SUPER NCR - TEKKEN 6 - TOP 8

The second batch of Super NCR videos are live and this time we've got the Tekken 6 Top 8! For those of you who don't know, Super NCR had players all the way from Korea and Thailand so all of these matches are on another level. Also, be sure to check out 725 vs Geesemaster which is also a really solid match even though I doubt either of them will be on Tekken Crash anytime soon!

Here are the grand finals between Holeman and Nin and also 725 vs Geesemaster. Check out our YouTube Channel to see the rest!

GameSetWatch Interview About Super Street Fighter 4's Audio

If you turn on "Arranged Soundtrack" in Super SF4, you will realize how much audio is in the game.GameSetWatch has an interview with Masayuki Endou and Hideyuki Fukasawa, the team behind Street Fighter IV and Super SFIV's audio.  If you are an audiophile or just want to learn more about how the game was designed, its a good read. Here's a sample.

Was there anything that you had wanted to do on the previous title but never got the chance that later figured into the making of the Super Street Fighter IV score?

Masayuki Endou: A lot of fans requested character themes be provided for all the fighters. Now you have the choice of either a stage theme or character theme to listen to in every situation. That meant I could really let my imagination run wild. For instance in arranging Adon's theme, I set my troubles aside and its overall shape just seemed to flow effortlessly from my mind. Fei Long's theme involved a hybrid of rock and dance music with an Asian flair, which wound up being among my personal favorites.

Source: GameSetWatch

SUPER NCR - TEKKEN 6 - MR NAPS VS KNEE FIRST TO FIVE

Over the next couple weeks I'll be uploading a ton of footage from Super NCR and I wanted to start it off with a special exhibition match between MR NAPS and Knee who are undoubtedly the two best Bryan players in the entire world. This first to five happened early on in the stream so some of you may have missed it -- hopefully Mr Naps doesn't steal my soul at Keystone II this week for posting these but enjoy at my expense anyway!

Keep a tab on our (dusty) YouTube Channel for more Super NCR videos. 

KING OF FIGHTERS XIII PLAYERS GUIDE GAMEPLAY VIDEO

Even more SNK goodies coming down the pike today with the King of Fighters XIII Players Guide which is more or less a 30 minute reel showcasing some top notch gameplay from the latest build of the game. Outside of seeing K' and Kula in action, there is also some Drive Canceling thrown into the mix as well, though I didn't see too much of the new NEO MAX Special Attacks in this video. Either way, the game is looking far more polished than KOFXII with all the new features and characters. 

You have to hand it to SNK for sticking with 2D sprites, but if the netcode turns out to be no good this game might as well be an episode of "When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong" -- let's just cross our fingers and hope they get it right this time.

Source: SRK

NEW NEO-GEO BATTLE COLISEUM SCREENSHOTS AND RELEASE DATE FOR JAPAN

New screenshots of Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum surfaced recently on Andria Sang, showcasing the graphical improvements the game will receive once it hits XBLA. The game is slated for a June 9th release in Japan, but according to Siliconera, it will most likely see a release in North America at some point as well.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW NEO-GEO BATTLE COLISEUM SCREENSHOTS

NGBC was released for the PS2 sometime back, but if you're not familiar with the game, it's a 2v2 Tag Fighting Game that pulls characters from various SNK titles such as Fatal Fury and Last Blade 2. Believe it or not, it's a really fun game and I personally put a lot of time into it when I wasn't grinding Street Fighter III: Third Strike back in the day, so be sure to check it out when it hits XBLA outside of Japan. 

Source: AndriaSang, Siliconera

DAIGO "THE BEAST" UMEHARA CAPCOM-UNITY INTERVIEW PART 3

The third interview with Daigo Umehara answering questions from Capcom-Unity is now live! Much like the previous Q&A sessions with Daigo, not only is there a lot of interesting information about his career, but also a lot of insight on how he approaches life. 

This is a great read so check out the entire interview over at Capcom-Unity -- here is a small excerpt:

-Any story of SF player camaraderie to share?

When I was in my early teens, I didn’t really believe in friends – I will spare you from the story now. I was playing at an arcade in Akihabara and missed the last train of the day at Kanda station. For someone in their early teens, missing the last train is pretty bad you know. I called my parents, and sure, they were super mad and worried. I told my dad that I had missed my train and had no means to go home. He told me to take a cab; I told him I had no money. So we settled with me taking the first train (5 am or so) in the morning home. So I thought of killing time at a Denny’s till then. Suddenly, the guy I was with asked me “wanna get on?” pointing out the back of his bicycle. You know, it would take 3-4 hours from where we were to home.  I was like what are you talking about? It’s just way too far. On top of that, that person was usually blatant, not really friendly, and comment spiteful remarks, but we somehow got along and we hang out playing videogames. We got to my parent’s house after 3-4 hours of him pedaling, me on the back. He was soaked with sweat. As soon as I hopped off, he waved, turned around and left. Imagine, he had to rode back for hours again. That was then, I realized that what a good friend meant.

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Interview with AndyOCR: MVP of NCR

Examiner's Brian Yoon interviewed AndyOCR who had arguably the most incredible match of the tournament which was sending Justin Wong to losers. The HD recording of the match will be up soon, but until then check out this interview!

Here is a small excerpt, hit the Examiner for the full interview:

Were you feeling the pressure of playing in front of hundreds of people in the building and thousands on the stream?

I think this was my 2nd time playing infront of this many people... It was pretty nerve wrecking... So much hype in the building... During my match against Ricky-O, i think only 15 people were on my side and the rest of norcal was out to kill me. It felt nice when i quieted the building... =) I think everyone was in a state of shock including me. When i sent Justin to losers, i think the whole room erupted... it was sick! I enjoyed every moment of it

IPW / AIF RANBAT 1.4 POSTPONED UNTIL NEXT TUESDAY

Sorry guys for the late notice, but due to some scheduling conflicts and other factors, the IPW / AIF Ranbat will be postponed until next Tuesday. We will keep everyone updated on the final tournament, but until then, keep practicing! See ya' next week!

SUPER NORCAL REGIONALS - RESULTS

Super NorCal Regionals concluded this weekend with some extremely tense matches and overall incredible play across the board. As many of you saw, iPlayWinner broadcasted the entire event over the weekend you can check out the USTREAM recordings on our channel.

Below is the outcome of many of the tournaments thanks to EventHubs who did an excellent job compiling the results.

HD recording of the matches will be available on YouTube shortly so stay tuned.

Super Street Fighter IV 

1. Justin Wong (Rufus)
2. AndyOCR (M. Bison)
3. Ricky Ortiz (Rufus)
4. Alex Valle (Ryu)
5. Shizza (Chun-Li)
5. Vangief (Zangief)
7. Mike Ross (E. Honda)
7. LPN (M. Bison)

Click to read more ...

Super NorCal Regionals Intro Videos

When I talked to people online about the previous NorCal Regionals, more often then not they mention the NBA-style intro video to the stream. It was cheesy for sure, but it brought the hype like none other. So for Super NorCal Regionals I decided to step it up a bit and aimed for video intros to every game represented at the tournament. My friend (and NorCal boxer) ILLiterate helped out a lot with the the brainstorming and script writing process, but to tell you the truth the collaboration went a lot like this-

ILLiterate: I have a dumb a idea!

Me: And I know how to make that idea even dumber!

When you're editing video all your lonesome until 4AM every night with little to no oversight, you tend to surrender yourself to your creative processes regardless of where they seem to take you. That's about as best as I can explain the utter insanity we at iPlayWinner subjected the audience to with these intros. Overall they went over pretty well and John Choi didn't punch me in the face for all the Sandstorm, so I'll put this one down as a win.

So here they are, all the intro videos as seen at Super NorCal Regionals, minus one: Capcom vs SNK 2, of which I'd like Switcher to upload that one himself. 

Super NorCal Regionals

LordofUltima, creator of the awesome 3-minute fundamental videos did all the heavy lifting on this beauty as he provided us with an HD take on the original NBA-style intro. He deserves all the credit for this one.

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Open Discussion : The Night Before NCR

The great battle approaches. How do you spend the night before a major tournament? A last minute grind session with your crew? Playing a different video game? Meditating like a jedi? 

Me? I plan on going for a nice, long jog tonight, followed by helping with set-up for tomorrow. And then sacrificing a live chicken to Baron Samedhi in order to curse two hundred Street Fighter players with leprosy in their fingers. 

You?

Tekken 7 Reportedly In Production

 

According to Eurogamer.pt, Namco's Katsuhiro Harada (director for the Tekken series) has announced that Tekken 7 is in production.  The announcement was made during an event in Madrid.  The only other information to come out of the event thus far is that it is in the very early pre-production stage of development.

Tekken 6 has been in the arcades for several years now and was released on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 last year. It is also unknown if Tekken 7 is currently in production only for an arcade release at this point.

Harada-san image above courtesy of Eurogamer.pt

Source: Eurogamer.pt (see the translated version of the report here)

HI-RES MARVEL VS CAPCOM 3 SCREENSHOTS

"Of course, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is retaining the flashy, over-the-top look, like in previous Versus games." - Niitsuma-san

Good 'ol Seth has posted us some midnight treats tonight of high res sweetness! His blog over at Capcom Unity features some great peeks into this game's art from the recent issue of Game Informer! Each one has a caption from Marvel Vs Capcom 3 producer Niitsuma-san himself, detailing the direction of art each screen shot is illustrating.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL HI-RES MARVEL VS CAPCOM 3 SCREENSHOTS

I think this game looks gorgeous -- super flashy and over top will make it just as fun to watch as I'm sure it'll be to play! Can't wait to see the game in motion but it looks like CAPCOM is on the right track to capture that "moving comic book" feel. Be sure to check out the hi-res for all eight screenshots, but be warned, you may need to change your pants afterwards!

Source: Capcom-Unity

FRAME-ADVANTAGE.COM PRES. SANFORD VS INTHUL AT ECT2

Frame-Advantage.com broadcasted East Coast Throwdown 2 this past weekend, and this is the match everyone is talking about.  Inthul, a pad Fei Long player, made 3rd place in the tournament, taking out just a few big names in the process. Check it out and head over to FADC's YouTube Channel for more videos. 

Dan: Master of Taunting

Here's a video that popped up on NeoGAF the other day and I thought it was pretty funny, so I thought I'd start your morning out right with a good old-fashioned ragequit. Don't expect any pro gameplay here, but the taunting is pretty S-rank.

SUPER NORCAL REGIONALS THIS WEEKEND - MAY 29th - 30th

SUPER NORCAL REGIONALS is this weekend people! May 29th through the 30th at the Domain Hotel in Sunnyvale, CA! If you have not registered for the tournament, you only have a couple days left to register online!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR SUPER NORCAL REGIONALS!

This will be the largest West Coast tournament before EVO, with a ton of top players in attendance so this is one tournament not to miss. On top of the prize money, EVO seeds will be given out to top placers as well.

iPlayWinner will be providing a top notch live broadcast of the entire tournament so if you can't make it, be sure to tune in!

Click here for the SRK thread for more details on the tournament.

Special thanks to BOSSLOGIC at Shadowloo for the flyer.

Know Your Roots: Marvel vs Capcom by G4

G4 put together a nice video giving the legacy of games that lead up to Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, starting with X-men vs Street Fighter.  Know your roots!

 Source: Tip from Capcom Unity

Third Set of Alternate Costumes Available Today

 

   

The third set of alternate costumes will be made available today.  The Super Femme Fatales Pack includes costumes for Chun-Li, C.Viper, Sakura, Rose and Cammy.  It costs 320 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live Marketplace for 360 owners and costs $3.99 on Playstation Network for PS3 owners.  The pack is available now on Xbox Live and will be up soon on Playstation 3 as of this writing.

The remaining costume pack release schedule is as follows:

June 8: Super Challengers Pack 2 (Juri, Ibuki, Cody, Adon and T.Hawk)

June 15: Super Brawlers Pack (Zangief, E.Honda, Rufus, Abel and El Fuerte)

June 22: Super Shadaloo Pack (Vega, Sagat, Balrog, Bison and Seth)

June 29: Super Classic Pack (Guile, Blanka, Dhalsim, Gen and Fei-Long)

July 27: Super Complete Pack (All 35 costumes in one package)

Click here to see screenshots of all alternate costumes for all characters.

RUMOR: DLC Characters Coming for Super Street Fighter 4

The cast of 35 characters is already impressive. Would Capcom add more by DLC?Gootecks, a well-known Super Street Fighter 4 player and prominent tournament event organizer, made a very interesting Tweet.  Apparently, he got word from a "strong source" that new characters will be added to Super Street Fighter 4 via downloadable content (DLC) at some point in the future.  Here's exactly what he Tweeted:

From Gootecks' Twitter:

Got confirmation from a strong source that there are DLC characters coming down the pipe for super.

Now, this is RUMOR. However, coming from such a prominent member of the community we have to take it seriously and at least report it.

It true, how will Capcom handle the DLC? Will it be free or paid? What characters would you like to see added to the game? Feel free to discuss!

Source: Gootecks' Twitter

Understanding Blanka's Lightning Cannonball (Ultra 1)

This Ultra is often misunderstood by both Blanka players and opponents alike.  From almost the outset of Street Fighter 4's release, fearsome Blanka player Viscant has been worked to clear up the mystery behind this potentially devastating Ultra. This article is based on posts Viscant has made on Shoryuken on the subject*.  If you are a Blanka player, it is a good idea to know how this Ultra works so that you can apply it in your game more effectively.  Opponents who play against Blanka can also benefit from knowing its mechanics so that you have an idea how to deal with it.

This article specifically deals with how the Ultra 1 works. Applications, setups, tricks, and other information will be presented elsewhere.

The information in this article is for Super Street Fighter 4, although most of the mechanics of how the Ultra works are accurate for regular Street Fighter 4.

This article is meant for players who are of any level of skill.

If you have anything that you feel should be added to this article or a correction needs to be made, (regarding the situations in this article, further articles are planned for other situations), feel free to hit the comments. If we incorporate it into the article we will add your name to the article as a contributor.

Contributions by: Viscant, Dannyc

ULTRA 1 - LIGHTNING CANNONBALL

CHARGE BACK, TOWARDS, BACK, TOWARDS + THREE PUNCHES 

Frame startup: 1+3
Damage: 500 if the four ground hits land. 495 if landed from the ground shock hit (120, 125, 125, 125). 150 damage on chip (30, 30, 30, 30, 30)

SUMMARY OF HOW TO DEFEND: To block this Ultra, block low at first as the Ultra is initiated. As the ball descends onto you, block high. Then block the rest however you wish once it hits the ground (High or Low).

Details:

The first hit of this ultra (1) is an invisible hit that does not show up on the combo meter but can be combo'd into. It has all the properties of a low hit and must be blocked low. It trip guards as well, however the timing of this is very hard to pull off since it is only active for 2 frames. Exact frame data for this is 2(20)46 (for those who want precise numbers).

Click to read more ...