Chuck That Plasma! Bafael Focuses on Fireballs in Latest Ultra Street Fighter IV Exhibition

Earlier today, dedicated content creator Bafael sent in his latest Ultra Street Fighter IV video. But, instead of focusing on exploring a useful aspect of the title’s gameplay mechanics, this offering demonstrates the variety of ways players can use fireballs to combo their opponents.

Bafael’s exhibition focuses almost entirely on projectiles, from your standard Hadouken to more flashy fare like Poison’s Aeolus Edge. While not always the most damaging (or even practical, for that matter) the combos shown here definitely make for an entertaining watch. And, who knows, maybe your play sessions are calling for something flashy to amaze your friends with at the opportune moment.

Source: Bafael

Killer Instinct Season 2 Launch Trailer Teases Possible Appearances by Riptor and Cinder

With the second season of Microsoft Studios’ Killer Instinct reboot just around the corner, fans are eager to learn who will be joining the cast after returning fighters TJ Combo and Maya. Well, a special launch trailer just dropped this morning and, in addition to some interesting music, includes teasers for characters who will be making the scene down the line courtesy of new developers Iron Galaxy Studios.

While they shouldn’t be taken as concrete fact of their inclusion, two of the outlines depicted at the :56 mark in the above trailer should be very familiar to longtime fans of the series as veterans Riptor and Cinder, the latter of which has been hinted at since TJ Combo was first revealed. Additionally, the trailer further teases the very mummy-esque newcomer as well as the UltraTech boss hinted at in season one’s storyline.

Much like the opening round of content, season two characters will be doled out in pieces rather than all at once, so stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Killer Instinct season two officially launches tomorrow.

Source: IGN via NeoGAF

Ultra Street Fighter IV Patch Coming October 15; Fixes Unintentional Character Changes, Updates PC Netplay, and More

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While we were only recently made aware of an upcoming patch for Ultra Street Fighter IV, it appears as if fans won’t have to wait long to see the title updated. According to Neidel “Haunts” Crisan, an upgrade to ver.1.03 is scheduled to be applied to Capcom’s flagship fighter later this week, bringing with it a host of character updates, fixes to the PC netcode, and more.

First up, players will finally be able to set the training mode dummy to delay their wakeup, expanding the amount of strategy they can plan out in the lab before taking their findings into real competition. Crisan notes that there will be a bug where a select few computer opponents will use delayed wakeup in situations where they shouldn’t be able to, and that it should be fixed in the next patch.

The meat of the update will involve fixing inconsistencies in character attacks that arose during previous patches, such as Decapre’s charge timing and the juggle potential of Rolento’s standing strong. You’ll find the full list of changes being made in ver.1.03 below.

Ultra Street Fighter IV ver.1.03 Changes

Decapre

  • Psycho Sting and DCM (Anti-Air) – Charge time reduced from 52F → 42F.

Rolento

  • Close Standing Medium Punch – Increased juggle potential so that EX Stinger (3 Hits) → Close Standing Medium Punch now combos.

Abel

  • Far Standing Heavy Kick – Fixed the issue where a counter hit against Abel was still possible after the active frames of the attack already ended.

Chun-Li

  • Forward and Neutral Throw – Reduced the throw escape window by one frame, making it consistent with other throw windows in the game.

Cody

  • Light Ruffian Kick – Knockdown adjusted from soft to hard against airborne opponents.

Dhalsim

  • Far Standing Medium Kick – Counter hit now yields proper hit advantage.
  • Back + Medium Kick – Crouching opponents now get properly pushed back on hit.
  • Yoga Catastrophe – Adjusted so that only one Yoga Catastrophe can be on the screen at a time.

Dudley

  • Victory Rose – Counter hit now yields proper hit advantage.

E.Honda

  • Far Standing Heavy Punch – Adjusted the damage from 100 → 113 if the front part hits.

Fei Long

  • Crouching Medium Punch – Adjusted damage on counter hit from 78 → 82.

Guy

  • Far Standing Heavy Kick – Fixed the issue where a counter hit against Guy was still possible after the active frames of the attack already ended.

Rose

  • Forward and Neutral Throw – Reduced the throw escape window by one frame, making it consistent with other throw windows in the game.
  • EX Soul Spiral – Fixed damage on counter hit from 160 → 163.

Sagat

  • EX Tiger Knee – Fixed the issue where Sagat gained SC meter on the first hit.

Seth

  • HP and Stun – HP and Stun values adjusted from (800/900) → (750/750) for SFIV Seth.

Vega

  • Medium Rolling Crystal Flash – Fixed the issue where Vega could not perform a red focus on the last hit against a blocking opponent.
  • Flying Barcelona Special
    • Fixed the issue where regardless of which strength of attack was used to activate the attack, the height at which Vega grabbed the wall was the same.
    • Fixed the issue where Vega would cling to the wall at a lower point if the knee hit on the way up.
    • Modified invincibility from Projectile/Throw Invincibility à Total Invincibility when he jumps off the wall after activation.
    • Fixed the issue where it was extremely difficult to land the Rolling Izuna Drop against a cornered opponent.

Yun

  • Zenpo Tenshin
    • Adjusted throw range during Genei-Jin to match normal version.
    • Fixed the issue where Yun could be counter hit after active frames of the throw have already ended.

System

  • Fixed the issue where the “Red Focus” shortcut command was not being saved within the key configuration.

And finally, further adjustments will be made to Ultra’s netcode on PC to improve the experience for all the netplay warriors out there. First, users will not be able to join a lobby if the room’s host is in a fight, which will keep new arrivals from pinging them during a match. Second, Capcom will be limited the amount of connections a player can keep open after canceling their game search, reducing the number of competitors being pinged. Lastly, the acceptable delay limit has been changed from 15 frames to 35, making it so that, as Crisan puts it, “even with terrible latency issues, users should experience what feels like an input delay instead of lag or random disconnects.”

Ultra Street Fighter IV’s ver.1.03 patch will be live across all platforms on Wednesday, October 15, though at different times; PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 users will see their game updated around 2 PM PDT, 5 PM EDT, while the Steam players will have to wait until around 8 PM PDT, 11 PM EDT. We’ll be sure to let you know as soon as each platform is ready.

Source: Capcom-Unity

Nintendo Shares Previews of Unlockable Super Smash Bros. Characters on Wii U

One quick word of warning before we move into the meat of this article: if you are waiting to grab the latest installment of Super Smash Bros. on Wii U and have kept away from the spoilers provided by the handheld release, do not read any further, as this will just be one big pile of secret characters you may not want to know about before you’re able to get your hands on the game.

You have been warned.

For those of you that are still here, welcome! Nintendo recently released a handful of new images depicting unlockable characters Ness, Falco, Wario, Dr. Mario, and Dark Pit as they appear in Super Smash Bros. upcoming home console release. While we’ve seen all of these characters in their beautiful low-resolution glory on 3DS, the galleries below allow us a quick glimpse of how they will look on Wii U when the game is released next month.

Feel free to check them out and let us know which screenshots are your favorites.

Ness

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Falco

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Wario

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Dr. Mario

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Dark Pit

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Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is scheduled to land in North America on November 21, with releases in Europe and Japan set for December 5 and 6, respectively.

Source: Smash Bros. via Siliconera

Up Your Detective Game with This Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Tutorial for Tohru Adachi

With Persona 4 Arena Ultimax now available in both Japan and North America, a wide variety of players are now able to get their hands on the sequel to Atlus and Arc System Works’ first fighting game collaboration. Fortunately, a ton of resources are already available for folks who are jumping into it later than others, especially for downloadable character Tohru Adachi, who was previously featured in a combo video by pet.

Unlike pet’s video, however, today’s offering is much more practical, providing detailed information on the detective’s combo routes and other strategies players would do well to incorporate into their own gameplay. While it’s entirely in Japanese, the visual aids should be more than enough to help English speakers follow along.

Source: あすら via Chickzama

Super Smash Sundays feat. Super Smash Bros. Melee Streaming Live from Super Arcade

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Level|Up Series just went live with another installment of Super Smash Sundays, broadcast as always from Super Arcade in Walnut, California. Presented in collaboration with Team OXY, this biweekly tournament series provides an excellent look at Southern California’s Smash community through both singles and doubles tournaments for Super Smash Bros. Melee and popular Super Smash Bros. Brawl mod Project M, which alternate from weekend to weekend.

If you’re interested in checking future events out for yourself, we’ve included Super Arcade’s address below. Further information can be found on Smash Boards.

1211 N Grand Avenue
Walnut, CA 91789

The stream will be live in this article, but you can also head on over to Twitch if you prefer to chat with other viewers.

Watch live video from Level|Up Live on www.twitch.tv

Source: Level|Up Live

DC Comics to Launch Mortal Kombat X Prequel Series in January

With New York Comic-Con 2014 in full swing, DC Entertainment has announced a wide variety of upcoming plans for graphic novel devourers to look forward to, but one in particular should provide some crossover appeal to the fighting game community. According to recent news from the publisher themselves, DC Comics will begin releasing a series based around NetherRealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat X early next year.

After seeing continued success with their Injustice: Gods Among Us franchise, which utilizes DC-owned properties like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, the comics powerhouse is set to help NetherRealm provide a narrative lead-up to the tenth installment of their popular fighting game series before its release in April.

While details are scarce despite the fact this series will be a prequel to the Mortal Kombat X storyline, a few pieces of art depicting Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Raiden, and an unnamed Red Dragon clan member have been released for fans to salivate over before the comic officially launches.

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Mortal Kombat X will be penned by Shawn Kittelson and brought to visual life by Dexter Soy and Ivan Reis. As a Digital First series, it will initially debut online before appearing in physical form.

Be on the look out for this comic line to begin sometime in January.

Source: DC Comics via NeoGAF

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS National Open Tournament Streaming Live from New York City

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After a week of fierce regional competition in the United States, sixteen competitors have been gathered at the Nintendo World Store in New York City, New York to take part in the finals of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. for 3DS National Open Tournament.

As the name suggests, participants will be duking it out in the handheld version of the franchise’s latest installment, proving that their smaller wins at the GameStop qualifiers were no fluke. The full list of participants can be found below.

If you’d like to tune in and catch all the action live, we’ve included the stream right in this article.

Watch live video from Nintendo on www.twitch.tv

Sources: Smash Boards, Nintendo

Score Some Free Netplay During Xbox Live’s Gold Unlocked Event This Weekend

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One of the best ways (perhaps the best) to up your skill in fighting games is playing against other people. It helps you understand how a human reacts to certain situations, raises your knowledge of matchups you may not have been able to fight otherwise, and more. Unfortunately, our local areas often don’t have enough of a community offer regular play, and travel may also be out of the equation.

That’s where online play comes can fill the gap.

While not perfect, seeking competition in an online environment allows players who may never meet in person to face off in their fighting game of choice and trade information at the same time they are trading blows. In the case of Xbox Live, however, a monthly Gold subscription is generally needed to access online multiplayer, adding yet another barrier to those who may not have much excess cash to spend.

This weekend, Microsoft is prepared to let everyone with an Xbox Live account experience what a Gold subscription has to offer during their Gold Unlocked event. From now until 11:59 PM tomorrow, October 12, players will be able to jump into netplay without any restrictions and test their skills against any and all comers.

If you’ve been left out in the cold until now or haven’t seen much in the way of competition in your favorite fighter, this weekend may be just what you need to push your training forward a couple of steps or more. Hell, it may even be the perfect opportunity to get a long-distance friend to interested in the genre themselves.

Please be aware that this free weekend only pertains to Xbox 360; sorry Killer Instinct players!

Source: Xbox

Mike Z Previews Beowulf’s Growing Collection of Attacks in Skullgirls Encore, Replays Heading to Endless Beta Soon

After taking the time to stop by Rebel Up! last Sunday, Lab Zero Games’ Mike Zaimont was back at the equally excited Salty! on Friday to show off even more of Skullgirls Encore’s next downloadable character, Beowulf.

There’s been a good amount of progress made in the few days between the events, most notably two new moves: Beowulf’s crouching medium kick and a fully-animated finisher for his grab mode. The former is interesting in that, while it acts like a low normal in most situations, it will pick the opponent up if they happen to be on the ground and put Beowulf into grab mode. Though it lasts much shorter than if he were to enter the stance normally, it still leads to some very interesting combos even in this unfinished build.

The grab mode finisher, in which Beowulf uses his folding chair to cossack dance straight into the opponent’s face, needs to be seen in motion to be fully appreciated. Finally, the wrestler has a few more animations in place for things like blocks, pushblocks, and more. Makr0ss was kind enough to provide a video of all the juiciest information, which you’ll find below, but you can also check out the entire Salty! archive here.

Mike also mentioned that replay functionality will soon be added to Encore’s endless beta on Steam for fans to try out before it lands in the full release, allowing them to save local and online matches for sharing later.

Source: UGC Live via Skullheart and Makr0ss, tip via JJK