Author: Ian "iantothemax" Walker

As many of you are probably aware, Bandai Namco Games held special location tests earlier this month to show off their upcoming fighting game collaboration with The Pokémon Company. The title, dubbed Pokkén Tournament, brings together some of the franchise’s most popular pocket monsters to do battle, transitioning from 3D arena-style brawls to more traditional 2D showdowns over the course of each match.

These location tests featured the entire lineup revealed during the Pokkén’s showcase at Famitsu as well as two additional support characters in Frogadier and Eevee. Fortunately for fans outside of Japan, a user by the name of seadraDS captured some great footage during their time at the arcade, giving us our first look at the title out in the wild.

Pokkén Tournament is expected to land in Japanese arcades sometime this year.

Source: seadraDS via NeoGAF

VGBootCamp, arguably the largest broadcaster in the Smash scene these days, made it clear last week that they were no longer going to support the burgeoning Project M community. As a mod of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the title has long occupied a very weird gray area in terms of legality and, it was assumed, this move was to avoid any actions Nintendo may take in the future.

Fortunately, all is not lost. A group hailing from the University of Maryland recently stepped up to fill the space left by VGBC’s departure, giving the folks at the weekly Xanadu meetups an outlet for their competitive footage.

While these events typically took place on Tuesdays, the tournaments will now be held on Mondays in order to give the title its very own night. If you’re interested in checking out what Project M has to offer, be sure to tune in below or head on over to Twitch.

Watch live video from umdsmash on www.twitch.tv

Source: UMD Smash via emformz and TheRedKirby

Now that B League is taken care of, the folks behind NorCal Fight Club League 2 are set to move forward with the main A League event. Much like TOPANGA LEAGUE, this Ultra Street Fighter IV event will decide who moves into next next season’s upper league.

Tonight’s competitors will include previous qualifiers EG|Ricky Ortiz, Julio, pH|LPN, and AVM|Kelvin Jeon alongside B League promotions bjUNCHAINED, El Cubano Loco, and pH|Crackfiend Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, pH|HooDaMan will not be able to take part in the festivities.

There are sure to be a ton of great matches thanks to the event’s round-robin format, so be sure to tune in live below or over on Twitch. More details on NorCal Fight Club League can be found here.

Watch live video from PandoraHouse on www.twitch.tv

Source: Pandora House

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax occupies a rather interesting space in the Evo 2015 lineup. While its predecessor was featured a few years ago, this update adds more than enough unique gameplay mechanics to the base system that those looking at it with fresh eyes may find themselves a little lost at first.

In order to help the game’s North American scene keep up, a group of players recently got together to analyze an incredibly high-level match between a couple of Japanese veterans.

The video below showcases a first-to-ten set between Yu Narukami god Shikki, who made it into top sixteen at ARC REVOLUTION CUP 2014, and Denpa, who previously played Naoto Shirogane but focuses on the detective’s Shadow form in this online showdown.

Commentary comes courtesy of three community members: AnneIFrank, Bace, and Naotolololol, the former a skilled tournament organizer and the latter duo accomplished western competitors. There’s a lot to take in here with nearly two hours of footage, so be sure to check it out if you’re interested in how this game looks in a competitive setting.

Be sure to follow Bace and Naotolololol on Twitter for more Persona-related content.

Source: AnneIFrank

In the world of Smash, Chilean competitor Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios weighs in as one of the most dominant players the community has ever seen. From early entries in the series to the sometimes-controversial Super Smash Bros. Brawl mod Project M, he has proven to be a consistent force no matter which title he sets his sights on.

That’s why, when he showed a proclivity towards Diddy Kong in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, it was pretty much set in stone that he would have great showings at major tournaments. The chimpanzee brings many of the same tactics that made him a formidable character in Brawl to the new installment, giving players a ton of tools at their disposal that are relatively easy to utilize effectively.

As one of the very first large-scale events to feature the Wii U title, Apex 2015 gave the community an early look at how the game fares in competition. And while many players showed they have what it takes to stake their own claim to greatness, ZeRo is a name folks will definitely see a lot of over the coming year.

During his intense run through top sixteen, the Chilean master dropped only two games, one to close friend Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman (who also runs a strong Diddy) and eventual third-place finisher Ramin “Mr. R” Delshad of Low Land Lions.

If you missed out on the event, VGBootCamp recently uploaded a ton of footage. You’ll find the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U finals below, with more available in the official playlist.

Source: VGBootCamp

Over the past few months, Northern California has been stepping their collective game up with regards to consistent events, and one of the big groups behind all this is competitive gaming organization ShowDown. Their weekly Churning the Butter tournament has only been running for a couple weeks, and yet they are garnering a player base on par with other local tournaments around the country. And, as we highlighted in videos from their second outing, some fantastic talent is showing up to throw down and improve their own game.

Tonight, they have once again taken over Folsom Street Foundry in San Francisco, California to put on an Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament for the regional players. 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 PM PDT during ShowDown’s game night at Folsom Street Foundry.

Source: ShowDown