Category: Fighting Games

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Capcom’s financial report displays growth and a greater emphasis on esports

A healthy profit is tying in with a greater focus on esports in the future.

Capcom’s fiscal year ended on March 31st, 2018, and the company is doing well. The Japanese game developer cites an overall profit increase of 8.4 percent in comparison to last year, reaching about 94 million yen (compared to 87 million last year). Among the good video game sales, Capcom points to the growth of esports as one of the reasons.

Capcom’s flagship esports title is, of course, Street Fighter V. “This is driven by games coming to be recognized as a new sport, following esports’ adoption as an official event at the 2022 Asian Games,” the report states. The developer wants to capitalize on this further by fully shaping their esports strategy with a new Capcom Esports Club in Japan. They’re dubbing 2018 as “esports year one” for the company, so expect an even greater focus on esports in the coming years.

The report briefly mentions the other recent fighting game title from Capcom, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, which isn’t part of the Capcom Cup, nor saw a return of its “Battle for the Stones” circuit from last year. It didn’t mention specific numbers for the game, saying that sales (which were targeting the US and European markets) were “soft” around the world. Other than that, the company owes a lot of its current profits to Monster Hunter: World, which has been very successful around the globe, reaching 7.5 million copies sold.

Overall, Capcom’s strongest market right now is home consoles.

Source: Capcom

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SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy’s latest trailer showcases Love Heart and more character customizations

Recently, the sky pirate Love Heart was confirmed for SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. Now, SNK has dropped a new trailer for the game that gives us a better glimpse of her in action.

The main focus of this new trailer — aside from Love Heart — is an extended look at some of the character customization options. As part of this, we get glimpses of Love Heart’s costumes — including a policewoman costume, as well as a ridiculous-looking cowboy costume, compete with mustache.

Aside from this, it also showcases some of the game’s other features, while also giving us some more footage of Sylvie and Zarena, who were announced earlier this month.

SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy launches for PlayStation 4 and Switch on September 6 in Japan, and September 7 in the West.

Source: SNK

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Red fireballs galore in HapkidoRed’s latest Akuma combo video for Tekken 7

The furor of Akuma’s addition to the Tekken 7 roster seems to have died down a little bit. It’s not so much that Akuma has stopped being a damage-dealing powerhouse, though, so much as it is the community at large has grown accustomed to his strengths and weaknesses.

But if you’d like a little reminder of the life bar-melting capabilities of Street Fighter guest, HapkidoRed‘s got you covered. Check out the video above for a flashy assortment of FADC’d Red Fireballs, cross-under Shoryukens, and lots of impressive wall-carries and conversions.

Source: HapkidoRed

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Rage Street Fighter V All-Star League team league announced, player draft set for May 31st

A new Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition team league has been announced in Japan, and it’s going to be an interesting test of the new pro-gaming license law in Japan.

All of the team captains (Nemo, Itazan, Fujimura [formerly Yukadon], Daigo Umehara, Moke, Tokido) are required to have Japanese pro-gaming licenses.

If the same is true of the players being picked for the draft on May 31st, then we have a very good idea of who will be among the 18 players making up each of the 3-man teams, as there are only about 22 players with the license currently. You can find out who makes each team by watching the draft life on Openrec.tv, provided you’re awake at 8:00 PM JST — that’s 6:00 AM CT.

The six teams will be competing for a grand prize of 10 million yen, or approximately $10,000 USD.

Source: esports_RAGE

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Xbox is making an Adaptive Controller that could help gamers with disabilities in the FGC

Microsoft recently unveiled an unexpected peripheral. Their “Adaptive Controller,” devised in the Xbox Inclusive Tech Lab, is aimed entirely at people with disabilities who wouldn’t be able to enjoy gaming with standard controllers. This new device, coming later this year, could be a promising gateway to (for instance) play fighting games in ways they couldn’t before.

Ars Technica made an excellent “First Look” video about the controller that showcases it in action. It almost looks like an arcade stick. Don’t be fooled by its simplicity. The two big buttons in the center are just the start, as the back contains lots of plug-ins to fully customize the controller. Any device with a matching port can be connected to this peripheral, so any buttons, joysticks, etc. can change inputting entirely on the machine. In this way, the controller can suit someone who can only play with their feet, for instance.

The controller isn’t out until later this year, so it’s a little hard to tell if we’re going to see this much in the FGC. If tournament organizers allow it, it could enable more people to participate and compete.

Sources: Microsoft; Ars Technica

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Red Bull Kumite 2018 Japanese Qualifier results

After holding a series of qualifiers in the regions of Tohoku, Kansai, Tokai, Kyushu, and Kanto, eight top Japanese players were recently gathered to compete for a guaranteed spot in the Red Bull Kumite 2018, set to take place on November 11th, in Paris, France. The eight players invited to compete were as follows:

  • Fudoh|Haku (Winner of Tohoku Qualifier)
  • AB|StormKubo (Runner-Up of Tokoku Qualifier & Winner of Tokai Qualifier)
  • CO|Dogura (Winner of Kansai Qualifier)
  • Trashbox (Runner-Up of Kansai Qualifier)
  • 2010 (Winner of Kyushu Qualifier)
  • Gunyan (Runner-Up of Kyushu Qualifier)
  • Fudoh|Fujimura [Yukadon] (Winner of Kanto Qualifier)
  • Gachikun (Runner-Up of Kanto Qualifier)

Results

Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition

1. Fudoh|Fujimura (Ibuki) — Qualifies for Red Bull Kumite 2018
2. Fudoh|Haku (Guile)
3. Gachikun (Rashid)
4. AB|StormKubo (Abigail)
5. Gunyan (Ken)
5. CO|Dogura (Urien)
7. 2010 (Urien)
7. Trashbox (Birdie)

As the event was streamed on OpenRec.tv, there is unfortunately no public archive — but if you happen to be a premium member, you can still see all the action.

Source: OpenRec.tv/RedBullJapan; results courtesy of SRK Data

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Get to know Tekken 7 pro Jacob “Victim of Ritual” Tew, America’s most successful Nina player

Nina might be a more rare character choice in Tekken 7, but that hasn’t stopped Jacob “Victim of Ritual” Tew from achieving excellent results in the stacked North American tournament scene. His sponsor, esports team “The Collective”, recently put out a 30-minute interview with the Nina of America, which you can watch below.

Equal parts goofy and serious, Victim of Ritual talks about the difficulty of competitive gaming while introverted, his love of Dunkin’ Donuts, and the feeling of winning Winter Brawl XII.

Source: The Collective

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Order pre-customized fight sticks from Arcade Shock with their Colors Customization service, launching June 21

Your own unique controller, delivered to your door.

Arcade Shock is already a well-established FGC source for replacement and custom controller parts, but they’re getting ready to take it a step further this summer with the launch of their Colors Customization Arcade Stick service: a new fight stick shopping experience that allows you to customize a controller part-by-part as you buy.

The service will allow automated selection of customized parts and graphics, as a customer places the order for their controller. Here’s how it works:

  1. Choose the “shell” of the arcade stick from current Arcade Shock stock — such as the HORI RAP 4 Kai, or Qanba Obsidian
  2. Choose the lever: Sanwa Denshi, Seimitsu, or HORI
  3. Choose the balltop
  4. Choose your pushbuttons (change 30mm or 24mm options, or both)
  5. Choose the shaft cover
  6. Add a PhreakMods “The Link” if desired
  7. Add an EZ Mod Kit to applicable arcade sticks (for universal compatibility)
  8. Add custom panel artwork, applied by the Layers FGC Team

The customer will be able to click on any part of the arcade stick at any time and make changes as they choose, until they’ve completed a custom design they’re happy with. It’s a “freestyle” selection process.

The customer’s customized stick will be modified by Arcade Shock staff (labor cost will be included at checkout) and shipped right to them — so if you want a fight stick that’s uniquely “you” but aren’t that handy with modding it yourself, this is your chance to have it done for you as you buy. The service will launch on June 21, 2018.

arcadeshock

Source: Arcade Shock

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ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational begins soon, announces their panel of fighting game analysts

It’s almost time for the second ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational! The esports tournament has announced its panel of analysts that will give us the play-by-play during the brackets. In addition, we’re welcoming a new host to the desk — but otherwise, expect lots of familiar FGC faces.

As usual, we’re going to see the unstoppable duo, Steve “Tasty Steve” Scott and Stephen “Sajam” Lyon, joined by Reepal “Rip” Parbhoo and Zhi “Zhieeep” Liang Chew. They compose the panel of experts. Michele Morrow is the new host. As for the interviewer who will keep us connected to the competitors, Malik Forté returns from last year’s ELEAGUE.

The action starts very soon, in a little over one week: the tournament begins Friday, June 1st, at 11:00 PM ET on TBS’s channel. However, live coverage will start on their Twitch channel that day at 3:00 PM.

However, there is also a preview show airing on TBS this Friday, May 25th, at 11:00 PM ET/PT. This segment will showcase all the ELEAGUE competitors “as well as catch fans up on what makes the FGC unique, along with its history.” There will also be a highlight of JB’s victory through The Challenger reality TV show.

Check out a sneak peek of the show below:

Source: ELEAGUE [press release]

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The King of Fighters XIV and Injustice 2 are discounted as part of PSN’s Extended Play Sale

Street Fighter V isn’t the only fighting game on PlayStation 4 that’s currently on sale. As part of PSN’s Extended Play Sale, both The King of Fighters XIV and Injustice 2 are also discounted.

The King of Fighters XIV ‘s “Special Anniversary Edition” is on sale for only $36.99, 40% off its $59.99 regular price. PS+ subscribers however can get it for only $29.99, 50% off the regular price. The Special Anniversary Edition itself comes with the 4 DLC character released last year: Rock, Whip, Yamazaki, and Vanessa. Now, for those who already have the game, but not those characters, their character bundle is also on sale for only $11.99, or $9.99 for PS+ subscribers, down from its usual $19.99 price.

Meanwhile, Injustice 2‘s “Legendary Edition“, which comes with all of the game’s downloadable characters, is also on sale for only $53.99, 10% off the regular price of $59.99. PS+ subscribers however can get it for only $47.99, 20% off said regular price.

Players looking to avail of either of these should do so soon. PSN’s Extended Play Sale lasts only until May 29.

Source: PSN