Category: News

Earlier this week, Nintendo announced more details surrounding upcoming downloadable content for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U including an official release date for Mewtwo and a June release for newly-announced DLC character Lucas.

Last night, concerned Smashers contacted Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar on Twitter regarding the legality of both of these characters. Cuellar confirmed that Mewtwo will be legal for play at Evolution 2015, but Lucas will not be, due to his late release. So if you plan on competing in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, that’s one match-up that you won’t have to worry about learning in the last days before the big tournament.

Cuellar also confirm that, in the unlikely event that any balance patches release alongside Lucas, those changes will still be used for the tournament.

For a complete list of Evo 2015′ Super Smash Bros. for Wii U rules, head over to the event’s official rules page.

Source: Mr. Wizard and via Smash Boards and Nightmare Steam

After a weekend off, major fighting game competition returns this weekend in the form of NorCal Regionals 2015. As with other large events, the area surrounding Sacramento, California will be inundated with a wide array of talent from across the United States and other parts of the globe, giving local events some added participation that they normally don’t see every week or month.

First off, Showdown’s Churning the Butter returns to San Francisco tonight for another helping of Northern California Street Fighter play, with an added twist. Bruce “GamerBee” Hsiang will be in town to take on all challengers in a special kumite event presented by his sponsor AVerMedia, allowing players a chance to face the Taiwanese master and win some cool prizes in the process.

You can expect all the same great tournament action as well, so if you’re interested, be sure to visit The Foundry (located at 1425 Folsom Street) around 7 PM PDT to get in on the competition. Other players expected to attend include Liquid’s Du “Nuckledu” Dang, Kelvin Jeon of AVerMedia, Pandora House’s Long “LPN” Nguyen, and more.

Are you going to be closer to Sacramento and don’t want to travel to the bay? Well, you’re in luck, because Tapioca & Tea will be hosting their 58th monthly event at Tapioca Express in Elk Grove, California. Organizer Romeo Rivera Jr. has done an excellent job keeping the local community alive with these regular events, and is sure to see an influx of new faces due to their proximity to the NorCal Regionals venue.

Street Fighter and Marvel signups begin around 5 PM PDT, so be sure to visit the event’s official page for more details.

These two events are the perfect way to get some practice in before this weekend’s tournament; don’t miss out on the opportunity to test yourself against unfamiliar opponents!

During today’s Nintendo Direct broadcast, president Satoru Iwata announced that Mewtwo will arrive for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS on April 28 alongside a few new balance changes, making the classic Pokémon character the first piece of downloadable content created for the latest installment of the franchise.

First? Yep, you read that right, because the cast will continue to expand in the future, starting with Mother 3 protagonist Lucas. Though he previously appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the young fighter failed to make the transition with fellow Earthbound representative Ness. He is planned to arrive sometime in June.

Furthermore, the developers want to know what other Nintendo characters you’d like to see join the Super Smash Bros. cast. By visiting the official ballot, you can suggest whatever video game figure suits your fancy and provide a brief breakdown of why you think they should be included in the games.

With this news in mind, it’s easy to envision a long and fruitful future for the competitive Smash community, and it should be interesting to see how the cast expands in the coming years. Feel free to let us know which characters you’ve told Nintendo about in the comments below.

Sources: Nintendo, Smash Bros.

We’ve seen plenty of characters join the Mortal Kombat X roster over the last few months, including series mainstays like Scorpion and Sub Zero and newcomers D’Vorah and Erron Black. All this time, though, there’s been one shadowy figure lurking just outside of view: the original Mortal Kombat sub-boss, Goro.

The Shokan prince was one of the first characters to be announced for the game–as a pre-order bonus, no less–and we’ve still yet to learn anything about him besides the fact that he will be playable once the game hits shelves in a couple of weeks.

While details surrounding the fighter have remained remarkably scant, we do know, thanks to a newly-launched website which is appropriately called “Goro Lives,” that we can expect a look at the character when NetherRealm Studios shows him off live from Twitch headquarters on April 4.

In addition to sharing the secrets of Goro, the folks behind his creation will also be hosting exhibition matches between special guests, offering full-access gameplay footage from both single-player and multiplayer modes, and giving away prizes.

If you want to catch the stream, be sure to visit the official website on April 4 around 1 PM PDT, 4 PM EDT.

Source: Goro Lives

Much like the rest of the video game world, the fighting genre has become inundated with leaks over the past few years. From characters and gameplay mechanics to entire game reveals, receiving early information on our favorite titles is rather commonplace these days.

Most recently, data mining revealed a trio of new characters for Tekken 7 more than a week before they were officially revealed by Bandai Namco Games. And while early previews of upcoming content is always fun, we rarely focus on the impact these leaks have on the developers.

In the case of Tekken 7, Bandai’s team has been forced to rush the creation of future characters to meet community demands. When asked about his plans for Golden Week (a string of Japanese holidays in early May) by Mad Catz’ Mark “MarkMan” Julio, producer Katsuhiro Harada divulged that he’s had to forgo this year’s festivities. “We are changing character [development] and release timing,” the longtime developer explained, ascribing these adjustments to the earlier leaks.

With Jin Kazama out today, Devil Jin scheduled to launch on April 7, and Josie Rizal’s release in the near future, all of which land well before the aforementioned holidays, one can assume Harada is discussing plans beyond the aforementioned fighters.

Tekken 7 is currently exclusive to arcades, but may also be in development for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Source: Katsuhiro Harada

While a number of reputable arcades have been forced to close up shop over the years due to the decline of their business models, one in particular may not be as well known to those who recently became converts to the way of the Hadouken and Electric Wind God Fist.

Memorial Union Games Center, located on the UC Davis campus, is set to shutter their location to undergo an extensive renovation project. When they open back up in 2017, however, one important piece of nostalgia will be missing: the arcade cabinets. In their place? Flat-screen monitors and home consoles.

Although it’s not the destination it used to be, the location held regular fighting game tournaments and attracted a number of notable competitors in its heyday.

“The Memorial Union Games Area brings back lots of memories as I frequented that building regularly during my college years. It was a great place to kill time between classes,” John “Choiboy” Choi explained to us. “The building contained the book store, cafeteria, billiards, and of course the arcade. So it was the one stop shop for many students. It was my daily routine to go there after class to eat, chit chat, and play games. Oh, and there was also bowling, but I opted to throwing fireballs rather than bowling balls.”

After profits peaked at over $200,000 in 2006, MUGA’s returns dropped to less than half that by 2014.

“Some of my greatest friendships and best memories come from being connected in person with this community and not just online. The in-person connection and space to play games together is no different than a basketball court open at night on campus,” Leo “OneTimeHero” Martin said of his time at MUGA. “I feel bad that future generations won’t be able to experience the same level of fun and ‘in-person’ gaming that has become less and less common these days.”

Transitioning to more modern setups has allowed venues like Next Level Arcade in New York City, New York to survive where others have failed, but there’s definitely something to be said for the visceral feeling arcade cabinets provide during intense matches.

“I have lots of fond memories of the place so I’m sad to hear of it coming to an end,” Choi closed.

Upon reopening in 2017, the MUGA operators hope to see a renewed interest in the space and plan to start running tournaments again.

Source: Sacramento Bee

While the game itself has yet to hit stores, Mortal Kombat X already has a decent sized list of planned downloadable content. For those who are are curious about Jason Voorhees, Tremor, Predator, and Tanya but aren’t sure that they want to purchase them, NetherRealm Studios has revealed that you will be able to try them out before buying them.

According to series producer Ed Boon, the game’s Tower Mode will have three towers reserved for testing out upcoming characters in the Living Towers section. Each one changes characters based at different times, with one changing every hour and another changing every day.

The third tower is the Premier Tower, which he says is an “event tower.” There, players will get a chance to see how the post-launch cast members play, even if they haven’t purchased them. While fans won’t be able to subject the characters to high-level competition, this will be the perfect opportunity to get used to their basics before deciding to drop money.

Mortal Kombat X hits PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on April 14, and will arrive on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime this summer.

Source: Angry Joe via Gamerant

Fans of Under Night In-Birth, take heart, because lead developer French-Bread has announced today that they are set to continue their work on the relatively new franchise with an interesting follow-up.

The sequel, called Under Night In-Birth Xnd -cosign-, will be the first 3D entry in the series, with normal 1v1 as well as 3v1 battles. The developers are reportedly aiming to support both 4K and 8K resolutions.

A couple of quick videos and screenshots of the game and its innovative new arcade stick have been released to demonstrate the still-developing title, so feel free to check them out below and let us know what you think of this new direction.

Source: French-Bread via TS|NerdJosh