We start off Season 5 with a mega-blast! It's all of our hosts favourites fandoms this season starting off with fans of the Blue Bomber: Mega Man! Why haven't there been any new games lately, and how have the fans adapted? How is a game from more than 25 years ago still relevant to fans today? Tune in and find out!
Next week, we'll be doing the things a particle can and talking about two rockin' musicians (John and John) and their fans as we talk about They Might Be Giants fandom!
Origins:
Rockman (also known as Mega Man, outside of Japan) is a video game franchise created by Akira Kitamura and designed by Keiji Inafune by (and owned by CAPCOM). Originally released for Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, the franchise has over 50 games on multiple systems, and, by March 2015, over thirty million copies have been sold worldwide.
The original game follows the story of Rock (Mega), an android created by Doctor Light and his assistant, Doctor Wily. Doctor Wily reprograms Doctor Lights other robots in an act of treachery, and Rock volunteers to defend the world from Wily's violent robotic threats.
Other main series within the game's history:
Most Active and Fandom Trends:
Based on Google Trends data, interest in the Mega Man series of games has been on a steady decline since Google has started tracking trend data (current interest is about one fifth of data back in 2004). The most popular point in this history is around July 2004, which likely corresponds to the release of Mega Man X: Command Mission, a turn-based RPG.
Size of Fandom:
It's especially challenging to try to get estimates on fandoms that have been on the decline for a while. To get a rough sense of scale and level of community:
Famous fan works:
Fanfics and Fanart
G is in. Would like to play more Mega Man games.
T is in. 100% in.
Z is out. Would try Battle Network or Command Mission.
What w