DreamHack 2016–starting tomorrow, June 18 and running until June 21 in Elmia, Jönköping, Sweden–has posted prize details and opened registration for their Pokkén Tournament Championship Series event, a surprise addition to the lineup initially announced earlier this week. As per the Championship Series structure seen at prior events, it will include both a Masters Division (for players born after 2001) and a Seniors Division (for players born before 2000), a $10,000 USD prize pool and other prizes such as Nintendo Wii U/3DS consoles, HORI Pro Pad controllers, Pokémon Trading Card Game booster packs–and naturally Pokkén Tournament Championship points and invitations to the World Championships for the top spots.
It will be interesting to see how many participants show up for this weekend’s event, given the incredibly short notice they received.
Pokkén Tournament has also exceeded one thousand entries for Evo 2016.
Source: DreamHack, with a tip from Alex “AngelDarksong” Stopher
The exciting guest on this episode of the Daily Dot Esports segment, Best of III, is none other than Alex Jebailey, the organizer of Community Effort Orlando and CEOtaku.
Later on, Alex Jebailey joins the show, and they start off the conversation with the recent, unfortunate events in Orlando, Florida. Jebailey already made a statement regarding security precautions for the event. They discuss the big expected number of participants, which adds up 2959 pre-registered entrants.
Game developers and publishers aren’t the only companies who attend E3. Peripheral makers, such as HORI, were also at the event, showing off some new stuff.
At their booth, HORI had a couple of prototypes of some upcoming arcade sticks for the PlayStation 4. First up were a pair of colored Real Arcade Pro 4 Kais. These were shown in blue and red and had a textured metallic finish and came with matching colored Hayabusa buttons.
More exciting, though, is a new iteration of their vaunted Fighting Edge arcade stick. This new version, surprisingly enough, loses the haptic touch area of the previous model–now replaced with a physical start button. It also gains a new brushed metal top panel and new LED lit frosted Hayabusa buttons. Additionally, it features a 3 row button layout similar to the custom layout that HORI player Naoto “Sakonoko” Sako has been using at tournaments.
For those interested in how these products look, TEAM SPLITFRAME’s Hibachi was at the event and has shared some photos of the prototypes (as well as of other sticks, like the new King of Fighters XIV HRAP.4 Kai). You can check these out in the gallery below.
With Tekken 7’s Fated Retribution update, the game gains a couple of new characters–returning character Nina Williams and guest character Akuma from Street Fighter. However, it’s likely that the cast will continue to expand in the coming months leading up to the game’s console release.
In a video shown during the Tekken 7 Fated Retribution X CR Tekken 2 Toshin Ver. Press Conference, we get to catch a glimpse of one another possible new character, Eliza, the vampire introduced in Tekken Revolution.
Eliza can be briefly glimpsed near the start of the press conference, at around 1 minute 45 seconds into the video below from Avoiding the Puddle’s Flying Wonkey.
Wonkey also later provided screen caps when queried about this on Twitter (including another shot from a later segment in the above video).
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Eliza is coming to Tekken 7, as the event itself was talking about the CR Tekken 2 Toshin Version–a pachinko game–in addition to Tekken 7. That said, the footage of her seems new, not something from her original trailer for Tekken Revolution.
We’re likely bound to learn more on whether or not Eliza, or any other characters are coming to Tekken 7 in the coming months.
This week, the folks at NetherRealm Studios revealed a massive amount of information about Injustice 2 at E3. Exciting details include confirmation of “Tournament Mode” for competitive play, “GGPO-style” netcode, more details on the mysterious Gear system, stages, and Story Mode, as well as new info on Injustice 2’s character roster and game mechanics.
What’s perhaps most exciting for SRK readers is the sheer amount of in-game footage released so far. Since this is our first time seeing Injustice 2’s gameplay in action, there’s much to dissect. Luckily, we did the leg work, and provided below is an intricate breakdown of everything we could scrounge out of these glimpses at the game.
The Roster
Six playable characters are confirmed via actual gameplay footage: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Supergirl, Atrocitus and Gorilla Grodd. A seventh character, Flash, premiered in the now week-old cinematic trailer for the game, and DC’s 75th anniversary celebration for Wonder Woman revealed–to the surprise of few–that the wielder of the Lasso of Truth will also be making an appearance in the game’s playable roster. This puts our (current) roster number at 8, but if–and this is a big if–the nearly empty character select screen seen at E3 is any indication, we’re looking at a projected 28 playable characters for this much anticipated DC Comics fighter.
The silhouettes are such a tease.
In an interview, Ed Boon hinted at a number of playable characters in the ballpark of 28 when he explained that we can expect a larger initial roster than in recent NRS titles, since 2015’s Mortal Kombat X launch included 25 playable characters (including day 1 DLC Goro), and 2013’s Injustice launch included 24. Considering the numbers above, 28 might not be so far-fetched.
An extensive 15 minutes of in-game footage, catch the breakdown below.
Basic Character Breakdowns
Batman:
We see Batman’s counter, his grappling gun (horizontal and vertical), aerial stun grenades, and his patented Batarangs in action. His protective mechanical bat trait from Injustice: Gods Among Us makes an appearance as well. His Super, an impressive aerial onslaught from a remote-controlled Batmobile, is particularly hype.
Superman:
His original Injustice Super has been re-envisioned with a more cinematic brawl in the sky before he sends his opponent back to the Earth. We also see his patented eye lasers, ice breath, and aerial choke slam return from the last Injustice. Superman’s trait from I:GAU is back as well, where all his attacks become super-powered with the energy of the sun, as he glows red with rage.
Aquaman:
His Super is back and better than ever; when the ruler of Atlantis sends you to the deep this time, it’s especially brutal. In the provided gameplay, we can confirm that Aquaman’s trident-based attacks–the rush, toss, scoop, and “seismo”–have all returned from the original Injustice (with some new nautical animations to boot). His water shield trait, which allowed Aquaman to escape grounded combo strings in the last game, also seems to have made a return in I2 based on the footage.
Supergirl:
Along with lasers, freezing ice breath, flight and a choke slam, the newcomer seems to have a Kitana-esque tornado at her disposal. In footage so far, we have seen an enhanced version of this move that leaves the opponent twirling in the air for an extended period of time. We have also seen an interesting extended version of the laser attack where Supergirl relentlessly blasts her opponent with eye lasers while advancing forward. Her trait seems to be based on her eye lasers, since her trait meter depletes as she uses them. However, a mysterious blue aura covers her arms more than once in the footage and its hard to tell if its a special move, her trait in action, or perhaps a gear modification.
Gorilla Grodd:
The menacing prime ape overlord seems to play at the pace of Mortal Kombat X’s Ferra/Torr and has a few comparable moves to boot, like an advancing roll attack that floors the opponent. In gameplay footage, an enhanced version of this roll launches the opponent for a juggle opportunity. Grodd’s Super looks particularly devastating. A few more feral specials were shown at E3, including an enhanced tackle that ends with Grodd biting Batman’s throat, an air throw and a ground pound move used to end a juggle combo. Grodd’s trait activates his telekinetic abilities, allowing him to assault the opponent with his mind as well as his fists.
Atrocitus:
The bloody Red Lantern and his cat friend Dex-Starr don’t disappoint. Atrocitus’ moves set includes a vicious onslaught enhanced into a tackle that ends with a point-blank lava breath finisher, and a blood tornado that lifts the opponent for a juggle. Dex-Starr seems to function as a trait in Injustice 2, as he’s summoned when the trait meter is full–similar to General Zod’s trait in the previous Injustice. The Cat Lantern’s abilities include shooting slow projectiles over Atrocitus’ shoulder, as well as a vicious mauling attack.
Flash and Wonder Woman:
Unfortunately, no gameplay has been provided for these fighters.
Returning Stages
Ed Boon has officially announced 3 playable stages, or “arenas,” all of which make their return from 2013’s Injustice with some new flare: Atlantis (now with a secondary stage transition), Gotham City, and Metropolis (now featuring the Ace o’ Clubs bar for the most die hard Superman fans out there).
The stage select screen with Metropolis highlighted to the left, Gotham at center, and Atlantis to the right.
Game Mechanics
Based on video evidence above, most of the mechanics from Injustice: Gods Among Us have returned to Injustice 2. Via the videos provided, the following mechanics can be speculatively-confirmed: wall-bounces (including 2-meter enhanced cancels out of combo strings), enhanced special moves, interactables and the ability to enhance them, stage transitions, and the combo-escaping Clash system where the players wager resources for life or damage. We also see evidence of a mainstay in NRS games: the “first-attack” meter gain, where the player to land the first hit in the match receives 1 stock of meter as reward.
There’s also evidence of potential new mechanics. The first is an evasive roll for the cost of one meter. In the link provided, Superman can be seen graphically flashing as he rolls through Gorilla Grodd and lands behind him. Applications for this are only speculative, but it seems to serve a defensive purpose–specifically to escape the corner at the cost of meter.
While there are several examples of different characters using the evasive roll mentioned above, the GIF provided below shows an interesting interaction between Gorilla Grodd and Batman where the dark knight “flips” out of Grodd’s juggle combo. It’s hard to indicate what exactly is happening, and whether it’s character exclusive or not. Could this be a new juggle escaping mechanic? The flash associated with it is the same as an enhancement flash, possibly indicating that the Batman player used some meter to escape a combo, similar to Mortal Kombat X’s breaker system.
Obviously, any of these mechanics could be removed or altered by Injustice 2’s projected 2017 release, but the video evidence helps indicate the direction NRS is heading with their new fighter and what to expect as a player.
The Gear System
The Gear System has been addressed more than once, with each discussion offering interesting insight on how the mysterious mechanic will work. Included below is a written transcript of some interview segments between Geoff Keighley and Ed Boon.
Geoff Keighley: “This idea of customization, tell us, how does that idea actually work out. I mean, how is my Batman going to be different than your Batman?”
Ed Boon: “We’re actually introducing gear, that players can put on their characters that will actually affect […] their game-play. Your Batman, after you’re playing for awhile, and you’ve equipped him with, you know, weeks’ worth of gear, he’s going to look completely different from my Batman. He’ll still be Batman at his core, but you’ve chosen to have more defensive properties with your character and I’m kind of more like an offensive one. So it’s really your version of Batman. The customization part is what really stands out with this game.”
In another interview, Ed Boon offered a similar response, except he focused on the personalized element of the gear system, stating, “Everybody is going to look different, that’s what’s so exciting about it […] personalization is what we’re really adding to this game, as far as […] making your version of Batman and your version of Superman and your version of Grodd.”
An example of what the gear loadout looks like, and how gear affects Supergirl’s looks, and stats.
GGPO-Style Rollback Netcode
One of the biggest announcements for the future Injustice 2 online warrior was clarified in an interview with Ed Boon stating that NRS has every intention of implementing their impressive rollback netcode developed for the MKXL update. In Ed’s own words, “Everything that we’ve learned […] we’re applying to Injustice 2.”
“Tournament” Mode
While the customizeable Gear option is exciting, it’s equally troubling for tournament organizers and competitors alike if the storied history of Street Fighter X Tekken is any indication. Luckily, during a GameSpot interview, Ed Boon clarified that the NRS developers are very conscientious of the competitive scene and supportive of eSports. In that same vein, he clarified that a tournament mode, or in his words a “level-playing field version” will be integral to the game so that you won’t end up with uneven situations like, “a level 50 Superman against a level 1 Batman, or something like that.”
Story Mode
Last but certainly not least, Ed Boon touched on the story of Injustice 2, promising an engaging narrative. “We pick up, right at the point at the end of the last Injustice game where Batman has imprisoned Superman and a new bad thing comes along and kind of puts that whole situation on its ear, and that’s where we open up and where we continue the story.” Ed ended the discussion of Injustice 2’s story mode in typical Boonian fashion, saying “the ending is awesome,” and if recent NRS story modes are any indication, it’s hard to doubt him.
We can expect the newest iteration of Injustice to hit stores sometime in 2017. So far, compatibility has only been confirmed for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Yesterday, Combofiend and Mike Ross teamed up on Capcom Unity’s Twitch channel to show off a little bit of Street Fighter 5’s story mode. Included with the Story Mode tease was some surprising footage of Balrog in action versus one of M.Bison’s low-ranking lackeys, a poor guy by the name of AS-Y. The clip, which you can find archived here, is a must see.
So far we have only had the chance to see Balrog via the Cinematic Story Mode. So this is our first time seeing Balrog in motion, and, even though it’s less than a minute long, we can say that the All-American is already looking rather formidable.
With AS-Y as our punching bag, we get to see Balrog warm up with what appears to be some standing light, medium and heavy attacks, as well as a few jumping attacks. Mike Ross mixes in some forward-moving ducking maneuvers, and what appears to be a few variations of Balrog’s iconic dashing punch as well. Mike finishes AS-V off with what is almost certainly a dashing low.
Of course the final version of Balrog might differ greatly from the Story Mode version, but it is certainly refreshing to see such a beloved Street Fighter back in action.
The Capcom-Unity stream also included more Ibuki action and lots of Story Mode spoilage (and of course, more excellent Mike Ross & Combofiend commentary). If that interests you, check out the rest of the broadcast by following the link below.
DC Comics is currently celebrating the 75th anniversary of Wonder Woman. As part of this, they recently made an announcement regarding their plans to commemorate this iconic hero. While the announcement is concerned more about things like her new logo, or her upcoming movie, one of the bullet points listed is related to NetherRealm’s Injustice 2.
While it’s likely not a surprise to anyone, considering that she’s one of DC’s biggest heroes, Wonder Woman has been confirmed as a returning character in Injustice 2. The announcement itself states that she will be a “major player” in the game, so we can expect her to take part in the game’s story as well.
Injustice 2 launches on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sometime in 2017.
King of Fighters XIV continues to ramp up with constant glimpses at new characters. Immediately after it’s E3 demonstration, complete with exhibition matches, Atlus graces us with another Team Trailer showing off the more sinister members of the cast, along with a good look at a new Prison stage.
We’ve seen Chang and Cho before, but like they’ve been doing, Atlus makes the focal point of the video Xanadu, the new comer. He has a odd, almost unsettling moveset, with one move picking up his opponent and rocking them gently before crushing them violently.
Many players have expressed frustrations over the PlayStation 4 version of Street Fighter V’s 8 frames of native input delay. Some, such as Red Bull’s Snake Eyez, have noted that this delay is a natural inhibitor to reactionary play, forcing players to act more preemptively during a match. This movement away from reactionary play can leave some fighters–and players–in an odd position.
In a blog post over at Capcom-Unity earlier this month, Haunts noted that Capcom would be “looking into” the lag. However, a new revelation has occurred, as producer Koichi Sugiyama stated on this week’s episode of TopangaTV, that the 8 frames was an “intentional design choice.” Following this information, Victor “Spooky” Fontanez speculated on Twitter that they were possibly attempting to “copy Bandai Namco and Tekken’s innate buffer, which is meant to help smooth netplay.” Spooky also thinks that the reduced input lag involving legacy controllers, “sounded like an oversight.”
You can see all of Spooky’s Tweets embedded below, as well as an archive of this week’s TopangaTV where the statement was made. Do note that Spooky’s Tweets do not necessarily reflect Capcom’s intentions, but are definitely worth pondering.
Sugiyama just stated on the @topangajapan stream that the 8f delay was an intentional design choice. My assumption here is they attempted
As we previously reported, Injustice 2 will have a mode that will allow for a level playing field in a tournament setting. However, it seems that the team at NetherRealm may be considering extending this to online play.
When asked about the tournament mode by IGN during their E3 stream, NRS’s Ed Boon mentioned that they are also considering adding both an option for customized, leveled up characters as well as base-level, tournament standard characters in online ranked play.
In addition to this, Ed Boon was also asked about whether the gear system would involve microtransactions. While he didn’t mention anything concrete, he did state that they still have to decide on a lot of things in the game, and mentioned that they are looking into adding a way for people who may not want to spend time leveling their characters to get gear.
Of course, that’s not all that they talk about; you can check out the video below to hear the rest.
