Category: News

By now, describing the lengths NetherRealm Studios creative director Ed Boon goes to tease the Mortal Kombat fanbase would just seem redundant. His trolling prowess is well-known within the fighting game community, and he recently jumped on Twitter to drop some hints as to what we can expect from this Friday’s Kombat Kast.

This time around, the tiny specks of detail come by way of four very strange letter arrangements, pictured above. While some may peg them as words from an obscure language, we believe they may actually be anagrams of terms taken from the Mortal Kombat universe.

For instance, take “slainho” in the top-left corner. Do a bit of rearranging, and it becomes “shaolin,” which may point to an official reveal of series veteran Liu Kang. “Garmwum” works out to “warm gun,” leading us to newcomer Erron Black. “Sheappins” still remains a mystery, but a Test Your Might user by the name of chores decoded “gallofend” as “fallen god,” a dead ringer for returning antagonist Shinnok.

According to community specialist Tyler Lansdown, their show will consist of three character breakdowns, so it’s possible the last phrase is pointing to something else entirely.

With this in mind, it’s easy to predict we’ll see gameplay for a handful of characters that have yet to receive much spotlight. But, like everything else Boon does, the answers are sure to be shrouded in mystery until the broadcast this Friday.

So, what do you think? Let us know if we got it right or wrong in the comments below, and feel free to help us work out what the hell “sheappins” means!

Sources: Ed Boon, Test Your Might

While it’s always an exciting proposition when an Arc System Works fighter is include in the official Evolution lineup, competition ends up being a little awkward due to the frequency their titles are updated. Such is the case with Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, which saw a huge update applied to the arcade version back in January that’s yet to arrive on consoles.

Earlier this evening, Atlus made a clear announcement regarding their intentions for Persona’s showing at Evo 2015, stating that the tournament will be played out using the technically outdated build currently available on PlayStation 3.

Among the huge list of changes applied to the game in ver.2.0, some of the most prominent involve adjustments to make Shadow characters more competitively viable, various tweaks to damage, and more.

Although this is good news for players who haven’t had the same amount of time with Ultimax’s latest patch as their Japanese counterparts, it’s another example of how staggered patch releases across regions can negatively impact a title’s competitive scene by putting them on uneven footing.

Furthermore, Atlus USA public relations manager John L. Hardin has teased more information about the game’s Evo 2015 showing that he believes folks will enjoy. Stay tuned for further details.

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

Sources: Atlus USA, John L. Hardin

This year’s installment of SoCal Regionals is currently in flux due to problems that have recently arisen with their venue according to new details from Level|Up Series. Construction delays have made it so that the event can no longer be accommodated as the setting currently stands, forcing the organizers to look elsewhere to maintain their original scheduling.

If not, they’ll have to wait at least six weeks for the original locale to become suitable for their needs.

Set to go down at the beginning of May, time is definitely running short for such extreme changes to be made. Like everything they do, Level|Up is sure to keep the community in the loop as the situation develops, but this may also force visitors to reschedule flights and figure out new lodging arrangements.

This year has seen similar problems attach themselves to Smash major Apex, though they were able to find a new venue with much less time than SoCal Regionals has been afforded. Hopefully the fighting game gods will see fit to bless them with the same good fortune.

As things stand, SoCal Regionals 2015 is still tentatively scheduled for May 1-3, but the possibility of that changing increases the longer it takes them to figure out a new location. Stay tuned for more details.

Source: SoCal Regionals

According to the folks at NetherRealm Studios, Mortal Kombat X will feature alternate control schemes, allowing those who aren’t used to the series’ deliberate inputs to use more common motions like quarter-circles, half-circles, and more to perform special attacks.

Not only does this give players transitioning from other titles a better way to get their feet wet, it also lessens the frustration Mortal Kombat’s traditional controls can often cause for those who prefer to play on arcade sticks over regular controllers.

Injustice: Gods Among Us included a similar option in its settings, and it’s great to see NetherRealm again looking out for players that may not be in their core fanbase. This should definitely help Street Fighter players excited for the upcoming title breath a sigh of relief; I know I have!

Mortal Kombat X is scheduled to release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on April 14, with PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 releases planned for summer.

Source: NetherRealm Studios

For those who love to dress-up their favorite fighting game characters, Dead or Alive 5 Last Round’s Senran Kagura costumes are on the cusp of their official release. These alternate outfits dress some of the game’s fighters up as characters from the Marvelous Entertainment series of the same name.

This is the first set of downloadable costumes that is exclusive to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. As such, they feature something that previous costumes don’t have – clothing damage. The costumes now undergo visible wear and tear during the fight, much like the franchise they’ve been pulled from.

Each individual costume goes for $3, and the whole package can be purchased for $34. Previews can be found in the gallery below.

These outfits are currently available through Xbox Live, and should appear on PlayStation Network sometime this week.

Sources: Koei Tecmo, FreeStepDodge, tip via NightmareSteam

With Mortal Kombat X, NetherRealm Studios seems to be applying some lessons learned from their previous game, Injustice: Gods Among Us, when it comes to stage interaction. Though at a smaller scale than its predecessor, the upcoming title allows characters to utilize parts of the arena to attack or move throughout the stage.

That said, there is one feature from the DC Comics fighter that hasn’t been seen in Mortal Kombat X – stage transitions. Unlike Injustice, players won’t be able to knock their opponents into different areas for a damage boost.

According to creative director Ed Boon, however, that almost wasn’t the case. They planned to include stage transitions early on, he said in reply to a fan question on Twitter, but the mechanic was later removed.

This isn’t all that surprising, seeing as game’s typically cut planned features as they prove to be unfeasible, but one can’t help but wonder how the game would look if this particular piece of gameplay was kept in the final build.

Would you have liked to see stage transitions in Mortal Kombat X? Or should they remain a feature exclusive to Injustice? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: Ed Boon

As part of the Tekken 7 festivities at Final Round this weekend, Bandai Namco Games has revealed that the game’s excursion outside of Japanese arcades won’t end in Atlanta.

In cooperation with SDTEKKEN, the Tekken Project team is currently looking for details from organizers who want the fighter demonstrated at their events as part of their upcoming tour. All you have to do is provide pertinent information and, if everything works out, Bandai will get in contact to set everything up.

Outside of boosting a tournament’s reputation, this also gives fans even more opportunities to see Tekken 7 in action and try it out for themselves.

If you run a fighting game event, be sure to visit the official form and apply–you never know what could happen!

Source: SDTEKKEN

Mewtwo is closer than ever to seeing an official release in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and we may see him join the playable roster very soon according to a recent interview with director Masahiro Sakurai.

The psychic Pokemon is “pretty much done” according to Sakurai, who recently appeared on a live Nico broadcast alongside voice actor Sugita Tomokazu and composer Kenji Ito. When pushed for more details, the longtime head of Smash development divulged that they plan to release Mewtwo soon.

How soon, though, remains to be seen, but it’s likely more details will arrive for this downloadable character in the near future. Mewtwo will be made available free of charge to fans who purchased both the Wii U and 3DS versions of the title. Be sure to register your games before March 31 to take advantage of this offer!

Source: Nico via RED and NeoGAF

Earlier tonight, unconfirmed reports (not trying to pick on Joe, the original article is down!) began to surface regarding leaked Street Fighter V information, stating characters such as Alex, Urien, Abel, and C. Viper are scheduled to return alongside two newcomers. There was quite a bit of information on these debuting cast members, one being M. Bison’s right-hand man and the other a young woman pursuing her mother’s kidnapper, but we won’t get into too many details because, unfortunately, it’s all untrue.

According to a credible source willing to speak with Shoryuken, none of this lines up with what they know about Street Fighter V so far. While these rumors tried to pass themselves off as correct by using information right on the outskirts of what we know for sure, such as the likely inclusion of M. Bison and an upcoming showing at Niconico Chokaigi, the insider we reached out to is close enough to discredit much of the information.

It’s far from fun to rain on everyone’s parade, honestly, but this should save us months of speculation that ultimately goes nowhere.

Looking forward, who do you hope to see in Street Fighter V? Any specific ways you want them to spice up the gameplay? Let us know in the comments.