Earlier this year, budget constraints forced Mad Catz to restructure with a 37% decrease in staff. One of these cuts, unfortunate enough, was Mark “MarkMan” Julio, who had served as the company’s community and sponsorships manager since 2011.
As one of the foremost ambassadors of the fighting game community, it was sad to see MarkMan leave Mad Catz. During his tenure, the organization produced countless arcade sticks for the competitive scene, making the peripherals affordable and readily available in markets that typically went without. His constant presence at events across the globe showed his willingness to improve the community, and it was only a matter of time before that passion and talent found itself another home.
Funny enough, it’s actually found two homes.
In a pair of recent announcements, MarkMan revealed that, moving forward, he will be working with both the Evolution Championship Series and the Tekken team at Bandai Namco Entertainment America. His roles will be similar to those he managed at Mad Catz: promoting brands, working with the community, and expanding the presence of fighting games worldwide.
“We are glad to have Mark on the Evo team. He is a valuable asset and brings a multitude of relationships and professionalism to the table,” Evo organizer Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar relayed. “His work ethic is unmatched, as we look forward to working together to make Evo bigger and better!”
Speaking with us previously, MarkMan mentioned that the Evo position won’t be his “main” job, and that sentiment was expressed again today when he announced his position at Bandai Namco. We look forward to hearing more about his latest adventure in the future, and are overjoyed to see that he will remain close to the fighting game community in these professional capacities.
You may recall the recent release of a limited edition Shadow Jago figure which resulted from a partnership between the Killer Instinct team and the folks at Ultimate Source. Well, it looks like that Shago statue will soon have a pal to stand beside on bookshelves and coffee tables everywhere thanks to a similar collectible release for series top-bot Fulgore.
Just like the possessed ninja before him, this miniature Fulgore comes equipped with an exclusive code to unlock a snazzy alternate color for the character in Killer Instinct. This palette, pictured below, won’t be available anywhere else.
We don’t currently have a launch date for the figure, but it’s due to release “very, very soon.” While the Ultimate Source Killer Instinct site says several of these statues, including additional models for Sabrewulf, Hisako, Jago, and Spinal, will be available for purchase this month, we can’t say for sure exactly when that will be.
In the meantime, check out the gallery below and let us know what you think of this upcoming collectible.
It’s been a pretty exciting couple days for Street Fighter V players thanks to Capcom providing us our first look at Street Fighter III protagonist Alex, but apart from screens of him clotheslining Ryu, we also received a very interesting set of patch notes.
Amid a few bug fixes(I’ll miss you flying Vega), the developers also plan to introduce major changes to the game’s throw tech system. Defensive throw option selects are specifically being targeted in the first major balance patch, and in a pretty decisive manner. Let’s take a look at how all this worked and what the patch is most likely to change for players currently using this technique.
For as long as breakable throws have existed, defensive throw option selects have thrived alongside them. Option selects themselves are usually considered as one of the more advanced techniques in fighting games, but in this case they’re actually pretty simple. I mean, who wasn’t using crouch teching in Street Fighter IV?
The way they work remains consistent throughout numerous franchises. When a character is thrown, they enter a state where they can do nothing but tech the throw or be thrown; let’s call this a throw tech state. During this throw tech state, players can input whatever inputs they want, but as long as the throw tech input is present during that state they will tech the grab. Since they can input whatever they want, players will typically input throw tech combined with another input that will come out instead should they not enter the throw tech state. This is how it worked in Street Fighter IV and many other games.
Returning to Street Fighter IV, you’ll see two specific outcomes by inputting LP+LK (throw) while crouching: either a crouching LK or a throw tech. Players took this to the extreme by hiding this input behind blockstun, by inputting larger buttons along with the tech, or even inputting dragon punch and throw tech at the same time.
Capcom intended to address these techniques with the release of Street Fighter V, designing the game in such a way that they would be difficult to utilize and not have a strong impact. They made the throw buffer large and the input’s priority extremely high so it’s hard to hide the input behind something. They made the throw tech window rather small in order to limit the time in which these option selects could be used. They introduced Crush Counters to add another layer of risk to option select attempts.
Still, at the end of the day, these techniques remain and are still fairly strong, perhaps most apparent in the recent discovery of the Ino tech. The throw input’s priority can be circumvented by delaying the tech by a couple frames. Players are still capable of inputting special moves and normals during throw tech state, and they’ve even gone so far as to start jumping in the same time frame.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at how Capcom plans to rectify the situation.
“If you push buttons during the normal throw delayed tech window you are unable to escape throws for 2 frames.”
(Editor’s note: We were recently informed that this detail may have been mistranslated in Capcom-Unity’s patch notes and are currently investigating the true nature of this change.)
Remember when I said you can input whatever you want during throw tech state and still get a throw tech as long that specific input existed? This new rule completely changes that. Capcom expanded on the bullet point by saying “this removes teching using lights,” but it also heavily restricts the timing window in which players can option select using a stronger button.
While performing the technique with mediums shouldn’t be impossible, it may now be extremely difficult and inconsistent based on the timing you are thrown. Throw teching with mediums is a strong tactic; a tech with crouching medium kick can call out an opponent baiting by walking backwards, and a crouching medium punch can lead to a combo if it pokes out, but it’s uncertain whether or not it will still be viable to perform consistently in matches. But with these added restrictions and greater risk, it may at least be less prevalent.
“If you execute specific special moves during the normal throw delayed tech window you are unable to immediately escape throws. Each character’s V-Skills, V-Triggers, V-Reversals, Critical Arts, and moves have been set individually.”
In addition to the two-frame throw tech lockout, Capcom wants to completely erase the ability to incorporate special moves as well. Momochi’s uppercut tech? Gone. Teching throws with Chun-Li’s EX Spinning Bird Kick? Probably gone. Players were also option selecting using V-Reversal so that if they were thrown, they’d tech, and if they blocked, they’d V Reversal out to safety. I’m going to assume that is mostly gone as well. This is the most aggressive change to the throw teching state itself, and one that completely and utterly blocks players from option selecting using certain special moves. As it is adjusted on a per move basis, we don’t know the full extent of this change, but we can safely assume invincible reversals are affected across the board. This is clearly something Capcom did not want to exist in this state, and it seems as if they will get their wish
While both of these adjustments address the throw tech state specifically, there was one more aspect Capcom wasn’t happy about, and it caused them to invoke what could possibly be the most puzzling change in this patch.
“Vertical and back jump frames for all characters except Birdie and Zangief have changed from 3f to 4f.”
This is aimed towards a more specific throw option select, one that involves (you guessed it) jumping. It works so that, in throw tech state, a player can input a jump and tech at the same time and tech the throw. They time it so that if they were to be in blockstun, they just block, and if they are in neither blockstun or throw tech state, they jump.
Changing throw tech state to cause a lockout from a jump input is too extreme, so they didn’t touch that. As such, this option select will still work with the same input post-patch. What they did was add another pre-jump frame across the board to make it riskier. Previously, players could get hit out of the pre-jump frames on the ground and be open to a full combo for their troubles. But if they got hit while already airborne, they would flip out and take much less damage, and in some cases even score a punish on a canceled move.
By adding one frame to jump startup, it’s more likely for somebody to get caught on the ground and take a lot of damage versus the silly flip out situation described above. That’s really the best change Capcom can make here; altering jump startup even further is a huge balance issue waiting to happen, and making directional inputs cause a lockout on throw teching is absolutely ludicrous.
So, in the grand scheme of things, what do these changes mean? Well, throws just got a very significant buff and throw tech option selects have been liberally trimmed to a smaller pool of techniques. Although Capcom didn’t provide any additional reasoning for these changes, they were likely made as to reaffirm a commitment to options and preserve gameflow.
At the same time, defensive throw option selects were already weaker than in previous installments and carried a lot of risk. But Capcom obviously didn’t want to have that element in Street Fighter V, and as such put their foot down really hard to stomp out what they didn’t like. This matches many of the game’s other design choices, and gives players a precedent to look back on while moving forward. That said, they haven’t addressed other silly options like mashed button timings and other fun hidden defensive techniques, showing that their priorities were on throws.
In closing, I want to make it clear that Street Fighter V’s throw teching system will be fundamentally changed with this patch. The printed guide will not list this information (though the eGuide will likely be updated), and we don’t know if the game itself will relay these details. That would, of course, be a huge oversight, as a system like this should be explained so that players don’t get confused as to whether or not their techs are working. This could be especially frustrating for players new to the Street Fighter series who may not know this change was applied. A new tutorial is being added with this patch as well, so it is possible this information can be found there, but I remain skeptical.
Furthermore, I’m assuming there will be no in-game indicator signaling that a player has triggered the new throw tech lockout. This could lead to players unjustly blaming the game for their own missed throw techs, or could leave players wondering if they were unable to tech. You don’t want somebody accidentally getting a special move input out of the buffer while teching without understanding what happened to them. Street Fighter V already features cross-up indicators, so having one for these situations might not be such a stretch. All in all, I think we can all agree that depriving players of critical information is something they should avoid.
On the flipside, seeing a lockout indicator could let the other player know the person being thrown was mashing, which might be more information than Capcom believes you should receive. It’s an argument that I’m interested in seeing play out, and is a point worth addressing when looking at such a major change.
That’s pretty much the crux of what these Street Fighter V changes have to offer. Like always, there are other subtleties in play here, but that would move the discussion into more advanced territory. The major point to remember is that Capcom saw strong throw tech options and immediately shut them down with the first patch, which sets a precedent for future updates. While this could have been planned to some degree beforehand, these changes show that the developers were willing to change an entire game system to accomplish their goals.
Regardless, players should keep their eyes open to how this affects the game moving forward, as I’m sure Capcom will be in the weeks ahead.
We recently received some early information on Alex, the first of the six post-release characters for Street Fighter V, and today, 4Gamer has more details on how the Street Fighter III protagonist is shaping up in his glorious return.
A youthful fighter who lives in a mobile home in New York. Pursuing strength, he continues to train, but he has never left NY before and has no interest in doing so, to the worry of his father’s close friend Tom. Alex is a man of little words but says exactly what he means.
Profile
Height: 195 cm Weight: 111 kg Job/Affiliation: Martial Artist Likes: Training, His Family
V-Trigger: Rage Shift
Alex becomes steaming hot and gains access to the powerful lariat Sledgehammer. During the start-up, Sledgehammer can power through the opponent’s attack, making it a strong offensive and defensive maneuver suiting of Alex.
When Sledgehammer hits Alex passes through the opponent.
From there he can land additional attacks.
V-Skill: Overhaul
Alex stretches his shoulders and charges up. If his next attack hits it will be considered a “hard hit” with the same effect as a counter-hit! The V-Skill’s motion is quick, so use it proactively when you have space or after downing the opponent.
Special Move: Flash Chop
Alex unleashes a mighty chop. After the H version he can follow with the throw move Power Drop.
Special Move: Air Knee Smash
Alex performs a flying knee strike that drops the opponent on hit!
Special Move: Power Bomb
Alex grabs the opponent and slams them into the ground in this throw technique. It’s highly damaging, so use it frequently when you close in.
Special Move: Head Crush
Alex approaches with a small leap, grabs the opponent and releases a fierce headbutt! This attack has incredibly high stun!
Critical Art: Heavy Hammer
After a series of chops, Alex seizes the opponent, leaps into the air and smashes them into the ground. If the attack leads to a KO, the opponent stays stuck in the ground!
Alex will join the Street Fighter V cast later this month. Additional information on the update can be found here.
WBA lightweight champion Anthony Crolla (30-4-3, 12 KOs) will make the first defence of his belt against Ismael Barroso (19-0-2, 18 KOs) on May 7 at the Manchester Arena.
Crolla won the WBA title when he defeated Darleys Perez by fifth round knockout, also at the Manchester Arena, in a rematch of their previous draw.
The win came less than a year after the 29-year-old Mancunian had overcome life-threatening injuries, sustained while confronting burglars at a neighbours home.
Barroso, a…
IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby (22-1, 8 KOs) will defend his title aganist mandatory challenger Eric Hunter (21-3, 11 KOs) on April 9 at the O2 Arena in London.
The fight will be on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s IBF heavyweight title challenge against Charles Martin.
Welshman Selby claimed the IBF belt with a dominant 8th round technical decision win over Evgeny Gradovich in May, and then traveled to the US to defend it when he won a lopsided points decision over former…
Shoryuken has learned the identities of two more characters that are set to join the Killer Instinct cast in season three: Mira and General RAAM.
Scratching your heads? We don’t blame you. Mira is a fairly new arrival to the Killer Instinct universe who was first introduced in the Xbox One reboot’s extended story as Maya’s late twin sister. While the circumstances surrounding her death are still a mystery, the scant details we have say that Mira sacrificed herself to save Maya.
General RAAM, on the other hand, is yet another guest character. He served as one of the primary antagonists in the opening installment of the Gears of War franchise, and will join Rash of Battletoads fame and Halo’s Arbiter as the third fighter pulled from outside the Killer Instinct universe.
The above screenshots were provided to Shoryuken exclusively by no1dead, who originally shared these details on NeoGAF. As you can see, Mira’s general design is detailed through models in various states of completion. Unfortunately, General RAAM has no accompanying visuals in this build.
Additional details gleaned from these season three leaks include the existence of a new Shadow Lords mode, which appears to incorporate some sort of global war scenario. How this mode will situate itself among Killer Instinct’s traditional fighting game mechanics remains to be seen.
Killer Instinct Season 3 is scheduled to launch for Xbox One and PC on March 29.
One ironic issue with Mad Catz’ latest crop of Street Fighter branded products is that a few don’t work with Street Fighter V on PC. This is due to the lack of support for DirectInput controllers, such as those developed for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.
To address this problem ahead of an official Street Fighter V patch, the manufacturers have released a new set of drivers for the Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition 2+, Tournament Edition S+, and FightPad PRO. These will identify the controllers as XInput devices, making them compatible with Street Fighter V on PC.
As for older models, Mad Catz is expected to provide an update on that matter sometime in the future.
After weeks of waiting, Capcom has finally released initial details on Street Fighter V’s first post-launch character, Alex. Fans have long anticipated the return of the Street Fighter III lead has been absent from fighting games since his appearance in Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom so his return can’t come too soon.
As was previously mentioned, Alex’s changes in Street Fighter V have to do with amplifying his background as a grappler, so his tools are designed to help him get in and do massive damage.
Alex’s V-Skill, called Overhaul, turns Alex’s next attack into a “hard hit” with a bit of quick stretching. This means that the next hit will grant the attack all the bonuses of a counter hit, including increased hit stun. Whiffs will waste the hard hit bonus, so players will need to strategically plan their next attack.
Rage Shift, on the other hand, is a clothesline V-Trigger that Alex can charge. While charging, the move will parry any attack sent Alex’s way, and a full charge will break the opponent’s guard.
And finally, Alex’s Critical Art, Heavy Hammer, sees the returning fighter knock his opponent down with a thunderous chop before putting them into a painful looking crucifix hold.
The update that adds Alex to the game will also include bug fixes and balance changes. These mainly focus on things like Vega’s hilarious flight glitch and corrections to a few of the option selects players have found since Street Fighter V’s release
Upcoming Street Fighter V Changes
Vega
If you hit V-Trigger Bloody Kiss (anti-air) in certain situations, Vega will no longer continue to rise off the top of the screen.
M. Bison
If M. Bison is interrupted by an opponent’s V-Trigger or Critical Art during his invisible frames of Double Knee Press in V-Trigger mode, M. Bison will no longer remain invisible until his next move.
Rashid
Rashid will no longer float in the air for a moment if you perform his V-Trigger after he touches the ground upon a missed Eagle Spike.
Chun-Li
During V-Trigger activation, the hit stop and block stop has been made the same for multi-hitting moves (medium or heavy attacks for both normal and special moves).
She was previously able to perform option selects involving standing HP into Houyokusen, so this has been removed.
General Changes
Vertical and Back Jump Frames
All characters except Birdie and Zangief: Vertical jump and back jump frames have changed from 3f->4f.
Birdie: Vertical jump and back jump frames have changed from 4f->5f.
Zangief: No changes to jump frames.
These changes reduce the effectiveness of throw tech option selects involving jumping (also known as “jump grab”). Changing forward jump frames would affect the game balance too much so those remain unchanged.
Throw Escape Change
If you push buttons during the normal throw delayed tech window you are unable to escape throws for 2 frames.
Prevents using light attacks to option select with throw escapes.
If you execute specific special moves during the normal throw delayed tech window you are unable to immediately escape throws. Each characters V-skills, V-triggers, V-reversals, critical arts, and moves have been set individually.
Prevents throw escape option selects involving specific moves such as Shoryuken, etc.
Alex, the aforementioned fixes, additional modes, the in-game shop, upgraded lobbies, and an online rematch option will be added to Street Fighter V when the update goes live later this month.
You may recall that a recent set of fan renders brought Street Fighter III favorite Q into the world of three-dimensions, but it looks like those were just the beginning. Thanks to a brand new mod for the PC version of Street Fighter V, it’s now possible to strip Bison of his skin and given him a new, (perhaps) more powerful body based on the 3rd Strike representative.
Since this is simply a skin swap, Q sadly doesn’t come equipped with his signature slaps and kicks, but it’s still a pretty nifty mod. We’ve included a handful of screenshots in the slideshow below, so feel free to let us know what you think.
