Author: Franz "d3v" Co

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King of Fighters World Premiere Tokyo Footage: Nemo vs. Kindevu, Development Team Interview

SNK recently held a series of “world premiere” events for The King of Fighters XIV in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan. The events were the first time many players would be able to experience the full release build of The King of Fighters XIV, complete with the balance changes that are coming to the game via a release day patch.

For those who missed the live stream of the events, Gato Ray has uploaded the archive from the Tokyo event’s stream onto his YouTube channel. Highlights include a special guest match between Nemo and Kindevu. While both players are more known for other games, both are also veterans of The King of Fighters series.

In addition to this, the footage also contains an interview with some members of the development team, specifically artist Eisuke Ogura, and battle designer Hidetoshi “Neo_G” Ishizawa.

For those looking for specific parts of the stream, the Nemo versus Kindevu match starts at 28 minutes, meanwhile more event matches start at 1 hour and 3 minutes. Finally, the interview with Ogura and Ishizawa starts at 1 hour and 41 minutes.

Source: Gato Ray

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Early King of Fighters XIV Day One Balance Patch Impressions: Mai Nerfs, Dinosaur Buffs

As previously reported, The King of Fighters XIV will be receiving some balance changes alongside its release day patch. Now, while we don’t exactly know what these changes entail yet, some details have emerged from SNK’s recent “world premiere” events in Japan. A recent post by the Professor over at the MadMan’s Café shares some details regarding the changes to two of the game’s characters: Mai Shiranui and the King of Dinosaurs.

Mai Shiranui in KOFXIV is looking to be one of her strongest incarnations–too strong in fact, based on the changes to her. The nerfs mainly have to do with her fans as they have now been made somewhat easier to jump over. In addition to this, her grounded blowback attack (press C and D together) is now negative on block.

The King of Dinosaurs redesign of Tizoc has always been a popular one among fans of the series. However, some have stated that he felt a bit weak in the preview builds. To help address this, SNK is increasing his walk speed come launch day.

In addition to these, game designer Hidetoshi “Neo_G” Ishizawa addressed comments about other characters (such as Andy) being too strong by stating that the characters in the game have been balanced so that they all feel strong, and that he wants to see them in the hands of players before thinking about making any further balance changes.

Source: the MadMan’s Café via Shoryuken forums

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Veteran Jam Player Teresa Takes on Ramlethal Specialist Kakkou in Jonio’s Latest “Slash Series” Exhibition

One of the good things about bringing characters back in new installments of fighting games is seeing character specialists move onto the latest addition, bring all of their knowledge and skill with them. One such player was  Teresa, known as one of Japan’s strongest Jam Kuradoberi players in Guilty Gear XX. Teresa has recently made the jump to Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- now that Jam is in game and his return is the focus of one of Jonio’s Slash Series exhibitions for Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-.

Facing him is yet another character specialist in the form of Kakkou, who has stuck with Ramlethal even through her nerfs, making a name as one of the character’s premier players. In a way, this exhibition match represents the coming together of character specialists from two “generations” – one coming from an older game taking up their old character, and the other having made their name on a character introduced in the current game.  Check out the exhibition match below.

Source: Jonio via Majin Obama

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King of Fighters XIV’s Day One Patch will Contain Online Tweaks & Balance Changes; Fuzzy Guard to be Removed in a Later Patch

Release day patches are a common occurrence in today’s gaming landscape. With how long it takes to put a game through console certification, few developers can make their deadlines without having one, and The King of Fighters XIV will be no exception.

We already know that legacy controller support will be included in the patch; however, this isn’t all that’s coming. Lead designer Hidetoshi Ishizawa, more commonly known as Neo_G has tweeted some details about the upcoming day one patch.

Among these changes are some additional tweaks to the game’s online play. Whether or not he’s referring to the game’s actual netcode (which early reports have stated as being quite good), or if these are just adjustments to the online modes, is not yet known.

More interesting however is the fact that the day one patch will also contain some balance changes. This means that gameplay and balance impressions that players who have acquired from early copies of the game–through the broken street date–will be outdated at launch. For interested players, these balance changes will be previewed at the premier events that SNK is holding in Tokyo and Osaka this weekend.

In addition to these, King of Fighters XIV’s game designer Hayato Watanabe announced during the KOFXIV Dream Match Exhibition Tournament that the fuzzy guard instant overhead that was discovered in the game’s demo was unintended. He stated that they will be removing this in a later patch, as soon as they figure out the best way to take it out.

Sources: Neo_G; the MadMan’s Café

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King of Fighters XIV’s Day One Patch will Contain Online Tweaks & Balance Changes; Fuzzy Guard to be Removed in a Later Patch

Release day patches are a common occurrence in today’s gaming landscape. With how long it takes to put a game through console certification, few developers can make their deadlines without having one, and The King of Fighters XIV will be no exception.

We already know that legacy controller support will be included in the patch; however, this isn’t all that’s coming. Lead designer Hidetoshi Ishizawa, more commonly known as Neo_G has tweeted some details about the upcoming day one patch.

Among these changes are some additional tweaks to the game’s online play. Whether or not he’s referring to the game’s actual netcode (which early reports have stated as being quite good), or if these are just adjustments to the online modes, is not yet known.

More interesting however is the fact that the day one patch will also contain some balance changes. This means that gameplay and balance impressions that players who have acquired from early copies of the game–through the broken street date–will be outdated at launch. For interested players, these balance changes will be previewed at the premier events that SNK is holding in Tokyo and Osaka this weekend.

In addition to these, King of Fighters XIV’s game designer Hayato Watanabe announced during the KOFXIV Dream Match Exhibition Tournament that the fuzzy guard instant overhead that was discovered in the game’s demo was unintended. He stated that they will be removing this in a later patch, as soon as they figure out the best way to take it out.

Sources: Neo_G; the MadMan’s Café

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Warner Bros. and NetherRealm Studios to Add $2,000 Pot Bonus to Mortal Kombat XL at The Common Wealth 2016

Raising the prize pool for a fighting game tournament isn’t easy; as such, it’s always a good thing when the people behind the games step in and provide bonuses for these tournaments.

Recently, NetherRealm Studios and their parent company Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that they were adding $2,000 to Mortal Kombat XL’s prize pool in one of the scene’s newer tournaments: The Common Wealth.

First held in September 2015, The Common Wealth quickly became known as one of the hypest tournaments for Mortal Kombat–with multiple top players like cR|SonicFox, YOMI|DJT and YOMI|Saltface in attendance. The addition of this $2,000 prize pool bonus from NRS and Warner should help the tournament to grow further.

The Common Wealth 2016 will take place on September 17 to 18 at Dave & Buster’s in Virginia Beach, VA.

Source: Test Your Might

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Gllty and Aris Talk About “Heels” in the Fighting Game Community with Best of III

Last week’s Best of III about the feud between LowTierGod and dT|ANTi received some backlash, as it spotlighted a player (LowTierGod) who promotes negativity in the community. This week, Best of III follows up on the topic of negativity, talking to two players who are sometimes identified as “heels” within the FGC.

Both Aris Bakhtanians and Leah “Gllty” Hayes are no strangers to controversy. Aris infamously caused uproar due to his behavior during Capcom’s Cross Assault reality show, while Gllty has been known for making disrespectful comments at tournaments.

These two talk about these incidents during the course of the show. Additionally, they also discuss other controversial personalities within the community, specifically Empire Arcadia founder Isaiah “TriForce” Johnson, Panda Global’s Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez, and of course Daluan “LowTierGod” Sparrow, and whether or not their individual approaches to being “heels” adds anything positive to the community.

Source: Best of III

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Gllty and Aris Talk About “Heels” in the Fighting Game Community with Best of III

Last week’s Best of III about the feud between LowTierGod and dT|ANTi received some backlash, as it spotlighted a player (LowTierGod) who promotes negativity in the community. This week, Best of III follows up on the topic of negativity, talking to two players who are sometimes identified as “heels” within the FGC.

Both Aris Bakhtanians and Leah “Gllty” Hayes are no strangers to controversy. Aris infamously caused uproar due to his behavior during Capcom’s Cross Assault reality show, while Gllty has been known for making disrespectful comments at tournaments.

These two talk about these incidents during the course of the show. Additionally, they also discuss other controversial personalities within the community, specifically Empire Arcadia founder Isaiah “TriForce” Johnson, Panda Global’s Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez, and of course Daluan “LowTierGod” Sparrow, and whether or not their individual approaches to being “heels” adds anything positive to the community.

Source: Best of III

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Ed Boon Talks with IGN on the Possibility of New Characters Via Costume Customization, Such As Reverse Flash

One of the unique things about NetherRealm Studios’ upcoming Injustice 2 is the gear system: this system allows players to change certain character attributes by changing the costume pieces they’re wearing. As part of IGN’s live coverage from Gamescom, they talked to NetherRealm’s Ed Boon to discuss the possibility of using this system to explore characters similar or related to those already in game’s cast. One example would be having gear for the Flash that would essentially turn him into his nemesis, Reverse Flash.

Additionally, this would also allow NetherRealm to add in specific versions of characters from certain eras in DC’s long history, representing how their looks and abilities have changed over the years. This is reflected in the recent Injustice trailer, where Harley is briefly seen wearing her traditional red and black jester hat, instead of her new Suicide Squad-based design.

Of course, that’s not all they talk about in the video; Boon does talk about the recently revealed characters Harley Quinn and Deadshot, while going over some gameplay footage of the two.

Source: IGN

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Haitani Shows Us How to Beat Street Fighter V’s Fuzzy Jump Option Select, with Another Option Select

One of the first option selects found for Street Fighter V was the fuzzy jump. This defensive technique, performed by inputting up-back alongside a throw input, allows players to block a meaty attack, tech a throw, or just jump backwards with a short kick depending on what their opponent does. While Capcom weakened this in one of their first updates for the game, it’s still something that players have to watch out for when pressing their advantage.

To help deal with this option select, MJS.YOUDEAL’s Tatsuya Haitani has developed a counter option select of his own. In a video that he recently shared on Twitter, he performs a low short with a forward dash option select to beat the jump/throw option select.

If the opponent performs the fuzzy jump, the attacking character will whiff a short kick and dash forward allowing them to anti air. If they don’t perform the option select however, then the short kick will connect, allowing the attacker to continue their pressure.

While Haitani demonstrates the counter option select with Necalli, the technique will likely work with any other character with a similar, quick normal.

Source: MJS.YOUDEAL|Haitani (Twitter)