With Hellboy recently released and the year about to come to a close, NetherRealm Studios now looks ahead to the upcoming release of Fighter Pack 3. The first of Injustice 2‘s final trio of DLC characters will be The Atom — set to drop next Tuesday, December 12th for Early Access players (who’ve either purchased FP3, or own the game’s Ultimate Edition). He’ll likely drop on December 19th for everyone else. As per usual with the upcoming release of a DLC character, NRS will be hosting their “smallest stream yet,” with the upcoming Watchtower devoted to a full character breakdown for Ryan Choi — as well as possibly some other new juicy tidbits about what could be coming in the future. You can see the announcement tweet from the official Injustice 2 Twitter account below:
As always, the action will be getting underway at 3:00 PM CT (4:00 PM ET, 1:00 PM PT) at twitch.tv/netherrealm. You can also submit questions for the NRS crew with #AskTheWatchtower on Twitter. For a quick refresher, you can catch his gameplay trailer here.
A composer for one of the biggest soundtracks in gaming history will be on today’s show!
There is no dispute: in fighting games, the original Street Fighter II soundtrack stands supreme as most iconic, most influential, and maybe the catchiest collection of tunes. It contains melodies that are among the most popular in the history of all video games, period.
Today, at 4:00 PM PT, Red Bull Radio is releasing the sixth episode of Diggin’ in the Carts — the radio program in which Nick Dwyer interviews Japanese video game composers and reveals the history and process behind famous game scores. (It airs weekly on Wednesdays, until December 20th).
Episode six focuses on Yoko Shimomura, the primary composer of the score for Street Fighter II (Isao Abe and Syun Nishigaki share credit for some of the tracks.) She will discuss her work on SFII — as well as her scores for Square Enix’s Legend of Mana, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasy XV. The show will also explore some of the best soundtracks for PlayStation games, and the ’90s techno-infused soundtrack for Ghost in the Shell.
A composer for one of the biggest soundtracks in gaming history will be on today’s show!
There is no dispute: in fighting games, the original Street Fighter II soundtrack stands supreme as most iconic, most influential, and maybe the catchiest collection of tunes. It contains melodies that are among the most popular in the history of all video games, period.
Today, at 4:00 PM PT, Red Bull Radio is releasing the sixth episode of Diggin’ in the Carts — the radio program in which Nick Dwyer interviews Japanese video game composers and reveals the history and process behind famous game scores. (It airs weekly on Wednesdays, until December 20th).
Episode six focuses on Yoko Shimomura, the primary composer of the score for Street Fighter II (Isao Abe and Syun Nishigaki share credit for some of the tracks.) She will discuss her work on SFII — as well as her scores for Square Enix’s Legend of Mana, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasy XV. The show will also explore some of the best soundtracks for PlayStation games, and the ’90s techno-infused soundtrack for Ghost in the Shell.
He’s already covered the Master of the Fist in Tekken 7, now desk has set his sights on King of Fear and notorious bad dad, Geese Howard. With Geese having the capability for big damage, as well as flashy extensions through the use of his Max Mode, desk has put together some impressive combos for this showcase.
As with anything made by desk, expect some impressive editing work as Geese clobbers any challengers that dares oppose him. While Geese’s bizarre adventure has him short-hopping between different stages, desk makes sure to finish the video back at the Howard Estate — with a 100% damage combo from the big man himself. If you’re looking for Estate-specific combos, take a look at our special tech round-up, dedicated to the eye-watering strings you can perform on this special stage.
He’s already covered the Master of the Fist in Tekken 7, now desk has set his sights on King of Fear and notorious bad dad, Geese Howard. With Geese having the capability for big damage, as well as flashy extensions through the use of his Max Mode, desk has put together some impressive combos for this showcase.
As with anything made by desk, expect some impressive editing work as Geese clobbers any challengers that dares oppose him. While Geese’s bizarre adventure has him short-hopping between different stages, desk makes sure to finish the video back at the Howard Estate — with a 100% damage combo from the big man himself. If you’re looking for Estate-specific combos, take a look at our special tech round-up, dedicated to the eye-watering strings you can perform on this special stage.
When the road to top 8 closed at Evo 2017, one name on the list of players left most people confused. Naoki “Moke” Nakayama shocked the world in his ascent to top 8 in his very first international event, and at the biggest one of all, at that. He continued to wow until he bowed out in fifth place from a loss to Itabashi Zangief.
After a rapid rise in the ranks at Evo, he continued to mesmerize, quickly amassing enough points to find himself in Capcom Cup 2017 in his first year of competitive play. Will he be the story of the year in taking it all?
The Funnel Cloud
Moke is one of the few players I see use Rashid’s entire repertoire well. While Oil King is strong in the neutral and Gachikun’s aggression rattles players, Moke is about that and more. He is able to play a strong zoning game, while also pushing players further into desperation with his aggression. He also takes some pages from Xiao Hai’s book by baiting people to make desperate attempts to escape the corner and then punishing, either by taking a step back to get a Spinning Mixer, or by going far enough away to land a V-Trigger into a full combo.
Further, Rashid players are so used to applying pressure that they have difficulties escaping it themselves. Moke is again the exception, utilizing a mixture of V-Reversal and EX Spinning Mixer to escape pressure. Many Rashids are afraid of using V-Reversal based on the mix-up potential of V-Trigger, but Moke has been smart in utilizing both tools to keep himself alive.
Short Season
Moke was able to make Capcom Cup on an abbreviated season. While we talk about his international debut at Evo, his first collection of points came from an online event in June. From then on, he was collecting points like it was going out of style. In the second half of the year — from Evo on — he made five top 8s out of 10 tournaments, including a win at OzHadou Nationals in Australia.
This burst of results not only netted him a sponsor, but enough points to easily secure himself Capcom Cup. He was also able to turn some heads with some wins against high profile players, including MOV at Evo 2017, and others he might face Capcom Cup this year.
After Evo
After Evo however, he was only able to replicate his success in a Premier only once: with a fourth place at D3 in Chengdu, China. While he was able to take out Capcom Cup-qualified players such as Momochi, GO1 and Verloren on the way to that, he was ultimately sent home by Yukadon and Fuudo, both players ranked within the top 10 of the season.
Beyond that, his success was relegated to ranking events. In Premiers, he was having great difficulties in making it happen. The more stacked the event, such as Japan Cup, the more he faltered — even losing to players not even in contention for Capcom Cup. While this may initially sound like he’s not as solid as his Evo finish may state, it stands to mention that some semblance of familiarity came into play. Being eliminated by all Japanese players shows that they just simply knew his tendencies: having started from playing online solely, players within the region were familiar with Moke.
By October, Moke was finding his stride. He did well at Canada Cup and nearly made top 8. However, he was eliminated by Justin Wong and 801 Strider, two players also qualified for Capcom Cup. While he may have discounted the explosiveness of Laura to give Strider the leg up, Justin is a player who would possibly have been the underdog against Moke. Yet, Moke clearly was found lacking in the match, making people question his ability to close it out on the bigger stages.
Final Thoughts
There is no way you can discredit Moke’s sudden rise: he’s earned it. However, in his first year of international play, he’s definitely going to — and has — hit some speed bumps.
His play against the best of the best is questionable right now, and can show streakiness that possibly alludes to a pattern they’re catching on to with his play. He’ll learn how to break through this at some point. But right now, let’s just say he’ll be fortunate to get two wins before bowing out in this kind of competition.
The Street Fighter: Shadaloo Special one-shot compiles four Shadaloo-focused stories that were previously available only in UDON hardcover releases:
This villainous collection of rare tales includes two stories by writer Ken Siu-Chong and artist Hanzo Steinbach, and two stories both written and drawn by Omar Dogan. Balrog and Vega fight as only kings can! Juri and Crimson Viper hunt Decapre! Cammy teams up with Delta Red against Shadaloo, and the poisonous F.A.N.G causes mayhem!
Street Fighter: Where Strength Lies is a hardcover novel written by Takashi Yano, featuring cover and interior illustrations by manga artist Yusuke Murata:
The World Warriors take center stage in the first ever Street Fighter novel! Featuring Ryu vs. Akuma, Chun-Li vs. Elena, Guile vs. E.Honda, Sagat vs. M.Bison, and many more classic fighters colliding in their most epic encounters yet. It’s all described in Shoryuken-smashing, Sonic Boom-throwing, Psycho Power-pulsing detail! The action is only enhanced with bonus manga pages and artwork in every chapter by manga legend Yusuke Murata!
You can grab a regular-cover version of the Shadaloo Special for $3.99 (some cover variants cost more), and the novel for around $19.99. Look for these at a comic retailer near you, or online at Focus Attack. The Street Fighter novel is also available on Amazon.
Up until this point in Tekken 7, the most feared stage for combo manipulation in tournaments was arguably the Forgotten Realm. Its combination of multiple floor break opportunities into wall combos meant that, versus a knowledgeable opponent, every conversion hurt more then they normally could.
This is assuming, of course, that there were still floor breaks in play: after a balance patch in the arcade, only one floor break was allowed per combo. It also meant that some characters were just blatantly better and pumping out absurd damage on that stage then others, perhaps most notably King and Lili.
After the most recent patch, though, some tournament players may breathe a sigh of relief when they get Forgotten Realms. The alternative is that they could have ended up on the dreaded Howard Estate!
Geese Howard’s home stage has three breakable walls, all within a deliberately-placed close proximity of each other, for maximum carnage.
Hwoarang, Asuka, Law, and Xiaoyu Howard Estate combos from cutcc.
And if that weren’t enough, there’s a balcony break looming just beyond the Estate’s breakable walls!
Kazumi, Shaheen, Lili, Hwoarang, Xiaoyu, Asuka, Law, Bryan, Leo, Paul combos by hfblade.
In a lot of these early combos, a key to consistently high damage seems to be saving your Screw Attack for after the last wall break. Since juggle scaling is usually quite high by this point, this will help you figure out a proper tool to reach the balcony.
Considering the short amount of time the Howard Estate has been out and the wide range of characters already capable of exploiting its stage layout, it’s easy to see that jockeying for wall positioning early on will be a big part of most player’s strategies on this stage.
The Infinity Stones have been collected, the Evo champions have been summoned and three warriors have made it through the online crucible. Now it is time to see who will wield the Infinity Gauntlet and rule over the Marvel and Capcom universes. It is of course, time for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite‘s Battle for the Stones finals.
With a handful of players in both Capcom Cup and the Battle for the Stones finals, Top 16 to Grand Finals of Battle for the Stones will be held on Friday — starting at 11am PT and hoping to finish at 9pm PT at the Anaheim Hilton. Grand Finals will then take place at the PlayStation Experience on Sunday at 2pm PT, acting as a suitable warm-up act for the Top 8 of Capcom Cup 2017.
The brackets have now been locked in, and the line-up is available over on smash.gg. Some notable first round matches are Cloud805 versus KaneBlueRiver, Teemo versus ChrisG and Flocker versus Richard Nguyen. There is also the ever-present threat of the Infinity Stones, which have the power to turn any match on its head. If you need a reminder of each Stone’s bearer and their effects, they are as follows:
Time Stone – Allows the holder to block the effect an opponent’s Stone for one match. Held by Kazunoko.
Space Stone – Allows the holder to swap places with any player at an equal stage in bracket. Held by Sacktap.
Reality Stone – Allows the holder to swap the function of three buttons on their opponent’s controller. Held by Stealth.
Mind Stone – Allows the holder to pick their opponent’s team and Infinity Stone. Held by Teemo.
Soul Stone – Allows the holder to erase a loss in a three-out-of-five set. Held by Richard Nguyen.
Power Stone – Allows the holder to land the first hit of a match. Held by Cloud805.
All of the action will be streamed via the BattlefortheStones Twitch channel, so tune in to see who will hold dominion over the world of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.
Following the recent success of their first free Versus Demo Weekend for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite on PlayStation 4, Capcom has announced that they’ll be hosting a second one this weekend: running from this Friday, December 8th to Monday, December 11th.
As before, this free trial will only be open to PlayStation Plus members — who will be able to once-again sample the entire 30 character launch roster, with both Training Mode and online Casual Matches. With the final three 2017 DLC characters Black Widow, Winter Soldier, and Venom, as well as the “Dante Must Die” balance patch and the Cosmic Crusaders and Stone Seekers Premium Costume packs now all available, there’s never been a better time to “battle without limits.” Here are the hours of the demo for America, Japan and Europe:
America – December 8 at 8:00 AM PST until December 11 at 8:00 AM PST
Japan – December 8 at 9:00 PM JST until December 11 at 12:00 PM JST
Europe – December 8 at 12:00 PM GMT until December 11 at 12:00 PM GMT
However, Capcom’s Andy Wong notes that the approximate times may shift without notice. The free Versus Demo is already available to be pre-loaded from the PlayStation Store.
Will you be stepping into the ring with the free Versus Mode Demo this weekend? If you had the chance to try it during the previous demo period, what where your impressions? Was it able to covert you into a purchase of the full game? Let us know in the comments.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam.
