Author: Ian "iantothemax" Walker

Last month, Sony revealed a first look at King of Fighters XIV during their presentation at Tokyo Game show. While it came as a surprise that SNK Playmore was readying a follow-up to 2010’s King of Fighters XIII, the biggest shock was likely the title’s moving away from sprites to 3D models.

The footage shown in the teaser was incredibly brief, but players will be able to learn more about King of Fighters XIV and even get their hands on a playable demo at PlayStation Experience. Between this and Capcom Cup’s Street Fighter competition, the convention is quickly turning out to be a rather enticing visit for fighting game fans.

And, as the rather unpolished look of the trailer gave many members of the community pause, this could be just the thing King of Fighters XIV needs to establish a more promising foothold in the genre before its release on PlayStation 4 next year.

PlayStation Experience is scheduled for December 5-6 in San Francisco, California. More details can be found here.

Source: PlayStation Blog via IPLAYWINNER, tip via NightmareSteam

Next Level Battle Circuit’s lineup has been a constantly shifting entity since transitioning from Big Two back in January 2013. While Street Fighter has been a constant since the beginning, the weekly tournament has featured competition in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Mortal Kombat X, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late, Injustice: Gods Among Us, King of Fighters XIII, Divekick, and Street Fighter x Tekken, with varying success.

With the rise of interest in Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, the organizers are ready to add another title to that list. Starting next Wednesday, October 28, fans of the anime fighter will be able to join in on the fun and get some practice.

Of course, its spot in the lineup will likely rely on consistent attendance, so let’s hope the Guilty Gear heads show up in full force and make this a regular thing.

For more information on Next Level Arcade, feel free to visit their official website.

Source: Henry Cen, special thanks to Mynus for bringing this to our attention.

Last night, Street Fighter V launched into its second beta with a bit of a problem. While opening itself didn’t provide any issues–folks were even able to get in early in some instances–Capcom ran into an unforeseen matchmaking error.

“Unfortunately, several new issues arose last night in regards to our matchmaking system and the rate at which matches were made,” associate producer Peter “Combofiend” Rosas relayed to the community, “and we are not confident that the matchmaking rate will improve significantly throughout the course of this beta period.”

That being said, things appear to be looking up. According to new details, Capcom applied a hotfix to the matchmaking servers this morning to address the situation. This update was used to improve connectivity between players, and early reports indicate that things have smoothed out since then.

If training mode has already lost its luster in your eyes and you’re looking for real-life competition, try hopping back into Street Fighter V to see what you can find. More details on what you can expect in the beta have been compiled here.

Source: SFV Server via 00000000

Street Fighter V is just a couple of hours away from entering the long-awaited follow-up to its first beta phase, giving players another chance to jump into the game, see what they can learn, and provide feedback before the game’s release early next year. Unfortunately, early access, complicated schedules, and more have made keeping up with all the beta details quite a chore, so we’ve gone ahead and compiled all the information you need to know heading into the weekend.

First of all, let’s talk about gaining access to the beta. Folks in North and South America need only pre-order Street Fighter V through GameStop, Amazon, Best Buy, the PlayStation Store, or Steam for guaranteed entry, but the process is a little more random in other parts of the world. Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and various other regions will need to sign up, either through the online portal or in the beta client itself, for a chance to participate. Of course, all of this is moot if you happened to take part last time as you should be good to go this time around.

Much like last time, Street Fighter V’s second testing period will start out exclusive to PlayStation 4, but PC competitors will be thrown a bone later on down the line. This will give Capcom a chance to implement cross-plaform play and see how it functions in the current build. Unlike home consoles, however, the PC version comes with a list of recommended specifications, which you’ll find in the box below. Make sure your rig is up to the task before heading to the lab or you’ll only be setting yourself up for disappointment.

As for characters that will be available this time around, Capcom has done away with the entire cast of the first beta in favor of providing an entirely new group of fighters to get acquainted with. Testing will start with Ken, Necalli, Vega, and R. Mika playable, with Rashid and Karin joining up later on during separate updates.

Feel free to click on the images below for previous reports on each character’s gameplay mechanics.

But cross-platform play and playable characters aren’t the only additions the beta has seen. This time around, Capcom has implemented ranked matchmaking, allowing folks to pair up with players around their skill level, rank up, and move onto better foes. If you’d rather play with friends, a new competitor search function will give you the opportunity to do that as well. Lastly, combined leaderboards will highlight the best of the best across both PlayStation 4 and PC.

While Fight Money, the in-game currency that can be used to purchase additional content, was present in the previous beta phase, players weren’t given the ability to track their progress or spend it on items. Now, you can watch your Fight Money accrue during your adventures, and will even be able to pick up new titles as well as the Kanzuki Estate stage should you earn enough. Please note that none of this will carry over the full game, so have fun with it while it lasts!

We’ve included the official schedule below if you missed out on it before, so plan out your time accordingly and put Street Fighter V through its paces as much as you can. Also, keep your eyes on the Shoryuken home page throughout the beta, as there’s sure to be a crazy amount of content coming our way from dedicated players gathering as much information as they can.

Street Fighter V will launch for PlayStation 4 and PC sometime next spring.

Source: Capcom-Unity

Square Enix has confirmed that Dissidia Final Fantasy will launch in arcades on November 26.

This news comes after promotional materials spotted at Kyoto’s Playland King Nanajo game center teased a November release. It was still up in the air at the time, but now fans can look forward to the new title arrive late next month.

Dissidia Final Fantasy forgoes the one-on-one battles of its predecessors by focusing on groups of three characters facing off in a similar arena style. This release marks the franchise’s debut in arcades and welcomes Team NINJA as the lead developer.

Be on the look out for more information on Dissidia Final Fantasy as we near its release date. Until then, check out Square Enix’s latest screenshots below.

Click to view slideshow.

Source: Square Enix via Gematsu