Category: Fighting Games

Though the hype and moments of 2017’s installment of the Evolution Championship Series are still fresh in all of our minds, the staff has already begun instituting some new rules to be put in place for the next competition.

Earlier today, Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar announced via Twitter that the tournament’s rules have been amended to remove the ban on players receiving coaching between rounds of their matches, provided they are not taking place on any Evo tournament stage — but to compensate, the amount of downtime allotted between rounds of each game has been reduced to merely 30 seconds. There has also been a new rule about stage trespassing put into place, which on the official website reads: “Any unauthorized player trespassing on any of the Evo stages, including in the arena, will immediately be ejected and may be arrested at the tournament organizer’s discretion.”

You can view the tweets below, and can take a look at the fully-updated Evo rules here.

Evo rules update! We have removed the no coaching rule, reduced the time between rounds to 30 seconds, and added a stage trespassing rule.

— Joey Cuellar (@MrWiz) August 2, 2017

pic.twitter.com/sZWu9eiYUH

— Bear (@BearUNLV) August 2, 2017

Do you think these slight rule alterations are a good idea for future events, based on any prior experience as an attendee? Give us your thoughts on these changes in the comments section below.

Sources: Mr. Wizard (Twitter); BearUNLV (Twitter); Evo

Ever since Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was announced, there has been a lot of discussion on who may not make it into the game (either on launch, or as DLC) due to Marvel’s complicated relationship with Fox. For the most part, people have assumed that anyone related to the Fantastic Four or X-Men — which Fox holds the movie rights to — would likely not make it into the game.

However, it seems we can know who specifically cannot be used. The folks over at the r/MvCI subreddit have picked up on an article that Bleeding Cool ran last May on a list of restricted characters, that Marvel has sent out to sketch artists for trading cards. Now while the list is for trading cards, it’s highly likely that the restrictions here match those for video games as well.

The list itself is pretty broad and comprehensive, covering various properties, including those which Marvel either licenses from other companies or has shared ownership of (e.g. G.I. Joe, Red Sonja). What’s of more interest for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite are those which Marvel fully owns, but are still restricted. This includes the entirety of characters related to the Fantastic Four, including villains such as Galactus, Doctor Doom, and Super Skrull. Meanwhile, some X-Men related characters are also included, but not all of them. Popular characters such as Magneto, Cyclops, and Wolverine, and more are not on the list, while other characters such as Gambit and Apocalypse are.

Take note that the copy of the list that was acquired dates from March of 2016, and that it may have also changed since then.

Head on over to Bleeding Cool to check out the whole list.

Source: Bleeding Cool via r/MvCI

Europe’s largest gaming trade-show Gamescom is fast approaching, and several fighting game developers are showing off new content. Capcom have already stated that Dormammu and Firebrand will be revealed for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, and Bandai Namco have confirmed that a new Dragon Ball FighterZ demo will be playable at the show.

According to Bandai Namco, an “enhanced playable version” will be present at Gamescom, along with DBFZ’s first competitive European tournament. Based on that wording, I imagine the Gamescom build will likely feature Krillin, Future Trunks and Piccolo, alongside any additional engine changes Arc System Works have made since E3. We may even get a hint at the 10th character, which is hopefully going to be added for the closed DBFZ beta. My bets on either Tien Shinhan, Ginyu, or one of the Androids.

Gamescom runs from August 23rd to 26th, so keep your scouters ready for any new DBFZ information.

Source: Bandai Namco Europe

While CEO may be moving to Daytona for its 2018 event, the FGC may be returning to Orlando in the near future as part of Disney’s push into the world of esports. Set to be completed in January 2018, Disney will be opening a 8000-seat stadium inside the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, which is being poised for hosting future esports tournaments.

“We are absolutely looking at esports and [the stadium is] a wonderful venue for that,” says Faron Kelley, the vice president of Disney Sports. “Everyone is learning at the same time about what is the best way to do this. With our unique configuration we could have an esports event going on at the same time as an esports conference or expo in one of our other venues. We have got a lot of flexibility.”

Based on ESPN’s history with the FGC — recently televising Evo finals for both Street Fighter V and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U — I’d expect fighting game events would definitely be on the company’s radar. When you also consider other media outlets like the BBC and Turner Broadcasting are giving the FGC a shot, I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney try to host their own televised event in this brand new arena.

So the question remains, when are we going to see Mickey Mouse throw a Hadoken?

Source: Forbes