Author: Ian "iantothemax" Walker

While these last few days were supposed to be an exciting time for the fighting game community as they got their first opportunity to test out Street Fighter V’s netplay, a bevy of server issues have kept all but a few from accessing the beta. In order to give themselves time to craft an experience suitable for public consumption, Capcom has decided to postpone this first beta period until a later date.

Fortunately, this won’t change much of their plans other than delaying the initial testing phase. According to a new post by Peter “Combofiend” Rosas on Capcom-Unity, there will still be thee total beta periods before Street Fighter V’s launch next spring. The developers are also in talks to provide additional incentives to players across all regions for the inconvenience these problems have caused.

As of now, this offline maintenance will continue for an indefinite amount of time. Capcom is still unsure when Street Fighter V’s servers will be ready for the massive strain, but they plan to keep us in the loop moving forward. Stay tuned for more details.

Source: Capcom-Unity via mollipen

Yep, it’s finally time: Capcom has opened the floodgates on Street Fighter V’s first public beta session! While it’s appeared at numerous events over the past year, this will give players the opportunity to try out the title themselves from the comfort of their own homes…with a few caveats.

As primarily a test of their new proprietary ‘Kagemusha’ netcode, Capcom has limited this beta to online play only. Upon starting the game, you will be asked to choose a character and immediately thrown into training mode to await a netplay opponent. After finishing up, you will continue to be placed into training mode between matches for the duration of your time with the game as it pairs you up with random opponents.

The roster will also be limited for a time. Tonight, only Ryu, Chun-Li, Nash, and M. Bison will be playable, but Capcom is ready to add Birdie and Cammy to the mix on Saturday to give their new content delivery system a spin. Sorry Ken fans, the blonde-haired fighter won’t show up this time around.

Remember, in order to take part in this beta session, you will need to preorder the title from a handful of participating retailers.

Daily maintenance is scheduled for 11 AM – 1 PM PDT, so use that opportunity to get some rest and recharge your batteries for the rest of your testing.

Of course, Capcom will also be looking for feedback from the community, which you can provide through a quick survey (Europeans, use this link) or the official Capcom-Unity thread. So feel free to jump in, test out the new game (when it lets you past the title screen, that is), and let us know what you think in the comments!

After giving fans in the United States a taste of Tekken 7, restaurant chain Dave & Buster’s is considering the possibility of hosting location tests for fellow Bandai Namco title Pokkén Tournament.

This news surfaced yesterday courtesy of Dave & Buster’s Senior Vice President of Entertainment and Game Strategy Kevin Bachus during a recent community interview on Reddit. When asked about the possibility of Pokkén appearing at locations like Tekken 7, Bachus replied in the affirmative. “Candidly, both Namco and I are more optimistic about that title and our typical guests than Tekken,” the executive explained.

Should the early tests do well, Bachus explained, they would expand Pokkén Tournament’s presence in locations throughout North America.

While these plans are still a ways off, this is a good indicator that Bandai Namco is interested in bringing the title to the United States or, at the very least, allowing fans in the west to get their hands on the game and provide feedback.

Stay tuned for more details as they are released.

Source: r/DaveAndBusters via Flying Wonkey

After a seemingly endless string of promotional work for the energy drink company, Darryl “Snake Eyez” Lewis was officially made part of Red Bull’s competitive gaming roster earlier today. The news was shared by Lewis himself, who also contributed an image of the contract signing, pictured to the right.

As the world’s preeminent Zangief player in Ultra Street Fighter IV, Lewis has continued to ride the grappler to victory at events like SoCal Regionals, Winter Brawl, and The Fall Classic despite diversifying with Evil Ryu to cover his bad matchups. He placed just outside of top eight at this year’s Evolution Championship Series due to an early quarterfinals loss to Razer’s Keita “Fuudo” Ai and elimination at the hands of Daigo Umehara of Mad Catz.

With this signing, Lewis joins a growing number of gamers to be sponsored by Red Bull, a group that includes fellow fighting game player Marie-Laure “Kayane” Norindr. The organization has also made previous forays into the fighting game community with events like Red Bull Kumite, a prestigious invitational that saw some of the world’s strongest players–Snake Eyez included–travel to Paris, France to compete.

Regularly regarded as the strongest Zangief in the world, this sponsorship will hopefully give Lewis the opportunity to travel the globe and prove it.

Source: Snake Eyez