Category: News

As we previously reported, SNK Playmore will be hosting a King of Fighters XIV Experience event in Tokyo this coming Monday, April 25, featuring 24 playable characters. Who those 24 characters are was, up until now, unknown.

Now, SNK Playmore has finally lifted the veil on which characters will be playable at the event. Newcomers Sylvie Paula Paula, Luong, Nelson, the King of Dinosaurs, and Banderas, as well as returning characters Mai Shiranui, Ryo Sakazaki, K’, Choi Bounge, Kim Kaphwan, Athena Asamiya, Vice, Benimaru Nikaido, Terry Bogard, and Tung Fu Rue have been confirmed for the build. They will be joining previously playable cast members Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, Robert Garcia, Andy Bogard, Kula Diamond, King, Chang Koehan, Leona Heidern, and Billy Kane.

You can check out these characters in the character select screen from the build that SNK Playmore has shared.

Sadly, some of the more recently revealed characters such as Geese Howard, Joe Higashi, and newcomer Kukri will not be playable at the event. That said, this is still quite a jump from the previous playable builds which only featured nine characters.

In addition to the roster for Monday’s event, SNK Playmore announced that they will be releasing another trailer for the game with a lot of new information on the same day.

Source: SNK Playmore

Last March, the first Red Bull Kumite took place, pitting sixteen top Ultra Street Fighter IV players against one another. Last December, the folks at Red Bull decided to host the event again in 2016, this time with Street Fighter V serving as the proving ground.

This change in game presented an interesting situation, as invitations to the 2016 event had to start going out well before Street Fighter V’s official release. Even so, the lineup, which you can find later in this article, looks to be just as stacked as it was last year, so we should be in for quite a show.

To get things rolling, check out this trailer for the event:

Who received invitations?

The following fourteen players will be making their way out to participate in this year’s event:

The final two spots in the tournament will be awarded to those who fight their way through the other participants in the 256 player last chance brackets on Saturday, April 23.

When does all this go down?

Red Bull Kumite 2016 takes place over a two day period. The open qualifier tournament will be held on Saturday, April 23, and the sixteen-participant main event on Sunday, April 24. But there’s more going on than just tournament matches, so check out the full schedules below to plan your day around the events you’d like to see. Extra planning may be required for viewers not based in Europe.

Saturday, April 23

Sunday, April 24

How can I follow along at home?

Saturday’s open qualifier will be live on Twitch starting at 11 AM CET and will be available in both French and English. Sunday’s stream will be live in French, English or Japanese on Twitch beginning at 2:15 PM CET.

In the event that you miss a match, the folks at Red Bull will be uploading footage as the tournament progresses. You’ll be able to find these uploads at the bottom of this page roughly twenty minutes after match completion.

Saturday’s pools brackets are currently available here, and the top 32 bracket here.

Where can I find more information?

If you still have some questions left unanswered, the event’s official site may be able to help.

Source: Red Bull, with tips from Aurélien L. and Lex P.

Yesterday, the folks at Bandai Namco Entertainment uploaded an interview from Final Round 19 featuring Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray. The two discuss the feedback they’ve received so far on Tekken 7 Fated Retribution, how they feel the Tekken 7 tour is capable of attracting players of all skill levels and backgrounds, and more.

Harada notes that the game still has a number of unseen Rage Arts, costumes, and characters for fans to look forward to, but doesn’t give any exact details on when we can expect to see these unveiled. As for the console version, which we’re all anxiously awaiting, Harada notes that “the company is trying to limit how much [he] can reveal at this moment.” So, sadly, there’s no news on a release date yet.

Source: Bandai Namco Entertainment via Avoiding the Puddle

The various flavors of Hori’s Real Arcade Pro Premium VLX are some of the most beloved arcade sticks out there. These metal and plastic behemoths are probably the closest that many players can get to having an actual Taito Vewlix cabinet in their homes.

That said, one issue with these (and any licensed arcade stick for that matter) is that they’re only compatible with one console. To help out folks who want their VLX to work on multiple consoles, Arcade Shock has partnered with Jasen’s Customs and Brook (makers of the Universal Fighting Board) to bring you the EZ Mod Kit for the Hori Real Arcade Pro 4 Premium VLX Kuro and Real Arcade Pro 4 Premium VLX Hayabusa.

This new kit partners the Brook Universal Fighting Board with a special VLX Upgrade board from Jasen’s Customs that allows the whole package to just slip into the VLX, without the need for any soldering. Aside from both boards, the kit also includes all the hardware and cabling needed to install it onto a VLX.

The EZ Mod Kit for the Hori Real Arcade Pro Premium VLX is now available for a reduced price of $109.99 (down from $124.95) over at Arcade Shock.

Source: Arcade Shock

The Mikado game center in Takadanobaba, in Tokyo, Japan is one of the most legendary arcades. The arcade is known for hosting tournaments for multiple games, both popular and obscure, attracting fighting game fans from all over.

This Saturday, Mikado will be hosting the Mikado Open, a tournament for Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-. Unique for a Japanese tournament, the Mikado Open will run with a double elimination format. While now the standard for the rest of the world, double elimination is less common in Japan where single elimination tournaments are the norm.

This change of format will serve as good practice for the competitors in the tournament, many of whom will be travelling to Las Vegas this July for Evolution 2016.

The tournament itself will take place on Saturday, April 23 starting at 2:00 PM JST ( 1:00 AM Eastern, 10:00 PM Pacific). Those interested in watching can check out the official stream over at twitch.tv/joniosan.

Source: ftg-reversal

Yesterday, as part of their continued effort to expand PC fighting game offerings, Arc System Works made Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code available for purchase on Steam. If you’re a fan of this subgenre who has been awaiting such a port, you’ll definitely want to check it out.

Even though the game itself has been around for some time, the Steam port will still set you back a $24.99; however, if you pick it up within its first week, you can get it for 20% off, or $19.99.

If you’re not familiar with the series, be sure to check out the Mizuumi wiki to pick up some basics before trying your hand at online play.

Source: Steam and Arc System Works

Last December, we reported that SNK Playmore was bringing the Last Blade 2 over to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. Since then, however, we haven’t heard hide nor hair about the game–until now.

SNK Playmore just dropped a trailer for the game that not only shows it in action, but also tells us when the game is hitting both systems: May 24. Aside from this, the trailer goes over the game’s many gameplay features and also confirms online Cross-Play between both platforms.

Perhaps not as popular as SNK’s other fighting game releases, the Last Blade 2 still holds a special place in the hearts of many players. Additionally, it also represents one of Guilty Gear creator Daisuke Ishiwatari’s last works for SNK, with him being responsible for the design of Setsuna and some of the other art for the game.

Source: PlayStation with a tip from ON|KenDeep

With any game, the development process involves removing certain ideas and concepts; not everything can make it into the final build, after all. Street Fighter V is no stranger to this, and a recent post on Capcom Japan’s site gives us a glimpse at some of those things that didn’t make it to release.

The post specifically focuses on design concepts for the game’s stages that either don’t appear at all, or were heavily retooled for the final product. These include a different, more oriental take on Shadaloo’s base, an MMA gym in Brazil, a stage set in China featuring a tiger attempting to eat a duck, some Middle Eastern ruins, an Area 51-esque secret American base, and a very different version of the Kanzuki Estate featuring Final Fight’s Mike Haggar occasionally popping up in an elevator.

The reasons for the cuts and changes vary. Haggar being stuck in an elevator in the Kanzuki Estate stage was removed for simply being too random, while the American base and the Middle Eastern ruins were taken out for having nothing to do with the story.

You can check out the concept art for these stages in the slideshow below.

Click to view slideshow.

Source: Capcom Japan (1, 2) via Eventhubs

We know that Guile and his multi-purpose theme are coming to Street Fighter V, but, aside from a glimpse at his Critical Art, we’ve yet to see him in action. Until now, that is. Earlier this morning, Capcom released his official reveal trailer.

Aside from things we already know, such as his crouch walk, his Sonic Blade V-Skill and Solid Puncher V-Trigger, the trailer also shows us some of his normals, most of which should seem familiar to Street Fighter veterans. Additionally it also shows off a few of the combos that he can pull off in the game.

Guile is coming to send you home to be family men in Street Fighter V sometime later this month.

Source: Street Fighter, thanks to CRG.T2J and Tony for the tip.

When Killer Instinct’s Season 3 launch trailer hit the Internet, it gave fans their first glimpse of the new character Mira. That said, aside from some details about her backstory, we still don’t know much about how this new character will play.

That’s going to change soon, however, as Iron Galaxy announced that they will be giving her a proper unveiling at PAX East this weekend, April 22-24. Not only will players get to see her in action, they’ll also be able to take her for a test fight or two at the Iron Galaxy booth where a live stream will be taking place all weekend.

In addition to showing off Mira, Iron Galaxy will be giving away limited edition Killer Instinct themed speaker tags for Astro Gaming’s A40 headsets.

Mira should hit Killer Instinct for Xbox One and Windows 10 sometime later this month.

Source: Ultra-Combo