Warning: The Watercooler is the best thing you will see on the Internet today, mainly because it is the best thing I saw on the Internet yesterday. Be advised that these Watercooler stories are not necessarily videogame related (they usually won’t be), and are often silly, controversial, and/or not safe for work (NSFW). If this type of content frequently offends you, please be aware that I just warned you — if you still click through and get offended, it will be your own stupid fault. Otherwise, please continue…

Today’s Watercooler features a happy little music video about how difficult it is to beat Air Man in the various Mega Man games. To be honest, I don’t recall ever having that big of a problem with Air Man. Yellow Devil, on the other hand, that’s one bad mo-fo. Still, I can see how some people might be frustrated by Air Man and how much he sucks and blows (tur-hur!)

Watch it!

You’re welcome.

Think you have something that could be Watercooler material? Send it to dlandis@ripten.com. If your submission gets featured, you will win a prize package full of pride and accomplishment.

The retro awesomeness you are about to witness is titled “Megaman 9 – Rockin in paper” and the creation of Nicolas Ménard. It pits a paper Mega Man in a real world adventure made up of everyday objects such as legos, cereal boxes, and a giant paper cutter. Brilliant.

Maybe this will inspire Capcom to create their own LittleBigPlanet type level editor for the blue bomber. Hit the jump to see paper Mega Man in action.

Source: capcom-unity.com

Bust out your Wii (don’t go there) and download some retro Mega Man action. I have been waiting to play this game for a few months now, and after giving it a go at E3, I was quickly reminded how hard some retro games can really be. Don’t kid yourself, in addition to being nostalgic, this game will be challenging as well.

My download has started and my checklist has been double checked for retro compatibility. Zuba pants, check! Michael Jackson “BAD” playing in the background, check! Dr . Pepper, check!

Official Capcom press release after the jump.

CAPCOM® UNLEASHES MEGA MAN® 9 FOR DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

The Blue Bomber Launches on WiiWareTM, Xbox LIVE® and PLAYSTATION®Network in Classic Style
SAN MATEO, CA — September 22, 2008 — Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that Mega Man® 9 is now available for download on Nintendo’s WiiWare™ service, and will be available for the PLAYSTATION®Network on September 25, and Xbox LIVE® Arcade on October 1. The original 2D classic Mega Man® returns, bringing the series back to its roots with retroaction-platform gameplay and NES™-inspired old school graphics. Relive the Mega Man experience with maniacally themed environments, a host of power-ups, and classically-inspired bosses, each with their own unique weapons and weaknesses. Mega Man 9 is rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) and is available for,1000 Wii Points™, $9.99 on PLAYSTATION®Network, or 800 Microsoft® Points.

After ten years in the making and jumps from the PS One and Gamecube to the Xbox 360, Too Human is finally coming out this week and we’ll get to see if the game was truly worth the wait.

Other highlights of the week include Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty for the PS3, Two Worlds: Epic Edition for PC and I’m pretty hyped up for the original Mega Man for the Wii, via the Virtual Console.

Pick of the Week: Too Human (Xbox 360)

Xbox 360:

• Galaga: Legions (XBLA)
• Smash Court Tennis 3
• Too Human

PS3:

• Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty (PSN)

Nintendo Wii:

• Mega Man (VC)
• Midnight Pool (WiiWare)
• NEO TURF MASTERS (VC)
• Super Pick Ups

PS2:

• Falling Stars
• Shepherd’s Crossing

Nintendo DS:

• Commando Steel Disaster
• The Cheetah Girls: Passport to Stardom

PSP:

• Fading Shadows

PC Games:

• Adventure Anthology
• Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm
• Dracula 3: Path of the Dragon
• MindHabits
• Murder in the Abby
• Shattered Suns
• Sinking Island
• Space Siege
• Tank Universal
• Two Worlds Epic Edition

I wanted to get an update out to everyone who entered the Mega Man sketch contest. We will be reviewing the entries made before the contest deadline and deciding on a winner shortly. Thank you for entering.

Chad-

Mega Man is hard. No doubt about that. Mega Man 9, supposedly, is going to be the hardest one since the classic NES titles of yore, which is pretty fitting considering the game’s neo-retro graphical style. Back in the day when you downed Quick Man without taking a hit, all you could do was tell your friends, and hope they believed you.

Now, with these recently released Mega Man 9 Achievements, you can have concrete proof of your bona fide Mega mastery. Good luck getting them though, because well, they’re almost all completely insane, from “Gamer’s Day”, which tasks you with beating the game 5 times in a single day, to “Peacekeeper”, which requires you to beat the game while defeating “as few enemies as possible” – nice of Capcom not to give us a specific number. Hit the jump for the full list.

Jitterbug
Clear the game in 60 minutes or less. 20 G

Invincible
Clear the game without dying. 30 G

Almost Invincible
Clear the game without continuing. 20 G

No Coffee Break
Clear the game without using any Energy or Mystery Tanks. 10 G

Peacekeeper
Clear the game by defeating the fewest number of enemies possible. 20 G

Conservationist
Clear the game by using the least amount of Weapon Energy possible. 20 G

Gamer’s Day
Clear the game 5 times in 1 day. 20 G

Whomp Wily!
Clear the game once. 5 G

Destroyer
Defeat your 1000th enemy. 20 G

World Warrior
Defeat every type of enemy. 5 G

Trusty Sidearm
Defeat the 8 Bosses with the Mega Buster. 20 G

Blue Bomber 10 G
Defeat a Boss without getting damaged.

Those who hunger for retro Mega Man goodness will be happy to know that Mega Man 1 hits Nintendo’s VC this Monday, and the much anticipated Mega Man 9 will be available in September. The quoted portion below is directly from the official Capcom blog.

To prepare all you Mega Man fans for the release of Mega Man 9 in September, we’re going to offer you the opportunity to play the game that started it all. The orginal Mega Man game returns on the Virtual Console this Monday, August 4, 2008. Yes, that’s right. Brush up on your old school skills and prepare for some cool contests we have in store. We also plan to re-release Mega Man 2 in early September as well.

As great as this new sounds, there’s one thing that will make your Mega Man experience even better — some original Mega Man art by the man who created him. Don’t forget to sign up for our Keiji Inafune Mega Man art contest before it’s too late.

Source: capcom-unity.com

Hey readers! Andrew and I were lucky enough to get this one-of-a-kid Mega Man sketch by the original creator, Keiji Inafune. We will be giving you a chance to win it over the next few weeks.

All you have to do is leave a comment below (one comment per reader) telling us why you think this piece of retro awesomeness should be yours. Prove your love for the blue-bomber and win the perfect compliment to Capcom’s upcoming Mega Man 9.

Contest will end at midnight (12:00 am PST) on August 17, 2008. Check out the video of Inafune working his Mega Man magic below. Good luck.

The last real Mega Man game to hit the U.S., excluding 2003’s Game Boy Advance title Mega Man & Bass, was 1997’s Mega Man 8 for the original Playstation, which was one bad-ass game.

Luckily, Capcom recently registered Mega Man 9 with the Office of Film and Literature Classification (or the OFLC, Australia’s ESRB). Listed as a “multiplatform” game, it’s unsure what platforms the game will be released for, but there have been rumors that the game will likely come out for the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.

Honestly, I’d like to see a DS, or even better, a Wii version of the game, which would be totally awesome. Either way, it’s going to be nice to see the Blue Bomber back in action.

Source: Wii Fanboy

Little known facts about Capcom: Their name is pronounced Kapukon in Katakana, the writing system designated for foreign words in the Japanese language. Megaman is actually referred to as “Rockman” in his native Japan. And the name Capcom is actually a partial acronym taken from the company’s original name, Japan Capsule Computers.

Ok, enough Wiki-trivia. What is widely known is that Capcom is a developer that has made some of the greatest games to ever grace a cabinet or console. Whether you were a resident arcade junky or an agoraphobic console jockey, chances are you’ve played one or two of Capcom’s many gems. Based on their successes over the last 28 years, you weren’t the only one.

Capcom made one game that successfully hypnotized any and all who gazed upon it. Whether it was kids at an arcade in Shinjuku, Tokyo or teens killing time at a local Pizzeria during lunch period on Main St., USA, the game had the power of seduction. It showed up, seemingly out of nowhere, and already had a Roman numeral tacked onto its name in reference to a prequel that was unknown to most gamers.

Yes, Street Fighter II is a sacred name for most arcade enthusiasts. It paved the way for the Mortal Kombat, Tekken and Virtua Fighter games that would soon follow. It wrote the book on 2D fighting games and, for many, has never been bettered.

Street Fighter II could separate a 13-year old from his allowance money faster than an angry parent who just discovered the newly shaved family dog. But Capcom was around long before SF II, and has remained long after. This company is no one trick pony.

Arcade games were, and still are, a major source of income for Capcom. While many companies gave up on arcades in favor of home console game development, many of the big guns kept a toe in the quarter-pumping waters, Capcom being one of them. Games like 1942, Commando, and Gunsmoke gave Capcom their initial success, and the much-imitated Final Fight and Street Fighter series carried the torch in later years.

Capcom would go on to dominate home gaming machines. Mega Man would etch the famous blue and gold Capcom logo into the cache of many a pliable mind. Delivering solid side-scrolling action with RPG elements and powerups was a stroke of genius that would spawn five sequels on the NES alone. Dozens of other Mega Man games soon followed on subsequent machines. Bionic Commando and Trojan would also become early Capcom console favorites.

In 1996, Capcom made a little game called Resident Evil (Biohazard in Japan). Resident Evil scared the pants off of gamers the world over. It practically invented the “survival horror” genre and its creative puzzles and control scheme would serve as inspiration for 14 sequels on almost every console imaginable (along with three pretty bad movies).

Resident Evil made Capcom a big player in the late 90s, with help from Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe (made by sister company Clover), and the Onimusha series.

So whether its beat ‘em ups, shoot ‘em ups, hack ‘em ups or blow ‘em ups, Capcom delivers the goods time and time again. Versatility is not something that comes easily for most developers, but this Osaka powerhouse hits the bulls-eye time and time again. So whether it’s a classic side-scroller or light-gun operated shooter, you can put your faith in the old blue and gold.

Must Haves:
The Mega Man Collection (Multi),
Resident Evil 4 (Multi)

Have Nots:
Dino Crisis (PS1)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Can Marcus Fenix roadie run his way through a bullet blazing, one liner laden, no holds barred battle with the one and only Duke Nukem? Will Metal Gear’s main man Snake slither his way to victory against the Splinter Cells triclops, Sam Fisher? Metriod’s Samus Aran, or the combat evolved Master Chief? The king of cold: Sub Zero or the queen of hot: Lara Croft?

We here at ripten have been working for over two months, researching, arguing, and eating lots of junk food, all in the name of bringing you an accurate account of each characters quest for video game immortality. The results are in and over the coming weeks, you will lay witness to five rounds of sword swinging, scope sniping, chainsaw buzzing intense action.

Below you will find division one of the first round match ups, division two will be up tomorrow. We would love to hear your comments on how you think things should go down and who you would like to see win it all.

DIVSION ONE

Update: June 4th, 2007

Hello everyone,

Division One has changed slightly based on the feedback we received from readers. Lara Croft will now be facing off against “Pitfall Harry” and Ryu of Ninja Gaiden fame will be swinging his sword against Mr. Joe Shinobi.

We thank you for the feedback! To see the division two matchups click here. Check back tomorrow for matchups to start posting to the site in comic book page format featuring the artwork of various artists!

Thanks,
Mad Gamer

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