Gamers on the Edge holding their annual 4TheKids charity tournament in Clearwater, Florida on May 19-20

Play some fighting games in Florida to help sick kids this May!

Gamers on the Edge is gearing up to host their annual charity fighting game event, the 4TheKids Regional Tournament. It will take place at the Holiday Inn St. Petersburg North in Clearwater, Florida on May 19 and 20, 2018; all venue proceeds will go to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. This year’s tournament lineup:

  • Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition
  • Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
  • Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2
  • BlazBlue: Central Fiction
  • Dragon Ball FighterZ
  • Skullgirls 2nd Encore
  • Tekken 7
  • Injustice 2
  • Super Smash Bros. for Wii U [singles, doubles, & “8 Player Sm4sh Madness”]
  • Super Smash Bros. Melee [singles & doubles]
  • Brawlhalla
  • Rivals of Aether

For more information or to register to compete/attend, head over to the event’s smash.gg page.

Sources: Gamers on the Edge; smash.gg

NicoNico are holding a special “Ultimate Battles” exhibition, featuring Tokido, Punk, JDCR and more

Japanese streaming service NicoNico are holding a special exhibition series this New Year’s Eve, which will see players from various games settling grudge matches from earlier in the year. The three fighting game exhibitions feature Japanese players either trying to get their revenge, or proving their dominance over a particular foreign fighter.

For Tekken 7, the exhibition will see Echo Fox’s JDCR facing off against Noroma — the Japanese Jack-7 player who bested both JDCR and his teammate Saint at the Korean Master event on the Tekken World Tour. The two did clash again at the Tekken World Tour finals, with JDCR winning out and making the set count 1-1.

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the match will see Japanese number one KEN battling against NRG|Nairo. These two have quite the storied rivalry, starting all the way back at Umebura SAT back in August of 2016. Since then, Nairo and KEN have been back and forth in sets, with the two clashing both in the US and Japan. As it stands, KEN is 5-3 in sets, so this grudge match hopes to put Nairo in back on the board for 2018.

And finally, the Street Fighter V exhibition needs no introduction. It’s the Demon versus the Alpha — Punk versus Tokido. Ever since Tokido’s victory over Punk at Evo 2017, the All-American Karin has wanted to defeat his demon on the big stage. He didn’t get the chance at Capcom Cup, so this ultimate battle may be Punk’s chance to turn the tide, before the release of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition.

For those wanting to watch these exhibitions, they will be streamed live on NicoNico from 1:30pm JST this Sunday.

Source: nicolive_PR

iFix Machine seeks to breathe new life into classic fighting games and the New York arcade scene

iFix Machine works to keep fighting game arcade history alive and kicking.

Much of the North American fighting game community got to watch the decline of the arcade scene, as the games we played vanished from arcade cabinets to dwell only on consoles and PC, and the gaming centers that hosted them dwindled afterwards. But many community members still seek to keep the classic scene alive — and NYC’s iFix Machine has joined the fight.

On Rushdown Radio, Michael Mirrorcle interviewed Chris Sandoval, iFix Machine’s “hype man” that joined Christopher Velasquez and Jose Cruz to start up the arcade project. Sandoval describes what iFix Machine offers:

iFix Machine is both a game center and a repair shop. We focus on the repairing PCs, video game consoles, laptops, mobile devices, etc. We also offer RGB upgrades for retro gaming consoles. We also focus on retro fighting games pre-Street Fighter IV. We run our games on authentic hardware such as Capcom CPS2, Naomi, CS3 and Atomiswave with various PCBs such as Street Fighter EX 2 Plus and Fighting Layer. And if we don’t have it available, we utilize our RGB Modded CRTs with a supergun.

When asked about their plans for 2018, Sandoval replies “We hope to become the NYC version of Takadanobaba Mikado Arcade, which is located in Shinjuku, Japan, focusing on old fighting games.” He also describes the iFix Machine philosophy:

iFix Machine focuses on the games the current state of the FGC players forgot about. iFix Machine has brought Japanese quality arcade cabs to NYC. We want to bring back the sensation of players sharing tech with each other instead of everyone wanting to keep the tech to themselves. We want to focus on helping everyone evolve as a whole while providing a solid arcade experience with proper audio/visual quality to the players. Maybe even become a tourist attraction for people who want the Japanese arcade experience but can’t get to Japan.

For the full interview — and lots of pictures of the venue and their cabinets — head over to Rushdown Radio. You can also find more information about iFix Machine on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks to Michael for the tip.

Source: Rushdown Radio

Street Fighter titles that didn’t make the cut for the 30th Anniversary Collection, as listed by Phrost

Is the Anniversary Collection missing some key games in Street Fighter’s history?

Capcom is planning to pack a lot of Street Fighter titles into the upcoming Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, coming in May 2018…

sf 30th games

While it includes the multiple versions of Street Fighter II, Street Fighter III, the original game, and the Alpha series, there are still some titles that notably didn’t make the cut into the collection.

Phrost listed a number of games excluded from the collection on this thread on r/StreetFighter. Games arguably “missing” from this compilation are:

  • updated versions/remakes of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, such as Super Street Fighter II HD Remix and Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers
  • expanded SFA titles like Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold and Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX
  • anything from the Vs. series, such as X-Men vs. Street Fighter
  • Street Fighter: The Movie – The Game
  • Super Gem Fighter Mini-Mix a.k.a. Pocket Fighter
  • Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, or its HD Remix version

The exclusion of these titles can be chalked up to a desire to stick to the original, main-line titles — and not crossovers, games that include non-Street Fighter characters, or “non-canonical” games like Street Fighter: The Movie – The Game. The updated Alpha titles (Gold, MAX) also had some unpopular changes among players, such as changes to Custom Combos and Alpha Counters in Gold and removal of the crouch-cancel glitch in MAX. Personally, I think the inclusion of Super Gem Fighter Mini-Mix would have been a nice touch. Check out the full posting on reddit for more thoughts and discussion.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection

Source: r/StreetFighter

– The World Health Organization to Add ‘Obsessive Gaming Disorders’ to Its Classification of Diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO) will be adding “obsessive gaming disorders” to its International Classification of Diseases in 2018. The diagnostic manual will be published sometime in 2018, the first update since 1990. “Health professionals need to recognize that the gaming disorder may have serious health consequences” said Vladimir Poznyak, member of WHO’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse panel.

– Accident During Virtual Reality Session Leads to Man’s Death

A 44-year-old man was found dead late last week after apparently falling into a glass table and being cut so severely that he bled out. The accident happened while he was wearing a virtual reality headset and could not see his immediate surroundings. Preliminary findings may indicate that “the game was not properly mapped to the size of his apartment” and resulted in the fall and death. Officials have launched an investigation into the incident after the man’s body was found by his mother.

Rock out to the tunes from Fighting EX Layer’s beta test build

Peppy arcade-style tunes from ARIKA!

Are you enjoying ARIKA’s open beta for Fighting EX Layer on PSN? A beta test like this not only gives us a chance to try out the gameplay: it reveals to us the aesthetic design elements of the game — and the music, of course!

Xuses has uploaded this compilation of music from the FEXL beta for our listening enjoyment. The classic arcade game electronica sound fits the game’s style and tone very well! Check it out below.

Source: XusesGB

Vancouver Street Battle gets a new monthly tournament: Okizeme 起き攻め kicks off December 30th

Monthly battles return to Vancouver!

If you’re in Vancouver, British Columbia at the end of December, you’ll want to check out the new monthly tournament hosted by Air and Vancouver Street Battle: Okizeme 起き攻め! Featured games will include:

  • Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2
  • BlazBlue: Central Fiction
  • Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st]
  • Tekken 7
  • Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
  • Street Fighter V
  • Ultra Street Fighter IV

There will be cash prizes naturally, and free Red Bull for attendees; for more information, check out the Okizeme 起き攻め event page on Facebook.

Source: Okizeme 起き攻め (Facebook)

Who is “G”? BornFree explores theories on the identity of Street Fighter V’s Season 3 newcomer

The “fighting president” (if that’s what he is) is still cloaked in mystery.

SFV Season 3 characters

Two new fighters for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition were revealed at Capcom Cup 2017 in the new opening cinematic: Ed’s Neo-Shadaloo compatriot Falke, and the mysterious “G” — at this point, pretty much a complete unknown. Who is G, and where does he fit into the world of Street Fighter?

In the video below, BornFree relates six different theories as to who this newcomer may be. Does “G” just stand for “gold” as part of a pro-wrestling persona? Is G Abraham Lincoln resurrected/cloned by the Illuminati? Is there a connection to Greg from Bloody Roar? Is G just Gill in disguise…? Check out the video and decide for yourself.

Also: don’t ask the blue Blanka for advice.

Source: BornFree

ESAM explains the strengths and weaknesses of the worst characters in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

PandaGlobal’s ESAM is on a mission to break down every character in the massive roster of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U in his year-long tier list project. As the year begins to close out, his reflection on Smash’s current state begins: ESAM shares his thoughts on the bottom and low tiers in the game in a two part video series:

ESAM’s mindful of both strengths and weaknesses, exhaustively laying out each character’s kill confirms, combo options, and potential in the meta. Stay tuned to his channel to see the list develop throughout the month.

Source: imESAM