Review: Mega Man 9

[Jordan Deam]

Review: Mega Man 9

Newer isn't always better, but Mega Man 9 might be taking retro gaming a little too literally.

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[TomNook]

An NES game, I spot a grammatical error.

 

[zoozilla]

"Recommendation: If you want to save $10, an NES emulator and a couple ROMs will probably get you where you want to go."

Wait a minute. Piracy, Jordan?

 

[Aries_Split]

"Recommendation: If you want to save $10, an NES emulator and a couple ROMs will probably get you where you want to go."

Wait a minute. Piracy, Jordan?

It's abandonware I believe.

 

[zoozilla]

It's abandonware I believe.

But if Capcom is offering the other Mega Man games on the Wii Virtual Console, those games wouldn't be considered abandonware.

 

[Aries_Split]

It's abandonware I believe.

But if Capcom is offering the other Mega Man games on the Wii Virtual Console, those games wouldn't be considered abandonware.

Are they manufacturing NES cartidges with the original ROM on them? Then it's abandonware.

 

[OuroborosChoked]

It's abandonware I believe.

But if Capcom is offering the other Mega Man games on the Wii Virtual Console, those games wouldn't be considered abandonware.

Are they manufacturing NES cartidges with the original ROM on them? Then it's abandonware.

It is NOT abandonware if they are still releasing the games. Just because a certain media FORMAT of the game isn't used anymore, it doesn't mean the CONTENT is abandonware. The entire Megaman series was released a few years ago on the PS2, GC, and Xbox, if I'm not mistaken.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware

It's all about the software, not the media format.

 

[Aries_Split]

It's abandonware I believe.

But if Capcom is offering the other Mega Man games on the Wii Virtual Console, those games wouldn't be considered abandonware.

Are they manufacturing NES cartidges with the original ROM on them? Then it's abandonware.

It is NOT abandonware if they are still releasing the games. Just because a certain media FORMAT of the game isn't used anymore, it doesn't mean the CONTENT is abandonware. The entire Megaman series was released a few years ago on the PS2, GC, and Xbox, if I'm not mistaken.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware

It's all about the software, not the media format.

The original Megaman 9 software is no longer being produced. The Virtual Console and PSN and Arcade versions have other things in them the originals don't therefore, by the definition of Abandware, Megaman 9, is abandware.

 

[OuroborosChoked]

The original Megaman 9 software is no longer being produced. The Virtual Console and PSN and Arcade versions have other things in them the originals don't therefore, by the definition of Abandware, Megaman 9, is abandware.

What are you talking about? Megaman 9 is original to 2008. The development software is also new to the development of the modern game, too. It's all brand new stuff. It's not abandoned. Read the definitions of what abandonware is. None of them apply to Megaman 9, or any of the other games, for that matter. They're all current and supported, the company is still in business, and the copyrights are all still active. Ergo, not abandoned.

EDIT: Further (and this is from the DMCA), the following is an exemption from the DMCA. It states that software that is currently inaccessible (due to format obsolesence) is to be considered exempt from the DMCA:

Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and that require the original media or hardware as a condition of access, when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by a library or archive. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.

Since NES games and systems are still quite ubiquitous in used game stores and Ebay, the hardware cannot be considered obsolete, even though it is no longer manufactured. Regardless, this doesn't even apply to Megaman 9 which, as stated earlier, is unique to 2008. Even the development tools had to be recreated, as they no longer existed.

 

[Jordan Deam]

Hmmm ... guess the legality of this issue wasn't as clear-cut as I thought. I certainly didn't mean to advocate piracy - I just assumed that since Mega Man 2 was no longer being produced, it was somehow up for grabs. And then I noticed that it's up on the Wii's Virtual Console, so not even that argument holds up.

I'll just quietly retract my recommendation and offer a new one: Don't steal!

 

[Brett Alex]

Don't steal!

...And let that be a lesson to you kids.

Good review though, nice to see you didn't just get choked up with nostalgia.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Hmmm ... guess the legality of this issue wasn't as clear-cut as I thought. I certainly didn't mean to advocate piracy - I just assumed that since Mega Man 2 was no longer being produced, it was somehow up for grabs. And then I noticed that it's up on the Wii's Virtual Console, so not even that argument holds up.

I'll just quietly retract my recommendation and offer a new one: Don't steal!

It WAS up for grabs until the accursed Wii and it's Nintendo Market. >:|

 

[tendo82]

Jordan has not, nor has he ever, advocated piracy or been a pirate. I know this to be true because on casual Fridays he routinely dons a black face mask, a Naruto headband, and carries a katana while mumbling something about ninjas and Hattori Hanzo.

No, as much as some in the office would like him to be a pirate, he is most certainly a ninja.

 

[OuroborosChoked]

Hmmm ... guess the legality of this issue wasn't as clear-cut as I thought. I certainly didn't mean to advocate piracy - I just assumed that since Mega Man 2 was no longer being produced, it was somehow up for grabs. And then I noticed that it's up on the Wii's Virtual Console, so not even that argument holds up.

I'll just quietly retract my recommendation and offer a new one: Don't steal!

It WAS up for grabs until the accursed Wii and it's Nintendo Market. >:|

No, it wasn't.

The entire Megaman series was released a few years ago on the PS2, GC, and Xbox. Not to mention the DMCA exemption not applying. The Megaman series was NEVER up for grabs!

I've already said this...

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Hmmm ... guess the legality of this issue wasn't as clear-cut as I thought. I certainly didn't mean to advocate piracy - I just assumed that since Mega Man 2 was no longer being produced, it was somehow up for grabs. And then I noticed that it's up on the Wii's Virtual Console, so not even that argument holds up.

I'll just quietly retract my recommendation and offer a new one: Don't steal!

It WAS up for grabs until the accursed Wii and it's Nintendo Market. >:|

No, it wasn't.

The entire Megaman series was released a few years ago on the PS2, GC, and Xbox. Not to mention the DMCA exemption not applying. The Megaman series was NEVER up for grabs!

I've already said this...

Well exscuse me for being a dirty thief and not wanting to spend money to play a 20 year old game.

 

[Aries_Split]

Jordan has not, nor has he ever, advocated piracy or been a pirate. I know this to be true because on casual Fridays he routinely dons a black face mask, a Naruto headband, and carries a katana while mumbling something about ninjas and Hattori Hanzo.

No, as much as some in the office would like him to be a pirate, he is most certainly a ninja.

Where is the Escapist located?

Narnia?

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Jordan has not, nor has he ever, advocated piracy or been a pirate. I know this to be true because on casual Fridays he routinely dons a black face mask, a Naruto headband, and carries a katana while mumbling something about ninjas and Hattori Hanzo.

No, as much as some in the office would like him to be a pirate, he is most certainly a ninja.

Where is the Escapist located?

Narnia?

That dude with the goat legs keeps stealing their mail.

 

[Aries_Split]

Jordan has not, nor has he ever, advocated piracy or been a pirate. I know this to be true because on casual Fridays he routinely dons a black face mask, a Naruto headband, and carries a katana while mumbling something about ninjas and Hattori Hanzo.

No, as much as some in the office would like him to be a pirate, he is most certainly a ninja.

Where is the Escapist located?

Narnia?

That dude with the goat legs keeps stealing their mail.

Damn him!

 

[Bobby_C]

Aries_Split, you can spoutthe word abandonware as much as you want, it's a concpet that is notrecognized legally. Plus, as Capcom indeed still sell their old MM games, they don't fall in that category.

That being said, I'm kinda surprised by the review associating MM's gameplay conventions (no checkpoint save, no saves in the final fortress, pause to change powers, the jumping mechanic, the overall difficulty) specifically with the old games because they've actually never been abandoned and are still commonplace in games like 2007's Mega Man ZXA on DS.

 

[th15]

"Case in point: the jumping mechanic, which adjusts the height of your leaps according to how long you hold down the A button. It's a direct holdover from the original NES controller, which lacked the pressure sensitive buttons that have become standard on modern gamepads."

Umm, what? If we have gamepads now that handle pressure sensitivity like that with any kind of usefulness, I want one.

I'm not saying anything about the review (don't really give a damn about the game) but are you suggesting that using how far the trigger button (say on a xbox 360 controller) is a useful value for determining height of jump? If there's some trick people have been using in games to give variable jumping height using pressure sensitivity, I want in on it. But however I look at it I just don't see a way either the trigger buttons of the analog sticks can provide the kind of pixel perfect jump accuracy that Megaman's (and for that matter, Super Mario Brothers) control scheme provides.