Category: Fighting Games

This Saturday, Koei Tecmo Games and Team NINJA are putting on an event to celebrate fans of the Dead or Alive series all over the world. DEAD OR ALIVE FESTIVAL will be hosted at the Osaki Bright Core Hall in Tokyo, Japan and will feature top level players representing Japan, United States, Europe, Oceania and Asia in a world exhibition match. The winner of the exhibition will receive an invitation to the Grand Finals of the DOA official tournament BATTLE ROYAL 2015 at NEC XVI.

In addition to the exhibition main event, DOAFes includes a cosplay contest and photo contest for fans to show off their stuff. A number of special guests have been invited for the occasion, including Ai Nonaka, the voice of Honoka, and Mai Aizawa, the voice of Marie Rose.

DOAFes will be broadcast live to the world on Niconico Live and YouTube. You can watch the YouTube live stream below.

Source: DOAFes, Team NINJA

We’re fast approaching the first weekend of Rising Thunder’s technical alpha. Testers from around the internet have had a few days to get their bearings with the game’s current cast of six characters, and have produced a number of videos showcasing their findings. Below, we’ve included a handful of combos for each character that should help get you going regardless of who (what?) suits your fancy.

Since Rising Thunder’s design helps ease new players into the world of fighting games, you’ll likely see content from names that you’ve not heard before, but don’t be alarmed.

Up first, Chel, the game’s resident shoto, opens up an opponent with a jump-in and proceeds to dish out just shy of 450 damage through the use of nearly every tool at its disposal, including two air throws. That’s right, two air throws land in the same combo. It looks great.

Crow, at this point, seems to have stolen the show in terms of popularity. Whether it’s the pressure options afforded by its Devil’s Halo, or the mix-up potential that it gains from the Fog of War special, or something else entirely that’s to thank for this popularity stands to be seen.

Just below, you’ll find a combo compilation from Burnout Fighter that pushes this character to the limit time and time again. That said, these options aren’t all practical, but they’re undeniably flashy.

And if those Crow combos weren’t enough, check out this massive corner option provided by AnBi2199. This combo takes full advantage of the game’s juggle mechanics to push damage numbers just over 500. While it does require the availability of an Overdrive and a full stock of Kinetic bar, it’s hard to deny that these resources are well spent in such a scenario.

Next on the list comes Dauntless, the blue bot dedicated to putting opponents away with massive steel fists. As you’ll see in the video below from Jeremy Chandra, this metallic combatant may be the most gentlemanly of the entire crew. Hopefully a flower-based taunt is in its future.

Edge, perhaps the most appropriately named of all the fighters to appear in Rising Thunder, comes in next with footage from HIGH FIVE. This video features a heavy-hitting combo followed by a reset into a second combo to push out alarming damage numbers. Of course, the reset doesn’t guarantee that the follow-up will land, but it does put Edge in an advantageous situation, if nothing else.

The penultimate fighter on the list today is Talos. The game’s grappler does a lot of what you’d expect: tossing opponents around, then scooping them back up before tossing them around some more. As you’ll see in this quick video from Ninja, many of the fighter’s combo options leave it open for big reset opportunities.

And last, but certainly not least, comes Vlad. For reasons that we can’t quite yet ascertain, this rocket bot hasn’t caught the attention of quite so many players as some of its competitors. What it lacks in apparent popularity it makes up for with some of the best (seriously) animations that the game has to offer. Its damage output is nothing to scoff at either.

If you’ve not yet made it into the Rising Thunder technical alpha, be sure to head over to the game’s official site for a chance to participate.

Sources: Gamers Unleashed X, Burnout Fighter, AnBi2199, Jeremy Chandra, HIGH FIVE, Ninja, FadedSpectre

As I’m sure many of you know by now, the United States will be represented at this year’s ARC REVOLUTION CUP by a pretty unlikely trio of competitors. While, without a doubt, strong in their own right, Marvelous Customs’ GCYoshi13, Lord Knight of Team Spooky, and 2GB Combo are each known for their skills in fairly different titles.

So what did it look like when they qualified for the world’s most stacked Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- competition over the odds-on favorites? Fortunately, Hold Back to Block was on the scene to capture this special moment.

If you’re not sure what’s going on in the above video, here’s a little background.

GCYoshi is a player perhaps best known for his Chris play in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The last few years have seen him ride the STARS member to decent placings at the two most recent Evolution Championship Series events as well as an impressive fifth-place title at Northwest Majors 7 alongside players like PG|Filipino Champ, BE|Kane Blueriver, NYChrisG, and more.

Lord Knight, on the other hand, has been a dominant force in pretty much every airdasher he’s set his sights on. From Melty Blood to Persona and everything in-between, you can always count on him to at least be competent in these anime-inspired fighters. Those skills haven’t immediately translated to success in Guilty Gear, but it’s only a matter of time before he proves himself among the best.

And finally, 2GB Combo. While he broke into the larger fighting game community as one of NorCal’s best Persona players, he’s really made a name for himself in Under Night In-Birth. Over the past year, 2GB has placed first at events in his neck of the woods like Northwest Majors 7 and NorCal Regionals 2015 and even east coast affairs such as Final Round 18 and Northeast Championship 15.

Now, it goes without saying that these players are fantastic competitors in their own rights. But when they came up against a Midwestern team comprised of Elvenshadow, Blacksnake, and AKA, their fates looked all but sealed. How could this motley group compare to some of the strongest players from one of the strongest regions?

The answers, it turned out, were GCYoshi and his competent Bedman. This Marvel player from Northern California would go on an absolute tear, taking out each of his opponents one by one as he secured the OCV and subsequent ArcRevo qualification for his team. A stunning win, no doubt, and one that should definitely be witnessed in its entirety. Do yourself a favor and check out the replays below if you missed out on watching this competition live.

Sources: Hold Back to Block, Offcast, Dustloop

One of the most impressive performances at Evolution 2015 was that of Korea’s Seon-woo Lee, also known as Infiltation. The former champion wowed the crowd with his vast character knowledge, using twelve different characters over the course of the tournament before eventually finishing third.

Arcade Stream recently caught up with Infiltration to talk about certain aspects of his performance at Evo 2015, including his character picks against second place finisher Bruce “GamerBee” Hsiang and champion Yusuke Momochi of Evil Geniuses.

Regarding the former, Infiltration said purposely made it so that it looked like he was going to choose Rolento when he was down 2-1 to try to see both GamerBee and the crowd’s reaction to the pick. He eventually went with Juri, partly because of her Korean origins but also because he had experience using her against both Adon and Elena.

Meanwhile, during his match against Momochi, he decided to pick Evil Ryu to test the character before Capcom Cup in December. Despite losing, he feels that he did well enough with the character (beating other players such as Falcon Arena’s Ryan Hart) that he plans to keep using him in the future.

Infiltration also gave his thoughts on Street Fighter V. When he first saw the game back in December, he thought that it looked slow. However, now he feels like they’re gradually getting the speed right, although at the point the interview was conducted he hadn’t played it himself. He also mentions that he likes the game’s system and how Capcom are trying to attract newcomers to the game and help the fighting game community grow.

Of course, these are just a few of the things he talks about, so be sure to check out the full interview below.

Source: Arcade Stream

When Little Mac isn’t shopping for pink jumpsuits or using his haymaker to dive over the side of the ring (queue the Enya track) he can likely be found fox trotting and perfect pivoting his way around his opponents to set up some stylish and satisfying kill combos.

In the video below, 4G Gaming discusses the best way to go about securing your own satisfying kills with the green-gloved boxer. Also, and perhaps more importantly, this guide shows aspiring Mac players how to use his movement options to get in and actually get the combos going.

Source: 4G Gaming via Smash Boards

Brant “Pig of the Hut” McCaskill recently released the first video in a three-part series dedicated to Mortal Kombat X’s blind swordsman, Kenshi. As you may expect, each of these videos will highlight one of the fighter’s variants. The first, which you’ll find embedded below, focuses on Possessed.

If you’re not sure which Kenshi variation suits your style, McCaskill starts this video out making a strong argument for picking up Possessed. Once you’ve been thoroughly convinced to try your hand at conjuring red demons to do your bidding, you can expect to pick up pressure options, how to handle the neutral game, the best ways to re-position opponents, how to anti-air and, of course, plenty of combos.

If you’re looking to get into Kenshi, this is definitely one resource that you’ll not want to overlook.

Source: Pig of the Hut via Test Your Might

With Evo now over, the Ultra Street Fighter IV Capcom Pro Tour marches a step closer to the Capcom Cup finals at the end of the year. This weekend, a Capcom Pro Tour Asia qualifier will be taking place in Shanghai, China, granting the winner a spot in the Capcom Pro Tour Asia finals in Singapore later this year, with a shot at qualifying for the Capcom Cup finals proper. As you might expect, a number of Asia’s best Ultra Street Fighter IV players will be in attendance, aiming for the qual spot, ranking points and the prize pool. Along with some of China’s best like QANBA|Xiao Hai, QANBA|Dakou, Jiewa and QiuqiuKOF, joining from Japan are MCZ|TOKIDO, RZR|Fuudo, Misse, KOK and TONPY; from Hong Kong, CCG|Humanbomb; and from Singapore, RZR|Xian.

The tournament starts off with pools on Friday, concluding with Top 8 on Saturday. Due to venue limitations, Capcom won’t be providing a live stream of the event, but the top 8 will be uploaded to GameStart Asia’s YouTube channel at a later time. KOF player Hechi however will be providing a live stream on DouyuTV. Head over there to check out the event.

Source: Capcom Pro Tour via Kakuge Checker, Hechi