Online play is free for PlayStation users in Europe this week

Lucky PlayStation 4 users who have lapsed on their Plus membership can take advantage of the service’s biggest benefit for free — at least in Europe. Sony has announced a limited promotion for European owners: users who don’t have a PS Plus membership will still be able to take advantage of online multiplayer for the next few days.

The multiplayer event started this morning of November 15th and runs until Monday, November 20th, 10:00 AM GMT. There’s no need to sign up for anything or take any action. Note though, this promotion doesn’t come with any other benefits that PS Plus entails — such as cloud saving, free games, or discounts on the PS Store.

If you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to challenge some netplay opponents in your favorite fighting game, now’s a great time to get back into the fray.

Source: PlayStation EU Blog

Properly learn Hibiki’s BlazBlue: Central Fiction 2.0 combos with this complete guide

One of BlazBlue: Central Fiction‘s new characters, Hibiki Kohaku, doesn’t feel quite as fresh anymore — given that the game has been in the market for over a year now. However, the fairly recent 2.0 patch shook things up quite a bit, rebalancing the game. There have been pretty notable changes to the Central Fiction newcomer.

Hibiki received a lot of good new options in 2.0, as several of his special moves became usable while airborne. That particularly includes his air command grab, which is a common combo ender. For those unfamiliar with Hibiki, he’s a speedy character who can either send a shadow clone without endangering himself or dash up fast at the opponent, with a variety of approaches.

Hentaitop is back with their usual combo videos, which have great presentation. At the beginning, the video shows all the moves with their names in English and Japanese. The combos are divided into simple, intermediate, and Overdrive ones. Check it all out below to get a very good grasp on how to combo with Hibiki.

A recent video also covers how to react to Hibiki’s pressure — useful when learning how to defend against him.

Source: Hentaitop

Henry “Golden” Cen starts new YouTube series “Adaptation”: Discusses the psychology of movement

Owner of NYC’s Next Level Arcade and old-school fighting game aficionado Henry “Golden” Cen has started a great new YouTube series called “Adaptation.” By its name you can tell it’ll focus on one of the slipperiest topics in fighting games: how to change the way you play to counter your opponent’s style.

Without pressing any buttons or saying anything to him, Henry can look at just the way you move around in game and know your skill level. This is the subject of his debut episode: using the smallest amount of information to construct a larger picture about what your opponent does and doesn’t know. While he’s using Street Fighter V as his canvas, the insight here transcends title.

Source: Henry Cen

This video guide will teach you how to beat Xiaoyu in Tekken 7

Xiaoyu is definitely the demon of many players in Tekken 7 — maybe more so than Devil Jin himself. Those who struggle with fighting the agile young woman definitely need to take a look at this latest video guide from TheMainManSWE, who will get you past a roadblock.

His new video guide offers a thorough explanation on how to effectively deal with Xiaoyu, and how to play much smarter against her. For one, it’s better to play a little more defensively than usual, since she’s looking to counter and evade attacks. In particular, doing high moves is incredibly risky — that’s just what she’s looking for, especially with a stance which will let her do easy launchers. It’s necessary to find attacks that will hit her despite her stance. The video shows a few practical punishes after blocking her attacks, and talks about her throws.

If you’re looking to study up a different character, one of TheMainManSWE’s recent videos covers Devil Jin basics.

Source: TheMainManSWE

A giant Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite balance patch is coming on December 5th

Ahead of its release on December 5th, Capcom have outlined all of the balance changes coming in a mammoth Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite patch. The changes range from well-needed nerfs to the Reality Stone, a new Crumple state that happens when players are hit in the air by certain projectiles, as well as a reduction of how many OTG Relaunches you can have in a single combo.

So first off, the big system changes. The Reality Stone Infinity Surge now has 20 frames of start-up and is only active for 90 frames, instead of 120. While its speed has increased, the projectile will disappear if the caster is hit and it takes longer to start homing in on the opponent. It also has greatly reduced blockstun and it is much easier to Advancing Guard immediately after start-up.

You can now only have two OTG Relaunches in a combo, so moves like Dante’s Volcano or Dormammu’s Purification can only be used twice before presumably causing a flip-out on the third usage. Speaking of Dante, he’s been absolutely battered with the nerf bat — his health is now 9000 and he’s received damage decreases on several specials like Tempest, Hammer, Twister and Volcano. He has also lost the ability to instantly turn and face the opponent when using moves like Million Stab, Prop Shredder, Jam Session, Bee Hive and many others.

Dormammu’s Thorns have finally been cut down to size, with it doing less stun, generating less meter, reduced active frames and disappearing if Dormammu gets hit. Chris Redfield is the only character to receive any real buffs, getting damage increases on his Grenades, Gun Fire, Magnum Shot, Shotgun and Grenade Launcher. He can also now reload all three Magnum bullets at once, rather than having to load them individually.

There are plenty more changes so make sure to read the full patch note breakdown over on Capcom-Unity. These changes are quite drastic and with Battle for the Stones happening a few days after this patch drops, some people have got some serious lab work to do.

Source: Capcom-Unity

Spider-Man’s Power (Stone) level is over 9000 with these extensions in Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite

Spider-Man became a go-to character early on in the life of Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, mainly due to his strength with Reality Stone — and the ultimately patched-out infinite that came with it.

But Xero18 — who stuck with the character throughout the lifespan of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 — is breathing new life into the character by way of the Power Stone. With an extension on Power Stone activation — made possible through Web Ball — combos with Spider-Man can surpass the 9000 damage range, which is enough for a kill on some characters. While this video showcases the possibilities with Ultron as a partner, there will certainly be options with various other characters.

Source: xero18

Unleash the Electric Wind God Fist with this Heihachi Mishima action figure from Storm Collectibles

Storm Collectibles has been slowly making a name for itself with their amazing action figures. The Hong Kong based company has done a bang up job with their various Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat action figures. Now, they’re moving into the world of Tekken with their latest action figure based on none other than Heihachi Mishima.

The 1:12 scale Heihachi Mishima figure from Storm Collectibles comes with all the articulation seen in other action figures from the company. In addition to this, the figure goes one step beyond other figures wearing similar martial arts dogi outfits, with extra texture work. The figure also comes with 3 interchangeable heads, 8 interchangeable palms, as well as special effects, including one for the Mishima’s signature Electric Wind God Fist, for various poses.

Pre-orders for Storm Collectible’s Heihachi Mishima action figure are open now. The figure itself is scheduled to hit stores sometime in the first quarter of 2018. In the meantime, check out some photos of the figure in the gallery below.

Click to view slideshow.

Source: Storm Collectibles

The Mysterious Mod livens up Street Fighter V with new Critical Arts, moves and V-Cancels

If Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition isn’t pushing your buttons, this fan-made update to Street Fighter V may be for you. We’ve previously covered the new Critical Arts that are part of the Mysterious Mod, but this showcase outlines some of the other features that are available as part of this combat overhaul.

One of the biggest changes in the Mysterious Mod is the additional of V-Cancels, where players can expend a stock of their V-Gauge to cancel any move. This new mechanic should alleviate some complaints that Street Fighter V‘s combo system is too restricting, as you can create devastating custom combos with the right resources.

The Mysterious Mod also adds new moves and reversals for several characters, along with lengthening the throw tech window to stop those dreaded throw loops. After introducing these new features, the rest of this mod showcase is dedicated to showing off some of the high execution combos you can now pull off, thanks to V-Cancels and so on.

For those interested in trying the Mysterious Mod, you can check out its Discord for the download link.

Source: Nocturne_TV

Red Bull Music Academy presents the Diggin’ in the Carts X Street Fighter II remix project

Love the classic sounds of Street Fighter II? Red Bull wants you to add your own spin.

The original Street Fighter II soundtrack is one of the most iconic in gaming history, no question. To help celebrate Street Fighter’s 30th Anniversary and promote the weekly Red Bull Radio program Diggin’ in the Carts — which provides a closer look at classic video game tunes and their creators — the Red Bull Music Academy presents Diggin’ in the Carts X Street Fighter II: a remix project featuring the classic sounds of Street Fighter II.

Four tracks are available for your listening enjoyment right now on SoundCloud:

And if you want to try your hand at making your own, head over to Red Bull’s Street Fighter II Remix Challenge page to grab some samples and enter their contest. You’ve got from today to December 11th to craft and submit your own creation; three winners will be selected, and prizes are up for grabs for the best remixes.

Sources: Red Bull Music Academy (SoundCloud); Street Fighter (Twitter)

The voice actor behind Dragon Ball’s Frieza, Christopher Ayres, is seriously ill

Sad news for Dragon Ball fans, especially for those looking forward to Dragon Ball FighterZ; the voice actor behind Frieza — certainly an important and much-loved character in the franchise — is suffering life-threatening health difficulties.

Veteran voice actor Christopher Ayres was hospitalized earlier this year in Houston, according to the actor’s YouCaring page. He was diagnosed with End Stage C. O. P. D. (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), which causes difficulty breathing and increasingly severe lung problems. Ayers is in need of therapy, surgery, and is looking to receive a transplant.

Other than Frieza, Ayers lent his voice to numerous anime and video game works, such as Dark Water, Speed Grapher, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Dragon Ball Super, and Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2. There are a few more details about his situation over at the YouCaring page, which asks for donations to support his treatment.

The SRK staff hopes for Ayers’ swift recovery.

Sources: @RPGSite; YouCaring