Category: News

Due to the nature of the game’s development, Killer Instinct is a title with a ton of content that players may not have gotten their hands on yet. With multiple seasons, staggered character releases, and a ton of accessories and color palettes, keeping up with Killer Instinct numerous additions requires constant attention. Fortunately, Microsoft offers a rather substantial bundle that includes all previously released content, and the final form of that package is now available at a greatly reduced price.

Killer Instinct’s Complete Collection includes all sixteen characters that have launched thus far, every costume, every accessory, and classic rereleases for both Killer Instinct and Killer Instinct 2. While normally $79.99, it’s currently being offered at half that price, meaning you can pick up all the aforementioned content for only $40.

At this point in time, this sale is only available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers. If you happen to have an active account, be sure to give the bundle a look-over by following the link below and see if it’s something you want to take advantage of.

Source: Xbox Live via Killer Instinct Central

It might be the 4th of July, but some players will be getting their game on via today’s HADOCON VII. Going down at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront and featuring Mortal Kombat X, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Ultra Street Fighter IV, this year’s HADOCON will be NorCal’s chance to get in some play before Evo 2015 in two weeks.

The team of Team Spooky and IPLAYWINNER will be providing a stream for the event, so if you would like to watch, head over to Twitch now or check out the stream now.

Team Spooky

Watch live video from TeamSp00ky on www.twitch.tv

IPLAYWINNER

Watch live video from IPLAYWINNER on www.twitch.tv

Source: Facebook, Team Spooky, IPLAYWINNER

Among the numerous pot bonuses being throw at the games in Evo 2015’s official lineup, one of the largest has been provided to Killer Instinct courtesy of Microsoft Studios, Iron Galaxy Studios, and the highly successful community fund. Apart from its normal payouts, the prize pool will divvy up a staggering $50,000 to the players who prove themselves strongest over the course of the weekend, and we now have an idea of how far into the standings that money will go.

According to new details provided to us by Evo organizer Joey Cuellar, the top 32 placers can look forward to receiving a slice of that pie, with over half going straight into the champion’s pocket. For a complete look at how the money will be divided, check out the table below.

Who do you think will walk away with the cash? Feel free to let us know below and get ready for Evo 2015 later this month on July 17-19.

Over the years, the Evolution Championship Series has managed to garner the attention of a number of interesting personalities, from American Idol champion Taylor Hicks in 2013 to rumors of Jamie Lee Curtis and her son attending the event this year. These stories generally get some play and fizzle out, but a recent announcement by a notable Nintendo executive is sure to turn some heads.

According to a tweet sent out earlier this morning, Nintendo senior product marketing manager Bill Trinen will be making the trip to Las Vegas to compete at Evo 2015. And not in just any game either, but one he’s likely intimately familiar with: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. He’s currently seeded into Pool D46 and conveniently has a bye in the first round.

Many of you may recognize Trinen (picture above) as the regular translator for Shigeru Miyamoto, but he also works at the Nintendo Treehouse on important localization projects and acts as a regular presenter during Nintendo Direct presentations.

But this isn’t the first time a foward-facing Nintendo figure has stepped up to publicly throw down in Smash. During the company’s World Championships event at E3 2015, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé answered the challenge of Liquid’s Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma and participated in a special exhibition that saw the professional competitor walk away the victor.

Will Trinen have more success than Fils-Aimé? It obviously wouldn’t take much, but it should still be great to follow along and see how he fares at the largest fighting game tournament in the world.

Evo 2015 is scheduled for July 17-19 in Las Vegas, Nevada. More details can be found through the event’s official website.

Source: Bill Trinen via Nintendo Enthusiast

The arcade Pokémon battle is just two weeks away! On today’s pre-release special, Bandai Namco announced that their collaboration fighter with Nintendo, Pokkén Tournament, will be hitting Japanese arcades on Thursday, July 16. Along with the release date, two new Pokémon were revealed to be joining the fray: the claw-slashing Dark/Ice-type Weavile and the familiar Fire/Flying-type Charizard.

After the launch of the game, a bonus special event will run in arcades until the end of the month. Players who play using their BanaPassport card during this time period will receive the Jirachi/Whimsicott Support Pokémon set.

Weavile, Charizard, and the previously announced Gengar were each shown in playable form for the first time. Below is a brief breakdown of each character.

Gengar

Gengar is tricky Pokémon with moves that make it difficult to read what it will do next. Shadow Punch (Back + Pokémon Move) summons two fists in the air that slam the opponent. Hypnosis (Forward + Pokémon Move) is a close-range move that puts the opponent in a trance as Gengar appears behind them and attacks, opening a chance for a combo. Pressing Guard while jumping briefly turns the Pokémon invisible, after which it can attack for some deceptive tactics. Gengar is completely invincible any time it disappears from screen, allowing you to frustrate your opponent with confusing attacks.

Gengar’s Burst transforms the Pokemon into Mega Gengar. Its Burst Attack is a throw attack that can be avoided by jumping.

Charizard

Charizard uses its power and flame attacks to overwhelm the opponent. Flame Punch (Forward + Pokémon Move) is a powerful rush move with armor to withstand enemy attacks. Charizard also has a number of fire-breathing attacks, including Flamethrower (Neutral + Pokémon Move), which aptly launches flames from the ground, and Inferno (Back + Pokémon Move), which does so from the air. With Flare Dive (Jump + Pokémon Move) Charizard quickly charges at the opponent from the sky, sending them flying into the sky.

Activating Burst Mega Evolves the Pokémon into Mega Charizard X. With its Burst Attack, Charizard flies into the air and blazes the opponent with a devastating beam of fire.

Weavile

Weavile is a quick character with slashing attacks. Agility (Pokémon Move repeatedly) is a dash move that can be used to close in on the opponent. With Knock Off, Weavile leaps into the air and slashes, knocking the opponent into the air. Weavile’s other moves include Ice Punch, which can only be performed in Duel Phase.

Though Weavile doesn’t have a Mega Evolution, as usual activating Burst cause the Pokémon to enter a powered-up form. Its Burst Attack launches the opponent before finishing them with a flying slash attack.

What do you think of the new Pokémon? Tell us in the comments below!

In addition to some notable gameplay adjustments, today’s Mortal Kombat X patch included data for upcoming content that’s sure to please all of you longtime Mortal Kombat fans out there.

Apparently, four fighters will be given classic costumes at some point in the near future; Ermac reverts to his original ninja clone design, Jax Briggs and Kung Lao’s skins nod to the popular Mortal Kombat 3, and Quan Chi resurrects his appearance from Mortal Kombat 4.

But that’s not all! This update also brought bits and pieces of Tremor info to Mortal Kombat X. Check out the gallery below for a quick biography and a preview of one of his fatalities.

It’s very likely that Tremor and the throwback costumes will be released together somewhere down the line. Stay tuned for more details.

Source: Test Your Might, special thanks to NightmareSteam for bringing this to our attention.

After four years of putting on both singles and team tournaments, The Steam Co.’s Michael “IFC Yipes” Mendoza is set to take his popular Curleh Mustache invitational series back to California for yet another round of competition. This time around, however, it’s going to be even more exclusive.

Curleh Mustache West Vol. 4 will bring together 32 of the west’s strongest Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 players to once again prove they have what it takes to be called the best. Always the careful observer, Yipes will be selecting participants based on their performances at past Curleh Mustache West events. The tentative lineup is already looking mighty impressive, with names like PG|Filipino Champ, EG|Justin Wong, BT|Clockwork, BT|Angelic, and TMP|NYChrisG scheduled to be in attendance.

A full look at the current player selection can be found below.

If you’re a fan of NetherRealm Studios fighters, you’ve grown to accept the fact that your games will be patched and updated on a regular basis. It’s just the way of the world–the sky is blue (mostly), grass is green (except in California), and the competitive Mortal Kombat X landscape is constantly shifting.

That being said, it’s easy to see why some would welcome today’s patch with open arms. Community Effort Orlando 2015’s Mortal Kombat X finals this past weekend featured a Tanya player in nearly every top eight match save one, attesting to the relative strength of the newly-released downloadable character. No joke, go and check the match log in our coverage hub; it was ridiculous.

While the latest update touches on other characters as well, many of the changes come at Tanya’s expense, more specifically her teleports. The invulnerability frames that were so prominently display at Community Effort Orlando? Gone. The general safety she enjoyed on landing? Mostly gone. Same with her follow-up airborne Fire Blasts.

Of course, there is something to be said for allowing a game to grow and evolve without heavy developer involvement. It’s likely competitors would have found a specific character’s tools were more than capable of shutting down Tanya on their own or even a general gameplay strategy that moved high-level play away from that technique entirely. But NetherRealm isn’t that developer and Mortal Kombat X isn’t that game, so feel free to check out the changes below and let us know what you think.

This patch should be in effect for PlayStation 4 owners in North America and is scheduled to arrive in Europe soon. Xbox One players will also need to wait a bit to see their game updated.

Source: WB Games, tip via NightmareSteam