Category: News

This weekend, a number of high-level Ultra Street Fighter IV competitors will be making the trip to Paris, France to take part in Red Bull Kumite. The event, organized by the energy drink company of the same name, has invited players from all over the world to attend.

Apart from the fourteen participants listed above, two additional players decided by a last-chance qualifier will be thrown into the mix. Some of the competitors scheduled to take part include CG.RZR|Problem X, EsseX the Sinner, BX3|Veggey, Andreas, RB|Kayane, CDV|Will2Pac, CDV|Cuongster, LLL|Emersion, and many more.

While the invitational is obviously the main event, Red Bull Kumite will also include two special exhibitions to break up the action. First, Capcom’s classic Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike will enter the spotlight as a team of French competitors take on another group led by legends Nuki and Kokujin. Then, later on, six of the best qualifier participants will be matched up against six Kumite entrants in a special Ultra Street Fighter IV concept match.

Those who aren’t able to attend this event in person will be able to view it all live by way of the official website or Capcom Fighters. The full schedule has been included below along with adjusted times for other parts of the world.

Event	CET (Local)	PDT	EDT	GMT
Open Tournament	10:00 AM	2:00 AM	5:00 AM	9:00 AM
Top 16	3:00 PM	7:00 AM	10:00 AM	2:00 PM
SFIII Exhibition	6:00 PM	10:00 AM	1:00 PM	5:00 PM
Top 8	6:30 PM	10:30 AM	1:30 PM	5:30 PM
Concept Match	8:30 PM	12:30 PM	3:30 PM	7:30 PM
Top 4	9:30 PM	1:30 PM	4:30 PM	8:30 PM

With such an incredible group of players gathered together in one place, it’s hard to pinpoint who has the best chances of winning. Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments below.

Earlier this month, the heads of S.O.S. Gamers–Kwabena “Kubuu” Ampofo and Antoine “DA|Wes” Lewis-Hall–announced plans to bring a Super Smash Bros. for Wii U league to the underprivileged youth of New York City. Their non-profit organization started an Indiegogo page to help collect donations from those who believe in their cause. We were able to speak to them at the time of the campaign’s launch to get a better feel for the specifics surrounding this upcoming league.

Their campaign has nearly run its course with the final date, April 2, closing in fast. As of this writing, the team has raised 59% of their goal to get this project rolling. In order to help make their way over that final hump, Kubuu and Wes will be hosting an eight-hour stream this Sunday beginning at 2 PM Eastern.

We spoke to Kubuu about the stream earlier this week and he says that they want “to put a focus on having an open discussion with viewers about the state of Smash in the competitive gaming arena as well as host an open Q&A with viewers if they have any questions regarding S.O.S. Gamers, [their] youth league, or other Smash-related endeavors.” Additionally, they plan to give away two copies of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, one at the 75% marker and a second once their donation goal has been reached.

If you’re interested in chatting with the guys about their project, watching them throw down in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, or even challenging them to some friendlies yourself, be sure to tune in later this weekend.

If you happen to own the Ultra Edition of Killer Instinct’s second season, you should be happy to know that you have yet another cast member to play around with today. Hisako, the spooky ghost girl that’s been shown off quite a bit over the past month, is now available as part of the playable cast.

But that’s not all. Similar to past character releases, Iron Galaxy Studios has also whipped up a good deal of balance changes to keep their project competitive, the full list of which you’ll find here. These adjustments should be available to players who haven’t yet purchased the Ultra Edition, and owners of the Combo Breaker pack can upgrade to immediately gain access to Hisako.

Finally, this update also brings with it Riptor’s retro skin, as well as brand new accessories to further customize the ferocious dinosaur.

To get you in the mood while you wait for the patch to download and install, check out Mick Gordon’s full composition of Hisako’s theme below.

Sources: Dave McCrate, Mick Gordon, tip via rick

We’re just a month away from Washingon’s Northwest Majors 7, a tournament set to hold competition in an impressive sixteen titles including the entire run of the Super Smash Bros. series (with Project M in place of Brawl), as well as Ultra Street Fighter IV, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and plenty more. This tournament has seen rapid growth in its seven years of existence and with such an expansive game lineup, it should have no trouble drawing out its largest crowd ever in April.

In an effort to encourage players to come out and throw hands, the tournament series is offering an entry-based pot bonus for both Ultra Street Fighter IV and Super Smash Bros. Melee. This means that the number of registered participants in each game stand to greatly increase the payout for these two titles, not only in the amount of winnings, but also to the number of players to whom the bonus will be paid.

For Ultra Street Fighter IV, here’s how the numbers break down:

• 200 entries or fewer pays $500 to the top two players
• 201-300 entries pays $750 to the top three players
• 301-400 entries pays $1500 to the top four players
• Over 400 entries pays $2000 to the top four players

And here’s the pot bonus information for Super Smash Bros. Melee:

• 250 entries pays $750 to the top four players
• 300 entries pays $1000 to the top four players
• 350 entries pays $1500 to the top four players
• 400 entries pays $2000 to the top six players
• 500 entries pays $3000 to the top six players

In addition to the prospect of Capcom Pro Tour ranking points and the guaranteed $1000 pot bonus for Skullgirls, there’s never been a better time to head northwest and test your mettle.

Northwest Majors 7 is scheduled for April 24-27 at Highline Community College in Des Moines, Washington. Further information can be found here. Registration is still open, so be sure to visit the official website and do so before it’s too late.

Source: Northwest Majors

Some time ago, we reported that assets for Jin Kazama were found in Tekken 7’s code. Now we know what those assets are for – Masakarijin has discovered that Jin can be fought in the arcade version of the game as a hidden sub-boss.

Players can face off against Jin as the replacement sub-boss in stage 4 of the arcade mode after satisfying as of yet unknown conditions. In a congratulatory tweet, Bandai Namco Games’ Katsuhiro Harada mentioned that the steps needed to meet Jin are very difficult and obscure.

And that’s not all. According to Avoiding the Puddle’s Flying Wonkey, a bugged arcade cabinet was found that revealed Devil Jin, Yoshimitsu, Kazumi, and a character that looked like Jaycee as playable characters on the select screen.

All these characters were reported as playable on the bugged cabinet, and some details about Devil Jin’s moveset have already surfaced, specifically the return of his screw attack and new knockdown properties on his hell sweeps.

More details on these characters will likely be revealed in Bandai Namco’s livestream on March 29. In the meantime, check out a few shots of Jin in the gallery below.

Source: Masakarijin, Avoiding the Puddle, Flying Wonkey

Ever since making an appearance in DC Comics’ ongoing Mortal Kombat X prequel series, Erron Black has constantly been brought up in discussions about the game’s playable cast. For good reason to: his cowboy attire and importance to the story as part of Kotal Kahn’s crew (at least in the beginning) caught the eyes of many folks in the community.

Sure, he may not be as interesting as fellow newcomers like the aforementioned emperor of Outworld and bug lady D’Vorah, but he has a mask! And guns! And mystery!

Along the way, there have been plenty of hints pointing towards Black’s playability, including prominent appearances in Mortal Kombat X’s achievements and yesterday’s anagrams, but NetherRealm Studios have yet to come out and bluntly state he will fight alongside the rest of the cast.

Time to throw one more teaser on the pile. As they are often wont to do, the developers released a preview of tomorrow’s stream that, in addition to a number of firearm sound effects, dubs the broadcast “Black Friday.”

So, yeah. Look forward to Erron Black footage tomorrow, I suppose?

Source: NetherRealm Studios

In addition to the action their premier status on the Capcom Pro Tour is sure to bring, this year’s NorCal Regionals will be hosting a special Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 between the state’s two most prominent regions.

A seven-player group from Southern California consisting of high-level competitors like EG|Justin Wong, BT|Clockwork, and KiT|Cloud805 are scheduled to make the trip to Sacramento in order to face off against a similar team of Northerners, the final lineup of which will be decided this weekend on FGTV Live.

This set is the latest in a long line of matches between the two areas, many of which have gone the way of Northern California’s killers. Will the boys from the south finally be able to conquer their demons, or will Filipino Champ and his “children” once again walk away with a victory?

NorCal Regionals 2015 is scheduled for April 3-5. More details can be found on the event’s official website.

Source: NorCal Regionals

Earlier this week, Level|Up Series announced that SoCal Regionals 2015 may see a bit of a delay due to issues with their planned venue, and today have revealed their contingency should they miss the tournament’s original scheduling.

Although the search for a new location is still ongoing, the organizers are considering the weekend of June 5 in the event nothing is available in order to avoid conflicts with other community happenings.

As one of our scene’s largest yearly tournaments, not to mention a premier event on this year’s Capcom Pro Tour, such a move is sure to affect a good number of competitors who have already made plans to attend.

With visits to other locations set for this week, it’s possible Level|Up will have an answer for everyone in the near future, so stay tuned.

Source: SoCal Regionals via Hagure