OtaRockman 2011 Report

Before you head out amongst all the ghosts’n goblins of All Hallows’ Eve (or just a really tough video game), we would like to take this opportunity to look back at this year’s other big costumed event for Mega Man fans, the annual OtaRockman celebration at Otakon in Baltimore.

Unlike last year, things kicked off on the first day of the convention, Friday, July 29th. Things began with the annual Mega Man panel, this year dubbed “Made in Japan,” which presented a look back at the many games of the franchise which never made it to our shores (at least, not in their original forms). The panel was hosted by Ryouko of Rockman.EXE Online and Terra Stardroid of Stardroids.net, while Tabby and myself represented The Mega Man Network.

As ever, the lineup of people waiting to get in was quite impressive. Following the then-recent cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3, it was our hope to be able to provide the aforementioned Servbot masks to those who did not bring their own (on a nifty little stick, no less). Unfortunately, due to the short notice and circumstances beyond our control, it was not to be.

Nonetheless, even though they were not masked, you can see in the video at the top of this article that there was still some vocal support from those in attendance.

As for the rest of the panel itself, you can see the first two three parts of the video footage here, courtesy of Hardcore Hecxz:

There was also going to be a special video tribute to Mega Man Legends, as assembled by our very own Mainfinger. Unfortunately, due to time restraints, it was not able to be included in the panel. And so, for the first time ever, here is the debut of the video in full:

The Underbelly Show even managed to attend (well, some of them, anyway), and walked out with a prize!

And as always, we ended the panel with a raffle for some cool Mega Man prizes. A special thanks goes out to Capcom USA and UDON Entertainment for their generous contributions.

The following morning of Saturday, July 30th, the time came for the annual OtaRockman cosplay gathering and meet-up behind the convention center’s Starbucks stand. And as you can see, there was quite the turnout of costumed Blue Bomber fans:

Image courtesy of Ryouko; click to enlarge.

Image courtesy of Dr. Neko; click to enlarge.

Image courtesy of Rick Cressen; click to enlarge.

Image courtesy of Rick Cressen; click to enlarge.

More fun was to be had when the three doctors– Wily, Light, and even Cossack– got together to have a quick hoedown and perform some Ginyu Force-styled poses:

And arguably the best part was when I got to live out a life-long dream…

Images courtesy of Jackscarab and Rick Cressen; click to enlarge.

Okay, so it wasn’t our Heat Man; it was still pretty cathartic.

Some more fun and poses:

Image courtesy of Jackscarab; click to enlarge.

Image courtesy of Rick Cressen; click to enlarge.

Image courtesy of Rick Cressen; click to enlarge.

Image courtesy of Jackscarab; click to enlarge.

After the cosplay high jinks was finished, there was a follow-up to last year’s Mega Man 9 Endless Mode tournament. Of course, this time, Mega Man 10 was the subject. Sadly, there were no trophies to be awarded this year, though if memory serves, the winner got to walk away with a brand-new San Diego Comic-Con-exclusive metallic Mega Man X D-Arts figure from Bandai.

Unfortunately, some of us had to leave early for an RPG, and so we don’t have the running tally on-hand for who won, and by how much. If we get the info, we will be sure to add it here.

And speaking of which, for those who looked in the right places, there was more Mega Man fun to be had at the various tables in the dealer’s room. Tabby even took the following pictures of the D-Arts display which Bandai had set up:

Click to enlarge.

And with that, another year of Mega Man-themed festivities in Baltimore comes to a close. For more pics from the different OtaRockman events, as well as the rest of the convention, you can check out the galleries of Jackscarab and Rick Cressen on Photobucket, and Dr. Neko on Picasaweb.