Author: Franz "d3v" Co

Texas Showdown, the largest fighting game tournament in the American southwest, returns this May. This year’s event is scheduled for May 8-10 at the Sheraton Brookhollow in Houston, Texas and features a plethora of games for players to compete in.

As far as the main lineup goes, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3,  Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, Killer Instinct, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and Mortal Kombat X will be playable. Additionally, there will also be side tournaments for BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, and Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. Full Boost, among others.

For those interested, early bird registration for the event is open from now up until March 1. In the meantime, check out the trailer for the event below.

Source: Texas Showdown

Here’s some great news for any PlayStation owners looking to pick up some SNK Playmore titles. A bunch of their games are currently on sale over on PlayStation Network.

Fans of the company’s fighting games can now grab King of Fighters XIII for only $14.99. Older titles on sale include King of Fighters ’94, King of Fighters ’95, King of Fighters ’96, Samurai Shodown, Art of Fighting, and World Heroes, all of which have been knocked down to $4.49.

Meanwhile, for those who like their fighting on the go, King of Fighters’94, King of Fighters’95, King of Fighters ’96,  Samurai Shodown, Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and World Heroes on PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita can be purchased for $3.49.

Of course, these aren’t the only SNK games that are on sale, so be sure to head on over to PlayStation Network for a full list of markdowns.

Source: PlayStation Network via DreamCancel

As some of you may know, Bandai Namco Games recently held a series of location tests for Pokémon fighter Pokkén Tournament in arcades across Japan. While, for the most part, the build used at the public showing featured content that had already been announced, players did notice a few new things such as alternate colors and a brand new stage.

Some of the new colors are quite interesting as they don’t really conform to the readily available shiny looks already available to the pocket monsters in their main series. Examples include a two-tone color scheme for Machamp that’s a bit reminiscent of Street Fighter III series boss Gill as well as some nice red tones for both Gardevoir and Lucario.

The new stage, on the other hand, takes place in a previously unseen underwater dome. Legenday Pokémon Lugia, who was first introduced in Gold and Silver, can be seen swimming in the background.

A full gallery of off-screen photos can be found below.

Pokkén Tournament is expected to land in Japanese arcades sometime this year.

Source: Serebii via Smashboards

Publisher Nyu Media has announced that they’re expanding public access to the Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm beta on PC. This comes hot on the heels of recent news that the title will be arriving in Japanese arcades on February 12.

Previously available only to those who reached a certain threshold during the group’s crowdfunding efforts, this early build of the indie fighter will now be open to those who donated at least $10. These backers will be receiving their keys via email by the end of the month.

As for when the finished version of the game will come out, Nyu Media is unfortunately unable to provide a firm release date, as lead designer Kotani’s time is currently dominated with this and other projects. That said, the work on the core of the game is done, but there are still some elements needed for the PC release that have yet to be completed.

Source: Indiegogo

Last year, Team NINJA supported the competitive Dead or Alive 5 scene with the Road to the Fall Classic, a tournament series that saw players from a handful of qualifying events earn a free trip to the final tournament at the Fall Classic 2014 and a chance to win a chunk of the $8000 prize pool. The developers plan to continue providing that support into 2015, going bigger with a new tour for the upcoming Last Round update.

With more tournaments added to the calendar, including Evolution 2015, Battle Royal 2015 features three times the number of events culminating in a grand finals tournament at Northeast Championships XVI.

Each of the events on the calendar will receive a pot bonus, but more importantly, the winners of a select number of events will have their travel expenses to the grand finals compensated by Team Ninja themselves.

Additionally, the top two placers for the remaining tournaments will also receive points towards qualifying for the main event, and the duo with the most will receive the same sponsorship package as the aforementioned outright qualifiers.

As for Northeast Championships XVI itself, Team NINJA will be providing a $3000 pot bonus to the proceedings, and the overall winner is set to receive a free pass into next year’s grand finals.

The full list of participating events can be found in the graphic below.

Source: Team NINJA

While it was initially only available for pre-order in the United Kingdom, those interested in picking up HORI’s Real Arcade Pro 4 Kai arcade stick in the United States can now do so as well thanks to our friends over at Arcade Shock.

As previously reported, the HORI RAP4 Kai features a revised Vewlix based casing first seen in the Real Arcade Pro Hayabusa for the Xbox One. In addition to this, it features a touchpad at the back, something no other arcade stick for the PlayStation 4 has.

Internally, the RAP4 Kai features HORI’s Hayabusa lever and Kuro buttons, the same ones used in some Taito Vewlix arcade cabinets.

Early orders for this arcade stick will be bundled with an Arcade Shock tee-shirt while supplies last. The distributors are expecting to receive these products by the end of the month.

Pricing for the RAP4 Kai is set at $149.99. Should you be looking to pre-order from Arcade Shock, be sure to head on over to Arcade Shock.

Source: Arcade Shock