IBF bantamweight champion Lee Haskins (33-3, 14 KOs) will fight Stuart Hall (20-4-2, 7 KOs) in a rematch on September 10 on the Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook undercard at The O2 in London.
Haskins defends his belt for a second time against fellow Brion Hall, who he outpointed in 2012 for the European title.
The Bristol boxer stopped Ryosuke Iwasa in six rounds in June 2015 to win the title and successfully defended it with a one-sided points win over Ivan Morales in May.
Hall aims to regain the…
Pick Up Some Fireball-Based Option Selects in Street Fighter V
As much as Capcom has indicated that they don’t want option selects as part of Street Fighter V’s toolbox, they continue to surface. Stream Fighters has uploaded this video, demonstrating a potentially new one: they attack with a fireball, with a Critical Art buffered: if the fireball connects, it’s followed by a linked Critical Art–but if the fireball is blocked, then the CA doesn’t start.
It appears to work with multiple characters, and possibly with specials other than fireballs as well. There is some debate as to whether this is new tech, or just something older getting new attention, and it is still unclear why exactly this option select works.
How long this option select will actually remain usable is also questionable; Capcom has shown some new alacrity in patching out glitches, so this tool may be short-lived.
Source: Stream Fighters, EventHubs
Smash-Influenced Brawlout Seeks to Reclaim the ‘Golden Age’ of Platform Fighters
The upcoming platform fighter by Angry Mob Games, Brawlout, combines the “platforming and win conditions” of Super Smash Bros. with the “various combat moves and ground combos” from more traditional fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter.
Players will be able to compete locally or online in a handful of different modes supporting up to 8 characters at once. These characters begin with “accessible attacks” that are enhanced with special moves and combos.
If you’re interested in taking an early look at the game, head on over to The MIX: Evo Indie Showcase which is set to take place on July 15 and 16 during–you guessed it–Evo.
You can find more information on Brawlout and The Mix: Evo Indie Showcase by following their respective links. The Mix: Evo Indie Showcase head on over to The MIX’s Evo 2016 webpage.
Sources: Angry Mob Games, The MIX via Gematsu
5v5 US vs. Japan Pokkén Tournament Crew Battle Set to Happen at Evo
It’s happening!
Team Japan and Team USA are going head to head in a 5v5 Crew Battle at Evo. Talks about a possible crew battle at Pokkén’s largest international event thus far have been in the works for a little while. Through a considerable amount of organization from players of both sides, the event is set to happen on Evo Sunday and the players have been chosen.
Image created and provided courtesy of Burnside.
There’s a lot of interesting things already to consider in this showdown.
The lack of one of Japan’s absolute finest, Azazel, is surprising. Azazel’s exclusion is the equivalent of Suicune Master or BIM? sitting out. Given his unusual character choice, and the fact that he and Suicune Master have at least an hours’ worth of training experience with each other, he could have been a wall for Team Japan.
On the flipside, the character diversity of Team Japan is also likely to be a considerable asset. Though it’s probably safe to say Team USA is ready for the Mewtwo Bros and Sceptiles (and probably, to an extent, Pikachu Libre), Braixen/Weavile are almost completely invisible in the US brackets and could provide problems if every member of Team USA doesn’t come completely prepared. The represented character diversity means Team USA has to prepare for twice as many opponents, potentially. Min-maxing theory vs. flexibility is really on display between these character selections.
It’s currently unclear–and unlikely–if this (very unofficial, community organized) crew battle will be streamed in any meaningful way, but Cat Fight himself has promised to record all matches, which is good, as this will be the most capsulized measurement of US vs. Japan Pokkén yet.
Who is your money on?
Soruces: Cat Fight
Twitch Will Beta Test New Cheering System at Evo 2016
As a way to beta test their new Bits and Cheer system which they are planning to fully implement in the near future, Twitch is enabling viewers to Cheer for their favorite players during the Evo 2016 finals on Saturday and Sunday. For those who aren’t fully up to date on what Bits are, they are a special currency you can buy on Twitch which, when used, donates a certain amount of money to the streamer in question, as well as showing a cool chat emote called a Cheer based on the amount of Bits used.
The way this Cheer system will work at Evo is as follows: say Daigo is playing Infiltration’s Chun-Li and he manages to full parry Chun-Li’s Critical Art, you can then Cheer to celebrate this hype moment. To do so, you’d type Cheer1000 (if you wanted to donate 1000 Bits) and then use #daigo to register your support. You should be able to Cheer on all the finals on Saturday and Sunday on the main Evo stream so have your Bits in your account should you wish to Cheer your favorites. The cash generated from Cheers has 70% attributed to the streamer/player while the remaining 30% is given to Evo itself, with a Bit being equal to 1 cent per Bits used in a Cheer. So, if Daigo does said parry and you did an 1000 Bit Cheer, he would receive around $7.
At the moment, the money donated via Cheers will only go to players with a Twitch partnership but as this featured grows and evolves into something greater, any player who is Cheered for should receive that money. Again, this system is still in beta and you can consider Evo as its first test run, ahead of it rolling out for other big streamed events. For more information on the general Cheer and Bits system, check out Twitch’s big FAQ for all the gritty details.
Source: Twitch
Team NINJA’s Tom Lee Talks Crossovers and Why We Shouldn’t Expect This Trend to End Anytime Soon
We recently reported on the fact that Team NINJA will be adding the King of Fighters’ Mai Shiranui to Dead or Alive 5 Last Round. This isn’t exactly anything new for fighting games in general–other games such as Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct have also been piling on crossover characters. Meanwhile, Dead or Alive has arguably had them from the start.
In light of all of this, PVPLive’s Chris Bahn sat down with Team NINJA’s Creative Director Tom Lee to talk about the subject of crossovers, why they’re so compelling, and why we shouldn’t expect them to go away any time soon.
Regarding Dead or Alive’s history of crossovers and guest characters, he relates how when making the first game, Team NINJA realized that Ninja Gaiden’s Ryu Hayabusa would be a natural fit due to the former’s emphasis on ninjas.
As for why there has been an increase in the number of crossovers and guest characters as of late, Lee points out how they’re a good way to maintain fans’ attention on a game. “There are so many options for fans to get into or be distracted away from what they enjoy,” Lee states, “so, the recent spike in crossovers and collaborations between established franchises and licensed IPs is a move from publishers to keep their aging franchises relevant without ‘reinventing the wheel’. Collaborating with another company for a crossover,” he continues “can breathe new life into that game.”
Lee also points out that this is something that isn’t just limited to video games, and that you see the same thing happening in traditional media such as TV and films. As such, he doesn’t expect this trend to slow down anytime soon.
Of course, this is just part of what they talk about, head on over to PVP Live to read the full interview, including Lee’s list of other characters he’d like to add to DOA5 Last Round.
Source: PVP Live
Bandai Namco to Talk about Tekken 7, and Soulcalibur’s 20th Anniversary at SDCC
The San Diego Comic-Con is a great place for many creators to interact with their fans. As such, it’s no surprise that, even those outside of comics, tend to hold panels at the event.
One such company is Bandai Namco, who will be holding a panel on Friday, July 22. The panel will include Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada, Senior Producer Michael Murray, and will be moderated by none other than Mark “MarkMan” Julio.
While the panel itself will be primarily about their upcoming fighter, Tekken 7, they will also be holding a special discussion about Bandai Namco’s other 3D fighting franchise, Soulcalibur. Specifically, they will be talking about the series’ 20th anniversary (while Soul Edge launched in arcades in December 1995, 1996 saw the release of arcade Ver. II before hitting PlayStation in December).
For those who’re going to SDCC and are interested in checking the panel out, it will be taking place at Room 25ABC of the San Diego Convention Center from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM on Friday, July 22.
Who Stands atop the Realms? Find Out with REO’s Full Variation Tier List for Mortal Kombat XL
Many members of the NRS Community have voiced their opinions about where the warriors of Mortal Kombat XL have ranked over the course of the game’s various balance patches. But, for the most part, those lists have been ranking fighters as individual characters, like a traditional tier list for any other fighting title. However, with MKXL’s Variation System providing players with three unique takes on each character–four in the case of Triborg–these tier lists simply did not convey the entire picture, even if most characters don’t necessarily have every Variation properly represented in competitive play.
YOMI Gaming’s REO, a top player in both MKX and MK9, has taken it upon himself to construct a tier list that includes every single Variation in MKXL, as of patch 1.13.
He takes a moment to explain what each Letter Grade–S through C–is meant to represent on his personal scale, but only goes into great detail about the specific placements of the four S tier characters and one C tier character, for the sake of video length. He also notes that he will be updating this list every three to six months as the competitive meta evolves, or as patches and hotfixes are released.
Source: MK_REO
Aksys Games Announces Evo 2016 Pot Bonuses, Developer Presence
Fans of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue have a lot to look forward to this weekend thanks to the latest announcements from Aksys Games. The North American publisher is raising the competitive stakes at Evo with impressive pot bonuses and more.
The Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- tournament, which has just over 900 entrants, is receiving a $10,000 pot bonus from the company and the developer, Arc System Works. Furthermore, the Toushinsai qualifier, which will be held at the Aksys Games booth, is also receiving an additional $5,000 prize.
If that’s not enough to get you excited, Aksys also announced that Daisuke Ishiwatari and Toshimichi Mori, developers behind the two games, will be in attendance. There will also be a playable build of the upcoming BlazBlue: Central Fiction.
Not going to be there yourself? Don’t worry, Jyosua will be streaming footage from the Aksys Games booth all weekend.
Tune in this coming Sunday to watch the Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- finals at 1 pm PDT.
Source: Aksys Games
G2 eSports Expands in Super Smash Bros. and Signs Westballz as Their First Player
Joining the ranks of eSports organizations dipping their toes in the waters of the FGC, the European based G2 eSports has signaled their entry into the fighting game arena by signing Weston “Westballz” Dennis as their first player for Super Smash Bros. Melee. This signing comes as quite the shock, as Westballz was previously signed to Tempo Storm and seemed fairly content to stick with the team through Evo 2016. However, I imagine the aligning planets of Westballz’ contract expiration and G2 wanting to make a big entrance to the FGC on the world’s biggest stage made for quite the convincing counter offer.
Tempo Storm have made a statement regarding Westballz’ departure, wishing him all the best at his new team and thanking him for his service and growth under their banner. G2 eSports have said that Westballz “[has] our mentality, he is a born winner and a competitive beast but still has a really likeable personality.” Known for his explosive Falco play and solid placements over the past year or so, both parties are looking to make their mark at Evo with a possible top 8 finish. With G2 having arguably the best League of Legends team and one of the best Counter Strike: Global Offensive teams in Europe, having a top 10 ranked Melee player as their first signing is a great place to start. Also, with Westballz having some vicious sets against players like TSM|Leffen at BEAST 6, he is happy to play the bad guy, lining up perfectly with G2’s current reputation as the villains of the EU LCS. Watch out for the Falco rocking a brand new grey jersey during the Evo weekend.
Source: G2 eSports, Tempo Storm