Author: Franz "d3v" Co

If there’s one thing that’s been haunting The King of Fighters XIV since its announcement, it’s the game’s graphical quality. The initial reveal was underwhelming to say the least, and while significant improvements have been made, it’s often hard to see these due to how videos are compressed when posted online.

Luckily for us, SNK has, alongside their recent launch date announcement, also shared a brand new batch of screenshots showing off the improved graphics in the game’s latest build.

Most of the changes involve improvements to the lighting. You can see this clearly in certain shots–such as this one of Angel–that are do-overs of older screenshots.

In the above example, Angel looks more natural on the newer shot on the right than in the one on the left thanks to the updated lighting.

Of course, that’s not the only reason to look at these screens. We also get to see more of newly revealed characters such as Nakoruru and Shun’ei alongside shots of other characters like Sylvie, Banderas, Mai, Geese, and more.

You check out more of these screenshots with the updated graphics in the gallery below.

Source: SNK, via Shoryuken forums.

Since the King of Fighters XIV was announced last year, SNK Playmore has slowly but surely continued to reveal more about the upcoming game. Now, at their King of Fighters XIV Experience event in Tokyo, the company has just dropped their biggest reveal yet.

SNK Playmore has just revealed the game’s entire playable, non-boss, roster. That’s it, no more guessing, no more trying to verify leaks, we now know who exactly will be in the game.

• China Team: Shun’ei, Tung Fu Rue, Meitenkun
• Japan Team: Kyo Kusanagi, Benimaru Nikaido, Goro Daimon
• Official Invitation Team: Sylvie, Kukri, Mian
• South America Team: Nelson, Zarina, Bandeiras
• Yagami Team: Iori Yagami, Vice, Mature
• Kim Team: Kim Kaphwan, Gang-Il, Luong
• Mexico Team: Ramon, Angel, King of Dinosaurs
• Another World Team: Nakoruru, Mui Mui, Love Heart
• Villains Team: Xanadu, Chang Koehan, Choi Bounge
• K’ Team: K’, Kula Diamond, Maxima
• Ikari Team:  Ralph Jones, Clark Still, Leona Heidern
• South Town Team: Geese Howard, Billy Kane, Hein
• Fatal Fury Team: Terry Bogard, Joe higasi, Andy Bogard
• Women Fighters Team: King, Mai Shiranui, Alice
• Psycho Soldier Team: Athena Asamiya, Sie Kensou, Chin Gentsai
• Art of Fighting Team: Ryo Sakazaki, Robert Garcia, Yuri Sakazaki

We also know that the game’s penultimate boss is called “Antonov”, though the final boss has yet to be named.

In addition to this, we now know that the coming out for PlayStation 4 in Japan on August 25. As part of this, the company has announced that those who pre-order will be getting a classic Kyo skin, representing his look from the Orochi Saga.

Other features that the company has mentioned include a story mode, mission mode, an online training mode, and online 3 player teams.

SNK Playmore is sure to reveal more on these features as well as the game’s cast in the months to come. In the meantime, check out these new trailers showing many of the newly revealed features and characters.

Source: SNK Playmore

UPDATE: “Charlie0816 has shared more shots from the event, including images of what seem to be the characters listed as “Kim’s master” and “Geese’s butler” from the original leak”

一気に全キャラ公開してきた！！！！ pic.twitter.com/SrArmVVYpQ

— チャーリーとネオジオ工場 (@charlie0816) April 25, 2016

As some of you may be aware of, SNK Playmore is currently hosting a King of Fighters XIV Exerience event in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan. As part of the event, the hosts have been passing out bottles of an “official drink” of an unspecified brand at the event. These bottles contain images of the game’s characters, including some that have not yet been officially announced.

Over on twitter, charlie0816 shared a photo of one of these bottles which shows images Nakoruru, Ramon, and also of two new characters. One of them, right under Nakoruru, looks to be the 3rd member of Chang and Choi’s villains team from the leaks from early this year. More importantly however, off the right is what may be the new protagonist for the game.

There’s a new King of Fighters XIV trailer due later today after the event, maybe we’ll learn more about these characters then.

Source: Charlie0816, via the Shoryuken forums.

Yesterday, Carl “Perfect Legend” White, a two-time Evolution champion in Mortal Kombat and a decorated competitor in other fighting games, announced that he had signed with Team eLevate.

More known for sponsoring competitors in the FPS genre, eLevate’s signing of Perfect Legend represents their entry into competitive fighting games. According to their Chief Operations Officer, Ray “FroZnRay” Arsenault, the team has been “considering picking up a few players in the fighting game genre to expand [their] reach and to continue to grow [their] own presence in eSports.” He adds that “Perfect Legend was a perfect fit for us, as he brings a combination of experience, talent, and professionalism that is rare, and will allow us to build a strong base in the scene both in terms of having top players like Perfect Legend but also in creating media, generating content, and working with sponsors to continually grow the eSports market.”

Team eLevate also released an announcement video celebrating Perfect Legend’s signing, which we’ve included below.

We here are Shoryuken wish both Perfect Legend and Team eLevate the best in this new relationship.

Source: Team eLevate via Perfect Legend

The release of Street Fighter V brought with it a number of licensed accessories and peripherals for the game. However, some folks may prefer something more customized when it comes to their arcade stick.

Those looking to add a bit more Street Fighter V flavor to their favorite input device may want to consider these SFV x Sanwa OBSF-30 buttons and LB-35 balltops from Arcade Shock. Like their previous limited edition Evolution buttons and balltop, these come with a special print logo on them, this time of the Street Fighter V variety. The pushbuttons come with either the monochrome or full color logo, while the balltop is only available in the full color variant.

Both the SFV x Sanwa buttons and balltop are currently available on Arcade Shock’s site.

That’s not all, Arcade Shock also announced that they will be bringing Street Fighter V character buttons and balltops to Evolution 2016. These exclusive Street Fighter V character buttons and balltops will feature illustrations by Motoki Yoshihara with colors by Danimation. Arcade Shock sent us a sample of the art for Ryu, alongside images of the SFV x Sanwa parts, which you can see in the gallery below.

Source: Arcade Shock

Since it was announced alongside its Capcom counterpart back in 2010, fans have been eagerly awaiting Bandai Namco’s Tekken x Street Fighter. The game promised to give fighting game fans a taste of what Street Fighter characters could do in a Tekken-style setting, something further teased by Akuma’s inclusion as a guest in Tekken 7 Fated Retribution.

Sadly, it seems that fans will have to make do with that appearance from Akuma for now, as Bandai Namco has confirmed that Tekken x Street Fighter is no longer in active development. In an interview with Gamespot, Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada noted that the developers don’t think the timing is right for such a game. Specifically, he referred to the fact that Street Fighter V just came out, as well as the fact that Tekken 7 is on the way. With both games in mind, Harada stated that “we don’t want to split these communities… [finding] a good window to release Tekken x Street Fighter is something that’s become much more difficult recently. So it’s kind of on hold for the moment, I guess you could say.”

While concerns like these are understandable and show that Harada and the Tekken team do take the community into consideration when making decisions, it’s never a happy event when a long-awaited project is put on hold.

You can learn more on this and other topics related to Tekken, including Harada’s hilarious take on how he’d like to handle rage quitting, in the complete interview on Gamespot.

Source: Gamespot

As we previously reported, SNK Playmore will be hosting a King of Fighters XIV Experience event in Tokyo this coming Monday, April 25, featuring 24 playable characters. Who those 24 characters are was, up until now, unknown.

Now, SNK Playmore has finally lifted the veil on which characters will be playable at the event. Newcomers Sylvie Paula Paula, Luong, Nelson, the King of Dinosaurs, and Banderas, as well as returning characters Mai Shiranui, Ryo Sakazaki, K’, Choi Bounge, Kim Kaphwan, Athena Asamiya, Vice, Benimaru Nikaido, Terry Bogard, and Tung Fu Rue have been confirmed for the build. They will be joining previously playable cast members Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, Robert Garcia, Andy Bogard, Kula Diamond, King, Chang Koehan, Leona Heidern, and Billy Kane.

You can check out these characters in the character select screen from the build that SNK Playmore has shared.

Sadly, some of the more recently revealed characters such as Geese Howard, Joe Higashi, and newcomer Kukri will not be playable at the event. That said, this is still quite a jump from the previous playable builds which only featured nine characters.

In addition to the roster for Monday’s event, SNK Playmore announced that they will be releasing another trailer for the game with a lot of new information on the same day.

Source: SNK Playmore

The various flavors of Hori’s Real Arcade Pro Premium VLX are some of the most beloved arcade sticks out there. These metal and plastic behemoths are probably the closest that many players can get to having an actual Taito Vewlix cabinet in their homes.

That said, one issue with these (and any licensed arcade stick for that matter) is that they’re only compatible with one console. To help out folks who want their VLX to work on multiple consoles, Arcade Shock has partnered with Jasen’s Customs and Brook (makers of the Universal Fighting Board) to bring you the EZ Mod Kit for the Hori Real Arcade Pro 4 Premium VLX Kuro and Real Arcade Pro 4 Premium VLX Hayabusa.

This new kit partners the Brook Universal Fighting Board with a special VLX Upgrade board from Jasen’s Customs that allows the whole package to just slip into the VLX, without the need for any soldering. Aside from both boards, the kit also includes all the hardware and cabling needed to install it onto a VLX.

The EZ Mod Kit for the Hori Real Arcade Pro Premium VLX is now available for a reduced price of $109.99 (down from $124.95) over at Arcade Shock.

Source: Arcade Shock

The Mikado game center in Takadanobaba, in Tokyo, Japan is one of the most legendary arcades. The arcade is known for hosting tournaments for multiple games, both popular and obscure, attracting fighting game fans from all over.

This Saturday, Mikado will be hosting the Mikado Open, a tournament for Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-. Unique for a Japanese tournament, the Mikado Open will run with a double elimination format. While now the standard for the rest of the world, double elimination is less common in Japan where single elimination tournaments are the norm.

This change of format will serve as good practice for the competitors in the tournament, many of whom will be travelling to Las Vegas this July for Evolution 2016.

The tournament itself will take place on Saturday, April 23 starting at 2:00 PM JST ( 1:00 AM Eastern, 10:00 PM Pacific). Those interested in watching can check out the official stream over at twitch.tv/joniosan.

Source: ftg-reversal