Since it was first announced last March, fighting game fans on Nintendo’s latest console have been eagerly awaiting HORI’s Real Arcade Pro V for Nintendo Switch. Well, fans finally now have a chance to get the stick — provide dthat Amazon can meet demand.
The HORI Nintendo Switch RAP V Hayabusa for Nintendo Switch is now available for purchase over at Amazon for $149.99 USD. The price point is the same as similar RAP V arcade sticks for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. As the name implies, the stick comes with HORI’s own Hayabusa lever and pushbuttons — the same that are now used in arcade cabinets in Japan. Interested parties can head on over to Amazon to order the arcade stick. However, due to strong demand, as of this writing the item has been listed as “temporarily out of stock,” but pre-orders are still open. Those who order now will not be charged until the stick is back in stock and has shipped.
Jonny Lai “HumanBomb” Cheng emerged onto the scene like many others, a virtual unknown, but unlike many others he arrived with a bang. Holding dual citizenship with his native Hong Kong, he emerged out of Australia in 2012 to take 5th at Evo 2012 with his precise Sakura play. Since then, his name has always been near the top of the tournament results whenever he makes it out, despite infrequent attendance. He also turned a lot of heads last year — as well as busted a lot of fantasy brackets — at Capcom Cup 2016 by defeating Infiltration in the very first match.
While at Evo 2017, we sat down with HumanBomb to discuss his success and the state of the scene in Hong Kong.
Corey “Missing Person” Lanier: HumanBomb, how was your Evo experience this year?
Jonny Lai “HumanBomb” Cheng: Last year I couldn’t break into top 32. However this year, I got 25th.
Missing Person: So, obviously some improvement.
HumanBomb: And that was with Chun-Li getting nerfed this season. Somehow I managed to do better with a weaker character.
Missing Person: I remember seeing on your social media accounts how nervous you were at the beginning of the season seeing Chun-Li’s changes. How do you feel now?
HumanBomb: I still think Chun-Li is not that good. The way she plays in Season 2 is totally different. She lost a lot of things, including the safety on instant air Lightning Legs, and now her crouching jab is four frames instead of three. In Season 1, I started everything off of crouching jab. Now I have to use crouching short. It definitely handicapped her damage.
Missing Person: Did you have difficulty adjusting? I specifically remember playing you last year, and you were one of the best players in using her instant air Lightning Legs.
HumanBomb: At the beginning, everyone struggled, including me. I wasn’t too thrown off by the instant air legs, but the crouching jab really threw me. I had to adjust all my combos.
Missing Person: So let’s take a walk back through Street Fighter V. During Street Fighter Crash, you were the killer on the Southeast Team — a team with GamerBee and Poongko. They were both struggling, and you were crushing people. What was going through your mind?
HumanBomb: The first two weeks, I didn’t play well. But later, I started to get my footing. I think the best moment was playing against Team Razer. I was able to beat Fuudo and Infiltration twice, but I lost to only Xian.
Missing Person: I remember people being so shocked that you took out Infiltration there. The crowd reacted in absolute shock. What prepared you to play him?
HumanBomb: There was another Nash player in Hong Kong. We trained a lot together. We had played this matchup inside and out. Every time I went online, I always seemed to match up against him. Then we’d play casuals offline together as well. I had so much experience against Nash that I was well prepared for Infiltration.
Missing Person: I remember seeing how hard you fought to get into Capcom Cup. You were so close in the Asia Regional Finals. You got seventh, losing to Itabashi Zangief. Talk me through this match. What went wrong?
HumanBomb: This was heavily favored for Chun-Li in Season 1. However, you can’t discount a player like Itazan. His mindgames are so strong. He always makes smart decisions. I was leading 2-1. He came back to beat me 3-2, and even perfected me in the last game. It was similar to what he did against Moke in top 8.
Missing Person: But then fate threw you in Capcom Cup anyway. Due to a sequence of unfortunate events, two players dropped out, and you found yourself with a spot in the bracket.
HumanBomb: Yeah, Tse4 didn’t get his visa in time. Then CCL also dropped out. This allowed Yukadon in as well as me in the very last slot.
Missing Person: How did that feel? You deserved to be there, obviously, but at the same time, you got in on a technicality.
HumanBomb: Regardless, I felt happy. It’s the biggest tournament with the most prestige and the highest prize pool. What made me happiest was knowing my first match was Infiltration.
Missing Person: As soon as I saw the bracket, I expected you to win against him. UltraDavid initially called it an upset. Did you disagree with that?
HumanBomb: Honestly, so long as he picked Nash, I was confident against him. He had been using Balrog and Rashid at that time, so he could’ve used either of them to throw me off. But he stuck with Nash. It was still close. I beat him 3-2, and it went to the last round.
Missing Person: Let’s say hypothetically that he did switch to Balrog or Rashid on the final game, do you think it would have ended differently?
HumanBomb: He probably would have won. I didn’t have as much experience against them compared to Nash. I knew that match too well.
HumanBomb playing against Missing Person at Evo 2016. (photo courtesy Jennifer Lee)
Missing Person: Recently you’ve stayed busy promoting the game in Hong Kong. Every time I look, I see you’re doing interviews on tvA.
HumanBomb: I’m also now helping organize monthly tournaments in Hong Kong.
Missing Person: How do you feel Hong Kong is doing in embracing and learning the game?
HumanBomb: We have a lot of good players, but we even received an influx of players in Season 2. In Hong Kong, the best player in Hong Kong was not me, but Tse4, a Balrog player. But after the patch, another player emerged that is doing better than us named HotDog44, and he uses M. Bison. He placed 48th at Evo this year. We also have Chris Wong who is becoming well known, as well as a Laura player who beat Kindevu in pools.
Missing Person: That’s interesting, because while you’re saying Hong Kong’s scene is growing, other scenes have seen a decline. Why do you think Hong Kong is gravitating toward this game?
HumanBomb: Recently, more companies have been sponsoring events in Hong Kong. The government is interested in sponsorship. There’s also more money involved, so it attracts new players.
Missing Person: Do you feel like Hong Kong players have any difficulties they face in improving?
HumanBomb: There aren’t many tournaments, but the players that are playing seriously are getting dangerous.
Missing Person: Do you feel like the visa issues also are a hindrance?
HumanBomb: It’s actually better for us than the mainland Chinese players. The only reason Tse4 didn’t attend Capcom Cup last year was that he didn’t apply in time. But the turnaround time on visas to the United States from Hong Kong is much faster than in China, and less likely that a player will get rejected. Players like Xiaohai who constantly travel have a good track record of returning home, so it becomes much easier for them to get their visas as well in the mainland.
Missing Person: We also caught a glimpse into your personal life, as you now have a girlfriend. We saw her all weekend wearing a Chun-Li costume, cheering you on. Has she started playing the game since meeting you?
HumanBomb: I’ve taught her some, but she isn’t too serious yet. She’s considering learning more. We’re hoping she’ll enter Evo next year.
Missing Person: So if they’ve had a taste of HumanBomb…
Humanbomb: …wait till they get a load of Rose Ma. [laughs]
Missing Person: When we first heard of you, it was at Evo 2012, when you placed fifth with your impressive Sakrua. At that time, you were representing Australia, and you do have dual citizenship. How do you feel about the Australian scene, especially now? Do you feel like they’re strong, or are they behind the rest of the pack?
HumanBomb: I feel like they’re still fine. The problem in Australia is they can’t really connect to each other online. If you go coast-to-coast, the internet is too bad to have a serious match. It also makes it hard to connect to players outside of the country as well. In Hong Kong, I can play players from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore without problems.
Missing Person: So has the move from Australia back to Hong Kong helped your game?
HumanBomb: Yes, definitely.
Missing Person: So with your Australian ties, do you plan on attending OzHadou Nationals?
HumanBomb: I’m considering it. I honestly didn’t enter many tournaments prior to Evo. I only entered Battle Arena Melbourne 9 and Saigon Cup. After Evo, I might fly a bit more. There’s one in Hong Kong in August, and one in Taiwan in October.
Missing Person: Any chances of you coming back west for events, such as Canada Cup or SoCal Reigonals?
HumanBomb: I’m considering my chances in those events. As you know, it’s a huge investment to fly to the United States and Canada for events from Asia. So if you invest that money, you want to be able to win. There’s too many good players now.
Missing Person: You’re notorious for your Chun-Li in Street Fighter V. You were notorious for your Sakura in Street Fighter IV. Here’s the $100,000 question. If Capcom announced Sakura for Season 3, would you drop Chun-Li for her?
HumanBomb: I would definitely use Sakura. But I would also consider Chun-Li for a pocket character, in case she supplements some bad match-ups.
Missing Person: Are there any shout-outs that you’d like to give?
HumanBomb: Shout-outs to the Australian and Hong Kong scenes. And a special shout-out to my girlfriend, Chun-Li.
As previously reported, S.H. Figuarts is releasing a line of collectible Street Fighter V action figures. The first of these — Ryu and Chun-Li — are already available. Now, these will be joined by two more character: Cammy and Rashid.
We’ve known that both Cammy and Rashid would be next in line to get the action figure treatment from S.H. Figuarts for some time now; however, now we actually have our first look at their respective figures. As is the case for S.H. Figuarts products, the figures feature an extreme amount of poseability. This allows the figures to be positioned in similar stances to what the characters can do in-game. The trade-off for this is that they do have a lot of joints that can look a bit awkward — especially on parts representing bare skin.
You can check out Cammy and Rashid’s action figures out in these images, courtesy of Toyark, in the gallery below.
ELEAGUE have announced how players can qualify for the Injustice 2 World Championship, starting on October 21st. In order to include players from all over the world, competitors from all events on the Injustice 2 Championship Series will get a shot at competing at the Championship. The starting 16 will be formed from:
Eight players from the Injustice 2 Pro Series
Two players from the North American Hometown Heroes circuit
Two players from the European Path to Pro series
Two players from the Latin American La Liga series
Two players from the ELEAGUE Last Chance Qualifier
The Last Chance Qualifier will be on October 21st, and will no doubt feature some fierce competition as players battle for those final two spots. After that, the 16 combatants will be split into two groups of eight, where they will fight in a best of five, double-elimination bracket, with the top two from each group going forward.
The final four will then proceed to one last double elimination bracket, where the Injustice 2 World Champion will be crowned. Will Noble|Dragon hold onto his crown after his Evo 2017 win, or will we see someone else take the throne? As with the ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational, all matches will be shown on either TBS or on the ELEAGUE Twitch channel.
ELEAGUE have announced how players can qualify for the Injustice 2 World Championship, starting on October 21st. In order to include players from all over the world, competitors from all events on the Injustice 2 Championship Series will get a shot at competing at the Championship. The starting 16 will be formed from:
Eight players from the Injustice 2 Pro Series
Two players from the North American Hometown Heroes circuit
Two players from the European Path to Pro series
Two players from the Latin American La Liga series
Two players from the ELEAGUE Last Chance Qualifier
The Last Chance Qualifier will be on October 21st, and will no doubt feature some fierce competition as players battle for those final two spots. After that, the 16 combatants will be split into two groups of eight, where they will fight in a best of five, double-elimination bracket, with the top two from each group going forward.
The final four will then proceed to one last double elimination bracket, where the Injustice 2 World Champion will be crowned. Will Noble|Dragon hold onto his crown after his Evo 2017 win, or will we see someone else take the throne? As with the ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational, all matches will be shown on either TBS or on the ELEAGUE Twitch channel.
Are you ready for the cat sensei? Jubei has plenty of hype behind him, and from what we can finally see in a video overview by Arc System Works, he lives up to it!
At last, we have a longer, more detailed look at what exactly Jubei does in a fight. Movement-wise, Jubei’s backdash can be performed out of a run in a way that crosses-up the opponent. He can also start running forward a lot faster if he does his regular backdash.
Jubei has two parry moves, forward A and forward B, and they target low or mid attacks. He can combo out of them. The Drive, “Shiranui,” marks the opponent. This interacts with one of his Distortion Drives, which will cross-up teleport the enemy if they’re marked. If Jubei uses his install-type Distortion Drive, “Immobility: Silk Lotus Formation,” his Drive changes to allow him to set up four marks on the screen. He dashes rapidly to those. The rest of his move set is also empowered, allowing him to do more follow-up attacks.
Two weaknesses that we can see outright are: very short attack range, and as demonstrated with a Ragna combo, and it appears that Jubei is in a “perma-crouching state,” at least for combo purposes. That means that other characters can automatically do their crouching confirms on him.
If you want to see his full move list with explained and translated attacks, check out the BlazBlue Wikia Jubei page.
I mean, look at that backwalk animation. You wouldn’t hit a kitty, would you?
Jubei is arriving shortly to BlazBlue: Central Fiction arcade cabinets — dated August 3rd. We have no console version confirmation yet.
For fighting game fans playing Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers or the various NEO GEO ports on the Nintendo Switch, there really isn’t much in terms of options for arcade sticks. Those looking for a proper arcade experience have only the HORI Nintendo Switch Real Arcade Pro V as an option. Retro controller manafacturer 8Bitdo aims to change that, with their own arcade stick for Nintendo’s portable/console hybrid.
Available for pre-order now over at Amazon for only $79.99, the 8Bitdo NES30 provides a less-costly alternative to HORI’s Switch RAP V. Aside from the Nintendo Switch, the stick will also work with iOS and Android, via both Bluetooth wireless and wired USB-C. No details on the arcade parts used have been yet released by 8Bitdo — that said, the lower price of entry likely means that it won’t be using genuine arcade parts, unlike the HORI.
The 8Bitdo NES30 arcade stick will be released on August 30, 2017. Interested parties can head on over to Amazon to pre-order.
If you’ve kept up all with datamining in the world of Street Fighter V, then X-Kira is a name you’re likely to recognize. Though the Brazilian data miner already has a history of leaking some of Capcom’s surprises before they’re officially announced/released, his latest report contains arguably his most interesting discoveries of all.
He notes that eventually we will have weather and time settings on stages, similarly to how the Forgotten Waterfall, Kanzuki Estate, and Shadaloo Base currently have day and night-time variations available in the Shop. He also displays a prototype “V-Mode,” that will perhaps allow all characters to choose alternate V-Skills, V-Triggers, and V-Reversals before the start of a battle in the future, something that has been highly requested by a portion of the fanbase. Next, he displays some screenshots of what appears to be a fully-working version of the “Extra Battle Mode” Capcom mentioned a long ways back, showing battles against Shadaloo Dolls Decapre and Enero, as well as low-ranking Shadaloo Soldiers, all of whom currently serve as NPC opponents in the Cinematic Story Mode: A Shadow Falls. X-Kira mentions that Capcom will implement special stipulations to matches in this mode to increase their challenge and overall difficulty to players, such as the enemy’s stun meter filling more slowly than average (while the player’s will fill up more quickly), players starting with only 50%, 30%, or 10% health (versus a full-health CPU opponent), “Extreme” difficulty, single-hit deaths, completely inverted controls, or being unable to block.
Moving on to some upcoming stages, X-Kira notes the existence of a “Shadaloo Corridor A,” as well as an Ibuki stage, possibly from Street Fighter III. Data is also displayed for a new “Dojo Mode,” as well as placeholders for new, likely Premium, Costumes for M. Bison, Karin Kanzuki, Guile, and Ibuki.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, X-Kira has found an apparently fully-functioning version of the much sought-after Arcade Mode located inside the code of SFV, revealing that it will have a total of 10 stages, which will include a Bonus Stage (hinted to be destroying Abigail’s beloved “vrrroomm vrroommm” monster truck,) as well as “Intrusion” and “Rival” battles, perhaps similar to the character-specific clashes with cutscenes seen in Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Street Fighter IV. Finally, there is a file for “ArcadeEnemy_TypeMAX,” alluding to a Final Boss battle on Stage 10. X-Kira claims to know the identity of this Boss character, but would prefer not to talk about it at this moment — also noting that the Mode could be launched today by Capcom and would run with absolutely no problems, as the core groundwork has already been laid inside the current version of the game.
You can see the entire 60-slide report, in PDF format, here.
In Tekken 7, the fastest moves for every character are 10 frames — with one sword wielding exception. Yoshmitsu’s 1+4, known as “Flash,” beats the standard jab speed, and has quite a lot of versatility in use.
As SutekiChannel demonstrates, this attack comes in two flavors: standard Flash is 6 frames but has almost no range, and No-Sword Stance (or NSS) Flash is 8 frames but has more range. Both versions are combo starting mids. Though the above video demonstrates how Yoshimitsu can interrupt and punish Alisa in particular, the principal is the same for all characters: this swordsman doesn’t have to respect as many strings as other characters do, and NSS Flash in particular is one of the best punishment tools in the game.
This past past weekend saw some of the hottest Street Fighter V action around with Defend the North 2017. With the event taking place in New York City, many of the top players from the northeast and East Coast converged on the Big Apple to to compete for the championship.
At the end of the day, it was big names that were left standing with Panda Global’s Evo 2017 Street Fighter V runner-up Victor “Punk” Woodley, alongside RISE Nation’s Bryant “Smug” Huggins. The real star of the show however was New York’s rising star Derek “Idom” Ruffin.
While not as well-known as the other two, Idom has already made a name for himself among the New York and East Coast players with some impressive wins at the weekly Next Level Battle Circuit tournaments. This all comes to head as he takes on Punk, forcing him into the losers bracket where he has to face Danny “Danslip” Ortiz, who himself had just taken out Smug in the losers semi-finals.
For those who missed the action, Team Spooky has uploaded the finals matches from Defend the North onto their channel. Did Punk get his rematch against Idom? Did the rising Laura star finally get his big win? Find out in the matches below.
