With the stretch goal reached, all Street Fighter V; Arcade Edition Evo competitors will receive a free tribute shirt!
Yesterday, the Street Fighter Twitter account announced that the stretch goal of selling 1,000 of the Street Fighter II tribute t-shirts has officially been met. This means that $10,000 will be added to the prize pot at Evo 2018, to be distributed among the players who placed between 9th and 32nd.
Additionally, everyone who registers for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition and shows up for their pools, will receive a shirt for free. With registration extended until the end of today, there’s still time to get in on the action and grab one for yourself, over at smash.gg! You can see the announcement Tweet below.
Register for #SFVAE at @EVO 2018 by tonight (7/19 at 11:59pm) to get this SFII tribute shirt for FREE!
Few characters have changed so completely from their original release as Bandeiras has in The King of Fighters XIV. Since the very first version of the game, he’s received new OTG states, combo filler, better frame data… the list of changes is long and almost all of it has been beneficial for the charge-grappler.
Persona Entertainment has worked thier way through the cast of KOFXIV to show off flashy high damage for the whole cast. Today’s stop with the founder of “Brazilian Ninja Arts” might just be the most exciting of all, as Bandeiras is woefully underused despite his damage and mixup potential.
Defend the North returns to White Plains, New York this weekend for its fifth iteration, continuing the legacy of New York’s largest fighting game event. Tournament organizer Andy “citiofbrass” Dumornay first launched Defend the North in January 2014 with the belief that New York City’s fighting game community deserved a major tournament. In the years since its debut in Flushing, Queens, DTN has served as a destination for the Capcom Pro Tour, Injustice 2 Pro Series and Killer Instinct World Cup, but that growth has also come with challenges.
New York City’s high cost of living and constant tourist traffic make rental space more expensive and harder to find, when compared to other tournament destinations. Despite this, Dumornay has remained committed to growing his event as close to the city as possible. He believes that New York has the country’s top fighting game talent and that the players should be able to attract the sort of top-level competition and sponsorship seen at events in other parts of the country.
“I’ve been grateful to the [pro tours] who do look at Defend the North as a qualifying major,” Dumornay said, in an interview with Shoryuken. “I think that New York has the best talent in the U.S. and it’s a shame for pro tours to overlook that. Why should the best talent in the U.S. have to travel to other states just to prove their worth? This happens with the Northeast time and time again.”
As the tournament lineup continues to change and players come and go, Dumornay sees the FGC in a place of transition. The generation that arrived with Street Fighter IV are community veterans now, as are the players who attended the first Defend the North. Getting the current generation of teenagers interested in competitive fighters has become a core goal for Dumornay as a tournament organizer.
Given the density of New York City there’s no shortage of gamers, but getting them active and organized within the community takes more than entering names into a bracket. In 2016 Dumornay moved Defend the North to a larger suburban venue with extra room for vendors, cosplay and, of course, more games.
In recent years the tournament has expanded to include games outside of traditional fighters, including Fortnite, Gears of War and Hearthstone. Arena fighter For Honor will also return to Defend the North for a second year, with more players and international competition. By incorporating games from other genres, Dumornay’s hopes to introduce new players to fighting games. By the end of the weekend, DTN will run brackets for at least 20 different games.
“You don’t want to have anyone feel left out, so you try to put in as many games as possible to accommodate those who are requesting it,” Dumornay said. “The reason why I put in Gears of War and Fortnite was to try and get more teenagers aware fighting game community, that is the mission statement of Defend the North.”
Looking at events like Evo, NEC, and CEO as models for growth, Dumornay said he recognizes the importance of having top players and casuals share the floor at a major. Beyond just adding more games to the lineup, he understands that adding more activities for casual players, like arcade setups or a 24-hour ballroom, elevates the overall experience.
“A lot of people think the important thing is to have a bunch of pro players come to your event but the majority is always going to be the casual players,” Dumornay said. “So it’s all about trying to have exciting things for the casual players to do.”
Caba and MenaRD will lead their team into the 5-on-5 exhibition between the Dominican Republic and New York City.
Even as Defend the North grows, the focus remains on bringing New York City together as a community and attracting the highest level of competition. This year Defend the North will host a special 5-on-5 exhibition match between New York City and the Dominican Republic in Street Fighter V. The exhibition was spawned after MenaRD and Caba faced criticism for heckling opponents during their matches at NorCal Regionals earlier this year.
“I saw a lot of people saying ‘This shouldn’t be allowed,’” Dumornay said. “Then you had some of the OGs saying ‘Hey, this is some of the stuff we had to deal with back in the arcade,’ mind you it was mainly New Yorkers who were saying that.”
New York has built its own reputation for trash talk during matches, and Dumornay felt New York would be able to match Mena’s crew round for round and shout for shout. With no prize money involved it’s just pride on the line. The Dominican Republic will be represented by Capcom Cup champion Rise|MenaRD, Rise|Caba, DR Ray, Loli24k, and Mandrake. The New York team will feature RISE|Smug, iDom, SB|Dieminion, OG|Shine and UYU|Kami. Dumornay hinted that a second team of New York challengers may be put together on site. The 5-on-5 exhibition is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, July 20.
Defend the North 2018 will be streaming from July 20 to July 22 on TeamSp00ky, TSB Blaze, House of 3000, Kick-Punch-Block, HitBox Arena, and Encore esports USA. Check below for stream times and pool schedules. Full bracket information is available via smash.gg. Major sponsors for Defend the North include esports Ecosystem, Nitro Concepts, Bloody Gaming, G Fuel and SonicBoxx.
At E3 2018, Razer showed off a Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite version of their Panthera arcade stick for PlayStation 4. Now, we know when players can get their hands on it. The Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Panthera is actually available for purchase now in Europe. Meanwhile, players in North and South America can get their hands on it next month.
For those interested, the stick is retailing for €239.99 or US$219.99. Aside from the new art, the Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite Panthera shares the same features with the original Panthera (and it’s Street Fighter V counterpart) that we reviewed some time ago. This includes fully-accessible internals with a special honeycomb floor for further customization (first pioneered on the Atrox), genuine Sanwa Denshi arcade parts, ball and bat-top options for the Sanwa JLF lever, storage space for the 3-meter screw-lock USB cable, and more.
If you missed the original deadline, here’s your last chance to sign up!
While the registration totals were already reported, there apparently was some confusion in the community as to when the registration deadline for Evo 2018 actually was. And so, Evo has re-opened registration for an extension until midnight tonight: 11:59 PM PT, July 20th, to be exact.
It was a pretty close race between SFVAE and DBFZ after all.
Evo 2018 registration is now closed, and the total number of competitors in each main stage title have now been revealed! After leading in registration numbers for pretty much the whole sign-up period, Dragon Ball FighterZ came out with the highest registration over Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition by just over a hundred players. Also notable is how strong a draw Tekken 7 still proves to be!
Dragon Ball FighterZ: 2530
Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition: 2421
Tekken 7: 1504
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: 1303
Super Smash Bros. Melee: 1302
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle: 1148
Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2: 621
Injustice 2: 356
Evo 2018 Numbers – #Evo2018 1) DragonBall FighterZ – 2530 2) Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition – 2421 3) Tekken 7 – 1504 4) Super Smash Bros. for WiiU – 1303 5) Super Smash Bros. Melee – 1302 6) BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle – 1148 7) Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2 – 621 8) Injustice 2 – 356
If you’re a fan of the visuals of Blade Strangers — Nicalis’s new footsie-focused 2D crossover fighter — then you will want to check out the latest blog post interview with the animators of Studio Saizensen. In it, they discuss their 3D-to-2D process, and various challenges faced with providing a uniform look for the game.
“With 2D artwork, it takes an immense number of hours to generate the different frames, but if it’s already 3D, it doesn’t use up as much time,” Kondo explains. “This process makes it very easy to generate and edit the movements so that we have a wide variety of different punches or special attacks, whatever we need to make the game look and feel great.”
Welcome to the Rollback: a frame-by-frame look back at our past week’s most notable news — and our favorite SRK articles — from July 13 to July 19, 2018!
Expected-in-advance (thanks to leaks) but still controversial DLC fighter additions for a game that already has multiple forms of Goku and Vegeta. Especially Goku.
I deeply wish the NEO GEO World Tour had been advertised better, because this is a project of love I suspect a lot of people would be into had they known about it.
Show your fealty to the King of Iron Fist Tournament!
Following the reveal of the SoulCalibur VI Qanba Obsidian, Qanba isn’t done working with Bandai Namco on stylish new sticks. Two more themed controllers are coming from Qanba, this time to celebrate the Tekken World Tour.
From the press release:
Bandai Namco and Qanba have prepared for the next battle by producing two limited edition Tekken World Tour Edition joysticks, the signature Drone and Obsidian! These joysticks will be standard price and are slated to go on sale in Q4 in the US and select regions. Regional availability and shipping date may be subject to change.
The Drone faceplate features the iconic crying Heihachi art while the Obsidian depicts the Tekken 7: Fated Retribution cast in 8-bit art.
“My aim was to create designs that would still be classy and relevant even after TWT 2018 is over, like a cool collector’s piece encapsulating one of the biggest years in Tekken,” says Kaydie, Qanba USA Community Manager and designer of the joysticks. “I had a ton of fun designing these joysticks and I hope that they will make you feel proud to be a Tekken fan.”
Look for these sticks to hit the market later this year, Tekken fans!
Du “NuckleDu” Dang was, for a while, one of the most valuable free agents in the FGC. The Capcom Cup 2016 winner has such a list of accomplishments under his belt that it was only a matter of time before a company wised up and signed him. That company, it seems, is Ghost Gaming:
We here at SRK would like to congratulate Du on his new sponsorship. We’d also like to take the time to mourn the passing of one of the best technically-real sponsor names we’ve seen in the community, “My Wallet”. It was a good run.
First tournament debut under my new sponsor. Thank you for budgeting wisely so that I may have these opportunities to travel and compete. You spend money on silly things at times, but you still get me to where I need to be. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/4nXeBxLFfC
Register: https://t.co/InJkCmsULj pic.twitter.com/p7JCcKwuUQ
“Footsies” fighting mini-game is now available for Android
Wednesday Night Fights x ESA Oakland debuts tonight with Street Fighter V, Dragon Ball FighterZ, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Tekken 7, and more
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike tutorial — Ken bread-and-butter combo guide & general notes
