Category: News

The fight card is (mostly) filled in–are you ready?

In tonight’s Evo 2017 Reveal Show (streamed live on Red Bull eSports’ Twitch channel) we finally learned the names of the games that will be featured on the main stage of Evolution 2017 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, July 14-16.

The games returning to the main stage are:

• Street Fighter V
• Super Smash Bros. Melee
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
• Tekken 7

Meanwhile, the following games make their Evolution debut:

• BlazBlue: Central Fiction
• Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2
• The King of Fighters XIV
• Injustice 2

But wait, isn’t that short a title? The ninth game will be decided by a vote. By making a donation to Make-a-Wish International, you can vote on which of these games you want to see take that final spot:

• Pokkén Tournament
• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
• Killer Instinct
• Mortal Kombat XL
• Skullgirls 2nd Encore
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo
• Nidhogg
• ARMS
• Windjammers

Go put your money down at Generosity.com to get your favorite in there! The winning game not only becomes a main event, but will be the opening game in the arena Finals on Sunday, and will also have a $10,000 prize pool bonus! Donations are capped at $10,000 per person, corporate sponsors not allowed! The voting closes in two weeks on Wednesday, February 1st.

Registration for Evo 2017 will be handled this year by smash.gg, and opens tonight. Hotel bookings are also open, so don’t dawdle if you want in on a room at Mandalay Bay. Like last year, tickets for the Sunday Finals will be sold separately; the games gracing the arena this year will be–in addition to the Player’s Choice winner–Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Keep your eyes on Shoryuken and the Evo main page for future updates on the event as they develop!

Source: Evo

If you tuned in to Genesis 4 over the weekend, you probably saw some heated exchanges at some point; due to mistakes being made that caused damage to be scaled back by .1%, there was no shortage of controversy in two separate matches during Super Smash Bros. for Wii U’s top 8.

Both Japanese player Komorikiri and Dabuz fell victim to this–with Komorikiri being allowed to replay the final match in his set (and losing), and Dabuz being denied the same opportunity. A dejected and frustrated Komorikiri left the stage without even a perfunctory handshake with his opponent.

While tournament organizer Bear considering checking settings prior to matches, he is going a step further to try and make amends to the players affected. He has opted to compensate the two for Genesis 4 and any other tournaments they attend this year. While Komorikiri has yet to respond to the offer, Dabuz took to Twitter to accept the act of goodwill from Bear.

The G4 are making amends to make up for the issues at the event, sop hopefully it'll be a step forward for future events! https://t.co/hZdtC251BH

— RNG|Dabuz (@DabuzSenpai) January 24, 2017

Source: Yahoo Esports

Since Capcom announced their upcoming Nintendo Switch title Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers, new details have been scarce. We have had some impressions sent in by Echo Fox’s Justin Wong, but not much else to go on aside from some opinions and speculation on the game.

More details are trickling in, mainly about what online play could look like in the title. First, Ultra Street Fighter II will feature an arcade standby mode, which will allow you to play through arcade mode until the game finds an online opponent to play against. Secondly, there will be features such as Ranked and Casual matches available. You will also be able to use the Switch’s Wi-Fi features to play people in the vicinity on a Wi-Fi ad-hoc LAN mode.

Online play will also have similar settings to that of Ultra Street Fighter IV, where players will receive both Player Points and Battle Points–the former correlating to overall player skill and the latter correlating to a player’s skill with a specific character.

There is currently no word as to what netcode Capcom will be using for the game.

Click to view slideshow.

Source: Gematsu

The Universe Tournament is nearly underway!

Bandai Namco has announced new details pertaining to the next DLC pack for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, set to release this February. The DB Super Pack 2 adds more godly ki to the mix with God of Destruction Champa and his attendant, Vados as playable characters.

There will also be a brand new Scenario Quest, placing players in the heat of combat at the Universe Tournament. Also be on the lookout for a new stage and vehicle alongside additional attacks and costumes for custom characters.

Free content is expected to be added whenever the DB Super pack releases in February. The free update will include a new costume, additional accessories, and attacks. Bandai Namco states additional information will be released “in the coming weeks.”

The Dragon Ball Super anime gears up for the Universe Survival Saga on February 5. The new tournament will bring together fighters from each of the twelve universes within the Dragon Ball series. It will be interesting to see if any of these characters are eventually added to Xenoverse 2, or if they will be saved for a future installment.

Click to view slideshow.

Sources: Bandai Namco; Anime News Network

One of the big questions surrounding Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers is whether or not it’s actually a Nintendo Switch exclusive. Well, we now have our answer: it depends.

In a recent interview with IGN, producer Yoshinori Ono made the following statement regarding whether or not it’ll appear on platforms, aside from Nintendo’s upcoming console/portable hybrid: “If this title sells extremely well, we’ll consider it.” He continues by saying that, “We put a lot of thought into how this can be fully enjoyed on the Nintendo Switch, so for the time being it’s only going to be on Switch.”

So there you have it: it seems that for the time being Ultra Street Fighter II will be a Nintendo Switch exclusive, unless it sells enough to indicate that there may be demand for it beyond the platform. The question now is whether the game, with its high $40 price point (not counting a Pro Controller, or possible arcade stick) and controversial system and balance changes will actually sell well enough for them to consider the ports.

You can check out what else Ono has to say on Ultra SFII over at IGN. Meanwhile, our own resident Super SFII Turbo-head Corey Lanier has recently shared his thoughts and concerns on Ultra SFII.

Source: IGN via PVP Live

File this under: “Games that NuckleDu likely won’t learn to play.”

In 2016, the Killer Instinct World Cup circuit banned the use of teabagging in their events. “Teabagging,” for the uninformed (to put it in the most… polite terms possible), is the repeated crouch and rising of a character over the face of their opponent’s felled body to humiliate the fallen warrior by simulating a particular act. This was a practice first seen in FPS titles like Halo, but has seemed to catch on within the FGC as well. The fact that Killer Instinct allows for movement after KOs makes the practice even more prevalent within the title–as compared to Street Fighter V, where while it is becoming more common (again, see Liquid|NuckleDu) a player might not even recognize the action at first, due to the inability to stand over an opponent post-stun or KO.

Anyone hoping that the practice would be allowed in 2017 will be gravely disappointed, as tour administrator Brandon Alexander has reaffirmed the ruling on teabagging from last year: that you will face a ban from the tour should you decide to taunt your opponent in this way.

[No word yet from the Capcom Pro Tour as to whether teabagging will be classified as “thuggery” during CPT 2017… – Editor]

Sources: theScore esports; Du “NuckleDu” Dang (Twitter)

With the announcement of the June 2nd release of Tekken 7, comes an announcement of a special edition fight stick to match. With Mad Catz seemingly slimming their production in the market, HORI is stepping up to grab the market share left open–and as such has revealed a Tekken 7 arcade stick.

「鉄拳7 対応スティック for PlayStation4」が2017年6月1日「鉄拳7」と同時発売予定！「鉄拳7」オリジナルデザイン、ノアール配置のアーケードスティックです！操作中のOPTIONSボタンの誤押しを防ぐスライド式ボタンカバー搭載！ステレオヘッドホン／マイク端子付き pic.twitter.com/nuZO6d7NXj

— HORI /ゲーム周辺機器のホリ (@HORI__OFFICIAL) January 24, 2017

The stick will function on PlayStation 4, and will be released on June 1st. The stick will also feature the famed NOIR arcade layout that resembles the layouts on Astro City cabinets, and was also featured on the Mad Catz Tournament Edition stick for Soul Calibur V. No word yet on whether there will also be an Xbox One edition of the stick, with Tekken also being released on Microsoft’s console.

Source: HORI (Twitter)

With the announcement of the June 2nd release of Tekken 7, comes an announcement of a special edition fight stick to match. With Mad Catz seemingly slimming their production in the market, HORI is stepping up to grab the market share left open–and as such has revealed a Tekken 7 arcade stick.

「鉄拳7 対応スティック for PlayStation4」が2017年6月1日「鉄拳7」と同時発売予定！「鉄拳7」オリジナルデザイン、ノアール配置のアーケードスティックです！操作中のOPTIONSボタンの誤押しを防ぐスライド式ボタンカバー搭載！ステレオヘッドホン／マイク端子付き pic.twitter.com/nuZO6d7NXj

— HORI /ゲーム周辺機器のホリ (@HORI__OFFICIAL) January 24, 2017

The stick will function on PlayStation 4, and will be released on June 1st. The stick will also feature the famed NOIR arcade layout that resembles the layouts on Astro City cabinets, and was also featured on the Mad Catz Tournament Edition stick for Soul Calibur V. No word yet on whether there will also be an Xbox One edition of the stick, with Tekken also being released on Microsoft’s console.

Source: HORI (Twitter)