Month: November 2016

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BlazBlue: Central Fiction Shows Up on the List of PlayStation 4 Pro Enhanced Games

The beefier version of Sony’s latest console, PlayStation 4 Pro, launched on November 10; alongside upgraded hardware–which helps stabilize framerates for any game–there’s a growing list of “PS4 Pro Enhanced” games, that will support 4K and HDR features on compatible TVs.

The Japanese PlayStation 4 site recently published a list of games that includes a few confirmed Western titles, like KNACK and inFAMOUS Second Son, but also mentions Asian games. Among them figures BlazBlue: Central Fiction.

There’s a thread on Reddit with a few mixed impressions about the feature, but it seems that the 2D fighter’s visuals improve–with the right setup.

Currently, no other fighting game is listed offering this support.

Sources: Sony Asia via Gematsu; Reddit

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Fantasy Strike Is Coming to PlayStation 4, Playable at the PlayStation Experience

The PlayStation Experience is going to be quite the convention for fighting game fans, as Sony has announced another fighting game that will be on the showfloor from December 3rd to 4th. Created by the author of “Playing to Win” and designer of Yomi and Puzzle Strike, David Sirlin’s Fantasy Strike will be at the PlayStation Experience, planned for a future PS4 release. For those who aren’t familiar: Fantasy Strike is a fighting game which aims to vastly lower the entry barrier for fighting games, by having most inputs be assigned to a single button.

No quarter circles, 720s or pretzel motions here: all special move inputs are assigned to one button press. Crouching has been removed and throws can now be countered by pressing nothing. You did just read that right, taking your hands off the stick when someone tries to throw you will initiate a “Yomi Counter,” reversing the throw with a cool reversal animation and giving you a full super bar.

Fantasy Strike is still in early development, but David and his team have so far implemented eight characters from the initial ten available in the Yomi card game, with the team planning to add more characters, more modes and GGPO matchmaking into the final product. Fantasy Strike is also coming to PC, and is actually playable in a pre-alpha state–but it does require a Patreon donation for access.

If you are at all interested in the concept of a fighting game which cuts through the complexity of input systems to get to the juicy core of mindgames, spacing, footsies and so on, swing by the Fantasy Strike booth at the PlayStation Experience to try it out for yourself.

Sources: PlayStation Blog; Fantasy Strike

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Tokido Talks to Red Bull about Street Fighter V’s Input Lag and How Certain Characters Became Weaker When It Was Reduced

One of the most contentious issues about Street Fighter V has been the game’s input delay. At launch, the game had a larger-than-average amount of input delay–8 frames–than most fighting games. While this has now been reduced, many are hoping that it be brought down even more.

At the recently concluded Red Bull Battle Grounds, Red Bull eSports’ Anne Ellis got a chance to talk to Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi about this issue. According to Tokido, due to the input lag, aggressive players stood a better chance at winning. “One mix-up is all it took to score a victory” he states. He further elaborates, saying that certain characters, such as Laura, benefited a lot from the input delay, making their mix-up-centric play styles stronger. Once the input lag was reduced however, these characters started losing more–since their mix-ups became much easier to react to.

Tokido hopes that if Capcom reduces the input delay further, they also take these characters into consideration and adjust them accordingly. “Maybe they can change more,” he says. “They changed only input lag. I think maybe it is good they change something more.”

Of course, that’s not all that Tokido talks about in the interview. He also discusses his character choice, the concept of “fairness,” and of course, Akuma. Check out the full article over at Red Bull eSports.

Source: Red Bull eSports