Category: News

Looking to go to Evolution 2017, but wanting to save some money on the trip? Completely strapped for cash but still want to go? If you play your cards right, Level Up Live and Stream.me might have you covered.

The two companies have formally announced a series of tournaments called Savage Series, which will take place across January. The grand prize of the series will be a free trip to Evolution 2017. The first event will take place on January 9th, with each Top 8 taking place on the subsequent Tuesday. This Street Fighter series runs similar to Stream.me’s previous Kombat Cup and the recently announced Kross Up tournaments, so if you have competed in any of those events, you’ll know what to expect here.

Get your Street Fighter V skills on point and claim your chance to go to Evo!

Source: LevelUp

Fans of the Arc System Works fighting games can now add a little touch of BlazBlue and Guilty Gear to their PlayStation Network experience. Two sets of new character avatars featuring the full casts of BlazBlue: Central Fiction and Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- are available for purchase in the PlayStation Store. The avatars are priced at $.049 and are portraits of the characters as they appear on their respective games’ select screens. Enlarged images of the avatars for Kazama, May, Jack ‘O and Es can be viewed in the gallery below, and you can view the full list of avatars here.

 

Source: BlazBlue via PlayStation Store (UK)

One of the most eagerly anticipated things in the Super Smash Bros. Melee calendar, Melee It On Me and Red Bull eSports are partnering together to host this year’s edition of the SSBM World Rankings. Listing the top 100 Melee players, this list gives players, tournament organizers and esports teams the most up to date information on the best Melee talent out there at the moment.

Decided by a panel of community leaders, top players and commentators, each player is ranked with a number from one to ten, which are then compiled into an overall average which is then plotted in a top 100 list. Other members of the community help write player bios, create special graphics and fact find to make this top 100 ranking a big community effort.

This year’s countdown will begin on December 26th with ranks 100-91, with new ranks being released every day until January 13th, 2017. There will no doubt be plenty of vigorous discussion via Twitter as the ranks are released, so make sure to check back in with Red Bull eSports regularly to see who has made it into the top 100.

Source: Red Bull eSports

A new beta version of Street Fighter V was released on PC early this morning, containing a handful of previously unannounced features. Along with adding Akuma, the Temple of Ascension stage, and character balance changes to the game, the beta update also allows PC players to use D-Input controllers and music can now be selected based on the game mode.

The update also adds new icons for players who frequently disconnect during online matches and those who never do. A new prompt also warns of LP reductions and matchmaking restrictions as penalties for quitting. Capcom implemented a penalty system for frequent disconnects earlier this year, but the problem has continued to persist for some players. Whether the penalties will be updated or further explained in season two remains to be seen.

Music will now be selectable per game mode via the Battle Settings menu. Previously, players were limited to hearing the opponent’s character theme during ranked and casual matches, and the stage themes during offline versus matches and training mode. Now you can fight to your favorite track or just rock Guile’s theme on every single stage.

PC players had previously been restricted from using Direct Input controllers, forcing them to rely on X-Input devices or third-party programs for their controller of choice. The change is primarily a common sense one, as it makes the game more accessible to players who want to bring their favorite controller to the fight.

The new balance changes also appear to be available in the PC Beta, but the full cast is unavailable by normal means. Still, some diligent PC players have found ways to select Akuma and the other cast members and try out some of the character changes.

@PR_Balrog @jchensor @ultradavid @fchampryan @WinnerStaysOn your wish actually came true PC beta with changes for SFV is available now! pic.twitter.com/DOdVK6w1MK

— #NujabesTaughtMe (@ProsodiJ) December 15, 2016

Street Fighter V’s first season two update is officially due out on Dec. 20.

Source: NeoGaf, Twitter

In a surprising development earlier today, Eduardo “PR Balrog” Perez announced that after his contract expires on December 31st, he will not be re-signing with Evil Geniuses in 2017, instead choosing to bring an end to his 52-month tenure with the company, that began back in August 2012.

Noting that there is no animosity between the two parties–with the split being fully amicable–Perez noted that he wants to go it alone in the new year.

I basically want to gather sponsors for myself, instead of being on a team, and I feel that’s going to be more like a personal growth of a brand of myself, instead of being in a team and promoting them, etc. I want to promote myself now. I think that’s the smart thing to do in the long-term.

In terms of his other plans for 2017, ‘Rog said that he wants to stream more, and will actually get a set schedule for his broadcasts, as well as hoping to acquire lots of sponsors for it. Perez also wanted to insure that the “retirement rumors” wouldn’t start cropping up again in the wake of his departure.

Another thing, please, I’m not retiring. I know that you guys want to keep that joke alive, “when is he gonna retire? Blah, blah, blah,” but no, I’m here to stay. I will be here for a long, long time.

In closing, Perez wanted to thank EG for the opportunity, as well as his teammates, claiming that he’ll always “bleed blue.” You can see the announcement video below.

We here at Shoryuken would like to wish PR Balrog the best in his future endeavors, and we look forward to seeing him at more tournaments in 2017!

Source: PR_Balrog

Rainbow Mika works the crowd in this upcoming bishoujo tribute.

Following closely on the heels of Kotobukiya’s Ibuki statue, we can also look forward to a bishoujo statue of Street Fighter V’s R. Mika! True to her flamboyant personality, this statue features the pro wrestler delivering one of her trademark speeches to fire up her fans in the crowd.

Sculpted by Masahiro Takahashi, this R. Mika stands about 8 inches tall (1/7 scale) and includes a specially designed display base.

Click to view slideshow.

The Rainbow Mika bishoujo statue from Kotobukiya is expected to ship in April 2017; she’ll cost you $79.99 USD, and pre-orders can be placed on Kotobukiya’s U.S. retail website.

Source: Kotobukiya (US)

Tune in tonight for a conversation on how Twitch has shaped our current gaming landscape.

Season 2 of Red Bull’s documentary series “The Ripple Effect” is now available to watch here on Red Bull TV. The first episode tells the story of Twitch–a platform that many of us use to watch and connect with our favorite fighting game players (both amateur and professional), view major FGC events, or show off our own gameplay.

Tonight at 7:00 PM PST, a live Q&A stream will be held on Red Bull’s Twitch channel (appropriately!) during which fans can submit questions to Twitch’s co-founders Justin Kan and Emmet Shear, via the chat sidebar; the co-founders of Reddit–featured in The Ripple Effect’s third episode–Alex Ohanian and Steve Huffman will also be present.

Later episodes of The Ripple Effect feature Wired, Reddit, Juxtapoz Magazine, Moog, and Atari, all viewable here.

Source: Red Bull

Joining fellow Californian Joey “Lucky” Aldama, Selfless Gaming has added another Super Smash Bros. Melee player to their roster, with the signing of Hugo “HugS” Gonzales. A veteran in the Melee scene with his competitive career stretching all the way back to 2004, HugS is arguably the progenitor for the current generation of Samus mains.

Currently ranked 20th on the 2015 Melee It On Me World Rankings, HugS’ main achievement of 2016 has been growing his stream, becoming one of the biggest Melee streamers out there, with his mix of serious play and humorous chat. Hopefully, his addition to the Selfless Pride should allow him to grow his stream even more and help aid his growth as a player.

His signing also comes after his departure from Dream Team at the start of this month, with Selfless swooping in out of the blue to snatch HugS up. HugS will be competing at Don’t Park on the Grass in Seattle, Washington this weekend, so look for him rocking a brand new Selfess jersey on stream during the tournament.

Source: Selfless Gaming