Nexon has announced that it will now begin accepting applications from around the world for those interested in limited beta opportunities in Durango, its mobile MMO where players can tame and ride dinosaurs. The first round of testing is expected to kick off on December 14th. Those registering for an opportunity to assist with testing may begin receiving invites as early as today.
– Blades & Rings Combines Idle & ARPG Game Play for Mobiles
37Games has announced that a closed beta event for Blades & Rings – Eternal Crusade will be starting on December 1st. The event will be available for both Android and iOS devices. Blades & Rings is a hybrid idle and action RPG game for mobile devices.
Confession: Marvel vs. Capcom 4 Image Revealed to Be Fake
Over the past several days, the internet has been abuzz with a particular image showing what some believed to be taken from a Marvel vs. Capcom 4 teaser. However, the person behind the fake image has apparantly revealed himself, claiming to have been inspired to create the false logo by the growing hype over the potential of a Marvel vs. Capcom 4 reveal. After stating that he “didn’t know bunch of people would tweet it or blogs using it in their articles [sic],” he expressed that he wished he “would’ve spent more time to refine it to make it believable.”
The image was a fun distraction, but a lot of people took it quite seriously–either praising it and a potential MvC4 or condemming it as a fake. Still, the number of people who ran with the thought of a new Marvel game shows that there’s still a market for it–and even the creator of the forged logo still hopes the Marvel vs. Capcom 4 rumors are true.
In what may or may not be a completely separate matter, Polygon has recently announced that an unnamed source has indicated to them that there is indeed a MvC4 coming. This anonymous source secretly disclosed that an announcement for the title will be made at Playstation Experience in a few days. Time will tell what comes of the continuing rumors.
Two Free King of Fighters XIV Themes Available on European PlayStation Store
Deep Silver, the company responsible for bringing King of Fighters XIV to Europe, has just released two King of Fighters XIV PlayStation 4 themes that are currently exclusive to the European Playstation Store. One theme is an image of the members of Team South Town and Team Fatal Fury, and the other depicts the members of the South American Fighters Team.
Each theme includes two static images that decorate the home screen and the PlayStation store and have their own music, icons, and sound effects. You can check out stills of the themes applied to a console in the gallery below.
Source: Dualshockers
Red Bull eSports Talks about the Emergence of Catherine’s Competitive Scene
Wherever I’ve been on the competitive circuit this year, I’ve heard talk and rumblings of Catherine side tournaments and money matches. At first I thought they were in-jokes. Now, I know that they’re deadly serious.
Catherine, an Atlus game that is initially single-player only, has a cult competitive scene grow out of the FGC, mostly extending from the anime and Smash players. Now, seemingly anywhere that the fighting game tournament players go, there also does Catherine go.
In their most recent article, Red Bull eSports talks about the origins of competitive Catherine within the FGC, and how such a simple side-game unlocked after beating the main game could become such a large side-event draw within tournaments. It also features Dacidbro of BlazBlue and Guilty Gear fame, as well as Toph from the Smash community.
Source: Red Bull eSports
HumanBomb Qualifies for Capcom Cup, Due to CCL Being Unable to Attend
More shake-ups to Capcom Cup 2016’s lineup.
Almost immediately after Capcom Fighters went live with the official Capcom Cup 2016 bracket on Challonge, this happened:
Oh well looks like I won't be playing @XianMSG, I can't go to capcom cup after all
I'm so sorry everyone @CapcomFighters
— Younes lazaar (@aws_ccl) November 28, 2016
It looks like with AWS|CCL’s departure, the next qualification falls to HuoMaoTV’s HumanBomb, through the Asian Leaderboard.
Wow I am now in capcom cup 2016!
— Jonny Cheng (@AUSThumanbomb) November 28, 2016
The bracket has not yet been changed (as of this writing) and there has not yet been an official confirmation announcement from the Capcom Pro Tour, so stand by to see how the new bracket actually shapes up.
Sources: HumanBomb (Twitter); CCL (Twitter)
Street Fighter V Servers Going Down for Maintenance on November 30
In a post over at the Japanese CFN Portal, Capcom has announced that Street Fighter V’s servers will be going down for maintenance this Wednesday, November 30. The downtime will take place from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM Pacific.
This maintenance comes just two days before Capcom Cup at the PlayStation Experience. Whether this means that something special will be added to the game in time for the event is unknown. With Akuma supposedly playable at PSX, this could be related to him, allowing him for their demo builds at the show. That said, there’s also the chance that this is just for the removal of the CPT and Halloween DLC items from the store.
Source: CFN Portal
SNK to Show Off Version 1.10 of The King of Fighters XIV at PlayStation Experience, Complete with New Visual Upgrades
One of the biggest complaints about The King of Fighters XIV is how the game looks–many have compared its graphics to a PS2-era fighter, and cite that as a reason to denounce the game altogether. Some fans simply think the old sprite-based artstyle did a better job.
To attempt to remedy this perception, SNK will be showing off version 1.10 at PlayStation Experience, which is bringing some significant visual overhauls to KOF XIV.
THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV:
Be one of the first people to play the newest version of KOF XIV (Ver. 1.10) at PSX2016! #KOF14 #KOFXIV pic.twitter.com/OL72PdYBu5— G-Mantle (ゲーマント） (@SNKPofficial) November 28, 2016
Fans have been giving this a side-by-side comparison to the current 1.05 build of the game, clearly noting the significant differences in appearance. The difference is both obvious and welcome.
Source: SNKPofficial
Official Bracket for Capcom Cup 2016 Revealed [UPDATED]
The bracket for Capcom Cup 2016 has been set!
Capcom Fighters took to Twitter this morning to point fans to the full Capcom Cup 2016 bracket as posted on Challonge. Now we can see how the battlefield looks:
Naturally, this bracket isn’t set in stone and is subject to possible changes before the fights start on December 3. Be sure to check out Corey “Missing Person” Lanier’s ongoing series of Capcom Cup Player Analysis features to learn more about the competitors and their chances of taking the top spot.
UPDATE: it looks like the bracket will already be changing, as AWS|CCL apparently can no longer attend:
Oh well looks like I won't be playing @XianMSG, I can't go to capcom cup after all
— Younes lazaar (@aws_ccl) November 28, 2016
Source: Capcom Fighters (Twitter); Challonge; AWS|CCL (Twitter)
Capcom Cup 2016 Will Be Broadcast on ESPN2 on December 4th
One of the big milestones at Evo 2016 earlier this year was the Street Fighter V finals being broadcast on mainstream sports network ESPN2. Now, it seems that Street Fighter will once again return to ESPN2–this time with Capcom Cup 2016.
In a recent episode of ESPN SportsCenter, an announcement was made during the shows closing giving details of the broadcast. Capcom Cup will be broadcast on ESPN2 on Sunday, at 8:30 PM Eastern time (5:30 PM Pacific).
IGN’s Senior Manager of Ad Operations Aaron “Kapwan” Smith was able to capture some offscreen footage of the announcement from SportsCenter which he shared on Twitter. You can see this announcement below.
Was watching Sportscenter and this happened. Looks like we #eSports again. #CapcomCup2016 on ESPN2. #FGC #SFV pic.twitter.com/wOwSonw7JG
— Kapwan | IGN | FGC (@Kapwan) November 28, 2016
It’s interesting to note that this isn’t a live broadcast, with Capcom Cup taking place the day before. That said, this should still help the event–and fighting games in general–reach a wider audience.
Source: Aaron Smith (Twitter) via r/StreetFighter