Rumors have been flying about the announcement of Injustice 2. In fact, we even reported on leaks suggesting that it was on the way. Today, NetherRealm flicked the switch and released the very first trailer for the game out into the world and it is glorious.
Injustice: Gods Among Us built a fascinating world that pitted some of DC’s most beloved characters against each other. Our first look at the sequel suggests that, if anything, it will be even more a brawl–after all, at least in the original Injustice everyone picked sides. It also gives us a first glimpse at new addition Supergirl alongside some returning favourites: Superman, The Flash, Batman, Aquaman and Nightwing–although that last might turn out to be Red Hood. There will be some new villains on offer too: Atrocitus and Gorilla Grodd will (almost certainly) be playable for the first time in the series.
Another interesting snippet from the trailer is the apparent ability to upgrade or enhance the costumes of characters. We see The Flash upgrading himself early on and, in the dying moments of the trailer the other combatants do much the same. In a post on the PlayStation blog that announces the game, NetherRealm explain that this part of an all new gear system, in which you can equip and upgrade your character however you choose:
The Gear System uses RPG-like mechanics to reward you with loot drops every time you play the game. With each loot drop, you will earn character-specific gear to outfit and power up your roster – changing not only the look of each character, but your fight strategy and your personal approach to every match.
We’ve already seen NetherRealm be inventive with the way they present characters in Mortal Kombat X with the variation system, which allowed you to choose from one of three different versions of the same character. Hopefully this new system will allow for similarly interesting decisions to make, although it does throw up some concerning implications for the competitive aspect of the game.
We’ll get our hands on it in 2017. Unfortunately, there is no more specific information than that. It will be coming to Xbox One and PS4, but there’s no mention of PC which, considering the problems with MKX’s PC port, is not particularly surprising.
As Street Fighter V competition heats up, we’re seeing more and more impressive applications of Ryu’s V-Skill, the Mind’s Eye–his modified Street Fighter III-style parry. The move’s ability to reverse pressure and open an opponent up to devastating punishes becomes clear in this compilation of tournament and online footage from The BEAST. The next “Evo Moment 37” could be drawing near.
Ryu mains will want to check out RB.BST|Daigo Umehara’s anti-Chun-Li strategy, as it focuses on Ryu’s tools for dealing with the queen of the SFV tier list, including the Mind’s Eye parry. Sebastion Rikk also has provided a guide to effectively applying the parry against Cammy.
It’s a close game, and your opponent–the Ken player–is looking desperate. You’re composed, however, waiting for your opportunity–not overextending, just waiting. You know you’ve got this if you play patiently and let your reactions guide you. Suddenly, the Ken players dashes forward into standing fierce range, sticks out the button and cancels it into run. But you’ve done your research: you know his V-Skill run-cancels are punishable on block, and you’ve been scouting for just that.
Got him!
But wait–why is Ken landing a counter-hit jab and not you? Before you can register what happened, an impressive fiery combo sequence lights up the screen as your health bar fades to black.
First there’s denial, “That’s so negative! Why did his jab work and not mine? I know I reacted on time!” After the immediate shock and anger fades, self-doubt sinks in, “Did I really time it too late? Did I just choke?” And finally acceptance, and salt, as you mutter things like, “Ken is so cheap,” or “8 frames,” etc.
The answer to why things didn’t go as planned could be all of the above, or could be something else entirely. It could be that you’re conditioned to react to a heavy attack on block with a very specific timing that’s second nature to you–a timing that has never failed you until now.
This is because Ken’s attacks don’t work exactly like everyone else’s. His frame data is unique, and not in the sense of being more or less advantageous on block. His normals actually have less hitstop than the rest of the cast.
Hitstop is a sort of freeze that happens when one character makes contact with another. It’s a period of time where the blocking character is enduring the opponent’s hit before they can respond. Graphically, it serves the purpose of showing the impact of the opponent’s hit on the blocking character. It doesn’t matter how advantaged or disadvantaged the frame data on an attack might be, there’s (almost) always a static amount of hitstop frame data for normals. As a rule in Street Fighter V, a light attack like a standing jab or a crouching short causes 8 frames of hitstop on block, a medium attack causes 12 frames of hitstop, and a heavy attack causes 15.
So, for example, when you block a crouching medium kick, it takes 12 frames before you can press a button. Once you’ve mastered that timing, it’s the same across the board for virtually every character.
But Ken’s special. His jabs fall in line with the rest of the cast–a predictable 8 frames of hitstop–but his mediums only cause 10, and his heavies only cause 12. That’s a 2-frame difference on mediums and a 3-frame difference on heavies, meaning your reactive jabs have to be input earlier than you might expect in order to exploit the frame data.
@ultradavid@StillGrowinProd Most chars hitstop = 8/12/15 for light, medium heavy. Ken's are 8/10/12. It's not just 2-3 frames of input lag.
Although Ken’s hitstop frame data has been known since launch, Periodiko kick-started the conversation on Twitter in early May
It’s also important to note that Ken isn’t the only character in Street Fighter V that has deviating hitstop frame data; R.Mika’s back+medium punch only has 11 frames of hitstop instead of the normal 12, and Rashid’s standing medium punch only has 10. Ken is just the only character who consistently has unique hitstop numbers on all of his medium and heavy attacks.
So let’s go back to the scenario outlined above. Ken tags you with a standing fierce, you block it, and he cancels into his running V-Skill. Versus 17 other characters in the game you’ve been conditioned to time your defensive jabs exactly 15 frames after a blocked standing fierce. Because you’ve been conditioned by the rest of the cast, in the heat of the moment, you default to the timing that feels right–a timing 3 frames too late–and Ken is rewarded with a counter-hit combo for your understandable execution error.
RZR|Fuudo eating a run-cancelled Jab versus EG|Momochi at Stunfest 2016.
Combine this with the dreaded “8 frames” (it’s actually only a 3-frame difference when compared to Ultra Street Fighter IV, and virtually any other modern fighting game, but I digress) and you can see how the math works out in Ken’s favor. It’s already slightly more challenging to respond to anything in SFV, but coupled with an even quicker reaction barrier (a variable 2-3 frames) against Ken’s blocked attacks, you can see how it becomes challenging to punish something that’s meant to be punishable. One final thing to consider is Ken’s 4-frame back+strong, which beats all 4-frame light attacks when pressed on the same frame. All of this creates a situation where reacting, especially in high pressure situations, isn’t so cut-and-dry.
The purpose of this conversation isn’t to bemoan Ken’s unique frame data, however. Instead, I want to shine a light on Ken’s early dominance in Street Fighter V. So far this year, West Coast Warzone, Texas Showdown, Stunfest, and most recently, Japonawa, have all been won by different Ken players: Chris Tatarian, Fox|Julio Fuentes, and EG|Momochi. While it’s safe to say that these players are all highly skilled Street Fighter professionals, it’s also obvious that many of their opponents–equally powerful contenders–fell prey to Ken’s high-risk run cancel game in crucial moments.
EG|PR.Balrog suffers a counter-hit versus Chris Tatarian in West Coast Warzone 5’s grand finals on more than one occasion.
As time goes on, Ken’s run-cancel effectiveness should depreciate as competitive players master their reactive timings, but presently Ken has a trick up his sleeve that’s more difficult to handle in execution than it seems in theory. This isn’t the only reason Ken players are succeeding right now–clearly players like Julio, Chris T and Momochi are among the best of the best–but it’s definitely a notable contributor in this initial period of the game’s life.
Swillo, who placed 7th in Pokkén Tournament at DreamHack Austin, has been in the lab with the geneticly-engineered Pokémon, Mewtwo. The results are pretty outstanding so far: this tech-heavy video shows off both Swillo’s just frame execution and a bevy of technology. Witness confirms off of supports, anti-air jab conversions, critical hit-only combos, wall combos, and much, much more in the video below.
There are enough just frames, instant air dashes, links, crossups, and situational conversions to make anyone’s head spin. Given Swillo’s open call out to all other tournament Mewtwo players, the bar is now set pretty high for all other Psychic types from here on out.
With SNK currently touring the latest build of the King of Fighters XIV around Japan, we’re slowly getting to see more of the game in action.
Hot on the heels of the footage we shared yesterday, we have this new video from keykakko with over half an hour of King of Fighters XIV gameplay. With this amount of footage, we get to see more of what the cast can do as players try to figure out their moves, Desperation moves, combos and more.
Though this footage wasn’t recorded directly from a stream, the video does come with the added bonus of being shot at 60 frames per second.
For those looking forward to more King of Fighters XIV footage, the game will be playable at Sony’s booth at E3 as well as at next week’s Wednesday Night Fights.
In his latest music video mix of Street Fighter V combos, desk has arranged a collection of reverse-hitting moves. By taking advantage of the hitboxes of certain normal and special moves, Nash’s Sonic Move can be counterattacked, even though Nash winds up on what should be the wrong side of the countering action’s active hitbox.
The combo video master preceded this video with another: a tongue-in-cheek jab at the surprise delay in Ibuki’s impending addition to the Street Fighter V roster–and Capcom’s lack of communication and vague promises regarding it. Wondering why we’re waiting up to a month later for what appears to be a complete playable character? So is desk!
In addition, desk has provided his own “unofficial” version of the Ibuki launch trailer, exploring outside inspirations for her Street Fighter V moveset; check it out here.
If you can’t wait for the mysterious masked fighter Q to infiltrate Street Fighter V through possible future DLC from Capcom (though no such thing has been announced), you could turn to this M. Bison skin swap–provided you’re using the PC version of the game, of course. But if you’re an outright Q fanatic, and that just isn’t enough Q, then how about swapping the skins of the entire cast?
PFunkk expanded on their prior M. Bison swap to substitute Q for almost all of the current SFV roster. Naturally, some fighting styles seem to suit Q more than others–Q as F.A.N.G is particularly bizarre–but if you can’t get enough Q, this mod is for you.
One of the roadblocks that arcade stick users tend to face when moving to a new console is having to buy a new arcade stick for it. With how high the cost of modern, top of the line arcade sticks with actual arcade parts can be, this is a rather expensive proposition.
This is the reason why more than a few players turn to modding to get their old sticks to work on new consoles. It’s also because of this that products such as Jasen’s Customs’ upcoming EZ Mod Board for the Mad Catz Tournament Edition 2 exist.
Jasen’s EZ Mod Board allows players a solderless method to mount a Brook Universal Fighting Board onto a Mad Catz Tournament Edition 2, giving it compatibility with multiple consoles from the PlayStation 4 all the way to the XBox 360. In addition to this, it retains all the functionality of the TE2, right down to the front side LED, meaning that most other mods for the stick will still work with it.
Pre-orders for the Jasen’s Customs EZ Mod Board opened today at both Arcade Shock and Paradise Arcade. The board itself will retail for $29.99. Take note that this does not include the Brook Universal Fighting Board itself, which retails for $89.99. While this does add up to a lot, it’s still less than the $150 to $200 for a new stick, with more functionality to boot.
For those wondering just how easy it is to install the board, Jasen’s Customs shared these installation guide videos.
Editor’s note: Some responses have been slightly altered for clarity.
In the UK’s Street Fighter scene, they’ve started adding ‘Lord’ to the front of Benjamin “Problem X” Simon’s name. It’s hard to argue that he hasn’t earned it either, with the slew of results that he has accumulated since the release of Street Fighter V. A string of consecutive wins at London’s Bracket Reset weekly earned him his title, and it was at Hypespotting 5, one of the first Capcom Pro Tour Premier Events, that “Lord Problem” stamped his mark, wrestling first place from the likes of Luffy and Valmaster with his Bison.
We caught up to him at The Beatdown, an event held in Capcom’s UK Headquarters that played host to some of the best Street Fighter V players that the United Kingdom has to offer. During the tournament he put on a show for the crowd, pushing his opponents to the limit with Alex and ultimately only falling short against HFUM|Hurricane’s Cammy. Fresh off his second place finish, he spoke to us about bringing the hype, leveling up, and how he thinks the scene in the UK stacks up against the rest of the world.
Keegan “Interrobang!?” Spindler: After a strong start, you had a couple of lackluster placements. Do you think there’s a particular reason behind that?
Benjamin “PXP|Problem X” Simon: My character switch. It’s always going to do that. You’ve got to relearn the matchups, relearn what you already knew and get comfortable in a tournament environment. You’ve got to start making the right decisions with that character. I’ll still be pressing the Bison buttons in the clutch moments, but that’s kind of been eradicated now. I’m getting to grips with Alex, learning his tools, how to utilize the parry. I think I’m definitely on the rise. Even at Bracket Reset, the last one or two that I went to, I didn’t do that well. But here, everyone who attends Bracket Reset and more were here, and I’ve obviously got a good placing here. So I think I’m getting more comfortable with Alex now, and I’m back on the rise.
KS: The general consensus seems to be that Alex and Bison are among the weaker cast members–do you agree?
BS: Well I like Bison, I like his demeanor, I like the way they made him really feel like a boss character in this game, but there are a couple of reasons that I switched to Alex. One, I don’t feel like Bison’s that strong in this game. Obviously I’m not picking top tier, but he’s just not strong at all, I don’t feel. Alex is more hype, and I like hype in the game. He’s got a parry, a command grab and yeah, I really like the character. I liked him in 3rd Strike. I didn’t play 3rd Strike a lot, but I liked the character and yeah, I like Alex a lot. I think he’s got the tools to win. He’s not the best at any one thing, but he’s viable.
KS: How did you handle the transition to V where C. Viper and Seth–your mains–weren’t present?
BS: Well I just liked Bison, so I instantly went for him, but now I do think that Alex suits my style a bit better. He’s got 50-50s and he’s fast-paced and hype, so I think that’s kind of the closest to the sort of momentum that Seth and C. Viper built in SFIV. Obviously you have your Kens and stuff, but I’ve never liked Ken. I’ve just never liked him. I like parries though; I like anything that brings hype. Anything that brings guessing and hype, I’m interested in. I just liked Bison because he’s this big boss character, he’s got this boss stature. But I really feel like Alex is the sort of character that fits with the way I want to play.
KS: Would you say that Winner Stays On, your home tournament if you like, has helped with that transition?
BS: Winner Stays On has been great. I really like the show, and I think that it has helped transition to a new game. Not only that, it’s really helped levelling up in general because you’re able to sit down in a controlled environment and play. Everyone that gets invited is at an adequate level, so you really don’t want to be that guy who can’t win a set–it pushes you to perform at your best. I really like it.
KS: How are you feeling about the balance of Street Fighter V at the moment?
BS: I wouldn’t say that there’s any character that’s not viable full stop. I mean, Bison’s pretty weak, F.A.N.G appears to be weak at the moment, but they can still get wins. I mean, I’ve won tournaments with Bison, Xian’s doing really well with F.A.N.G. I do think there’s some characters that are extremely strong though. Like, unnecessarily strong–like Chun-Li and R. Mika. I personally think that the game is really random, to a degree where anything can happen when both players have an equal understanding of the game and their characters.
Ken’s also very strong. If he’s not top 3… well, he’s probably top 3. Ryu and Necalli are strong, too. I think the game’s more linear than Street Fighter IV, definitely, and it might just be because it’s early days but there seems to be a lot more of a random factor, so characters like Ken, who have access to things like Dragon Punch and big Crush Counter combos, make for good tournament characters.
KS: How strong do you think the UK is in comparison to the international scene?
BS: I haven’t actually travelled out of Europe for Street Fighter V yet but from what I’ve seen from streams, for some characters we are definitely behind, but for other characters I feel that we’re a bit further ahead. We’re definitely behind on Dhalsims compared to the US, I think Dhalsims there are very strong, and there are a few more F.A.N.Gs over there as well. I feel we have a few more Chun-Lis, better Bisons so it’s really different characters being played overall. I mean, when Wil2Pac went over there to DreamHack Austin he came Top 8, so that’s really the only indication I have on how we’re stacking up against at least the Americans. At Stunfest we pretty much got destroyed by Japanese players, so I guess that hierarchy is still there, that order is still in place.
KS: Do you have plans to head out to America this year? Is there anyone in particular you’d really like to play over there?
BS: Well I play Packz a lot, who is a very strong Karin so I’d love to play Justin Wong because I believe I know the matchup. I think it would be interesting. I’m not saying I’m going to win–not saying anything–but I know what to do in that matchup, so it will be interesting. If I lose, I will have definitely learned something. In terms of the USA, I’m definitely looking to go there. I don’t know if I’m going to touch Evo yet because of the amount of time I’d have to take off of work. I’ve got the time off saved up, but I need it for hitting Capcom Pro Tour events as well. I’m planning to go to as many European CPT events as I can, so that’s where my time off will probably go. I’m planning to visit the states this year for sure though.
KS: We’ve seen Infiltration, Justin Wong and, to a degree, you, dominate your respective regions. Why?
BS: Honestly I think some people are just faster learners than others. Character selection is also a factor; everyone was picking different characters when the game came out and then we started to decipher who is stronger. As it turns out, Ryu, Nash, they’re really strong characters. Karin is a really strong character. Bison wasn’t that strong, but I was winning with him and I think that comes down to tournament experience. In the UK now, obviously with the exception of Ryan Hart who’s not really attending UK events, I have the most tournament experience, so it comes down to that as well.
When you’re in tournament certain tactics are more viable than others and people have to calm down to find what works. For example, most of the players here today I will lose a lot to online, but that’s online. When you’re playing in tournament there’s certain things that you will or won’t do. So I think that experience is coming into play. Justin’s got years of experience, Infiltration has obviously been a part of the biggest and best tournaments, Tokido has been a high-level player for years and that’s what is proving important at the moment. I think that over time, we’ll see more people come to grips with the game and become threats, but I don’t think that the threats now will ever fall away. After all, they’re only gaining more experience. There might be more players that reach that level, but the likes of Justin and Infiltration will always stand a good chance.
KS: You’ve started your own team, Problem X Promotions. At the moment it’s just you and A F0xy Grampa. What are your plans going forward?
BS: Well I’m going to be looking for a Smash player. I mean, I’ve been taking my time with it because obviously I started it last year, so this year is the first full year of me being a team manager. I just want to see how everything goes with the one player before I take anyone else on board. It’s all going really well though, I’m really getting to grips with how everything should be, so I’m starting to get comfortable with looking at other games and representatives. At least Smash, I think, is the highlight going forward. Obviously F0xy is doing great, which is a great start.
KS: Do you have a dream character for the next set of the DLC?
BS: In the coming set I’m really happy about Urien. I think I’m going to be playing that character, it looks like he will bring the hype. Next year, well C. Viper was my main in IV, so I’d really like to see them bring her back. I’d love to see that sort of crazy momentum shift in this game. Her, or Sodom. I’d really want Sodom, I think he’s got a great design, he could be really fun.
KS: Is the whole 8 frames of lag thing a real problem or something the internet is overreacting to?
BS: I’ve been told that it’s a real thing. I haven’t really been affected though. Sometimes you feel like you’ve been affected–a moment where you’re sure that you threw out a Dragon Punch or whatever it is. How I see it is this: if there is eight frames of lag, everyone playing the game is affected in the same way. It’s not like it’s only player one, everyone is affected by it. I don’t think it’s all that big a deal–the people who are winning are winning consistently so it’s not a big deal. Just play the game.
Initially leaked on Twitter in a grainy screenshot by CollapseControl, before being corroborated by notable leakers shinobi602, Nibellion and then reported on by Polygon, it seems that Injustice 2 is going to be revealed at E3 next week. The poster shows Batman and the Flash readying for battle with the tagline “Every Battle Defines You” underneath. The posters, according to Polygon, are part of a pre-order scheme for NetherRealm’s comic book fighter, with those who pre-order the game receiving the poster while stocks last.
GameStop stores will be receiving these posters in the near future, probably over the course of the next week when Injustice 2 is officially announced. There have been plenty of rumors circling the web, not helped by Ed Boon changing his profile picture to the Roman numeral for 2, but this seems like the first concrete Injustice 2 leak. Eurogamer has also confirmed the leak, stating that “[their] own sources tell [them] the game is real and is set for an announcement later this week,” suggesting that Injustice 2 may actually be revealed ahead of E3. Ed Boon himself has tweeted about this leak, striking GameStop off his party invitation list, basically confirming that this poster is the real deal.
The poster has no indication of what systems we’ll see Injustice 2 playable on, but it is safe to assume it will be coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
