Just a quick heads-up for all you Xbox users out there: Killer Instinct is currently free for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. The title was originally slated to join the Games with Gold program next month, but it appears as if Microsoft has flipped the switch a littler earlier than expected.
Please note that only season one is being offered free of charge. This will net you the first eight characters (Jago, Sabrewulf, Thunder, Glacius, Sadira, Orchid, Spinal, and Fulgore), a variety of costumes and accessories, and Killer Instinct Classic.
This offer will be available through the entire month of January, so be sure to take advantage before it’s gone.
In her last few appearances, Kitana has proven to be a dominating force in the Mortal Kombat’s zoning game, and YOMI Gaming’s Reo has discovered a useful application of a previously discovered technique that considerably improves her keepaway in Mortal Kombat X.
Similar to Injustice’s ‘Harley Shuffle‘ or the ‘Korean backdash‘ used in Tekken, this movement option allows Kitana to boost her backwards walk speed by taking advantage of its initial velocity. As Reo explains, it’s as simple as pressing back, waiting a moment, and pressing back again, though you will need to practice to avoid backdashing.
Kitana’s speed continues to improve with Reo’s ‘level two’ technique, which buffers down taps to raise her mobility even more. The execution is much more strict but the benefits are definitely noticeable.
While not useful for every character in the cast, an older video produced by EGP’s Wonder Chef shows that Reptile can also benefit from the technique.
Comments on Test Your Might reveal that players have been practicing this technique for some time, but the larger exploration by Reo could see it used in high-level competition more often. Let us know what you think in the comments.
As people around the world celebrate the coming new year, the folks of TOPANGA TV spent the last few hours of 2015 doing what they do best: playing Street Fighter. Their annual festivities saw Mad Catz’ Mago take on Evil Geniuses’ Momochi in a final Ultra Street Fighter IV exhibition, pitting Yang against Ken for perhaps the last time before we all officially move into 2016.
While their broadcast is still live, the matchup in question has already concluded, meaning those of you who got a late start on the day can check out the archive below and catch up. We won’t spoil the results, but any clash between these two titans is sure to transcend mere numbers on a page.
The match in question begins around 18:30. Give it a watch and let us know what you think!
Earlier this morning, the folks over at Capcom Fighters dropped one last Capcom Cup video, a compilation of reactions to the end of this year’s competition as we head into 2016. Many people, like Twitch’s Mike Ross, see Capcom Pro Tour as the culmination of an entire life spent playing fighting games, while Razer’s Xian is simply happy to see high-level competition every weekend.
While a fitting close to 2015, one tiny voice clip is sure to excite fans of a certain old-school fighter.
That’s right, someone snuck in a piece of Hiroaki Asai’s iconic voice acting from Capcom vs. SNK 2. Is this a case of Capcom’s Neidel “Haunts” Crisan letting his love for the classic title shine through in an unrelated video, or could the developers have something more than Street Fighter V up their sleeves for the coming year?
Obviously, only time will tell. Feel free to let us know what the Capcom Pro Tour means to you as you speculate wildly about a crossover revival.
While stages aren’t the most exciting thing to competitive Street Fighter players, Capcom has gone above and beyond with the arenas that will host our battles in Street Fighter V. The latest, however, was revealed with little fanfare, and even hides a couple of cameos for all of you lore nerds out there.
The stage, which appears to be set in some sort of base owned by Shadaloo, was first shown in the title’s launch trailer. Though brief, you should be able to make out two Bison Dolls as Nash and Birdie duke it out. After some discussion with folks on Twitter, we’ve narrowed them down to two specific names: the one with the white vest and glasses is most definitely Marz and the other is likely Febrier according to their updated designs.
Screenshots don’t really do them justice, so check out the trailer below (around the 1:34 mark if the timestamp doesn’t work) to see the Dolls in motion. They shouldn’t be hard to spot.
Later on, Capcom added images of the stage to F.A.N.G’s character page on their official website. It’s obviously not the main focus with the Street Fighter V newcomer throwing his poison around, but the screenshots still do a job of showing off the area.
With the intense competition of the past year coming to a close, one would expect competitors to kick up their feet and get some well-deserved rest as we head into 2016. But, as any fighting game player can attest, that’s not really our style. QANBA’s Dakou will be accommodating folks still grinding it out with the fifth installment of his annual tournament series at China’s Firefly ACG Festival this weekend.
Yangcheng Cup (also known as Guangzhou Cup or Canton Cup depending on translation) will feature action in both Ultra Street Fighter IV and King of Fighters XIII. Dakou’s teammate Xiao Hai is set to be in attendance, but he’ll be up against stiff competition from Razer’s Infiltration, r/Kappa’s Poongko, and MadKOF, who will be making the trip from South Korea to compete; Japanese visitors like Nemo and Kindevu; Hong Kong’s Humanbomb; and Saunic from France.
The tournament is scheduled to begin on New Year’s Day in China, meaning those of you tired of watching countdown specials on television will have something much more interesting to tune into. We’ve included a rough timeline of events, complete with timezone conversions, below.
Schedule
Event
CST
PST
EST
GMT
KOFXIII Pools (Fri)
10:00 AM
6:00 PM (Thu)
9:00 PM (Thu)
2:00 AM
USFIV Teams (Fri)
2:00 PM
10:00 PM (Thu)
1:00 AM
6:00 AM
USFIV Pools (Sat)
10:00 AM
6:00 PM (Fri)
9:00 PM (Fri)
2:00 AM
USFIV Top 16 (Sat)
2:30 PM
10:30 PM (Fri)
1:30 AM
6:30 PM
KOFXIII Finals (Sun)
10:00 AM
6:00 PM (Sat)
9:00 PM (Sat)
2:00 AM
USFIV 10v10 (Sun)
1:00 PM
9:00 PM (Sat)
12:00 AM
5:00 AM
USFIV Finals (Sun)
3:00 PM
11:00 PM (Sat)
2:00 AM
7:00 AM
Yangcheng Cup will be broadcast live on Panda.tv, so bookmark that page and get ready for some great competition from China. We’ll be sure to bump this article up when things get started.
After taking last week off, the folks over at VGBootCamp 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 feature competition in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
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.
This week’s installment of Next Level Battle Circuit is now streaming live courtesy of Team Spooky’s Arturo Sanchez. As usual, the event is being broadcast from its namesake, Next Level Arcade, in New York City. Tonight, they’ll be running Ultra Street Fighter IV and Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, 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. Full brackets will be made available through Challonge.
While those of us in the fighting game community still look on the name SNK Playmore fondly thanks to their history of development in the genre, recent years have seen this venerable studio shift their focus to the manufacture of pachislot machines. Instead of bringing us legitimate Fatal Fury and Samurai Shodown installments, they instead decided to use those properties for other purposes, losing a bit of goodwill in the process.
Back in November, however, fans were given a glimmer of hope when SNK Playmore release an official statement describing their decision to move away from the pachislot business in favor of the traditional game development that put them on the map in the first place. The uncertainty of the market was cited as the main impetus, but a recent interview with the chief of their gaming division, Yutaka Noguchi, shines a light on some of the other factors behind the move.
Speaking with Famitsu (and subsequently translated by MMCafe’s Professor), Noguchi said the success of PC ports like King of Fighters XIII Steam Edition helped push them back towards game development, not to mention the international recognition their various brands enjoy to this day. “Even as of now, we’re better known as a game company than a pachislot company. People still talk about us (as a game company) when we say our name,” Noguchi explained.
While the old saying “vote with your wallet” doesn’t produce results as often as we’d like it to, those of you who supported SNK Playmore’s various Steam releases over the past few years can definitely put a feather in your cap for this one. For more on Noguchi’s conversation with Famitsu, be sure to visit MMCafe by following the link below.
French Bread had a pretty busy 2015 thanks to their work on Under Night In-Birth and Dengeki Bunko FIGHTING CLIMAX, and they’re set to continue that trend heading into 2016. As part of their year-end retrospective, 4Gamer sent a brief questionnaire to producer Nobuya Narita to get a sense of the developer’s plans for next year.
“In 2016 we’re planning to release a proper console version of (that game you know about) and a new-ish arcade game,” Narita explained, “so please be excited for those.”
Without further details, it’s hard to accurately nail down what this console release may be. The likeliest scenario is a port of Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st], but with Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code heading to Steam sometime next spring, it’s entirely possible that niche title could grace consoles as well.
And what of that “new-ish” arcade game? One would hope that doesn’t mean another update to Under Night In-Birth without a definite console launch for Exe:Late[st], but the terminology seems to point towards a possible re-release or remaster.
Only time will tell what this statement holds for fighting game fans, but one thing is certain: French Bread has quite a bit in store for us in 2016.
