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About Me


Old-school gamer. I started gaming with the Atari 2600. I became an addict with the arcade release of Street Fighter II at my college. The SNES release pushed me into buying that system and a lame arcade stick. I haven't looked back since then. I still consider the 16-bit to be the Golden Age of gaming. The current generation is keeping me pretty happy, especially with the fighting game renaissance that's happening lately. And, yes, I'm old.

Proud owner of: Kiwi Gameboy Color, GBA SP, GBA Micro, PSP 3000, White DS Lite, Silver NeoGeo Pocket, purple SwanCrystal, SNES, Genesis, N64, purple Gamecube, slim PS2, Dreamcast, Wii and PS3.

Favorite Games: Last Blade 2, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Mark of the Wolves, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Zelda: Minish Cap, Dark Stalkers, King of Fighters, Mega Man ZX, Ikaruga, Macross: Do You Remember Love, Raiden Trad, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Valkyria Chronicles, Professor Layton, Killer7



Games on my mind:
Super Street Fighter II HD Remix (PS3)
King of Fighters XII (PS3)
King of Fighters XIII
King of Fighters 2k2: UM (PS2)
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (PS3)

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What Mega Man means to me
nilcam | 12:58 PM on 02.02.2009 24 comments


This blog is dedicated to the Red Comet himself, Char Aznable. He asked why i chose Zero for my arcade stick art and this question got me thinking about one of the most important characters to me, Mega Man.



I have played a ton of Mega Man games. Almost all of them, in fact. Here's the list, if you're interested:

SNES
Mega Man X, X2 and X3
Mega Man 7

Gameboy Color
Mega Man Xtreme 1 and 2

GBA
Mega Man and Bass
Mega Man Zero 1, 2, 3 and 4 - Fun fact: I played 4 on my honeymoon
Mega Man Battle Network 1 and 4

Gamecube
Mega Man Network Transmission
Mega Man Anniversary Collection
Mega Man X Collection
Mega Man X Command Mission

DS
Mega Man Battle Network 5 Double Team
Mega Man ZX and ZX Advent

PS3
Mega Man 9

PSP
Mega Man X Maverick Hunter - currently playing
Mega Man Powered Up

That's a ton of Mega Man. When most people were lamenting the tidal wave of the blue bomber, I was enjoying the side-scrolling goodness. Let's look back at my history with Mega Man and my attitude toward him.

My first MM game was X on the SNES. I was hesitant at first since it was a platforming game and I sucked at them but I was convinced when I learned about X's wall jumping ability. This made the game much more accessible to me. From the opening run down the crumbling highway to the showdown with Vile and the rescue by Zero, this game had found its way into my heart. The cinematic nature of the opening was breathtaking. I instantly loved that the hero of the game was a second-string player. He wasn't the best; he was the other guy. But he didn't quit and that's where my love for the little guy began.

I instantly identified with X. He wasn't that great at what he did but he never gave up. There were a lot of parallels between that and my childhood. Neither of us gave up, no matter the odds and that was a very powerful bond that I felt to a collection of pixels. I spent years playing that game. I spent the time mastering the game, exploring the levels and enjoying the challenges presented. I could not afford X2 when it was released so I kept playing X. Eventually, I found X2, X3 and MM7 on sale at a local rental store for $6 each. So I bought them. I really enjoyed 7, but the X series is where my heart is. I didn't play any of the X games after X3 until I got the collection on the Gamecube.



When the series made the jump to the GBA, I was extremely excited. Initially, I loved the art but was somewhat unhappy that X was no longer the protagonist. Once I got the first game, that changed. The world had passed by Zero. He was no longer the great hero; instead, he was a piece of junk in a scrapyard. Over the 4 games in the Zero series, I have become a big fan. Just like X, Zero's greatest strength is his tenacity.

To address the title of this post: Mega Man represents determination and the will to struggle against all odds. For some reason, I have assigned a motto to the character: It's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how many times you get back up. And those are words to live by.



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21 comments | showing # 1 to 21
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Dimly's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 13:31
Dimly
Nice writeup man, I love me some Mega Man!

I listen to this at least a dozen times a day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cA06uWV_-c
johannhat's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 13:40
johannhat
It's sort of scary to realize that I have pretty much grown up with the Mega Man series as well. I recall being in 5th Grade and a friend of mine and I ended up making a LARP of sorts involving the X series. Incredibly dorky, but so awesome at the same time. Good times.

Just curious, but what's your opinion on the ZX series? I'm playing through the second one now and an enjoying it a bit, though if I have to hear Ashe say "booty" one more time, she will be hugging spikes. Forever.
nilcam's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 13:46
nilcam
@Johannhat: I like the ZX series. A lot. I just need to finish both of them.
aimlesssoybeanplant's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 13:52
aimlesssoybeanplant
Did you ever play the Arcade game which was just a collection of the bosses, none of the platform sections?

I can't remember what it was called now... *facepalm*
Teta's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 13:55
Teta
Mega Man Power Battle?
casualweaponry's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 14:09
casualweaponry
I'm sooo pathetic. My only experience with Mega Man is from Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Tatsunoko vs Capcom :(
HeavyD's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 14:14
HeavyD
Took the words right out of my mouth carlossantana89!
nilcam's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 14:20
nilcam
@SantanaClaus89 & HeavyD: Mega Man Anniversary Collection contains MM 1-8. Ha!
Char Aznable's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 14:39
Char Aznable
I got a shoutout, wooo! Big ups.

Mega Man 2 and 3 from the original series are major landmarks in my history as a gamer, and have to be up there for the most hours I've logged with a single game (probably StarCraft, though). There was some magical, intangible quality that drew me to those games again and again.

I never really played much of the X/Zero games, aside from that opening level in MMX. When I found out that you could get the hadouken and shoryuken, though, that was the coolest fucking secret EVER in video games.

Do you identify with the protagonist from the Rocky movies as well? This line is from Rocky Balboa:

"But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"
nilcam's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 14:41
nilcam
@Char: Honestly, I haven't watched the Rocky films since I was a kid so I cannot really answer that.
Shin Oni's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 15:13
Shin Oni
no Megaman Soccer? GO PLAY IT!

nice read tho.
007's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 15:22
007
What the... You went from Megaman BN 1 all the way to 4? 4 was like... the worst game in the series. Check out 2 and 3. They're probably my favorite games of all time. Seriously, theyz be that guud.
Qraze's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 15:51
Qraze
i used to like mega man on the nes but now i just hate them with the exception of legends on the ps1.
Kyousuke Nanbu's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 16:50
Kyousuke Nanbu
I've played every single Megaman game in existance.

Yes even Megaman Soccer.

Nice write-up.
Artemus's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 17:25
Artemus
I share your love for the blue bomber, man!
Mega Man rocks!
Yee!
"It's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how many times you get back up!"
JohnnyViral's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 17:38
JohnnyViral
Oh man... Mega Man is such a great series, I love it so much. Its a shame you haven't played Legends, I really enjoyed those two games, and I wish a third one would come out.
Arttemis's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 18:19
Arttemis
I played MMX1-3 almost every day in highschool using emulators/ROMs on my old jumpdrive in the computer lab.
pedrovay2003's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/02/2009 18:46
pedrovay2003
That was an awesome write-up. I love Mega Man so much, and the X series is definitely my favorite, followed very closely by Legends.
MatCD's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/03/2009 03:10
MatCD
Mega Man Zero is my Fav'.

those games were awesome.
Mary Firefighter's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/13/2011 10:41
Mary Firefighter
Thanks for your patience and sorry for the inconvenience!
Best regards, Mary, CEO of small business seo and iscsi mpio windows 2008
Natali Alinskaya's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/25/2011 03:11
Natali Alinskaya
Hello friends,this is a nice site and I wanted to post a note to let you know, good job! Thanks
Best regards, Natali, CEO of music download and mp3 songs free download
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