She-Hulk may not be the most popular character in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but unlike most characters who rarely find their way into a tournament team, she has received a relatively steady flow of new technology since she fell out of favor in the move over to this latest iteration of the game.
Below, we’ve got a new video from e mc that’s all about getting the biggest numbers possible from the lady in green. With the help of some assists, She-Hulk can set up crumples for herself, pushing the damage to just shy of 900k for one bar.
And while it’s no surprise to see the green bruiser working with characters like Docters Strange and Doom, e mc makes use of Thor and Iron Man as well to keep things interesting.
What starts out as a seemingly safe romp through the land of Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style’s parental-locked insanity quickly devolves into chaos when not even the Scrublords can stand up to the mighty loading times that they find amid the 36 chambers. After several failed attempts to start up the game, they note, “There’s a backup game, but it’s worse than this, and this doesn’t play.”
So the crew does what any sensible fighting game fan would do. They load up Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. If you want to skip over the abyss of loading times, you can hop right in to the Third Strike action by skipping ahead to the about the 17 minute mark.
By now, some viewers have likely noticed that many of the Scrublords episodes were filmed in the same day, which, as the intro suggests, has been filled with choice beverages and a distinct lack of cookies. For these and other reasons, the clip below is loaded with NSFW language.
Alpharad is back with more comedy-fueled Super Smash Bros. for Wii U insanity. This time, he slows things down a bit and takes a good look at Donkey Kong.
As usual, this footage contains online match play where Alpharad does what he does best. You’ll see some wacky spikes and ridiculous recoveries, you’ll watch as one unfortunate Mario player learns caping Alpharad does nothing. And no video from the this series is complete without a humiliating Little Mac kill, so keep an eye out for that, too!
Since we’re on the topic of the Kong family, we’ve included what Alpharad is calling the Diddy Kong Anthem. It’s got about as much Hoo-Haa as a song can contain in under a minute and the footage, appropriately, follows suit.
Izaw is no stranger to the world of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tutorials. In the past, he released general tech videos for things like perfect pivoting as well as specialized character tutorials for characters such as Sheik. His most recent tutorial video, The Art of Link 2, teaches players everything they need to know before donning their green tunics and heading to Final Destination.
The guide covers a wide variety of Link strategies, including the sorts of projectiles that his shield can block, many of which allow for unique punish situations that the block button wouldn’t. He also covers various uses for Link’s Z-air, spikes, boomerang tricks, and a whole lot more. Link mains won’t want to miss it!
S.O.S. Gamers, a New York-based non-profit organization, recently announced plans to launch a Youth Smash League in an effort to offer local children a positive environment in which they can both learn and play. Naturally, there are costs involved with such an undertaking, so the team has set up a donation page through Indiegogo in order to allow those who believe in the program to offer monetary support.
At this time, S.O.S. Gamers hopes to raise $5,000 in order to run a three-month trial period for their Youth Smash League program. Donations will be put toward necessary equipment as well as uniforms and prizes for participants.
In order to learn more about their efforts, we contacted S.O.S. Gamers yesterday afternoon and were able to conduct an informal interview with the company’s president, Kwabena “Kubuu” Ampofo, and vice president, Antoine “DA|Wes” Lewis-Hall.
[Editor’s note: Some responses have been altered slightly for the sake of clarity.]
Shoryuken: The Super Smash Bros. series has obviously had a large impact on both of your lives. If you would, tell us a little bit about your history with these games as well as the community that surrounds them.
Antoine “Wes” Lewis-Hall: My name is Antoine and my gamer tag is DA Wes. My Smash career started in 2003 and I am the founder of the greatest and oldest Smash team called Deadly Alliance. Deadly Alliance houses some of the biggest names in the Smash community from the past and present–people like PC Chris, BUM, Ninja Link, Dron, Jtails, DKwill and the list goes on. The team was built on brotherhood. We didn’t only attend tournaments, we helped contribute to the growth of the community in many ways: organizing tournaments, streaming, commentating, and holding training sessions. I’ve always been known in the community as a free-spirited person and have always tried to innovate things in the community; that usually set me apart from most. But overall I’m still in this community 13 years strong because I love this game and still want to be a part of this community to help it grow in the right direction.
Kwabena “Kubuu” Ampofo: As for me, I’ve been playing Smash since my high school days when the Nintnedo 64 version came out. I’ve always been a huge Nintendo fan and when the chance came for me to use Link in a 4-player Brawler, my choice was clear. As time went on, I continued playing in my college days when Melee came out and that’s when I really started to get involved in the community by going to tournaments, hosting Smashfests, building the DC++ Hub, etc. It’s also how I came to be a part of Deadly Alliance, which is easily the longest standing Smash team. I remember going to a tournament when I was in college in Rochester, New York, and I saw a whole team of players just bopping people. I was like, “Who are these guys?” And that was the day that I really became super invested in getting better and doing what I could to help grow the community. One thing that I always found amazing was just the diversity of people who played the game. I’ve met individuals from all kinds of backgrounds and made so many friends that it’s kind of hard to imagine what life would be without Smash Bros. in it. When you look at the big picture, we have a really solid community. With any community, you’re going to have people who are divided over certain issues, but on the whole, when our energies are focused, there’s basically nothing that we can’t accomplish.
SRK: You’ve undoubtedly had some great times over the years thanks to Smash, but if you had to pick one favorite memory that you attribute to the game, what would that be?
Wes: My greatest memory that I attribute to the game is when my whole team went on this road trip to a tournament that Kashan “Liquid|Chillindude” KHan hosted years ago, back when he was just h2yl|Chillindude. That was the greatest moment I had, just being around my whole team.
Kubuu: I think I share my best memory with lots of people from the old school days of Smash, but there was one tournament in the MD/VA area called Game Over, which was held by one of the other long-standing Smash teams, H2YL. I was in college and I remember hopping in a car with Brian, or “BumbleBeeTuna” as he was known back then, and we drove from Rochester, NY all the way down to the MD/VA area in one of the coldest winters ever, just to go play in this tournament. It was the first time I really ever traveled to a tourney and it was my second time running into Deadly Alliance, prior to joining them. We all stayed at Azen’s house and it was probably one of the most memorable events in Smash history. The sheer Smash skill and knowledge present was insane. I also got to play against another Link main, SS4Ricky, and back then, there were only a handful of us!
SRK: Let’s switch gears for a moment: S.O.S. Gamers began back in 2010. What was it that inspired you to start this organization? And, since it began, what sort of notable projects has the organization undertaken?
Wes: What got me to partake in this organization is being around the same friends that I made through Smash forming the iconic team Deadly Alliance. I thought to myself, with all these talented people that I know, why not use the inspiration we have for gaming to help society, in addition to putting gaming in a positive light. One of the notable projects we did that inspired me to keep pushing this organization ran for about two years from 2010 to 2012. About once or twice per month, we entertained the elderly at the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. We would bring in the Wii Sports Resort games and play with them. To our surprise, some of the individuals who had bad memories would remember our names, what games they wanted to play, and even frequently ask the facility’s event coordinators when would we be back. Usually at nursing homes these individuals hardly get any visits from friends or family. It brought me joy that we were able to connect with them through video games and give them some companionship to look forward to.
Kubuu: We’re the generation that has grown up with video games since we were little kids, so gaming is such a huge part of our lives that once we got older, we realized that since it’s done so much for us, we have to pay it forward. So we decided that there has to be some way to use video games to help people better their lives in the same way that video games have bettered ours. In the beginning, we hosted fundraisers for other non-profits such as Susan G. Komen, where we raised over $2000 dollars for Breast Cancer Awareness. We threw food drives during the holiday season to donate food to City Harvest’s food bank. We regularly provide services for underprivileged kids with the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau at their outdoors events.
I think one of the best activities was helping the Falcons Lounge at Manchester Regional High School in New Jersey get Nintendo Wii goodies donated from Nintendo for their students to use. We showed up and had a really fun gaming session with the students and were able to leave them with games as well as memories. That’s the important stuff; showing people that they matter and that you care.
SRK: Growing up, did you have any activities or programs similar to those that your team provides that you attended on a regular basis?
Wes: Growing up I never had these types of activities, but I wish they had existed.
Kubuu: To be honest, I was probably too busy playing video games to notice! But when I was growing up, I really didn’t join any sports leagues. I was part of the Martial Arts club at Brooklyn Technical High School, which I enjoyed greatly. Most of the things I did after school involved hanging out with friends and playing games with them, but I most definitely would have jumped at the chance to join a league that used video games for competition. I’m certain my parents would have side-eyed me, but the equipment costs would have probably been the cost of a controller, so you can’t beat that.
SRK: S.O.S. Gamers focuses on the educational values that technology can bring to the table. Many such things are rather obvious, but what do you think that it is about video games specifically that make a project like this Youth Smash League have so much potential?
Wes: Our aim with this program in particular, is to teach kids team building skills, responsibility, respect, social skills, and better decision making skills in general.
Kubuu: Video games lend themselves well to a project like our Youth Smash League because of the ease of implementation plus the fact that the technology is so familiar to the youth. We can reach an audience who may be uninterested in, or simply not built for traditional league sports, and show them that they are indeed able to take something like video games, which people in their circles may refer to as an idle pastime, and turn it into something that can enrich their lives.
SRK: With all of the video game options out there that could also be used to bring together a group like this, what was it about Super Smash Bros. that ultimately made it the game of choice for the program?
Wes: The reason we picked Super Smash Bros. is that the game is growing, as well as the community. Almost everyone can relate to at least one character in roster, and love to either watch or play the game. Plus we grew up with the game and would love to see kids have the same enjoyment we had when we were younger.
Kubuu: There are lots of games that we could use and very well may use in the future. Over the years, we’ve found that Smash is just the most approachable game of its type, which lends itself very well to multiplayer engagement.
Taking Smash as an example, look at what’s involved in a Crew battle. You have multiple teams facing off against each other and within these teams you have players taking on roles from Captain to Anchor. Everyone needs to understand his/her role and their place in the team. Decisions have to be made on who goes up first based on the stages in play and characters being selected. So just with that alone, you have a very complex team dynamic. Now if we look at a game like Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, which has an eight-player setup, you now have two full teams of four engaged in play at the same time. Everyone has to know his/her role and the game plan and work as a team to succeed. Video games are simple in concept, but the applications of the skills learned are endless.
SRK: We noticed that in the promotional video for the Indiegogo project, the two of you are seated in front of a Super Smash Bros. Melee banner. Does this mean that the Youth Smash League will be focusing primarily on the Game Cube title? If so, what are some of the reasons behind that decision?
Wes: Unfortunately for Melee fans, at the moment we won’t be using that game for the program. We will be using the new installment of the series. Reason being is that Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has more content that is geared towards a league/team setting, with things like 4v4 and the ability to create your own stages. These two features alone give us the green light for a league. Maybe in the future we will adopt Super Smash Bros. Melee into our league.
Kubuu: Hahaha, that poster was something I actually got my hands on from my college days. It was an old Toys “R” Us promo item that a good friend of mine passed my way. Our league will be focusing on the Wii U version, as it has built in options which make running a league like ours much easier, namely the 4v4 option. Trust me, if we had the funding, we’d explore as many games as we could, but for right now, we’re picking and choosing where we put our resources very carefully.
SRK: On your Indiegogo page, you mention that donations will be used to assist with acquiring various pieces of equipment as well as uniforms and prizes for participants. This isn’t something that had occurred to us as important, but now that you mention it, it makes a lot of sense—what is it, in your opinion, that makes having something so simple as a team uniform and prizes important to these youngsters?
Wes: We feel it’s good to give kids rewards for doing well. Everyone likes to be rewarded to some degree for doing well at something. Why not reward them, you know? It’s not every day that people are rewarded as such, even for the smallest of things. These things, in my opinion, make the world go ’round.
Kubuu: Our goal is to make this a legitimate league for the kids. We don’t want them to just go home and say, “Oh, they let us play video games today,” which is generally what happens when kids and video games are involved. People just let them play and call it a day. We want to create an experience for them around this game. Part of that will include instructional workshops and activities conducted to help them learn the essentials of teamwork and part of it will be them actually playing Smash.
The uniforms are important because they show that each one of them is a part of something bigger. When spectators watch them play, players know that they’re repping Team Blue, for example, so now they’re accountable for making their team look good. Looking over and seeing a group of people wearing the same uniform and colors as yourself immediately puts you in “team” mode and that’s a mindset that we want to instill in them. The prizes are a way of saying, “You put in the work to succeed, you get what you earned.” We know it’s not all about the prizes, but let’s take a look at our audience: these are youth who live in a predominantly underserved community, who may not be used to earning prizes for their accomplishments. Some people might ask, “So what?” but we believe that it’s important for them to know that if they apply themselves to succeed, it will come back to them in some way. As our project grows, we want our offerings to expand to where we can provide tools to help them both professionally and academically.
SRK: You mention that this will be a Smash league targeted at “youth,” which is a pretty broad term. Is there a specific age range that you’re looking to bring into the program?
Kubuu: Our current pilot will include ages 13-19 and we will more than likely expand that to skew younger once we’re able to secure additional funding to continue our league.
SRK: And for any of our readers who have skills that they might wish to volunteer to S.O.S. Gamers projects, how would they go about reaching your team in order to do so?
Kubuu: We’re always open to those who want to help! Anyone who wants to help out can contact us at SOS@SOSGamers.org. Just send us some info about yourself and how you believe you can take part. We’d love to hear from you all!
SRK: Do you have anything else that you would like to add?
Wes: On behalf of S.O.S. Gamers, we would like to thank everyone for their support on this project and we will continue to update our fans, donors and supporters as things progress. We also would like to thank Shoryuken for taking the time to help us spread the word.
Kubuu: I’m just a huge fan of people helping people, especially when video games are involved, so we’re hoping that we can get really great results from this initial pilot and grow it into something on a much larger scale. It’s 2015, I think something like this is long overdue!
If this project sounds like something that you would be interested in helping succeed, feel free to head over to the donation page to show your support. If you’d like to check out the promotional video for the Youth Smash League, we’ve embedded it below. For anything else S.O.S. Gamers-related, check out their official website, Facebook, and Twitter.
Yesterday, Aksys Games announced that the latest entry in the Blazblue series, Blazblue: Chronophantasma EXTEND, will be making its way to western shores at a to-be-determined date over the summer.
To provide a quick look at what this updated title will include, Arc System Works uploaded a brand new gameplay video that highlights various segments of story mode, offers a momentary glimpse at mission mode, hints at a shop feature, and shows Arakune doing what Arakune does best: filling the screen with negative edge bugs.
This newest addition to the BlazBlue series will be available to play on Playstation 4 and Xbox One as well as Playstation 3 and the Playstation Vita once it makes its way to North America.
Ultra Arcade’s Killer Instinct World Cup tournament is still almost a year away, but players can already start racking up qualifying points for the big stage showdown from the comforts of their own home. Yesterday, Ultra Arcade’s Brandon Alexander announced on Twitter that the top thirty-two players–now officially termed Killers in the game’s new ranked leagues–at the end of each month will be awarded qualifying points to help them make their way to the main event next January.
The tournament itself is set to feature sixteen players in a double-elimination bracket. Outright qualifying positions in the will be awarded to players who bring home first place prizes at any of this year’s four Kombo Klash events as well as to the top finisher at Evolution 2015. The remaining elevent slots are reserved for those who have accrued the most qualifying points during the tournament season. As expected, these points can also come from to-be-specified major tournaments as well as officially sanctioned online tournaments.
For a full list of qualifying point distribution, as well as to check in on the current leader board, head over to Ultra Arcade’s official website.
Back in December, we featured a Decapre tutorial from CH3RNOBYL that takes an intimate look at the masked fighter’s normal attacks in Ultra Street Fighter IV. The tutorial included frame data, hitboxes, block strings, frame traps, and everything else associated with her buttons.
There is, of course, a lot more to mastering a Street Fighter character than simply knowing which button to press and when to do so, so today, we’ve got another Decapre tutorial from the same source, this time with a focus on her special moves and their applications. In this video, you’ll learn how to properly space her aerial Spiral Arrows as well as what sort of invulnerability frames you can expect from her Stinger and plenty more.
As with his previous video, the commentary over this tutorial isn’t in English, so be sure to turn on English subtitles if they’re not on already.
As an added bonus, we were also sent a Decapre combo video that will help players put all of this information together and get the most of every hit-confirm.
Source: N2L|CH3RNOBYL, thanks Brian K. for sending these in.
True block strings allow players to maintain pressure through well-timed button presses mixed in with special moves, but if there are gaps in the timing, or if certain attacks just don’t quite fit together perfectly, punish options begin to present themselves. These windows are small and defenders need to know to expect them in order to be able to perform a proper punish as opposed to just waiting until the block string is over.
Dudley’s duck, as you’ll see in the video below, allows for a great number of these situations to turn into huge damage in Ultra Street Fighter IV. Many of the punish options–mostly those involving canceling a normal into a fireball–don’t come as a huge surprise, but then there are things like meeting Yun’s EX lunge punch with Dudley’s EX duck, which may not have been so readily apparent even to veterans of the character.
Of course, since this is a video from Forbidden Technique, they’ve not only included what version of ducking will net punishes in an alarming amount of scenarios, but have also offered up optimal combos to tack on and keep opponents scared to apply pressure.
Peach’s turnips aren’t nearly as demoralizing as a well-timed swipe from Mario’s cape, but there’s still something satisfying about using a perfectly-tossed root vegetable to secure victory. Alpharad, in his newest How to Play video for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, conjures up that feeling of satisfaction over and over again as he lets the veggies fly.
Of course, there are those rare moments when the clouds part and the random number generator blesses Peach with an unearthed Bob-omb–you’ll see some of that, too. This footage also features a few brief exchanges with overzealous Little Mac players that prove that he requires a certain degree of restraint in order to keep from self destructing.
