Street Fighter’s Facebook page merges with a possible leak to reveal the next fighter’s identity.
Belief is growing stronger that the next Street Fighter V DLC character–set to be officially revealed at Lupe Fiasco’s DROGAS Light release party, February 15th–will be Helen, known from the game’s General Story mode, possibly under her second name Kolin. First, the changes to Street Fighter’s Facebook page caught attention:
It was already thought that the second Season 2 silhouette resembled Helen, and the expanded banner reinforces this strongly. The ice motif in the character’s background (and in the SFV logo avatar) gave rise to speculation that Helen’s–if it is her–powers will be ice-based.
Secondly, an unverified leak, apparently originating on Reddit (but since deleted, naturally) lends even more weight; the leak is fairly detailed, discussing how Helen has a combination of ice-related projectile moves, rekka inputs, a 2-bar V-Trigger, and “feels like” Rose to play. VesperArcade and TheRedGambit discuss these rumors in more depth in their videos below.
While the evidence pointing to Helen/Kolin herself is quite convincing, these details of her play are–at this point–as good as speculation, until we see more concrete evidence, or an official reveal.
Clash Art videos are the lesser-known cousins of combo videos. Combo videos are known for not always being that practical, as they often focus more on style. If going all-out to look as flashy as possible is your thing, you’re going to love clash videos.
An actual hit rarely ever lands in a clash video. Rather, both characters cancel into consecutive blows by utilizing the clash mechanic from Arc System Works, often ending in a Distortion Drive or entering Overdrive. There’s a lot to appreciate–not only is it difficult to time this between two characters (or a recording in Training Mode), but it also takes talent to come up with the “choreography.”
The two videos from NicoNico below showcase the latest installment in the BlazBlue fighting game series, Central Fiction. The focus is on mimicking the story component from the game’s arcade mode, which was divided into Acts. Check out the incredible action provided by Hazamatsu. As Hazamatsu is teasing a video trilogy, more is likely to come in the future.
The NCSoft Quarter 4 2016 financial report has been released that shows a decent increase in sales year on year. Profits for the company are up 17% over 2015, with Lineage continuing its positive upward earnings, as well as Aion making gains and with slight decreases for Lineage 2, Blade & Soul and Guild Wars 2. The most notable fact from the earnings report is the one that is missing: WildStar has fallen off the franchise earnings list and fallen into the *Other Sales category.
The latest update for Wasteland 3 has been published that lets backers know that the team is hard at work bringing the game to life and that it is deep in the pre-production phase of development. At the moment, area and system designs are in the works as well as major gameplay systems including combat, missions, exploration, and skill use, to name a few. Most interestingly, inXile has released a document that details the vision for Wasteland 3.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is a definite departure for the Marvel Vs. series of games: having been more likened to Tatsunoko vs. Capcom–the Nintendo Wii exclusive title that preceded Marvel vs. Capcom 3–naturally, people will be looking to the older title’s roster for hints at what’s to come.
As such, one cannot talk about MvCI without considering the possibility that the game may contain giants–characters with large health bars and are triple the size of the main cast, but only allows you to have one character on your team–much like Tatsunoko did. Who better to discuss those characters than GCYoshi, a player who specialized in the giants in Tatsunoko.
In an interview he had with Red Bull, he talks about how the design actually hurts the Vs. series more than it helps. “Truth be told, I do not see reasonable solutions to large solo characters with permanent hyper armor in a 2v2 game. They are just too different.”
Further, the article goes on to detail some of the problems with giants in competitive play, such as having to play sub-optimal 2v2 team to counterpick the giants, leaving you at a disadvantage if you lose the first game and your opponent has a counterpick after the second game.
Tekken 7’s long awaited release is just shy of four months away, and now we are getting a better picture of what will be available on launch date. While Microsoft hasn’t announced any big news on its Xbox One release yet, Sony has taken the initiative to show why they think the Playstation 4 release will be the definitive version of this title.
Firstly, the Playstation 4 Collector’s Edition of the title will come with a 12″ x 18″ figure of Heihachi and Kazuya engaged in battle, as well as a Steelbook and the Tekken 7 soundtrack. But wait! There’s more!
Exclusive to the Playstation 4 version of the game will be a Jukebox mode, which will allow you to play songs from all versions of the game series in a mix while you play the game. The game will also feature exclusive costumes–for certain characters–from Tekken 4 and Tekken 2.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is going all-in with the circuits, as Events2Compete have revealed a special North American tour for its next major, Midwest Mayhem 8. Collaborating with different tournament organizer teams in the USA, Mexico and Canada, this North American tour will earn nine players free flights to compete in Chicago for Midwest Mayhem 8 on April 9th. Starting off with 2GGaming’s Midwest Mayhem Saga next weekend, where the top placing player from SoCal will earn a flight to Chicago, the other tournaments on this roadshow are:
Panda Global are also planning to host a PG Key to Midwest Mayhem 8 for the final 9th spot, so look out for more details on that in the near future. Midwest Mayhem 8 is not limited to just Smash 4 though, as there will be tournaments for both Street Fighter V and Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- should you wish for some more-traditional fighting game action.
This tour is quite the meeting-of-the-minds for the Smash 4 community, and I hope it fosters more collaboration between TO teams from around North America. The next step to link up with both European and Japanese TOs to make tournaments like this a truly global experience. For more details about the North American tour for Midwest Mayhem 8, check out the smash.gg page which contains links to all the qualifying tournaments, as well as the main event in Chicago.
Great news for Tekken fans, as HORI have announced that the Tekken 7-branded Real Arcade Pro will be coming to the West. Previously announced for only the PlayStation 4 in Japan, each console gets its own unique artwork, with the black PS4 edition showing Kazuya and Heihachi about to fight, while the white Xbox One edition shows off Asuka, Alisa, Lili and Lucky Chloe all ready to battle. Both sticks are also compatible with the PC edition of Tekken 7.
Just announced: Hori will be making Tekken 7 fighting sticks for PS4/PC and XB1/PC! pic.twitter.com/3osFqi6Ae7
This news is especially good for Xbox One players, who have been long-awaiting a new arcade stick for their platform. HORI also recently announced that the Fighting Commander pad is also coming to the Xbox One as well, complete with an all-white color scheme. As with other RAP models, these Tekken sticks use HORI’s own Hayabusa stick and buttons, so you may have to swap these if you are used to Sanwa Denshi buttons on your current stick. These models will launch alongside Tekken 7 on June 2nd.
Not content with having world champions for Street Fighter, Super Smash Bros. and NetherRealm fighters, Echo Fox have snapped up two of the world’s greatest Tekken players in their ongoing fighting game offensive. In readiness for Tekken 7 in June, Echo Fox have signed Choi “Saint” Jinwoo and Kim “JDCR” HyunJin to their already killer roster.
Saint is currently the man to beat in Tekken, having claimed the title of King of the Iron Fist and Evo champion in 2016. While not as prolific as Saint in recent times, JDCR is still a force to be reckoned with in the world of Tekken, taking first place at Evo 2014, the 2014 IeSF World Championship, as well as Final Round 17 and 18 during the heights of Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
In a statement to theScore esports, Echo Fox owner Rick Fox stated that “When we expanded our fighting game team last month we did it knowing that it was only the first step towards becoming a dominating force in the fighting game community. By signing the two of the best Tekken players in the world, Saint and JDCR, we’re moving closer to that goal.”
With Tekken 7 appearing at most major fighting game events in the latter half of this year, expect Echo Fox to be dominating that game as well. If Echo Fox signs an anime or a KOF player, it will have a finger in almost every pie in the FGC.
During the reveal of the games lineup for Evo 2017, it was announced that the 9th official game at the event would be decided by a Player’s Choice online donation drive, similar to what happened at Evo 2013–which resulted in the addition of Super Smash Bros. Melee to the main stage, where it has remained ever since. One of the nine games battling for that final spot–which will be granted the opening arena slot in the Sunday Finals, in addition to receiving a $10,000 pot bonus–is NetherRealm Studio’s Mortal Kombat XL! Here are some of the reasons why we deserve to see Kombat on the main stage one more time.
Mortal Kombat XL is easily the most successful game in the franchise, period
Mortal Kombat XL has proven to easily be the most successful game NRS has ever produced, in every sense of the word. It has been the most played iteration of the franchise, with the game selling 5 million copies worldwide, as of October 2015, with those figures only increasing due to the release of the XL version and Kombat Pack 2 back in March 2016. It has also received the longest amount of post-launch support of any title NRS has produced, with the final patch and hotfix arriving in October 2016, 18 months after the game released back in April 2014.
It’s had the highest attendance of any NRS game in the history of Evo over the past two years
MKX also holds the honor of having the two largest tournaments for NRS games in the history of Evo; easily supplanting its predecessors Mortal Kombat 9 and Injustice: Gods Among Us, with a staggering 1,162 entrants at Evo 2015–surpassing Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Tekken 7, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and Killer Instinct to become the 4th-largest game that year (and one of only four titles to reach quadruple digits). Though the game did see a massive drop-off in entrants in Evo 2016, having only 713 entrants last year, it still overtook both Killer Instinct and Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, and had only 69 less players than UMvC3, making it the second-largest NRS tournament in Evo History.
This wouldn’t be the first time two NRS games have shared the main stage at Evo
Back in 2013–for the first, and to date, only–time, two NRS games were selected for the main lineup: the debuting Injustice: Gods Among Us was joined by its older sibling, Mortal Kombat 9. Though it was the lowest-attended of the main games that year, the community ensured it had a proper send-off, with a fantastic Top 8 showing. One player, Giuseppe “REO” Grosso, managed to place Top 8 in both NRS games, coming in 2nd of MK9 with his Kabal, and finishing 7th in Injustice with Batman. Though the newer game received more support overall, there were several players who entered both titles, similar to the entrant crossover we saw back in 2015 with Japanese players entering both Xrd and P4AU. History now repeats itself: as Injustice 2 is already in the main lineup, with MKXL having the potential to join it. Additionally, MKXL joining the lineup is the only way NRS players will get to take the stage at the Mandalay Bay arena on Sunday, as Injustice 2 is scheduled to be completed on Saturday, leaving this community on the outside looking into the arena on Sunday. Additionally, even though MK9 was excluded from the official lineup in 2014, the community ran a side tournament for it, which was streamed by Team Spooky’s Arturo Sanchez, and received more Stream views than any of the official games on Sunday–with IGN even covering the Grand Finals set between Sonic Fox and Dab, undeniably demonstrating the sheer passion and love of the NRS community!
The game has received another balance patch since last Evo
One of the largest arguments going in favor of MKXL–as well as what guaranteed Injustice: Gods Among Us a second appearance at Evo back in 2014–was the fact that NRS released another balance patch for the title in the year between Evos. They’ve done just that yet again, by patching the game one final time, in addition to a quick hotfix back in October 2016 before Southern California Regionals. It was arguably the most extensive rebalance ever seen in a NRS game, with changes to every single character on the roster, as well as some massive system changes (such as stamina adjustments weakening the characters who relied on potent run cancel pressure, removal of armored launchers cast-wide, the majority of overheads being either slowed down or turned into mids, and most Kombatants receiving 2-3 hits of armor on various meter burn specials). The changes promoted a much slower, more neutral-based style of gameplay–compared to the extremely offensive, mixup and pressure-oriented meta seen at Evo 2016. Long gone are the days of Echo Fox’s Sonic Fox and Noble’s Dragon meeting in an Acidic vs. Tarkatan Alien mirror match for Grand Finals, or Piercing Mileena terrorizing opponents with a mid-hitting stagger of B1 and B12–as new faces like Sektor, Smoke, Kitana, Shinnok, and Kenshi have been able to emerge, along with new players such as Noble’s Tweedy, GutToughGaming’s SylverRye and Semij joining many of the old faces in Top 8s across the country. This provides much more variety for spectators than past versions, even if Sonic Fox’s constant domination has remained, for better or worse. SCR 2016’s Top 8, which featured 15 different characters and 16 variations–with nary an Alien in sight–is a great example of the type of play that can be seen in the current version of the game. NRS has also been continually providing pot bonuses for the game, as recently as Kumite In Tennessee in January 2017, despite Injustice 2 being on the horizon.
The community is still actively playing
Despite the Injustice 2 beta being in the hands of several players, the community is still supporting MKXL: Stream.me’s Season One of the Kombat and Konquest Cups just concluded, with Sonic Fox emerging victorious and earning himself a free trip to Evo. Season 2 is scheduled to begin on February 12th, as well as the game being in the lineups for Winter Brawl 11, Final Round XX, Naptown Clutch VI, Canada East Championships 4, Combo Breaker 2017 (which will also be the debut tournament for Injustice 2), and Midwest Championships 2017, there is still plenty of hype and competition left in the title, which doesn’t have to be outright abandoned just because Injustice 2 is coming up.
Both of MKX’s Grand Finals have been international affairs
Long considered solely American games (despite having a small Japanese scene for Injustice: Gods Among Us), Mortal Kombat X was the first NRS game to feature a large amount of international competition on a grand scale. The Grand Finals of both of its previous Evo appearances saw Sonic Fox face an international challenger to his throne: first when he battled Problem X Productions’s A F0xy Grampa in 2016; and who can forget last year’s epic battle that rocked Mandalay Bay, against Bahrain’s Tekken Master–playing Swarm Queen D’Vorrah–that forced Fox to “expose his humanity to the world” by shedding his signature furry hat on stage (akin to WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle pulling down the straps on his singlet) as he was pushed further than he’s ever been during the entire lifespan of the game!
With the game currently sitting in second-to-last place, with a mere $135 raised by only 7 donors, the odds of it winning the final spot are slim to none–but that shouldn’t stop you from showing your support for a great cause, and in the likely event they don’t secure a victory, the NRS community is already planning their own side tournament at Evo, to ensure that even if they don’t get a third shot on the main stage, there will still be an arena in which players can prepare for Kombat.
Vote for Mortal Kombat XL on generosity.com here. Voting closes at 12:00 PM PST on February 8, 2017.
