Author: Franz "d3v" Co

As part of the 10 year anniversary of the BlazBlue franchise for 2018, Arc System Works recently held a character popularity poll. The poll ran from last November all the way to this past January, and now, they’ve released the results.

The voting, which took place from November 20, 2017 up until January 31, 2018 saw BlazBlue fans given the ability to vote for their favorite character once a day. The poll saw a total of 77,819 votes from fans of the franchise.

For those curious about the results, Arc System Works has released to top 20 characters according to the poll, with actual vote numbers for the top 3.

Pretty fitting that Arc System Works has announced the results — with Ragna on top — on his birthday, March 3!

Source: Arc System Works

Back in the early 2010s, when Capcom was trying to get Street Fighter IV out on as many systems as possible, one of the most interesting versions was the Nintendo 3DS port, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, which showcased a number of unique features for Nintendo’s innovative handheld.

Now, for any 3DS owners looking to own this interesting port of the game, here’s a great chance to pick it up. Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition is currently on sale as part of Capcom’s Publisher Sale on the Nintendo eShop in North America. Anyone looking to pick the game up can do so for only $7.99, 60% off its regular price of $19.99.

Released back in early 2011, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition debuted to mostly favorable reviews from various outlets. To take advantage of the 3DS’s 3D capabilities, the game has a “Dynamic Mode” that displays the action over the characters shoulder (as opposed to the traditional side view). In addition to this, the game also has touch controls for pulling off special moves. This latter option — while great for casual players — does tend to skew the game’s balance in favor of certain charge characters, who can now pull off moves without charging.

Interested players can pick up Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition here. In addition to this, a number of other Capcom titles for 3DS, as well as Wii and Switch, are also on sale on the eShop.

Source: Nintendo eShop via Nintendo Everything

NIS America has announced that they were recently hit with a security breach. The attack, which occurred between January 23 and February 26, affects the online stores that they operate — including the newly-opened SNK Online Store.

News of the breach first came from an email that NIS America has been sending to their customers, that was eventually shared on the ResetEra forum. The email, which NIS America confirmed as legitimate, warns their customers that sensitive data, including email addresses — and more importantly, payment information — has been affected by the breach.

The attack came from a malicious process that attached itself to their checkout page. The process was in use as far back as January 23, 2018 and as such, any customers who made transactions in from then up until February 26, 2018 are at risk. Any transactions prior to then are not affected.

The affected data includes customers name, address, credit card number, expiration date and CVV security code, and email address. PayPal login information, however, was not included in the breach.

Once the breach was discovered, NIS America took appropriate steps to address it, including taking their store offline to remove the offending process and make sure that it’s secure again before putting it back up. For those who may be at risk, NIS America recommends getting in touch with your credit card provider and checking for any suspicious activity tied to your credit cards.

In addition to this, NIS America will be sending out codes for a $5 discount for the next purchase of anyone whose data has been impacted by this breach. As for those with accounts on their European store, NIS has stated that, as far as they know, only the North American store has been affected.

While known for for releasing quirky Japanese RPGs, NIS recently stepped into the fighting game space by partnering with SNK to publish SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy for PlayStation 4 and Switch, as well as running the latter’s online store.

Source: NIS America via ResetEra

If you’re the type of player who enjoys collecting a lot of fighting games — or if you’re simply looking to get a specific game at a lower cost — then here’s some great news for you. Sony is currently holding a special Critics Choice sale on the PlayStation Network, and a number of fighting games are discounted as part of it.

The discounted fighting games run the gamut from big mainstream titles such as Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition and Tekken 7, to smaller indie titles such as Nidhogg II. For the most part, the games are those on the PlayStation 4 platform, however, there’s at least one PlayStation 3 game in the mix as well.

As for the discounts themselves, the are pretty substantial — with some games being discounted for as much as 70%. PlayStation Plus subscribers can also get an additional 10% off these deals as well.

Check out the discounted titles below. (Take note that the games are for PlayStation 4 unless stated otherwise.)

For those interested in availing of any of the above discounts, take note that the Critics’ Choice Sale ends on March 6, at 8:00 AM Pacific.

Source: PlayStation Store Critics’ Choice Sale

Last week saw the 21st edition of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’s D.I.C.E. Awards. As some of you may know, a number of games were in contention for the Fighting Game of the Year award. Among all these nominees however, only one game could come home with that award…  and the winner of Fighting Game of the Year at the 21st D.I.C.E. Awards was Injustice 2.

Released in May of last year, Injustice 2 has been a fan-favorite since its launch, both due to its varied content for both casual and competitive players, as well as for the many unexpected DLC additions to its cast.

We here at Shoryuken congratulate NetherRealm Studios on their win!

Source: AIAS via Test Your Might

One of the things that many gamers are wary about today are microtransactions: in-game purchases with real money, for in-game content. To help address these concerns, the  Entertainment Software Rating Board has announced plans to begin applying a new label to games, warning of these in-game purchases.

The new label — which will be separate from the usual ESRB ratings box (similar to the “Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB” warning) — is ostensibly meant to address issues with games using randomized loot boxes. However, the label itself actually covers all in-game purchases, including cosmetic items and season passes.

Now, with how most fighting games eventually include DLC, it’s likely we’ll be seeing this label on many upcoming releases. While loot boxes haven’t really become a thing in the genre (with Injustice 2 being the only game to have them — a very tame implementation at that — and Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dissidia Final Fantasy NT using even lighter takes on the concept), most fighting games these days do tend to come with season passes, DLC characters, and paid cosmetic items. Two of this summer’s biggest upcoming releases, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle and Fighting EX Layer, will utilize season passes and downloadable content, even if not “true” loot boxes.

Regarding why the label isn’t specific to loot boxes, the ESRB’s Patricia Vance has stated that: “What we learned is that a large majority of parents don’t know what a loot box is, and even those who claim they do don’t really understand what a loot box is.” It’s because of this that they’ve decided to go for a more general descriptor that covers all in-game purchases.  “It’s very important for us to not harp on loot boxes per se, but to make sure we’re capturing loot boxes but also other in-game transactions,” Vance concludes.

Whether or not upcoming fighting game releases end up getting lumped together with games with abusive loot box practices — and whether their sales are affected as a result — is something we can only speculate on, for now.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

The 2018 American International Toy Fair took place a couple of weeks back; one of the toy manufacturers at the event was Hasbro (of course), who brought with them some of their upcoming toys based on Marvel Comic’s video games.

One of Hasbro’s announcements at Toy Fair 2018 was a Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite two-pack, featuring Black Widow and Ryu. The two-pack is part of the company’s Marvel Universe toy line, and was part of a larger set of toys from various Marvel properties, both film and video games that was shown at Toy Fair.

No word yet on when the two-pack will be released. ToyArk has taken a couple of photos of the figures, which we’ve shared below. You can check out the rest of their coverage here.

Source: ToyArk; thanks to Cameron for the tip.

The 2018 American International Toy Fair took place a couple of weeks back; one of the toy manufacturers at the event was Hasbro (of course), who brought with them some of their upcoming toys based on Marvel Comic’s video games.

One of Hasbro’s announcements at Toy Fair 2018 was a Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite two-pack, featuring Black Widow and Ryu. The two-pack is part of the company’s Marvel Universe toy line, and was part of a larger set of toys from various Marvel properties, both film and video games that was shown at Toy Fair.

No word yet on when the two-pack will be released. ToyArk has taken a couple of photos of the figures, which we’ve shared below. You can check out the rest of their coverage here.

Source: ToyArk; thanks to Cameron for the tip.

For those who’ve been thinking about getting Dissidia Final Fantasy NT for PlayStation 4, here’s something that may sway your decision to get the game.

The Dissidia Final Fantasy NT “Steelbook Brawler Edition” is currently on sale for $39.99 USD over at Amazon. This is $20, or 33% discount, off the base price of $59.99.

For those who may not know, the Steelbook Brawler Edition comes packaged in one of three distinct steelbook designs. This is on top of three alternate art cards for the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game.

Those interested in picking up Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Steelbook Brawler Edition should head over to Amazon.

Source: Amazon