes.

Judging was handled by your friendly oekaki board moderating task force: Kia Purity, Rioni Riishu, and myself, Dr. Cossack! You can read our comments alongside each contest entry, which might help you understand how the pictures were rated.

Hopefully, the next contest will see more contestants fighting for the top spot. See you then!

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As you can see from the left menu, this website has affiliated with a new partner: MegaManX9.com, administered by Jeff.

The site has been originally created in order to convince Capcom and the fans that a new entry in the Mega Man X series would be popular. The site then evolved from that core idea to cover other Mega Man news and games, to become what it is today. The fans are encouraged to participate in any way they can, so be sure to visit today!

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The oekaki contest now underway ends in about one week, at the end of May 31, 2009. There's plenty of time left for you to enter, but please keep in mind the upcoming deadline.

Don't miss your chance to win and get one of the prizes!

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It's that time of the year again: the Mega Man PC Website: Dr. Cossack's Lab is now nine years old! The past year has seen the appearance of the oekaki mini-contest formula, and the return of a full-scale oekaki drawing contest after a few years of waiting. Enter this month to win several prizes! In more global news, one major item of the last year has been the surprise announcement and release of the new fan-favorite Mega Man 9. Who knows what Capcom will throw at us this year?

Updates have been a bit slower in the past several months as I've been involved in many things. One of these is a major new project for the site to be unveiled eventually. You'll have to wait until more news are available, though!

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As the website approaches it's ninth anniversary, I'm happy to announce something that hasn't been seen for a few years: a full-scale oekaki drawing contest!

Unlike the mini-contest formula that has been used a few times already, this is a much larger event, with nothing held back: judging, larger drawing area, prizes for the top three winners, and more!

A theme has been selected for this latest contest: crossover. This can be taken in any way you can think of, including but not limited to: mixing two Mega Man series together, bringing elements from another game or anime series, taking characters out of context, etc. Obviously, your entry must feature a Mega Man element to be accepted

Prizes are available for the top three winners, based on merit: you'll have to put some efforts to think of something original and draw it as well as you can! The prizes includes the Mega Man Zero Official Complete Works art book, Mega Man PC games, Mega Man Battle Network merchandise, and more. The full list can be checked on this page.

The full details and rules are available from the contest section. As this contest formula is quite different from the mini-contest one, I highly suggest that you read carefully what's in there. The contest will run for an entire month, ending on May 31 at midnight (Eastern Time).

To all those you decide to enter... good luck!

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This latest update to the list of PC games adds two new titles to the list: the arcade games Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters! Both games are available on GameTap, as part of their members-only service. They are rendered through emulation (under license and fully legal), accessed directly from your web browser. I tried them personally, and the end result is enjoyable. Please note, however, that this removes the two-player option: you can't be assisted in your fights by a friend!

With the increading size of this page, I've added a quick navigation tool at the top. You can now see a full games list pointing directly to the related information.

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Sometime during last weekend, the hit counter reached the 600,000 visitors mark. This might seem impressive... but it's not accurate anymore. The site already passed the million mark quite some time ago!

With the rise of efficient search engines such as Google, more and more people visit a website without ever viewing it's front page. The end effect is that displaying a hit counter on what is meant to be the front page no longer tracks accurately the visitors. I now rely on the server stats a lot more to get the data I want.

As a result of this, I'm now retiring the counter from this page, and this will probably be the last post about it!

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Obviously, yesterday's post about a "new Message board update" was merely a front to announce this year's April's Fools Day. Those who want to know the full details can check the report on the message board!

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The message board's software has been updated to take care of a few issue. I urge all current members to login and make sure that everything looks properly on their end. Otherwise, drop me a note about it!

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Here's a small treat for you!

I'm often contacted by people who want to see more files added to the music section, so I've decided to put in something new: the complete Mega Man X8 soundtrack!

It's complete with it's 57 tracks, with the exclusion of the music used during the videos (including the opening). I ripped it from the PC version of the game, and tagged it manually. As such, the names and order of the tracks don't match with the official OST. It's available in OGG format, which can be read by Winamp and many other players.

Happy downloading!

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Now that I've finally played through and completed the PC version of Mega Man X7, I have updated it's entry in the PC games listing with some extra information. I also took this opportunity to add some new purchase alternatives for X5 and X8, and removed some options that are no longer available.

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As those of you who've tried the game over the years might know, the ROM version of Mega Man: the Wily Wars doesn't save properly. You'll access the save menu, your changes will be seen there, but once you reset the game... your progress will be lost! This is because the game uses a less-common method of saving which few emulators support. That's why we have to rely on savestates to gain access to the Wily Tower bonus mode available once you beat Mega Man 1 to 3.

To fix this once and for all, MottZilla has created a patch for the game that will change it's saving method to use a format supported by most emulators. As a result, you can now play and save the game as intended, then reach the Wily Tower mode eventually without any cheating!

With this patch now available, it pretty much ties up everything related to accessing the full content of the game. Those who have been following this site for years might understand why I'm taking the time to highlight this fact!

Get the file now from the Downloads section!

Note that the ROM file use for patching must be in BIN format, not SMD.

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Once again, we have a winner!

The winning entry is this determined Nightmare Zero, submitted by our regular oekaki artist MegamanZero66! Congratulations!

MegamanZero66 will be receiving the prize soon: a 20$ Amazon.com Gift Card! All I'm waiting for is an e-mail confirmation to make sure that I have the correct information.

Thanks to everyone who entered! We didn't get as much participation this time around, so let's try to be more involved next time!

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The Truth Corner has been expanded with a few changes, most of these being related to Mega Man 9. The entry "Mega Man 9" now includes a complete explanation of the position of that game versus the older Mega Man & Bass. A new addition, "Does a Mega Man 9 NES ROM exists?" explains that no, you can't hope to play the game on an actual NES system.

Other changes and corrections are spread out through the section.

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It's time for a new oekaki mini-contest! As requested by you, this has become a regular feature of the oekaki board. A new mini-contest is run every few months, each time with a different theme.

In the same format as before, this is a challenge based on participation and luck: anyone who submits a valid picture through the month will be entered to win a 20$ Amazon.com gift card. As such, anyone interested has a chance to win!

This month's theme: What is your favorite Mega Man moment?

The full details are available in the latest oekaki board announcement.

The contest began yesterday and ends on the January 31, 2009 at 23:59:59 according to Eastern time.

Good luck to all the contestants!

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In order to celebrate the first anniversary of the Rockboard translation's release, I've updated the patch based on your feedback. The new version 1.1 adds a few lines of previously untranslated text, improves the text of a few misleading lines, and fixes a minor dialog bug.

This new version, still available in both "Mega Man" and "Rockman" flavors, is available for download right away. Happy gaming, and happy new year!

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