Team SoloMid’s Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios recently released a video offering insights into how players of any Smash title–and any fighting game in general, really–can step up their game and maybe start their own massive string of tournament victories.
His advice comes in five parts. First, he suggests that picking a main character as the most important step to improving, which makes sense; it’s hard to get better at any game if the tools you’re given to approach a match change every time you hit the character select screen. He then drives home the gravity of arming yourself with information and having the proper mindset when going into a match.
Of course, practice–and, specifically, knowing what to practice–makes a major appearance in this video, as does encouragement to get out there and participate in tournaments. Overall, if you’re new to the Smash series, you’ll want to check out this footage.
With the 2016 tournament season well underway, we’re seeing multiple events all over the world nearly every week. Adding themselves to the growing list of events, the folks at First Attack Puerto Rico have dropped a promo trailer for their upcoming Winter Clash tournament to hype up the event for viewers and attendees alike.
The tournament will include brackets for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- and plenty more titles. Additionally, this will be the last Puerto Rico-based Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament prior to the release of Street Fighter V, so everyone will likely be looking to go down as the last regional victor in the title before it steps aside for Street Fighter V.
Apart from regional players, you can also expect some great play from visiting competitors like Evil Geniuses’ Justin Wong and D-Link’s Steve “LordKnight” Barthelemy.
Winter Clash is set to take place this weekend, February 6-7, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For more information, head over to the official site. All the action will be broadcast live through Twitch.
BROKENTIER’s Jay “Viscant” Snyder recently started a brand new article series to help both aspiring and veteran players “Hit the Ground Running” when Street Fighter V launches later this month.
While the first installment touched on the general experience of adapting to the new game, the second is focused entirely on the characters, specifically the first eight to be announced: Ryu, Chun-Li, Nash, M. Bison, Cammy, Birdie, Ken, and Necalli. He covers both the changes that each character received over the many beta builds and their game plans based on these adjustments.
Take Ryu, for example. Viscant discusses how the iconic wandering warrior has received several nerfs with each successive beta build, mostly to his combo paths, due to how hard he could hit early on. He also makes the point that it seems as if Capcom doesn’t want him to have reliable setups that lead into an unblockable Denjin Hadouken critical art, something he was capable of in previous builds.
On the opposite end, Viscant highlights how Chun-Li hasn’t really changed much, indicating that Capcom is likely satisfied with how she plays. She’s one of the few characters in the game who can convert to big damage off a light, making her a rather strong character overall.
For more of Viscant’s thoughts on Street Fighter V, be sure to head on over to BROKENTIER by following the link below.
It seems as if one of Street Fighter V’s most requested features is the ability to use older arcade sticks in the PlayStation 4 release, but the developers have been rather quiet on the subject since first mentioning the possibility of using Lab Zero Games’ driver last year.
Back in December, Shoryuken reached out to associate producer Peter “Combofiend” Rosas to see if any notable progress had been made. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to provide any updates, stating that they were still evaluating the driver for use in Street Fighter V. This sentiment was mirrored by producer Yoshinori Ono in a recent interview.
“The current situation of working within Sony’s SDK and APIs is that we’re looking into it and how we can get sticks working across consoles…maybe not necessarily within the framework of those official APIs,” Ono told Red Bull. “We do hear fan feedback that they want to be able to use their existing sticks on PlayStation 4 and, while I can’t really say anything for sure at the moment, it’s something that people can definitely watch this space for in terms of future announcements as and when we’re able to reach potential solutions as a company.”
Capcom utilized Lab Zero’s driver, which allows for the use of legacy controllers on PlayStation 4, in the console’s Ultra Street Fighter IV rerelease.
Implementing this useful piece of code could remove one more barrier to entry for numerous community members. As fighting games make the move to the current generation of consoles, prices for simply playing have begun to rise, and eliminating the need for a brand new arcade stick would go a long way in securing future success.
Street Fighter V is set to launch for PlayStation 4 and PC on February 16.
With Street Fighter V’s launch just a couple of weeks away, Capcom recently started a brand new series that introduces the main roster. While light on content for those who have been keeping up with the game since its announcement, this is the perfect opportunity to learn more about the characters if you skipped on out on the various beta tests.
The first video in this series focuses on none other than Ken Masters. His Street Fighter V incarnation is one of the most unique to date, with diving air hurricane kicks, a command run V-Skill, and fire installing V-Trigger.
Zangief, on the other hand, retains his signature style with a few new additions to make him even more of a threat.
Street Fighter V is set to release for PlayStation 4 and PC on February 16. Stay tuned for more videos.
Whether going to Capcom Pro Tour events or just weekly local tournaments, anyone who wants to remain competitive in Street Fighter V will need to be ready for a lot of travel, and playing on an arcade stick means finding a way to transport and protect the controller while on the move.
If you find yourself in that boat, Arcade Shock’s limited edition, officially licensed Street Fighter V Ryu FS Traveler arcade stick bag may be right up your alley.
These backpacks, based on the original FS Transporter, are designed with a special layer of thick padding combined with a ballistic bottom material to help protect your arcade stick from the rigors of travel. Their large size and side loading design is also perfect for accommodating large peripherals like the Mad Catz Tournament Edition 2+ and HORI Real Arcade Pro 4 Kai.
Pre-orders for the Ryu FS Traveler backpack are now open through Arcade Shock, where they can be purchased for $84.98. Anyone interested in picking one up should do so soon, however, as only 225 will be produced. Shipments are expected to begin on June 1.
Red Bull’s Darryl “Snake Eyez” Lewis and Razer’s Lee “Infiltration” Seon-woo have been invited to participate in this year’s Red Bull Kumite, an official announcement revealed this morning. As two of the strongest Street Fighter players in the world, their inclusion should do wonders for the events overall hype levels.
The two will join other high-level competitors like Twitch’s Bruce “GamerBee” Hsiang, Evil Geniuses’ Justin Wong and Yusuke Momochi, r/Kappa’s Lee “Poongko” Chung-gon, Razer’s Kun Xian Ho, Alioune Camara, Ryota “Kazunoko” Inoue, and Keoma Moutsatsos Pacheco in Paris, France just two months after Street Fighter V’s release. Will strength in Street Fighter IV translate to this new release? Only time will tell.
Red Bull Kumite 2016 is scheduled for April 23-24. More details can be found here.
Hot on the heels of their latest screenshots, Bandai Namco Entertainment has dropped a brand new trailer for Tekken 7 Fated Retribution that covers some of the title’s updated gameplay mechanics.
Luckily, those of us who don’t speak Japanese have Avoiding the Puddle’s Flying Wonkey to thank for translations.
One of the biggest things the trailer provides is more footage of Street Fighter’s Akuma. This guest character brings an EX meter with him from his home franchise, opening up unique possibilities in his gameplay. Over the course of a match, Akuma will build meter for landing and taking hits, which he can then spend on powering up his special moves. Similar to Street Fighter IV, he can also FADC attacks to extend combos and unleash a devastating fireball super.
Just as a side note, you can check out the following GIFs in their original size by simply clicking through.
But that doesn’t mean he’ll have a distinct advantage against the Tekken regulars. The trailer shows that characters should be able to bypass or negate his fireballs by using certain attacks of their own. In some situations, a simple sidestep will do wonders in avoiding the projectile, even at close range.
As for changes to the rest of Fated Retribution, many of them revolve around the Rage mechanic. Characters will enter this souped up state earlier than in the previous iteration, indicated by the orange color near the bottom of the lifebar. Rage Attacks allow a fighter to spend their Rage for a buffed attack, usually resulting in added juggle potential, a crumple state, or, in the case of Paul Phoenix, some serious knockback.
And finally, Rage Arts are still in the game, with some characters receiving new additions to their arsenal. Akuma’s is, appropriately, the Raging Demon.
All in all, Tekken 7 Fated Retribution is looking to be a serious update to the original. Be on the look out for its launch in Japanese arcades sometime this year.
While most western fans have only been able to sit back and watch while their Japanese brothers and sisters grind away on BlazBlue: Central Fiction, folks in Southern California are lucky to have Round 1.
Located in City of Industry’s Puente Hills Mall, this entertainment center acquired a couple of NESiCA cabs last year, and now offers a number of games that were previously exclusive to Japan. As such, they’ve held a number of tournaments that are only possible in their neck of the woods, and are set to have another later this month.
Round 1 will play host to another BlazBlue: Central Fiction tournament on February 20. The only difference is that, this time around, the recent ‘Act2’ update will be in place. Sure, balance changes weren’t included, but the game does have a brand new playable character in Hades Izanami.
For those of you unable to make it out in person, Jyosua will be hosting a live stream for all the festivities, so be sure to tune in.
UPDATE – Bandai Namco dropped official screenshots shortly after this article first went live. The gallery below has been updated accordingly with images of Hwoarang, Paul, Steve, Devil Jin, and Alisa. Enjoy!
Our friends over at Avoiding the Puddle recently got their hands a small collection of Tekken 7 Fated Retribution screenshots depicting a few of the cast members in their new default outfits.
The off-screen images, apparently captured during a demonstration in Korea if the button prompts are anything to go by, feature an eyepatched Hwoarang, Paul Phoenix sporting a rather patriotic biker getup reminiscent of his previous appearances in the franchise, and a complete boxing outfit for Steve Fox.
An additional shot of the character select screen offers small glimpses of other characters’ updated designs, and another shows that Akuma will be bringing an extra bit of Street Fighter with him in the form of a unique EX meter.
