Category: Fighting Games

Back in July, we first caught wind of Brave Wave’s partnership with Capcom, as well as original Street Fighter II composer Yoko Shimomura, to bring fighting fans a remastered version of the Street Fighter II soundtrack. We recently spoke with project director Mohammad Taher, who provided loads more information for those of you excited to get your hands on a copy of the album.

First of all, the album has officially–and appropriately–been dubbed “Street Fighter II The Definitive Soundtrack,” and we can expect to see it available for purchase some time later this year. The exact date remains unknown, but Taher notes we’ll have more precise details “soon.” The album, which boasts over 100 tracks totaling more than 2 hours of pure arcade nostalgia, will be available as a vinyl or CD release as well as a digital release through media outlets like Bandcamp and iTunes. Those who decide to pick up a physical copy–vinyl or CD–will also receive a digital version of the tracks.

As with anything of this nature, there’s plenty of debate over whether the CPS-1 or CPS-2 versions of these classic songs should bear the “definitive” moniker, and the folks at Brave Wave knew that to be the case. With this in mind, the massive track list is owed in part to the inclusion of remastered versions of both. When asked about the subject in an interview with The Verge, Taher responded with a question of his own: “Instead of us deciding which version is definitive, why don’t we just release both to the fans and they can enjoy both?”

In celebration of the upcoming release, as well as to give folks an idea of the sound quality they can expect, Taher provided Shoryuken with exclusive access to a previously unreleased comparison track. If you’d like to give it a listen yourself, we’ve embedded Sagat’s CPS-1 theme below. It begins with the remastered version of the song, then switches to the track before Brave Wave got their hands on it, and continues to flip back and forth for the duration.

For additional comparison, Taher provided us with Sagat’s CPS-1 theme in its original, on-board form lined up with the same remastered mix. The differences are staggering.

 

Care to hear some more comparison tracks? You can fill your ears with the soothing sounds of Ryu’s Theme (CPS-2 version) and Cammy’s Ending Theme (CPS-2 version) by following their respective links. We’ll keep you posted with more official details surrounding this soundtrack as they become available.

Sources: Brave Wave, The Verge

Sony has announced a new online eSports platform called PlayStation Plus League. This system, which was first detailed in a post on the French PlayStation Blog last week, will allow top players to earn money based on their performance in select PlayStation 4 games.

The lineup includes two fighting games, Ultra Street Fighter IV and Mortal Kombat X.

The league itself is divided into eight seasons a year, with each season lasting four weeks. Meanwhile, league players will be grouped into divisions, the upper Gold Division and the lower Silver Division. At the end of each season, the top eleven players from the Silver Division will get promoted to the Gold Division, while the bottom eleven from the upper league will be demoted.

Racing game Project CARS already has a website detailing the prize pools of these divisions; the Gold and Silver leagues will have monthly prize pools of €150 (~$166 USD) and €50 (~$55 USD), respectively. Whether or not this applies to other games is as of yet unknown.

Further details regarding PlayStation Plus League, including whether or not it’s exclusive to Europe, are expected to be provided during the ongoing Paris Games Week. The event will also serve as host for the league’s first finals, where a prize pool worth more than €20,000 (~$22,000 USD) is at stake.

Source: PlayStation Blog, Project CARS via Polygon, IGN, special thanks to IronStrider0 for the tip

Now that we’ve got a release date for Street Fighter V to look forward to, Capcom felt it necessary to reveal some more details surrounding the acquisition of characters once we get our hands on the game. As most of you likely know, the developers plans to release a slow trickle of content into Street Fighter V as opposed to holding out for 12-24 months to release a single, heaping portion of content all at once. This will likely keep players engaged over longer periods, as there will always be something new to look forward to just a short while away.

In a recent post on Capcom-Unity, Neidel “Haunts” Cirsan detailed how some of this content release will be handled. He says there are current plans to release six additional characters in 2016, which will bring the game’s full roster up to 22 before 2017–this is, of course, barring any development setbacks. With half a dozen cast members to add in a year, we’ll be seeing a fresh face for pummeling about every two months.

Unlocking these characters works in a way that has been adopted by many free-to-play games in recent years: players can earn an in-game currency called Fight Money by simply playing the game. Prior to today, we lacked details on the exact nature of how one goes about clogging their coffers, but Haunts addressed that as well.

In addition to leveling up characters–which was made very clear has no impact on overall character power and is simply meant to show dedication to a given member of the cast–players will also have a set of daily goals to reach to gain bits of Fight Money. As example goals, we can expect to see things like throwing a specific number of Hadoukens, landing some amount of anti-air attacks, or hitting opponents with a given number of crush-counters on a daily basis to keep our totals high.

While the exact cost of each character still remains a mystery, Haunts said, “If you complete your daily goals and level up your characters on a regular basis, you’ll be on your way to earning new characters with ease!” Capcom also plans to include a premium currency (purchased with cash) called Zenny, for those who may not be able to play as often, but still want to keep up with content releases.

Street Fighter V is scheduled to launch on February 16.

Source: Capcom-Unity

During PlayStation’s media briefing at Paris Games Week, Bandai Namco Entertainment’s Katsuhiro Harada announced that Tekken 7 will be making its way from arcades to PlayStation 4.

A release date wasn’t discussed, but this is definitely good news for folks hoping to play the title without access to a local game center. They also made no mention of console exclusivity, so it’s possible players on Xbox One will be able to get in on the action as well.

UPDATE – Later on in the conference, it was also announced that Tekken 7 will be developed for Sony’s virtual reality project, PlayStation VR. How much harder do you think Electric Wind God Fists will be in first-person?

More details are sure to follow shortly, so stay tuned.

Source: PlayStation

In case you missed the leaked report earlier this morning, Dhalsim is set to bring his unique brand of stretchy combat to Street Fighter V when the title launches next year.

The veteran world warrior was officially announced during PlayStation’s press conference at Paris Games Week with a brand new trailer.

Click to view slideshow.

Apart from the trailer and screenshots above, Capcom’s Neidel “Haunts” Crisan was kind enough to provide some details regarding Dhalsim’s gameplay in this upcoming title. In a game as a grappler-heavy as Street Fighter V, Dhalsim certainly stands out, and Crisan refers to him as the the first true zoner.

Dhalsim’s V-Skill, Yoga Float, allows him to do just that. Upon activation, he will float for a few seconds, during which all airborne normals and specials will be available. Yoga Float can be used both from the ground and when Dhalsim is already in the air.

Dhalsim gains access to a flame carpet-esque move with his V-Trigger, Yoga Burner. Enemies caught in the fire will be damaged in the form of recoverable health, which will begin to regenerate once they leave the affected area.

And finally, executive producer Yoshinori Ono provided a sneak peek of the six characters who will be making their way to Street Fighter V after the title’s launch. While it’s entirely possible the first is Alex, the rest are a little tougher to make out. Any ideas?

Street Fighter V is scheduled to release for PlayStation 4 and PC on February 16.

Sources: PlayStation, Capcom-Unity, Street Fighter

While we all hold our breath for Ono’s next Street Fighter V reveal, news has leaked from Paris Games Week concerning when the community will finally be able to get their hands on the game.

According to Eurogamer Portugal, Capcom is prepared to launch Street Fighter V on February 16. This falls a little short of their proposed spring release window, but sooner is certainly better than later!

But that’s not all. The article also confirms Dhalsim will return to the playable cast, and Capcom is apparently readying six additional characters for post-launch release, raising the base cast of 16 to 22 throughout 2016.

The article in question was quickly taken down, but you’ll find a cached version by following the link below.

PlayStation’s Paris Games Week conference will be live in just under an hour, so stay tuned for more details.

Source: Eurogamer Portugal via LI Joe

UPDATE – Well, that was fast! Details on what Ono was likely to reveal can be found here.

As he has often done in the lead-up to Street Fighter V, executive producer Yoshinori Ono jumped on Twitter earlier this morning to tease another reveal. This time around, the announcement is scheduled for Paris Games Week, but could be coming much sooner than usual.

We're making preparation for … ;P #PGW pic.twitter.com/8glab9LfnY

— Yoshinori Ono (@Yoshi_OnoChin) October 27, 2015

While the convention is scheduled to last throughout the week, PlayStation is ready to kick things off early with an opening press conference today. In fact, their presentation will be live in just under an hour. Luckily, folks outside of France can tune in through their official broadcast, which we assume will be available in English as well as French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

Who could it be? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Source: Yoshinori Ono, tip via NightmareSteam