Author: Ian "iantothemax" Walker

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Pokkén Tournament Championship Series Receives $100,000 Prize Pool

As was previously reported, Pokémon is ready to back Pokkén Tournament as a competitive title with the Pokkén Tournament Championship Series. This string of tournaments will see the Pokémon-based fighter intersect with both the National and World Championships the organization holds for their video and card games on a yearly basis, with $100,000 in prizes up for grabs.

Similar to other competitive circuits, Pokkén Tournament players will be able to earn their way to Worlds by automatically qualifying at events like Evo and Community Effort Orlando or earning championship points with consistent play at participating tournaments.

The championships will be split between North America and Europe, both of which will have minor and major events. The main difference (apart from the monetary rewards, of course) is that first- and second-place finishers at major events will be invited to Worlds while only the champions of minor events will be extended the same privilege. Sixteen players are set to be pulled from both regions in this way, with the remainder of the bracket positions going to special Japanese invites and a last-chance qualifier at Worlds itself.

A full schedule of events and prizing information have been detailed below. Please note that the prizes apply only to North America, as European details are still being hammered out.

SchedulePrizes

North America

  • CEO 2016 – Orlando, FL (June 24-26, Minor)
  • Pokémon US National Championships – Columbus, OH (July 1-3, Major)
  • Evo 2016 – Las Vegas, NV (July 15-17, Major)

Europe

  • Pokémon UK National Championships – Liverpool, UK (May 14-15, Major)
  • Pokémon DE National Championships – Kassel, Germany (May 21-22, Minor)
  • Pokémon IT National Championships – Milan, Italy (June 11-12, Minor)

World Championships

  • Worlds Last Chance Qualifier – San Francisco, CA (August 19)
  • World Championships – San Francisco, CA (August 20)

Minors

  • 1st Place – $1,250 + travel to Worlds
  • 2nd Place – $1,000
  • 3rd Place – $750
  • 4th Place – $600
  • 5th Place (tie) – $450 per player
  • 7th Place (tie) – $250 per player

Majors

  • 1st Place – $3,000 + travel to Worlds
  • 2nd Place – $2,000 + travel to Worlds
  • 3rd Place – $1,500
  • 4th Place – $1,000
  • 5th Place (tie) – $750 per player
  • 7th Place (tie) – $500 per player

Worlds

  • 1st Place – $6,000
  • 2nd Place – $4,000
  • 3rd Place – $3,000
  • 4th Place – $2,000
  • 5th Place (tie) – $1,500 per player
  • 7th Place (tie) – $1,000 per player

Further information regarding registration, championship point tracking, and more is forthcoming. Stay tuned for more details. Pokkén Tournament launches for Wii U worldwide on March 18.

Sources: Pokkén Tournament, Gamasutra

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No One Can Touch Karin in This Street Fighter V “Combo” Video

While the era of Street Fighter IV brought us a number of fantastic zero damage exhibitions, none so adamantly adhered to the usage of a single move as the following Street Fighter V “combo” video. Cue the Benny Hill music…

Crazy, right? All of the tactics portrayed above are made possible by the Kanzuki-Ryu Hokojutsu Sappo, or Sappo for short. This command dash sports a lower profile that shrinks Karin’s hitbox for a short period of time, a feature that’s only improved by the EX version’s projectile invulnerability.

While entertaining, this video also implicates the power of Karin’s Sappo in actual matches, as the variety of moves she can transition into during the dash should provide for a number of punish options against hapless plasma chuckers. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Source: MeroPlays

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No One Can Touch Karin in This Street Fighter V “Combo” Video

While the era of Street Fighter IV brought us a number of fantastic zero damage exhibitions, none so adamantly adhered to the usage of a single move as the following Street Fighter V “combo” video. Cue the Benny Hill music…

Crazy, right? All of the tactics portrayed above are made possible by the Kanzuki-Ryu Hokojutsu Sappo, or Sappo for short. This command dash sports a lower profile that shrinks Karin’s hitbox for a short period of time, a feature that’s only improved by the EX version’s projectile invulnerability.

While entertaining, this video also implicates the power of Karin’s Sappo in actual matches, as the variety of moves she can transition into during the dash should provide for a number of punish options against hapless plasma chuckers. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Source: MeroPlays

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SXSW Gaming Reveals Smash Invitational Lineup

Later this month, a group made up of some of the strongest Super Smash Bros. Melee players in the world will meet in Austin, Texas to prove their skills. The catch? Five of those competitors are considered the best to have ever picked up a GameCube controller.

Battle of the Five Gods, hosted by SXSW Gaming, will set twenty players against each other in a massive invitational event with $25,000 up for grabs. While we were certain the eponymous deities of the Melee community–Alliance’s Adam “Armada” Lindgren, Team Liquid’s Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma, Cloud9’s Joseph “Mango” Marquez, Most Valuable Gaming’s Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman, and Evil Geniuses’ Kevin “PPMD” Nanney–would be in attendance, today has seen the entire lineup revealed.

There aren’t a whole lot of surprises, but the Melee scene’s increase in skill over the past few years means some have to be left out in the cold. The most obvious exclusion is Team SoloMid’s William “Leffen” Hjelte, whose apparent lack of a visa kept him from attending.

Check out the full list and let us know what you think.

  • Adam “Armada” Lindgren
  • Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma
  • Joseph “Mango” Marquez
  • Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman
  • Kevin “PPMD” Nanney
  • McCain “MacD” LaVelle
  • Michael “Nintendude” Brancato
  • Jeffrey “Axe” Williamson
  • Mustafa “Ice” Akcakaya
  • Justin “Plup” McGrath
  • Joey “Lucky” Aldama
  • Otto “Silent Wolf” Bisno
  • Zachary “SFAT” Cordoni
  • Robert “Wobbles” Wright
  • Sami “DruggedFox” Muhanna
  • Kevin “PewPewU” Toy
  • Johnny “S2J” Kim
  • Hugo “HugS” Gonzalez
  • DaJuan “Shroomed” McDaniel
  • Weston “Westballz” Dennis

Battle of the Five Gods is scheduled for March 17-19. More details can be found by following the link below.

Source: SXSW Gaming

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Capcom Has Started Docking League Points from Habitual Street Fighter V Ragequitters

After putting out a call for evidence collection last month, Capcom is back today with an update on their efforts to discourage ragequitting in Street Fighter V.

According to Neidel “Haunts” Crisan, regular offenders should have already seen penalization in the form of docked League Points. Accounts that have been punished in this way will be monitored in the coming weeks to see if they take heed of the warning. “Moving forward, we will be making a sweep each week based on accounts in our system that have abnormally high disconnect rates (particularly at the end of the match) and will reset their League Points,” Crisan explains.

Moving on, players can expect more details about Street Fighter V’s March update sometime next week. In addition to making Alex playable, this update will also open the in-game shop, add combo challenges for every character, and expand online lobbies to accommodate eight players at once. Capcom also plans to implement a handful of bug fixes, so stay tuned for more details on what that entails.

For more on what Capcom has fixed in Street Fighter V and some tips to stabilizing online play, check out the full post by following the link below.

Source: Capcom-Unity

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Last Stock Legends Minidoc Follows Top Smashers at The Big House 5

After various teasers over the past few weeks, Last Stock Legends recently shared the first episode of their mini-documentary series on The Big House 5. As one of the largest Smash tournaments in history, the event featured a number of interesting storylines as the hierarchy competitive community continues to shift.

In the video below, Last Stock Legends follows two key players: Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma and Joey “Lucky” Aldama. Though both are fantastic competitors, their trajectories through the scene couldn’t be any more different. Debiedma, long considered a god in the world of Super Smash Bros. Melee, currently enjoys a sponsorship with Team Liquid, a major organization in the world of competitive gaming. Aldama, on the other hand, has put all his faith in Smash as a way to provide for his family, and is still looking to take that next step forward in his career.

Their interviews are interspersed with a variety of behind-the-scenes footage, providing an insightful look at all the emotions that go into competing at this level.

Source: Last Stock Legends

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Guilty Gear XX Tracks Come Up Big in Arc System Works’ Fan Vote

After asking the community to vote on their favorite tracks earlier this year, Arc System Works has revealed the results of their Guilty Gear music poll.

As expected, Guilty Gear XX was the clear winner, with half the top twenty related to that specific series in some way. The number one song, Holy Orders (Be Just or Be Dead), ran away in the voting with over 200 more votes than the runner-up. But that doesn’t mean Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- was left out in the cold; notable themes like Big Blast Sonic and HEAVY DAY also found themselves in this impressive group of finalists.

  1. Holy Orders (Be Just or Be Dead) (GGXX Ky theme) – 1780 votes
  2. Still in the Dark (GGX Millia vs. Eddie theme) – 1571 votes
  3. Magnolia Éclair (GGXrd Ky theme) – 962 votes
  4. Blue Water Blue Sky (GGXX May theme) – 955 votes
  5. Awe of She (GGXX Dizzy theme) – 917 votes
  6. Get Down to Business (GGXX Holy Order Sol theme) – 834 votes
  7. Big Blast Sonic (GGXrd -SIGN- console opening) – 792 votes
  8. Suck a Sage (GGXX Chipp theme) – 784 votes
  9. Marionette (GGXrd Elphelt theme) – 770 votes
  10. HEAVY DAY (GGXrd -SIGN- arcade opening) – 734 votes
  11. Simple Life (GGXX Bridget theme) – 637 votes
  12. Momentary Life (GG-GGXX Baiken theme) – 613 votes
  13. Fatal Duel (GGXX mirror match EX theme) – 593 votes
  14. Ride the Fire! (GGXrd -SIGN- Dragon Install theme) – 563 votes
  15. Does the Sheep Count the Sheep? (GGXrd -SIGN- Bedman theme) – 539 votes
  16. Keep the Flag Flying (GGXX Holy Order Sol vs. Ky theme) – 517 votes
  17. Diva (GG2 Valentine final form theme) – 473 votes
  18. Writhe in Pain (GG-GGXX Millia theme) – 431 votes
  19. Meet Again (GGXX Justice theme) – 426 votes
  20. No Mercy (GGX Sol vs. Ky EX theme) – 413 votes

Did your favorites make the cut? Feel free to let us know your thoughts on these results in the comments. Brief snippets of these and many other tracks in the Guilty Gear discography can be found by clicking through the link below.

Source: Guilty Gear

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Churning the Butter #66 feat. Street Fighter V Streaming Live from San Francisco, California

The folks behind Churning the Butter have just gone live with another installment of their weekly tournament series, taking over Folsom Street Foundry in San Francisco, California to host Street Fighter V for local players.

Tonight, you can expect to see competitors like pH|LPN, Graham Wolfe, pH|HooDaMan, Pavo, pH|Crackfiend, MC|GCYoshi13, bjUNCHAINED, El Cubano Loco, and Alex Myers, among others.

If you’re interested in seeing what the NorCal cats have up their sleeves, be sure to check out the stream below and show your support. You can also head on over to Twitch if you prefer to chat.

Watch live video from showdowngg on www.twitch.tv

Want to check these tournaments out for yourself? Well, you’re in luck, because even if you missed out this week, Churning the Butter is held every Thursday at 8:00 PM PDT during ShowDown’s game night at Folsom Street Foundry.

Source: ShowDown

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Harada Credits Pokémon President for Initial Pokkén Tournament Concept

No matter how you slice it, Pokkén Tournament is an odd (Psy)duck. Its combination of 3D arena combat and 2D fisticuffs puts a unique spin on the fighting game formula, not to mention the fact that Pokémon were previously confined to unofficial affairs like Type Wild. Where did this idea even originate?

In a recent interview with GameXplain, producer Katsuhiro Harada provides an interesting answer to that question. While it was easy to just assume Bandai Namco Entertainment, with their long history of fighting game development, approached The Pokémon Company with the concept, it was actually the other way around.

The story goes that the manager of Bandai Namco’s Taiko no Tatsujin property (known as Taiko: Drum Master in North America) approached Pokémon with the idea of collaborating on an entry in the popular rhythm franchise. President Tsunekazu Ishihara, however, had a different idea.

“[Tsunekazu Ishihara] came back and said that, [if he was going to work with Bandai Namco], he wanted to do a collaboration with Tekken. Even at the very beginning, he had the idea of naming it Pokkén,” Harada explained. “Of course, at the start, the concept was slightly different. But really, at the core, he wanted to [create] a new definition for fighting games that would be much more broadly appealing.”

For more of GameXplain’s interview, which also features input from Soulcalibur producer Masaaki Hoshino, check out the video below.

Source: GameXplain

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Team Spooky Contributes Over $1,000 to Street Fighter V Prize Pool at Upcoming Next Level Battle Circuit

At the beginning of last night’s Next Level Battle Circuit, official broadcaster Victor “Spooky” Fontanez had a special announcement concerning an upcoming installment of the weekly tournament series.

Due to the increase in viewership after Street Fighter V’s release, Spooky announced that he will be contributing all of the revenue he earned on Wednesday night, whether it was from advertisements, subscriptions, or outright donations, to the game’s pot on March 16. According to Next Level Arcade owner Henry Cen, this resulted in an increase of over $1,000, which should give players a bit more impetus to attend apart from getting some extra practice in before Final Round 19.

Next Level Battle Circuit is hosted in Brooklyn, New York every Wednesday night. If you want to check it out in person, be sure to head on over to Next Level Arcade’s official website for more details.

Sources: Team Spooky, Next Level Arcade