Street Fighter V Invades Churning the Butter for Mad Catz V Cup on January 21

On Thursday, Showdown will be teaming up with Capcom, Mad Catz, Red Bull, and PlayStation to put on a very special installment of their weekly Churning the Butter tournament series: the Mad Catz V Cup. This event will focus entirely on Street Fighter V, with an open bracket tournament for attendees.

In addition to local regulars, folks like Mad Catz’ Tokido, Evil Geniuses’ Justin Wong, Capcom’s Peter “Combofiend” Rosas, Twitch’s Mike Ross, and Red Bull’s Snake Eyez have been invited to show what they are capable of in the upcoming title.

As usual, the tournament will take place at Folsom Street Foundry in San Francisco, California. Doors open at 6 PM PST with competition scheduled to begin around 8 PM PST, so be sure to show up on time to secure a spot in the 64-player bracket. More details can be found here.

Source: Showdown eSports

Marvel LIVE! Now Streaming – Kumite in Tennessee Recap, Undefeated 2016 Preview with Special Guests Angelic and RayRay

The Marvelous Essentials team returns to Twitch tonight with another episode of their Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 roundtable discussion podcast. BROKENTIER’s Angelic, and Raynel “RayRay” Hidalgo will both be guest starring on tonight’s show in addition to the regular roster.

Tonight’s topics of discussion include the results for last weekend’s Kumite in Tennessee tournament, as well as the upcoming Undefeated 2016 event. As always, have your questions ready for the end of the show.

We’ve embedded the stream below for convenience, or you can head over to Twitch to join the chat.

Watch live video from TeamSp00ky on www.twitch.tv

Source: Team Spooky

Smash @ Xanadu feat. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Streaming Live

The folks over at VGBootCamp recently went live with another installment of Smash @ Xanadu from Xanadu Games in Baltimore, Maryland. These weekly broadcasts provide a great look at the region’s Smash community, with tonight’s stream focusing entirely on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

The stream is live below, but you can also head on over to Twitch to join the chat.

Watch live video from VGBootCamp on www.twitch.tv

Source: VGBootCamp

Tri-Borg Details Planned for ESL Mortal Kombat X Broadcast This Weekend

After a short hiatus, NetherRealm Studios is set to host another special Mortal Kombat X broadcast during this weekend’s ESL Pro League finale.

While it’s hard to pinpoint the Kombat Kast’s exact topics, creative director Ed Boon has made it clear that at least a portion will focus on upcoming character Tri-Borg. This might also indicate the cyborg mashup will lead the charge when Kombat Pack 2 officially kicks off this year.

Since the broadcast will be airing live from the ESL Studios in Burbank, California, we may also receive some details on related events in Mortal Kombat X’s future. This would come as little surprise with updated netcode on the horizon, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

To find out what the team has in store, tune into Twitch this Sunday, January 24 at 3:45 PM PST, 6:45 PM EST.

Sources: NetherRealm Studios, Ed Boon, tip via NightmareSteam

Combofiend Opens Up About Street Fighter V’s Roster Selections

It’s been said time and time again that much of a fighting game’s success hinges on its playable cast. With Street Fighter V, Capcom will provide a mixture of old-school world warriors, more obscure returning characters, and newcomers to check out, but why exactly did they choose Birdie or Karin over, say, Sagat?

Associate producer Peter “Combofiend” Rosas recently sat down with Paste to discuss development on Street Fighter V’s roster, how characters were chosen, and possibilities in the upcoming game’s future.

Fans should be happy to hear that popularity isn’t the only deciding factor when it comes to choosing Street Fighter V cast members. While a public outpouring of support from the community certainly helps, Capcom also looks for characters that “add spice to the overall flow of the game.”

Returning to our previous examples, Rosas explains that both Birdie and Karin had a wealth of potential heading into development due to their relatively limited appearances prior to Street Fighter V. “Although [Birdie] has a lot of similar attacks from his Street Fighter Alpha incarnation, he also has a new chain throw (amongst other moves), which adds an entirely new spacing dimension to the character that was previously lacking.”

Diversity has also been kicked up a notch thanks to debutants like Rashid and Laura, who provide Middle Eastern and Brazilian jiu-jitsu representation respectively, and the fighting game community shouldn’t expect that to end anytime soon. Rosas mentions that the development team is specifically looking for regions and fighting styles that have yet to be featured in the Street Fighter franchise as they move forward.

For more of this discussion, be sure to follow the link below.

Source: Paste

Mortal Kombat X Enhanced Netcode Beta Registration Now Open

Last week closed out with some excellent news for the online warriors of Mortal Kombat X: the game is getting new and improved netcode. While not exactly GGPO, as Ed Boon’s mysterious Tweet earlier last week hinted, it will be rollback-based and should, therefore, offer an improvement over the game’s current connection method.

Before dropping new code into the existing game, the folks at NetherRealm Studios have decided to hold a beta test to make sure everything runs as expected. While it will be open to the public, those looking to participate have to go through a signup process. This won’t guarantee a spot in the beta, but it never hurts to give it a shot.

Registration just went live, so head on over to the registration site and drop in your credentials if you’re looking to help improve the game. There’s no word on when this beta will begin, but invites are expected to start going out this week.

Source: Mortal Kombat

Ryan Hart: Simple combos do not make winning easier

There are few players out there as highly decorated as Ryan Hart. Aside from multiple tournament wins, including two at Evolution, the Prodigal Son has also been added to the Guinness Book of World Record a whopping three times.

Now, with Street Fighter V coming out in less than a month, Hart recently began a brand new blog series for sponsor Falcon Arena detailing his thoughts on the upcoming game. The first part sees him talk mostly about online play, specifically ranked.

Here, he describes some things he’s hoping for when it comes to ranked matchmaking, specifically in terms of filters and making sure people can play who they want to. Hart hopes that the matchmaking system should allow people to see their opponents stats before they accept the match so that new players aren’t discouraged when they suddenly get matched up against veterans and end up avoiding anyone that they feel they can’t beat.

The meat of Hart’s writing, however, is included in the second and third parts, which deal with topics like character selection, execution, and balance.

While he admits that harsh execution barriers exclude even those who study a game thoroughly, Hart believes they can add an extra layer of appreciation for the work high-level players put into their craft. That said, he’s unfazed by the notion Street Fighter V may have easier combos.

“One must not get mixed up in the idea that simplifying the combos makes winning easier, this is a misconception. Easier combos makes playing the game easier but not winning. Beginners don’t lose because they cannot do combos,” Hart continues. “Having the ability to create out of the box, devise strategy, deal with pressure, adapt on the fly, and stay ahead of the opponent mentally are some things that separate the wheat from the chaff.”

Of course, this is just part of the overall discussion, so be sure to follow the link below to read more of Hart’s thoughts on these matters.

Source: Falcon Arena, image via Mad Catz

Kotobukiya Adds Tekken 7’s Lucky Chloe to Bishoujo Figure Lineup

One of the more controversial new characters in Tekken 7 is the cat ear-wearing dancer Lucky Chloe. When she was first announced, players were split on whether or not her cutesy design and antics belonged in the Tekken series.

For those who count yourselves as fans, Bandai Namco Entertainment has partnered with Kotobukiya to release a Lucky Chloe figure as part of their Tekken Bishoujo line

As with all items in this collection, Lucky Chloe features a sculpt based on art by Shunya Yamashita, a Bandai Namco-affiliated designer who previously contributed to Tekken Tag Tournament 2. The piece in question captures the newcomer in a cute fighting pose, complete with her trademark furry jacket and headphones.

Lucky Chloe is set to retail at ¥7500 (~$64 USD) and should be available at a variety of online retailers. Shipments are planned for July.

Click to view slideshow.

Sources: Kotobukiya via Crunchyroll, Haruhichan

[UPDATE] Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- Console Launch Scheduled for May 26, Kum Haehyun Joins Cast

While many of us expected Dizzy to be the next character added to Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- due to her success in last year’s fan vote, developer Arc System Works has faked us out by announcing a brand new cast member: Kum Haehyun.

Haehyun first appeared in the updated -REVELATOR- storyline as the hulking, elderly man seen in the scan below, but her true form can be seen in the lower-right of the first page. She apparently uses the outer costume during battle, and is described as utilizing moves that are easy to pull off.

ggxrd-kumu-famitsu-scan

Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- is set to launch for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 on May 26 in Japan, with a spring release slated for North America.

Sources: Famitsu via Gematsu, Baf0, Gear Project, CleverFOXSOL, featured image courtesy of sourenga

Hades Izanami Playable in BlazBlue: Central Fiction Starting January 28

According to new details from Famitsu, the arcade version of BlazBlue: Central Fiction will receive a playable version of Hades Izanami on January 28. This is the same day the previously announced ‘Act2’ update is scheduled to release.

The main antagonist of the BlazBlue saga, Izanami inhabits the body of Ragna and Jin’s sister, Saya. She’s previously appeared in the series as a non-playable boss character.

bbcf-izanami-famitsu-scan

We’re sure to hear more about Izanami’s playstyle once the next issue of Famitsu hits store shelves later this week, so stay tuned.

Source: Famitsu via Gematsu