Author: Ian "iantothemax" Walker

If you tune into Team Spooky’s stream expecting some early Apex 2015 action, you’ll be greeted with a rather odd sight: a ballroom filled with setups but devoid of competitors, the normally triumphant Smash theme now playing to a lonely, empty tournament floor.

According to SmashBoards, the Apex 2015 ballrooms were deemed unfit for occupancy after inspections by fire marshals, who originally arrived on the scene due to a pulled fire alarm. Community Effort Orlando organizer Alex Jebailey, updating from the event itself, said that one of the halls partially collapsed during the recent flurry of storms that hit the northeastern regions.

While at first it appeared as if only the room housing Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, along with more traditional fighting game titles, would be closed, the Apex organizers have announced that authorities have placed the entire event on hold due to worries about the structural integrity of the tournament’s entire venue.

At this point in time, Apex staff is working out plans for moving forward, hoping to gain access to the main ballroom tomorrow after further inspections have been carried out. We’ll keep you updated as more details become available.

Sources: Apex, Alex Jebailey, SmashBoards

With Killer Instinct’s Omen on the cusp of launching, the folks at Microsoft Studios are now moving onto season two’s next character, codenamed Golem, in discussions with the community over at Ultra-Combo.

Adam Isgreen recently took to the forum for yet another edition of the weekly “textual stream,” addressing player questions, concerns, and more. While most of the answers have to do with non-gameplay related topics like the possibility of boss Shadow Jago becoming playable and future alternate costumes, the creative director did take a moment to touch on a rather good guess concerning Golem’s unique abilities.

According to Isgreen, the hulking brute was built around keeping opposing characters between a rock and a hard place…literally. “The golem does something no other fighting game character has ever done, and that’s change the boundaries of the board by creating walls behind himself or behind the opponent,” he explains. “These walls are considered the new stage boundaries, so you’re not teleporting past them, but you can jump off them and use them just like a ‘real’ wall.”

If Golem remains true to expectations and focuses on grapples to deal out damage, the ability to stop the opponent from running away will be a huge boon to his gameplay. There’s also the possibility of creating walls in the middle of combos in order to grant yourself extensions that aren’t possible at mid-screen.

In any case, we’ll have to wait for more details before jumping to too many conclusions. Isgreen mentioned that we’ll receive more information heading into February, so hang tight.

Source: Ultra-Combo

Last year, Wednesday Night Fights parted amicably with longtime host Super Arcade. While weekly tournaments would continue in the same location (but under a different name) until they were forced to pack up, eyes were still on Level|Up Series and the tournament brand they had built up in Southern California.

Answers would come shortly after from co-founder Alex Valle, who mentioned during a live broadcast that the organization had decided to forgo physical venues in favor of online tournaments. Little additional information was attached to the initial announcement, but we now have a better idea of what these netplay events will look like thanks to a recent update.

Wednesday Night Fights Online Edition is scheduled to begin on February 18, bringing the Ultra Street Fighter IV action the tournament series is known for to an entirely different realm of competition. Matches will play out on PC through Steam’s digital platform.

There are restrictions, however. Only those in North America will be able to take part, meaning players outside of the United States, Canada, and Mexico will have to spectate for the time being. That being said, pulling talent from the entire continent instead of a single region is sure to provide some interesting moments.

More details are forthcoming, so stay tuned.

Source: Level|Up Series

The gang’s all here! NetherRealm Studios has just revealed that Ermac will be playable in Mortal Kombat X.

Once only a rumored glitch in the original Mortal Kombat, the telekinetic has gone on to be a hugely popular cast member in the long-running franchise. After appearing in the 2011’s Mortal Kombat, Ermac will be bringing his unique style of beating opponents down to the next installment.

Like the rest of the cast, Ermac will have three different variations to choose from: Master of Souls, which gives him access to different projectiles and the ability to disappear for a few seconds; Mystic, which enhances his telekinetic abilities and grants him access to moves like his grab and push; and Spectral, which gives him more mobility by way of a flight mode with its own exclusive attacks.

Ermac has retained much of his defensive, punishing gameplay seen in past installments, but the other versions open him in ways that will allow players unfamiliar with turtling to jump in and see what he’s all about.

Mortal Kombat X will be available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on April 14.

Source: NetherRealm

In a rather surprising turn of events, a recent post to the PlayStation Blog has revealed that Dengeki Bunko FIGHTING CLIMAX is scheduled to be released in North America later this year.

Developed by French Bread and Ecole Software of Melty Blood fame, FIGHTING CLIMAX features a cast comprised entirely of figures from various Dengeki Bunko-published light novel franchises, including Sword Art Online, Accel World, Durarara!!, Oreimo, and more. Support characters extend the representation even further to include Sega properties like Virtua Fighter and Valkyria Chronicles.

With such a vast amount of players involved, it’s a wonder the game ever left Japan, but here we are.

Dengeki Bunko FIGHTING CLIMAX is expected to launch for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, both through retail and digital platforms, sometime this summer.

Source: PlayStation Blog, tip via cinnamonpirate

A few days ago, Bandai Namco Games’ Katsuhiro Harada and Masaaki Hoshino showed off an early version of their upcoming Pokémon fighter Pokkén Tournament on Monthly Famitsu’s broadcast.

A large portion of the segment consisted of revealing Pikachu, Suicune, and Gardevoir as well as demonstrating Pokkén’s gameplay mechanics tournament matches between the program’s various hosts. In addition to the three new playable Pokémon, however, another interesting face appeared elsewhere in the build.

After Soulcalibur producer Hoshino was demolished by the Famitsu host’s Pikachu, they were greeted with a typical “Thank You For Playing” screen common in demos, complete with a Banapass advertisement and an added layer of cuteness from Fennekin and Eevee. But while the former was shown to be an assist Pokémon during the show, the latter only appeared on this one screen, sporting an updated look common to the rest of the cast.

Of course, whether or not Eevee will be playable remains to be seen. My mind currently races with possible fighting styles based off the species’ multiple evolution lines, but it’s also possible the diminutive pocket monster will be a support character due to the company it keeps in the above screen.

What do you think of Eevee’s inclusion in Pokkén Tournament? Feel free to let us know in the comments.

For more information, be sure to visit our previous report on the title’s Famitsu showing and check out this collection of gameplay footage. Expect to see Pokkén Tournament launch in Japanese arcades sometime this year.

Source: Famitsu

NetherRealm Studios is planning to hold another special Mortal Kombat X broadcast tomorrow to reveal pieces of the upcoming title, but that doesn’t mean they’re done mercilessly teasing fans in the meantime.

A video recently sprung up via the Mortal Kombat Community channel that depicts one of the game’s signature fatalities. The thing is, there’s no visual to go along with the nasty, wet, crunching sounds of the violent act being committed.

The liquidy effects could point towards Rain finally making an appearance, but seeing as creative director Ed Boon has steered conversation away from the purple ninja in the past, this may just be wishful thinking on my part.

In any case, give it a listen and provide your best guesses in the comments below.

Mortal Kombat X is scheduled to land on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on April 14.

Source: Mortal Kombat Community