Category: News

A series of qualifiers is leading up to a grand 2v2 BlazBlue: Central Fiction national tournament called Braver’s Revel 2017. Players from various regions in Japan fought for 30 qualifying spots in these team qualifiers. The culmination of the event is March 19th, this Sunday (effectively late Saturday/early Sunday in some Western countries). Toshimichi Mori, the producer of the BlazBlue series, will be there, as well as Bullet’s voice actress, Toa Yukinari.

Organized by Taito, the event takes a whole day. While we already know most of the participants, one of the last two teams will be decided with a last chance qualifier. Team number 32 are the winners of the last year’s Braver’s Revel: Matsumoto and Nakao.

Arc System Works provided a useful image that breaks down which fighter came from which region; the chart on the right tells how many of each character will we see in the tournament.

We don’t have exact streaming information just yet–it’s possible that a Twitch account will be created specifically for the event. You can view more information about the event and who’s participating by visiting the Taito BlazBlue Braver Revel page; there are photos below of all the teams who qualified, and what characters they use, among them famous players like Fumi, Ryuusei, Koike, Fenrich, Ito Sae, Matoi, Gackt, and so on.

To get warmed up for the action, however, there’s footage of some of the qualifiers:

A-cho January qualifier:

A February qualifier, there are four parts to this video:

February Athena Nipponbashi:

March Central Hachiouji:

March Playspot Big One:

Big thanks to alupin for the tip and collaborating with info.

Sources: Taito; GAMEacho; ラッキー中央店フェリシダ; Jourdal

Want in on Proving Grounds, but too far from a regional qualifier? Here’s your shot.

As was the case last year, Street Fighter V competitors that want to join the fight in Red Bull’s Proving Grounds series–but don’t have ready access to one of the eleven regional qualifying stops–can test their fists in the online qualifier instead. At the close of the Spring season, the three winning contestants (the highest scores from the online tournament) will be flown to the Red Bull eSports Studio in Santa Monica, to compete in June’s Red Bull Proving Grounds finals. Top 8 from the finals will earn a trip to compete in Las Vegas at Evo 2017 in Las Vegas.

Registration is open now for Season 1 of the Red Bull Proving Grounds online qualifier at smash.gg. It’s free to enter!

Proving Grounds Online is back! Sign up for the 12th #RedBullProvingGrounds Qualifier here: https://t.co/EN5IGbUPR8 pic.twitter.com/TqX04N9DzU

— Red Bull eSports (@redbullesports) March 16, 2017

You can find additional information about Red Bull Proving Grounds on the official site.

Source: Red Bull eSports (Twitter)

After a series of announcements regarding location tests and a Japanese release date, earlier this morning the American publisher, Aksys Games, confirmed the release date of Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2.

In a somewhat unprecedented move for developer Arc System Works, the game will have a practically simultaneous global release, unusual for their fighting games. Alongside the Japanese release date which is May 25th, Aksys Games confirms the US release date as May 26th. The company linked an Amazon listing that allows pre-purchasing Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 for $39.99.

That’s the price for a stand-alone PlayStation 4 copy. REV 2 will also be available as a digital upgrade for PS3/PS4/Steam users for less, though a pricepoint isn’t confirmed yet.

There’s no word on the PC version of the game currently, as Aksys Games doesn’t handle the port.

Currently, there’s a third and final location test ongoing for REV 2. For more REV 2 information, read up on our breakdown of gameplay modes in Guilty Gear.

Source: Aksys Games

The Razer Panthera is arguably one of the best arcade sticks for the PlayStation 4 and PC that you can get on the market today; aside from improving on all its predecessor’s faults, Razer is continuing to support the stick with firmware updates to address any lingering issues. One potential problem with the Panthera, however, is its price–as spending $200 or more on an arcade stick just isn’t feasible for some players.

For those thinking about getting the Razer Panthera but are having second thoughts about the price, the stick can currently be had at a discounted price over at Newegg. For anyone ordering a Panthera via Newegg’s website, using the promo code EMCRDBE69 at checkout will result in a $80 reduction of the stick’s price. Even with Newegg’s higher retail price for the Panthera ($229.99, vs. $199.99 when buying directly from Razer), this still brings the price down to $149.99.

Sources: Newegg; MarkMan

If the main lineup of Evolution 2017 isn’t anime enough for you this year, AnimEvo 2017 has got you covered. The side event that takes place during the championship focuses on lesser-known games that don’t get as much time in the spotlight, typically. Here’s the full lineup, as announced so far:

• Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R
• Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition
• Under Night In-Birth: Exe Late
• Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code
• Gundam Extreme Vs. Full Boost
• Vampire Savior
• Nitroplus Blasterz
• Chaos Code: New Sign of Catastrophe
• Aquapazza
• Puyo Puyo Tetris
• Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!!!

The only game that feels missing from the roster is Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, but perhaps it will still find a spot. Stay tuned to SRK for more developments.

As for anime titles on the the main stage Evo 2017 lineup, there’s Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- and BlazBlue: Central Fiction.

Source: AnimEvo

In an announcement from Bandai Namco earlier today, the company has set out its post-launch plans for Tekken 7, following its release on June 2nd. It comes in the form of three DLC packs: one in Summer 2017, another in Winter 2017, and a final pack in Spring 2018.

The first pack will include over 50 new costumes for fighters in the Tekken 7 cast, alongside a brand new game mode. Packs two and three will contain exclusive guest characters from other game franchises, along with a special stage and unique costumes for these visiting fighters. By the sounds of it, this could mean that the guests aren’t necessarily from other fighting games, so start speculating now.

Learn more about the post launch content! And prepare for two guest characters from other game series! More details to come in the future. pic.twitter.com/QRJbE30h9s

— TEKKEN 7 (@TEKKEN) March 16, 2017

These three pieces of add-on content can be bought separately, or as part of Tekken 7’s season pass, which will also grant buyers access to 35 Metallic costumes. Bandai Namco have also promised fans that free character panels will be released throughout 2017, designed by a wide variety of artists.

Source: TEKKEN (Twitter)

With two of the four DLC characters for The King of Fighters XIV now officially revealed, speculation is rampant on who the remaining two will be. However, it seems that we can likely stop speculating about one of them, as a leak has indicated this character will be Vanessa.

This leak comes via HitBox’s JohnGrimm, who shared it on Twitter. Now, John has leaked information regarding KOFXIV before, including details on the game’s cast before it was fully revealed, so we know that he’s been on the money with these things before. In addition to this, the leak itself involves a screenshot of Vanessa in-game, taken from what seems to be one of her Desperation Moves, putting the camera up close to her model. This seems to be something that would be hard to fake, especially since the stage shown is the upcoming Monaco ’97 DLC stage, that isn’t available yet.

ayyyyyy lmao #KOF #KOFXIV pic.twitter.com/97AVJLOCx9

— DollarBillMontgomery (@HBJohnXuandou) March 16, 2017

While John has not provided the original source for the leak, it likely comes from the same Chinese sources where he got his information last year. As for whether or not this leak is legitimate–or just a really early April Fools joke–we’ll find out in the next couple of weeks.

Source: HB|JohnGrimm

The world’s largest fighting game tournament comes to Tokyo on January 26-28, 2018!

Hot news from the Evo Japan Executive Committee: they are proud to announce that the first Evolution Championship Series: Japan will be held on January 26-28, 2018. The location: Akihabara UDX, mere minutes away from Akihabara Station in Tokyo, Japan.

The Evo Japan concept was originally revealed during Evo 2016’s finals at the Mandalay Bay Event Center, and last September–during the Tokyo Game Show–we learned that January 2018 was the intended target, now confirmed.

Additionally, a new tournament that leads up to Evo Japan will take place in 2017, in collaboration with the staff and community of TOPANGA and GODSGARDEN, in order to “unite gaming communities and celebrate the fighting spirit in Japan.” This event is called “[sài]” and will be organized using the Evolution Championship Series formula, using the double-elimination format. This event will be an open tournament, allowing anyone to register and compete. There will be no preferential treatment or seeding based on skill level for the tournament bracket placement.

[sài] will take place May 20-21, 2017, also at Akihabara UDX, and is free to enter. There will be three main events: Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, and one other game, yet to be determined. More information will be announced soon on the Evo Japan website.

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Message from Noriyuki Kaneko, the chairman of Evo Japan Secretariat

Fighting games have been around for over 30 years, stemming from a single genre within the arcade gaming industry it has evolved and transcended the world of gaming. In recent years the fighting game communities based out of North America have expanded the genre and player base, most notably through Evo and has had great success in hosting the world’s largest open gaming tournament – for all games. I am honored to be part of an Evo event in Japan, the birthplace of the fighting game, not only as part of the staff but also as a fighting game fan & player.

Although it is known that Evo is the world’s biggest open gaming tournament, it’s more than just that. In my experience, Evo is also the best event for the separate fighting game communities. Evo Japan will work to unite these many communities and fighting gamers from all over the world as well. We welcome everyone that has their own specific goals, ideas and purposes and hope to enjoy fighting games together.

We look forward to seeing you at Evo Japan 2018, let’s have a great time together!

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Follow news to come for Evo Japan on Twitter, on the official website, and here on Shoryuken!

Source: Evo Japan; [Evo 2016 photos by Junpei Tainaka]