Category: News

Red Bull has announced that Evil Geniuses’ Justin Wong and AVerMedia’s Bruce “GamerBee” Hsiang are the first two players to be invited to compete at Red Bull Kumite 2016 in April.

Much like last year’s invitational, Red Bull Kumite will feature sixteen competitors–fourteen through invitation, two through last chance qualifier–duking it out in a condensed, high-level bracket. This time around, however, play has shifted from Ultra Street Fighter IV to Street Fighter V, forcing even those with a storied fighting game background to adapt to what will then be a two-month old title.

Red Bull Kumite 2016 is scheduled for April 23-24 in Paris, France. Stay tuned for more player reveals as we near those dates.

Source: Red Bull eSports

One of the great things about Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is that it features a cast pulled from classic Capcom games that haven’t seen recent releases. One of these characters is Amaterasu from Clover Studio’s groundbreaking Okami.

For fans of the furry goddess, First 4 Figures has announced that pre-orders for their Amaterasu figure are now open.

Two versions of the statue are currently available: a regular version, and a special limited edition with built in LED lighting. Both variants come with deluxe full-color packaging, a hand-numbered base, and an authenticity card that allows you to purchase the same product number for future pieces in this series.

The regular edition has a suggested retail price of $349.99 and the limited edition version is $384.99. Take note that First 4 Figures will set the number of limited edition statues to be produced after January 16, so be sure to order it as soon as possible.

Orders are expected to ship sometime in Q3 2016. In the meantime, check out some images of the limited edition figure below.

Click to view slideshow.

Source: First 4 Figures via Final Round

Some of you may already be familiar with Ultra Street Fighter IV Remix, a PC mod that follows a similar train of thought as the Ultra’s Omega Mode but kicks it up a notch with faster movement and even crazier changes to the characters.

The team behind the mod recently dropped a brand new update that, in addition to fixing a few bugs, adds a little something extra in the form of a new “Koryu” edition mode. Serving as homage to the infamous Street Fighter II: Rainbow Edition bootleg, this mode turns the insanity up to 11 by adding explosions to Rolento’s pogo stick, turning Ken into a bullet hell boss, and so much more.

For a small sample of what Koryu introduces to Ultra Street Fighter IV Remix, check out the video below, and feel free to download the update here if you want to experience it first-hand.

Source: Zeipher Boiga

Similar to what they did before Sceptile’s release, the developers behind Pokkén Tournament have dropped another phonetic teaser for the title’s next character. According to Source Gaming’s PushDustIn, the image above says that the next Pokémon will have the “ラ” kana in its name, which produces the “ra” or “la” sound in Japanese.

After doing some research, we realized that quite a few pocket monsters fit the bill. Some of the more plausible include Raikou, who is closely associated with current playable character Suicune as part of the second generation’s Legendary Beasts; Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Hitmontop, whose combat style could easily translate to the fighting genre; and Heracross, who could bring some more wrestling muscle to the cast.

For a much longer list of the Pokémon who include this specific character, check out our list below. While extensive, it’s entirely possible that we made a mistake, so feel free to give us a heads-up in the comments if we missed someone. Please note that we are talking about the Japanese names here; the English names have been used below for readability.

The identity of this mystery Pokémon is set to be revealed on January 15, so stay tuned!

Source: Pokkén Tournament via PushDustIn

I think something that we can all agree on is that no game is perfect. You may have a lot of love for one particular title, but it’s safe to say there’s a degree of bullshit in even the most well-designed fighter. This, inexorably, leads to an abundance of theories as to what should be done to fix said game. Sometimes, as in the case of Super Smash Bros. Brawl mod Project M, enterprising fans take it upon themselves to craft the game to their liking.

While he hasn’t quite gone that far, Lab Zero Games’ Mike Zaimont recently dropped an extensive write-up detailing the ways in which he would change one of his favorite games. “I love Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike,” Zaimont begins (emphasis his). “However, 3s has some problems – both with balance and system mechanics.”

This hypothetical update, which Zaimont has dubbed Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike’ (3rd Strike Upper, 3rd Strike Dash, etc.), would correct what he sees as problems without fundamentally changing how the game plays. While many of his ideas boil down to fixing lingering bugs, the Skullgirls developer provides some very interesting alterations for meter-building normals, parries, and more.

For example, Zaimont details an updated system where the meter gained from whiffed normals decreases with each successive miss. Scaling would reset when a move connects (on hit, block, or parry) or if the character in question is hit, blocks, or parries. Finally, projectiles wouldn’t reset scaling for either character on block, while landed and parried fireballs would reset scaling for the defender and attacker, respectively.

“Whiffing normals at full screen to build large chunks of meter is a main part of 3s. Completely removing the metergain on whiffed normals solves the problem, but fundamentally changes the game,” Zaimont explains. “This solution reduces the usefulness of whiffing multiple normals, but still allows one or two to build up a bar when you are close to full and allows zoning to be at least as useful as before, if not a teeny bit more useful.”

Of course, this is just a small part of Zaimont’s opinion piece. As one of the foremost battle designers in the community, his thoughts make for an incredibly entertaining read, so give it a look by following the link below.

Source: Mike Zaimont

Every year, Melee It On Me releases an extensive ranking of Super Smash Bros. Melee competitors, the likes of which is unparalleled throughout the fighting game community. By pulling together some of the Smash scene’s greatest minds, they tackle the monumental task of not only providing a power ranking of the top 100 players but also naming someone the best of the year.

So who won out for 2015? That honor goes Alliance’s Adam “Armada” Lindgren.

Lindgren’s accomplishments speak for themselves. First at the Evolution Championship Series. First at The Big House 5. Second at Apex, Community Effort Orlando, and DreamHack Winter. According to Melee It On Me’s fantastic summary (seriously, go check it out), the only matches he lost in 2015 were to fellow top six placers like Team Liquid’s Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma, Team SoloMid’s William “Leffen” Hjelte, Cloud9’s Joseph “Mango” Marquez, and Evil Geniuses’ Kevin “PPMD” Nanney. He maintained a perfect record against the rest of the top ten.

Furthermore, his overall 10 rating reveals an equally impressive feat, as pointed out by Twitch’s Crimson Blur: every single member of the 42-person panel gave him the highest score possible. How’s that for a consensus?

For more on Lindgren’s impressive 2015, as well as the full listing of the top 100 players, be sure to visit Melee It On Me by following the link below.

Source: Melee It On Me

With Street Fighter V just a few weeks away, now is as good time as any to pick up an arcade stick in preparation for the game.

Here’s some great news for those of you in the market for a Mad Catz product. The company has announced a special New Year’s promo that takes $20 off any $100 spent on gaming hardware purchased from their online store when using the discount code 2016. This applies to the United Kingdom as well, with £20 of every £100 knocked off.

While this promo isn’t limited to arcade sticks either, products under their Saitek brand and pre-orders are not eligible.

This deal will last through January 18, so be sure to take advantage before then.

Source: Mad Catz

Among video game fans, Super Smash Bros. series director Masahiro Sakurai is often called a “troll,” or one who deliberately misleads someone (in this case, the Smash community) with false information. Whether done playfully or with complete seriousness, these accusations always seem to stem from a misunderstanding of Sakurai’s statements, mistranslation by a news outlet, or other factors he himself can’t control.

In their latest article, the fine folks over at Source Gaming have tackled the notion of Sakurai lying at one time or another during Smash development, finding the original accusation, and investigating its veracity.

Some of the topics include Sakurai’s statements concerning each Smash installment being the last in the series (featured below), his opinion on introducing traditional fighting game characters, Ridley as a playable character, and more.

Even if you believe there’s some bias here, the fact that Source Gaming has revisited old articles and interviews to provide better translations definitely makes this worth a read. Check it out and let us know what you think of their findings.

Source: Source Gaming via NeoGAF, featured image c/o Polygon

Last year, Undefeated of the Southwest Vol. 2 was able to crowdfund over $700 for their Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 pot bonuses, and they are looking to do it all over again for the next installment…with a couple of twists.

Undefeated 2016’s organizers recently opened another YouCaring drive (this time with a goal of $1000), with an alternate donation path available through Teespring. Using the latter will net you a limited edition shirt designed by Northern California artist Joelyn “Shunao” Lai specifically for this event. Better yet, all of the proceeds from these sales will go directly to the aforementioned fundraiser, meaning you can show your support for the tournament and grab a spiffy tee at the same time!

The event will also feature a first-to-fifteen Marvel exhibition, with participants decided on by the community. Voting isn’t open yet, but early choices include notable players like Brokentier’s Daniel “Clockwork” Maniago, Kumite in Tennessee’s Jonathan “Cloud805” Morales, and more.

Undefeated 2016 is scheduled for February 20-21 in Tempe, Arizona. Aside from Marvel, it will also feature competition in Street Fighter V, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, and Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late. More details can be found here.

Source: r/MvC3 via IFC Yipes