Windjammers was made in 1994 by the now defunct Data East Corp., and published by SNK. It is not a fighting game.
If you’re unfamiliar with Windjammers, you’re probably wondering why the hell this game is in the lineup for Evolution 2017’s coveted 9th game slot.
In that case, let me try introducing it to you again. Windjammers is fast-paced Pong with six selectable characters, twitch reactions, mixups, special moves, parries, over the top personality and instantly charming sprite work. This ’90s neon-colored gem is easy to play, easy to watch, difficult to master, and wildly addictive.
If you research this game’s history, you will find a point in time game where magazines called this game “average.” This doesn’t seem to gel with reality though: look at our own mystery game tournaments, on many gaming YouTube channels, and on the pages of Giant Bomb. Windjammers may not have been a wild hit on release, but we (the FGC, Gamers, the Whole of Humanity) have never stopped playing it. Call it a poverty game. Call it a classic. Play it on the main stage at Evolution. Or don’t. It doesn’t really matter: people are still going to play Windjammers and have a blast doing it. Windjammers’s ridiculous influence continues to be felt on the games being made today (Disc Jam! Lethal League! Rocket League!) for no greater reason than its simple and entertaining skewering of sports.
PR Balrog vs. Justin Wong in Windjammers at Power Up 2011
Windjammers has sat patiently in the shadows for years, in the corners of our arcades and major tournaments. The FGC plays it. Smash plays it. Austin Creed plays it. You probably play it. I play it! And if you run into someone that hasn’t played it, the straightforward approach usually convinces them to try. I’m fairly certain that’s crossover appeal! Think of all these people from all these different fighting game communities signing up to play Windjammers. It can easily become one of the most massive tournaments in Evolution history, based on that alone.
I have to think part of the charm of Windjammers comes from its presentation. Arcade games had to stand out quickly in that loud environment, where many of the franchises we play originated. So, no, while it isn’t a fighting game, it is a tie to our collective arcade roots, all the same.
It has a great 1v1 competitive aspect. It attracts viewers, which we obviously want. It should cross over well to the ESPN audience. It has a “retro” cool that makes it a lot easier for people to appreciate. And you know what? It’d look great for us if we did this. Imagine: “There was this one time a crazy mid-’90s frisbee game made it into Evo, had tons of entrants, and everyone had a great time playing.” Windjammers has always just been about blood-pumping fun, and the publicity would be really big if Windjammers actually makes it in.
So, that’s the dream. Will it happen? Well, that’s on you. But, if it doesn’t, Windjammers will be just fine. It always has been. It always will be.
Vote for Windjammers on generosity.com here. Voting closes at 12:00 PM PST on February 8, 2017.
When Mr. Wizard was going through the list of games for the 9th slot, there was a (likely meme-fueled) chant for ARMS so prominent in the Twitch chat, that I just assumed that it would be the main competitor to either Killer Instinct or Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 to take the slot. I like Pokkén Tournament, but I’m also a realist: it’s a newer fighting game IP with a very experimental engine, competing against 20+ year old established FGC favorites. Honestly, I didn’t think Pokkén had a chance.
Instead, this is what I woke up to on the first morning of donations.
No rest for the wicked, I guess! Let’s talk about how we got here, and why–if it does succeed–Pokkén would deserve a spot in the Evolution lineup.
In its first (and only) year in Evo, Pokkén Tournament was the most entered non-Street Fighter and non-Smash game. It did better than Guilty Gear which–this year–doesn’t have to compete for the 9th slot. Though, to be fair to GG, it has a new version coming out soon! If The Pokémon Company ever decided to release Empoleon and friends in an update, maybe we wouldn’t be having this conversation about whether Pokkén should be the 9th game or not.
Still, there were a lot of reasons why Pokkén did well last time. New game smell? Sure. Pot bonus? Of course. Pikachu on the cover? You betcha. Those are also all reasons that would justify its success in the donation drive: people do love the game, for one reason or another, and continue to support it.
I also have to think that the lack of 3D games at Evo will, to a certain extent, inevitably drive up numbers for Pokkén. Tekken 7 was the only game on the list at the time that really appealed to that crowd, and Pokkén has a lot more Namco logic in its frame data than anything else players could have entered outside of Tekken. Frankly, the same is true in 2017, too. It stands apart from the crowd by simply doing things its own way.
I’d also like to take this time to say that all of the above numbers for every game are amazing, and something to be proud of. Evo’s numbers have inflated in ways I honestly never thought I’d live to see.
Pokkén’s Design Is Innovative
…sometimes to great success, sometimes to a fault.
Frankly, there is no other game that plays quite like Pokkén. The phase shifting mechanic, Pokkén’s defining gimmick, really does work. The 3D field phase goes a long way in determining positioning, meter and flow of the match, whereas a lot of the raw damage occurs in the 2D Duel Phase. The push and pull of different characters trying to maintain their preferred phase has become one of the most interesting and fascinating parts of tournament Pokkén.
It’s a new take on the wake-up game that–nearly a year later–remains intense and exciting. Characters strong in duel phase have to count their phase shift points during their combos so that they don’t accidentally shift. Some characters have great 50/50s every time they shift with certain options. (For example: Blaziken’s Blaze Kick/Throw Loop rush down!) Some zoners will want to remain in field phase forever by strategically poking with light, fast projectiles for as long as possible. What ultimately happens with these shifts often comes down to player innovation and play style.
That Pokkén’s design is so inherently against-the-grain of what is commonly done in fighting games is in large part what has helped it carve out its own community. It keeps players playing despite having very little in common with other games. I think this is because…
The Basics of Pokkén Are Really Simple
…but there’s complex depth in its details.
You, reading this right now. If you are semi-competent at fighting games and wanted to get into the meta of Pokkén right now, you could do it. Easily. Execution is not holding you back. Knowledge and creativity is.
Everyone knows about the rock-paper-scissors system of Pokkén, where Attackbeats Throwbeats Counterbeats Attack. But there’s a bigger part of the system that makes this game beginner-friendly: Pokkén’s combo system, which relies on juggles, links and assists, is fairly open. It’s a great blank canvas for players willing to experiment, and there’s a lot of crazy stuff that has been found for every character. The damage is high enough that new players doing less-then-optimal combos are still going to be enough of a threat for you to take the neutral seriously.
There is high level tech, and a lot of it, but nothing that can’t be overcome with a little thought. My favorite example? The widely used Homing Cancel Option Select in Pokkén. There’s a common field phase mixup where, if your first homing attack is blocked, you either attempt to finish your string or go for a throw. This mixup loses to Homing Cancel, as the defender will both break the throw and block the string. But! Homing Cancel loses to something very simple: a delayed grab, or the built-in string charge mixup. Machamp and Gengar players can even beat this by accident by doing their command grabs instead of their normal grabs in this mixup.
Additionally, the frame data is… interesting. There’s, arguably, only 3 types of numbers you need to know. Fast (9 frames) Average (13 frames) and Slow (17+ frames.) There’s only two punishable numbers that really truly matter: -12 (moves that are this on block are punished by the fast category) and -16 (punished by the average category). Anything that is worse then that is usually hilariously unsafe, we’re talking in the -30 and up numbers. What does all this means? It means that while frame data is important, there isn’t a heavy burden on number memorization. To put emphasis on that, the screen flashes yellow every single time there’s heavy frame advantage (for example, Lucario’s charged Force Palm), which is a simple and clever detail I wish more fighting games would pick up.
All of this is to say is that the time to get into the meat of high-level Pokkén is very short, with even modest effort. And once you’re in, it’s really just player versus player more than anything else. It makes it a great game to secondary, which is likely why so many people signed up for it in 2016. This simplicity also makes it a very easy game to get into as a spectator. I’m sure eyeballs will watch just because there’s a Pokémon on the screen, but the gameplay for Pokkén has proven to be enough to keep the community active.
Pokkén Is Really, Really Balanced
Machamp is low tier, and Gardevoir is a bad match up for him, in that classic zoner vs. grappler sense. Here’s a video of Azazel, one of the best players in the world, dominating with his Machamp in this very matchup fairly deep into Canada Cup.
Tier lists in general for this game, with the exception of when the game first released, have been very condensed. Even for the most recent arcade version, Evo champ Tono-sama’s early impressions are very optimistic.
There’s not much more to say. Every character in this game has had great success in tournament play thus far, and character selection is not an excuse for anyone.
The Fact Pokkén Is on This List at All Is Kind of Amazing
Back when I attended Dreamhack Austin in May 2016, I wrote extensively about the hardware challenges the game’s LAN mode presented. In the back of my mind then, though, was a more negative thought: These are the worst arbitrary hardware decisions I have seen in a fighting game. This should kill this game’s future.
Well, they didn’t kill it. Here we are almost a year later, having this conversation again. There was no magic fix for the controller lock out in LAN mode, and LAN mode still is the only proper way to play this game. If I wanted to argue against Pokkén, I could go even more in depth on things that are objectively wrong–Practice Mode is awful. Exhaust Frames are a terrible both in concept and execution. Grey Frames, as well.
Take all of the above and consider: People are still playing this game passionately. All these nails in Pokkén’s coffin have been turned into shining examples of this community’s commitment. LAN Mode is their CRT, If I can make an analogy from the Melee crowd. Coincidentally, Evo will already be equipped with the Wii Us and LAN Adapters necessary to smoothly run Pokkén. There is likely no better venue then Evo to actually run Pokkén. Were Pokkén to make it, there’s no doubt in my mind that Nintendo would find a way to put their support behind it, too.
Even if Pokkén doesn’t win this (at the time of this writing, Marvel has predictably taken a fairly large lead), the Pokkén community has challenged the FGC in a really powerful and impressive way. They love their game because it is, uniquely, theirs. It’s not just a simple offshoot of Pokémon, or Smash, or the FGC. Though I believe players may have been drawn from each of these scenes, Pokkén has truly become their own crowd. That this 9th vote slot is a race at all is indication of that.
They were always an underdog in this race, but that doesn’t seem to be slowing them down at all.
Vote for Pokkén Tournament on generosity.com here. Voting closes at 12:00 PM PST on February 8, 2017.
Tekken 7’s release date is… going to be announced next week! Hold on, comrades! We’re going to live to see it! To celebrate, let’s check out some high-level game play straight from Korea.
LowHigh has always been a strong force in Tekken. The Korean Pro recently made a big name for himself when he eliminated Evo Champion (and teammate) Jae Min “Knee” Bae from the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2016 Global Finals.
Here, he takes on Hajimari’s Master Raven. The Ninja Operative has developed really well since release, sporting great damage and new stance transitions missing from her male subordinate’s past move list. As these matches show, you shouldn’t underestimate Master Raven. Or, Hajimari himself.
Martial Arts vs. Ninjitsu!
LowHigh regularly streams and uploads, so be sure to check out his YouTube channel for more great Tekken content!
Players in the Street Fighter community looking to improve their game have likely encountered the efforts of Dantarion. Dantarion’s work in providing HUDs, hitbox information and frame data have proven to be invaluable to players looking to break down SFIV and SFV. This dedicated reverse engineer’s work is not just educational: his wildly entertaining SFIV KenBot was one of the very first attempts of crafting the Deep Blue of Street Fighter. He’s also coded for Project M, and created hitbox viewers for other games, like Under Night In Birth: EXE Late.
FrameTrapped, too, noticed the work ethic of this code obsessed player, and have decided to recruit him for their own various projects.
Very happy to announce that @dantarion is now part of the Frame Trapped Software Group and will be joining us with making awesome SFV tools!
Considering the tools FrameTrapped is developing (in-game SFV camera control, for example), and the fact they provide their own hitbox viewer, this partnership seems like common sense.
If you want to look at a year where interesting and revolutionary fighting games appeared, this is it. Super Street Fighter II Turbo.Tekken. The King of Fighters. Darkstalkers. Killer Instinct. I’m not going to spend an entire article listing ’94 fighters, but that should give you an idea of what was happening in arcades at the time.
Battle K-Road also came out in 1994, completely lost in the sands of time. This game was a little off-brand fighter from Psikyo, a company that would go on to be known almost exclusively for shmups like Gunbird and Strikers 1945. Where other games were vying to be ever more extravagant, Psikyo waved their hand solemnly and said “No. We want a more respectable, realistic game.”
Look, man. It was 1994. They didn’t know better.
Now, that alone isn’t really a reason to dismiss Battle K-Road. It’s easy to see why a sales pitch like that could have worked. Battle K-Road was an attempt by a small company to make something different in a new market.
Nearly everything about the game defied contemporary convention: quarter circle forward inputs produce dashes. Characters employ 3D-esque commands for inputs, where every directional input with a button produces a different attack. Though holding down-back blocks low, it does not make your character crouch. Each attack must be blocked either high or low–there’s no universally-safe defensive option. Every character has the same command for special moves: hold down a button to charge, then release. All bold, but deliberate, choices by a team that really wanted to challenge the genre.
The end result, however, was an ambitious game with a shoestring budget. Of the 14 characters, 7 are actually just head-swaps. Animations were mostly sub-par at best, even for it’s time. Character designs are not just bland, they are aggressively and intentionally lacking in personality. (The notable exception being the final boss, Mr. Bear. K-Road came out in January–it must have really chafed Psikyo when Kuma appeared in Tekken in December.) Battle K-Road‘s biggest sin, however, is its most defining mechanic: the wake-up game.
Or, well, the absence of one.
Mikado playing the game in January, 2016.
If this is your first time watching Battle K-Road matches (provided, of course, by the fabulous Mikado Arcade) then you’ll find the experience jarring. You aren’t imagining things: the round really does restart every single time someone gets knocked down. I imagine this decision was made to make the game seem “more real,” as though a referee stepped in to check on the downed opponent.
Instead, Battle K-Road artificially kills momentum for players and brings the match to a brief, grinding halt for spectators. Fights seemingly drag on forever. An already simplified, poke heavy game gets made even slower for the sake of realism. It’s almost like Psikyo forgot they were making a video game.
There have been all sorts of complaints about wake-up mechanics over the years, ranging from games that reward being knocked down too much, to not at all. Everyone here has likely experienced option selects in Street Fighter IV, and heard some sort of frustration about their dominance. Likewise, I remember years ago being told Soul Calibur 2 had no wake-up because you could Guard Impact from the ground. Boy, I wish I had known about this game, then. I could show them what it means to actually have no wake-up game at all.
I think the idea of completely removing the downed state from a fighting game is not even entirely awful, and would absolutely appeal to someone. (Read: not me. I’m playing devil’s advocate.) It has to be executed in a way that both makes sense and works well. Battle K-Road‘s choice makes sense for its world, but is just awfully executed in-game.
Mikado playing the game in December, 2016. Technical difficulties resulted in black and white footage… but I imagine Mikado thought “Eh, it’s Battle K-Road. No one will care.”
Because of this, it’s not surprising that Battle K-Road is little more than a novelty talking point these days. It’s a bit of a shame–even though Psyiko almost entirely exited the fighting game market afterwards (only attempting one more entry: 1998’s The Fallen Angels), their courage in trying to stand out so much in a saturated field is admirable. Risk-taking and defying convention is something a lot of new companies fear. Instead of being remembered fondly for some of their brazen mechanics, though, Battle K-Road is a cautionary tale. Be creative, but also be mindful of what your game design decisions do for the game itself.
The days of Run-Stop-Fierce in Street Fighter IV may gone, but infinite-wielding luchadores are still running amok! The below dash cancel loop was discovered by KOF player Onimenodacho Rock. The combo in the video below is by KCOpedro.
Since the recent update to KOFXIV was only a graphical update, the combo should still be possible in version 1.10. The glitch appears to be due to the fact that Ramon’s crouching jab is dash cancel-able, and works from anything that lets him land a jab. Though the video above shows a HD mode cancel, it’s not necessarily required to start your jab onslaught.
I am far from a professional Poker player. The game is technically illegal in my state (which definitely, absolutely means I have never played it in my life. Ever. Shhhut up!). but I’ve always been in love with the game at its highest levels, even if it’s a more distant affection then the affection I have for fighting games.
In Texas Hold Em’ Poker, it’s the math, the analytics, and focus on the long game that fascinates me. And I’m not alone–Poker is one of the most watched “non-physical” sports in the USA. For many spectators, it’s the thrill of the “kill” that keeps them glued. Be it a big bluff or finally trapping someone with a big hand, these red-hot plays elevated it beyond other card games.
Oh, and Chris Moneymaker wildly humanized the sport for a lot of people. That helped, too.
Bluffs are the wakeup DPs of Poker.
Chris Moneymaker, in 2003, was little more then an appropriately-named accountant. He was completely unknown to the poker world and actually won his trip to the World Series of Poker through a $86 dollar online tournament. Entry to the World Series of Poker is very expensive (even in 2003), so just getting to the event probably felt like something of a win.
In the end, Chris would live up to his (actual) last name. He turned his $86 dollars into $2.5 million. Over the tournament he eliminated pro after pro, including his final showdown with poker veteran Sammy Farha. With that victory, he made profitable poker seem attainable to the viewing audience. The narrative of unknown to super star drew eyeballs across the world to both Chris–and the sport itself.
I have to think when Joe “LI Joe” Ciaramelli placed 5th at Evo, he felt the weight of new eyes watching him, too.
The pop that LI Joe (and, let’s be honest, Papa LI Joe) got at Evo was huge. I don’t need to tell you that; you alreadyknow. LI Joe’s charisma and good nature won the crowd over, but his humble path to get to the main stage won the media over [Shoryuken included; no regrets! – Editor]. For a moment, Joe became the face of America’s FGC.
There’s not too many other parallels between him and Moneymaker. But that’s not the point–LI Joe made Evo Top 8 seem attainable. He was the story, and not the game or tournament itself.
Joe steals the show.
The FGC did not bring esports to ESPN’s attention, but Evo’s stock has steadily risen anyways. With ESPN also airing Capcom Cup, it is unlikely that fighting games will do anything but gain more traction in mainstream media (at least, for the time being). Though Capcom Cup’s numbers are technically down from last year, ESPN’s own reporting indicates that esports is stealing views from their traditional programming. The all-American grand finals between Liquid|NuckleDu and EG|Ricki Ortiz certainly didn’t hurt, either.
I don’t think it’s coincidental that we are seeing pro leagues pop up left and right from SNK, Namco, Microsoft… there is a new market opening up for fighting games, and it’s you, viewers on the internet.
There are parallels between poker and the FGC that, I believe, extend beyond just their humble beginnings. If the FGC wants to really take over this new stream-dominated world, there are important lessons we can from their past.
Cash Games vs. Money Matches
Tournament Poker works, marketing-wise, because there is a clear winner. It’s sport. It’s also a very, VERY different game from cash poker, which is a game that only stops when no one is sitting at the table. Each format has its own specialists and histories. Tournament Poker is ultimately better for viewers looking to see a champion crowned, but the (infinitely more complex and loose) cash game format provides more opportunities for growth in regular player’s pocketbooks. Only one person wins the WSOP. But there’s a new winner in every hand of a cash game.
Money matches, too, are often the most feasible way for a player to at least break even at a stacked tournament venue. Though you and I like to see money matches played out, broadcasting networks and fighting game companies have made no attempt to promote or support this form of playing the game. It’s not surprising, given the massive backlash Poker has suffered legally in the States. Which is a shame, because the SAFE Act does not cover money matches at all! In fact, no federal law impedes on money matches so long as the game itself proves it is a game of skill and not of chance. Professor I. Nelson Rose has pointed out: “…if participants are merely betting on themselves—more of an entry fee than a wager—it would not fall under any federal law.”
State law, however, gets a lot more complicated. Each individual state has its own restrictions on gambling, and some states have outdated and complex laws that even actively ban games of skill. Arizona is a clear example of a state that actually bans placing money on games of skill.
There is a part of me that thinks money matches are going to be a difficult thing for the FGC to figure out as it grows. Their legality is somewhat gray, they are very popular at larger tournaments, and the beefs/storylines that emerge from them have the potential to be a PR nightmare (or, dream; or both) for everyone involved. The money exchange is one problem. The intense emotions and hype that can swell up is another thing all together.
Drama vs. Professionalism
In LowTierGod vs. Viscant’s first to ten, you couldn’t argue that either player was a great representation of Street Fighter IV’s highest level of play. The level of game-play had nothing to do, however, with its viral success on YouTube. I doubt even the players themselves would argue this point. No one clicked that thumbnail to see major Top 8 play. Hype and rivalry was top billing, and that video has more views then some grand finals matches at huge majors.
Drama is hard to defeat, sometimes, and I would be a liar if I told you I didn’t watch it, too. I don’t have an intelligent answer for how the community can balance this blood red antagonism with a desire for a “more respectable sport.” The latter is what esports strives for, after all.
Which is odd, isn’t it? “Real Sports” have blow ups all the time. It is the very centerpiece of the human spirit to be intense in competition. No matter how much someone may hand wring over the integrity of a sport, we rememberthedrama. Sometimes it sells tickets. Sometimes it loses tickets. Remove the personalities from the game, and you may remove a lot of potential interest.
No one’s accountable when it’s a beef at a local, other than the two parties. But what if similar antics happened at Capcom Cup, on stage? It’s intense entertainment that looks just awful for a “professional” scene, but it’s also the sort of thing that gets people hyped and interested. We, collectively, like passion. We also like (or like to hate) characters. Poker knows this. And if it didn’t, it learned it very recently when it chose to try and penalize a controversial player mid-tournament: William Kassouf.
Bad Tournament Rules Make News
Neither the first nor last time Kassouf tilted the table.
You would think the last game that would try to prevent players from interacting with each other would be Texas Hold Em’, and yet… here we are.
There’s a lot that’s been said about William Kassouf’s 2016 WSOP run, and I’ll try to quickly summarize it. Kassouf’s loud, chatty, psychological play was a gray area for WSOP’s ruleset, and it drove his opponents nuts. His banter looks “bad” on TV in a way that mostly just makes him a cartoon villain, but it looked worse on the WSOP when tried try to scold him for something less severe than the antics of previous winners. Instead of letting Kassouf play his game, they caved in to complaints of his opponents. As the WSOP dragged on, it became increasingly clear that it didn’t matter what Kassouf did, as tournament officials and his entire table had allied against him. Kassouf was penalized mid tournament for trying to talk to his only opponent in the hand, and repeatedly kept under the thumb of officials throughout the remainder of his stay, like helicopter parents circling a child. This was an official mistake that hurt the WSOP, and fiercely split the poker community.
Kassouf somehow managed to be the loudest and most annoying player at the WSOP, undoubtedly, yet still emerge from it looking like the victim of a system that favors the establishment. It also drew a lot of new attention to the sport, giving it perhaps its biggest pop in years. Kassouf didn’t win the WSOP, but he’s certainly Poker’s biggest name in 2016 because of it.
Mercifully, we haven’t had many moments that are quite as high-profile and dramatic as Kassouf’s final run. I haven’t heard “collusion” jokes in a while, and in general the biggest blow up at tournaments lately are usually within game, where they should be. Kassouf is hardly the first Poker player whose behavior stirred emotions, but the way he was handled so clearly illustrated the weakness of a sterilized industry ill-equipped to support the part of its game it should be proud of the most: the mind game. You should never grow out of touch from your own scene if you’re running a tournament.
I mean, NuckleDu never had to forfeit a round for putting on his shades. That’s all I’m saying.
This won’t be as much of a problem for our scene, given the nature of the way video games are played. Still, it’s not like we haven’t had our own arguments over formats, legal peripherals, and perceived collusion. Clear and well-communicated rules can prevent this sort of thing. The WSOP failed hard on that, and hopefully we will do better as we grow.
Dealing with the Fallout
After Poker’s boom, it faced blows that, several times, nearly killed the sport. Legislation. Controversy. Theft. You could put together a history class just on the trials and tribulations of professional Poker. And yet, this silly little 1900s card game (with only four moves!) is one of the most enduring pastimes of America. There’s a wealth of meta, dynamics, and culture just in their own world.
It survived because of the passion of its players.
I think that’s one area we, the FGC, already have plenty of experience in.
This isn’t necessarily the most fun to think about. At the end of the day, I just want to mash out a combo or two as much as the next guy. But, if we’re serious… if we really want to stand side by side with the world of any successful sport, we need to look at history. And, frankly, not just the history of Poker, but our contemporary esports as well. We need to see what decisions they’ve made that were right for each sport, and what decisions were very, very wrong.
Often times, it’s easy to feel like the FGC is marching into uncharted waters. It’s easy to feel like it’s a coup when we show up on ESPN, or any esports news at all. No matter how OG you may think you are, there’s an older variant of your efforts that you can draw from. I cannot shake the feeling that the more visible our community becomes, the more mindful we need to be of what has and hasn’t worked for the games before us.
Do not forget that Tokyo’s timezone is GMT+9, so if you’re in the US, you will want to be checking in on Saturday!
Curious to know who will be entering? Well, the answer is: everyone. There are 91 five-man teams signed up: if there’s a strong 3rd Strike killer, it’s a safe bet they’ll be there.
Haven’t seen Cooperation Cup before? Want an idea of what you’re getting into? Here’s the 2016 stream, all 10 hours of it, right here:
Over the past several months, The Pokémon Company has been (very, very slowly) revealing and releasing new characters and balance updates to Pokkén Tournament’s arcade cabinets. There’s been plenty of advertisements, but no announcements for console updates, or even a Switch release. For everyone outside of the Japanese arcade market, TPC’s end goal may seem a little mysterious. The sudden announcement of the game at two large and popular japanese events, however, may be part of a larger plan for the game in 2017.
Coming via Pokkén’s Official Twitter, the unique point-of-view shifting fighter will be appearing at the multi-genre tournament Tokaigi 2017. Considering Tokaigi has run everything from tournaments for Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike to Super Mario Speed Runs, Pokkén likely feels right at home. This also isn’t the first time Pokkén has been at Tokaigi, though it is the game’s first appearance post console release. The tournament will be in a 2v2 team format, with limited signup. This tournament will take place on February 12th, 2017.
For those looking for a more standard format of Japanese Pokkén, KVOxTSB 2017 will be running a singles tournament for Pokkén. KVO of Japan and Team St1ckBuG’s game selection this year leans heavily towards the anime and airdasher side of fighting games, making Pokkén an unusually slower paced choice for the tournament. We’ll see on May 4th if this’ll help Pokkén stand out from the crowd! Of particular note for fans of japan’s Pokkén scene is that the tournament organizer will be none other then the Gengar legend himself, Sasahune.
Thanks to JiMing for the tip, and translations in their article at smashboards!
Knocking out two of your opponent’s characters with only one of your teammates is tough in The King of Fighters XIV. SNK has their own fun little way of acknowledging this: beat two opponents in a row, get a new win pose! Well, sort of. Some are as simple as new voice lines accompanying the old win poses. Still, it’s a nice touch of personality!
Check out the video below to see all the alternate win poses found so far.
Sadly, not every character has a alternate win pose. Perhaps a future update will bring in a few more easter eggs like this?
