Author: Sam "Trilby" Foxall

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Try out Sakura for free in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition from January 16th-23rd

Still undecided on pulling the trigger for the Season 3 Character Pass for Street Fighter V? Well, Capcom will be letting people try out Sakura for free during her launch week. During this free week, you’ll be able to play through her Story mode, complete her trials and play her online — but beware! Any XP or Fight Money that you earn with Sakura will disappear once the free trial ends on January 23rd. You can get this missing XP and FM back should you purchase Sakura, so don’t worry about it being lost in the ether forever.

Sakura can be purchased individually with either Fight Money or real world cash, or as part of the Season 3 Character Pass. Do note that buying Sakura with Fight Money does not get you access to her Battle Costume or extra colors.

Hopefully, Capcom will continue this trend and offer all new fighters a trial period so players can try before they buy!

Source: Capcom-Unity

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SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is coming to Nintendo Switch this summer [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Turns out SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is coming to PS4 as well, along with a special Diamond Dream Edition. This collector’s edition comes with a two-disc OST, an artbook, a special lapel pin set, a special collector’s box, as well as a Fatal Cutie cap, a sleeveless Mai Shiranui shirt, a SNK sweatband and even a themed workout towel. If you’re really into your SNK heroines, you can pre-order this collector’s edition over on the NISA online store for $119.99.

SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy Diamond Dream Edition

Original story: Revealed during today’s Nintendo Direct Mini, SNK and NIS America have revealed a brand new 2v2 fighter, which has all of SNK’s leading ladies battling it out. Titled SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, this tag fighter can have up to four players clashing in either local play or online — with a fighting system that a little more chaotic when compared other SNK games.

Along with simplified special moves which can be performed with a single button, players can utilize items that spawn on screen to turn the tide of a fight. It’s not enough just to reduce your opponent’s health to zero though, as you can only finish off an opponent in SNK Heroines by using a Dream Finish — a character-specific super move.

So far, Athena Asamiya, Kula Diamond, Mai Shiranui, Leona Heidern and Yuri Sakazaki have been confirmed as playable fighters — with more to be announced in the future. Every character in SNK Heroines can be customized with different outfits, accessories and even voice clips, so you can really make your favorite fighters stand out.

SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy 1
SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy 2
SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy 3
SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy 4
SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy 5
SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy 6

Acting as a spiritual successor to SNK Gals’ Fighters back on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is scheduled to launch on Nintendo Switch this summer.

Source: Nintendo

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Pokkén Tournament DX’s Battle Pack DLC adds Aegislash and Blastoise as new fighters

Announced as part of today’s Nintendo Direct Mini, Pokkén Tournament DX is getting new fighters, as part of its Battle Pack DLC. This DLC comes in two waves and will add two new Battle Pokémon, as well as four new Support Pokémon.

The first wave adds the Living Weapon Pokémon Aegislash as a playable character, along with Mega Rayquaza and Mimikyu as Supports. Based on the small bit of gameplay footage that was shown off, Aegislash looks to be quite a technical fighter, as players will need to master its Sword and its Shield forms to succeed in battle. This first DLC wave will launch on January 31st.

The second wave adds Blastoise, the Shellfish Pokémon as a playable fighter, as well as Mew and Celebi as Supports. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any footage of Blastoise in action, but I imagine he’ll act as a bulky zoning character. Wave 2 will release on March 23rd, and you can buy the Battle Pack over on the Nintendo Eshop right now. As a bonus for pre-purchasing, you’ll get some new avatar customization options to use straight away.

Check out the Nintendo Direct Mini below; the Pokkén portion of the presentation starts at 1:26.

Source: Nintendo

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The voice actors for Goku and Vegeta will clash in a Dragon Ball FighterZ Super Saiyan Showdown on January 25th

We saw the trash talk on Twitter, we saw the gauntlet being thrown down and now we have a date for this epic voice actor battle! Organized by Funimation, Bandai Namco and Esports Arena, Christoper Sabat (voice of Vegeta, Piccolo and Yamcha) will face off against Sean Schemmel (voice of Goku and King Kai) in a special Dragon Ball FighterZ showdown!

The event will take place on January 25th at the Esports Arena in Santa Ana, with tickets being available soon for those who want to see this Super Saiyan showdown. If you can’t make it out to Esports Arena, Funimation are planning to stream this epic clash on Twitch, Twitter and Facebook Live. Expect more details in the coming days regarding exact times and how to secure a ticket.

Now the date is locked in — who is each Saiyan going to play? I can easily see Sabat using Vegeta, Yamcha, and Piccolo (as he voices all three), while Schemmel may even opt for Team Triple Goku, seeing as Goku Black, Super Saiyan Goku and SSB Goku are all playable. Sabat has already been getting some early pointers from some FGC heads on Twitter, so expect the Prince of all Saiyans to come into this bout with some nasty set-ups.

Source: Funimation

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Adel “Big Bird” Anouche is the latest Street Fighter V player to join Red Bull’s Athlete program

Joining the likes of Luffy, Bonchan, Daigo Umehara, and Snake Eyez, Adel “Big Bird” Anouche is the latest Street Fighter V player to be signed to Red Bull’s Athlete program. One of the UAE’s top players, Big Bird had a fantastic 2017, placing the top 8 of events like EGX, DreamHack Summer, Tower of Pride, and Esports Festival Hong Kong, along with making it to Capcom Cup 2017.

Combined with his pre-existing sponsorship by Nasr Esports, this Red Bull partnership puts Big Bird in a fantastic starting position to make 2018 his best year yet. With Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition on the horizon and potentially some buffs for his hot-headed main Ken, expect to see Big Bird lighting up the stage at more international tournaments.

Source: Bigbird_fgc

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Microsoft are holding a second Killer Classic event this weekend

After the success of the first Killer Classic, Microsoft have decided to hold another two-day Killer Instinct tournament this weekend at their flagship store in New York City. With a bolstered prize pool, expect some intense KI action as players from New York and beyond battle it out.

Rather than just offering a prize for the winner, the second Killer Classic offers some rewards for the second and third place players. First place gets an Xbox One X and $200, second place gets a custom Killer Instinct arcade stick and $200, while third place gets $100 and several Ultimate Source KI figurines.

With only 16 slots, the bracket is now full — containing players like ELV|Rico Suave, UA|Bass, Circa|Aphex, Circa|Shatter and many more. If the Killer Classic is set to become a regular event, I would like to see Microsoft expand to a 32-person bracket, so more KI players can compete.

For those wanting to tune into the Killer Classic, all the action will be streamed live via the official Microsoft Store Mixer channel.

Source: smash.gg

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Bandai Namco UK are celebrating Dragon Ball FighterZ’s release with a special launch party

Bandai Namco UK are holding a public launch party on January 26th to celebrate not only Dragon Ball FighterZ‘s launch, but a storied legacy of Dragon Ball games. Along with stations with old Dragon Ball games like Budokai 3, Super Butoden and Raging Blast, fans can play Dragon Ball FighterZ the day before it launches worldwide.

If you’ve really put in the work following this weekend’s open beta, Bandai Namco will also be holding miniature tournaments during the launch party — so you can prove yourself as the best pre-release DBFZ player in the UK! Tickets are free but they are selling out faster than you can say “Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan”, so head on over to its special Eventbrite page to secure a ticket.

Many leading lights in the UK FGC will be in attendance — including yours truly — so expect some serious labwork to be going on in between tournaments!

Source: Bandai Namco UK

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Become master of the Dragon Balls with the Pacific Northwest’s Budokai League

For future Dragon Ball FighterZ players living in the Pacific Northwest, there’s a tournament series waiting for you. Called the Budokai League, this series will see players trying to collect seven Dragon Balls from winning tournaments dotted around the region. If you collect all seven, you will win a flight to any US major of your choosing.

The Dragon Balls will be first distributed among the winners of select monthly tournaments in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. From then on, players can collect a Dragon Ball by either beating a player with a Ball in tournament, or by organizing a special Dragon Ball Match with your region’s Budokai official. Unless you have a Dragon Radar Ticket — which will be given to runners-up of monthlies in the Pacific Northwest — you can only schedule a Dragon Ball match if you yourself have a Dragon Ball to wager.

You can read the full ruleset right here, but if you collect all seven Dragon Balls and manage to keep hold of them after two Dragon Ball Matches, the eternal dragon Shenron will grant you a free flight to a US major of your choice. This league is certainly a cool concept, and I hope other regions will take on this format to build hype for Dragon Ball FighterZ.

For more information on the Budokai League, follow PNWAirDashers on Twitter. The first Budokai League event will be on February 3rd and players have until July to collect all seven Dragon Balls, before they turn to stone and cannot be used for another year.

Source: PNWAirDashers

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Time to hit the slides again as Smash’N’Splash 4 returns to the Kalahari Resort from June 1st-3rd

Blow up the floaties and break out the swim trunks, as Smash’N’Splash 4 is coming this summer. Returning to the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin from June 1st-3rd, this tournament has become a regular feature during the Summer of Smash, providing plenty of fun for players who don’t make it out of the kiddie pool.

Alongside Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Smash’N’Splash 4 will feature tournaments for the original Super Smash Bros., Project M, ARMS, Splatoon 2 and more — complete with their own streams and stages. Both Melee and Smash 4 come with additional pot bonuses: $5,000 for singles and $1,000 for doubles.

Registration is now open over on smash.gg, complete with details for booking a room at the Kalahari Resort. To stop any issues with events running over, players are limited to entering four events (two singles and two doubles events), with those who are playing Splatoon 2 only able to enter one other tournament.

Sources: Gamers HQ; smash.gg

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Watch Nappa brutalize his foes in this Dragon Ball FighterZ breakdown from Maximilian

While everyone has been fawning over characters like Hit, Adult Gohan and Goku Black, Nappa has become one of the lesser seen characters in Dragon Ball FighterZ. Well, Maximilian is here to the redress the balance with a Nappa gameplay breakdown, from his time at a special DBFZ preview event.

Despite his bulky frame, Nappa is not a grappler or armor-centric character — he is more of a setplay character through the use of his Saibamen. Similar to Jack-O’ in Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, Nappa can plant Saibamen into the ground, which will then pop up and start attacking the enemy automatically. These little green men cycle between three moves: a jumping slash, a low-hitting slide and then finally a command grab where the Saibaman explodes. If you use the Heavy version of the Saibaman summon, it gains a fourth attack where it spits a ball of goop at the opponent. While you can only have one Saibaman on screen, Nappa can plant a second one which will erupt from the ground once its partner has been downed. Nappa does not have to be on screen for the Saibaman to pop up — as long as it has been planted in the ground, it will appear no matter who is on screen.

As for Nappa’s specials, he has a two hit chop called Arm Break which can be super-cancelled, a counter-style move where Nappa yells the opponent and elbows them into the ground, along with his Blazing Storm projectile which can be performed both on the ground and in the air.

When you combine his Saibamen with other assists, I can imagine Nappa being a fantastic support character. Pair him with Piccolo’s Ki spheres and Beerus’ Cataclysmic Orbs, and you’ve got a team which can make the opponent terrified to push a button.

Source: Maximilian Dood