Category: News

With Capcom Pro Tour 2016 not yet officially underway–and Street Fighter V yet to be released–it’s exciting to watch major events make their way into the competitive fold.

Earlier today, Capcom announced Cannes Winter Clash, an event (appropriately) based out of Cannes, France, has joined the list of upcoming Pro Tour events. This likely means we’ll soon be hearing in-game audio based on the event as well.

Cannes Winter Clash will be a ranking event, making it an important stop for players looking to take home a chunk of the Pro Tour prize pool, but the victor will not be gaining immediate entry into the end-of-year showdown. The first event offering such benefits to its first-place finisher will be Final Round 19 in March.

Cannes Winter Clash is set to take place February 26-28, meaning competitors will have less than two full weeks to prepare. For more information, head over to their website.

Source: Capcom Fighters

Although Mortal Kombat X’s first round of downloadable content was doled out piecemeal over many months, NetherRealm Studios is prepared to drop a ton of content on players at once with Kombat Pack 2.

According to creative director Ed Boon, all of the characters in this second helping, which includes Leatherface, the Alien, Bo’ Rai Cho, and Tri-Borg, will release on the same day. This means, among other things, that every playable character will be legal at Evo 2016.

Mortal Kombat XL, Kombat Pack 2, and more will launch for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 1.

Source: Ed Boon

During the studio’s visit to Taiwan for this year’s Taipei Game Show, SNK Playmore’s Yasuyuki Oda was invited onto the main stage, along with AVerMedia’s Gamerbee and Razer’s RB, to discuss and highlight King of Fighters XIV. While the show itself was in Mandarin, MMCafe has graciously translated the proceedings.

Speaking on the game’s roster, Oda again confirmed that all fifty characters will be available at launch. But, when asked about hosting a fan poll for additional characters, the director hinted that there may be more to come after the initial cast.

In addition to having a strong online component, SNK is hoping to see King of Fighters XIV join existing tournaments, both large and small. Talks are currently being held about possibly hosting their own event, perhaps in the same way Capcom has Capcom Cup, but nothing solid has been decided on thus far.

For more of Oda’s talk, be sure to head on over to MMCafe by following the link below. An archive of the conference can be found here, starting around 04:51:43.

Source: TGS Live via MMCafe, thanks to Zakeru for the tip.

Ryota “Kazunoko” Inoue and Keoma Moutsatsos Pacheco have been chosen to take part in this year’s Red Bull Kumite. The two players join the battle alongside Evil Geniuses’ Justin Wong and Yusuke Momochi, AVerMedia’s Bruce “GamerBee” Hsiang, and Lee “Poongko” Chung-gon.

After proving himself to be the best Ultra Street Fighter IV player in the world at last year’s Capcom Cup, Kazunoko will certainly be looking to make an impression on Street Fighter V viewers at this event so early in the life of the game. And while Kazunoko’s inclusion is certainly exciting, seeing someone like Keoma, a player largely unknown in the global Street Fighter scene until he made waves during last year’s Capcom Pro Tour, joining the fight shows that we truly are moving into a new era for the series.

Red Bull Kumite 2016 is scheduled to take place April 23-24 in Paris, France. For more details, follow this link.

Source: Red Bull, tip via Aurélien Laureau

Fans itching to get their hands on the final Street Fighter V beta no longer have to wait until the weekend to do so.

The client opened up ahead of schedule earlier tonight on both PlayStation 4 and PC. This time around, every character is playable with the exception of F.A.N.G (c’mon Capcom!), so jump on and go wild.

This beta session was originally scheduled for January 30-31. Details on why it’s launched early have yet to be provided through any official channels, so don’t be surprised if you suddenly find yourself kicked out. We’ll be sure to update this article should any new information arise.

Have fun!

We recently reported on SmashPad, the Super Smash Bros. app that promised to bring ultimate Smash knowledge to mobile devices of inquiring players. Earlier today, Chris “Praxis” Hardin released the full version of the app on iTunes, so you can go grab a copy now.

So far, the app lives up to the hype, offering features like hitboxes and frame data, tournament information, player rankings, and even a sort of Smash news ticker to keep users in the know when it comes to current goings-on.

If you’re a Smash player with an iOS device, you’ll definitely want to give this free app a try. An Android version is forthcoming.

Source: iTunes via SmashPad

We thought hype for Tekken 7 Fated Retribution couldn’t get bigger after the Akuma and Nina Williams reveals, but Bandai Namco Entertainment has revealed their plans to hold location tests in both Japan and the United States in the coming months to gather feedback from the series’ most dedicated competitors.

First off, various game centers in Japan will be hosting testing sessions the weekend of February 12. According to details translated by Avoiding the Puddle’s Flying Wonkey, attendees will be able to get their hands on both of the aforementioned characters. There will be a live Nico broadcast for folks unable to attend in person, with commentary from Nobi, Yuu, and Hameko.

Then, in March, the developers are planning to bring Fated Retribution to Final Round 19 in Atlanta, Georgia. Widely recognized as the heart of North America’s Tekken scene, this will be a great opportunity for attendees in the southern United States to get their hands on an early build of the game. No word has been provided as to how close it will be to the Japanese location test, but word is Akuma is set to make an appearance. Further details on this event can be found here.

All in all, the next few months are sure to be an exciting time for Tekken fans, culminating in an Evo 2016 appearance this summer. Get ready for the next battle!

Sources: Tekken via Flying Wonkey, Final Round

After their debut at Genesis 3, the Super Smash Sisters series will be traveling to Sweden’s Beast 6 next month for another go-around.

For those out of the loop, Super Smash Sisters was established as an experiment, focused on all-women crew battles, to test community reaction. Their goal was to provide a welcoming space for female Smashers of various skill levels to participate in competition, learn from their peers, and encourage new players to experience Super Smash Bros. Melee.

And going by Lil “milktea” Chen’s recap of the event, they definitely succeeded.

This next iteration will be hosted by a whole new group of ladies, but is set to feature the same exciting crew battle format of its predecessor. Registration instructions have been detailed here, and feel free to also check out the original announcement if you’re interested in taking part.

Beast 6 is scheduled for February 19-21 in Gothenburg, Sweden. More info can be found on their official website.

Source: Beast 6

BROKENTIER’s Jay “Viscant” Snyder recently unveiled the first in a new series of blog posts focused on helping everyone, from tournament hopefuls to those looking to make their first foray into the fighting game community, perform their best at Street Fighter V. The blog series, dubbed “Hit the Ground Running,” will see publication once per week, and readers can expect new content up until Evo 2016. That’s more than enough time for Snyder’s take on fighting games to have a meaningful impact on his target audience.

In his initial post, Snyder offers a no-excuses approach to preparing for the launch of Street Fighter V. Since many likely don’t have access to an early copy of the game, or haven’t acquired the latest beta build through dubious means, he spends most of the article discussing what players can do with the resources they have now to help the learning process once they get their hands on the release version of the game.

To start, he tasks readers with watching high-level matches, then formulating questions surrounding the play. Using Long “pH|LPN” Nguyen‘s recent set against MCZ|Tokido at Mad Catz V Cup as an example, Snyder asks how Tokido could have better dealt with Birdie’s EX Bull Revenger, then lists out some possible ways to get around Nguyen’s tricky setup. Having this sort of specific situation in mind when going into this weekend’s beta phase should give players a clear starting point when they’re waiting for matches in training mode.

Snyder also suggests firing up Ultra Street Fighter IV and learning a new character, preferably an unfamiliar one. He clarifies this definition of learning as, “not just picking [a character] for a couple hours and messing around,” but instead actually focusing on learning the tools the character brings to a fight and then taking the character for a spin in proper matches.

Some may be quick to shoot this down, as the differences between Ultra Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V are vast, but the goal here isn’t to pick up game-specific knowledge that will easily transfer to a new game; instead, Snyder hopes to encourage the sort of thinking that will make learning a new fighting game easier.

If you’re looking to make serious strides in self-improvement when it comes to fighting games, with an emphasis on Street Fighter V in particular, head over to BROKENTIER and check out Snyder’s full article and be sure sure to check back weekly for more.

Source: BROKENTIER

Evo 2015’s Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament presented one of the biggest upsets ever, with Team Black Eye’s Nicolas “Kane Blueriver” Gonzalez taking a first-place finish back to Chile as the first non-American champion. However, some have pointed out that he defeated only one of the so called “gods of Marvel” at the event, Evil Geniuses’ Justin Wong, making his victory less-than-impressive in their minds.

At Winter Brawl X, Gonzalez will try to put those doubts to rest against Panda Global’s Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez, the Evo 2012 champion, in a first-to-fifteen exhibition match.

In a way, there couldn’t be a better matchup than this. With his status as an underdog thanks to rocking a team of Hulk, Haggar, and Sentinel, Gonzalez has become something of a symbol, showing that Marvel is no longer just an American game. Meanwhile, with his choice of high-level teams that emphasize calculated, defensive play, as well as his penchant for mind games in and out of competition, Ramirez has garnered a reputation of being a a bit of a heel in the community.

Will Kane Blueriver’s big body team be able to slay another god, or will Filipino Champ’s craftiness and cunning overcome the South American challenger? Feel free to take part in our poll below, and be sure to tune into Winter Brawl X, scheduled for February 26-28, to catch it all live.

Source: Big E Gaming