Back in the NES and SNES days, one game character I always considered to be "part" of Nintendo was Mega Man. From the original through the Mega Man X games, I knew I could always find him with Nintendo. Then the worst thing happened: N64. Suddenly Capcom turned to Sony, and almost all of Mega Man's new adventures were on PlayStation. Now here we are in the next generation of gaming systems, and Capcom has sent Nintendo fans a glimmer of hope: Mega Man Network Transmission for Gamecube.

The plotline for MMNT is set between the two Game Boy Advance titles: Mega Man Battle Network 1 and Mega Man Battle Network 2. In Mega Man Network Transmission new problems are popping up in cyberspace. One of the biggest new problems to hit is a new virus named the "Zero Virus". To battle this Mega Man and .Lan must enter the virtual realm of cyberspace itself and take out the virus.

Capcom promises characters from both the GBA games to appear in Mega Man Network Transmission. All fully rendered in 3D, with a splash of cel-shading. This adventure will take place in classic Mega Man, side-scrolling form, and will borrow many features from the GBA games. One of the main features to be used is the Chip System, in which players collect and use chips to upgrade Mega Man. There is also a rumor that the game will have GBA connectivity, allowing chips to be traded between games. This opens up the play style of the game to more gamers, letting them customize Mega Mans weaponry with more then 100 attacks.

Right now Mega Man Network Transmission is looking very promising, and I can only hope that this is a sign that more Mega Man titles are on the way. While it's soon to be released in Japan, no specific date has been set for the USA or Europe. Until then we'll keep you posted.

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