A favorite side-tournament selection gets a refresh for the current console generation.
Fans of the quirky, sexy, and outright unusual PlayStation 3-era title Catherine — which has developed a notable following as an FGC side-tournament game — have a new version of the game to look forward to: ATLUS is planning to bring the expanded and updated Catherine: Full Body to PlayStation 4 and PS Vita in the future.
The new “Full Body” subtitle — which refers to a description of wine, and certainly nothing else — brings along a host of additions to the game, including network play, cross-play support between PS4 and Vita, new story elements and endings, and the addition of a third Catherine: Rin, a pianist at the bar Vincent frequents, pictured below.
The addition of online play, and the move to a console that is already at pretty much every fighting game event already, are the biggest new features for the FGC faithful, naturally. This new version is still in development at present; so stay tuned for updates.
The Fighting Edge returns — and Arcade Shock has them in stock.
Last week, HORI debuted a new version of the classic Fighting Edge arcade stick, this time with a brushed-metal top panel, and a NOIR layout with two-tone Hayabusa pushbuttons. You can read our review here; this latest version of the Edge is compatible with the PlayStation 4 console and PC via XInput.
This new stick is now in stock at Arcade Shock! You can grab it from their online store for $199.99 USD, with free shipping with the continental USA.
Expect a short maintenance period today as Chun-Li’s latest outfits are delivered.
Another Tuesday means a good chance that online functions for Street Fighter V will be going down for a while; today, expect exactly that between 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM PT.
We will perform server maintenance from 11am to 4pm on 12/19 PST. Thank you for your patience and support.
What’s being added this time? Two more premium costumes for Chun-Li, the last two in the batch designed by Akiman. The “Covert Operations” and “Wedding” costumes will be available for fans of the Strongest Woman in the World once servers are back up.
Collecting costumes for Chun-Li in Street Fighter V is pretty much its own game mode at this point.
Capcom has evidently decided that Chun-Li must — by an unassailable margin — have the most premium costumes of any Street Fighter V character. To meet this goal, two more costumes from Akiman are arriving in the game tomorrow, December 19.
The new threads are comprised of a classy (but still revealing, unsurprisingly) “Covert Operations” outfit, and a wedding gown — apparently Chun-Li got jealous of Nina’s Tekken 7 look.
Akiman: Covert OperationsAkiman: Wedding
Expect these outfits to run the usual prices for premium costumes; look for them in the Shop tomorrow.
The last two Chun-Li costumes designed by Akiman, Wedding and Covert Operations, will be available on December 19! pic.twitter.com/oxHtAWrHOo
Rising Thunder returns — to be delivered into the hands of its own fanbase!
With Radiant Entertainment acquired by Riot Games in 2016, FGC community-driven concept fighter Rising Thunder had officially shut down, and was left to an uncertain future — if any. However, Rising Thunder was far from abandoned, and the game’s future has now indeed become clear!
Announced today on the Rising Thunder subreddit, Rising Thunder is returning to the community in a big way. Dubbed Rising Thunder: Community Edition, the team plans to polish up the title and open up its code for the fans to run with going forward. From the reddit announcement:
Hey folks. Super inspired by your efforts to bring back the game. We’d like to pitch in with a little help.
So here’s what we’re doing, all coming this January. We’re calling it “Rising Thunder: Community Edition.” Our intent here is to give the game back to you guys, the community, and let you run with it.
– Final game build: We’ve tinkered with the old final build of the game, adding offline, local play (!!!) along with some quality of life improvements. Local play will support keyboard vs. controller only, but it should be straightforward to hack in 1p controller support through external scripting. Just to be clear, this release is basically the same one you had in your hands when we turned off the servers in 2016. Please don’t expect new characters, systems, etc.
– Source code for an open-source version of the Rising Thunder server, so you can play matchmade games online. The original RT server is somewhat of a beast, segmented into a bunch of different services that aren’t particularly easy to deploy or maintain. So instead we’ve whipped up a first pass at a bare-bones server that will allow you to play online with rudimentary matchmaking and limited features. And we’re making it open source so that if you’re inclined you can tinker and improve it.
All of this is free, and will stay that way forever. In the meantime, our team has moved on to develop something new and we’ll share that with you when the time is right. Until then, Happy Holidays from the Rising Thunder team!
Stay locked on to Shoryuken and the Rising Thunder subreddit for more updates, and keep an eye out for Rising Thunder‘s return in January, 2018!
Welcome to the Rollback: a frame-by-frame look back at our past week’s most notable news — and our favorite SRK articles — from December 8 to December 14, 2017!
SFV’s absence from arcades in Japan have done it no favors towards building a player base there. Here’s a look at how and where to play this title on — what traditionally would have been — its home turf.
Our genre (actually, video games in general) have a long history of sharing — and stealing — design concepts from each other. But do the design elements that Fantasy Strike utilizes cross the line?
Ahead of Jump Festa this weekend, V-Jump finally revealed that yes, you will be able to play as Hit, Beerus, and Goku Black in Dragon Ball FighterZ. Be prepared for the legion of triple Goku players on launch in January…
To sidestep Japan’s strict gambling laws, the country’s esports industry will be issuing pro licenses to select players from 2018. This initiative should see pros earning payouts from tournaments similar to sports pros, and hopes to kickstart the Japanese esports boom.
After his sensational win at Capcom Cup last weekend, Capcom’s Michael Martin catches up with MenaRD to discuss his journey through that legendary bracket.
Omen of Sorrow had a gameplay demo make an appearance over the weekend, and SRK’s own Trilby took to the sticks to see how it works. Check out his comprehensive breakdown to see what he thought!
A fantastic interview with Snake Eyez from Forte, which may well have given us a peek at what America’s best Zangief has planned for the year ahead, as well as some insight into his preparation for his showing at Capcom Cup.
As one of SRK’s resident tech enthusiasts, I’m definitely jealous that EiC mushin_Z got his hands on the new Fighting Edge. I do have to admit, however, that he put together a great review. Check it out!
When Capcom Cup 2017 reached its conclusion, Capcom not only confirmed Sakura for SFV, but learned from this past year of leaks (and complaints) and showed us the full Season 3 DLC roster — but poor Honda wallows in his bathhouse as the only Street Fighter II era fighter still left out.
A classic arcade stick returns to fight once again!
HORI’s Fighting Edge sticks are already well-known in the community, and much loved for their clean, classy design. The last available versions for the prior console generation still fetch a high price through third-party sellers. But now: the Fighting Edge is back for PlayStation 4 — and it looks better than ever.
Interesting note: on the current market, we’re quite accustomed to seeing a fightstick with built-in compatibility with both the last-gen and current-gen consoles, as well as PC; new sticks for PS4 typically include a PS3 setting. This stick however breaks the pattern, being designated for PlayStation 4 only.
It only takes a quick glance to see how striking the simplistic design aesthetic of the prior Fighting Edges has been carried forward and updated for the new generation. The black plastic frames shining brushed aluminum and chromed edges — combined with the etched logos, it is a very, very pretty fightstick.
Note that, like the immediate predecessor the RAP.N, the pushbuttons are once again in the NOIR layout, not the more-common Vewlix style.
Components: like HORI’s other recent offerings, this stick packs in the Hayabusa lever and low-profile short-throw Hayabusa pushbuttons. I’ve covered these components multiple times before in prior reviews of other HORI sticks, and my opinion remains the same: I find the Hayabusa lever workable but a little loose for my taste, while I really like the short travel and matte surfacing on the Hayabusa buttons. These buttons are standard-sized and the joystick bracket is accommodating for replacement of other parts from other manufacturers, if you want to rock the Fighting Edge case with customized parts. And regarding customization — like the RAP series, this stick is easy to get into and mess around with as you feel inclined.
Much like the RAP.N, the top panel bolts don’t allow effective access to the interior — even less so, in this model. To get in, you need to remove the bottom panel(s).
In terms of performance, there is no discernible difference in responsiveness in-game between this stick and the other recent HORI models. Its size and weight make it comfortable for lap-based play, and it has two large rubber pads on the base to keep it from sliding around. The control panel is on the right side of the case, tucked under the top panel.
Also included: standard switching between digital input or one of the analog sticks. The ASSIGN function works like previous HORI fightsticks.
This stick has abandoned the turbo function — expendable for our genre, generally. You can still reassign buttons as desired. A new addition (for HORI) is the tournament mode switch, which cuts inputs from the PS button, and the OPTIONS and SHARE buttons. While I loved the RAP.N’s start button cover, this is a much more practical option — if a bit less fun. This version of the Fighting Edge also includes a headset jack, like other recent HORI models.
This stick is pretty big. That works to its advantage for vigorous fighting game play, though it’ll take up a lot of backpack space if you want to take it to your weekly. It will fit in Splitframe’s carrier bags, and the Qanba Aegis too, if you’ve got one of these on hand. The “handle” grooves make the fairly hefty stick easy to grab and go.
There is one glaring flaw to the Fighting Edge’s build: the bolts that hold down the metal top panel are only half-threaded, almost certainly to ensure that they cannot be over-tightened, to prevent the plastic parts of the case from being damaged. This protects the case from overzealous modders, but prevents the bolts from holding the top panel completely flush to the base, allowing it to slide around nearly 1 mm in all directions; this might not sound like much — until you really get into the game and notice the metal plate and bolts rattling around from the force of your inputs. The movement isn’t as bad as the plastic top sheet on the Mad Catz TE2 could be, but it will annoy some players — and frankly makes the Fighting Edge feel a bit lower-quality than it is. DIY solutions include adding washers to the bolts to fill the extra space, or using double-sided tape between the top plate and the plastic case. Still: this is an unfortunate flaw in an otherwise gorgeous fightstick.
For those in the market for a sleek, stylish, and comfortable arcade stick, you won’t go wrong with HORI’s new Fighting Edge — as long as that you don’t mind that slight looseness of the top panel, or are willing to make the mods to address it. It runs a little higher in price than the RAP family: that brushed metal elegance will run you $199.99 USD. It has just officially become available for purchase today; look for it at HORI’s website, or at Arcade Shock.
Pros:
Eye-grabbing, stylish visual design.
Comfortable size and weight.
Reliable and responsive Hayabusa components.
Includes a tournament-lock switch.
Cons:
Bolts holding down metal top panel don’t hold it flush, allowing it to shift position and rattle.
Not back-compatible with the PlayStation 3 console.
Capcom Fighters’ weekly recap catches up with the 2017 Capcom Cup Champion, before his victory.
Echo Fox’s Tokido was a favorite to win last weekend’s Capcom Cup, and claim the two biggest Street Fighter V competitions in 2017 for himself — but RISE|MenaRD fought the good fight back out of losers bracket for a Grand Finals rematch — and despite being a single round from elimination, won it all after a bracket reset.
On this week’s Wake Up Wednesdays with Michael Martin, Martin passes along his chat with MenaRD — interviewed after making the cut for top 8, but before he claimed the Cup for himself. They discuss MenaRD’s path to Capcom Cup, and his thoughts on some of his opponents; watch it below!
ZOWIE’s series of Street Fighter V clashes will come to its conclusion in Taipei, Taiwan.
ZOWIE’s circuit of local Street Fighter V events have led up to this: the ZOWIE FIGHTER STREET FIGHTER V FINALS in Taipei, Taiwan, to be held on December 16, 2017. So, who’s on the fight card for ZOWIE’s own SFV throwdown? Have a look:
The finals start at noon, Dec. 16, local time — 4:00 PM PT, Dec. 15th. Interested in checking out the action? The fights will be streamed on Twitch: for Chinese (with commentary by Firemanruby and GamerBee) go to TWFighter, while for English (with commentary by Damascus, Shoryusengan, and Tyrant) head over to ZOWIEFighter.
Language barrier aside, for more information you can have a look at ZOWIE’s event page, or at their Facebook page.
Sakura’s definitive theme has been updated for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition.
We were all waiting to hear it: Sakura’s classic theme from her Street Fighter Alpha 2 debut has followed her through her appearances in other titles, and her reveal for Street Fighter V proves to be no different. Have a listen below, courtesy of Xuses, and keep the hype fires stoked for her arrival in-game in 2018.
Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition — and Sakura — are coming January 16, 2018.
Sometimes, paying homage in fighting games can go too far: Thoughts on Fantasy Strike’s Lum Bam-foo
The King of Monsters? Shoryuken preview: Omen of Sorrow
Shoryuken interview: Snake Eyez on Capcom Cup preparation, and the grapplers of Street Fighter V
Shoryuken review: HORI Fighting Edge arcade stick for PlayStation 4
Brook|WildTaiwanese
CarzyDog
FightClub|UD
Liquid|NuckleDu
epsilon|Linkexelo
Method|Packz
Tachikawa
NL
Leslie
