Hosoe's company Super Sweep Records has recently been given the rights to produce the soundtrack, and it was released as a part of Megaman's 25th Anniversary on November 2, 2012. Network Transmission was announced and on display for the first time at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2002. The game was showcased at the Mega Man series 15th anniversary celebration event at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture that December. A playable version made appearances in January 2003 at the World Hobby Fair in Osaka and at the Capcom Gamer's Day event in Las Vegas. Finally, the game was on display at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles during the summer between its Japanese and North American releases. Reception Media Create sales data for Japan shows that Mega Man Network Transmission sold 23,147 copies during its first week on sale, 9,041 copies during its second week, 7,859 copies during its third week, and 4,679 copies during its fifth week. A total of 79,360 copies were sold in the country by the end of 2003. A bargain-priced version of the game was released in Japan on March 18, 2004. According to NPD Group, Network Transmission sold 30,224 copies in North America, making it the eighth best-selling GameCube game in the region for the month of June 2003. Mega Man Network Transmission has been met with mixed critical reception. The game currently holds scores of 67% on GameRankings and 65 out of 100 on Metacritic. A point of contempt for many critics was the game's difficulty level. Skyler Miller of G4 summarized, "Network Transmission is painfully difficult not because of any genuine challenge, but because of its cheap enemies, frustrating weapons setup, and unnecessary complications. For example, you can only save after beating a boss, which is common in the Mega Man series. It's tedious to have to wade your way through the relatively straightforward levels time and time again only to meet instant death against a boss." GameSpy's Benjamin Turner felt that the difficulty level was unbalanced rather than too steep, and that once a player gains a foothold on the gameplay and collects enough Battle Chips and power-ups, the challenge subsides. Reviewers for Eurogamer, IGN, and GameSpot all similarly agreed that the greatest difficulty is presented toward the game's start, particularly with its first few boss battles. Opinions on the visuals and audio in Network Transmission have been