Category: News

This weekend in Tokyo, Japan, two of the world’s strongest Persona 4 Arena Ultimate players–Tahichi and DIE-chan–will be going at each other in a special first-to-ten exhibition. With the introductions of new characters and systems in the latest version, the Japanese scene has seen a lot of players switching mains and skyrocketing to the top of the arcade rankings.

Taihichi is perhaps most known for his calculated neutral play and strong defense with Yukari Takeba, but ver.2.0 has seen him switch to newcomer Margaret. With a huge upward increase in rankings, he has firmly cemented himself as one of the most dominant players in the current game.

On the other hand, DIE-Chan is somebody folks will probably recognize thanks to his Evo 2013 top eight finish. Though he’s continued playing the game into the sequel, he has now switched from Mitsuru to Rise Kujikawa, rising to be the character’s highest ranked player.

Both of these competitors will be playing each other this Saturday, April 25th, at around 2 PM JST, which converts to 1 AM EST and 11 PM PST later this evening. NiceBurst will be providing a live stream of the match through Twitch.

As this is sure to be the highest level of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax play to date, do your best to stay awake and check i out!

Source: Domi

In an effort to correct frequent issues players were experiencing with the game’s netcode, Capcom released an update for Ultra Street Fighter IV on Steam last month. Though it was only available through the platform’s beta client, it gave fans the opportunity to try it out for themselves and provide feedback on its efficacy.

One huge problem, however, was the fact that very few players were using the beta client despite instructions on how to do so, and the diminished number of participants made it hard to truly gauge how much the netcode was improved. Fortunately, those changes have finally made their way to the main Steam client, meaning everyone who hops online to throw Shoryukens will be playing with the update in place.

Have you noticed improvements in your online connections in recent days? Let us know what you think of this Ultra Street Fighter IV update in the comments below.

Source: Capcom-Unity

After a long wait, BlazBlue: Chronophantasma EXTEND has been released in Japan. Players have been eagerly awaiting this new game’s launch as it includes the most recent arcade balance update. The game also introduces two additional characters to the playable cast, Celica A. Mercury (pictured above) and Lambda-11, as well as new story content and all of the previous downloadable content.

BlazBlue: Chronophantasma EXTEND is currently only available in its Japanese format, but that is only a small obstacle in acquiring and playing the game. Over on Dustloop, Kurushii has written up a handy guide on how to import various games through Playstation Network, and menu translations can be found on the forum as well.

If you can’t wait until summer for the English release, go ahead and start getting your fix now!

Last last month, we reported on some news detailing the release schedule for Mortal Kombat X’s downloadable characters. The details included there, which were supposedly from an EB Games Australia promo, mentioned that Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees would arrive on April 26.

Unfortunately, that was wrong. I messed up.

On the bright side, we now have official word from NetherRealm Studios on when folks will actually be able to get their hands on the horror icon, and that happens to be May 5. A preview of his gameplay will be provided through a special Kombat Kast the day before.

Jason is the very first character to be released as part of the Kombat Pack, which will also see appearances by Tremor, Predator, and Tanya, as well as a number of new costumes set to debut alongside them. Each cast member will eventually be up for purchase separately, but details on exactly when have yet to be provided.

Source: NetherRealm Studios

According to details released by Bandai Namco’s Katsuhiro Harada, a special Tekken 7 announcement is scheduled for this weekend’s Niconico Chokaigi 2015. Interestingly enough, this information will be provided through Capcom’s official broadcast.

In addition to whatever it is Harada has up his sleeve, Capcom’s stream will feature a special Street Fighter V demonstration, during which we may see more footage of the upcoming title.

Why Namco is choosing to make the announcement at a Capcom event is unknown. However, it was also revealed that Harada will be showing off previously unreleased footage during his appearance on the second day, so stay tuned for more.

Niconico Chokaigi 2015 is scheduled for April 25-26.

Sources: Avoiding the Puddle, Katsuhiro Harada

While most of Mortal Kombat X’s early competitive action has been taking place in the west, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything happening for players outside of North America and Europe. Beast of the East, in cooperation Ingram Micro, Xmashed Gear, CouchWarriors, St. Games, and Imperium, have announced the Mortal Kombat X Asia Pacific Championships.

This series will consist of four qualifying tournaments throughout the region. The top three placers at each event will receive monetary rewards and other prizes, but more importantly, the winner will be sent to the grand finals.

Details for the qualifiers are as follows:

• Manila, Philippines
  • Date: May 9, 2015
  • Location: Imperium e-Sports Bar and Gaming Lounge
• Singapore
  • Date: May 16, 2015
  • Location: St. Games Cafe
• Melbourne, Australia
  • Date: May 22 to 25, 2015
  • Location: Battle Arena Melbourne 7, CQ Functions, 113 Queen’s St. Melbourne.
• Bangkok, Thailand
  • Date: June 20, 2015
  • Location: South East Asia Major 2015, The Connection Seminar Center, Bangkok

Mortal Kombat X Asia Pacific Championships’ finals will take place on June 21, the day after the Bangkok qualifier, as part of South East Asia Major 2015. At stake is over $1,000 SGD (~$744 USD) in cash and prizes, as well as a chance to compete at Evolution 2015.

While the Mortal Kombat franchise is typically known as a North American favorite, these tournaments should provide a fantastic opportunity to see how the rest of the world takes to the latest installment.

Source: Beast of the East

While the downloadable “klassic kombatants” from Mortal Kombat X’s Kombat Pack have yet to be made available, series co-creator Ed Boon is already teasing more downloadable content beyond these two.

In response to an inquiry on whether or not the non-playable opponents found in the game’s story mode will ever join the official cast, NetherRealm Studios’ creative director had this to say.

"@LazyEyedJ @noobde So Ed are you secretly gonna patch in the NPC's from story to make them playable? EB: U mean like a "Story Pack" ?

— Ed Boon (@noobde) April 18, 2015

Prior to this, Boon had also hinted at the possibility of more fighters during his appearance on Twin Galaxies Live.

These teases don’t come exactly as a surprise. Apart from the fact that modders have already found a way to play these characters on PC, NetherRealm is known for supporting their games with a host of additions post-launch. It’s only a matter of time.

Source: Ed Boon via IPLAYWINNER

As I’m sure most of you know by now, Capcom updated Ultra Street Fighter IV today–both in arcades and on home platforms–to ver.1.05. Although quite a few changes came with it, nearly all of these adjustments are found in the game’s remixed Omega mode, the sole dissenter a fix for Decapre’s ultra command.

But a late edit to the original announcement mentioning an addressing of other bugs raised our hopes. Sure, with no specifics it was hard to imagine the game-crashing sound bug disappearing, but perhaps smaller issues saw corrections that we weren’t aware of?

Unfortunately, there’s currently no word on that front–quite the opposite, actually. Jay, a Japanese player who, as of April 15, is the third-highest ranked Abel in arcades, recently revealed a brand new hitbox issue involving Ultra addition Rolento. Apparently, something wonky happens with the soldier’s crouching hitbox on block that makes Abel’s low jab completely whiff, an occurrence that can be replicated by dashing in after a blocked Focus Attack, Forward Kick, or a canceled Change of Direction and mashing jab, as seen in Jay’s tweets below.

This is only the latest hitbox discrepancy to be discovered in Capcom’s flagship fighter. Funny enough, during our own testing we found it was present in earlier versions as well, and has only now come to light.

Its discovery makes an update, which was already quite perplexing in that it barely touched the main, competitive version of the game, an even bigger disappointment. With $500,000 on the line at Capcom Cup, not to mention the additional pot bonuses being provided to premier Capcom Pro Tour events, one would hope issues such as these would be addressed before those in Omega Mode.

Oh, and before we close out, you can also expect Ibuki’s standing strong and Oni’s standing fierce to whiff on a crouching Rolento as well, the former of which was pointed out by French competitor Damascus back in June 2014.

Have you found anything else in Ultra Street Fighter IV that’s yet to be corrected in post-release patches? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Jay via NeoGAF

During a special BlazBlue: Chronophantasma EXTEND pre-release broadcast earlier today, producer Toshimichi Mori announced that Arc System Works is set to host another installment of their annual Japanese national tournament, ARC REVOLUTION CUP 2015.

In a change-up from previous years, ArcRevo 2015 will be played on console, with cash prizes available to finalists. The main tournament has been trimmed down to two titles, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- and BlazBlue: Chronophantasma EXTEND, but the studio is also planning mini-events featuring past and present titles from their game catalog.

ARC REVOLUTION CUP 2015 is set for Saturday, August 15 at the Shinagawa Intercity Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Stayed tune for more details on the event as we near that date.

Source: Arc System Works