Raph Koster was on hand during the recent Game Developers Conference to talk about “What AR/VR Developers Can Learn from MMOs”. In it, Koster speaks to the social and ethical implications of “turning the real world into a virtual world” and that MMORPGs have provided a foundation for such through lessons learned over the course of their history.
Daigo Umehara dropping Ryu for Guile after Final Round 20–according to Filipino Champ and XSK Samurai
It’s no secret that Ryu received a myriad of nerfs in Street Fighter V’s second season, which have lead many players to drop the Wandering Warrior for other characters entirely, or at least pick up some alternates for his bad matchups. Twitch.Hx.CYG BST|Daigo Umehara continued to soldier on; however, falling to Tampa Bison and Panda Global’s Punk to finish 33rd at Final Round 20–the first Premier Event of the Capcom Pro Tour 2017 season–has potentially changed his outlook.
According to tweets from Splyce’s Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez and fellow Ryu-comrade-in-arms Miky “XSK Samurai” Chea from Winter Fox, Umehara has seemingly given up on Ryu, and now claims he will be maining Guile (seen as one of the most powerful characters in Season 2) going forward. Though he initially played the character at the beginning of Season 2 for a bit, he soon retunred to Ryu.
Daigo promised me no more RYU!!
He playing Guile woooot— Ryan Ramirez (@fchampryan) March 13, 2017
See Daigo playing Guile in casuals during top 8. I go to him laughing & ask, "Guile? What is this?!"
Daigo laughs saying, "Give up." #FR20
— Miky Chea (@SamuraiWFX) March 13, 2017
Denial’s Chris Tatarian chimed in:
@SamuraiWFX i was outside and asked Daigo about shotos and Daigo responds with …
"Ryu ..Ken.. no future"
….
— Chris Tatarian (@Chris_Tatarian) March 13, 2017
This would not be the first time Umehara has abandoned the Shotokan warrior when his strength has come into question, as he mained Yun and Evil Ryu throughout Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition and Ultra Street Fighter IV, and even has a history of playing the “Family Man” in Super Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (2012), Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Capcom vs. SNK 2. With Razer Xian’s switch to Ibuki from F.A.N.G leading to a first place victory at Final Round 20, it would be very interesting to see how Umehara can perform in tournaments with the Air Slasher by his side.
VesperArcade also discusses this in his latest video, providing some additional context from Umehara’s recent tournament history:
If you’re feeling nostalgic, you can check out some Season 1 match footage of Daigo’s Ryu here. What do you all think of this development? Would you be sad to see Daigo leave Ryu behind, or do you believe this is exactly what he needs in order to achieve future victories?
Sources: fchampryan (Twitter); SamuraiWFX (Twitter); Chris Tatarian (Twitter); VesperArcade
Zero presents his competitive mid tier list for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
TSM|ZeRo is continuing his meta analysis of the current state of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U; recently, he took a look at what he considers the worst characters in SSB4, including Jigglypuff and versions of the Mii avatars (without modifications). This time, ZeRo explores characters that aren’t that bad, but their move sets aren’t as powerful–so they either don’t see that much competitive play, or very rarely win major tournaments.
ZeRo takes a closer look at the following characters in his video, in order:
- Ike
- Pac-Man
- Kirby
- Palutena
- Wario
- Roy
- Wii Fit Trainer
- Duck Hunt
- Falco
- Charizard
- Dr. Mario
- Shulk
- Mr. Game & Watch
- R.O.B.
- Pit / Dark Pit
ZeRo also recently took a closer look at Lucas in SSB4. What are your thoughts on this tier list? Share them in the comments below.
Source: ZeRo
Echo Fox’s Julio Fuentes will help launch the Collide streaming platform at SXSW
Julio Fuentes takes on Street Fighter V challengers for some spirited matches to promote the streaming platform’s launch.
Echo Fox|Julio Fuentes is teaming up with Collide to support the launch of the new streaming platform at SXSW Gaming’s event this week in Austin, TX. As part of Collide’s launch, Fuentes will host open Street Fighter V exhibition matches tomorrow (Wednesday, March 15) and Thursday at the Collide House between 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM Central, which will be streamed live via Collide, viewable either on the website or using the iOS app.
Collide–officially launching today–was founded by Robert Earl, CEO of Planet Hollywood International, as a means “to bring content creators closer with their audiences than ever before.” You can learn more about this new streaming platform on Collide’s home page.
March 16-18 will also see the Fighters Underground Street Fighter V invitational tournament at SXSW.
Sources: press release; Collide
Next Injustice 2 character reveal set for March 23rd
The game is almost a mere two months away, and after Firestorm’s firey unveiling on UpUpDownDown, we already know when in to expect another new challenger in Injustice 2. Following Firestorm’s reveal (and his character profile being added to the website), Injustice.com has been updated, revealing that we’ll see another new character join the roster on Thursday, March 23rd.
Will Scarecrow finally fill our hearts with fear, or will the rumors of the Joker’s and Black Adam’s returns bear fruit? Could we see gameplay of Green Arrow or Captain Cold, seen in part two of the “Shattered Alliances” trailer? Or perhaps we’ll see someone else entirely? As the clock ticks down to the unveiling, don’t forget to tune into tomorrow’s Injustice 2 Watchtower livestream, which will feature character breakdowns for Swamp Thing and Cheetah.
Injustice 2 will be released on May 16th for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Source: Injustice.com
– Ship of Heroes – Remembering the Torch Video Tribute to CoH
The Ship of Heroes team took to the network airwaves to create a new video called Remembering the Torch, a tribute to City of Heroes. A team of developers go together to test out networking capabilities with each logging in from a different state on a rented server. That’s a pretty impressive feat for a game that is pre-KickStarter.
– 11th Annual BlizzCon Dated, Ticket Prices Revealed
Blizzcon 2017 has been dated for November 3-4, 2017. This is the eleventh annual convention to celebrate all of Blizzard’s games. Ticket will run $199 that includes access to the entire event. The first sales date is marked for April 5th at 7:00 pm Pacific / 10:00 pm Eastern. The second event will be on April 8th at 10:00 am Pacific / 1:00 pm Eastern.
Marie as Platinum, Helena as Nine: Final Arc System Works Crossover Costumes for Dead or Alive 5: Last Round
The release of the Arc System Works crossover pack for Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is almost among us. With this, Team NINJA has revealed the final two crossover costumes from the pack: the final reveals are BlazBlue’s Platinum the Trinity, and Nine the Phantom. The Platinum costume will be–predictably enough–worn by Marie Rose, and Helena Douglas shall be wearing the Nine costume.
With this, we’ve now seen all 16 crossover costumes in the set. The set itself is available now on for $31.99 on Xbox One, and should be available soon on PlayStation 4.
Source: Team NINJA; thanks to Super Gotenks for the tip.
– Player Behavior Helps Predict Behavior for IRL End of Times
Researchers have used the culmination of the ArcheAge beta test as a predictor of a real world equivalent to a catastrophic end time scenario. The study analyzed over 270 million records of AA player behavior in something called the mapping principle. The team felt that the end of a closed beta test is a “close approximation of an end times scenario…[that can] shed light on human behavior in general under such conditions”.
– PAX Australia 2017 Tickets Now On Sale
PAX fans in Australia had best get on the stick with the opening of ticket sales for the event currently slated for October 27-29, 2017 in Melbourne. Early Bird tickets are on sale for $5 AUD off the normal price. One day tickets with the discount are $65 AUD, while all three days costs $165 AUD.