Category: News

Although they’ve had other homes in the past, Level|Up Series’ weekly events have become synonymous with Southern California’s Super Arcade ever since they moved to the venue in late 2011. Owned and operated by fighting game community veteran Mike Watson, the game center is one of the few remaining arcades left in the United States, and recently found additional funding for their much-needed remodeling efforts thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Apart from providing locals a place to congregate and play their favorite games, Super Arcade has also given back to the community through charity events for the families of Nelson “Remix” Reyes, Patrick Collins, and, more recently, Terrance “PushaTee88″ Moore.

That’s why when it was announced last week that the two entities had parted ways, many were confused. As arguably two of the most important pillars in the SoCal scene, if not the entire community, the split seemed odd to those looking in from the outside. Level|Up president Alex Valle, himself a longtime competitor with a storied history, assured everyone publicly that the decision was both mutual and amicable, but many were still looking for more details.

Early this morning, Level|Up Series went live with their official word on the matter, lending some more insight on the background of the decisions. Despite rumors to the contrary, no amount of pressure from outside entities went into this decision. After heightened emotions caused some of Watson’s frustrations to rise to the surface, he spoke with the Level|Up crew about his desire to return to, as they put it, the “old way” of doing things. As such, their parting will give Watson the freedom he needs to push his business in the direction he feels is best.

We reached out to Watson himself for a comment regarding this development, and he also stressed the importance of letting people know that this split was entirely mutual. “When you have two entities that strive to better themselves, there is always a chance that those two groups will seek growth in different directions,” he explained. “This just happens to be the case where Level|Up wanted to continue growing towards becoming a larger production and Super Arcade wanted to focus more on improving the current fighting game scene.”

“This was strictly a business decision that allows both of us to be ourselves and have no restriction. We have both grown together to get to this point and we will both continue to grow without each other.”

Watson also mentioned that, although they won’t be working together on a regular basis, they will still partner up in the future as the situation calls for it.

As of now, it’s unclear where this new path will lead Super Arcade. Tonight will see the venue being a brand new weekly tournament series to fill the absence left by Wednesday Night Fights, held entirely on consoles instead of the PC standard Level|Up recently adopted. Watson plans to hold, essentially, the same events, so players in the area needn’t worry that they won’t have a place to compete due to his separation from Level|Up.

All future events at Super Arcade will be broadcast through their new dedicated channel. Shoryuken will continue to give them the same coverage afforded to the Level|Up Series events, so be sure to tune in.

Source: Level|Up Series

Do you plan on visiting San Francisco next month for Capcom Cup 2014 and maybe have some extra time to kill the day after? Well, you’re in luck, because Shoryuken’s own Terry “Kineda” Ng is set to host another installment of Hadocon in Northern California.

Hadocon VI will deviate a bit from the standard Street Fighter/Marvel tradition set by earlier events by offering competition in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Skullgirls alongside Ultra Street Fighter IV. Team tournaments will also play a big role in this year’s festivities for those who prefer to compete as a group instead of by themselves.

Online registration is now open, and will be available until December 11. After that, the price will go up, so don’t delay!

If you have an itch to compete after watching the high-level matches at Capcom Cup, Hadocon VI may be right up your alley, so be sure to make plans to visit Burlingame on December 14. More details on this tournament can be found here.

Source: Facebook

If you’re looking to bolster your roster of playable characters in Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Core Fighters, now’s the perfect time.

Just shy of two weeks after the Halloween free character extravaganza offered by Team NINJA, the Playstation Store is currently providing another character, Hitomi, free of charge.

The best part, however, is that this is a permanent change, meaning you won’t have to jump on it within the week to take advantage of the offer.

If you’ve got a Playstation 3 and have yet to pick up Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Core Fighters, you can do so for free through the Playstation Network.

Source: Playstation Store

Project M is set to receive another major update later this week, the developers announced through a brand new trailer released today.

Version 3.5 of the popular Super Smash Bros. Brawl mod will include a variety of changes, including updates to the overall visuals, new colors and costumes for almost every playable cast member, high-definition remakes of classic stages, and, of course, balance adjustments for the entire roster. While details on the character changes are still forthcoming, the video does show off a sneak peek at what the update has in store for Ganondorf and Zelda.

Perhaps more important is the fact Project M will also receive a PAL release shortly after the update arrives in North America, allowing European fans to get in on the action with their native consoles.

Project M 3.5 will be available to download this Thursday, November 14. Be sure to head on over to the official website for more details.

Source: Project M, tips via Logan and LAST_WINDOW

As of this morning, Nintendo has made Super Smash Bros. for Wii U available for pre-loading, a little more than a week ahead of its release.

Purchasing the title through the console’s eShop will grant you access to the pre-loading feature immediately, as will download codes from participating retailers. Nintendo hopes this effort will allow players to avoid the day-one rush usually associated with digital games, which can choke the network and make release day downloads exceptionally slower.

At launch, the last bit of data will be downloaded and fans can jump into the game much sooner than previously possible.

Super Smash Bros. is the first Nintendo title to take advantage of pre-loading, but the company plans to roll it out to more Wii U games, as well as those on 3DS, in the future.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is scheduled to land in North America on November 21, unlocking at 12 AM EST. Releases in Europe and Japan will follow on November 28 and December 6, respectively.

Source: Nintendo via Polygon

If this evening’s Tekken 7 trailer release wasn’t enough for you, Bandai Namco Games also revealed that they will be holding another round of location tests for the upcoming title.

Much like the public showings in October, this month’s demonstrations will be open to the public and held in separate locations to test the arcade-to-arcade netplay functionality. This time around, however, the game centers chosen to participate are further apart than those in the previous test, allowing the developers to see how it holds up in tougher conditions.

Fans will be able to get their hands on Tekken 7 by visiting the following locations November 22-23:

• Round One Stadium Sennichimae Arcade (Osaka)
• SEGA Ikekuburo GiGO Arcade (Tokyo)
• Leisureland Akihabara Arcade (Tokyo)
• Taito Station Tenjin Arcade (Fukuoka)

Bandai Namco provided the same exact information on gameplay mechanics and character moves as they did last month, so it may be best not to expect something new on that front.

Additionally, attendees will be able to score exclusive Banapass stickers (pictured below) featuring newcomers Claudio and Katarina.

Tekken 7 is scheduled to land in Japanese arcades sometime in February.

Source: Bandai Namco Games via Avoiding the Puddle

Back when Double Helix Games was still working on Killer Instinct for Xbox One, they provided a behind-the-scenes look at development by way of Gametrailers.

While an incredibly interesting look at the origins of the sequel in its own right, the short documentary also included a brief peek at the prototype Double Helix put together to show Microsoft as their bid for the job. Complete with blank models and Street Fighter IV’s training mode, the early build wasn’t much to speak of, but it did include glimpses of the game that would go on to be Killer Instinct.

However, it looks as if there might have been one more step between that rough proof-of-concept and the final Xbox One title.

Andrew Borman of Past to Present Online recently got his hands on another Killer Instinct prototype that looks much closer to the game we know today but also happens to be running on a different system: Xbox 360.

Yep, you read that right. According to Borman, the footage he was given demonstrates another early build that was made specifically for the Xbox One’s older sibling, though for what purpose remains unknown. It’s possible this prototype served as another stepping stone for Double Helix on their road to snagging the Killer Instinct license, or even that the game was originally planned for Xbox 360 before being shifted to the then next-generation console.

You’ll no doubt notice that the game is incomplete. Tons of assets appear to be missing, such as textures and stages, and Thunder even retains the mannequin-esque placeholders used in the earlier build.

In any case, this is just another interesting footnote on Killer Instinct’s road back to the fighting game community, so be sure to check it out and let us know what you think.

Source: Past to Present Online

The folks over at Level|Up Series recently opened registration for the second installment of their Killer Instinct Online Warrior Championships.

As the name implies, this tournament series occurs entirely through netplay, allowing players to jump onto Xbox Live and compete against some of the country’s best competitors from the comfort of their own home. The first episode saw high-level talent like eventual champion TSC|CDjr, Guttermagic, MT|Rico Suave, pH|Almakashi, and more take part, and this month’s event should be no different.

If you’re interested in taking part in this competition, be sure to head on over to the official Level|Up Series post and follow the instructions. Be aware that this tournament is only open to players in the United States that have a minimum 2 Mbps upload speed. You can find out your own stats by using sites like Speed Test.

Killer Instinct Online Warrior Championships Episode 2 is scheduled to take place November 17.

Source: Level|Up Series

While Skullgirls Encore is a fantastic fighter in its own right, one of the coolest things about it has to be the Endless Beta the developers have made available through Steam. As the name implies, this version of the game acts as a sort of non-stop testing ground of new ideas, balance adjustments, and more, allowing players to try out experiments and provide feedback before they reach the main game.

The latest update, which landed just this morning, includes a handful of changes for Peacock, Big Band, Fukua, and Double, though one particular addition to the latter-most fighter is certain to gain the most attention.

As of today, Double now has another super to play around with. Tentatively called Monster, it allows the shapeshifter to place a puddle on the ground, which will try to attack the opponent when they get close. Though it can obviously be used as a trap to catch careless advances, it’s also useful for extending combos, as shown by guitalex’s video below.

All of you Guilty Gear fans out there will certainly notice similarities between this super and Testament’s Hitomi. Much like the tree, Monster can be faked out by long-limbed attacks and out-of-reach approaches, and it will disappear as soon as Double is hit. However, players are only able to place one puddle at a time.

A full rundown of the changes introduced in this morning’s Endless Beta update can be found here.

Sources: Steam, guitalex, special thanks to Zidiane for sending this our way.

Knowing your characters hitboxes is an important step in mastering how to play them. Unfortunately, most fighting games these days, such as Ultra Street Fighter IV, do not come with a built-in hitbox viewer.

Enter Decapre.com. After starting as a Tumblr specifically to host images of Decapre’s hitboxes, and occasionally provide comparisons of them compared to Cammy’s, the site has now grown to hosting information for other characters in the game.

This includes breakdowns of how certain characters attacks interact with other characters…

…as well as videos that go frame by frame to show off normals and specials. For example, here’s a video that covers each individual frame of Elena’s specials.

They’ve also put up some of their own short articles, including this explanation of how unblockables work based on hitboxes, and links to other relevant content across the internet.

For those interested in learning more about Ultra Street Fighter IV, head on over using the link below and see what you can find.

Source: Decapre.com, special thanks to Bafael for the tip.