Author: Franz "d3v" Co

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Virtua Fighter 2 and Eternal Champions coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as part of the Sega Genesis Classics collection

Last night, Sega accidentally revealed that their Sega Genesis Classics (Sega Mega Drive Classics outside the US) collection would be coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. While the company later pulled the announcement, saying that they had “jumped the gun” and would be doing a proper reveal later on, we did get a glimpse of a couple of classic Sega fighters that may be coming to consoles because of this.

The first of these is none other than Eternal Champions. Developed as Sega’s answer to the Street Fighter IIs and Mortal Kombats of the day, Eternal Champions still has a dedicated following to this day. While the version that’ll be part of the Sega Genesis Classics isn’t the superior Sega CD version, it’s still a chance for people to play a classic on modern consoles.

The more interesting game of the two however is the Genesis port of  Virtua Fighter 2. The game is both a tacit acknowledgement that the early 3D fighters were still locked to a 2D plane, and a perfect representation of Sega’s confused strategy when it came to transitioning to the 5th generation of consoles. The game itself feels more like a port of the first Virtua Fighter, lacking then-newcomers Lion and Shun Di, as well as the rest of the cast lacking many of their moves from 2. In practice, it’s more curiosity than competitive fighter.

The premature announcement for the Sega Genesis Classics collection on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One stated a release this May. Whether or not that still holds true when Sega makes their proper announcement is as of yet unknown. In the meantime, anyone curious about these two games can already check them out on Steam.

Source: US Gamer

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ARMS user icons added in latest Nintendo Switch system update

For fans of ARMS on the Switch, the latest system update for Nintendo’s hybrid system offers new ways to show support for the game.

Among the many new features included in the version 5.0.0 system update for Nintendo’s Switch, are a bunch of new user icons that ARMS fans can use. Specifically, of the 24 new user icons added in the update, 15 are for ARMS, representing the 15 playable characters in the game (the rest are Kirby icons, in case you were wondering).

Of course, these new user icons are just a small part of the changes added to version 5.0.0: other changes include new social media integration as well as changes to how the Switch handles downloads of purchased games. You can check these out in the official change list.

Source: Nintendo

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SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy — Yasuyuki Oda talks surprise characters, DLC plans, Garou sequel, and more in this new interview

SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is definitely an interesting choice for SNK’s first non-King of Fighters fighting game in years. As such, many fans are bound to have more than a few questions about it; now, SNK’s Yasuyuki Oda answers some of these questions in a recent interview by Honey’s Anime, covering a lot of ground.

Some of it cover topics that Oda and other SNK staff have already talked about in other interviews. One of these — one of the most popular topics about the game, in fact — covers the game’s characters. Previously, Oda hinted that SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy would have characters not normally seen in King of Fighters games. In this new interview, Oda seems to reiterate that, stating that they “have some characters that will surprise people”.

Additionally, when asked about it, Oda also mentioned that  they are looking into possibly having DLC characters to expand the cast in the future. This, of course, will not be surprising to most fans, considering that SNK has been fairly generous with DLC characters for The King of Fighters XIV.

Now, while the rest of the questions in the interview are still mostly covering the same topics we’ve seen previous interviews, Honey’s Anime does bring up on important question: are they working on a sequel to Garou: Mark of the Wolves? To this, Oda gave the very vague answer of “I will continue to make them until the day I die.” Garou fans, take that as you will.

Check out the full interview here.

Source: Honey’s Anime, via Siliconera

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Vayne Carudas Solidor is Dissidia Final Fantasy NT’s first DLC character

During their recent livestream, Square Enix revealed the identity of Dissidia Final Fantasy NT‘s first DLC character — Vayne Carudas Solidor.

For those not familiar with him, Vayne is one of the antagonists from Final Fantasy XII. Heir to the Arcadian throne, Vayne involved himself with a rogue deity in a conspiracy involving the fate of the world — and the freedom of its inhabitants from the machinations of other deities.

His involvement in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is most likely much less convoluted. Indeed, his trailer focuses less on any conspiracies he may be planning, and more on the combat techniques that he brings into the game.

Vayne will be coming to the arcade version in the March update, and will be available for purchase for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT on PlayStation 4 in late April.

After him, Square has five more DLC characters in store — the next of which is yet another male character, but from the earlier half of the Final Fantasy series.

Source: Square Enix

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Digital pre-orders of BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle for PlayStation 4 will grant early access to the open beta

Looking for a chance to get to play BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle early? Well here’s some great news — if you’re on PlayStation 4, that is. In a recent post on the Japanese PlayStation Blog, Arc System Works has announced that those who pre-order their upcoming crossover fighter digitally on PlayStation 4 will get early access to the game’s open beta.

As previously announced, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is coming out on May 31 in Japan and June 5 in North America. Prior to this however, Arc System Works will be holding an open beta for the game sometime in May. Those who pre-order their game on PlayStation 4 will get to access this open beta a bit earlier; as for exactly when this open beta will take place, Arc System Works has stated that they’ll be announcing the dates and other details sometime in the near future on the game’s official site.

Source: PlayStation Blog via Siliconera

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Hidden “Z-League” and “Raid Battle” islands have been found in Dragon Ball FighterZ’s lobby

For those wondering about what other forms of future content Bandai Namco may have in store for Dragon Ball Fighter Z, it seems that some hints have been found. It seems the game’s lobby holds some secrets off-camera that may point to what we can expect in the months to come.

Instead of a traditional menu, Dragon Ball FighterZ instead uses a 3D free-roaming online lobby where players can move their avatar to various islands to access the game’s modes. However, it seems that there are a few hidden islands just out of site.

Shesez recently uploaded a new episode of their Boundary Break video series, where they apply a free-roaming camera to explore Dragon Ball FighterZ. Here, they discovered that Dragon Ball FighterZ‘s lobby actually has two hidden islands.

boundary_break_dbfz_hidden_islands

The first of these is labelled “Z League,” and seems to hint at some sort of competitive league mode for the game. The island’s design features a golden bust of Mr. Satan (“Hercule” in the US), so it may indicate a form of tournament mode, similar to the Tenkaichi Budokai tournaments that happen in the original manga and anime.

boundary_break_dbfz_z_league

The other one, however, is labeled “Raid Battle”. This is arguably more interesting, as it may hint at some sort of cooperative mode — at least if we apply how the word “raid” is used in other games — where players band together to achieve some goal. The island’s layout of a crater with a Saiyan pod in the middle seems to indicate that it involves some form of invasion. Perhaps teams of players will have to defend against a raid composed of other teams?

boundary_break_dbfz_raid_battle

Of course, this is all speculation for now. In the meantime, you can check out Shesez’s video below for these, as well as other fun things that can be seen by moving the camera around freely.

Source: Shesez

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Masahiro Sakurai is returning to work on the upcoming Super Smash Bros. game for Nintendo Switch

Aside from the fact that it exists, there really isn’t much that we know about the upcoming Super Smash Bros. game on Switch. That said, we do know of at least one person returning to the project — series creator Masahiro Sakurai.

In a recent tweet, Sakurai confirmed that not only is he working on Super Smash Bros., but that they’ve been quietly working on it for some time now.

The creator of a series returning to work on the latest installment isn’t, in itself, a surprise. However, Sakurai famously opened up in interviews on how taxing development of the last game was to his health. In the past he’s stated that the previous game (Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS ) could be his last, especially after he admitted to Famitsu that he suffered from physical pain during its development.

He’s also had an interesting relationship with the game’s competitive scene, especially with how his views on competitive Smash play have evolved.

That said, while Sakurai is back at work on a new Super Smash Bros. game, he made no indication of what capacity he’s involved with in the title — but we’re bound to learn more in the near future.

Sources: Masahiro Sakurai (Twitter); Nintendolife; Eurogamer

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Who is Falke? VesperArcade speculates about the next DLC fighter for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition

While most of the new characters coming to Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition are returning from previous installments, there are two new characters in the mix. One of these is Falke, the mysterious female Neo Shadaloo member, first seen in Ed’s ending and again beside him in the new SFVAE opening cinematic. (The other is “G.”)

VesperArcade and Mir now take a look at Falke, and try to figure out who she is based on what little material we have on her. Most of the talk revolves around how she relates to Ed, and how she joined Neo Shadaloo. In addition to this, they also focus on the fact that Falke does carry a staff with her, and whether or not this means she has some link to Rolento (who fights with a similar baton). After all, the majority of the new characters in Street Fighter V have some relation to older characters in the series. On top of this, this could relate to her possibly being a “rekka” style character — a playstyle that has yet to properly be represented in the game.

Source: VesperArcade

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ARMS Online Open competition announced for US & Canada

While the big news from Nintendo in yesterday’s Nintendo Direct stream was about Super Smash Bros. on the Switch, the company also had something for the ARMS faithful. Nintendo has announced a US & Canada Open competition, that will take place in the game’s ranked matches.

The qualifiers for the competition — which is open to all legal residents of the United States and Canada — have already started as of March 8, and will run until March 18. During this period, players must play 50 ranked matches in order to be eligible for the finals.

The finals itself will take place (also online) on March 31. Here, the top 8 qualifiers will duke it out in a single-elimination tournament. All of the top 8 qualifiers will receive signed artwork from Nintendo — however, while everyone else will receive black and white art, the champion will receive a special colored art print worth more than twice that of the rest.

Players interested in joining can check out the rules here, and then register here.

In addition to this, Nintendo also announced that ARMS would be getting a new Global Test Punch after the event, from March 31 to April 2.

Source: Nintendo

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EZ MOD kit for the MadCatz Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition S+ now available at Jasen’s Customs

These days, we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to arcade sticks. Despite this — or maybe even because of it — people tend to have personal favorites. As such, many players naturally would like to be able to use certain makes of arcade sticks on consoles they may not have been originally meant for.

For any players who feel this way about MadCatz’s Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition S+ (or TES+ for short), here’s some great news: Jasen’s Customs now has a TES+ EZ MOD kit for sale.

The MadCatz’s TES+ is itself designed to emulate another classic, the original Tournament Edition line of arcade sticks for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The stick borrows multiple features from  various permutations of the classic TE, and brought it up-to-date for the current generation, specifically the PlayStation 4.

Now for those who’ve fallen in love with the TES+, Jasen’s Custom’s TES+ EZ MOD kit allows for you to make it work with almost any console with a USB port, thanks to the inclusion of a Brook Universal Fighting Board. The rest of the kit is there simply to allow players to quickly swap in and connect said board to into the MadCatz TES+.

The Brook UFB itself brings with it true multi-console support (no 8-minute timeout on PS4), as well as console auto-detection. Meanwhile, EZ MOD kit’s own PCB allows for turbo support, while also coming with a built in SOCD cleaner for those wanting to mod their TES+ sticks into an all-button configuration.

Jasen’s Customs TES+ EZ MOD kit is now available for purchase for $149.95. Interested players can check it out over at their official site.

Source: Jasen’s Customs