The beefier version of Sony’s latest console, PlayStation 4 Pro, launched on November 10; alongside upgraded hardware–which helps stabilize framerates for any game–there’s a growing list of “PS4 Pro Enhanced” games, that will support 4K and HDR features on compatible TVs.
The Japanese PlayStation 4 site recently published a list of games that includes a few confirmed Western titles, like KNACK and inFAMOUS Second Son, but also mentions Asian games. Among them figures BlazBlue: Central Fiction.
There’s a thread on Reddit with a few mixed impressions about the feature, but it seems that the 2D fighter’s visuals improve–with the right setup.
Currently, no other fighting game is listed offering this support.
The PlayStation Experience is going to be quite the convention for fighting game fans, as Sony has announced another fighting game that will be on the showfloor from December 3rd to 4th. Created by the author of “Playing to Win” and designer of Yomi and Puzzle Strike, David Sirlin’s Fantasy Strike will be at the PlayStation Experience, planned for a future PS4 release. For those who aren’t familiar: Fantasy Strike is a fighting game which aims to vastly lower the entry barrier for fighting games, by having most inputs be assigned to a single button.
No quarter circles, 720s or pretzel motions here: all special move inputs are assigned to one button press. Crouching has been removed and throws can now be countered by pressing nothing. You did just read that right, taking your hands off the stick when someone tries to throw you will initiate a “Yomi Counter,” reversing the throw with a cool reversal animation and giving you a full super bar.
Fantasy Strike is still in early development, but David and his team have so far implemented eight characters from the initial ten available in the Yomi card game, with the team planning to add more characters, more modes and GGPO matchmaking into the final product. Fantasy Strike is also coming to PC, and is actually playable in a pre-alpha state–but it does require a Patreon donation for access.
If you are at all interested in the concept of a fighting game which cuts through the complexity of input systems to get to the juicy core of mindgames, spacing, footsies and so on, swing by the Fantasy Strike booth at the PlayStation Experience to try it out for yourself.
One of the most contentious issues about Street Fighter V has been the game’s input delay. At launch, the game had a larger-than-average amount of input delay–8 frames–than most fighting games. While this has now been reduced, many are hoping that it be brought down even more.
At the recently concluded Red Bull Battle Grounds, Red Bull eSports’ Anne Ellis got a chance to talk to Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi about this issue. According to Tokido, due to the input lag, aggressive players stood a better chance at winning. “One mix-up is all it took to score a victory” he states. He further elaborates, saying that certain characters, such as Laura, benefited a lot from the input delay, making their mix-up-centric play styles stronger. Once the input lag was reduced however, these characters started losing more–since their mix-ups became much easier to react to.
Tokido hopes that if Capcom reduces the input delay further, they also take these characters into consideration and adjust them accordingly. “Maybe they can change more,” he says. “They changed only input lag. I think maybe it is good they change something more.”
Of course, that’s not all that Tokido talks about in the interview. He also discusses his character choice, the concept of “fairness,” and of course, Akuma. Check out the full article over at Red Bull eSports.
Even though it seems that the NetherRealm Studios team is moving on to other projects, the MK community seems determined to support their game with or without developer support. Combo videos and community content are of course just one way a scene sticks around, but they are without a doubt enjoyable. So, let’s get into the roundup for today.
First up we have a user who’s been consistently uploading Mortal Kombat content since the balance patch, TrueUnderDawgGaming. He’s got a few different high percent combo tutorials for us, including Cutthroat Kano, Ravenous Mileena, as well as a high percent no meter Grandmaster Sub Zero tutorial.
Up next we have a compilation combo video, featuring Mileena. This video goes through all of her variations, featuring different confirms and combo routes for each.
To round out today’s roundup we have two montages, featuring highlights, comebacks, vortexes, and popoffs from real matches.
As previously reported Virtual Fighter 5 Final Showdown will be playable inside Sega’s upcoming Yakuza 6. Now, while many may have assumed that this would just be a strict arcade port playable only locally, it seems that there’s more to it than that.
VFDC is reporting that VF5 Final Showdown inside Yakuza 6 can be played online. However, the catch is that it can do so only via the PlayStation 4’s Share Play feature. The information comes from a recent Sega live stream. Originally, many had thought that Sega had confirmed actual online play, however those who had actually seen the stream confirmed that it was only via Share Play.
For those who aren’t aware, Share Play allows a second player to come play on a PlayStation 4 over the internet via streaming. This means that appears on the second player’s screen is simply stream from the host PlayStation 4. As with any game streaming service, Share Play does introduce some lag–so don’t expect online VF5 tournaments to be run through Yakuza 6.
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Rising Up. As you may recall, I’ve partnered with Shoryuken.com to create an instructional series on YouTube, focusing on getting new players into Street Fighter V. Continuing from Part 1, we’re going to be defining combos and discussing both the mechanics associated with combos and the resources players can use to find and learn combos. In this video I cover links, cancels, juggles, punishing, and hit confirming, as well as your game and online resources.
I imagine I’m preaching to the choir here, as most of you probably either already have a good grasp on how combos work, but nevertheless I hope to reach out to at least some prospective new SFV players are reading this, whether they’re new to fighting games or just Street Fighter. More than that, I imagine many people would appreciate a video to simply link to, rather than to explain the mechanics personally, so I wanted this video to be that resource you could quickly and easily share. Let me reiterate that it is in the best interests of the FGC as a whole if we expand our userbase, and the easiest and most important way to do that is to create a hospitable environment for new players to quickly understand and learn. I try to do my part by making these videos, but I rely on you guys to share them.
I’d also like to personally thank Paul O’Shea for creating Frame Assistant Tool, FATonline, and for hosting and distributing my character notes. Remember to subscribe to the Shoryuken channel and keep an eye out for future updates!
HORI’s Sako is still in the running for Capcom Cup, and he is preparing for his chance to make it to the event in Anaheim at the Asia Regional Finals in Busan. So how is he fairing in his progress?
Rintarou is a great Japanese Ken. He has little tournament experience and has only been out to play domestically. His online play has been noted as solid, and thus great practice for the best in Asia.
So when Sako’s Chun faces off against Rintarou’s Ken in a first to five, who will win? Will Sako prove that he’s ready for his shot at making it to Anaheim? Find out below!
Acting as one of the most requested characters to be given the “Art of” treatment, IzAw has finally turned his attention to Marth and Lucina in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. The two sword users have had a resurgence in popularity as of late, thanks to buffs to almost everything in patch 1.1.5 and top players like Pugwest, SS|Mr. E and MKLeo performing well with Marth in particular.
As with previous “Art of” tutorials, the video covers the entire movesets of both Marth and Lucina, detailing how to use all of their specials and normals effectively in combat. There is variation between the two characters, as Marth gets certain kill confirms and 50/50 setups thanks to the tipper on his sword, but they fundamentally play the same way.
If you want more in-depth Marth information, make sure to check out some of the videos made by Rising VeXx, who we have previouslycovered on Shoryuken. His videos will help round out your Marth knowledge with more kill confirms and gimmicks like the Stun Jacket.
Most Shoryuken readers are likely familiar with data mining due to how it has given out clues to future developments coming to certain games. That said, that’s not all that data mining can be used for. Data mining can also be used in older games to tell us more about their development, and certain things we may have missed out on due to them being dummied out.
In a recent video, SEGA Bits discusses the unused characters that have been that have been recently discovered in SEGA’s original Virtua Fighter from 1993. The first of these, Siba, is already well known to Virtua Fighter fans since he appeared in early screenshots of the game, before he was eventually cut (though his face still appeared on the US arcade cabinet). Siba did eventually appear in Fighters Megamix, but with a totally different moveset.
The second fighter is what seems to be an early version of Akira Yuki. The main difference here is that he has bangs partly covering his eyes but retaining spiky hair in the back. Other than that, he’s the same character as the final one.
The third fighters is a military style character named Jeff. Jeff is interesting from a technical point of view due to the technique SEGA used to render camouflage without relying on texture maps (which the series only got in Virtua Fighter 2).
When I posted my editorial about NuckleDu’s chances at Capcom Cup, one of the most pertinent comments I received was that both Daigo Umehara and Tokido have stated that they have problems with Guile. While for many this would be a constant Achilles’ Heel, for the top players this is a challenge to rise above.
Daigo, the consummate pro, has taken matters into his own hands to learn the Guile match-up. In this video put together by Xuses, we see Daigo square off against one of the best Guiles in the world, Doyanbo. What happens is a long story of the Beast’s adaptation to a match-up he finds to be one of Ryu’s worst, and a lesson in how to fight the match-up for all the Ryu mains out there scratching their heads at Guile.
