Category: News

Ahead of this weekend’s event, the organizers behind Final Round 18 have released some early registration numbers for the various fighters that make up its official lineup.

While Ultra Street Fighter IV obviously tops the list due to Final Round’s status as a Capcom Pro Tour premier event, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- round out the top three, only separated from each other by a couple of players.

After that, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 comes in at a respectable fourth thanks to the south’s continued support of the Bandai Namco franchise, and the hype behind Super Smash Bros. for Wii U gives it a spot in the five most populated titles.

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news. Injustice: Gods Among Us continues to see flagging competitive numbers, joined by King of Fighters XIII as the two games with the lowest numbers.

All this said, Final Round 18 allows players to register at the door, so it’s possible we’ll see some shifts in these statistics come Friday.

Final Round 18 is scheduled for March 20-22 in Atlanta, Georgia. More details are available through the official website.

Source: Final Round

Earlier today, Team SoloMid announced their signing of William “Leffen” Hjelte, an elite Super Smash Bros. Melee player from Sweden.

Relatively new to the Smash scene, Hjelte has made quite a name for himself in just a few years, rising to such high levels of competition that many see him as a contender for god status alongside figures like Cloud9’s Joseph “Mango” Marquez and Kevin “PPMD” Nanney of Evil Geniuses, both of whom have fallen to the rising star in tournament play.

Team SoloMid, on the other hand, has been a fixture of competitive League of Legends play for some time, and is currently considered one of the strongest teams in North America, if not the world. Though their name belies the fact they also field rosters for Hearthstone and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, this is their first foray into the fighting game community.

That being said, Hjelte certainly fits in with the strong, confident personalities SoloMid has become synonymous with, an attitude most recently demonstrated at Apex 2015 during a dominating exhibition match against Smash veteran Kashan “Chillindude” Khan of Team Liquid.

According to team founder Andy “Reginald” Dinh, this signing was stirred by Hjelte’s overall placing at the aforementioned Apex event, which saw him take home third behind Nanney and Alliance’s Adam “Armada” Lindgren, a fellow Swede.

“I feel like I’ve only been a step away from being the best for a while now,” Hjelte explained in his official statement. “With Team SoloMid’s support, I’m confident that I’ll be able to take that step and then some!”

Source: Team SoloMid

Do you find Ryu too plain? Then spice up your decor with this brand new Evil Ryu diorama courtesy of Kinetiquettes.

This collectible company was founded by a group of enthusiasts, passionate about figurines and collectibles alike. With over forty years of combined experience in the video games and animation industry, they aim to introduce highly artistic and dynamic collectible statues unlike anything offered in the market before.

The 1:6 scale diorama, which you can see in the gallery below, depicts Evil Ryu performing his Metsu Hadouken, creating enough force that the rooftop that serves as the figures base is slowly being ripped apart. Interestingly enough, this figure is actually the first of a two-part set, designed to connect to Kinetiquettes’ upcoming Oni diorama.

Kinetiquettes’ Evil Ryu diorama is priced at $350; interested folks can head on over to their online store to order.

Source: Kinetiquettes

Last year, Street Fighter fans finally got the chance to enjoy a great live action adaptation of the franchise with Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist. First debuting as a web-series on Machinima, the series was later compiled as a two-hour movie on DVD and Blu-ray and is now available for Netflix subscribers in the United Kingdom.

Fans can now relive the stories of two generations of Ansatsuken martial artists–series’ protagonists Ryu and Ken, as well as that of their master Gouken and his brother Gouki, also known as Akuma–over on the streaming service.

Additionally, the series also lays the groundwork for further Street Fighter live-action adaptations, including the upcoming sequel to Assassin’s Fist, Street Fighter: World Warrior.

Source: Netflix UK

The many versions of Mad Catz’ Tournament Edition 2 arcade sticks for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 have been hot commodities, selling out almost every time a new batch becomes available. If you’ve missed out on previous rounds, you now have another chance, as Amazon recently opened pre-orders for the Ultra Street Fighter IV version.

For those not familiar, the Tournament Edition 2 is a premium-level arcade stick that features genuine Sanwa Denshi arcade parts and a brand new case with a flip-open top and easy to replace top panel art. You can read more about these features in our review of the Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- release.

This arcade stick will set you back $199.99 and will be available on April 16.

Source: Amazon via Wario64

During a joint panel at PAX East 2015, Microsoft Studios and Iron Galaxy Studios discussed a variety of upcoming content for Killer Instinct, including an updated story, a new gameplay mode, and the first official details for season two’s next character.

In June, Killer Instinct’s story mode will be upgraded to include fighters introduced in season two. Few details were revealed as to where the narrative will go with this additional crop of cast members, but a teaser was provided that hints at an exhibition match between TJ Combo (whose last name is Garrett, apparently!) and Fulgore.

Season two will also receive an entirely fresh gameplay mode called Shadows this April, which will allow players to upload a version of themselves to the online servers for other competitors to face off against. This form of “asynchronous combat” should give folks a chance to take on tournament-level opponents without actually needing an actual human to spar with.

And finally, the big news: season two’s next character, the oft-teased ghost girl, now has a name and launch window! Hisako, who will be available near the end of this month, comes equipped with her own unique Wrath meter, and using this resource apparently grants her a reliable way to counter-hit opponents and thus deal out some serious damage.

Her gameplay is further boosted by high and low counters as well as a pretty nasty command grab, which you can see in a quick bit of footage from Iron Galaxy’s Alex Jebailey below.

Hisako's command grab and movement in action!

A video posted by ceojebailey (@ceojebailey) on Mar 7, 2015 at 10:17am PST

While there was unfortunately no live stream for this panel, a full video is expected to land online sometime later today.

Source: Iron Galaxy Studios

Like many companies, Capcom will be attending PAX East this weekend to show off current and upcoming titles in their video game stable. And where there’s a convention, there’s a ton of merchandise for sale, but when’s the last time a t-shirt reveal was used to announce a release date?

In a roundup of the swag they will be offering to attendees over the next few days, Capcom-Unity may have inadvertently mentioned that Street Fighter V will arrive in spring 2016, confirming details we reported shortly after the game debuted.

Launching earlier in the year will likely give many key tournaments, including Evolution and Community Effort Orlando, the opportunity to include Street Fighter V in their competitive lineups. Whether they will utilize PlayStation 4 or PC remains to be seen, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Street Fighter V is currently in development by Capcom and Dimps. A beta is planned before its official launch, and will be accessible by those who pre-order.

Source: Capcom-Unity via Wario64