CEOtaku Reveals Official Mascot, Asks Community for Help Naming Her

Like many anime conventions, CEOtaku has gone the extra mile by commissioning a special mascot to represent their brand.

Designed by fabulous Northern California artist Joelyn “Shunao” Lai, the CEOtaku mascot takes inspiration from a number of sources, including organizer Alex Jebailey’s “waifu” Hibiki Takane (The Last Blade, Capcom vs. SNK 2), Guilty Gear, and the tournament’s own color scheme. The gallery below highlights Shunao’s early concepts as she worked on bringing this character to life.

Click to view slideshow.

But there’s only one problem: she doesn’t have a name! To correct this, Jebailey has turned to the fighting game community, asking players to take part in a poll to determine which moniker is the best. You’ll find this poll over at CEO Gaming, so feel free to take part if you feel strongly about your favorite.

CEOtaku is scheduled for October 17-18 in Orlando, Florida. Online registration is open here. Those interested in checking out more of (or even purchasing!) Shunao’s art can find her on Store Envy, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Source: CEO Gaming

Move Over, Hot Ryu; More Beards Are Coming to Street Fighter V

If you were on social media the morning Capcom unveiled the first set of Street Fighter V costumes, your feeds were no doubt inundated with folks fawning over Ryu, or as he was dubbed thereafter, Hot Ryu. A mixture of intense feelings for an imaginary character and satisfaction in seeing the iconic world warrior’s look updated, however slightly, this phenomenon caught fire and burned out fast, but the developers definitely took notice.

“I’d say there will be more beards, because of the reaction to Hot Ryu,” Capcom’s Matt Dahlgren told Kotaku at Tokyo Game Show. We’ve already seen Birdie and Rashid rock their own facial hair, so who else could do with some fuzz? Would M. Bison look better sporting a gray goatee? Does Ken need a tiny soul patch to complete his obnoxious ensemble?

Interestingly enough, bearded Ryu isn’t just a one-off skin; Dahlgren mentioned that this grizzled look factors into Street Fighter V’s story, though no further details were given.

Feel free to let us know what you think about this hairy reveal in our comments.

Source: Kotaku, tip via NightmareSteam