Author: Ian "iantothemax" Walker

The folks over at Level|Up Series have just gone live with another installment of Wednesday Night Fights’ third 2014 season, broadcasting from the newly-renovated Super Arcade in Walnut, California. Some of SoCal’s top talent will be in attendance to compete in Ultra Street Fighter IV, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Feel free to visit the venue tonight or in the future if you’d like spectate or participate in any of the games available. The address has been included below.

Super Arcade

1211 N Grand Avenue
Walnut, CA 91789

The stream is currently live below, but feel free to visit Twitch if you prefer to chat. Full online brackets will be made available through Challonge.

Level|Up Live (Street Fighter, Tekken)

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

Super Dojo (Injustice, Mortal Kombat)

Watch live video from SuperDojo on www.twitch.tv

Sources: Level|Up Live, Super Dojo

This week’s installment of Next Level Battle Circuit is now streaming live courtesy of Team Spooky’s Arturo Sanchez. As always, the event is being broadcast from its namesake, Next Level Arcade, in New York City. Tonight, they’ll be running Ultra Street Fighter IV, featuring some of the best players on the east coast.

If you would like to check out these weekly tournaments, be sure to head on over to Next Level Arcade and take part every Wednesday. The address has been included below.

4013 8th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11232

The stream is currently live below, but you can also visit Twitch to join the chat. The full bracket will be made available through Challonge.

Watch live video from nycfurby on www.twitch.tv

Sources: Arturo Sanchez

Another week means another round of Xbox Live sales, and over the next few days fighting game fans have a handful of deals to look forward to from NetherRealm Studios.

Injustice: Gods Among Us, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, and Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection have all been marked down by various amounts, allowing fans to pad their backlog while they wait for Mortal Kombat X to drop next year. Season passes for additional Injustice and Mortal Kombat content (kontent?) have also seen temporary price decreases.

You’ll find the full lineup of discounted items and their adjusted prices below.

• Injustice: Gods Among Us – $6.59 (67% off)
• Injustice: Gods Among Us Season Pass – $7.49 (50% off)
• Mortal Kombat – $5.99 (70% off)
• Mortal Kombat Season Pass – $4.94 (67% off)
• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe – $4.99 (75% off)
• Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection – $3.29 (67% off)

These sales will last through October 13.

Source: Major Nelson

While Evolution’s integration with Guidebook over the past few years has provided players numerous resources to remind them of their pool assignments and starting times, the continued placement of responsibility on competitors themselves still results in a number of bracket issues, both high-profile and under-the-radar, whenever a new event rolls around. Thankfully, one programmer has taken it upon himself to give tournament organizers a useful tool to alleviate this friction.

Working in conjunction with Google’s Chrome web browser and bracket generator Challonge, Joseph “JoeQuery” McCullough’s extension allows organizers to attach a cell phone number to each tournament entrant, which they can then use to remind players of upcoming matches, give them a heads-up when they are on deck at their station, and more.

McCullough provides a more in-depth look at what this extension is capable of in the demonstration below.

While it lacks detailed instructions at this point in time, you can grab McCullough’s tool and try it out for yourself here. He mentions having used it to great success at a recent tournament in his local area, and hopes Challonge incorporates functionality like this in the near future to help everyone who uses their service.

Source: JoeQuery via Jose Rangel

It’s with heavy hearts we report that Japanese voice actor Iemasa Kayumi has passed away, tragic news that was revealed this morning by Takeshi Yamanaka of Arc System Works and 81 Produce president Michiyoshi Minamisawa. This event reportedly occurred on September 30 while he was undergoing medical treatment.

While Kayumi was perhaps best known for his work as Guilty Gear’s Slayer, a role he reprised in the franchise’s most recent installment Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, he also provided his talents in a variety of video game and anime roles, including Street Fighter EX’s Shadowgeist, Mr. Big in the Art of Fighting animated series, One Piece’s Nefertari Cobra, James Black in Case Closed, Dragon Ball Z: The Legendary Super Saiyan’s Paragus, and many more.

The longtime voice artist also dubbed live-action movies, regularly taking on roles for actors such as Frank Sinatra, Sir Christopher Lee, James Stewart, and Sir Ian McKellan.

Our hearts go out to Kayuma’s family and friends during this trying time. May he rest in peace.

Sources: Takeshi Yamanaka, Gadget Tsūshin (via Hachima Kikō and Anime News Network), special thanks to ShinSyn for bringing this to our attention. Iemasa Kayumi photograph courtesy of 81 Produce.

Back in September, Sony announced that Arc System Works’ upcoming Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- will be included in a trio of PlayStation 4 games that will receive limited demos later this month. Starting on October 15, PlayStation Plus subscribers in Japan will be able to try this highly-anticipated title for themselves for two weeks, after which the preview will end.

While few details were provided as to what it will include, 4Gamer recently got their hands on some new information about what will be waiting for players when they download the demo. According to Siliconera, this limited version of Xrd will allow solo play only with Sol Badguy and Ky Kiske, specifically in the arcade (set to Beginner) and tutorial modes.

Arc System Works has left it up to publishers in other regions as to whether or not this demo will appear outside of Japan, so stay tuned for word on that front.

Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- is scheduled to launch for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan on December 4, with a North American release planned for sometime this holiday season.

Source: 4Gamer via Siliconera

UltraChen TV is back with yet another broadcast, and a whole new slate of topics to discuss. Tonight, UltraDavid and James Chen will be discussing Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, Tekken 7, The Big House 4, PandaxGaming’s latest online tournament, and more.

If you’re interested in this topic, be sure to tune in and check the show out. The stream will be live in this article, but you can also visit Twitch to join the chat.

Watch live video from ultrachentv on www.twitch.tv

Source: UltraChen TV, featured image courtesy of Kara “Karaface” Leung

The folks over at VG Bootcamp recently went live with another installment of Smash @ Xanadu from Xanadu Games in Baltimore, Maryland. These weekly broadcasts provide a great look at the region’s Smash community, and tonight’s installment will focus on competition in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS.

If you’re interested in some Smash Bros. action, be sure to tune in. The stream is live below, but you can also head on over to Twitch to join the chat.

Watch live video from VGBootCamp on www.twitch.tv

Source: VG Bootcamp

What’s that? You bought a shiny next-generation system but aren’t satisfied with its small lineup of fighting games? Well, you’re in luck, because the PlayStation 4 port of Divekick: Addition Edition is now available through PlayStation Network.

This version of the popular indie fighter is much like its previous iterations, with one key difference: fans with newer consoles will be able to play with Saints Row crossover Johnny Gat before us peasants on PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PC.

Divekick: Addition Edition + will be making its way to Xbox One tomorrow, so stay tuned if you chose Microsoft’s platform over Sony’s.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Earlier this morning, Nintendo announced release dates for the highly-anticipated Super Smash Bros. for Wii U in a variety of regions, revealing that the title will arrive in North America on November 21 and in Europe on December 5.

This news comes weeks after rumors swirled about the game’s supposed release date, which were originally stirred by reservation cards spotted at retailer Fred Meyer.

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS is now available all across the globe, contributing to nearly 3 million sales since its release in Japan on September 13.

The home console release will feature much of the same content as its portable counterpart, but it will no doubt be the platform of choice for the competitive community. While we’ve already seen a number of high-level competition spring up for the handheld version, that’s sure to expand greatly once it arrives on Wii U.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is also scheduled to launch in Japan and Australia on December 6.

Source: Nintendo and Nintendo UK via Twinfinite