Category: News

Douyu U-League II is an 8-man round robin tournament in China, running from June 7-9. The tournament organizers, Douyu, have invited 7 top Street Fighter V players from 6 different countries to participate in the tournament. The 8th spot in the tournament went to the winner of a qualifier tournament that took place before the event began (the winner of said qualifier tournament was Qanba Douyu|Abao, teammate to Xiaohai and Dakou during their SFV Crash run in Korea). The 8 players in the tournament are as follows: DouyuTV|HurtchVR (China), Qanba Douyu|Xiaohai (China), Qanba Douyu|Abao (China), Humanbomb (Hong Kong),  RZR|RB (Taiwan), RZR|Infiltration (Korea), RZR|Xian (Singapore), and Twitch|Daigo (Japan). The 8 players will be competing against each other for a 60,000 yuan (~$9,110 USD) prize pool.

The tournament will be streamed on the Douyu streaming platform here.

Results

SFV 8 Man Round-Robin

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Player Infiltration Xiaohai Daigo Abao RB Xian Humanbomb HurtchVR

Team RZR Qanba Douyu Twitch Qanba Douyu RZR RZR   DouyuTV

Character Nash Cammy Ryu Ryu Alex/Birdie/Dhalsim F.A.N.G Chun Li Ryu

Wins 4 4 3 2 2 1 0 0

Losses 0 0 0 2 3 3 3 5

GD +10 +9 +14 +3 0 -6 -8 -22

With all the news coming out for many other fighting games these days, it may be easy to forget that Bandai Namco’s Tekken 7 has yet to hit home consoles. For those players looking for more on the game, it seems that the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo may have a few things in store.

IGN have confirmed that they will be hosting Tekken 7 on their live show at the event. The demo will take place on Thursday, June 16 at 2:40 PM PDT.

As for what the demo itself will entail, we have no idea as of yet. However, considering that Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada and Brand and Community Manager Mark “MarkMan” Julio are both attending E3, it’s possible that we might see either of them–or even both of them–together on stream.

Source: IGN, via YellowMotion

Purchasing an arcade cabinet isn’t exactly an inexpensive experience, doubly so with a modern cabinet that actually requires a fee paid to the publisher to keep it running. This is why what the Melbourne Tekken community has done to get a Tekken 7 cabinet is quite admirable.

Faced with the fact that they would not be getting Tekken 7’s arcade release, the Melbourne Tekken community decided that, instead of simply waiting for the home version like most other people, they would go and get an arcade machine for themselves.

The effort wasn’t cheap–a paired Tekken 7 cabinet set up with two Noir cabs costs around 20,000 AUD (about 15,000 USD). Luckily, community member Dion Xu donated half the amount, with shop owner Jin contributing the other half. In addition to this, various members of the community also contributed both their money and time, getting prices, phoning companies and doing other bits of legwork, to get the ball rolling.

The result of this is that a pair of Namco Noir cabinets with Tekken 7 now sit at Jin’s shop in Melbourne serving both as a place for local Tekken fans to play the game, as well as testament of what a community can do when everyone comes together.

For those in Melbourne interested in playing Tekken 7, you can find Jin’s shop over at 422 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000.

Source: Rame Jeboo via Avoiding the Puddle

Rumors have been flying about the announcement of Injustice 2. In fact, we even reported on leaks suggesting that it was on the way. Today, NetherRealm flicked the switch and released the very first trailer for the game out into the world and it is glorious.

Injustice: Gods Among Us built a fascinating world that pitted some of DC’s most beloved characters against each other. Our first look at the sequel suggests that, if anything, it will be even more a brawl–after all, at least in the original Injustice everyone picked sides. It also gives us a first glimpse at new addition Supergirl alongside some returning favourites: Superman, The Flash, Batman, Aquaman and Nightwing–although that last might turn out to be Red Hood. There will be some new villains on offer too: Atrocitus and Gorilla Grodd will (almost certainly) be playable for the first time in the series.

Another interesting snippet from the trailer is the apparent ability to upgrade or enhance the costumes of characters. We see The Flash upgrading himself early on and, in the dying moments of the trailer the other combatants do much the same. In a post on the PlayStation blog that announces the game, NetherRealm explain that this part of an all new gear system, in which you can equip and upgrade your character however you choose:

The Gear System uses RPG-like mechanics to reward you with loot drops every time you play the game. With each loot drop, you will earn character-specific gear to outfit and power up your roster – changing not only the look of each character, but your fight strategy and your personal approach to every match.

We’ve already seen NetherRealm be inventive with the way they present characters in Mortal Kombat X with the variation system, which allowed you to choose from one of three different versions of the same character. Hopefully this new system will allow for similarly interesting decisions to make, although it does throw up some concerning implications for the competitive aspect of the game.

We’ll get our hands on it in 2017. Unfortunately, there is no more specific information than that. It will be coming to Xbox One and PS4, but there’s no mention of PC which, considering the problems with MKX’s PC port, is not particularly surprising.

Sources: PlayStation Blog, Injustice

One of the roadblocks that arcade stick users tend to face when moving to a new console is having to buy a new arcade stick for it. With how high the cost of modern, top of the line arcade sticks with actual arcade parts can be, this is a rather expensive proposition.

This is the reason why more than a few players turn to modding to get their old sticks to work on new consoles. It’s also because of this that products such as Jasen’s Customs’ upcoming EZ Mod Board for the Mad Catz Tournament Edition 2 exist.

Jasen’s EZ Mod Board allows players a solderless method to mount a Brook Universal Fighting Board onto a Mad Catz Tournament Edition 2, giving it compatibility with multiple consoles from the PlayStation 4 all the way to the XBox 360. In addition to this, it retains all the functionality of the TE2, right down to the front side LED, meaning that most other mods for the stick will still work with it.

Pre-orders for the Jasen’s Customs EZ Mod Board opened today at both Arcade Shock and Paradise Arcade. The board itself will retail for $29.99. Take note that this does not include the Brook Universal Fighting Board itself, which retails for $89.99. While this does add up to a lot, it’s still less than the $150 to $200 for a new stick, with more functionality to boot.

For those wondering just how easy it is to install the board, Jasen’s Customs shared these installation guide videos.

Source: Arcade Shock, Jasen’s Customs

Initially leaked on Twitter in a grainy screenshot by CollapseControl, before being corroborated by notable leakers shinobi602, Nibellion and then reported on by Polygon, it seems that Injustice 2 is going to be revealed at E3 next week. The poster shows Batman and the Flash readying for battle with the tagline “Every Battle Defines You” underneath. The posters, according to Polygon, are part of a pre-order scheme for NetherRealm’s comic book fighter, with those who pre-order the game receiving the poster while stocks last.

GameStop stores will be receiving these posters in the near future, probably over the course of the next week when Injustice 2 is officially announced. There have been plenty of rumors circling the web, not helped by Ed Boon changing his profile picture to the Roman numeral for 2, but this seems like the first concrete Injustice 2 leak. Eurogamer has also confirmed the leak, stating that “[their] own sources tell [them] the game is real and is set for an announcement later this week,” suggesting that Injustice 2 may actually be revealed ahead of E3. Ed Boon himself has tweeted about this leak, striking GameStop off his party invitation list, basically confirming that this poster is the real deal.

The poster has no indication of what systems we’ll see Injustice 2 playable on, but it is safe to assume it will be coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Sources: CollapseControl, shinobi602, Nibellion, Eurogamer, Ed Boon, Polygon

While the King of Fighters XIV will be playable at E3 next week, the event isn’t exactly the best place for the public to get some hands-on time with the game. Luckily, for those in Southern California looking for a chance to try the game, it’s also going to be playable at another venue.

Level Up’s Alex Valle has just announced over Twitter that the King of Fighters XIV will be making a stop on Wednesday Night Fights on June 15–the same week as E3.

Save the Date for June 15, 2016! The King of Fighters XIV is coming to WNF! More details coming up! #WNF pic.twitter.com/1IfmympXW9

— Alex Valle (@AlexValleSF4) June 6, 2016

Whether or not this will be the same 36-character build that SNK has been touring around Japan is unknown. That said, Valle has stated that more details about the game’s appearance at WNF will be revealed soon.

Source: LU|Alex Valle

Late last week, Team Naventic signed Peter “Flash” Susini–the gamer formerly known as Flash Metroid–as their first fighting game representative. The Vega player had a fantastic run at the recent Combo Breaker tournament, making it to winners finals and ultimately placing 2nd in Street Fighter V at the stacked major.

Flash recently returned to the tournament circuit with the release of Street Fighter V, after a prolonged hiatus from the fighting game community. Based on his recent performance, it seems like his skills are still very much intact.

In a brief interview with ESPN, Flash describes his goals as a signed player: “Joining Naventic will allow me to travel to more events and just focus on playing at the best of my ability[.] I’m excited for what the future holds.” Flash also mentions that his first outing as a representative of Team Naventic will be at Community Effort Orlando, June 24th-26th.

Sources: Naventic, ESPN

As an Evolution champion for Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, along with having multiple top 8 finishes in a wide array of other fighting titles, Panda Global’s Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez has proven to be one of the strongest fighting game players around. In a recent interview with theScore esports, he discussed a number of topics, including his competitive goals and what he wants his legacy as a fighting game player to be.

“My goal is to be the greatest of all time. I know that that’s hard, and I might not get there, but I want to set my goals so high all the time. So even if I don’t get there, I’m at least at the top of the food chain. I always aim for success and greatness, I just don’t want to sell myself short.’

When asked about his personal metric for such a claim, Champ offered the following:

“I’m really far from it, but I know that I’m one of the best players in the world now. I’m probably let’s say, Top 15, Top 10, best fighting gamers of all time. Because I can play multiple fighting games at a high level. In Marvel I’ve basically solidified myself as one of the best players in the world who ever touched that game. I’m far from it, but that’s my goal.  Maybe if I win Street Fighter at Evo, maybe. Maybe I could be in talks of [being] Top 5 or something because I won Marvel and Street Fighter, and I don’t think that’s been done before.”

Champ was then asked his thoughts on the SFV iteration of Dhalsim, and why he continues to play him in the new game:

“He’s not a Dhalsim like Street Fighter IV, he’s definitely a different architecture. I don’t think he played anything like SFIV, but I think I’m versatile enough in fighting games that I can play any type of character I want, it just happens that I really like my image as a Dhalsim player. I carried the character for awhile and I wanted to continue with him into Five.  But I think he is a way better character in V than he was in IV. I don’t think he’s the best character in this game, but I think he’s pretty damn good. I’m sticking with him, but I also play Nash.

Champ also offered his thoughts on Street Fighter V as a competitive game:

“Street Fighter V, from a competitive standpoint, is very good. I think it’s very exciting for spectators to watch. It’s very diverse, mostly every Top 8 you see there’s a lot of variety of characters, which is a good sign that the game is balanced. Also, there’s a lot of support from the fighting game community and the developers as well, so I think we should be fine.”

In the remainder of the interview, Champ discusses the similarities between SFV Dhalsim and Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3’s Dormammu, his thoughts on the Bud Light All-Stars sponsorship contest, what characters he believes are top tier in SFV, why Chun-Li hasn’t seen much competitive success, despite many hailing her as the best character in the game right now, as well as his strategy for this year’s Capcom Pro Tour.

You can read the piece in full at theScore esports.

Source: theScore esports, photo via IPLAYWINNER

Yomi Gaming, known for their myriad of Mortal Kombat XL, Street Fighter V and Killer Instinct players, have officially opened the doors of their arcade and training facility to the general public.

They will be featuring weekly tournaments for Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U on Friday nights, and events for Street Fighter V, Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and Pokkén Tournament on Saturday nights. In addition, they will have daily casuals, as well as other events for Project M, Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, The King Of Fighters XIII, Killer Instinct and a host of other popular titles.

Visitors can pay $10 for a day’s worth of play, or opt for a membership for as low as $29.99 per month for unlimited playtime. For more information, you can visit their website.

Source: Yomi Gaming, via IPLAYWINNER