Games in Time – Mega Man Is BACK

mega man

It’s December 4th, 2017 and here’s what’s happening in games – Mega Man makes his grand 30th anniversary return, Life Is Strange gets its original voice actors back, and five predictions for announcements made at The Game Awards. The video game industry changes every day and your time is important. Let’s get you caught up, starting right now, on Games in Time!

HEADLINES

Mega Man 30th Anniversary Stream

Mega Man is back! To celebrate the series’ 30th anniversary on December 17th, Capcom hosted a livestream today to celebrate the Mega Man series in a surprisingly big way!

The biggest news from the event comes in the form of the announcement of Mega Man 11! The game uses a 2.5-D art style that is rather reminiscent of Mighty No. 9, Mega Man is no longer a silent protagonist, and the game will be coming out Late 2018 on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Make sure to watch the replay of the Twitch stream on Capcom Unity for insights into the game’s art direction and character design from Mega Man 11’s development team. Of particular note is that concept art for Mega Man 11 was actually buried in the art gallery of Mega Man Legacy Collection 2.

Secondly, Capcom also confirmed that all eight Mega Man X titles will be coming to all current-generation platforms in 2018. While the phrasing was vague, it is expected that this will be a collection, much like the two Legacy Collections that have already been released.

And finally, those two Legacy Collections will be coming to Nintendo Switch in 2018. The two ports will have amiibo support, and the release timing is expected to give players the opportunity to play through Mega Man 1-10 on Switch, in anticipation of 11.

The biggest takeaways from the event seem to be not only is Mega Man back as Capcom franchise that the publisher deems to be worthy, but also that the significant sales success of Nintendo Switch can no longer be ignored. This indication from Capcom may be just the tip of the iceberg, especially when it comes to Japanese publishers. We will have to follow what happens during this week’s Game Awards, as well as a rumored Nintendo Direct in January 2018, to see if the trend continues.

Life Is Strange: Before the Storm – Episode 3 “Coming Soon”

Life Is Strange: Before the Storm – Episode 3 has been announced to be “coming soon,” according to the game’s official Twitter account. This conclusion to the prequel of the critically acclaimed 2015 adventure game will feature fan-favorite character Chloe Price and the events that will rock her relationship with newly-found friend Rachel Amber.

This follows up on this weekend’s news that “Farewell,” the epilogue to Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, will feature the return of Hannah Telle and Ashly Burch, voicing Max Caulfield and Chloe Price, respectively. While Burch has been on the writing team for Before the Storm, the video game voice actors strike on behalf of the Screen Actors Guild meant that she was not able to reprise her role as 16-year-old Chloe. Rhianna DeVries has done an admirable job as a stand-in, but it will be refreshing to hear Burch return to the role, especially after award-winning reception this year as Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn. Young Max and Chloe’s “Farewell” arrives in Early 2018.

Top 5 Announcement Predictions for The Game Awards

It’s a big week here in December for the game industry. On Thursday, Geoff Keighley hosts his production of The Game Awards and PlayStation Experience starts on Friday, with panels going through the weekend. Let’s save the award predictions and the PSX speculation for later in the week, though, I’d like to provide my top five predictions for what will be announced at The Game Awards, from least to most likely.

  • #5 – Rocksteady will show their new title and it will still be related to a DC Comics property
  • #4 – Crystal Dynamics shows either Shadow of the Tomb Raider or more details on The Avengers Project
  • #3 – Hideo Kojima will announce a new celebrity’s involvement in Death Stranding
  • #2 – The Devil May Cry V rumors are true and Capcom shows a reveal trailer
  • #1 – Nintendo reveals a trailer and an exact date in December 2017 for the release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – The Champions’ Ballad

OUT SOON

  • Dead Rising 4: Frank’s Big Package comes to PlayStation 4 on Tuesday, December 5th. The game features the previously-Xbox One and PC-exclusive Dead Rising 4, along all of the game’s DLC and a new mode called “Capcom Heroes,” which allows protagonist Frank West to “wear over a dozen outfits and perform outrageous special attacks inspired by classic Capcom characters.”
  • Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris comes to PS4, Xbox One, and PC on Tuesday, December 5th. This is the game’s first major expansion and it features the first appearance of the former Vanguard Commander and Ikora Rey’s former teacher.
  • Steep: Road to the Olympics comes to PS4, Xbox One, and PC on Tuesday, December 5th. First revealed at E3 2017, this is the expansion to Ubisoft’s winter sports title and it has an official partnership with the 2018 Pyeongchang, South Korea Winter Olympic Games.

MAILBAG

Jesse: “With 2017 nearing a close, what would you say was your biggest surprise this year?”

Honestly, it’s probably the overall level of success that the Nintendo Switch has had so far. I mean, I knew that it was the system for me, but the fact that Nintendo’s company prospects have really turned around is remarkable. It was a launch that they had to get right and nine months in, it’s hard to argue that this isn’t the best year-one games lineup ever for a new console. Hopefully the monthly software rollout plan can continue into 2018, as we should ideally see with a Direct at the start of the new year, not to mention the necessity of revealing online and Virtual Console plans. But yeah, as we see with Capcom’s news today, publishers are starting to turn around on the fact that if the Switch can run it, it is worth it to put games on that platform. I’ll be looking forward to seeing similar ports and new game announcements for Switch continue.

Now, if you mean if I was surprised regarding a particular game or announcement, I had a feeling that Sonic Mania and Cuphead would be surprisingly good earlier this year, but I’m honestly shocked at how messy the situation regarding Star Wars: Battlefront II turned out. It’s not often that I take a game off of my preorder list, but this was one of those times. Not a terrible campaign for a quick rental, though, I’ll say that much.

mega man

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Peter Spezia

Editor-in-Chief at Rhymes With Asia
Speaking into a microphone about nerd culture is a passion project for Peter Spezia, formerly known as SMYNYouko. Peter has been an Internet broadcaster since 2007, with past shows including Show Me Your News and WTF, Pokémon. His latest ventures include hosting The PowerSwitch - gaming's call-in talk radio show - and writing for RhymesWithAsia.com. A University of Michigan alum, Peter lives in the Great Lakes State with his wife Rachel as he works in video production for FCA US LLC. When he isn't keeping track of the latest video game industry news, Peter is either playing the guitar or staying fit.