cutcc is back with more of his “QuickNotes” series for Tekken 7! This series is designed to lay out the fundamentals of a Tekken character in as compact a video as possible, and today’s character is the stance switching boxer, Steve Fox.
Steve throws a lot of the traditional Tekken rules out the window. His punishment game is pretty awful compared to the rest of the cast, getting no big combo opportunities until comparatively slower speeds. He makes up for this fact with some oppressive frame advantage off blocked highs and mids, irritating lows, and giant counter-hit damage.
One of the hardest working Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Guile players in the US, Markus “Marsgattai” Gibbs, has given a great interview over on fighter101.net. Marsgattai gives his take on a number of subjects — what it’s like to be dedicated to “old-school” FGC games in 2017, the importance (or lack thereof) of frame data in his game-play, and his opinion of Street Fighter V as a SSF2T player.
Marsgattai making it to grand finals at the Super Turbo SBO US Qualifier in 2011.
For Marsgattai, the moment he felt he finally reached the next level just boiled down to actually going to his first offline event:
“For me, I was really addicted to playing back in the hdr days. I would get up in the morning or early am just to fight Japanese guys on ranked (…) After a while, I thought to myself I should try it out and see how I do. Funny, I think going to my first event (NEC 09) was one of the best decisions I made because I met some of my best friends at that event.”
One of the most iconic things to come out of Arc System Works’ Guilty Gear franchise is its music by series creator Daisuke Ishiwatari. With how memorable and iconic the music is, it should come as no surprise then that it’s crossing over beyond the games into other franchises, in this case, rhythm game DJMAX Respect.
First announced in August of 2017, songs from various Guilty Gear titles are making their way into DJMAX Respect. For those wondering how these songs will appear in the game, Arc System Works has released a sample videos showcasing a couple of songs being played in the game.
The specific songs being played in the video below are “Break a Spell”, the opening theme for Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2; the Guilty Gear 2 Overture version of Ky’s theme “Holy Orders (Be Just or Be Dead)”$$ and “Marionette”, Elphelt’s theme from Guilty Gear Xrd.
For those interested in picking this up, DJMAX Respect is already available (with English text) for PlayStation 4 in Asia, and will hit Japan on November 9.
Further examination on the foes Zangief must face in the ring.
Muscle is useless without mind to direct it! MrSlaynman has expanded this in-depth match-up examination series, continuing to provide Zangief players with tech, tools, and detailed discussion on how to deal with the opponents the Red Cyclone will face in Street Fighter V.
First, show Shadaloo’s dictator the true strength of muscles — with Discovigilante on board to help:
Next, take on Delta red’s nimble fighter Cammy, featuring Synphony as guest expert:
Keep building up your Muscle Power (and match-up knowledge) with MrSlaynman’s prior installments of “Muscle Memory”:
Steam is currently running their big Halloween Sale! While the tagline is “Save Big on Spooky Titles”, I think the the 80% off on the bright and charming world of Battle Fantasia proves that anything is up for grabs, spook factor or no.
Wondering what got discounted? Well, there’s a lot to choose from:
Qanba have become well-known for offering top-quality arcade sticks, grabbing attention most recently for the Qanba Dragon and Qanba Obsidian, which feature Sanwa Denshi components — and fairly hefty footprints. These sticks are among the biggest available on the market, so if you want to lug them around, something special might be called for. That’s where the Qanba Aegis comes in. Released this summer, the purpose of the Aegis is clear: to provide Qanba’s premium fight sticks with a worthy defense. Qanba provided us with one to test its mettle ourselves, and it was quickly apparent this shield lived up to its ancient reputation.
Visually, this carrier is quite plain — its seems to favor function over style, and that suits it well. The exterior of the Aegis (the name referencing a shield of Greek mythology) is a layered, woven polyester; smooth to the touch, durable, and somewhat water-resistant on the thicker “plated” surfaces. (It is not advertised as waterproof — and while it is sufficient to handle an encounter with a light drizzle or accidental spill, I wouldn’t recommend carrying it around in a torrential downpour or tossing it into the swimming pool.) The stitching was solid and secure on all surfaces and edges of the bag. The various zippers are equipped with big, easy-to-grab tabs, there’s a sturdy top handle, and the base of the bag is reinforced with thick rubber feet.
While the design is fairly sleek (read: flat), it has an impressively large internal capacity, offer plenty of room to Qanba’s hefty sticks. The Obsidian (pictured above) fits very comfortably and securely, and you can see there’s still a bit of room to accommodate the even-beefier Dragon. The means provided to protect your weapon of choice are the thick padding below and around the controller cavity, and a padded stick guard that flops down over the top of the lever. This can also be flattened and secured with velcro strips, if you want to use the Aegis to transport something else that doesn’t have a protruding joystick, like a game console.
While the size is the big plus when dealing with larger fight sticks, the opposite naturally becomes true: for the smaller sticks on the market, you end up with too much extra room. Sticks like the HORI RAP line (pictured below) have a lot of extra space around them, meaning to really secure them, a bit of filler material is necessary. Still, the padding is both thick and soft enough that there is a fair amount of “wiggle room” when it comes to what fits in the Aegis well, and what doesn’t.
It offers a surprising array of storage options aside from the main cavity. The pouch on the front of the bag opens to reveal a compartment chock-full of mesh pouches, perfect for stashing all sorts of gaming-related goodies. There’s a elastic-edged sleeve for a water bottle on the side of the bag, too. And you get to really see how much you can stuff into this thing once you find the laptop sleeve — tucked into the backing of the bag, it’s large enough to slide a full-sized laptop, netbook, or tablet into — even when the carrier is already laden with your fight stick, of course. The Aegis proved comfortable to wear once it was loaded up, distributing weight well with its adjustable straps and its chest-clasp.
Overall, this fight stick carrier offers a huge amount of versatility, and is definitely equipped to protect your precious gaming equipment well. It’s marketed by some outlets as a “luxury” fight stick bag — and while that may sound like hyperbole, it’s hard not to be impressed by the design and quality of this product. It retails for $79.99 USD (check it out at Qanba, eightarc, Amazon, and Focus Attack), which is currently lower-priced than other carriers out there that don’t have as many perks. In my own Obsidian review, I mused that I wasn’t likely to take the Obsidian to an event or local due to the stick’s size and weight — but this carrier has convinced me otherwise. If you own (or are planning to pick up) a Qanba Obsidian or Dragon, I would consider this an essential accessory.
Pros
basic but appealing visual design
fits larger-cased arcade sticks easily and securely
impressive and versatile array of included non-controller-related storage options
reasonable cost compared to other products on the market
Cons
smaller arcade sticks may not fit in this carrier securely
It’s safe to say we at SRK have been anticipating Sector-K’s indie fighter Punch Planet for some time now. Sector-K’s 3-man team has worked diligently on their footsies-focused sci-fi fighter since they were green-lit in 2016, and they’ve listened closely to the FGC to fine tune the game with appearances at Evo 2017 and Next Level Battle Circuit.
And soon, you’ll be able to go to Punch Planet, too.
Punch Planet is entering Early Access on November 8th, and will be launching with its 4 previously announced characters, Training Mode, and Versus Modes (both Local and Online.) In this trailer they’ve also officially revealed two future characters:
While we may not know much about the smirking Green Alien, we know a little bit more about his Robot friend thanks to Sector-K’s website: it’s a “G-Agent”, a Power-Suit wielding, gymnastics using, time policing law man.
Peter “Combofiend” Rosas, associate producer on Street Fighter V, Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite, and as a Battle Designer for Ultra Street Fighter IV, has officially stepped down from his five year stint at Capcom USA. Combofiend’s stated reason for departure seems indicate that it is of his own choice, judging by his official statement:
“I’ve been fortunate enough to work on the games that shaped my life, a definite dream come true, but now I feel it’s time for the next generation to be able to do the same. “
You can read the full statement on his departure at Capcom-Unity.
As for his post-Capcom plans, he promises to “join you all once again as a member of the community and as a Capcom fan.” Considering Combofiend was once a dominating force in the Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Capcom vs SNK 2 tournament scenes, it won’t be surprising to see him showing up at MvC:I tournaments soon. We wish Combofiend the best of luck in his future endeavours, and hope to see him back on the sticks very soon.
Last year, Haitani was one of the hardest players to pin down on the Capcom Pro Tour. While I was able to correctly predict him making top 8 at Capcom Cup — he ultimately finished in fourth place — his results were erratic enough to make it very difficult to guess. He was certainly capable of winning everything, but his travel and burnout was evident enough to make him the second biggest question mark in my book, outside of Infiltration.
Now in 2017, he finds himself once again making his way into Capcom Cup in decisive fashion — currently holding the #3 spot. The big question surrounding him now is: Has GRPT|Haitani found consistency this year?
Commuted Schedule
One of the things I noted in 2016 was how busy his tournament schedule was. He had endeavored to travel the world in search of Street Fighter success, and did just that. His results given his travels were astounding — in sixteen Capcom Pro Tour events, he only missed the top 8 in two of them: G-League and Evo 2016.
His travel schedule was, however, starting to take a physical toll on him. While it should be noted he did win a Ranking event at Battle Arena Melbourne 8 last year, the rest of the year saw him struggle after making top 8. I’m almost sure that this was due to a combination of jet lag and burn out.
This year has seen him pull back on the reins a bit when it comes to flying out to events. He has only competed at 11 events — 12, after Canada Cup concludes — and nearly half of them were in his home region of Asia. Even culling four tournaments from his list has made a difference. Whereas 2016 saw him only win one ranking event, this year has seen him win two premier events: Japan Cup and Ultimate Fighting Arena. He also traveled far less outside of CPT events, making two stops outside of that circuit compared to eight last year. In those two events, he finished third at RAGE v.4 and ninth at Brooklyn Beatdown. He is showing far more stable results as of late, and part of it likely boils down to his focus on quality over quantity.
Climbing the Rungs
Last year, I suggested that he had perhaps plateaued with Necalli, leading to him autopiloting through several events. With his underperformance in Capcom Cup, he definitely made me think physical exhaustion was the reason. Haitani apparently agreed, as he stuck to Necalli in Season 2.
Whereas I compared him to GamerBee and Phenom last year, no Necalli comes close to Haitani’s performances this year. There’s a reason why there’s a 13 rank disparity between himself and Brolynho — or even a 21 rank disparity between himself and Phenom. The fact is, he is that much better than them. Last year we saw shades of his play being performed better by other Necallis, but this year he is not just the origin of Necalli play — he is the standard.
This just shows how much stronger he has become. His spacing game is immaculate, using his V-Skill at the right times to zone. He is also really adept at using his V-meter — something that is a true testament to a real Necalli player. Most players will save up, waiting for the big hit into V-Trigger into full on pressure from a V-Triggered Necalli. But Haitani has fully grasped what the risk and reward is for it in a given situation, and reacts accordingly — using V-Reversal when he needs to and going into V-Trigger when he’s sure it’ll work. These are the traits that truly set him apart from the pack, and why this character in his hands is an absolute threat.
When It Matters
We have seen far more of Haitani’s clutch factor this year than ever before. He has won when it counted — something that he struggled to do last year. While he has only won two out of fourteen events thus far, he has won in some pretty stacked fields. Outside of Evo, one of the toughest CPT events on the calendar is Japan Cup; Haitani won with authority, and he did so against the best R. Mika in the world by defeating Fuudo twice. At UFA, he won out of Losers Bracket, eliminating FChamp, Tokido, and Itabashi Zangief twice — the person who put him in Losers Bracket to begin with — to take the title. If this doesn’t speak to his clutch factor, I don’t know what does.
However, this clutch factor doesn’t necessarily come out every time he steps up to an event. At Dueling Dragons Dojo, he fell to both Gachikun and Dogura — two players he’ll likely have to think about at Capcom Cup, especially considering they have been coming into the event strong and will likely be lower seeds. While he was able to stamp out Gachikun’s Rashid at TWFighter Major, he was still found struggling to Dogura, who eliminated him on his way to the championship. More worryingly, his worst performance came in the latter half of the season, when he fell to MenaRD in the winner’s bracket of SoCal Regionals and was eliminated by XSK_Samurai. And again, MenaRD finds himself on the bottom half of the Capcom Cup seeding, thus making him — along with Dogura and Gachikun — another potential road block for Haitani’s run to top 8 at Capcom Cup.
While the odds are low that either of these three will be his first-round matchup, they could eventually come up. What happens to Haitani then?
Final Thoughts
It’s hard to talk down one of the gods of Street Fighter. We all know Haitani can do it, and there’s no doubt in my own mind that he’s capable. The question lies in if he’ll be able to have the clutch factor — and the stamina — on hand in December.
While he has answered the questions about jet lag and plateauing, the fact that he’s struggling against what will ultimately be early to mid-round opponents at Capcom Cup leaves a few questions left over from 2016 about his consistency. Getting top 8 is great, but that’s not enough to make a championship a foregone conclusion.
While I anticipated at least top 16 last year, I’m expecting a top 8 showing from Haitani this year. But he could make last year’s predictions come true again this year, if he falters against the lower seeds.
“Super Street Fighter Carnival 2017” is the regularly-occurring tournament series of Japan’s famous Mikado Arcade, featuring a revolving selection of arcade titles for its patrons to compete in. If you missed the first few tournaments from SSFC2017, you’ve got some catching up to do!
First up is the Technōs Japan-developed Double Dragon fighting game from 1995. It was the last Double Dragon game Technōs made before filing for bankruptcy, and now the rights are owned by none other then Arc System Works. It (probably) won’t happen, but now the thought of a ArcSys-developed Double Dragon fighter is in your head now, isn’t it?
Next we have Samurai Shodown 64 (Or, just Samurai Spirits in Japan). This was SNK’s first foray into 3D fighters. This initial attempt never made its way to home consoles, but its sequel (Samurai Shodown 64: Warrior’s Rage) did. Samurai Shodown 64 drifts pretty far from the core elements of the Shodown series, with duck-able grabs, longer combos, and powerful jumping.
You can preview this seasons’ games and player scores with Mikado’s public Drive document. You can also follow the action by subscribing to Mikado’s official YouTube channel, or try to catch the action in real time when they livestream.
Visually, this carrier is quite plain — its seems to favor function over style, and that suits it well. The exterior of the Aegis (the name referencing a shield of Greek mythology) is a layered, woven polyester; smooth to the touch, durable, and somewhat water-resistant on the thicker “plated” surfaces. (It is not advertised as waterproof — and while it is sufficient to handle an encounter with a light drizzle or accidental spill, I wouldn’t recommend carrying it around in a torrential downpour or tossing it into the swimming pool.) The stitching was solid and secure on all surfaces and edges of the bag. The various zippers are equipped with big, easy-to-grab tabs, there’s a sturdy top handle, and the base of the bag is reinforced with thick rubber feet.
Overall, this fight stick carrier offers a huge amount of versatility, and is definitely equipped to protect your precious gaming equipment well. It’s marketed by some outlets as a “luxury” fight stick bag — and while that may sound like hyperbole, it’s hard not to be impressed by the design and quality of this product. It retails for $79.99 USD (check it out at 
We have seen far more of Haitani’s clutch factor this year than ever before. He has won when it counted — something that he struggled to do last year. While he has only won two out of fourteen events thus far, he has won in some pretty stacked fields. Outside of Evo, one of the toughest CPT events on the calendar is Japan Cup; Haitani won with authority, and he did so against the best R. Mika in the world by defeating Fuudo twice. At UFA, he won out of Losers Bracket, eliminating FChamp, Tokido, and Itabashi Zangief twice — the person who put him in Losers Bracket to begin with — to take the title. If this doesn’t speak to his clutch factor, I don’t know what does.