Returning to the Anaheim Convention Center for the second year in a row, Sony has announced the dates for this year’s PlayStation Experience. Running from December 9th-10th, it acts as a mecca for PlayStation players and — more importantly to some of us — it’s the site of this year’s Capcom Cup.
That’s right, Capcom Cup 2017 will form part of this year’s PlayStation Experience, with the Street Fighter V world final bringing the event to a close on December 10th. It is unsure at this time if Capcom Cup will run similar to last year (with it being split across both days of the event) but Sony has stated that more will be revealed in the coming weeks.
There is also the possibility of a Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite final at PSX as well, if the leaked Capcom esports presentation is to be believed. According to the internal marketing pitch, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite will share the stage with Street Fighter V at the PlayStation Experience, in the hope of it becoming a permanent fixture of 2018’s Capcom Pro Tour. We will no doubt find out more when MvC:I launches September 19th.
Early bird tickets are currently available for PSX 2017, going for $65 for a two-day pass. Once the batch of early bird tickets are sold, standard passes will go for $75. If you want to secure your pass, head on over to the official PSX 2017 website.
Joe “LI Joe” Ciaramelli was one of the greatest stories of Evo 2016. Having been within the FGC his whole life — and having his passion for the scene previously recorded in I Got Next —he was the lone American hope in a field filled with Japanese and Korean killers. He is most certainly the inspiration that showed that Americans could eventually capture a title in Street Fighter V at Evo.
While at Evo 2017, I caught up with LI Joe after his pools to discuss the year since his Evo moment and what the future holds for him.
Corey “Missing Person” Lanier: Joe, how has Evo been for you this year?
Joe “LI Joe” Ciaramelli: Evo is always sick. It’s not even about playing and competing. It’s a great atmosphere. You get to see some great matches and play all the games that aren’t out yet. Regardless of results, it’s amazing.
Missing Person: How do you feel about a chance at repeating last year’s success?
LI Joe: Not too good, only because I haven’t played that much. I also switched characters to Urien after Evo last year. I don’t have the experience that I had last year. I was grinding hardcore back then. This season, I haven’t been doing it so much. But I’ll always do my best.
Missing Person: I know you get a lot of questions about Evo 2016, but I don’t often hear people talk about how your matchup with Eita went. How did you handle him so well?
LI Joe: I had actually played him at GameWorks three days before that. He beat me 5-4. From that, I had a good idea on how he played. Up until then, I was nervous as hell. There were a lot of people behind me and a lot of pressure to do well. But I just decided to push through that, block it all out, and do the best I could.
Missing Person: And then how did it feel knowing that your dad was watching you that whole time?
LI Joe: It was exhilarating, but I honestly didn’t know he was coming. He did it as a last minute thing when he heard that I got top 8. I honestly didn’t even know he was watching me in the stadium when I played Eita.
Missing Person: From that you were able to parlay that into being on ELEAGUE. How was that experience for you?
LI Joe: It was quite the experience. Obviously, I didn’t do very well. It was hard to explain, but I wasn’t very comfortable in the matches at all. So it was rough playing, but being there was amazing. They took great care of us. They fed us, they drove us around. It was such a cool experience. But then to be called back to do desk work was even more amazing.
Missing Person: Do you feel like Urien was part of the reason for your discomfort?
LI Joe: Honestly, I don’t think so. It was me more than anything else. Urien is a great character. I can’t be mad at stuff like that at all.
Missing Person: How did you feel with all the Joe reaction memes that were circulating across social media during ELEAGUE?
LI Joe: It actually made me feel good. People used to think that I did that for show. But that’s not the case. I didn’t know they were filming me. I had no clue that they had a camera on me the entire time. So I was just authentically reacting to the matches, then they came up to me afterwards and said, “By the way, we filmed all of your reactions.”
Missing Person: So besides playing, what else are you doing for Evo?
LI Joe: Well, I came in early on in the day to do some work for ESPN. So you’ll see some interviews posted that I took part in. I have a couple things in store, including being on the house microphones with IFC Yipes for Street Fighter V top 8.
Missing Person: Let’s backtrack to 2008 and 2009. You were a major component in the I Got Next documentary. Thinking back to the scene back then, did you think that we would get to where we are now?
LI Joe: Not at all. We used to talk about it and dream about it. But the discussions we had back then are literally what’s happening now, and it’s crazy to think about. When we were dreaming of playing in stadiums and having huge venues with huge sponsorships and people supporting us, it’s now here.
Missing Person: So which of the new fighters that are being showcased at Evo are you most hype about?
LI Joe: Definitely Dragon Ball FighterZ and Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite. I want to finally try out Dragon Ball on a stick. The last event it was at, you could only use controllers. I can’t get the most out of the game on a pad. I’m just bad with a pad. I can’t experience the game how I want to with anything but a stick. But from what I could gather, the game is very responsive and smooth. Marvel is also looking like it’s becoming fun, so those two games are what I’m looking forward to.
Missing Person: So what are your plans for East Coast Throwdown this year?
LI Joe: This year we’re really just trying to spice up the tournament. We’ve done the same thing for a while now. So this year, our goal is to try to break the mold and start fresh. We have a new venue this year. We also cut down on the games so we can focus on running the best event we can. We’re hoping within the next couple of years, we’ll have something bigger and better than what we had before.
Missing Person: Did John Gallagher leaving last year make organizing this event more difficult for you?
LI Joe: No, honestly, it’s still going strong. John was a major help, but I still have other partners that help me out too. John is a great asset, and I miss him. But we’re just doing the best we can without him.
LI Joe works the crowd at Mandalay Bay Events Center, Evo 2017. (Photo courtesy of Chris Bahn)
Joe ultimately fell short of repeating in the top 8 by losing in his first match of Round 2 Pools to MJ |Gama. He later joined IFC Yipes in doing commentary for the audience at Mandalay Bay for top 8 of Street Fighter V.
For more information on LI Joe’s major — East Coast Throwdown — please visit their website.
With Akuma being in both Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V, Capcom UK has created a bit of a challenge for skilled practitioners of the Satsui no Hado. Through some careful arcade stick modding, it is possible to wire up your stick to play both games at the same time. As the Raging Demon input is the same across both games, you can essentially perform a double Raging Demon with careful timing.
Naming it the “Die 2000 Deaths!” challenge, Capcom UK tasked players like Tyrant, Shoryusengan, and even Yoshinori Ono himself to complete this devious task. You can check out their attempts in the video below — and if you think you can do better, make sure to leave a comment with your Double Demon attempt. If you’ve got the hardware, maybe set up Ultra Street Fighter II and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and see if you can pull off a Quadruple Demon!
Gamescom is one of Europe’s largest gaming fairs, and NetherRealm Studios has some big announcements planned for it.
Scheduled for the 23rd through the 26th in Cologne, Germany, Gamescom 2017 will be the site of a celebrity Injustice 2 match, between world famous DJs Steve Aoki and Don Diablo. From the match, there will be a donation of $5,000 to be made to the Aoki Foundation (founded by Steve Aoki) whose goal is to fund research in regenerative medicine and brain preservation, and to provide support for disaster relief, developmental disabilities, and animal rights. The match will be livestreamed on both Twitch and NetherRealm. On-site, players can see the action live at the Twitch stage, located in Halle 9, A-052.
On the same stream, NetherRealm Studios intends to make an exclusive announcement revealing the next three Injustice 2 DLC characters, that will be released in Fighter Pack #2. At long last, maybe we’ll get confirmation on who some of the completely impossible to guess silhouettes are…
Another issue of UDON’s wild crossover series is now available.
UDON’s latest issue of Street Fighter vs. Darkstalkers — an 8-issue limited series — is in stores today! Issue #4 is available with three different covers, and cover B completes Rob “Robaato” Porter’s 4-issue “Midnight Bliss” panorama image. UDON Entertainment gives us the issue synopsis:
The fighters of two worlds have been gathered, and the schemes of the demonic Jedah and the angelic Gill are fully revealed! Meanwhile, Blanka finds himself being stalked by a Darkstalker hunter — the maniacal B.B.Hood! The crossover chaos continues in STREET FIGHTER VS. DARKSTALKERS!
Feature image: Verloren (middle left) vs. Tampa Bison (right)
Hyungsuk “Verloren” Kong has had a meteoric rise to prominence in the last year. People first heard him coming from Street Fighter Crash, he soon started attending events alongside Infiltration, and the Korean Cammy main started dominating.
This year, he was just shy of making top 8 at Evo 2017 during a bizarre match with Filipino Champ, where the match was moved off stream due to power issues on the PlayStation 4 on stage. That hasn’t deterred him from making himself poised to enter Capcom Cup for the first time in his career.
While at Evo, I got a chance to discuss his rise to fame and his feelings on the Korean fighting game scene.
Corey “Missing Person” Lanier: Amidst some major controversy, you narrowly missed out on top 8 at Evo. What was going through your mind during the final match with Filipino Champ?
Hyungsuk “Verloren” Kong: I really just wanted to have a good match with Filipino Champ. I was looking forward to it. I didn’t want it to come down to a disqualification or stalling — I just wanted to play the damn match! All I was thinking was that I wanted to play and for it to happen fast.
Missing Person: Let’s say hypothetically that no issues happened on stream, do you think that the match would have had a different outcome?
Verloren: I guess it always could be different. None of that really matters, since the results stand. All I can do now is practice to get my runback on him during the CPT or at Capcom Cup.
Missing Person: You’ve risen from relative obscurity in a very short time. How does it feel to have gotten this strong, this fast?
Verloren: I’m just trying to do my best to get the best results. That’s all really. I feel like the scene around me in Korea is also really good, but it’s important to me to just do my best at all times.
Missing Person: With all the international experience you’ve had lately, do you feel like you’re taking that experience back with you to Korea?
Verloren: When I go to other countries and learn different kinds of tech and strategy from them, I always come back to Korea and try to teach it to players there. Korea has a small but strong community for Street Fighter V. Regardless of the size, if I teach them something new, then they get better. If they get better, then I have to get better to stay on top. I feel like sharing with your community is the only way to improve.
Verloren playing against Xiaohai in a salty suite at Evo 2017. (Photo by Corey Lanier)
Missing Person: What drew you to Cammy, out of all the characters?
Verloren: The first thing that actually drew me in was her theme song. Then when I tried her out, she fit my playstyle, so I kept playing her. At this point, I’ll keep playing her. I’m a character loyalist. For me to get really strong, I have to focus on one character.
Missing Person: One of the hardest things to do as a character specialist is win bad matchups. How do you do that consistently without relying on counter picks?
Verloren: I try out all the characters and learn them to a certain degree. The main thing I’m looking for is their weaknesses. Then I go back to Cammy, and look for ways to exploit that weakness.
Missing Person: How do you feel about your chances to make it to Capcom Cup at this point?
Verloren: I’m pretty confident that I’m going to make it — you ultimately need 500 or 600 points to basically guarantee your entry. I currently have 750. Anything can happen between now and then, but I’m already starting to research matchups and players that I might have to face there. I’m definitely going to do this more, because after Evo, it’s crunch time.
Missing Person: Are you still planning on going to events now to try to get a higher seed?
Verloren: I’m going to make it to all the Asian ranking events and all the CPT Premier events.
Missing Person: You just recently got sponsored by Gfuel. How does it feel to have a sponsor so quickly?
Verloren: The sponsorship came as a surprise for me. It was right after Battle Arena Melbourne 9. I am very thankful for Gfuel, but I want to keep improving my performance so I can get more potential contracts.
Missing Person: Korea is normally known as a Tekken country. How do you feel about the country’s potential in Street Fighter V?
Verloren: Pretty much every Korean that went to Evo for Street Fighter V made it out of their pools. A lot of them made it into the semi-finals, even. That’s a huge deal. A lot of these people are new to international tournaments, so it was impressive. If it keeps up like this, then I believe we’ll see far more Koreans in the CPT.
Special thanks to Gerald “mintcheerios” Lee from Core-A Gaming for translation.
Feature image: Verloren (middle left) vs. Tampa Bison (right)
Hyungsuk “Verloren” Kong has had a meteoric rise to prominence in the last year. People first heard him coming from Street Fighter Crash, he soon started attending events alongside Infiltration, and the Korean Cammy main started dominating.
This year, he was just shy of making top 8 at Evo 2017 during a bizarre match with Filipino Champ, where the match was moved off stream due to power issues on the PlayStation 4 on stage. That hasn’t deterred him from making himself poised to enter Capcom Cup for the first time in his career.
While at Evo, I got a chance to discuss his rise to fame and his feelings on the Korean fighting game scene.
Corey “Missing Person” Lanier: Amidst some major controversy, you narrowly missed out on top 8 at Evo. What was going through your mind during the final match with Filipino Champ?
Hyungsuk “Verloren” Kong: I really just wanted to have a good match with Filipino Champ. I was looking forward to it. I didn’t want it to come down to a disqualification or stalling — I just wanted to play the damn match! All I was thinking was that I wanted to play and for it to happen fast.
Missing Person: Let’s say hypothetically that no issues happened on stream, do you think that the match would have had a different outcome?
Verloren: I guess it always could be different. None of that really matters, since the results stand. All I can do now is practice to get my runback on him during the CPT or at Capcom Cup.
Missing Person: You’ve risen from relative obscurity in a very short time. How does it feel to have gotten this strong, this fast?
Verloren: I’m just trying to do my best to get the best results. That’s all really. I feel like the scene around me in Korea is also really good, but it’s important to me to just do my best at all times.
Missing Person: With all the international experience you’ve had lately, do you feel like you’re taking that experience back with you to Korea?
Verloren: When I go to other countries and learn different kinds of tech and strategy from them, I always come back to Korea and try to teach it to players there. Korea has a small but strong community for Street Fighter V. Regardless of the size, if I teach them something new, then they get better. If they get better, then I have to get better to stay on top. I feel like sharing with your community is the only way to improve.
Verloren playing against Xiaohai in a salty suite at Evo 2017. (Photo by Corey Lanier)
Missing Person: What drew you to Cammy, out of all the characters?
Verloren: The first thing that actually drew me in was her theme song. Then when I tried her out, she fit my playstyle, so I kept playing her. At this point, I’ll keep playing her. I’m a character loyalist. For me to get really strong, I have to focus on one character.
Missing Person: One of the hardest things to do as a character specialist is win bad matchups. How do you do that consistently without relying on counter picks?
Verloren: I try out all the characters and learn them to a certain degree. The main thing I’m looking for is their weaknesses. Then I go back to Cammy, and look for ways to exploit that weakness.
Missing Person: How do you feel about your chances to make it to Capcom Cup at this point?
Verloren: I’m pretty confident that I’m going to make it — you ultimately need 500 or 600 points to basically guarantee your entry. I currently have 750. Anything can happen between now and then, but I’m already starting to research matchups and players that I might have to face there. I’m definitely going to do this more, because after Evo, it’s crunch time.
Missing Person: Are you still planning on going to events now to try to get a higher seed?
Verloren: I’m going to make it to all the Asian ranking events and all the CPT Premier events.
Missing Person: You just recently got sponsored by Gfuel. How does it feel to have a sponsor so quickly?
Verloren: The sponsorship came as a surprise for me. It was right after Battle Arena Melbourne 9. I am very thankful for Gfuel, but I want to keep improving my performance so I can get more potential contracts.
Missing Person: Korea is normally known as a Tekken country. How do you feel about the country’s potential in Street Fighter V?
Verloren: Pretty much every Korean that went to Evo for Street Fighter V made it out of their pools. A lot of them made it into the semi-finals, even. That’s a huge deal. A lot of these people are new to international tournaments, so it was impressive. If it keeps up like this, then I believe we’ll see far more Koreans in the CPT.
Special thanks to Gerald “mintcheerios” Lee from Core-A Gaming for translation.
The dawn of another week means that the Ultimates Monster Pack for Killer Instinct — which will be released for free next Tuesday, August 22nd, is another seven days closer. This week, the team at Iron Galaxy has revealed the upcoming Ultimate for the ghostly warrior Hisako.
Beginning by crawling along the ground, the Onryō sneaks up behind her helpless opponent, before proceeding to possess their body and break their bones from the inside. Hisako then exits the corpse and glares at the camera — as only she can. You can see a full video of the Ultimate being performed on Cinder below.
Check back next week for Glacius’s new Ultimate, the day before the Pack goes live. You can see the other Ultimates that have been revealed for the pack so far below.
What do you think of Hisako’s Ultimate? Do you think it’s fittingly appropriate for the naginata-wielding vengeful spirit, or were you expecting something more from it? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
Japan’s most exciting team event for Super Street Fighter II Turbo came back for another year, and X-EST 2017 — ran by community member Mattsun — certainly provided for a lot of excitement for those that tuned in. However, given the massive time difference between Japan and the West, not everyone is going to forego sleep to watch Super Turbo.
For those of us that were busy catching sleep instead of hands overnight, the replay has made its way to YouTube. Also included is a full list (as a screenshot) of the teams that competed in the annual event this year, and there are timestamps on YouTube page, so you can jump to whatever match you want.
Some classy new threads for a selected few of the Street Fighter V roster.
Capcom has announced that four new premium costumes will be available in about two weeks, this time to mark Street Fighter’s 30th anniversary. In this batch, Guile and M. Bison don their dress uniforms, while Ibuki and Karin slip into some high-class traditional Japanese garb.
These four new outfits will be available to purchase on PlayStation 4 and Steam for $3.99/€3.99 each on August 29, “just in time for Street Fighter’s 30th anniversary celebration!” according to Capcom. While it’s nice to see Bison finally get some costume love, it seems like even more classic characters should be getting a 30th anniversary treatment — and certainly, more outfits aren’t really what Street Fighter fans are hoping for to mark the anniversary!
Missing Person: I know you get a lot of questions about Evo 2016, but I don’t often hear people talk about how your matchup with Eita went. How did you handle him so well?
