Katsuhiro Harada Talks Tekken 7 on Unreal Engine 4 and How This Represents Changing Japanese Game Development

When Tekken 7 was first announced, one of the more interesting details to come out was the fact that it was being made not on a bespoke engine, but on Unreal Engine 4. This put it on the growing list of Japanese-developed fighting games using iterations of Epic’s engine. UK news outlet Metro recently caught up with Bandai Namco’s Katsuhiro Harada at Gamescom, where they talked about Tekken 7’s use of said engine.

According to Harada, while Japan had the lead in 3D game development in the 1990s, Western developers started to catch up during the turn of the millennium as they started to focus on development with the PC–using engines like Unreal whereas Japanese developers continued to focus on using engines built for specific consoles. As such, Western development became very strong in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era.

Harada continues by stating Japanese developers are now only just catching up with using middleware and engines like Unity and UE4. Off hand, he mentions only a few teams, such as the Final Fantasy team at Square Enix, some teams at Capcom, as well as Konami’s old Metal Gear team (which had at least one former Tekken developer) as being able compete with Western development.

Of course, that’s not just the only thing that they discuss. Harada and senior game designer Michael Murray also address a lot of other things, including whether or not Tekken has the longest running story in games at the moment, comparisons to Blizzard’s Overwatch, and more. You can read all of this in the full interview over at Metro.

Source: Metro

 

SNK Announces King Of Fighters XIV Netcode Patch is Currently in Review for Release

It’s no secret that impressions of The King of Fighters XIV’s netcode have been a mixed bag during launch week.  Earlier this week, SNK announced on social media that they were aware of the slowdown issues in certain modes, and were already working on a patch to solve this issue.

Yesterday, SNK tweeted that the patch is already in the review process, and will hopefully be approved and begin rolling out in a few days. We already reported on some workarounds that can be used in the game’s Party Mode, but this is certainly great news for those of us looking to continue burning to fight!

We’ll continue to keep you posted right here on Shoryuken as we learn more about this upcoming patch.

Source: SNKPOfficial (Twitter)

Prepare for Leffen’s Return as Red Bull Releases Their Debut Trailer for Cultivation Leffen: Resurrection

It is almost time for the Godslayer to return, and Red Bull wants everyone to know it. As part of their ongoing Cultivation documentary series, Red Bull has releases the debut trailer for Cultivation Leffen: Resurrection, charting William “Leffen” Hjelte’s rise to prominence and recent struggles. While on track to possibly become the best Super Smash Bros. Melee player in the world by toppling the Five Gods of Melee, disaster struck as Leffen was rejected at the US border on his way to The Big House 5. From then on, he has been unable to attend US tournaments and continue his momentous rise to the top of the Melee hierarchy.

With his visa currently being processed, it is only a matter of time until the Godslayer returns to make some heads roll. The first episode of Cultivation Leffen: Resurrection will air on Red Bull TV on August 31st, with episodes airing every week until the final sixth episode on October 5th. The documentary won’t just focus on Leffen’s placements in Smash, but his relationship with other players and his life outside of the game. Check out the debut trailer below and watch the previous series of Cultivation, which followed master Zangief Snake Eyez, on Red Bull TV.

Source: Red Bull eSports

BigBoysToys’ New Blanka Figurine Rolls Out This October

As shown previously, BigBoysToys is adding some new characters to their line of classic Street Fighter II figurines; it looks like the first of the three to join the fight will be Blanka, now available for preorder through toy import sites such as CD Japan, PLAY-ASIA, or the Japanese Amazon site, rolling toward an October 2016 release.

This cartoony-but-fierce rendition of Blanka features its own background setting based on Blanka’s own SFII Brazil stage, and light and sound effects similar to the previous BigBoysToys SFII figurines.

Click to view slideshow.

Bringing T.N.C-05 Blanka home will cost you between ¥12,000 to ¥13,000 (approximately $110 USD) plus shipping through these retailers.

Sources: CD Japan; PLAY-ASIA; Amazon.co.jp

Become an Honorary Panda Global Player for The Big House 6 by Winning the Key to the PG House Online Qualifier

With the recent success of the Road to Shine Online Qualifier for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Panda Global have created their own online tournament series in partnership with smash.gg, designed to get players from North America and Europe to The Big House 6. Named “Key to the PG House,” the winner from Europe and the winner from North America will be an honorary Panda Global member over the course of The Big House 6, gaining access to the Panda Global training house to play with other top level Smashers. They will gain complimentary flights and entry to The Big House 6, along with a Panda Global hoodie and t-shirt, as well as a custom made smash.gg hoodie with their gamertag on the back.

As with the Road to Shine Qualifier, entrants to Key to the PG House will require an Internet connection with at least 5Mbps upload & 15Mbps download in order to compete. For the North American qualifier, players from the USA, Mexico and Canada can compete while for the European qualifier, any player from an EU nation can qualify. (Don’t worry UK players, you’re still eligible to enter.) If for any reason players are unable to attend due to visa issues or prior school or personal commitments, the first place prize will go to the next qualified entrant in top 8.

There will be four qualifiers for both regions, leading to a top 128 final where the winner will be decided. The US qualifiers start on Thursday the 8th of September at 5pm PST. These qualifiers will run until Sunday the 11th, where the final 128 will be held at 3pm PDT. As for Europe, due to the initial schedule clashing with Syndicate– Europe’s biggest Smash 4 tournament– their qualifiers have been shifted to a week later, starting on Thursday the 15th at 5pm BST, with the final 128 happening on Sunday the 18th. Each qualifier will be capped at 768 and they will not be reseeded. If you go into Losers’ early, prepare for a long road out. Both top 128 will be streamed over on the Panda Global Twitch channel, should you wish to tune in and see how each region fares.

For all the information regarding rules and prizes, check out the official smash.gg page. Hopefully, these qualifiers will become a regular occurrence for majors, as it does open the way for lesser known players from other regions to get a shot at the big time, without the risk of forking out hundreds on flights and lodging.

Sources: Panda Global; smash.gg

See What the Rest of Street Fighter V’s Core Cast is Up To with More CFN Fighter Profiles

After profiling the first half of Street Fighter V’s playable cast, the CFN Portal has moved on to the remainder of the initial 16 characters that have been available since the game’s launch in this next set of profiles.

Many seemed surprised at the lack of Necalli’s impact in the Cinematic Story Mode expansion after he was hyped up to be a new opponent for Ryu, who had even caught the interest of M. Bison, according to the ancient prophecy fortold by the Warrior Prophet before his consumption. However, Capcom has decided to shine more light on the “Soul Consuming Darkness” in his profile, noting that he subconsciously corrupts those whom he encounters–who will eventually follow his path, and begin hunting for strong souls that they too may devour-our-our. When the “Hour of the Battle” draws near, he will begin to move into areas where he can sense many battles taking place, in order to consume many powerful souls. As they have done previously with Akuma and Evil Ryu, the Shadaloo Soldiers wonder if Necalli’s wild, barbaric, fighting style is somehow connected to the Murderous Intent of the Satsui no Hado. In his win quote to Ryu, Necalli states that “I can he…hear it. The endless killing intent, must consume…” He even warns M. Bison that, in regards to his Psycho Power, “There is nothing I cannot consume. I will co-consume all.” We also learn that while he can speak normal human speech and languages (albeit with a degree of difficulty, as seen in his win quotes), when he truly loses himself to his natural power his true strength and horror are enough to speak for him. In fact, just the act of witnessing Necalli “eating” a soul is enough to leave a person completely frozen with fear.

Necalli Official Character Art
Necalli Character Story Art 1
Necalli Character Story Art 2/Tue Form

While she hasn’t been seen since Capcom Fighting Evolution all the way back in 2004, the “Perfect Victor,” Karin Kanzuki makes a grand return to Street Fighter V. Viewing Shadaloo’s latest machinations of the Black Moon Plan to be a threat to the her Kanzuki Zaibatsu–as well as the entire world–she begins to gather the World Warriors at the Kanzuki Estate to launch an attack on the organization’s base during the course of the Cinematic Story Mode Expansion. Still maintaining her family’s pride as a Martial Artist and continuing to carry on the Kanzuki motto of “be the winner in everything,” she tends to declare herself the victor of her battles in advance. Her natural haughtiness may be seen by some as an irreverent attitude–but that does not mean she isn’t an important person.

Karin Official SFV Character Art
Character Story Art 1
Character Story Art 2

Her profile also shines the spotlight on her “Super Butler” Shibasaki. Karin employs him for a wide variety of duties, ranging from data analysis to being a personal assistant. He’s also a solid fighter himself, as shown in Karin’s Character Story prologue, where he fights off a horde of lower-ranked Shadaloo Soldiers.

Basic Information:

Name: Shibasaki
Height: 178cm
Weight: 75kg
Blood type: A
Birthday: 7th of May
Country of origin: Japan
Likes: Black tea, young lady Karin
Dislikes: People with poor table manners

The CFN Portal has included both an image of him in both his business suit, as well as his casual attire, sipping on a cup of black tea. He is always acting together with the young “princess” Karin, and has learned a great deal of things from the Legendary Butler Azam–and is considered to be the “Rising Star” of the butler world.

Shibazaki Business Attire
Sibazaki Casual Attire Drinking Black Tea

Next up is “The Headbutt-Happy Glutton,” Birdie, who is also returning from the Alpha Series, as well as currently mooching at the Kanzuki Estate! After previously covering Birdie’s original incarnation, this Profile concerns his current state as of the timeline of Street Fighter V. Besides getting fatter, he doesn’t seem to have changed much at all. However, the CFN Portal did provide us with some new art pieces for your viewing pleasure.

Birdie Official Character Art
Birdie Character Story Art 1
Birdie Character Story Art 2

Rounding out the Alpha 3 veterans and making her return to SF after nearly 20 years is Mika Nanakawa, otherwise known as Rainbow Mika! She is a rookie of the Iwashigahama Women’s Pro Wrestling promotion, with her tag team partner Nadeshiko (who also serves as her V-trigger in the game).

She swears allegiance to her master Zangief, and is sponsored by Karin’s Kanzuki Zaibatsu. During a wrestling tour, she receives a request to help stop Shadaloo’s Black Moon plan. She speaks in a casual manner, befitting of a “gym girl” like herself. Though she’s usually wearing her mask when training or competing in the ring, she’s actually quite an expressive, emotional person. In regards to her dislike being “younger people with no manners,” this specifically refers to Ibuki, with whom she notably got into an argument with upon their first meeting. However, they set their differences aside, and despite never agreeing on anything, infiltrated Shadaloo’s Base as a team during the Cinematic Story Mode.

Rainbow Mika Official Character Art
Rainbow Mika Character Story Art 1
Rainbow Mika Character Story Art 2

As we know, Cammy is an enhanced solider, her power increased in Shadaloo experiments, later rescued by the United Kingdom Special Forces Unit “Delta Red” who have helped her to walk a new path in life. She cooperates with Karin Kanzuki to participate in Shadaloo’s destruction once again, but her eyes fall upon suffering again when she sees that the Dolls are being brainwashed into fighting as living weapons.

Cammy Official Character Art
Cammy Character Story Art 1
Cammy Character Story Art 2

Next, we move on to that King of Shadaloo, the sadistic Spanish narcissist Vega. “The purpose of the struggle is to eliminate those who are ugly in the pursuit of True Beauty.” Though he is an intelligent warrior who absolutely adores himself, his mask literally hides glimpses of pure madness. His personal life philosophy is “beauty is absolute.” He is focused on the relationship between Cammy and Decapre, and hopes to “find new beauty” within them.

Vega Official Character Art
Vega Character Story Art 1
Vega Character Story Art 2

We continue the Shadaloo coverage by turning a spotlight on the evil warlord of the organization, and the major antagonist of the Street Fighter series, M. Bison. He wields the purple-colored, ominous energy called Psycho Power. Leader of the evil organization Shadaloo. He used the Black Moons to activate a plan to terrorize the world: filling himself with Psycho Power to achieve his strongest form in the history of the Street Fighter series. However, the real purpose is likely not world conquest; though generally perceived to be a power-hungry despot bent on ruling Earth and plunging its inhabitants into an endless nightmare, Bison’s plan may be to just face a rival of equal strength. His dialogue to Ryu at the climax of the Cinematic Story Mode about the true purpose of power seem to imply that the Bison only wishes to engage in “the ultimate battle” with someone whose powers are worthy of his otherworldly strength, with Ryu being the perfect candidate for such a match.

M. Bison Official Character Art
M. Bison Character Story Art 1
M. Bison Character Story Art 2

Finally, we have the newest member of Shadaloo, and the self-proclaimed “Number 2” of the organization, the master of deadly poisons, F.A.N.G! Appointed to the new Four Heavenly Kings of Shadaloo, he claims to be a member of the Royal Family of the self-proclaimed Lost Kingdom. He fights with a form of Chinese Kempo charged with poison from his own hands. His idolization of Bison and willingness to contribute to Shadaloo put him at the center of the Black Moon plan. Therefore, he noticed first and foremost the betrayal of Rashid’s friend. Usually, he speaks in an innocent tone, but it is merely acting: at the moment, he may seem casual, but death sometimes peeks out from behind his face. He considers “2” to be his lucky number, and is obsessed with it in all situations, sticking to it incessantly.

F.A.N.G Official Charcter Art
F.A.N.G Character Story Artwork 1
F.A.N.G Character Story Artwork 2/His Original Attire

To continue on with our newer fighters, we have Brazil’s Laura Matsuda, Sean’s big sister and one of Zangief’s “grappling buds.” We previously covered her family here. She lives a freewheeling, thrilling life, so she tends to not go home sometimes and travels instead. Sean is bad at handling Laura’s tendencies, but really cares and worries about his big sis. Perhaps providing an explanation for Sean’s actions during the Street Fighter III series, her profile closes by noting that, she is the planned inheritor of the Matsuda fighting style, so she seeks opponents to show just how strong her family is.

Laura Official Character Art
Laura Character Story Artwork 1
Laura Character Story Artwork 2

Finally, we have the main character of Street Fighter V’s General Story Mode, Rashid of the Turbulent Wind! Rashid isn’t your typical gung-ho all-or-nothing hero, he’s always thinking about the most efficient, smartest way to deal with things. He’s a practical man. He comes off as a carefree guy due to his parkour-influenced fighting style and casual talk, but when it comes to his friends there’s no one more serious than Rashid.

Rashid Official Character Art
Rashid Character Story Art 1
Rashid Character Story Art 2

For more content from the CFN Portal, check out these rejected costume designs for the original cast here and here.

Source: CFN Portal

Big Battlefield Glasgow Returns to Drygate Brewery on November 5th, 2016

Acting as Scotland’s last Super Smash Bros. major before the end of the year, Battlefield Glasgow has announced that that the Autumn edition of Big Battlefield will be returning to the Drygate Brewery on November 5th, 2016. As such, this Big Battlefield will have higher event caps for both Melee and Smash 4, and will even have a stage setup, providing a theatrical setting for this final major in this year’s Scottish Smash calendar.

Super Smash Bros. Melee will have Singles and Doubles, and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U will have Singles and Crews, with Crews having a cap of 8 participating teams, so gather your teammates now. There will be an early bird venue fee of £7, with it increasing to £10 after October 10th so if you are definitely planning to attend, buy your tickets early when they become available. All the details regarding a preliminary schedule, rulesets and player caps are available on the smash.gg and Facebook events pages, so take a look if you are thinking of attending. With the increased player cap and success of Big Battlefield Summer, expect talent from all over the United Kingdom coming together in Glasgow for a belter of a tournament.

Sources: Battefield Glasgow; smash.gg

Ricky Burns to make first defence against unbeaten Kiryl Relikh

WBA light welterweight champion Ricky Burns (40-5-1, 14 KOs) will make the first defence of his title against mandatory challenger Kiryl Relikh (21-0, 19 KOs) on October 7 at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
Burns, 33, became Scotland’s first three-weight world champion when he won the vacant title with a eight-round stoppage over Italy’s Michele di Rocco at the same venue last May.
Now he will defend it against the 26-year-old unbeaten Belarus fighter, who is trained and promoted by former…

How to Grow Your Local Fighting Game Community, According to Alex Valle

Releases of new fighting games, like The King of Fighters XIV and the upcoming BlazBlue: Central Fiction, are good opportunities to reflect on growing the fighting game scene and inviting new players.

According to Alex Valle, a longtime FGC veteran, the next two to four weeks following the release of KOFXIV are critical to growing the scene and welcoming new players. Valle put together several tips on how to positively impact your local scene, and here’s a quick summary of his steps:

  1. Start discussions daily on social media and keep an active voice that attracts more people to join.
  2. Create content–videos, screenshots–and consistently share via mediums like YouTube.
  3. While online play is available, it’s secondary to face-to-face meetings and local tournaments.
  4. Aid tournament organizers in any way possible, whether that includes being a community leader, helping with logistics of venue space and inventory, or alerting others about events.
  5. Start up your own events, even if that means hosting in your own space–after all, that’s how the FGC began over 20 years ago.

What else do you do to motivate and grow your local community? Share your tips with us in the comments.

Source: Alex Valle (Facebook)

Ragna’s Voice Actor Speaks Out over Lack of English Dub in BlazBlue: Central Fiction

Aksys Games began addressing fan concerns over the possibility of no English dubbing for the upcoming Western console release of BlazBlue: Central Fiction. The publisher tweeted out earlier this week that the dub is “unlikely” at this point. The company has clarified its original statement with additional tweets that explained the tough decision, outweighed by wanting to stay as close as possible to the Japanese console release date of October 6th.

More than just inconvenience for English-speaking fans, however: the lack of dub is a hit for voice actors who have been representing the series since its beginning in 2008. The mainstay actor and voice of protagonist Ragna the Bloodedge, Patrick Seitz, put together a blog post on his official Facebook page expressing his disappointment in the company’s communication on the matter. An excerpt:

And what a cast we’ve had…! I think our BB English cast is one of the best fighting game ensembles in the genre, frankly… I’m not saying that as a self-aggrandizing actor, or as one who’s bummed over the loss of a paycheck. I’m saying that as someone who, like you, has spent the last eight years with these characters–cheering their victories, mourning their losses, and understanding the world of BlazBlue more (or sometimes less!) with each new revelation.

Seitz and other noteworthy voice actors, like Noel Vermillion’s Cristina Vee, have been kept in the dark the same as fans regarding the possibility of dubbing. Seitz has also performed directing and coordination roles for certain games in the franchise. While Aksys didn’t explicitly say that the game will not get English-voice treatment later, Seitz points out that whether the game sells well or not, either situation doesn’t make a strong case for dubbing.

If the sub-only BBCF sells well in America, it’ll be seen as proof that an English dub isn’t essential–that it’s an expensive frippery, as it were, and that they were right to release a pared-down version… At that point, why commit funds to a dub after the fact when they’ve already got your cash in hand? And if BBCF doesn’t sell well, no one’s going to want to throw good money after bad by dubbing something that under-performed in its initial U.S. release.

This week, Aksys Games also announced details on the BlazBlue: Central Fiction Limited Edition coming this November.

Sources: Aksys Games (Twitter); Patrick Seitz (Facebook)