We couldn’t decide which “leak” to run this year, so we went with both.
Time to come clean: no, there is no BlazBlue: Central Fiction Extend planned (as far as we know), so don’t worry about having to drop any extra money on an update–yet. Arc System Works: if you’ve got something planned, don’t fear–your employees are still keeping your secrets. Maybe we’ll get a playable Jubei after all, someday…
As for Street Fighter Alpha Competitive Collection–sorry, this one was cruel, but because we want to see this become a reality so much ourselves, we couldn’t resist. We all would love to see an updated Alpha collection make its way to the current generation. Still hoping.
A number of gag ideas were deemed too downbeat to approach, despite how hot the topic–like the lack of any news on a Super Smash Bros. re-release for Switch, or the continued absence of Pokkén Tournament 1.5 on the Wii U; too harsh to pour salt into those wounds. Here’s a few more ideas that didn’t quite make the cut:
Capcom announces Hyper Street Fighter IV
Using the Ryu amiibo with Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers unlocks SFV mode
(which removes Arcade Mode and puts Evil Ryu & Violent Ken behind a paywall)
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers will allow one-button special moves/supers
(with the reveal of touch inputs, might not be too far from the truth)
Dhalsim revealed as a DLC guest fighter for ARMS
Persona 5 Arena (maybe too soon…?)
Street Fighter X Darkstalkers
Street Fighter X Mortal Kombat
Street Fighter X Nidhogg
ARMS will be an event at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Until next year: we hope you had a fun April Fool’s Day!
Mairis Briedis (22-0, 18 KOs) outpointed two-time world champion Marco Huck (40-4-1, 27 KOs) to win the vacant WBC cruiserweight title on Saturday night at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany.
Bredis won a unanimous decision by scores of 116-111, 117-110, and 118-109.
The unbeaten Latvian used good movement and landed heavy blows throughout the fight. Serbian-born Huck, who resides in Germany, could not get any offence going. He tried to rally in the later rounds but Briedis remained in…
Earlier this week, SNK announced that Rock Howard would be joining The King of Fighters XIV as its 4th DLC character. Though the trailer was certainly hype, we now have our first footage of him in an actual match, while he has a sparring session with his trainer Terry Bogard. The single round of action gives us another look at his supers, including his Deadly Rave Neo and a MAX Mode combo.
We also have another clip of combo footage, courtesy of Gatoray. where Rock performs a variety of sequences on Iori Yagami in one of his alternate colors. You can see both videos below.
Rock Howard will be released alongside Whip, Yamazaki and Vanessa on Wednesday, April 5th, as part of the game’s version 2.00 update, which will include two new stages, balance changes for the entire cast, the ability to save Training Mode settings, and more.
Super Steam Xrd Exhitbition League, which features two FT7 matches every week, continues this weekend with a new set of challengers. The PC league will include an exciting matchup between May and Chipp, which can get very explosive. That’s between BloodWolf and B.Z.B. The second set, between Grant’s Slayer and zenzen’s Ky, will be a good demonstration on how Ky establishes control, versus the Slayer player taking smart risks.
Here’s a breakdown on the new fighters duking it out this weekend, and a little on their background:
BloodWolf
On the match: “I am very excited for the set. I’m glad I was chosen for this event and given such a skilled opponent. I’ve played him a few times in the past and the matches were always extremely exciting and enjoyable. I hope we’re both able to play at 100% and make this event entertaining for those watching.”
On his opponent: “I think he’s an extremely skilled player, and a pretty nice guy when I’ve talked with him. In the times we’ve played, he was always on point with his confirms and made it very difficult to get a hit in. I’ll have to make sure I make my hits count.”
On his own playstyle: “My own style? I’m not sure. I’m pretty terrible at the self-assessment and classification thing. I guess I’d say I play through instinct. Maybe that’s not the right word. Ironically, I think a ton in the lab all day, and when I get home to play games, I do just that, I play. I just play a lot. Gameplay-wise, I chose May because of her dynamic options and combos from the summons. I get the most enjoyment out of confirming stuff based on ball position or a summoned dolphins, so I like to summon a lot. That’s not something I can do too freely in this matchup though. This is more like catching an angry wasp with….well, an anchor.”
B.Z.B.
On the match: “I personally feel like it’s slightly in May’s favor. Chipp can out-maneuver May, but May can take a lot more risks to even it up. She’s got a quick backdash and a very good jump arc to get away from my ground normal and pressure me from the air. Air-to-air is very risky to try to beat her normal preemptively. Solid neutral and not dropping oki opportunities is going to be key for me.”
On his opponent: “I met BloodWolf for the first time at Evo 2015! We’ve only played casuals at tournaments I’ve managed to make it out to, but we did get some recent matches online via Steam. He’s learned a lot since we last played! I’ll definitely need to step-up my gameplan to beat him.”
On his own playstyle: “I would say my playstyle is very momentum-based. Xrd was the first installment of Chipp that really normalized his combos, which let me focus more on learning his okizeme and playing the player rather than the matchup. My goal with Chipp is to frazzle you and capitalize on your mistakes.”
Grant
On the match: “When it comes to the character matchup, this is going to be a tough match. Ky is a very hard character for Slayer to fight due to how safely he can play neutral and establish an effective zoning game. When you pit him against Slayer, who has to take high risks in order to get started, he is very oppressive. Luckily, I often play against many talented Ky players, so I feel like I have a very good grasp on the matchup. I am confident that I can win this FT7.”
On his opponent: “I think that zenzen is a very undervalued player who is definitely a threat. As far as I know she only appeared on the radar quite recently and is starting to become well known in the US scene for her solid Ky play. I think that she definitely has the potential to become a bracket killer so I expect great things from her.”
On his own playstyle: “I think of myself to be a very aggressive and read-based player. I love getting in my opponent’s head at close range and using all of the tools at my disposal to instill fear. I do play very risky, so I enjoy characters that give me a good reward for taking such risks. Slayer is a perfect character for me since he excels at all of these things. Since I mostly play from the heart and focus on player vs. player interaction, I feel like I make decisions that other players wouldn’t think to make. This does get me into trouble from time to time, but I feel like my mentality is both the most fun for me, and I’ve managed to make it work for the most part. I still have much to learn until I can consider myself a top player, but I am confident that I’ll get there!”
zenzen
On the match: “I personally think that Ky has a distinct advantage in this matchup, due to Ky’s neutral game having consistent answers to Slayer’s options. For example, Ky’s 2D is a strong tool due to its fast startup and incredible amount of active frames. This can easily stuff two of Slayer’s main movement tools in his forward dash and Dandy Step, which both have invulnerability; forward dash in the later portion. Other useful tools in my arsenal include 2S, f.S, and Stun Edge YRC. IAD is also generally not a good option for Slayer to approach with, as Ky’s 6P and 2H will cleanly stuff any jump-in.
“However, not everything is sunshine and Greed Severs for Ky. Whiffing any Slash normal is dangerous, especially if Slayer used his forward dash or Dandy to go through it. This situation will almost always lead to a knockdown for Slayer, and that’s when he gets really scary. Once he has his pressure going, he has access to a lot of great tools. Many of his moves are plus on block, even if Instant Blocked, and can lead to deadly frame traps and even mixup if respected enough. 6K and It’s Late are throw invulnerable, so they can blow up mindless throw mash easily and go into high damage combos. Backdash cancel is also an annoyance, even if I’m on the offensive; Ky’s usually consistent okizeme options can be evaded by BDC jump and BDC Dandy YRC.
“Overall, the matchup is personally very fun to me. With Ky’s strong neutral, it can seem hopeless, but knowing that Slayer just needs one chance can be frightening, yet thrilling.”
On her opponent: “Grant is a player that I have a lot of respect for. I got to meet him at CEOtaku this past year, and I had a lot of great back and forth matches with him. I haven’t gotten many chances to play against him since, but I’m excited to play against his Slayer. I think he’ll come in with a good approach with the matchup as well, as he has two good Ky players in his area, Ukyo and Kizzercrate.”
On her own playstyle: “I like to play characters with strong normals and good neutral control, so I think Ky fits me like a glove. Despite that, I have a fairly aggressive playstyle. It used to be aggressive to the point where playing a character like Ky probably wouldn’t fit me well, but over the time I’ve been playing Guilty Gear (since Xrd release), I’ve calmed down and learned to play reactive when needed to. And reactive play is something that Ky excels in.
“As for my aggressive play, I try to be relentless in pressure, sometimes getting greedier than I should and getting blown up for it. I’m also not against utilizing hard reads often depending on the matchup; for example, I try to IB into Vapor Thrust a lot on defense if I’m playing against a character who has a lot of gaps in their offense. Despite how risky it can be, I find that it can help tame a player’s offense, giving me opportunities to get out of pressure later on without having to go to such an option.
“Perhaps that shows how inconsistent my play can be sometimes, but it’s what feels right to me!”
zenzen will be up first against Grant. After that FT7 finishes, BloodWolf will make his case against B.Z.B. This time, the league match will air on Sunday, April 2nd, 7:00 PM ET/6:00 PM CT/4:00 PM PT on silva_hime’s Twitch channel. FaultyDefense and Voguekun are up to provide commentary.
It seems that Street Fighter II–via Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengersfor the Nintendo Switch–isn’t the only classic Street Fighter series that’s getting an updated re-release. according to a new leak, we may be getting a new collection featuring fan favorites Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3.
Both Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3 (or Zero 2 and Zero 3 in Japan) saw a significant tournament play back in the late ’90s–and even to this day. The differences between both games (Alpha 2 is more more neutral heavy, while Alpha 3 emphasizes offense and combo execution more) were enough that one never really supplanted the other. Both games also helped solidify the Japan vs. USA rivalry, Alpha 2 being one of the games where the US was seen as more dominant, while Alpha 3 being the game where Daigo Umehara first made his mark in the US with some now-legendary tournament sets against Alex Valle.
Despite the competitive legacy built around both of these fighters, however, there has never been an updated, online-enabled reissue of either game–that is, until now. Based on a post in our own forums, it seems that Capcom may be bringing both games back to modern consoles.
Dubbed Street Fighter Alpha: Competitive Collection (or SFA:CC for short–with “CC” probably being a reference to the Custom Combos that the series pioneered), this new collection looks to be an online-enabled remaster of both games, in the same vein as Darkstalkers: Resurrection, and Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins from the last console generation.
Similar to both of those remasters, this new collection–if it is real–is said to be aiming to be as arcade-perfect as as possible; yet it still seems that the Alpha 3 component of the Competitive Collection will include the console-expanded character roster of Street Fighter Alpha 3: MAX, for the Sony PSP portable–which would prove a good basis to build a remaster on, though the additional characters from MAX are not yet visible in the screenshots provided. It is unclear what console-exclusive modes will make it into this release–World Tour is visible in the screenshots below, but Dramatic Battle may be missing, or may need an unlock.
As for the legitimacy of leak itself, aside from a few notes mentioned above it primarily consists of what seem to be direct screen captures from the game running on a PlayStation 4, also including some off-the-screen photos of the game running. That said, we’ll have to wait for official confirmation to be sure; meanwhile, check these screens and photos out for yourself in the gallery below.
[CORRECTION: It seems the roster displayed in the screenshot above is indeed accurate: the character selection for SFA3 will actually match the lineup of the PSone/Dreamcast port of the title, with the arcade characters and Dolls Juni and Juli selectable. With World Tour being included, this may indicate that this version is based on one of those ports–but that is not yet known. – Editor]
[UPDATE: the forum post where this information originated has since been deleted.]
Hoping to defend its honor from all comers yet again, New York is throwing open its doors to all comers with Defend the North 2017, from July 28th-30th. Taking place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains, New York, and forming part of this year’s Capcom Pro Tour, DTN 2017 is a must-attend event during the packed summer of FGC events.
So far, 10 games have been announced as main events at DTN 2017:
Street Fighter V
Injustice 2
Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2
Tekken 7
The King of Fighters XIV
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Killer Instinct
Pokkén Tournament
For Honor
Following in the footsteps of Chicago’s famous mystery game tournament, DTN 2017 will be holding a similar event, alongside a special Overwatch tournament for FGC heads looking to show their shooting skills. Defend the North 2017 will also be replete with legacy game tournaments for titles like Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Ultra Street Fighter IV, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo, along with side-events for games like Super Smash Bros. Melee, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, and Skullgirls 2nd Encore, to name a few. There will be no shortage of games to play at DTN 2017, so there’s no worries about getting bored if you go 0-2. Its Pokkén Tournament event is on the list to receive a $1000 pot bonus from Evo, as well.
Registration for Defend the North 2017 is available on its official website. A $40 early bird rate is being offered until June 28th, when prices will increase by $10. Spectator passes are available for $30, and it covers the whole three days of the event.
Speaking of deals, Defend the North also has a special discounted room rate at the Crowne Plaza Hotel until June 28th. Again, check out the official DTN 2017 website for all the details, including news on planned exhibitions and an eventual schedule.
The Wheel of Fate continues turning for the BlazBlue saga! Although typical for most of the games in the series, Arc System Works’ Toshimichi Mori stated there would be no “Extend” addition to BlazBlue: Central Fiction; however, it appears that BBCF may be getting the Extend treatment after all.
References to what appears to be an leaked (but early and incomplete) press release–containing the new logo for the game, and some information about some of the additional features–have appeared in a 4chan post, and also has been obtained by SRK. The information revealed has been corroborated by an anonymous Arc System Works employee.
According to the posts, BlazBlue: Central Fiction Extend contains several new major features and two new characters. To be introduced as either a standalone game or a DLC pack (similar to Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2), users can either upgrade their existing version or purchase a new digital copy.
Here’s what was listed:
New characters: Linhua, Kajun (see archive art, below)
A complete rebalancing of the cast, may introduce new combo routes
Brand new Story Mode episodes explore the alternate universe bridging Naoto Kurogane and Es. (Side stories include “The Creation of the Black Beast,” “The Clover House of Masks,” and “Kokonoe, Nine, and Jubei’s Family Time.”)
Revolution Reburning Mode: a beat em’ up mode, similar to the mobile game
New voice-over announcer DLC content: Kajun, Izanami
Linhua [left]; Kajun Faycott [right]
While there is no price confirmed yet, Central Fiction owners will be able to upgrade their game for less than the standalone release; again, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 is a good indicator of what to expect in terms of pricing. The press release indicates an intended launch window of Q3 2017–likely shortly after Evolution 2017.
Stay tuned to SRK for more info on this title as it appears.
As everybody undoubtedly knows, today is April Fool’s Day, a day that many game developers love to celebrate with weird and (sometimes) funny antics. We’ll be keeping track of as many as we can find, but be sure to leave a comment if you see one that we’ve missed.
It seems that Arika has pulled off the greatest April Fool’s joke of them all–making people think that something is a fake, and then revealing that was real all along.
While the video they released a few hours ago–of a game with Street Fighter EX characters–stated that it was an April Fool’s joke, the game itself is actually real. Arika is currently streaming a preview of the game, featuring GODSGARDEN Pro’s Ryota “Kazunoko” Inoue.
The game itself seems to be cross between Street Fighter EX and Arika’s other fighting game, Fighting Layer, bringing in the walled stages and sidestep mechanic from the latter. Only three characters are selectable so far, Kairi, Hokuro, and Garuda. Check out the livestream below!
Back in the mid-1990s, when the fighting game genre first went 3D, multiple development teams tossed their hats into the ring, doing their best with their own take on the 3D fighter. Now, a new indie fighter Schwarzerblitz pays homage to those early efforts.
Creator Andrea Demetrio states that they were inspired by “countless hours spent in the local arcade playing Tekken 2.” The game itself does its best to capture both the look and the spirit of early-nineties fighters. The former is pretty obvious, with low polygon models and somewhat questionable animations. Making up for that is an eclectic cast of fighters (including an armless fighter who attacks solely with kicks) that would feel right at home in that decade.
In addition to this, the game follows in the footsteps of many nineties 3D fighters that added their own unique twists on resources with a “bullet counter”: a meter used to power the game’s Trigger Attacks –Tekken-style unblockable moves that deal extended stun, allowing for longer combos in an already combo-heavy game. The same meter also powers a counter move called “Trigger Revenge” which acts as a sort of combo breaker that cancels hitstun.
You can see more of the game in action in the video below.
Interested players can dowload the game’s alpha demo over at Itch.io.
