The First-Ever Evo Japan Has Been Scheduled for January 2018

Last week, we received word of Evo Japan, LLC being registered in Japan. This move gave us the indication that it was indeed coming, and soon. Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar has just shared even further news on Twitter regarding Evo Japan, which now has a rough date scheduled.

One slide from the Tokyo Game Show gives the most prestigious fighting game tournament’s debut in Asia a tentative January 2018 launch.

While no exact date has been penciled in, we at least know when to reserve our flights, roughly. Be ready for January 2018, folks!

Sources: Evo Japan (Twitter); Joey Cuellar (Twitter)

Ryan Hart Names His Top 15 Street Fighter V Players In Europe

Ryan Hart is arguably Europe’s most recognizable Street Fighter player. The “Prodigal Son” has multiple championships in multiple Street Fighter games and more than a few Guinness World Records to his name. As such, anything he says carries some weight within the community.

Recently, Hart has gone on Twitter with his list of who he thinks are the top 15 Street Fighter V players in Europe (including the Middle East). The list includes some familiar names such as Wilfried “Will2Pac” Jean-Baptiste, Arman “Phenom” Hanjani, Adel “BigBird” Anouche, and of course Evo 2014 champion Olivier “Luffy” Hay.

Quite surprising however is the fact that Hart has not included himself in his own list. This is an interesting omission considering that Hart is currently ranked #6 in on the European Capcom Pro Tour leaderboard–higher than a few of the names on his own list. According to Hart, this is because he doesn’t want to look “big headed” by including his name on his list. That said, more than a few other top players, including the global #2 ranked EG|Justin Wong have stated that he should belong on his own list.

You can check out Ryan Hart’s list below.

Source: Ryan Hart (Twitter)

Behold UDON’s Street Fighter Unlimited Ultra Jam Covers by Chamba, Complete at Last

Every issue of UDON Comics’ Street Fighter Unlimited has featured a cover variant by Jeffrey “Chamba” Cruz: the twelve Ultra Jam “Puzzle” covers form a massive single image, and with Street Fighter Unlimited #12 now available for pre-order, that image is now complete!

Dedicated UDON Comics fans have been building this collection piece-by-piece, issue-by-issue since Street Fighter Unlimited’s launch, but now the rest of us can see this spectacular tribute to Street Fighter’s massive cast of characters for ourselves:

udon_street_fighter_unlimited_ultra_jam_complete

There might be rioting outside UDON’s corporate offices if this doesn’t become available as a poster or wall scroll. Bonus points to you if you can name every character without looking them up!

Source: UDON Entertainment

The Way King of Fighters XIV Handles SOCDs Gives Pad Players an Unfair Advantage

Cross-ups are a fundamental concept present in most 2D fighting games. The fact is that players need to learn to identify blocking direction–it’s an important skill to learn for any player.

The importance of cross-ups is one of the reasons why how a game handles simultaneous opposite cardinal directions (or SOCDs) can lead to some fundamental issues. If the SOCDs are handled wrong, then it could lead to devices that allow it–such as gamepads with both d-pad and analog input–having an unfair advantage by bypassing how the game is supposed to work.

In the case of the King of Fighters XIV, it seems that SOCDs may be quite problematic. As demonstrated in a video by barzorx, KOFXIV handles SOCDs by always giving priority to the back input. This means that no matter what side an attack comes from, a player hitting both left and right on their pad will end up blocking.

As the video explains, there are multiple ways to handle SOCDs. The best method would be ignoring both inputs and putting the character in neutral, followed by favoring the forward input (as Street Fighter V does) removing the ability to block. More importantly, favoring the back input is arguably the worst way to handle SOCDs precisely for the reasons shown in the video.

Interestingly enough, King of Fighters XIV planner Hidetoshi “Neo_G” Ishizawa was also involved in another game with SOCD issues: the original Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Here’s hoping that, just like in that game, the SOCD issue in King of Fighters XIV is eventually fixed.

Source: barzorx via BzChoy.

Paradise Arcade Shop Is Bringing Back Toodle’s Multi-Console Cthulhu PCB for Arcade Sticks

These days, most players who need compatibility with multiple consoles are likely using a Brooks product, such as the Universal Fighting Board. However, dial back the clock a few years, and you’ll likely see them using something different: the Multi-Console Cthulhu.

Created by longtime Shoryuken forum poster Marcus “Toodles” Post, the MC Cthulhu brought with it not only compatibility with the (then Evo standard) PlayStation 3 and PC, but with some creative crimping, allowed for compatibility with a host of other consoles from generations past, including the original PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Sega’s Saturn and Dreamcast, and even older consoles such as the original Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES.

Now, for those looking to use their modern arcade sticks to play games on older consoles, our friends over at Paradise Arcade Shop have partnered with Toodles to bring the MC Cthulhu back. Pre-orders for the new run of MC Cthulhus are now open at Paradise Arcade Shop. Take note that this is the same hardware and firmware that the PCB shipped with back in the day, meaning that it does not have compatibility with the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.

Expected ship date for this new batch of MC Cthulhus is October 15.

Source: Paradise Arcade Shop

Mai Shiranui is Now Available for Dead or Alive 5 Last Round

After months of teasing: Dead or Alive 5 Last Round’s latest guest character, Mai Shiranui from the King of Fighters series, is now finally available for download. To celebrate this fact, Team NINJA has released a new launch trailer for her.

In addition to showing off some of her moves, the trailer below also shows the new King of Fighters costumes for some of the game’s existing cast. These dress certain characters up as Mai’s Team Women Fighters teammates from the King of Fighters 2000: Kasumi Todoh, Yuri Sakazaki, and Hinako Shijo.

For those looking for a more in depth look at Mai’s moveset, Destruction Bomb has shared videos of her command and combo training modes. Check these out below.

Sources: KOEI Tecmo, DestructionBomb

United Nations Soldiers Are Invading Street Fighter V’s Lair of the Four Kings in These CFN Profiles

If you’ve played a good amount of matches on the Lair of the Four Kings Stage in Street Fighter V, you’ve likely noticed some large mecha-resembling figures, running around in the background: some battling the ninja of the Kanzuki Zaibatsu, while others are tangling with High-Ranking Shadaloo Soldiers. Ever wonder just exactly who, or what, they are? It turns out that they’re a group of soldiers from the United Nations, and they’re the subject of our latest profiles from the CFN Portal site, as conveyed by Private Nakagawa’s Shadaloo Activity Report!

Private Nakagawa: This time, we speak of those fat @#&*%! that dared to invade and board our secret base, Lord Bison’s castle of Shadaloo. Those who restlessly run around in the Lair of the Four Kings.

un-soldier

Basic Info:

Name: UN Soldier
Equipment: Powered Suit “M-03”, Twin Machine Gun, Relief Goggles, Security Boots
Duties: Defense, Public Order Maintenance
Techniques: Machine Gun Rapid Fire, Public Order Claw

 

un-heavy-infantry

Basic Info:

Name: UN Heavy Infantry
Equipment: Powered Suit “M-05S”, Twin Fire Blaster, Super Relief Goggles, Jetpack
Duties: Defense, Public Order Maintenance, Disaster Relief
Techniques: Flamethrowing, Public Order Knuckle, Ramming Attack

Private Nakagawa: The Powered Suit “M (for Muscle) series” is a power assist suit for the wearer. There are also models capable of flying, and are used for operations in war and disaster zones.


boarding-type-robot-asterios

Basic Info:

Name: Boarding-Type Robot Asterios
Equipment: Anti-Tank Missiles, Twin Fire Blaster, Twin Machine Gun, Winch
Duties: Defense, Public Order Maintenance, Disaster Relief, Insurgents Suppression
Techniques: Flamethrowing, Machine Gun Rapid Fire, Public Order Strike, Super Ramming Attack

Private Nakagawa: The boarding-type robot “Asterios” is a cutting-edge, state-of-the-art machine. It’s a single-seater, 8 Meters tall, with a body weight of 5.2 metric tons. It’s made of steel and carbon fiber-reinforced plastic. It seems the Kanzuki Zaibatsu is involved in its production… It’s unrefined look and clunky feeling is too cool! Lord F.A.N.G, why don’t we make one, too?! A robot! Eh? “We don’t have the money…?”

Hopefully this will make your next match on the Lair of the Four Kings stage a bit more entertaining. You can also check out profiles for the various Ranks of Shadaloo Soldiers here, in addition to enjoying a throwback look at the characters of Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight, here.

Source: CFN Portal

 

r/StreetFighter is Offering Stream Sponsorship to Help Give Exposure to New Streamers

Becoming a full-time streamer or content creator is and always has been hard work; not everyone has the good fortune to get maximum exposure on services such as Twitch, Hitbox.tv, or YouTube Gaming. It takes a lot of dedication and a sizable investment on the streamer’s part to even get started.

r/StreetFighter, the subreddit devoted to serious Street Fighter discussion, has decided to change that for one fortunate person. They plan to sponsor a player by giving them hardware to stream on, assistance in setting up their stream, and public exposure by giving the stream prominence on the r/StreetFighter subreddit.

The sign-up phase starts on September 14th, and prominent members of the subreddit will be involved in the selection process. They list requirements for the sponsorship as having talent, being comfortable in front of the camera, and ability to travel, among others.

If you are interested, keep your eyes peeled on the r/StreetFighter subreddit.

Source: r/StreetFighter

Atlus Adds $500 Pot Bonus to The King of Fighters XIV at Northeast Championships 17, Total Now $3100

Atlus seems to be in a giving mood lately. They had previously added a $1000 pot bonus to SNK Playmore’s The King of Fighters XIV at CEOtaku in Orlando, Florida, and it seems like they aren’t stopping their giving ways.

Eric “Big E” Small of Big E Gaming took to Twitter recently to announce that Atlus had added $500 to what was already a $2100 pot bonus for The King of Fighters XIV at Northeast Championships 17 in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. This now makes the tournament, part of SNK Playmore’s World Premier Tour for The King of Fighters XIV, loaded with a pot bonus of $3100–with other portions of the pot bonus coming from Big E himself, as well as players from Texas and The King of Fighters FGC.

NEC17 will be held from December 16th through 18th at the Valley Forge Casino Resort, located just outside of the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.  To register, please visit their website.

Source: Big E Gaming (Twitter)

Atlus Adds $500 Pot Bonus to The King of Fighters XIV at Northeast Championships 17, Total Now $3100

Atlus seems to be in a giving mood lately. They had previously added a $1000 pot bonus to SNK Playmore’s The King of Fighters XIV at CEOtaku in Orlando, Florida, and it seems like they aren’t stopping their giving ways.

Eric “Big E” Small of Big E Gaming took to Twitter recently to announce that Atlus had added $500 to what was already a $2100 pot bonus for The King of Fighters XIV at Northeast Championships 17 in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. This now makes the tournament, part of SNK Playmore’s World Premier Tour for The King of Fighters XIV, loaded with a pot bonus of $3100–with other portions of the pot bonus coming from Big E himself, as well as players from Texas and The King of Fighters FGC.

NEC17 will be held from December 16th through 18th at the Valley Forge Casino Resort, located just outside of the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.  To register, please visit their website.

Source: Big E Gaming (Twitter)