Mega Man and NEOGEO

Today is Mega Man's 25th birthday. Isn't it strange that Capcom has totally ignored Mega Man? I'm not surprised that they want to stay quiet about anything Mega Man related considering the public outcry at the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3. Capcom was also the target of leveled criticism from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune.

On the bright side there's an officially endorsed fan-made Mega Man game that was released today. Street Fighter X Mega Man! This time the Blue Bomber fights off against your favorite characters from the Street Fighter series. New levels. New Weapons. Old 8-bit style. This looks great. Go download Street Fighter X Mega Man right now from Capcom. Mega Man 1-6 will be released on the 3DS eShop by the end of the month! eventually. 

Coming out tomorrow is the NEOGEO X handheld  portable console ($200). Included with the limited edition version comes with 20 pre-loaded SNK favorites, the unforgettable NEOGEO joystick and a docking station. The cool thing about this portable is that you can hook it up to your television via HDMI outputs if you want to see the action on a bigger screen.

I'm impressed with the sleek styling of this console, and hope that the complete SNK library becomes available in the not so distant future. The NEO GEO was the only console that delivered the arcade experience in the home, but the price tag kept it from the average joe. Given how prolific MAME emulation is these days, the NEOGEO X looks like a niche console at best, but I'm sure NEOGEO collectors will snatch up this console. I'm glad that SNK knows that this is a niche console, and from the looks of reviews and the video above, it looks like they will stick to what they do best: 90's arcade action.