Category: News

In a story of Biblical proportions, the Malaysian government has blocked citizens from accessing Steam, in order to stop people playing Fight of Gods. This comes after the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission called for the ban and removal of the heavenly fighter from Steam.

In a statement issued by publisher PQube, the Malaysian government has made no attempt to contact either them or developer Digital Crafter over Fight of Gods, with them only learning about the Steam block via secondary sources. While both PQube and Digital Crafter are of course disappointed by the ruling, they are currently working with Steam to resolve the issue and hopefully, get the service unblocked. You can read the full statement below:

Fight of Gods is a video game that takes a humorous approach to religion in the same way that other entertainment formats have – across television, film, books and theatre. The game is not promoting any religious agenda and is not designed to offend.

The description of the game on the digital platforms through which it is distributed provide clear guidance on the nature of the game and its content so that people can freely choose whether or not to play it. We fully respect the choice of those who would not wish to play it. We are disappointed that such freedom of choice is not given to everyone and in particular that the game has been forcibly removed from sale in Malaysia, although no direct communication has been received by us as to the reasons for this.

Nevertheless we respect any rules and censorship imposed in any given territory. We have reached out to Steam and are working with them to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

Source: PQube [press release]

With the first villain of Fighter Pack 2 set to arrive in Injustice 2 later this month, NetherRealm Studios will once again be hosting an Injustice 2 Watchtower Livestream dedicating to breaking down Aquaman’s arch-nemesis Black Manta.

During his official gameplay trailer reveal at the end of the GameStop Hometown Heroes finals, we saw that the aquatic fighter will be brimming with all sorts of gadgets and weaponry from his iconic black wetsuit, which grants him access to eye lasers, a jet pack for a Zatanna-esque float, shoulder-mounted rocket launchers, a teleport punch resembling Mortal Kombat‘s Sektor, his harpoon gun, explosives (that could potentially be a Gear ability), twin blades, and mechanical, extendable trident, which he uses as part of his super.

As usual, the stream will be taking place tomorrow at 3:00 PM Central Standard Time (1:00 PM PT) at https://www.twitch.tv/netherealm.

Black Manta will be released next Tuesday, September 12th, for owners of Fighter Pack 2 or the Ultimate Edition, with his standard release following a week later on September 19th. You can see the announcement tweet below.

Join us for the #Watchtower stream this Friday at 1 pm PDT/3 pm CDT for a look at Black Manta! https://t.co/X4zUVEV3WW #injustice2 pic.twitter.com/4xOqlyPtJ6

— Injustice2 (@InjusticeGame) September 6, 2017

For more on Black Manta, you can check out History Behind the Warrior’s look at the legendary rivalry between Manta and the King of Atlantis — Arthur Curry, better known as Aquaman — here. You can also check out the patch notes for the game’s recent October update here.

Sources: InjusticeGame (Twitter); Test Your Might

Las Vegas-based esports team InTheSkies is primarily known for their extremely powerful division of Tekken 7 players, including the likes of CuddleCore, CuteTricks, BC20FLY, Jackie Tran, Kane, Kawaii, Lil Majin, P. Ling, MYK, SourPiggy and YanFlip. However, they’ve recently begun to expand their reach further into the larger fighting game community, by making their first signings outside of the 3D realm.

First up, they’ve acquired Street Fighter V M. Bison player Richard “Pnoy” Clink, who’s coming off of a victory at Japonawa 2017, as well as a 5th place finish at West Coast Warzone 6, placing 2nd at Genesis 4, getting 17th at Combo Breaker, 25th at Evo, and, most recently, 3rd at 2GGC: SCR Saga. He is also ranked 81st on our SRK World Rankings for SFV.

Pinoy will also be picking up Tekken 7 as a secondary game alongside his teammates. On Twitter, Pnoy noted that it was now time to, “put in even more work at more events.”

ITS is very proud and excited to announce our intro into SFV starting with the very talented @PnoySD! #whereITSat #SFV #FGC pic.twitter.com/yE48qGi9Jx

— InTheSkies, LLC (@ITS_InTheSkies) August 16, 2017

I'm excited to represent the team as their first SFV player. Time to put in more work at even more events
https://t.co/NI9gUP1eUV

— Richard Clink (@PnoySD) August 17, 2017

But things don’t end there, as last week ITS announced they would also be signing one of the top American puppet players in Arc System Works games, Julian “Beautiful Dude” Franco. to represent them in BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, and Tekken 7.

Known for his devastating pad-based Zato-1, Relius Clover and Ken Amada in BlazBlue, Guilty Gear and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Julian also gained some infamy in Tekken 7 circles earlier this year at Evo 2017, where he eliminated Cyclops Osaka’s Tanukana in Losers Round 1 of Pools 2-1 with his hopkick-happy Claudio.

He currently sits at 21st in our Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 World Rankings, coming off of 3rd place showings at NCR and Texas Showdown 2017, getting 17th at CEO, 25th at Evo and 5th at the August 2017 edition of NorCal Dogfight. He’s also a frequent top 8 placer in Xrd at Wednesday Night Fights. As for BBCF, where he sits at 14th on our World Rankings, he also placed 3rd at NCR and Texas Showdown, before getting 7th at Combo Breaker and 13th at CEO. He will begin representing the team later this month at Southern California Regionals 2017. You view those announcement tweets below.

ITS is excited to enter into the Guilty Gear arena starting with @BeautifuldudeGG who will be representing us at SCR 2017! #whereITSat pic.twitter.com/DRWBcTr9nD

— InTheSkies, LLC (@ITS_InTheSkies) September 1, 2017

Hella Excited to be representing ITS! I'll make sure to do my best and hopkick, DMH, and 2C to victory! https://t.co/8PBSY93O69

— ITS | Beautifuldude (@BeautifuldudeGG) September 1, 2017

We here at Shoryuken would like to congratulate both of these players, as well as ITS on these new signings, and wish all parties involved the best in their future endeavors.

Sources: BeautifuldudeGG (Twitter); ITS_InTheSkies (Twitter); PnoySD (Twitter)

Ever wondered how Injustice 2 featured such lifelike and accurate facial animations? The secret behind it is cameras, a lot of cameras — 44, to be exact.

In a reveal to CNET, NetherRealm Studios explained that by positioning 44 DSLR cameras precisely, they were able to capture every possible angle of their actors’ faces, thus making it easier to frame their face perfectly on the character models’ heads. This wasn’t all — as they also used four head-mounted cameras to motion capture facial movements.

While this all may seem extraneous for a video game, but NetherRealm has paid attention to a lot of details, and it has paid off for fans.

Source: CNET

Canada Cup upped the ante last year when its $500 pot bonus for Super Street Fighter II Turbo attracted 73 players from across Canada, the United States, Europe, and Japan. This year looks to be more of the same, as the event has once again hit the requisite entrants for the $500 pot bonus provided by organizer Lap Chi Duong — over a month earlier than last year.

This event looks to break attendance numbers from last year — which also shattered the record from the prior year of 45 entrants. While the hype of having Hx.CYG BST|Daigo Umehara in attendance has certainly contributed to this, there are still more Japanese players that have thrown their names in the hat. Mattsun and Kusumondo have entered once again (having finished first and second last year, respectively) alongside KOEMON, a legendary Fei Long player in the game.

Who will take the crown this year? Make sure to put your name in for a chance, as the tournament will be held from October 27 through 29 in Toronto, Ontario.

Source: smash.gg

Fight of Gods recently updated with brand new characters — none other than Jesus and Buddha themselves. The divine brawler has been attracting some attention, whether it’s through a Jesus infinite combo or its controversial character depictions. Whether you approve of this gospel or brush it off as a quirky fighting game, the game has picked up some negative attention in Malaysia.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission is going after the divine brawler, citing a violation of the Communications and Multimedia Act of 1998, Section 233, which penalizes knowingly “making, creating, or soliciting any comment, request, suggestion or other communication which is obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person.”

“Malaysians respect all cultural and religious sensitivities, and the sale and distribution of the religiously insensitive and blasphemous games must be stopped immediately,” according to Salleh Said Keruak, Communications and Multimedia Minister.

In less complex lingo, they find Fight of Gods to be offensive, degrading to religious harmony, and threatening to racial unity, Malaysia Kini reports.

“It is in the public interest to ensure that immediate steps are taken so that such contents do not continue to harm others,” Keruak went on to say, stating that further action will be taken should the Taiwanese creators of Fight of Gods, Digital Crafter, not comply with the demand.

“Censorship!” you might cry? The very same act also states that “nothing in this Act shall be construed as permitting the censorship of the Internet.” The law gives Ministers power in determining what kind of content they deem offensive.

Sources: Malaysia Kini; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime