Street Fighter V Makes PlayStation Network’s Top February Downloads in North America

Street Fighter V was North America’s fifth most downloaded game on PlayStation Network for the month of February, a recent PlayStation Blog post reports. While exact figures weren’t provided, the chart in question counts download numbers instead of total revenue, putting Capcom’s flagship fighter in same company as indie darlings Firewatch and Rocket League, Far Cry Primal, and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Europe’s charts, where Street Fighter V failed to even break the top twenty. This matches its shaky start in Japan, which saw the title top out at a surprisingly low 46,836 units sold in the first week. For comparison, the vanilla release of Street Fighter IV on PlayStation 3 sold double that in a similar amount of time when it launched in 2009.

But it’s not all bad news, as Street Fighter V has seen relatively large ownership figures on PC when compared to PlayStation 4, with numbers surpassing 100,000 in the first week of its release and a total that currently sits at 136,123 as we near the one month mark.

While numbers are easy to compare, the community Street Fighter V was introduced to last month is much different than the one Street Fighter IV saw in 2009. The subsequent fighting game resurgence has made it so that no one game is entirely responsible for carrying the genre, which may have contributed to the rather lackluster numbers Street Fighter V has pulled thus far. More concrete figures should be available when Capcom releases their fourth quarter financial statements later this month, so stay tuned.

Sources: PlayStation Blog, PlayStation Blog Europe, Steam Spy

Guillermo Rigondeaux-James Dickens called off

Former super bantamweight world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux’s fight against Britain’s James “Jazza” Dickens, on Saturday at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, is off due to the Cuban having issues obtaining a UK visa.
The fight was scheduled to take place on the undercard of WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan’s defence against Derry Mathews, promoted by Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions. 
Rigondeaux, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was training in Grozny, Russia with coach Pedro…

Rash Boasts Plenty of Bright Recolors in Killer Instinct

Picking an appropriate color for your fighter of choice is a decision not to be taken lightly. Assuming you stick to one palette, those bright duds become a visual representation of you as a player.

If you’re a hopeful Rash main looking to make this tough decision before Killer Instinct’s third season launch, you’ll be pleased to know that the developers recently released high resolution screenshots of every recolor the upcoming Battletoads representative will have, including a particularly stylish rainbow variant.

You can take a gander at all of these glorious color offerings for both original and retro Rash in the slideshow below. Feel free to let us know which is your favorite in the comments.

Click to view slideshow.

With the upcoming Killer Instinct update just around the corner, we’ll likely be seeing similar alternate color options for the rest of the newcomers quite soon. Rash will be taking his place alongside the rest of the Killer Instinct roster when Season 3 launches on March 29.

Source: Ultra-Combo

Street Fighter V Trading Cards Now Available on Steam

Trading cards are one of the small, fun things that Valve has added onto their Steam service in previous years. Earned by simply playing certain games, these virtual treasures can be collected and traded like regular trading cards.

Now, all of you Street Fighter V players can begin gathering cards as well, as Capcom recently announced that their flagship fighter now supports this functionality. Like all Steam trading cards, half of the set can be collected by playing the game, while the other half must be traded from other players.

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sfv-card-ryuken-foil

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Those who collect the whole Street Fighter V set can then craft their cards into a special game badge that is displayed on their Steam profile. Additionally, this badge also gives players special bonus items, including emoticons, profile backgrounds, and even coupons.

Source: Capcom-Unity

Vanguard Princess Heading to Mac OS X Later This Month

If you’re one of the few players that gets their fighting game fix on Mac, you’re in luck: Vanguard Princess is heading to OS X.

Vanguard Princess is a unique specimen even in this varied genre, taking inspiration from more traditional franchises like Street Fighter instead of the anime titles with which it shares common aesthetics. And although matches feature both characters and assists, much of the gameplay revolves around spacing and footsies instead of intricate setups.

eigoMANGA, who originally published ex-Capcom employee Tomoaki Sugeno’s one-man indie project on Steam back in 2014, plans to release Vanguard Princess for OS X sometime later this month. Demonstrations will be held at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California the weekend of March 14.

We’re currently unsure if Vanguard Princess for OS X will join its PC counterpart on Steam, so stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

Community Effort Orlando 2016 Registration is Live

As one of the largest fighting game tournaments outside of the Evolution Championship Series, the day registration goes live for Community Effort Orlando is pretty special. That day was yesterday. What are you waiting for?

This year’s installment of Community Effort Orlando features a lineup of returning favorites and promising newcomers. Players can expect to compete in Street Fighter V, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mortal Kombat X, Killer Instinct, Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, Pokken Tournament, and Tekken 7 over the course of the weekend. The event will also play host to an artist alley, vendors, and, of course, a bring your own console area where any number of side tournaments can be held.

Right now, early bird registration is available for $40, but that will go up to $50 on April 1 and $60 on June 1. After this online period ends on June 12, that’s it; there won’t be on-site emergency registration, so do your best to sign up as early as possible!

Community Effort Orlando 2016 is scheduled for June 24-26 in, you guessed it, Orlando, Florida. Further details can be found through their official website.

Source: CEO Gaming

Dengeki Bunko FIGHTING CLIMAX IGNITION is Getting Two More Characters

Dengeki Bunko FIGHTING CLIMAX has seen a number of additions through its console release and update to IGNITION, and Sega is set to continue growing the cast with downloadable content.

While their release dates have yet to be revealed, Netoge no Yome wa Onna no Ko Janai to Omotta? protagonists Ako and Lucian are planned to join FIGHTING CLIMAX as playable and assist characters respectively sometime in the near future. Unlike previous roster updates, they will require a separate purchase.

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Players can look forward to seeing Ako and Lucian in action at the upcoming Dengeki Game Festival, scheduled for March 13.

Source: Dengeki Online via Gematsu, IPLAYWINNER

Radiant Entertainment Joins Riot Games, Rising Thunder Shutting Down

According to a release from the developers themselves, Radiant Entertainment, the indie studio helmed by Evo founders (and Shoryuken owners) Tom and Tony Cannon, has been acquired by competitive gaming giant Riot Games.

Over the past few years, Radiant has delivered two promising titles in Stonehearth, a simulation title focused on town-building, and Rising Thunder, a free-to-play fighting game with MOBA-esque controls. Both of which have been iterated upon in various alpha builds, and the latter in particular gained a good deal of traction within the fighting game community due to its unique mechanics.

But while Stonehearth will continue on, Rising Thunder servers are scheduled to close on March 18.

“The team will start work on a new game that we’re incredibly excited about,” the announcement states with regards to Rising Thunder. “We wish we could say more now, but rest assured you’ll hear more when the time is right.”

Riot themselves have tangential ties to the world of fighting games through parent company Tencent, who published Jade Studio’s Xuan Dou Zhi Wang in China. Although the title was deemed a King of Fighters rip-off early on, the developers eventually partnered with SNK Playmore to feature guest appearances by Terry Bogard and Benimaru Nikaido.

Whether or not this new project stays true to Rising Thunder’s fighting game roots remains to be seen. In any case, we wish the Radiant team all the success in the world as they move onto this exciting new venture. Stay tuned for more details!

Source: Radiant Entertainment

Pokkén Tournament Championship Series Receives $100,000 Prize Pool

As was previously reported, Pokémon is ready to back Pokkén Tournament as a competitive title with the Pokkén Tournament Championship Series. This string of tournaments will see the Pokémon-based fighter intersect with both the National and World Championships the organization holds for their video and card games on a yearly basis, with $100,000 in prizes up for grabs.

Similar to other competitive circuits, Pokkén Tournament players will be able to earn their way to Worlds by automatically qualifying at events like Evo and Community Effort Orlando or earning championship points with consistent play at participating tournaments.

The championships will be split between North America and Europe, both of which will have minor and major events. The main difference (apart from the monetary rewards, of course) is that first- and second-place finishers at major events will be invited to Worlds while only the champions of minor events will be extended the same privilege. Sixteen players are set to be pulled from both regions in this way, with the remainder of the bracket positions going to special Japanese invites and a last-chance qualifier at Worlds itself.

A full schedule of events and prizing information have been detailed below. Please note that the prizes apply only to North America, as European details are still being hammered out.

SchedulePrizes

North America

  • CEO 2016 – Orlando, FL (June 24-26, Minor)
  • Pokémon US National Championships – Columbus, OH (July 1-3, Major)
  • Evo 2016 – Las Vegas, NV (July 15-17, Major)

Europe

  • Pokémon UK National Championships – Liverpool, UK (May 14-15, Major)
  • Pokémon DE National Championships – Kassel, Germany (May 21-22, Minor)
  • Pokémon IT National Championships – Milan, Italy (June 11-12, Minor)

World Championships

  • Worlds Last Chance Qualifier – San Francisco, CA (August 19)
  • World Championships – San Francisco, CA (August 20)

Minors

  • 1st Place – $1,250 + travel to Worlds
  • 2nd Place – $1,000
  • 3rd Place – $750
  • 4th Place – $600
  • 5th Place (tie) – $450 per player
  • 7th Place (tie) – $250 per player

Majors

  • 1st Place – $3,000 + travel to Worlds
  • 2nd Place – $2,000 + travel to Worlds
  • 3rd Place – $1,500
  • 4th Place – $1,000
  • 5th Place (tie) – $750 per player
  • 7th Place (tie) – $500 per player

Worlds

  • 1st Place – $6,000
  • 2nd Place – $4,000
  • 3rd Place – $3,000
  • 4th Place – $2,000
  • 5th Place (tie) – $1,500 per player
  • 7th Place (tie) – $1,000 per player

Further information regarding registration, championship point tracking, and more is forthcoming. Stay tuned for more details. Pokkén Tournament launches for Wii U worldwide on March 18.

Sources: Pokkén Tournament, Gamasutra

Arcade Shock Unveils Original Arcade Stick

The folks at Arcade Shock have done a bang up job getting a good number of limited edition arcade sticks and parts to the west, but now they’re ready to take things a step further by releasing their own custom peripheral.

Designed by Marden Blake, the tentatively titled Arcade Shock x Nests R-Type Controller features a body modeled after high end audiophile equipment. While we’re still not sure exactly what that entails, Arcade Shock has confirmed that the form will be “virtually indestructible” and manufactured in Japan by a well-known automobile maker.

Additionally, the stick will feature proprietary arcade parts, with push buttons designed to give six levels of resistance and a lever that has been described as a “next generation” joystick. Arcade Shock also stated that buyers will be able to specify what PCB they want in the arcade stick, allowing it to work with their system of choice.

Further details on the R-Type Controller, as well as the final design, will be revealed in May. In the meantime, check out the concept render below and let us know what you think.

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Source: Arcade Shock