http://www.capcom.co.jp/rockman/dash3/

I hardly ever come to this subforum, but this is the ONE THING I have wished for since playing the first two games for Playstation. Now I have another thing to look forward to.

Whoa.

WHOA.

It took nearly three generations of gaming systems...but they're doing it.  Wow.

At least in Japan and presumably with a port to here.

Something is supposed to be getting announced today concerning MML3... might not anything substantial like in-game screenshots (might be too early for that) but we'll see.

In the meantime, fanart and forumpics:

Link

Vote For Your Favorite Design in the Mega Man Legends 3 Heroine Contest!
Sunday, October 10, 2010, 08:32 AM [General]

We are excited to announce the first way you can contribute to the development of Mega Man Legends 3!

With over 10 years of fan requests, Capcom is pulling out all the stops to ensure that Legends 3 will be beyond awesome. Designers famous to the franchise have submitted concepts for the design of the next heroine character to be featured in the game. Any Mega Man game would be lucky to have even one of these big names contributing to the project, but Legends 3 gets an unprecedented NINE, including the father of Mega Man, Keiji Infaune himself.

As you can see below, the nine different heroine designs take nine very different approaches, and the design you pick could have effects on her personality and other parts of the game. Needless to say, this is a major element of the game, so feel free to discuss the pros and cons of each option in the forum* before making your final selection.

Check out the amazing designs below, and vote on your favorite!

Voting will last until October 25th, and the combined poll results from both the English and Japanese Developer Room will determine the next heroine to be featured in game!

Hayato Kaji

Hideki Ishikawa

Kazushi Itou

Keiji Inafune

Ryuji Higurashi

Sensei Haruku Suetsugu

Shinsuke Komaki

Tatsuya Yoshikawa

Toru Nakayama

Voting is open now until October 25th. Two different polls are going on, English and Japanese. Character design with the highest votes between the two becomes the new MML "heroine" character (Trigger harem +1, amirite?). So get voting!

Hayato Kaji: I like how they gave her a met helmet. But it's literally Mayl with a met helmet and rubber clothes.

Hideki Ishikawa: Pretty decent but it does not work with that skirt. Otherwise I would rank it 4th.

Kazushi Itou: Okay, but not distinctive.

Keiji Inafune: Keiji and his blondes in red as protagonists.

Ryuji Higurashi: 3rd best. The helmet, boots, and gloves are excellent and look very series appropriate.

Sensei Haruku Suetsugu: 1st best. The whole suit works. Everything complements each other. Best hairstyle. Distinctive, particularly from other series characters, while being appropriate to the series.  I'd like to see what they do with the Native theme.  The feather adds a surprising amount to it.

Shinsuke Komaki: 2nd best. The wacky sleeves are cool. The boots work with the series. But I am not a fan of the hair and the rest of the suit is not that distinctive however.

Tarsuya Yoshikawa: I like the hair. While this is a good color scheme the wing suit concept is more JRPG than Mega Man.

Toru Nakayama: You can tell this is the MMZ artist. Good entry but not quite up there with the top 3.

I mean to add comments about each girl after I posted but I forgot, guess I'll go do that now.

I was agreeing with Vector's first choice when I first saw these pics.  While I'm sure Keiji's going to get votes simply because he was the creator of Mega Man, he's made someone who's going to compete with Roll both in hair and clothing colors, and that strikes me as being a bit redundant.

A darker-skinned heroine would be nice too, though.

Nah, still too lazy to fully comment. Maybe later. I keep getting distracted. Anyway, this was on the Japanese poll site... the guidelines the artists are using when coming up with their designs:

Translation:

Lilly (temporary name) new heroine 14 year old girl
Final design to be decided
Calls herself "Watashi" (temporary)

Script:
-Alright, I'll operate as best I can!
-Crush the two teams!
-Didn't I say that _____ was dangerous!?
-I'm not leaving without _____!

"Lilly" is the given name for this new character, and it seems she'll be on one side of two or more teams competing... for something. By "her teammates" I wonder if it means the Kobuns? Is it implying that Tron and Roll will be competing against each other in a race to reach Elysium and save Volnutt? Or will all three join forces together to stop another (evil) team from getting there first?

She's probably another Spotter.  Take note of the use "operation/operate" and how she's compared to Roll in that context - and Roll's role (nyuk nyuk) is being MegaMan's Spotter.  "Operator" is probably the more literal translation from the Japanese version, and seems more in line with the use of operator in other Mega Man series games.

Don't know about this team business, but there have been other pirate factions before besides the Bonne family - and maybe other teams of competing Diggers might show up too.

I am sooo happy to hear this! Hope it lives up to the other two, can't wait!

Looking at it again, the guidelines resembles something out of a Mad Libs book.

-Didn't I say that (foreplay) was dangerous!?
-I'm not leaving without (pancakes)!

I'm in tears. Tears of sheer joy.

Nothing else matters but this game, Nothing.

... NOTHING!

SWEET BABY BACK  RIBS! I SAID NOTHING ELSE @#&^!ING MATTERS!!!

... So yeah, color me surprised!

zomg more tidbits from NYCC

* Capcom is well aware of the demand for the original voice cast to return, namely Rob Smith (Teisel Bonne). They want to involve these voice actors in some way but will be revealing more details about this soon.
* The game's story is still in development; nothing is set in stone. However, Kitabayashi did confirm the game will continue after the events of Legends 2; he promises we won't be left hanging. On a related note, Capcom is considering having fans that are writers come up with "episodes" for the game. (Episodes? First time we've heard about that...)
* Kitabayashi couldn't talk about how big of a role the new heroine will have but alluded that she's just as important as Roll and Tron.
* Why Legends 3 on the Nintendo 3DS and not a home console? Simply put, Capcom thought the title would work well with the system's various elements. That and apparently the 3DS is fairly easy to develop for, according to Kitabayashi.
* The game will utilize the 3DS touch screen; wouldn't divulge how it would be used. Bear in mind, the touch screen does not support 3D.
* L3 will retain a lot of familiar gameplay elements from its prequels, but because games have progressed so much in the last ten years, expect to see some advancements.
* Monster Hunter staff members will be lending a hand in L3's development; as such, don't be surprised to see some MH flare thrown into the gameplay.
* The character designs have improved since ten years ago, but they're still the same characters you all know and love. Capcom will actually be releasing images of the cast very soon.
* Yes, Tron and the Servbots are back. Kitabayashi (jokingly) said there might be more Servbots this time around...
* Kitabayashi will look into getting Mega Man Legends 1 and Legends 2 on the North American PlayStation Store. It's unlikely Mega Man 64 will make it to the Virtual Console, however.

Fan-written episodes? Not sure if want. And anyone else think 4 player co-op giant Revearbot beat-downs when they read that MH staff will be lending a hand in development?

Missed this Contest Update.

To summarize:

3rd: Yoshikawa
2nd: Suetsugu
1st: Komaki

Looks like Zipper Sleeves is leading the pack, and the contest ends tomorrow. If you haven't voted yet, now's the time.

Voted for Suetsugu just within the last half-hour, and that design is leading with 26% as of when I voted, with Komaki's design behind at 22% - so it's still close!

Results at the bottom. Dead heat between Suetsugu and Komaki, but Suetsugu eventually came out on top with 25% of the vote to Komaki's 22%. As I understand it the Japanese poll is still tallying so we may not know who won over there for a while yet, however what we do know is that both Komaki and Yoshikawa's designs were heavily-favored, with Suetsugu coming up third (I think, she was up there). If this holds, then it stands to reason that Komaki Lilly could be the one to win the prize.

Western-themed MML is fine, too.

http://www.capcom-unity.com/devroom

EDIT: (there was an image here... now it is gone)
In short, Komaki's version of Lilly won the popular vote.

And in, um... hopefully unrelated news Keiji Inafune today has officially resigned from Capcom. 😮

There's a huge 6 page interview at 4Gamer which they conducted with Inafune last week (posted today) about his resignation. I'm not going to bother translating it because Anoop will probably have something on his blog later. He does address Megaman Legends 3 as well, saying that it took so long to assemble the staff and to get the project approved that he didn't want to quit at this point, but he just couldn't continue anymore because he really hates his job and doesn't feel any joy or drive anymore.

This makes sense, as he's been quite vocal about the state of the Japanese game industry at previous TGS events. And he has wanted to make MML3 for so long... getting it green-lighted was the only thing keeping him at Capcom. 🙁

EDIT: And here's the so-called "Anoop" with his take.

Wow.  I knew it was pretty unlikely to fly with his design, what with it being so similar to Roll and all...but now with this in perspective, maybe he wasn't even trying.  I wish him luck, though; clearly his decision is a big step, might even change a few things up for Capcom.  And for the rest of the gaming world.

I know Capcom probably bought up all the rights and all to Mega Man, but I can't help but speculate that if Inafune went elsewhere with the concept, what other companies would do with Mega Man.

His design would probably be 6th or higher if it was palette swapped to not look like Roll and Zero. I don't know what to think of Inafune-san leaving Capcom.

Chessemeister, a member of the NeoGAF forums has translated the 4Gamer Inafune Interview in full for those who might be curious about his motivations. It's a very informative dialogue, and if you have any thoughts about joining the video game industry or were curious how the Japanese side see to run things on their end... this is something you might find quite enlightening. It's a big read, so be warned.

From the reactions I'm seeing, it would appear that Mr. Inafune has been quite misunderstood about his intentions as of late.

And hopefully, the next time I post something here it will be more MML3 news.

Wow, that's...pretty intense.  And rather telling.  And that's just what I read from the first post's worth of the interview!

Does put the Sonic games into a bit of perspective, doesn't it?

"Event #2" - Design a Bonne Mecha

Now they're requesting (or rather, will request soon) idea submissions on what kind of Servbot-driven mech will attack the "player" (being a bit vague, are we?) inside the treasure room of a very damp ruin. Looks like they'll like water to play a key role in the battle. Not sure what exactly Eguchi is suggesting with the "synching Servbot" remark, then again he admits he's just rambling.

Seems they forgot about Bruno when they compiled that list of past Bonne mechs.

Lilly Sephira (Aero in Japan), Ishikawa-style.

The redesign process in action.

Ha ha.

So basically, they want people to sign up and shore up those Servbot numbers. The more people sign up, the "faster" the rocket to save Volnutt is built. Signing up also earns you Unity Points or something, I don't know. Sounds like Internet money.

So, how do you get a number? I only saw a join button but nothing servbot related happened.

http://www.capcom-unity.com/official_capcom_blog/blog/2010/11/16/how_to_get_your_servbot_number_in_the_mml3_dev_room

The site loads completely broken for me. It's just so sluggish right now and I don't know why.

You's talkin' to Servbot #001384 now, dawgs.

The Bonne Mecha Contest is now open for voting. Dec. 8th edit: Vote's over.

List of submitted entries

Just took a quick look at some of these, this one stood out:

[Drillbohrer]
A missile-shaped transport craft that transforms into an excavation mech for the following battle.

The player must lead the machine to the water area. When it tries to drill in the water...

The upper panels will open so that the servbots can bail out water. This reveal's the machine's core -- the weak point you must shoot.

Ah ha, that's awesome. There's some good ideas floating around in there.

Bonne Mecha contest ends today.

Missed this: Event #3 - The Townspeople. Now fans are being tasked with filling in NPC personalities and dialogue by one of two different methods. Not very glamorous, but it means more people can add their input (unlike the previous event that heavily favors artists).

What's cool about this particular entry is that it reveals (one of?) the game's setting(s), a new island called Klickelan and its town shock full of diggers, Teomo City (also some Legends backstory):

Is this the first time they've gone on record and said that people in the Legends universe regularly install robotic body parts? In-game it was implied that was the case but never (I think) explicitly stated. My first time through MML1 I thought Teasel and Bon Bonne were funky robot men like Megaman (turns out none of them were... well, jury's still out on Bon).

EDIT: Looks like the voting is over for the Design a Bonne Mecha Contest. The top 5 designs (wait... top 10? that post is a little confusing) are going to be revealed tomorrow (Dec. 9th) afternoon, but it'll be up to the dev team to choose which design (both North American and Japan contests were running concurrently again) will be featured in the game.

Here you can see some of the Japanese entries: 1st batch | 2nd batch

Design a Bonne Mecha North American Top 5 Nominees
Design a Bonne Mecha Japanese Top 5 Nominees

So now all that's left is for the winner to be chosen from these 10 nominees.

EDIT: And we have a winner!

Kobun #46's "Donner Wels"

Looks like the devs were happy to have a mech that incorporates electricity into its attacks. Should make for a thrilling battle. The runner-up turned out to be from the North America nominees with his octobot battle that reminds me somewhat of the final boss in Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

Newest blog update reveals holiday-themed wallpaper for download. Get 'em here.

Poll: Do you prefer Aero or Sephira?
I actually don't mind Sephira, it's a nice name. But I've never been a fan of Capcom deliberately changing names for international audiences, whether it be North American marketing decisions or decrees from Japan HQ (as was the case with Aero/Sephira). Anyways, unless there's an overwhelmingly high support for Aero I doubt they'll up and change their minds now.

On a last note: Found some Sephira/Aero artwork on the Japanese website:

EDIT: Just found this. Understandable that it hasn't been reported on the NA blog, as it pertains to the Japanese version only. Still, it's another contest so I feel obligated to have it on record.

Updated the 1st post with a new MML3P "trailer" (more like a teaser, really). You can see some quick concepts like Roll's new outfit and a peek at Aero's in-game model (well, just her head really). Yes, Aero. They're keeping the name.

EDIT:
Devroom blog post - modeling Aero part 1
Devroom blog post - modeling Aero part 2

that design... is... PERFECT OMG
all she needs is some grease smudged on her cheek to complete the look!

One last thing: I hear the game's director (Eguchi-san) will be attending the Nintendo World press event for the 3DS. Apparently he'll be checking out other people's games and "studying" them. Hey man, whatever... if it helps inspire a great boss battle or game mechanic it's all good!

The...the new outfit for Roll is just extending the top and bottom of her old outfit so that it covers her midriff.  And adding a belt.  Front pockets.  Zipper instead of huge buttons.

...I agree, it works well.  Now if only they'd remodel Tron's outfit too.

Event #3 - The Townspeople: winning selections chosen.
Modeling Aero part 3

Event #4 - The Reaverbot

New contest: Time to design your own Reaverbot.

clang clang clang clang
clang clang clang clang
clang clang clang clang

Bwah Bwah!

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG

WOSSHHEEEEEEEEeeeee

TORONTO -- The actor formerly featured in a series of popular commercials for Alexander Keith's beer has been sentenced to 21 months in jail for possession of child pornography and making it available online.

Robert Smith mouthed "I love you" to his family as he was led away in handcuffs from the courtroom after he was sentenced by Superior Court Justice Robert Clark.

The 43-year-old actor had a "depraved fascination with this sordid material," said the judge as he told the court he must impose a sentence that reflects society's "repugnance" at this offence. Smith was known as an irascible Scotsman who chastised others in a series of commercials for Alexander Keith's. He was fired by the brewing company and the commercials were pulled after his arrest in February 2006. Police found more than 800 images of child pornography on his computer and compact discs after a search of his Toronto home. More than a dozen hours of video clips, many depicting young children in sexual acts, were also discovered.

The images and videos were "particularly graphic and vile," said Judge Clark.

Smith initially challenged the legality of the searches and his trial could have been a test case as to whether police need search warrants to obtain subscriber information from Internet service providers. But the actor abandoned his Charter challenge and pleaded guilty this spring to possession of child pornography and to making child pornography available, through the use of peer-to-peer online file sharing networks.

Smith has no prior criminal record and is married, with two children aged seven and four.
Crown attorney Allison Dellandrea asked for a term of 24 months in jail.

Defence lawyer Cindy Wasser sought a term of 18 months in custody. The fact that Smith has two children of "like age" was an aggravating factor in his offences, said Judge Clark. "He should have been more keenly aware of the danger of the exploitative material he saw fit to enjoy," the judge observed.

A psychiatrist who testified for the defence said that Smith has an obsession with all forms of pornography. The type did not matter as long as it was "novel and titillating" said the psychiatrist, who concluded that Smith is not a pedophile.

A children's aid agency investigated and found that Smith is not a risk to his children.

Judge Clark the children's aid findings "give me no comfort" and told the court he wanted to err on the side of protecting children. In addition to the 21-month sentence, the judge imposed a term of three-years probation where Smith is not allowed to possess a computer or any similar device except at work and cannot see his children unless another adult is present.

Ms. Wasser stressed outside court that there has never been an allegation that her client has engaged in an improper manner with any child. "There is no evidence that he would," she added.

The judge referred to the notoriety of the trial and suggested that Smith might have received a longer jail term were it not for the media coverage of his charges.

"It is no small price to pay. It will follow him after his jail term is over," said the judge, who heard that Smith is unlikely to find work as an actor once he is released from custody.

Smith was given one month credit for pre-trial custody and has 20 months left in his sentence.

Alexander Keith commercial 1
Alexander Keith commercial 2

Now, you may be asking yourself why I would post an article on a convicted pedophile in the MML3 thread, of all places. Did you watch the two commercials I've linked to? Smith is the crazy scotsman in those commercials. Does... does his voice sound familiar to you? If you're fond of the Legends series, it should! Granted you'd have to get past the accent.

🙁 i think i'm going to be sick

I doubt Capcom is going to risk hiring him back to reprise his role. I wonder if they were even aware of Smith's criminal record before announcing that they were going to try and bring back all the old VAs for the new game during last year's big reveal.

... @#%$!

I never put two and two together, it was a story several years ago in Canada while the commercials were getting steam, but damn ain't that a frighteningly shocking shame.

Well... Richard Ian Cox is still looking for work- [BRICKED]

Event #5 - Town Easter Egg Hunt
Time to brainstorm miscellaneous town activities that may or may not fatten your wallet and affect your standing with the citizenry!

... I didn't know you could kick Roll... something like that wouldn't even occur to me! Curse my Lawful Good tendencies!

Would engaging in such (evil) activities will cause Voltnut to turn black, much like the first game?

EDIT: Not so sure, but wasn't  that (kicking the can) already in Legends 1?

Disregard that. I am blind! ;_;

Though I did the whole "Hippopotamus name change" for the entire game hoping the Bonne's would follow suit! XD;

http://blog.daletto.net/dash3/archives/2585488.html

Mr. Eguchi has been so kind as to reveal some early screens of the game's progress from various states of development, between June 2010 and up to their latest build:

Don't get too excited, Mega Man and Bass are merely placeholders. Anyways, this is all pre-alpha stuff so things are subject to change (for the better, we hope!) as development continues.

Playable demo to be showcased at 3DS event.

Eguchi confirms "prototype" at event.

The rumours of MML3's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Or IS IT?

Also Here Areo Speak (In English and Japanese) !

That's the nature of game development, though. And Capcom is doing something rather unprecedented here: blogging about a game in the early stages of development, the same stages where a great many other games were snuffed out before they saw the light of day. While it came to a surprise to me as well to learn that Capcom hadn't officially green-lit production yet (hence the -PROJECT- moniker), I'm even more surprised that no one thought to consider that the blog wasn't just an experiment in public feedback on a global level but also a way for the company to gauge interest in the property itself. One can only assume that as it stands now, even with all the activity in the Devrooms and the progress made by the development staff, that the Management is still not convinced that a sequel to a brilliant but somewhat poorly received franchise is "a good idea". Inafking managed to get the ball rolling before leaving for greener pastures, but apparently that ball is going to need the entire community to push it along against the friction of corporate (mis)management.

But would Capcom risk fan outrage if they were to terminate development on a valued IP, in the midst of creation? For many in the game industry, canceled games are more often than not treated as mere footnotes, in large part due to their intensely reclusive developmental process. And while the gaming public may lament the demise of a possible new Metroid/Chrono/Legacy of Kain/Beyond Good & Evil entry, usually by the time they discover it even existed the chances of it happening were long since over. They will curse the company, say "oh well maybe next time" and move on. Things couldn't be any different with MML3, which has existed front and center in the face of public scrutiny since Day One. And with the company's community-driven "Devrooms", the public has had plenty of time to accept the coming Legends 3 as a matter-of-fact, instead of being at the mercy of some suit's whim.

But if there's one thing businessmen understand, it's numbers. I can see now that the Devrooms are going to need to shore up even more members, even more interest in the product in order to convince the guys in charge that Mega Man Legends 3 is a great idea. Hence the new Event 6, which is all about creating more hype for the project using various means. Not only that, but the Akihabara demo event will also be crucial in determining the future of the series. It's yet another test to gauge interest from the Japanese public, especially those who own the system the game is being developed on.

It's no suprise that the so-called "project extension" will last until the end of the month, which will be just after the demo event on the 29th. Which also will be about one week after the Event 6 deadline on the 22nd.

I hope it gets off the ground.  It's been too long in coming as it is.

In other news, looks like people are shuffling around the forums.  Mega Man HQ still exists, it's just hidden now and only available through the forum jump.

Link

I guess the hiatus is over.

Sounds like a great time to port some of the other games in the series to PSN/Live...right Capcom?

I think this is the first I've seen Rock in a MML3 related drawing since it was first "announced" (Points to first post).

I've been reading from fan sites how some people are claiming the death of the entire franchise because MML3 is schedule to be released on an anticipated hand held gaming system rather than on every single platform out there. To which annoys me, but expected in the gaming community.

Random question: How many units would a game have to see (and how fast) for it be considered a success?

It varies with the game. A multi-million dollar budgeted "Triple AAA" title in a best-selling franchise for today's home consoles would have to do incredible numbers to justify its expense. Inversely, most handheld titles can be produced at a fraction of the cost, and sell even less to still be considered a success. Which is probably why we're seeing this on Nintendo 3DS and not Playstation 3. We also have to consider the install base for the 3DS, which at the moment in nowhere near as huge as the number of DS systems out there.