Author: Ian "iantothemax" Walker

Tekken 7 officially launched in game centers throughout Japan (as well as a single arcade in South Korea) earlier this week, bringing a host of brand new characters, gameplay mechanics, and more to the competitive scene. While we’ve already seen some leaks regarding possible future characters, the game as it stands now already includes someone we may see playable in the future: Kazumi Mishima.

The clan matriarch appears in Tekken 7 as the arcade mode’s final boss, facing off against the player in her normal form before shifting to Devil mode for a power boost, similar to other Mishima family members like Kazuya and Jin Kazama.

According to Bandai Namco Games’ Katsuhiro Harada, Kazumi’s inclusion in the main roster hinges on two things. “We have some ideas for making Kazumi playable in Tekken 7,” the director told Famitsu, “but it’s dependant on the fan’s reaction and demand for her.”

With the buzz her initial tease in the title’s very first reveal created, we’re sure Harada has had (and will have) no shortage of requests that Kazumi be made playable. It’s only a matter of time.

Source: Famitsu via Flying Wonkey

Good news for all your Mortal Kombat fans out there: Mortal Kombat X on PlayStation 4 will be compatible with PlayStation 3 arcade sticks.

Playing fighting games during the move to new platforms has become a huge investment, and very few developers have alleviated these issues by making older peripherals work on the current consoles. This is all despite the fact that Lab Zero Games has already done all the work for them as they transition Skullgirls Encore to Sony’s latest gaming platform.

In fact, NetherRealm Studios licensed the driver necessary for this functionality from Lab Zero themselves, showcasing some great cross-developer collaboration.

These details were first shared during today’s broadcast and later confirmed by creative director Ed Boon. Kudos NetherRealm!

Sources: NetherRealm Studios, Lab Zero Games, Ed Boon via NeoGAF

The folks over at NetherRealm Studios have announced that they will be conducting yet another installment of their Kombat Kast streams tomorrow. As with past shows, this one will focus on new Mortal Kombat X details, and it appears as if they have some very juicy stuff in store.

According to the “whips, sais, and a little surprise” tagline attached to the news, we can only surmise that we’ll finally see some footage of newcomer Takeda Takahashi (Kenshi’s son, for those of you out of the loop) and Outworld rebel Mileena–outside of the content-heavy story trailer, that is.

That being said, the whip comment could also be an allusion towards Sindel, who uses her hair much like the striking weapon and was also seen in the aforementioned trailer.

Of course, creative director Ed Boon couldn’t help but get his own teaser in as well. He took to Twitter shortly before the announcement was made to mention that a brand new “-ality” finishing move will be revealed during tomorrow’s broadcast as well. What exactly he’s referring to is anyone’s guess, but he’s already struck down the return of Mortal Kombat 3’s Animalities.

The stream will be live at 3 PM CDT (1 PM PDT, 4 PM EDT, 8 PM GMT), so be sure to tune into Twitch to catch all the new details as they arrive.

Sources: NetherRealm Studios, Ed Boon, special thanks to Insider2000 and Haketh for contributing their Mortal Kombat knowledge.

News recently broke that Combo Breaker, the spiritual successor to Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament in the Midwest, will act as a premier qualifier for next year’s Killer Instinct World Cup, giving its first place finisher automatic entry into the high-level bracket. But it looks like future prestige isn’t all they’ll be able to look forward to.

According to World Cup organizer Brandon Alexander, the Killer Instinct community has rallied together to provide an additional $1000 to the game’s prize pool at Combo Breaker, to be split among the top eight players. Additionally, Alexander’s venue Ultra Arcade will be handing out tee shirts to the game’s first fifty entrants.

This development is the latest to boost Combo Breaker’s profile, and another sign that the Killer Instinct community is definitely capable of holding up their scene without outside support. Godspeed!

Combo Breaker is scheduled for May 22-24 in Rosemont, Illinois. More details and registration information can be found on their official website.

Source: Brandon Alexander

Though its release on PC gave players yet another platform to hone their skills on, Ultra Street Fighter IV’s arrival on Steam was greeted with a number of issues, chiefly poor netcode that made it difficult to participate in online matches without it becoming a stuttering mess.

As part of their continued efforts to correct these problems, the folks over at Capcom recently implemented some brand new netcode changes in the Steam Beta client. While not part of the main game yet, following a few simple steps should give fans the opportunity to check out the updates they’ve made and provide feedback.

For more details on how to access the beta client, check out the official announcement here.

Source: Steam via r/StreetFighter