Happy Rockman Day!

It’s June 9th, and June 9th is “Rockman Day”!

But in case you don’t know or have forgotten what Rockman Day is:

It falls on June 9th because of the Japanese trend of making numbers into words based on sounds. “Roku” is 6 and “ku/kyuu” is 9. Put together they form “rokku” (since rokuku would be a little weird to say). This is why you sometimes see the number 69 crop up in Mega Man games, like on the Support Car license plate, and Mr. Famous’ 69 battles winning streak.

As I did last year, here’s a few things to check out to celebrate, assuming you’re not already doing so by reading Mega Man comics, watching Mega Man cartoons, or playing Mega Man video games (if you want to be really authentic, you can set the language in Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 + 2 to Japanese to make it a real Rockman Day celebration!)

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First up is a neat little fan game that sends Proto Man through a fortress full of his knockoff derivatives in a quest to retrieve his Proto Shield in what can only be called “Oh Joes! (A Proto Man Adventure).

For more details and to download the game, be sure to visit creator Nathaniel Hoover’s page.

Thanks for the tip, MegaTuga!

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Classic Gaming Quarterly recently took a look at a couple of vintage video game magazines which prominently featured Mega Man. Be warned that there might be some Not Safe For Work language in these, though if there is, it shouldn’t be anything too heavy (the eps run about an hour each, and I’m not rewatching them all the way through to check right now).

First up is the seventh issue of Nintendo Power magazine, which sported a cover for Mega Man 2 with Mega Man on Item 2 chasing Dr. Wily in his latest contraption:

While I’d played the original Mega Man before, this magazine’s coverage is where my interest started to become a passion that’s been with me throughout the rest of my life to date. (I also really enjoyed the art in the Super Mario Bros. 2 tip book!)

Next up is the third issue of PSM, the then-unofficial PlayStation magazine from November 1997. On the cover, we get two series for the price of one as Zero and MegaMan Volnutt team up for an appearance that predates their repeat series representation in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom by more than a decade:

I was already in full hype mode for Mega Man X4 by the time this hit newsstands, but I had a little more trepidation towards Mega Man Legends, which was still being called “Mega Man Neo” at this point in time. This issue — and finally seeing the new version with a helmet on — helped push me from wariness towards excitement for the then-newest branch of the franchise.

Funny to think it would go on to become one of my favorites of all time.

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Finally, Jason Mendelson has released an new album inspired by the eight Robot Masters of Mega Man 2 on Bandcamp called “Blue Streak.” You can give it a listen here, and if you like it, maybe purchase a digital copy of your own for just $8 USD.

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Once again, I hope everyone enjoys their Rockman Day, and get ready — E3 is kicking off this weekend, and we may yet hear more Mega Man news over the following days, so keep your eyes peeled and your browsers set to The Mega Man Network for news and details as it comes!

(Top image via The Reploid Research Lavatory.)

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

For a full list of places to find him online, click here.