Category: News

The gents over at Source Gaming are back with another translation of Masahiro Sakurai’s latest Famitsu column. In the past he’s discussed some intricacies of Smash’s design and balance and compared it to other high profile games, and the subject of today’s column is none other than 2011’s FGC staple Marvel vs. Capcom 3. And he’s not just talking about the game’s design–he’s talking about how it functions in tournament-level play and how it can be compared to the Super Smash Bros. series.

“When you watch high level matches of Marvel, you will often see players start a combo, and keep it going until their opponent is KO’d,” Sakurai said. “You can convert a single stray hit into a very long combo, and it’s not rare to see a character start with full health and lose all of it from a single combo.”

It’s fair to say that there’s not been a game in the Smash series as combo-centric as any Marvel vs. Capcom game, so it might not be immediately clear that there are any parallels between these games, in tournament play or otherwise. But reflecting on some common fan feedback in regards to balance in Smash, Sakurai makes some sense of it.

“In the case of Smash, that would be people who say things like, “This character’s down-special is too strong, fix it!” They probably think that because they keep getting hit by it and can’t avoid it, or they think the move simply isn’t balanced. I think that reasoning is fairly common.” Sakurai said. However, Sakurai then goes onto state that “if someone’s using a tactic that’s giving you trouble, just adopt their tactic, and win,” rather than complaining about game balance and certain tactics being overpowered. Hearing Sakurai basically say “learn to adapt” is quite something, seeing as he has had quite the strained relationship with the competitive aspects of Smash in the past.

The whole article provides a lot of insight and Source Gaming’s translation is fantastic as usual. If you’re a fan of either series and have ever wondered about the philosophy behind balancing either of these games, it’s definitely worth a full read.

Sources: Source Gaming

With Tekken 7: Fated Retribution still slated for an early 2017 console release, western Tekken players have had little chance to get their hands on the game to understand the full nuances of the title–let alone have the ability to discern character rankings. Most of the competitive Tekken 7 information we get is being siphoned from South Korea and Japan, whose vibrant arcade scenes allow for information to be brought out before we can get our hands on the game.

Thankfully–with enough time under their belts–top Japanese players are starting to flesh out their tier lists, and Flying Wonkey at Avoiding the Puddle has the understanding of Japanese needed to translate the tier lists. The tier lists come directly from the Twitter accounts of three high level players in Japan–including Ao (Evolution 2015 runner up in Tekken 7), Rage, and Tsubumi.

Ao’s Tier List:

S+: Steve, Hwoarang

S: Marshall Law, King, Bryan, Kazuya

A: Heihachi, Devil Jin, Xiaoyu, Dragunov, Feng, Bob, Kazumi, Akuma, Nina

B: Paul, Leo, Alisa, Lars, Shaheen, Jin, JACK-7, Lili, Yoshimitsu, Claudio, Josie

C: Asuka, Lucky Chloe, Gigas

AO的キャラランク
S＋スティーブ　ファラン　
S ロウ キング ブライアン 一八
A　平八 デビル シャオドラグノフ フェン ボブ 一美 豪鬼 ニーナ
B　ポール レオ アリサ ラース シャヒーン 仁 ジャック リリ 吉光 クラウディオ ジョシー
C 飛鳥 クロエ ギガース

— アオ (@SmilyAo) September 6, 2016

Rage’s Tier List:

SSS: Hwoarang

SS: Steve

SS-: Bryan

S: Xiaoyu, Devil Jin, King, Nina, Alisa, Feng,

A+: Law, Paul, Claudio, Kazuya, Heihachi

A: Bob, Dragunov, Shaheen, Kazumi, Yoshimitsu, Jin, Lars, Lili, Katarina

A-: Asuka, JACK-7, Josie

B: Gigas, Lucky Chloe

No Akuma placing.

Tsubumi’s Tier List:

SS: Hwoarang, Steve

S: Bryan, Marshall Law, King

A+: Kazuya, Devil Jin, Shaheen, Feng, Akuma, Nina, Xiaoyu

A: Alisa, Kazumi, Lars, Claudio, Yoshimitsu, Heihachi, Dragunov, Josie, Paul, Jin, Lili, Bob, Leo

B: Katarina, JACK-7, Asuka

C: Lucky Chloe, Gigas

キャラランク
SSファラン スティーブ
Sブライアン ロウ キング
A＋一八 デビル シャヒーン フェン 豪鬼 ニーナ シャオ
Aアリサ 一美 ラース クラウディオ 吉光 平八 ドラグノフ ジョシー ポール 仁 リリボブ レオ
Bカタリーナ ジャック 飛鳥
Cクロエ ギガース

— つぶみ (@TEKKNNET) September 6, 2016

It’s worth noting that there is hardly any divergence in the tiers at this point. It does look like Japan has had enough time with the game to come to a general consensus on what is working on the game. Further, it seems that people are starting to understand the Akuma matchup, as the Street Fighter crossover has nestled himself a place in the middle of the rankings.

With this information, it may be easier for people to start zeroing in on characters to play when this game releases on consoles in 2017.

Source: Flying Wonkey

The forces of darkness are marshaling themselves against Earth, and Gargos is raring to start his invasion. However, due to modern military simulations–and Iron Galaxy’s desire to makes some last minute tweaks–Killer Instinct players can now sign up to get early access to the new single-player Shadow Lords mode, ahead of its September 20th release.

By going over to the sign up page over on Ultra Combo, players can get a chance to receive a Shadow Lords token which gives them the ability to play this mode early. This is not a guarantee that you will gain access if you sign up; Iron Galaxy is checking to see if they do need more players to generate extra data to help balance the mode before launch, so don’t be disappointed if you do not receive a token. Also, this sneak peek of Shadow Lords is only available for Xbox One users–and elements of the game will change ahead of its official release.

You are allowed to stream, make videos or take screenshots of Shadow Lords if you do gain early access but do keep in mind, it’s still subject to change, so don’t go making that tutorial video on how to beat Gargos in two seconds just yet. You can check out some footage of Shadow Lords from back in August at Gamescom, if you are on the fence about signing up for a chance at early access.

Source: Ultra Combo

Some time back, we reported on the fact that a set of unused stage transitions and finishes had been found in Street Fighter V. While interesting, the original discovery only allowed their animations to work in the Bustling Side Street stage. Now however, modders have found a way to get them to work in their proper stages.

TheChosenJuannn over at the r/StreetFighterMods subreddit has released a new mod that enables these stage transitions and finishes in their proper stages for the PC version of Street Fighter V.  Sadly, as you can see in the video below, the mod only shows the animation of the defeated character–the stages themselves seem to be missing more than a few models, textures, and animations. Still, it offers a glimpse into something that Capcom is likely adding sometime down the line.

Interested players on PC can find the mod over on Reddit. Take note that the mod only adds the right side transitions and finishes–the left side ones have yet to be made to work. More importantly, using these online can cause a disconnect when they’re triggered.

Sources: Reddit; SFV Mods Street Fighter V Mods

A couple of weeks back, Capcom shared some rejected superhero-esque costume ideas for Street Fighter V’s cast on the CFN Portal. Seeing these, more than a few fans were disappointed that these didn’t make the cut for the final game. Luckily, we have modder TheJamk coming to the rescue–at least for the PC version of the game.

First up, looking like a strange combination of Yatterman-1 and the X-Men’s Cyclops, is Space Ryu. The costume mod itself is nearly 100 percent accurate to the concept art, with only some minor differences with the visor and the cloth pieces from his headband coming out from the wrong place.

The second rejected costume brought to life is bunny-eared hoodie-wearing Paradise Storm Mika. Again, while the design isn’t 100% accurate to the original art, the differences here are even less noticeable than with Space Ryu thanks to the excellent job TheJamk has done in modeling the outfit.

Source: TheJamk

Koei Tecmo has released a free-to-play version of Dead or Alive 5 Last Round, and they are banking that it will get you into this lesser-played fighting game. Titled Core Fighters–and featuring the characters Ayane, Hayate, Kasumi and Ryu Hayabusa for free, with other characters being DLC unlockable, they are now offering a special present for people who get in on the ground floor.

For a limited time, the US PlayStation store is offering to give you Christie as a gift for downloading Core Fighters. While you would have to buy other characters should you want to play them, this does give you five characters to try to learn the game with.  Who knows? You might actually find your main within that pool.

This offer will only be extended until October 4th, so don’t forget to grab it!

Source: PlayStation Store

Alex Jebailey has been keeping himself busy. While he is already sitting on the doorstep of the beginning of this month’s CEOtaku event, he is continuing to pound away on his flagship event–Community Effort Orlando.

Tonight, word broke of the dates for CEO 2017, with Jebailey taking to Twitter to officially confirm the dates of June 16th through the 18th at the Wyndham Resort in Orlando. It was further stated that hotel registration for the event would be available following CEOtaku.

#CEO2017 will take place on June 16-18th at the Wyndham Orlando Resort. Hotel Room reservation link will go live after #CEOtaku is over.

— CEOtaku October 1-2 (@CEOGaming) September 7, 2016

He also took to his personal Twitter to assure people that there would be “plenty of rooms,” as there would be registration options available both at the Wyndham and the Hawthorne Suites, which is next door to the venue.

I've contracted both the Wyndham & the Hawthorne Suites next door for #CEO2017 so there will be plenty of rooms. https://t.co/8Y7oOXck9P

— Alex Jebailey (@CEOJebailey) September 7, 2016

On a bittersweet note, however, Jebailey stated that this would be the “end of an era,” as it would be the final year that CEO will be held at the Wyndham, which has housed the event since its inception following the demise of the G.A.M.M.E. event that sparked the creation of CEO.

Will be dubbing this event "end of an era" as it'll be the last of an amazing 7 year run in that great venue. https://t.co/PaqQAnHi0H

— Alex Jebailey (@CEOJebailey) September 7, 2016

While it is sad that it will be the final year at the Wyndham, we can only expect an upward trend for CEO, and expect bigger and better things than the Wyndham could contain in 2018. Get ready to register, and mark June 16-18 red on your calendars!

Sources: CEOGaming; CEOJebailey

FlashVision’s FV Cup has been Malaysia’s premier Street Fighter tournament for a number of years now. Scheduled to take place from October 22 to 23, this year’s FV Cup also (tentatively) represents the last Capcom Pro Tour ranking event in the Pro Tour Calendar as well the final Capcom Pro Tour Asia qualifier, with the winner flying to the CPT Asia Finals in Taiwan in November for a chance to qualify for Capcom Cup 2016.

For any players interested in flying out to Malaysia for FV Cup, registration for the event has now been opened. Competitors can head on over to this link to register.

FV Cup 2016 will take place at the Tunku Abdul Rahman University College Dewan Utama in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this coming October 22 and 23.

Source: FlashVision

Street Fighter V fans have almost certainly already taken a look at Capcom’s new official trailer for Urien; the Capcom-Unity blog has followed up with their usual breakdown of what the Illuminati’s number two brings to the SFV arena.

As listed in the blog:

First introduced in Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, Urien is the Vice President of Illuminati and wants nothing but to take over Illuminati from his older brother, Gill, and destroy Shadaloo. Urien has complete confidence in his own physicality and this elitism shows itself through his sadistic and tyrannical tendencies. He gains joy only from dominating others and having them crumble in the face of his incredible power.

V-Skill: Metallic Aura

Urien’s skin tone changes and he can absorb a single hit as he rushes forward in a brutal shoulder tackle.

V-Trigger: Aegis Reflector

One of the 66 Illuminati Secret Arts, this energy barrier reflects projectiles and will knock unblocking opponents back if they make contact. Directional input while activating V-trigger controls where the barrier will appear; Urien can project two of them during V-trigger to set up some sadistic zoning and juggle scenarios.

Critical Art: Dominate Crush

The name says it all! Urien channels his powerful energy into the ground to raise a “pillar of destruction.”

Of course, those who have played the “A Shadow Falls” General Story Mode have had a chance to try out these powers already!

Capcom-Unity confirms that Urien’s official release is indeed due in September, but have yet to offer a solid date. They also indicate that more information about Urien’s release and the previously mentioned September update content will be revealed at the Tokyo Game Show next week–so stay locked on!

Source: Capcom-Unity

When this latest console generation launched, it became the first one in almost two decades to do so without a new Virtua Fighter game. Now however, it seems that players will finally be able to play Virtua Fighter on their PlayStation 4–as part of another game.

Sega recently announced a number of features for their upcoming Yakuza 6. One such feature is the ability to play actual games in arcades in-game, including Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown.

Released in arcades in 2010 and consoles in 2012, Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown is the final update to Virtua Fighter 5, and includes the characters added in the Virtua Fighter 5 R update (newcomer Jean Kujo and veteran Taka-Arashi) as well as a host of system and balance changes.

The version of VF5 Final Showdown in Yakuza 6 will feature 2 player competitive mode which should be great news for anyone who wants to set up casuals for the game on PS4. Whether or not it’s based on the newer “B” version released in March of last year, or the older “A” version that was the basis for the last-gen console releases is as of yet unknown.

Other games available in Yakuza 6’s arcades include Puyo-Puyo, Outrun, Super Hang-On, Space Harrier, and Fantasy Zone.

Yakuza 6 will release on PlayStation 4 in Japan on December 8.

Sources: Hachima Kikou; Gematsu