Author: Ian "iantothemax" Walker

Though it’s currently available in Japan by way of a soft launch, Tekken 7 will see a full release on March 18. No plans have been revealed as to its future in other parts of the world, but competitors in North America won’t have to wait long to try it out thanks to an upcoming showing at Final Round 18.

Bandai Namco Games’ Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray are scheduled to make the trip to Atlanta next month to share it with the community. As one of the premier regions for Tekken competition in the United States, this will be the perfect opportunity for some of the best players in the country to demonstrate what the game has in store.

Final Round 18 is scheduled for March 20-22. More details can be found through their official website.

Source: Mark “MarkMan” Julio

In preparation for the event later this year, Alex Jebailey has opened online registration for Community Effort Orlando 2015.

Once again taking place in Orlando, Florida, the latest installment of this annual tournament series will feature an incredibly rich lineup of titles, including Ultra Street Fighter IV, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat X, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and Divekick.

And, speaking of Ultra Street Fighter IV, we can now confirm that Community Effort Orlando 2015 will be using the upcoming PlayStation 4 port as the main platform for competition, provided it releases beforehand. Should Capcom not have it ready by that time, Jebailey will default to Xbox 360.

Much like at Evo 2015, Mad Catz and Capcom will be providing loaner arcade sticks at each station for folks who aren’t able to shell out money for a compatible controllers, and there will be setups available all day Friday so that competitors can acclimate to whatever changes the upgraded release brings to the table.

Jebailey is also teasing a brand new stage courtesy of his new partnership with CyberPower. While full details are set to come later this week, you’ll find a preview below.

Community Effort Orlando 2015 will take place June 26-28 at the Wyndham Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida. Check out the official website for more details and registration instructions.

Thanks to the release of a brand new screenshot of the upcoming Mortal Kombat X mobile port, we now know that Kenshi will appear in the series’ next installment in some form when it drops next month.

The blind swordsman, who has been teased by creative director Ed Boon in the past, played a big part in the earlier portions of the ongoing Mortal Kombat X comic, and his son Takashi Takeda will be playable alongside fellow newcomers Cassie Cage and Jacqueline Briggs.

The image in question shows Kenshi taking on Outworld emperor Kotal Kahn in the mobile version’s unique card-based gameplay system, making use of a Possessed variation that is as of yet unexplained. Interestingly enough, this screenshot can only be found through IGN’s mobile app, and the corresponding page on their website features no such picture.

Due to the odd way in which this was revealed, it’s still unclear if Kenshi will show up in the main game or be confined to this handheld version. As the mobile port of predecessor Injustice: Gods Among Us featured two exclusive characters of its own in Darkseid and Static, this is far from confirmation that this veteran will appear elsewhere.

Feel free to check out the aforementioned screenshot below and let us know what you think.

Mortal Kombat X is scheduled to land on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on April 14. The mobile port will be available sometime that same month.

Source: IGN via Haketh

As Iron Galaxy Studios has stepped up to the plate to develop Killer Instinct’s second season alongside Microsoft Studios, one piece of gamepay from the opening round of content has continued to draw their focus: Fulgore’s heavy Eye Laser.

Due to the angle and distance traveled by this attack, Fulgore was given a powerful tool to deal with aerial attacks from cast members with floaty jumps, harming players that main cast members like Glacius, Thunder, Kan-Ra, and others due to the incredibly easy counter-pick this ability bestows.

In order to gauge community opinion on this matter, combat designer Adam “Keits” Heart recently took to the Ultra-Combo forums to run a couple of ideas by the folks who this change would affect most. Both tentative plans are relatively simple: they will either lift the angle of the Eye Laser in order to keep it from hitting opponents jumping from full-screen or shorten its range to match the medium version.

While there’s a poll attached to the thread, Heart made sure to state that numbers alone won’t move their hands; once you vote, make sure to jump into the thread and provide your reasoning in order to provide them with deeper insight into your decision.

It’s unclear how long this discussion will last, so head on over to Ultra-Combo and make your voice heard.

Source: Ultra-Combo

While not purposely designed for the purpose, Unreal Engine has frequently been used to create some great fighting games, including Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- and Injustice: Gods Among Us. In fact, two of the genre’s largest upcoming titles–Street Fighter V and Tekken 7–are being built on the fourth (and latest) iteration.

In an effort to help smaller studios license their product, Epic Games knocked the program’s price down early last year, but today has seen them extend an amazing opportunity to the entire development community by making Unreal Engine 4 available for no money down.

Yep, you read that right: Unreal Engine is completely free. Well, almost anyways.

Folks interested in trying out the tool for themselves can now grab a full download without having to drop any money; all Epic asks is for a 5% royalty on whatever comes from sales of your game, application, what have you. As a similar line was already written into the service agreement back when they were taking monthly fees, you can see how this is pretty great.

So, what are you waiting for? We’re entirely sure you’ve complained about a fighting game at some point or another, so be sure to visit the official website, download Unreal Engine 4, and start screwing around.

Source: Unreal

Much like its predecessor Injustice: Gods Among Us, the upcoming Mortal Kombat X is set to receive a port that will put a unique form of its gameplay on iOS and Android.

Instead of a straight-up brawler, Mortal Kombat X on mobile devices functions more as a card battler, though the details of how the series’ iconically bloody fights will play out have yet to be revealed.

Aside from the card collecting, however, it was also revealed that this port will connect with Mortal Kombat X on home platforms to unlock content as milestones are met, similar to Injustice.

Mortal Kombat X is scheduled to launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on April 14. The mobile version will also be available sometime that month.

Ever since Mortal Kombat X newcomer Cassie Cage was announced, fans were eager to know if her iconic parents would be making their way to the upcoming title. The developers have been coy regarding their inclusion, but a few recent pieces of news may be hinting that they are ready to formally announced Johnny Cage as a playable character.

Shortly after the NetherRealm Studios stream today, creative director Ed Boon jumped on Twitter to drop a few more teasing remarks regarding character reveals. Following community manager Tyler Lansdown’s broadcasted promise that new details were coming very soon, Boon sent out one message asking if that meant tomorrow, continuing a few hours later with a picture of a cage that’s also supposedly related to Friday’s news.

While not confirmation that we’ll be seeing a playable version of Johnny tomorrow, a preview for this weekend’s issue of the Mortal Kombat X comic lends more credence to that possibility.

According to Comic Vine, the leading man has followed Sonya Blade into Outworld to help her locate their daughter after she was abducted by forces located there. While we won’t go into too many details to save spoiling it for anyone, this is Johnny’s first appearance in the comics, and the importance of his quest and the status he’s held in the video game series thus far make us think he’ll be around for some time.

So, what do you think? Are we gonna see Johnny tomorrow? Let us know what you expect in the comments.

Sources: Ed Boon via NeoGAF, Comic Vine