U all knew that Mega Man Universe announcened.

Did U check the teaser trailer? It starring Ryu and Arthur in it!

Will our hero joining the force?

HE MUST, we should keep tracking and send our wants to Capcom!

Hiryu must include in this Capcom all star game!

Sorry for not making this post sooner, but i've had a lot of personal things to deal with. In fact, it's so chaotic, i won't even talk right now. :X Anyway, getting on the topic at hand: As most of you already know, the Strider 3 Fan Insert Artwork Competition is now underway, and so far, it looks pretty promising. What do I mean by promising is really very simple: I've personally invited some very good artists to take part in the contest{from DeviantART, CGHub and even UDON to name a few}, but so far, i've had some pretty mixed results. X( Even so, i'm not giving up so easily. :) As for the third judge problem, i'm close to dealing with it as we speak. Presently, only Neithan, Dire 51 and Japan Time have been interested in being the third judge for the contest. If anyone else is interested in being the third judge, i suggest you tell me via PM{Personal/Privite Message} before the 30th of this month, that's the date of the next big Strikeforce event, and it's also the deadline. As for you artists reading this, you'll still have plenty of time to make your art piece on time{the artist deadline is the 14th of Feb}. Well, that's it for now, i guess. If you have any questions, you know where to find me. :) P.S.; If you can spread the word to everyone you know about the contest, then that'll be heplful too. ;) -Tahj{Neo Strider Tahj}

Alright, so I'm a bit late with the details. In my defense, I did say "next week", not "Monday". Oh well. Better late than never, right? So, this contest we're running.

"We"? Well, I wanted to boost the participation over on the Strider Hub, if possible. So Tahj (the group's admin) and I are cooperating to run it. The contest itself is to design a kickass Strider 3 cover art. This is purely for fun, nothing official whatsoever. We just figured after the huge tease that was last year, the Net's scattered Strider fans deserved a way to cut loose and blow off steam. We also know that there's enough talent among that scattered fandom to make for some really cool results.

The insert itself needs to be designed to fit in a PS3 or Xbox 360 case, and can be any art style you like. Interested? Well, maybe you'll be more so when you find out what you're actually competing for. What's a contest without a prize, right? eBay store PushMyButton has come through with some fantastic Strider-themed buttons for the prizes: a 6-button set and a 25-button set. The 25-button set will never, ever be sold on PushMyButton's eBay store (trademarked images, ya know), so they're one-of-a-kind omake. These sets are what you're competing for, and will be awarded to the winners of the contest.

If you want to compete, here are the rules:

1. One entry per person.
2. Use your own artwork or official Capcom concept art. Do not use another person's fanart, or you'll be disqualified.
3. All entries must be full wraparound inserts (not just fronts).
4. All entries must be submitted to the Strider Hub's contest folder by Feb. 14 to be eligible.
5. The winner will be decided by a panel of three judges, who are still being finalized. Their ruling is final.

Yup, that's right. If you want to compete, you're going to have to join Capcom-Unity and upload your entry to the Strider Hub. If enough people do compete, there will be prizes for first, second, and third place. The winners will be announced on February 28, the day the PSX release of Strider 2 turns ten.

I hope to see some familiar faces competing. I also hope to see some fresh talent. Go forth, and create new worlds!

Back in January, Japanese mag Gameside interviewed Kouichi "Isuke" Yotsui for a career-spanning retrospective. That interview is now translated into English, courtesy of Gaijin Punch and his site gamengai.com. You can read his translation here.

While you're there, check out the rest of his site and all his Japanese rarities. And be sure to take a moment to thank him for the translation, which is all kinds of awesome.

Hub member Notymenow has started a Strider Wiki. Or, more specifically, Wikia. It still functions like Wiki, though, and this excites me to no end. I can't wait to see where this ends up.