There's a lot of traffic over there now, so you might be waiting a while to get your virtual hands on the game. In the meantime, why not enoy the video below that reveals how the project came together?
The other day we shared the news that Capcom would be releasing an awesome new game for Mega Man fans, and that it would be free! Well, today is the day, and you can now grab Street Fighter X Mega Man for the sweet price of nothing over on Capcom's official website. There's a lot of traffic over there now, so you might be waiting a while to get your virtual hands on the game. In the meantime, why not enoy the video below that reveals how the project came together? Press Release Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, recently shared plans to release a new fan-made crossover title featuring two of the company’s most iconic franchises.Street Fighter® X Mega Man® will celebrate the closing ceremonies of the 25th Anniversary of Street Fighter® and kick off the festivities taking place in 2013, when Mega Man takes center stage as “The Blue Bomber” reflects on his own 25 years of gaming greatness. The Street Fighter X Mega Man game will be released as a PC download beginning on December 17, 2012 and will be offered to fans for FREE through Capcom’s official website, Capcom-Unity.com Press Release OneBookShelf, Inc., the parent company of DriveThruRPG.com and DriveThruComics.com, announced last week that their advocacy event “Teach Your Kids To Game Week” begins today Monday, December 3rd, and runs through Friday, December 7th. While DriveThruRPG is the largest digital RPG distributor on the web, the retailer also advocates the positive benefits of gaming with kids. Teach Your Kids To Game Week is a program designed to reach out to the community and will feature articles, tips, and advice to do just that. “Teach Your Kids to Game Week is a chance for us to share our favorite hobby with a new generation.” said Matt M McElroy, Director of Marketing for DriveThruRPG, “It can be an engaging and rewarding experience for everyone involved.” During this time, DriveThruRPG will also feature a small selection of "top choices" for gaming with kids on the Teach Your Kids To Game Week page, the site will also spotlight a Family Gaming sub-category which includes: role-playing games, core books, supplements and other goodies for gaming as a family. Among the featured games for kids are Hero Kids, a new RPG by Hero Forge Games, Argyle & Crew by the folks at Troll in the Corner and OneBookShelf’s just launched free FirstFable. by Brian LeTendre After much too long of an absence, Co-Op Critics has returned! For those that don't know, Co-Op Critics is a gaming-centric series of SI episodes featuring two or more people discussing games. In this episode, our good friend Max Saltonstall stopped by to talk AnonyCon and a bunch of games both he and I have been playing. We also have two interviews--the first with Fernando Bustamante of D3 about the new Adventure Time game, and the second with our good friend Antony Johnston, writer of the upcoming WiiU launch title ZombiU. Here's the show notes for the episode: Games Rundown with Brian and Max AnonyCon (www.anonycon.com) Niantic Project (www.nianticproject.com) Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Silent Hill: Book of Memories Knights of Pen & Paper Team Fortress 2 / Left 4 Dead 2 Angry Birds Star Wars Interview: Fernando Bustamante--D3 Publisher Brian spoke with the Senior Marketing Manager of D3 about the upcoming 3DS game Adventure Time: Hey Ice King, Why’d You Steal Our Garbage? The game arrives on November 20, 2012, and you can find out more about it at www.d3p.us. Interview: Antony Johnston (www.antonyjohnston.com) Brian spoke with the writer of ZombiU at NYCC 2012. ZombiU will launch alongside the new WiiU on November 18, 2012. You can find out more about the game at zombiu.ubi.com. If you're looking for more gaming discussion, head over to the Co-Op Critics Blog, at www.co-opcritics.com. One of the Co-Op crew, Kim Wong, has a great series of articles going right now about his favorite gaming moments. At NYCC a couple of weeks ago, one of the games that Nintendo was pushing the most was Paper Mario: Sticker Star, the new rpg for the 3DS that arrives tomorrow. Featuring a turn-based battle system and a look that seems inspired by Kirby's Epic Yarn, this is not the traditional side-scrolling experience that Mario is known for. So, if you're looking for something a little different (and completely adorable), check out the trailer below, then head over to the official site to learn more about Paper Mario: Sticker Star. It's a great time to be a Mario fan, and an even better time to own a 3DS! Press Release! Toys on the Hudson offers Holiday Shopping Alternative New Jersey’s Family Toy Show Held Thanksgiving Weekend Toys on the Hudson is pleased to announce the tri-state area’s first family-focused toy fair. Developed as a shopping alternative to Black Friday, Toys on the Hudson offers families and collectors an opportunity to discover unique gifts, meet celebrities and enjoy photo opportunities in more than 18,000 square feet of floor space. Featured will be over 100 tables of vintage and current hard-to-find toys, comics and collectibles covering unique gift ideas for lovers of movie memorabilia, DVDs, Disney, anime, small antiques, action figures, tin, sports & non-sports, Barbie, original art and classic monster collectibles. “We’re excited to offer a fun, alternative family activity during the busy post-Thanksgiving weekend,” said Phil DeMario, co-promoter of Toys on the Hudson. “This is a great event for both families and seasoned collectors who are looking for a different shopping experience and unique gift after they’ve fought the mall crowds.” Many celebrities will be on hand including Steve Savino from the Toy Hunter TV series with visits by Jordan Hembrough, The “Pizza Boss” TV Pizza Tossing sensation Michael Testa, The Brady Bunch’s Geri Reischl, A Christmas Story’s Ian Patrella and many more movie and TV celebrities. Toys on the Hudson will also offer great photo opportunities for families and fans with the Batmobile, the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin and Star Wars costumed characters. “Toys on the Hudson is the perfect place to shop for the comic collector on your holiday list, as the entire Grand Ballroom is transformed into a Comic Collectors dream with over 50 tables of vintage and collectible comics, artists, authors and related merchandise,” said Mike Spino, co-promoter of Toys on the Hudson. There will be a mix of vintage and new toys at show. “We’re excited to bring our newest Captain Action toys and collectibles to Toys on the Hudson for this exciting weekend,” said retropreneur Ed Catto, co-founder of Captain Action Enterprises. “Toys on the Hudson might be a great way to sell your own treasures, too. Attendees can bring a toy or collectible and have it appraised by one of the many on site appraisers,” added Phil DeMario. For the “serious-must-have-first” collector, the show opens Black Friday Evening with a Preview Night for anyone who wants a chance to shop while the dealers put the finishing touches to their booths. The 3 day event starts on Black Friday, November 23, 2012 at 5:00 pm and continues all weekend. The event is held at the Westin Newport Hotel, on the banks of the Hudson River, adjacent to Newport Mall, 495 Washington Blvd Jersey City, N.J. The hotel is accessible from PATH, NYC and all NJ public transit. Parking is adjacent to hotel and is validated by select local restaurants. More detailed information can be found on Toys on the Hudson facebook page or at www.toysonthehudson.com. by Brian LeTendre As a lead-in to Halo 4 (which launched this week), 343 Industries and Microsoft Studios created a live-action webseries called Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn that you should check out whether you're a fan of the game franchise or not. Forward Unto Dawn is a five-part series that takes places in the year 2525. The story follows Thomas Lasky, a cadet at the Corbulo Academy of Military Science, located on a human-colonized planet. Lasky is struggling to live up to the military legacy of his family, as well as trying to reconcile his feelings about the civil war the United Nations Space Command is currently engaged in with insurrectionists. If you haven't seen or read anything about this series, I don't want to spoil it for you, because each episode is better than the one before it. Not only does the series bring to life the world of the Halo universe, but it serves as a great introduction to that world for those that haven't played the games. As someone who has played all of them, the series reminded me of why I like Halo so much, and got me psyched for Halo 4. The entire series is now on YouTube on the Machinima Prime channel, and you can watch the first episode in the player below. For more on Halo 4, head over to the official site here. If you are in Western Massachusetts or any of the surrounding areas, you would do well to make your way to the Paint & Pixel Festival this weekend! Not only will Secret Identity friends Sean Wang, Ron Leary and Mike Valade be there, but as you can see in the poster above, there’s a ton of other big names on this year’s guest list.
We had a blast at last year’s show, but unfortunately we won’t be able to make it this year. That doesn't mean you shouldn't though, as it’s a great family show that celebrates art, comics, children’s books and more. Even cooler, our buddy Mike Valade and his friend Marshall Couture are offering a free sketch card that you can pick up at the show if you reach out to them beforehand. Go here to find out more! The show is taking place from 10am until 6pm at the Northampton Center for the Arts (17 New South Street, Northampton, MA) and Admission is just $5 for adults, $2 for kids 6-12 years old, and free for those under 5! For more info on the show, head over to www.paintandpixelfestival.com. Artist, writer and game designer John Kovalic has become a legend in the gaming industry over the past fifteen-plus years. in addition to creating the critically acclaimed, multiple award winning Dork Tower comic series, he’s also illustrated more than 100 games for Steve Jackson Games, and co-founded his own game company, Out of the Box Publishing. John was inducted into the Game Manufacturer’s Association Hall of Fame in 2003, the first cartoonist ever to receive the honor. Secret Identity recently caught up with John to talk about Dork Tower, his foray into superhero comics, and his continuing work on the Munchkin card game. SI: With Dork Tower having been around for over fifteen years, it’s become somewhat of a comic institution. Why do you think the comic has resonated with so many people for so many years? John: I’ve always been a gamer – I still am one. So I’ve always managed to come up with cartoons about my actual experiences: things that just strike me as being funny. I try to make sure there’s very little artifice behind the humor. I just try and do work that I’m happy with – something that resonates with me. I’m not sure I could do anything different. I’m simply fortunate that it resonates with others, as well. Over the years you’ve been illustrating Dork Tower, you’ve seen the both the comic and print industries in general go through huge changes. How do you feel about the current comic landscape? I took a break from publishing four years ago - In a way, I feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle, waking up again. I’m still trying to understand the changes and their ramifications as I gear up to publish new comic books and trades again. The old way of doing things has definitely changed. It’s a transitional period: we’re in a scary time, but also an exciting one, bursting with possibilities. The gaming industry itself has also changed dramatically in the past decade-plus, providing plenty of material to draw from in your strips. What were a few of your favorite developments to poke fun at in Dork Tower? Possibly my favorite strip in a while was the 1,000th Dork Tower published on the web, which played off of one of the first I ever did, 15 years ago. The “Hey, Marcie! Come see the Satanist!” strip. The fact that gaming – geekdom in general, really – is far more mainstream has been the biggest change. I was stunned at the response to some strips I did a couple of moths ago about the game “Ticket to Ride.” Such a huge response to something so relatively specialized like that would have been unthinkable, years ago. In addition to your comic work, you’ve provided the art for the Munchkin card game for years now as well. Why do you think your art style is such a good match for the tone of that game? I think it’s been an organic thing: Steve Jackson and I seem to be on the same wavelength – or possibly it just feels that way, after ten years. For someone I find utterly brilliant, Steve can have extraordinarily wonderful, silly moments: MANY of them. That’s the overlap of our Venn diagram. I grew up listening to the Goon Show and watching Monty Python – I'm still a fan of both of those, and I still find the utter ridiculousness of Munchkin hilarious. You recently got to provide your take on Conan with the latest expansion of Munchkin. Aside from the legendary barbarian himself, were there any aspects of the Conan universe you were particularly excited about drawing for the game? Simply being able to dive into this brilliant universe Robert E. Howard created was thrill enough. So many legendary artists have had their takes on Hyboria. In much the same way that Steve stayed true to the spirit of the books (while still retaining the Munchkin silliness) for the cards themselves, I based my cartoons on the art that had gone before. I realize that sounds incredibly pretentious, when you’re talking about three-fingered cartoon characters. But I did want the drawings to at least have some sense of what had come before. You can never draw too many frog-gods or snake-gods, you know. . . Dr. Blink: Superhero Shrink was a departure from the gaming-centric humor of the Dork Tower series. What drove you to delve into the superhero genre?
I’ve always been a bit of a comic book geek. I was reading Batman and Superman books when I was seven or so, along with the Harvey Humor Comics I was buying. The humor comics were obviously a big influence on Dork Tower, but I’d wanted to try my hand at something other than pure gaming humor for a while. The idea for a book about the psychologist to the superheroes hit me one night, during a bout of insomnia. I got to thinking about what a nut-job Superman must be, what with the Invulnerability, near-Immortality, and massive, massive Survivor’s Guilt. . .and then I wondered what his counseling sessions must be like. Right from the get go, it’s clear that the heroes in Dr. Blink are inspired by some of the more iconic mainstream superheroes. Who were some of your favorite superheroes growing up? That’s changed over the years. Mostly, it was the X-Men, Green Lantern, and Captain America. None of whom have had their non-actionable doppelgangers appear in Dr. Blink. I should do something about that. . . Was there any one favorite of yours that you couldn’t wait to break down psychologically in the pages of Dr. Blink? That had to be Arachno-Lad, our Spider-Man archetype. We used a VERY small font when trying to fit in all of his hang-ups. Do you feel like your work on Dr. Blink: Superhero Shrink brought some new fans over to your Dork Tower comic that might not otherwise have checked it out? Possibly. But these days, with everything happening online – especially in social media – it’s far easier for readers to get a grip on all the different things a creator might be in to. I’ll tweet about Dork Tower (@muskrat_john), then retweet a Dr. Blink line (@DrBlinkShrink), then maybe discuss something going on with the ‘tween book I’m working on. . . With the digital collections available through Drive Thru Comics, people are still discovering your work for the first time. Do you still get a lot of “first time reader” letters today? It’s mostly “first-time reader” tweets, these days, but it’s all very lovely, and it's nice to feel that the humor has held up over time. What can readers look forward to from you in the near future, and where should they go to keep up with all of your projects? I've got five big projects on my plate, at the moment. The most immediate two are finishing up the next big Munchkin release (it hasn’t been announced yet, but it is COOL), and getting the tenth Dork Tower trade paperback (“The Tao of Igor”) to press. There will be a little surprise with that last one – a kind of apology to readers having to wait so long for it. In the meantime, Munchkin Apocalypse should be in stores in a month or two, and Munchkin Conan is in stores now. A party game I invented called ROFL! is being released by Cryptozoic Entertainment, and it’s tremendously exciting to be working with them. I love ROFL! It’s a project that’s very close to my heart, and Cryptozoic is doing just a terrific job with it. Then there’s always something new from Out of the Box Publishing: I'm still a co-owner there, and we have a terrific little party card game coming out called Rhyme Time. After that, things seem to be progressing with an animated Dr. Blink series, and the Dork Tower puppet show: I'm working on those with my friend Joseph Scrimshaw. A ‘tween book I’ve been working on with Wired GeekDad publisher Ken Denmead is with the agents, at the moment. They seem to be pretty excited with it, so my fingers are crossed. Hum. That’s an awful lot of “upcoming projects. This is probably where I shrug, smile, and say “It’s a really fun life.” Because it is! Secret Identity would like to thank John Kovalic for taking time to chat with us. This week, Dork Tower is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary with a huge sale over at Drive Thru Comics. Both Dork Tower and Dr. Blink: Superhero Shrink (as well as other Dork Storm Press products) can be had for as little as $1.00 an issue! The sale is over at the end of the week, so don't wait. Follow John on Twitter @muskrat_john and keep up with the latest on Dork Tower at www.dorktower.com. You can also get your Munchkin fix at www.worldofmunchkin.com. Well, we're finally home after the four-day odyssey that was New York Comic Con 2012. To say that this was a successful show would be an understatement, as we conducted over 40 interviews with creators, publishers, developers and business owners over the course of the show. This year's interviews were a mix of familiar and new and while you'll hear the full list in the near future, here are a few of the folks we spoke with: Scott Snyder Jeff Lemire Joe Caramagna Chris Giarrusso Jason May Jamal Igle Tim Seeley ...and many more. We have a lot of people to thank, starting with ReedPop for allowing us to cover the show for another year. NYCC gets bigger every year, and really appreciate the folks at ReedPop supporting us again this year. We also want to thank Vin Ferrante and his lovely wife Lisa, for putting us up as well as giving us space at the Monarch Comics booth all weekend--they are the best. Finally, thanks to all of you who listen to the show every week, as we would never be able to do shows like NYCC without your support. We had a blast hanging out with a lot of good friends and talking to a lot of great creators. We look forward to sharing our expereince at the show with you over the next several months. And we can't wait to do it all again next year. |
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