Happy 26th Anniversary, Mega Man

Well, today marks Mega Man's 26th anniversary and the end of the 25th anniversary celebrations. I wanted to remain optimistic about what Capcom had in store for the Blue Bomber's 25th birthday bash, but sadly, all the fan's fears were justified. Capcom didn't really go all out for such a monumental anniversary like they should have and outside of Street Fighter X Mega Man, there wasn't much in the way of new Mega Man games. Personally, I was never holding my breath for Mega Man 11 or Mega Man X9, but anyone thinking either of those was a possibility was just fooling themselves.

Yes, Mega Man's 25th anniversary was abysmal. There's no denying that nor is there any point in trying to defend Capcom on their handling of it at this point. Given Capcom's current state of business model, I'm not really surprised Rock's big anniversary was handled the way it was. Of course, this isn't going to stop a throng of fans from groaning about it. As much as I'm a firm believer in freedom of speech, the constant complaining from Mega Man fans is beyond old and the dead horse is nothing but a pile of bones.

But since the topic of this editorial has "happy" in the title, I do believe I should mention some positives. "But there's nothing to celebrate!" says the whining Mega Man fan. I disagree. Sure, there may be no new games to speak of, but that doesn't mean you can't find a reason to celebrate Mega's birthday. There's only been one Wizard of Oz movie, but that hasn't kept the film medium from celebrating time and again (and yes, I'm aware that said film is based off of a book). As much as a new Mega Man game would be awesome, it just isn't in the cards and there are plenty of other ways to celebrate. Design some fan art. Listen to the plethora of Mega Man music. Play the games. Anything is better than throwing the umpteenth hissy-fit about how much Capcom hates Mega Man.

If Mega Man is indeed dead because Capcom doesn't know what to do with the character, or because the talent to make a new game does not exist inside the company (it really is looking like this is the case), that won't take away what I got from this phenomenal series. I've been a Mega Man fan since I was a kid. I'm in my early thirties now and I'm still a die hard fan. Nothing will ever change that. If Mega Man is truly gone in terms of video games, at least he had a good run. And if I ever need a reminder of why I got so engrossed in this series, I have a ton of games to fall back on.

I've got some robots to bust up and some tunes to grove to. Happy 26th anniversary, Mega Man. You'll always be my number 001 when it comes to fighting for everlasting peace.