Month: February 2018

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Jean pounds through walls in this Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown combo video

It’s so rare that we see new Virtua Fighter content nowadays! The series has laid dormant since Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown released on consoles in 2012, and Sega has so far shown little interest in reviving the project. However, today we are greeted with a combo video for Jean in VF5. A character new to the series in Final Showdown, he was overshadowed by the return of sumo wrestler Taka-Arashi in the same title, but holds his own in this combo video. This features not only standard combos, but combos started from back-turned states, which makes for some interesting variety.

Source: T Artist

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Nintendo Switch Online launches in September

Some time ago, we ran a story on the possibility that Nintendo’s online service for the Switch would not launch until Fall; now, it seems that that will come to pass. The Kyoto-based company has announced that Nintendo Switch Online is launching in September 2018.

While the Nintendo Switch has had games with online play (including fighting games such as Ultra Street Fighter II and ARMS) it has long lacked a dedicated, subscription-based online matchmaking and communication service in the vein of Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus. Nintendo Switch Online aims to rectify that, though it does come with one caveat: it requires a smartphone. Features such as voice and text chat, as well as lobbies on Nintendo Switch Online, will require a separate app that players have to download to their phone.

As for the subscription fees, as previously reported, subscribing to Nintendo Switch Online will cost $3.99 per month. However, players who subscribe for multiple months at a time can avail of discounted rates — three months goes for only $7.99, and one year goes for only $19.99.

Source: Nintendo

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Andre “OMGItzAndre” Howard banned from multiple events following allegations of sexual assault

Based on the account of an alleged sexual assault, Ohio-based fighting game player Andre “OMGItzAndre” Howard has now been banned from several major upcoming tournaments, including Winter Brawl, Final Round, Combo Breaker, CEO, and Kumite in Tennessee.

Several allegations against Howard were raised during a Jan. 30 stream of the OnBlastShow. The topic of the night’s show was Howard’s pattern of behavior at fighting game events, with guests sharing their accounts of Howard failing to pay for hotel rooms at events, and engaging in toxic behavior. During the stream a viewer in the chat accused Howard of physically and sexually assaulting an ex-girlfriend at a tournament in 2015.

Following the stream, Howard recorded a video attempting to describe the night in question, admitting to sexual contact while maintaining that both parties were intoxicated at the time. The next day, in response to speculation over whether or not the assault took place, the alleged victim of the assault posted a public comment to Facebook contradicting Howard’s story.

Both the video and original comment in question have since been deleted, but allegations were enough for several major tournament organizers to ban Howard from their events indefinitely. Based on his Twitter account, Howard had planned to compete at Winter Brawl in Philadelphia later this month, but tournament organizer Eric “Big E” Smalls confirmed that Howard would no longer attend Winter Brawl or future events.

No stranger to controversy, Howard was released from Mutiny Gaming in October 2016 due to his arrest and subsequent guilty plea on charges of credit card fraud. In November 2017 Howard was signed and quickly released by Syndicate eSports, after rumors of his impropriety followed the announcement. After the announcement of the bans, the alleged victim again posted on Facebook asking for the community to acknowledge the danger of Howard’s predatory behavior — but to respect his safety and privacy.

Sources: Big E Gaming; Final Round; CEO Gaming; Combo Breaker; Kumite in Tennesse; The OnBlastShow; Feature image: Northwest Majors 2017 (stream)

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How much did Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition nerf V-Trigger damage scaling? Take a look at the numbers

One of the Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition universal system changes is a nerf to V-Trigger damage scaling. During Season 2, a lot of players complained about characters like Ibuki, Balrog, Urien, and Laura stealing rounds with easy V-Trigger confirms into big damage. Activating V-Trigger during a combo will now add an additional layer of damage scaling, making all hits after activation do ten percent less damage than they did in Season 2, reducing their comeback potential.

In addition to increased damage scaling, Capcom also added some character-specific nerfs, like lowering the damage on Akuma’s V-Trigger Goshoryuken, preventing Balrog from comboing crouching heavy punch after his crouching medium kick target combo, and adding a juggle limit to Ibuki’s bomb. Due to scaling, combos from activation lose about 40 to 60 damage and stun compared to season 2, though it can vary between characters. Urien seems to be the character most impacted by the scaling nerf, because each hit of Aegis Reflector adds to the scaling but does low damage.

Because of this, characters like Menat, Urien and Guile who get a specific amount of resources during their V-Trigger may want to go for an easier combo with similar damage to keep their trigger active. While it may be harder to score easy damage with the old standard combos, Capcom has also opened up new combo routes for much of the cast with V-Trigger II and other changes. And as always, Critical Arts have a maximum scaling of 50 percent, so VT combos confirming directly into CA will still pack a big punch. Be sure to get in the lab and find new ways to punish your opponents and push your damage to the brink!

For more Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition tips, check out our Rising Up series, and keep your eyes on ShoryukenTube!