summer madness

• Monster: AncientCline is finally undergoing some serious testing phases, as revealed by AyaImmortal’s blog post here, and 8105Monster updates with testing footage where you can see some of the new system changes in place. Many thanks to AyaImmortal and ShoK for keeping the community updated.
• Famitsu has a ton of new Street Fighter IV screens with never before seen shots of Rufus, El Fuerte and newly revealed character Seth ( who seems very Urien / Gill-like….possibly a boss? ).
• Nohoho has a Tougeki qualifier for Super Street Fighter II X from Popy Niigata.
• Windy X Windam’s official site now has the complete character roster, very diverse looking cast.
• Comicbookresources.com ran some very nice quality preview images of Udon’s Street Fighter Tribute artbook.
• Dengeki Online has new screens of the PS2 Sengoku Basara X.
  
• Famitsu has new Soul Calibur IV screens and footage from UBIDAYS 2008 in Paris ( scroll down a bit ).
• Circa May 20th, Garou Densetsu 2 / Fatal Fury 2 has been added to the Japanese Nintendo Wii Virtual Console.
• This Korean site has magazine scans that seem to point towards Fei-Long and Dan Hibiki as possibilities for the Street Fighter IV roster? ( UNCONFIRMED )
• The official site of Draglade 2 has updated.
• Tokyo Game Show 2008 is coming!
• Joystiq has some info on EA’s Facebreaker, a stylized fighter in the style of Super Punchout and Ready 2 Rumble which looks surprisingly good.
• G4TV has new footage of Soul Calibur for Xbox Live Arcade.
• There are insider predictions for the 2008 CGS Dead Or Alive 4 pro season right here, interesting read.
• The Street Fighter Blog has a translated interview with Street Fighter IV creator Yoshinori Ono. The game will be released for PS3, 360 and PC / Windows.

• psychochronic updates with Soul Calibur III and Hyper Street Fighter II Anniversary Edition match footage.
• bigooooooohh updates with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core match footage.
• ram0nist updates with Arcana Heart 2 combo footage.
• nanaseakasumi updates with Soul Calibur III match footage ( create a character matches )
• Tapion013 updates with a Super Smash Bros. Brawl match footage complilation.
• daruism updates with Touhou Hisouten: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody match footage.
• Soh85 updates with Last Blade 2 tournament footage from Alpha Station.
• tingsesh updates with Tekken 6 match footage from the UK.
• Marstorious updates with Virtua Fighter 5 match footage.
• gogetassj4666 updates with Dragonball Z Budokai 3 footage ( VS CPU Cell in Dragon Universe mode ).
• ftnr18 updates with Arcana Heart 2 match footage.
• EDIT: these next ones are from later in the day/early next morning
• PlagueVFDC updates with Virtua Fighter 5 match footage.
• Xenozip updates with Touhou Hisouten: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody netplay matches.
• itsumobasho updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage.
• koyori6671 updates with Arcana Heart 2 match footage from Game41.
• CursedTiamat updates with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core tournament footage.
• bdcool187 updates with Super Smash Bros. Brawl match footage.
• BillyPancakes updates with Super Smash Bros. Brawl match footage ( Heavy Gravity ).
• Monopr updates with Street Fighter III 3rd Strike match footage from Puerto Rico.
• shadetail updates with a Bloody Roar Extreme / Bloody Roar Primal Fury infinite combo example ( Ganesha ).
• axcx444 updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage.
• kahikusu updates with Street Fighter III 3rd Strike match footage ( Note: I think this is really cool what they’re doing: picture in picture shot of players, players’ hands, subtitled commentary, you can see reaction shots with the crowd, etc. More match footage should adopt these things in order to draw interest in my personal opinion, makes things seem more professional )
• getyourtournament updates with Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament footage.

bonus points

• Nohoho updates with Vampire Savior tournament footage from the Nagoya Stories 5 2 on 2 event.
• Gpara has high quality shots of Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Cross Generation Of Heroes. Game Watch has a featurette located here.
• Famitsu updates with a few new screens of Soul Calibur IV.
• The official website of Touhou Hisouten: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody has updated.
• In a bold move, Microsoft is going to be expunging any title in its XBLA online store that fails to reach a metacritic rating of %65. Garou Densetsu Special / Fatal Fury Special is reportedly among one of the titles facing possible expungement, according to this Joystiq post. Please, if you have an Xbox Live Arcade account and enjoy fighters, do yourself a favor and grab it before its too late!
• IGN has an article featuring a hands on with the guest character Yoda in Soul Calibur IV.
• If you missed any of the World Cyber Games 2007 match footage for Dead Or Alive 4, you can watch it all right over here on the official WCG site.

• sibladeko updates with Touhou Hisouten: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody combo footage.
• kornssbm updates with Super Smash Bros. Brawl match footage. ( digicam )
• geesendou updates with Arcana Heart 2 match footage.
• odjnryu updates with Dragonball Z Burst Limit demo footage.
• Realyst updates with Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection match footage.
• meattofu updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage.
• Rukaroa updates with Touhou Hisouten: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody match footage.
• MasterBigode updates with Street Fighter IV location test footage.
• ElChibo updates with Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament footage.
• CHECK4900 updates with Mortal Kombat Armageddon combo footage.
• TheShend updates with Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike match footage.
• USMCJAGUAR updates with Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection match footage.
• yuuichipey updates with Touhou Hisouten: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody combo footage.
• OOFMATIC updates with Soul Calibur IV demonstration footage ( Yoda ).
• Soh85 updates with Goketsuji Ichizoku / Power Instinct Matrimelee combo footage.

pressing forward

• GoNintendo has awesome character art for Windy X Windam, some very nice quality images and very cool character design.
• Famitsu ran a piece featuring Dead Or Alive Online, a ton of new screens there revealing how the MMO-like matchmaking works.
• Dengeki Online serves up a heaping helping of new screens of Dragonball Z Burst Limit, with new character art and shots of the online modes as well as character and stage select themes.
• For those craving Guilty Gear action on the go, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus releases for the PSP on July 31st.
• Canned Dogs reports on massive lines to pick up the official release of Touhou Hisouten: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody in Akihabara on its official release today.
• The Magic Box updates with nice new screenshots of Soul Calibur IV.
• Get Your Tournament has blogcasts from the latest Super Smash Bros. Brawl action from Family Fun Arcade.
• Might have neglected to mention this before: the 2DF Freeplay Client’s official site has updated ( and changed location since that last post ).
• RUMOR: According to this post, next week’s release of Commando 3 to PSN and XBLA will herald the initial beta / demo release of Super Street Fighter II HD Remix.
• This site reports on Namco Bandai’s official statement of the finalized character list and story of Tekken 6 and confirms a fall release exclusively for the Playstation 3.
• If you haven’t noticed, 2008 is looking to be the renaissance year for fighting games! So for those not keeping track, on arcade boards:
• Samurai Spirits Sen
• Sengoku Basara X
• The King Of Fighters ‘98 Ultimate Match
• Virtua Fighter 5 R ( Sega AM2 - Lindbergh - July )
• Street Fighter IV ( Taito Type-X - August )
• Melty Blood Actress Again ( NAOMI - Summer )
• Fate / Unlimited Codes ( Cavia/8ing/Capcom - System 246 - Summer )
• BlazBlue ( Arc System Works - Taito Type X - November )
• Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Cross Generation Of Heroes ( Taito Type X - Winter / Year’s End )
• Senko No Ronde 2 ( NAOMI - TBA )
• The King Of Fighters: Maximum Impact Regulation A-2 ( Taito Type X - TBA )
• The King Of Fighters XII ( Taito Type X - TBA )
• Monster: AncientCline ( Examu - TBA )
• DaemonBride ( Examu - TBA )
• And for consoles:
• Battle Fantasia ( 360, PS3 May 29th )
• Garou Densetsu / Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol.1 (
• Garou Densetsu / Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol.2
• Kizuna Encounter Super Combo Collection “The Best”
• The King Of Fighters NESTS Collection “The Best”
• SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1
• The King Of Fighters ‘98 Ultimate Match ( June 26th, PS2 )
• Sunsoft Collection ( Waku Waku 7 + Galaxy Fight )
• Sengoku Basara X ( June 26th PS2 )
• Samurai Spirits Collection / Rokuban Shoubu ( PS2, Wii - July 24th )
• Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus
• Soul Calibur ( XBLA, Summer )
• Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix 2 ( PS2, August 2nd )
• Tekken 6 ( PS3 - Fall )
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix ( XBLA, PSN - TBA )
• The King Of Fighters: Maximum Impact 3 ( PS3 - TBA/Possibly cancelled? )
• Thanks to Neo Arcadia for the dates.

• Xenozip updates with Touhou Hisouten: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody footage.
• itsumobasho updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage.
• McWzakky updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage.
• geesendou updates with Arcana Heart 2 match footage.
• SpaceMandono updates with Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection match footage.
• Hellmonkey2 updates with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core match footage.
• meattofu updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage.
• JaimeDL updates with Garou: Mark Of The Wolves tournament footage from TRF.
• PlagueVFDC updates with Virtua Fighter 5 team tournament footage.
• CHECK4900 updates with Mortal Kombat Armageddon combo footage.
• AlphaZealot updates with Super Smash Bros. Brawl match footage. ( shaky / blurry cam, but good matches )
• psychochronic updates with Super Street Fighter II X match footage.
• bigooooooohh updates with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core match footage.

late morning

• Hardcore Gaming 101 has a nice retrospective of the 2D Gundam fighting game series right over here as of 5/21.
• Jeux France updates with tons of screens and artwork for Soul Calibur IV.
• The official website for Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Cross Generation Of Heroes is up here. Famitsu has a huge pile of screens of the game in action over here.
• The official website for the PS2 Summer 2008 console release of Kinnikuman Muscie Grand Prix 2 is up here, albeit with no actual content to speak of. The main site with content for the game lies over here.
  
• Amazon.jp is taking preorders here for a new anime based 2D fighter for the PSP, Ikki Tousen: Eloquent Fist. You can see a nice scan right here.
• The official site for Capcom/Type-Moon/Cavia/Eighting’s Fate Unlimited Codes has updated.
• The official site for Banpresto/Bandai Namco/Dimps’s Draglade 2 has updated.
• GPara’s article here on this weekend’s Street Fighter IV location test, among other sources, seems to confirm that Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M.Bison are now fully playable.
• Neo-Arcadia has better quality screens of the console Sengoku Basara X version and console specific characters.
• Capcom’s community blog has the first shot of Kristin Kreuk as Chun-Li from the upcoming Street Fighter movie.
• RUMOR: 1up recently ran a piece stating that Rare may indeed be working on a new Killer Instinct title.
• The official site of NRF’s Million Knights Vermillion has updated.

• feichunwong updates with Tekken 6 match footage.
• ACXIAO updates with Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection match footage.
• OOFMATIC updates with Soul Calibur 3 match footage.
• geesendou updates with Arcana Heart 2 match footage.
• meattofu updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage.
• sibladeko updates with Touhou Immaterial And Missing Power tournament footage ( from what I believe is the third Tohgeki tournament ).
• Hellmonkey2 updates with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core match footage.
• axcx444 updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage.
• GetYourTournament updates with Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament footage from California.
• bigooooooohh updates with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core match footage.
• itsumobasho updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage.
• konqrr updates with a Mortal Kombat II / Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 glitch infinite example / exhibition ( VS Shang Tsung )
• tianyuan2k4 updates with Sengoku Basara X match footage.
• MasterBigode updates with Street Fighter IV location test footage ( Guile VS El Fuerte ).

counter!

• Scans of Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Cross Generation Of Heroes have appeared in Famitsu, scan here. Gatchaman, Casshern, Ryu and Chun-Li confirmed playable so far, info will be revealed circa Winter 2008.
• SD Tekken updates with the first imagery of the new Tekken movie, and also reports about more Tekken 6 machines being imported into the US.
  Sonichurricane.com updates with a LOT of very nice articles, on the idea of combos, game engines and the randomness therein, the conventions of “charging”, and other very interesting topics, thanks Maj for keeping the desire alive!
• Worldscollide.com, the official site of Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe, has updated with the first renders of Superman and Scorpion, and their Metropolis and Hell levels respectively.
• Nohoho’s blog presents the SBO qualifiers of Super Street Fighter II X from Shanghai, China.
• Amazon.jp has the official soundtrack now commercially available for Samurai Spirits Sen.
• Famitsu has a bunch of new screens for Samurai Spirits: Rokuban Shobu.
  The official Street Fighter IV blog confirms that the 5th location test will take place this weekend from the 23rd to the 25t
• The official site of Guilty Gear II Overture has updated, and features some VERY nice information about the forthcoming downloadable content over Xbox Live, including previews of dashboard themes for your 360 and a ton of custom user profile pictures.
• Windy X Windam is still lined up for a July 31st release, at 3,990 yen, you can see a very small preview shot of Izuna here.
• Dengeki Online previews Mobile Suit Gundam DX, a new 2D fighter in the Battle Assault series…..for cellphones?
• GPara also has a preview here.
• Magic Box has new direct screens of Virtua Fighter 5 R.
• Get Your Tournament has the current schedule for the Championship Gaming Series ( featuring Dead Or Alive 4 ) and a play by play blogcast from UCLA’s Monthly VI for Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• As reported by this MMO blog, Dead Or Alive Online has entered alpha testing. The game itself seems to be based on Dead Or Alive 2 Hardcore with a highly enhanced online play client similar to 4’s where you battle for items and are personalized via an online chibi character which will reflect your stats in its ranking system. The game will probably require a high powered PC to run but the client size is 740mb. Fairly sure this is a localized, closed alpha, by the way, so don’t expect much news on this outside of Korea.

• MissPhae updates with Arcana Heart 2 match footage.
• Hellmonkey2 updates with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core match footage.
• jimywolf updates with Sengoku Basara X match footage from gamechariot.
• karlsimposter updates with King Of Fighters ‘98 online casual footage.
• odjnryu updates with Dragonball Z Burst Limit demo footage, displaying some of the cancel combo properties of the Goku VS Raditz scenario.
• neojinbe updates with Vampire Savior match footage from Mikado.
• feichunwong updates with Tekken 6 match footage from Hong Kong.
• yashinayytu updates with Tekken 6 footage from Korea.
• Rollcancel updates with Capcom VS SNK 2 match footage from last month’s team tournament at A-Cho.
• gipson123 updates with Super Street Fighter II X team tournament match footage.
• Sf3lp updates with Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament footage.

Tougeki Damashii / SBO 2008 Games’ Tier Lists

Thanks to aku / Johnny Rainbow for the info from Tougeki Damashii:
Arcana Heart 2
A: Zenia, Saki, Yoriko
B: Catherine, Clarice, Kamui, Konoha, Kira, Fiona
C: Petra, Elza, Heart, Maori, Mei-Fei, Lilica
D: Dorothy, Rezelotte
Not yet determined: Angelia

Tekken 6
SS: Kazuya, Devil Jin, Bob
S: Anna, Jin, Lei, Raven, Roger Jr.
A+: Armor King, Asuka, Zafina, Jack 6, Julia, Steve, Dragunov, Nina, Feng, Bryan, Bruce, Heihachi, Paul, Leo, Law, Wang
A-: Eddie/Christie, Ganryu, King, Kuma/Panda, Xiaoyu, Hwoarang, Baek, Marduk, Miguel, Yoshimitsu, Lee, Lili

The King of Fighters ‘98: Ultimate Match
A: Iori, Krauser
B: Kyo, Yuri, EX Yuri, EX King, Yashiro(Orochi? Maybe it’s just EX)
C: Mary, Choi, Brian, Geese, EX Geese
D: Everyone else I’m assuming, as they only listed ranks A-C

Virtua Fighter 5 Version D
S: Lei Fei, Kage, Vanessa, Lau, Eileen, Shun Di
A: Pai, Akira, Wolf, Brad
B: Go, Aoi, Jeffry, El Blaze, Jacky
C: Lion, Sarah

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core
S: Eddie, Testament
A: Potemkin, Baiken, Jam, Slayer
B: May, Axl, Venom
C: Sol, Ky, Millia, Faust, Anji, Dizzy, Zappa, Robo-Ky, ABA, Holy Order Sol
D: Chipp, Johnny, I-No, Bridget

Melty Blood Act Cadenza
S: Red Arcueid, Len, Ciel, Arima Miyako, Tohno Akiha
A: Sekishu Akiha, Nrvnqsr Chaos, Mecha-Hisui, Kohaku & Hisui, Kishima Kouma, Hisui, Arcueid, Nanaya Shiki, Sion
B: Kohaku, Aozaki Aoko, Sion TATARI, Night of Wallachia, Yumizuka Satsuki, White Len, Tohno Shiki
C: Neco-Arc, Neco-Arc Chaos

Super Street Fighter II X, courtesy nohoho:

SSS Rank
Akuma

S Rank
Dhalsim, Claw, Chun-Li, Boxer, O.Sagat

A Rank
Ryu, Guile, O.Ken, DeeJay, Dictator, O.Hawk

B Rank
Ken, E.Honda, Fei-Long, Sagat

C Rank
Zangief, Cammy, Blanka, T.Hawk

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, courtesy Arcadia:

S: Yun, Chun-Li

A: Ken, Makoto, Dudley, Yang

B: Akuma, Urien, Ryu, Oro, Ibuki, Elena

C: Necro, Alex, Remy, Q, Hugo, Twelve

D: Sean

Hokuto No Ken:

Top Tier: Toki, Rei, Juda, Raoh

Mid Tier: Kenshiro, Shin, Heart

Low Tier: Souther, Mamiya, Jagi

the fighting love

• -The official site for Windy X Windam has updated with a brief introduction and artwork of the first four playable characters.
• -The official site for Sengoku Basara X has revealed that the console PS2 release will feature two console exclusive playable characters.
• -In case you missed it or need it, SD Tekken has all of the frame data for Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection up on its site courtesy of Ina Tekken Wiki.
• -Tougeki Super Battle Opera’s official page has a neat applet that will allow you to look up locations and dates for the remaining SBO qualifiers.
• -Despite SNK USA’s valiant showing of console releases, Fu’un Super Combo ( the Kizuna Encounter: Super Tag Battle collection disc ) may not get a US release, so importers should keep their eyes peeled for the import copy going on sale on the 29th.
• -These are about a month old, but I’m kicking myself for missing them: Kobayan has high quality pics of the official Virtua Fighter 5 R location test materials. Scan 1 Scan 2 Scan 3 Scan 4
• -MLGPro actually has a nice backup archive of Super Smash Bros Brawl arcanae and information handily located right here: http://www.mlgpro.com/getbetterfast/smashbrawl
• -feichunwong updates with Tekken 6 matches ( Bob VS Raven ).
• -keerocbboyworld updates with The King Of Fighters XI matches ( Clark/Eiji/Athena VS Kula/Oswald/Gato ).
• -amasyoku2008 updates with Tekken 6 matches ( Nina VS Jack-6 ).
• -ubercyberbeast updates with Hyper Street Fighter II Anniversary Edition online casuals ( ST Deejay VS CE Zangief ).
• -henvoke updates with Arcana Heart 2 matches ( Heart VS Saki ).
• -acebreaker updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D matches ( Vanessa VS Lion ).
• -koyori6671 updates with Sengoku Basara X matches ( Mouri VS Kenshin ).
• -Shwa updates with a quick MUGEN character combo example and WIP exhibition that shows very nice progress so far: God Gundam, converted from Super Robot Taisen series.
• -antdgar updates with a tool assisted Super Smash Bros. 64 team combo example ( Kirby/Kirby VS Falcon @ Great Fox ).
• -psychorarity is updated with Street Fighter III 3rd Strike casuals from Australia.
• -tatsujinken updates with a Super Smash Bros. Brawl match highlight and casual match ( Link VS Marth @ Final Destination ).
• -karitakanehakaesanai updates with footage from the Guilty Gear XX Accent Core G3 23 on 23 exhibition ( Sol VS Eddie ).
• -keriugatsu updates with a Melty Blood Act Cadenza ver.B corner combo example ( Nanaya Shiki ).
• -Xiaoyuryu ( that’s me! ) updates with a Dragonball Z Hyper Dimension all character combo exhibition.

explosive news and shocking footage

• -You can now acquire a demo of Dragonball Z Burst Limit for your Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Marketplace.
• -JP company Cyberstep, for you Nintendo DS owners / importers ( remember, they’re region free! ), is releasing a really original, cool looking take on the Guardian Heroes style of gameplay in 2008 - Get Amped 2, featuring a wide, vast variety of characters and very cool free roaming versus fighting. Official site lies here: http://www.cyberstep.com/getamped2/
• -The official site of Ecole and Type Moon’s Melty Blood Actress Again has updated. http://www.e56.info/mbaa/
• -The collaborative efforts of Bandai Namco, Banpresto and Dimps, Draglade 2, will be released in Japan for Nintendo DS circa July 10th, you can preorder now via Play Asia.
• -The new movie Street Fighter: Legend Of Chun-Li is currently slated for a February 27th 2009 theatre release.
• -On the 20th in Osaka and on the 23rd in Fukuoka, Sega will be conducting invitation-only trial showings of new arcade hardware, including Virtua Fighter 5 R and Melty Blood Actress Again. You can see preview photos of said showings here at the AM-Net blog: http://blog.am-net.jp/article/14947640.html
  -Joystiq has shots of the Xbox Live Arcade port of Soul Calibur right here: http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/15/first-screens-soul-calibur-for-xbla-looking-sharp/
• -Scans of the new Soul Calibur IV character Shura, designed by the creator of the anime Gantz, lie here: http://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?image=shurarx6.jpg
• -Udon Entertainment is taking preorders for Street Fighter Tribute, a massive hardcover artbook collecting Street Fighter artwork by professionals across the globe. Preorder here: http://www.udonentertainment.com/streetfightertribute/
• -yuuichipey updates with Touhou: Immaterial And Missing Power match footage ( Patchouli VS Meirin ).
• -getyourtournament updates with Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament footage.
• -Tronich updates with Tekken 5 match footage ( Nina VS Devil Jin ).
• -lmakira updates with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus match footage ( Potemkin VS A.B.A. )
• -akatubaki updates with a multi character combo exhibition for Melty Blood Act Cadenza ver.B.
• -amusebeebee updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D ranking battle footage ( Lei-Fei VS Lei-Fei, Lei-Fei VS Sarah ).
• -Jys2k7 updates with King Of Fighters ‘98 tournament footage from Project DNA3’s Japan VS Korea battle ( O.Yashiro/Daimon/Ralf VS Robert/Iori/O.Chris ).
• -Soh85 updates with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Heritage For The Future / Jojo no Kimyou Na Bouken tournament footage from Mikado ( Joseph VS Jotaro ).
• -ftnr18 updates with Arcana Heart 2 match footage ( Clarice VS Zenia ).
• -xDragonInstallx updates with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core match footage ( Venom VS Robo-Ky ).
• -AlphaZealot updates with a Super Smash Bros Brawl combo exhibition ( Diddy Kong ).
• -karlsimposter updates with King Of Fighters ‘98 online casuals ( Yuri/Choi/Athena VS Andy/Mai/Choi ).

ill behavior

Back once again, despite some technical difficulties.

-http://www.2dbattle.jp/ - Insert Credit reports that this site has the latest necessary updates for Kinnikuman: Muscle Fight, a doujin fighter utilizing ASCII’s Fighter Maker.

-Amazon Japan now has the soundtracks available for King Of Fighters ‘98 Ultimate Match and Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf.Achse.

-http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/bleach/heat5/ - The official site for Bleach: Heat The Soul 5 is up and offers a Trial demo for your PSP as well as some nice previews of the game.

-http://am-net.xtr.jp/game/profile.cgi?_v=1195172577 - AM.Net details the remaining location test dates for Fate: Unlimited Codes.

-http://streetfighteronline.jp/ - As of today, May 13th, Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation has begun its beta testing phase which is currently set to last through the 19th.

-http://con-tex.sakura.ne.jp/ - This site, Studio Contrary, contains highly excellent Sammy/Arc System Works and Capcom fighting game character based fanart, mostly revolving around Street Fighter and Guilty Gear.

-http://neo-arcadia.com/News/voir_news.php?id_news=1 - More screens from the Blazblue location test via Neo Arcadia, mostly shots of Iron Tager.

-Cyberfanatix has updated with a massive combo video project’s completion, the “Alliance” CMV for The King Of Fighters ‘99, very impressive work, be sure to check it out.

-X-Play’s recent interview with Soul Calibur IV director Katsutoshi Sasaki lies here. The footage of the game includes an impressive Cassandra juggle and more footage of the Star Wars guest characters.

-psychorarity updates with The King Of Fighters 2001 Malaysia VS UK tournament footage, intriguing stuff.

-DVCrecROOM updates with a Super Smash Bros. Brawl match video highlight ( Link VS Marth @ Lylat Cruise ).

-r1c1976 updates with a montage of Super Street Fighter II X match footage, highlighting the always impressive Komoda Blanka during KSK Gamer’s Vision SBO qualifiers.

-xDragonInstallx updates with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core match footage ( Eddie VS Zappa ) and Tekken 6 match footage ( Bob VS Xiaoyu ).
-CHECK4900 updates with Mortal Kombat Armageddon combo example footage ( Kabal ).

-amusebeebee updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage ( Lei-Fei VS El Blaze ).

-Henvoke updates with Arcana Heart 2 match footage ( Kamui VS Maori ).

-McWzakky updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage ( Jeffry VS El Blaze ).

-ShinjiGohan updates with Street Fighter EX3 combo example footage ( Doctrine Dark / Chun-Li ).

-atheisticfury updates with Hokuto No Ken match footage in Taiwan ( Raoh VS Rei ).

-fairuzons updates with a Super Smash Bros. Brawl glitch example.

-tianyuan2k4 updates with Sengoku Basara X match footage ( Keiji VS Yukimura ).

hyperpower!

Apologies for the hiatus. Long work hours and all that.

-nohoho reports that gamersvision has updated with Super Street Fighter II X Tougeki 2008 qualifier matches.

-Lovelybridget updates with the first footage from the Blazblue 1st location test from Taito Hey in Akiba ( Rachel Alucard VS Ragna The Bloodedge )

-Neo Arcadia has a detailed report with screens and footage here ( http://www.neo-arcadia.com/News/voir_news.php?id_news=1 ) from the Blazblue location test.

-Akihabara Channel has a report here ( http://www.akiba-ch.com/?p=503 ) on the June 2008 issue of Arcadia Magazine, with shots of King Of Fighters XII, Blazblue, Street Fighter IV, Arcana Heart 2 and Sengoku Basara X.

-In preparation for the June 26th Japanese PS2 release of Sengoku Basara X, on the official website’s movie section you can view combos for each character. http://www.capcom.co.jp/basara-x/movie1.html

-Windy X Wisdom, by Success for the Nintendo DS, now has an official website ( http://www.success-corp.co.jp/software/ds/windy_windam/ )

-July 31st in Japan, Hudson Soft will be releasing PC Engine Best Collection for the PSP, featuring several of the Tengai Makyo: Far East Of Eden titles as well as a port of Kabuki Itouryodan, a little known fighter that serves as a predecessor to Kabuki Klash for the Neo Geo.

-If you’re fortunate enough to have access to the Japanese Virtual Console for the Nintendo Wii, as of May 13th you will be able to, for 800 Wii points, play the little known Konami fighter Martial Champion.

-Capcom Japan’s official Street Fighter IV developer blog, in case i hadn’t mentioned it earlier: http://www.capcom-fc.com/sf4/

-Super Smash Brothers Brawl recently took 5th place in the Famitsu Readers All Time Favorite Games list in Japan.

-Samurai Spirits: Rokuban Shoubu, the collection of every Samurai Spirits title ever released, is due for Wii and Playstation 2 release circa July 24th this year! Magic Box has screens here: http://the-magicbox.com/0805/game080508b.shtml

-Sirlin.net has new information regarding the changes to Guile in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix.

-I’m late on this one, but Arcade Heroes has an older post here about Namco’s decision against an arcade release of Tekken 6 for the fledgling UK and US arcade market: http://arcadeheroes.com/2008/03/22/namcos-tekken-6-debaucle/

-IGN has an interesting review about the Wii arcade stick designated “The Shaft” right here: http://gear.ign.com/articles/872/872793p1.html ( Spoiler Alert: you’re probably better off purchasing a Hori Fighting Stick Wii )

-geesendou updates with the 1302nd match of Arcana Heart 2 ( Heart VS Catherine ).

-JICKKY updates with the original Japanese commercial for The King Of Fighters ‘94.

-feichunwong updates with Tekken 6 match footage ( Xiaoyu VS Lili ).

-je4pgn updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage ( Akira VS Vanessa ).

-LUBULA updates with Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 match footage ( Ermac VS Smoke ).

-keriugatsu updates with a peculiar occurence in a Melty Blood Act Cadenza ver.B match ( Kouma VS Red Arcuied - Last Arc air throw ).

-tianyuan2k4 updates with Sengoku Basara X matches ( Yukimura VS Hideyoshi ).

-bigooooooohh updates with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core matches ( Faust VS Slayer ).

-JaimeDL updates with Garou Mark Of The Wolves tournament footage from TRF ( apparently one player used Roulette throughout the whole tournament! )

-BoyUzi updates with Marvel VS Capcom 2 match footage (Spiral/Megaman/Tron VS Magneto/Storm/Psylocke (MSP) ).

dramatic battle

-ShinjiGohan has posted over 35 new Street Fighter EX3 casual matches, very excellent level of play here.

-msyf updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage ( Jeffry VS Aoi ).

-Xenozip updates with Touhou Hisouten Scarlet Weather Rhapsody netplay match footage ( Aya VS Alice ).

-meattofu updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage ( Jacky VS Lei Fei ).

-itsumobasho updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage ( Goh VS Eileen ).

-psychorarity is updated with The King Of Fighters ‘98 Ultimate Match footage ( SBO6 Qualifiers from Gamechariot, highly recommended viewing! ).

-tianyuan2k4 updates with Super Street Fighter II X match footage spotlighting legendary Blanka player Komoda, along with Sengoku Basara X matches from Game41.
-gipson123 has the finals for the Super Street Fighter II X event Scouter Star Cup uploaded ( Zangief/Ken VS Dhalsim/Vega(claw) ).

-CHECK4900 updates with more instant death combo goodness for Mortal Kombat Armageddon ( Subzero ).

-PigeonDrago updates with Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection match footage ( Julia VS Julia ).

-skatanmilla updates with a Dead Or Alive 4 match ( Leifang VS Helena ).

-May 29th, 2008 will mark the Japanese PS3 console release of Arc System Works’ Battle Fantasia.

-May 9-11th at Taito HEY in Akihabara, Arc System Works’ new fighter BlazBlue will have its first location test. Rumor has it that the two new characters recently revealed by Famitsu will be playable.

-Ed Boon of Midway recently confirmed in an interview that Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe will have approximately 20-22 characters, with 10-11 iconic characters allocated to a company / side.

-Examu is releasing a free bug fix for board owners of Arcana Heart 2, and contrary to the Arcana Heart Full upgrade kit episode of last year, this 2.1 upgrade will be entirely free. More at http://examu.co.jp/arcanaheart2/verup.html. Also, the EX-Board that Arcana 2 runs on will also be hosting Monster: Ancient Cline later in the year, along with an upcoming fighter tentatively titled DaemonBride, very little is known about it at this time.

-If you haven’t been following the news concerning the new live action Street Fighter movie, the official blog featuring pictures and updates on progress lies here: http://streetfightermovie.net/

-Guilty Gear II Overture is currently lined up for a third quarter 2008 US release courtesy of Aksys, CA, and is an Xbox 360 exclusive.

-Not fighting game related, but I must say, due to his prolific breadth of previously televised tournaments available on his channel ( over 2,000 vids worth! ), Jon747 is right now the main source for Korean professional Starcraft match footage on Youtube, good work Jon!

throwing encouraged

-Major League Gaming recently held a sponsored film festival of excellent footage for Super Smash Brothers Brawl, with a $1,000 prize riding on the line for the finest pieces of Smash footage as determined by vote. You can view the top five high level submissions right over here at MLG’s page: http://www.mlgpro.com/?q=node/210385

-itsumobasho updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage ( Lion VS Eileen ).

-LUBULA updates with Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 match footage ( Reptile VS Subzero ).

-babitch123 updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match footage ( El Blaze VS Akira ).

-sibladeko updates with some excellent footage: a very thorough and informative tutorial video for Touhou Immaterial And Missing Power, and the trailer for Million Knights Vermillion.
-feichunwong updates with Tekken 6 match footage from China ( Leo VS Paul ).

-Zugi1 updates with a Battle Fantasia match ( Freed VS Watson ).

-gipson123 updates with Super Street Fighter II X match footage from Japan’s Scouter Star Cup 2 on 2 team tournament ( Ryu/Ryu VS Dhalsim/Vega(claw) ).

-CDDT updates with a Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection tutorial ( anti-Eddy/Christie df+3+4 ).

-Soh85 updates with Real Bout Fatal Fury casual Japanese match footage ( Sokaku VS Mai ).

-xDragonInstallx updates with Street Fighter III 3rd Strike team tourney 2 on 2 footage from Mikado arcade ( Akuma/Yang VS Q/Ibuki ).

new century of fighting

-http://www.damdai.com/2df/freeplay/ - New netplay client utilizing a modified Neo Final Burn Alpha emulator along with Microsoft .NET 3.5 framework to create a new kind of online 2D fighting game client. The future looks very bright for this project, and it supports a wide variety of games, please check this out!

-http://m-k-v.heteml.jp/ - The official page of Million Knights Vermillion, the spiritual followup to Big Bang Beat by production team NRF, has updated.

-Magic Box has new preview screens of Dragonball Z Burst Limit.

-Jys2k7 updates with more Project DNA3 Japanese King Of Fighters ‘98 footage ( Chizuru / Daimon / Chris VS O.Yashiro / Daimon / Ralf ).

-je4pgn updates with Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D footage ( Akira VS Eileen ).

-kingofvf4 updates with Virtua Fighter 5 Xbox 360 version match footage ( Aoi VS Shun Di ).

-Kizzukun updates with an interesting video concerning the hitstun in Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

-dphanna continues his breakdown of Super Smash Brothers Brawl and updates with a vid concerning an Aerial Super Wavedash glitch.

-Check4900 updates with Mortal Kombat Armageddon combo footage ( Bo Rai Cho, Noob Saibot ).

-Xenozip updates with interesting okizeme tech traps in Touhou Hisouten: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody ( for Alice ).

-Crayfis updates with a Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting video detailing E.Honda’s TOD throw option metagame.

-Marstorious updates with Virtua Fighter 5 match footage ( Shun Di VS Jacky ).

-DarkGeeseMexico updates with Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi Kenkakyuden match footage ( Kuroko VS Gen-An ).

-yashinayytu updates with Tekken 6 match footage ( Leo VS Law ).

-FullArmorBass updates with a Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Accel 2 item usage exhibition.

-Geesendou updates with the 1089th match of Arcana Heart 2 ( Catherine VS Saki ).

adrenaline rush

Some nice bits and pieces, my internet is finally back on, yay~

- yashinayytu updates with Korean Tekken 6 match footage. ( Law VS Lei )

- Geesendou updates the Joybox mirror with the 1055th match of Arcana Heart 2 ( Kira VS Angelia )

- gogetassj4666 updates with more high level Dragonball Z Budokai 3 match footage ( Goku VS Vegeta )

- Markman23 updates with a very excellent find: a Tobal 2 all character combo exhibition.

- atheisticfury updates with Hokuto No Ken matches from Taiwan ( Kenshiro VS Mr Heart )

- bdcool187 updates with Super Smash Bros. Brawl matches taken from WiFi friendlies ( Snake VS Ike VS Lucario VS Snake @ Final Destination )

- TheShend updates with Street Fighter III 3rd Strike team tournament footage from Family Fun Arcade’s 3 on 3 from 4/19/08.

-psychorarity is updated with Street Fighter Zero 3 match footage ( V-Ryu VS V-Ryu ).

-wahagetswaha updates with cool MUGEN footage ( Higurashi X School Days ).

-JeneKage updates with Virtua Fighter 5 XBOX 360 Japanese match footage ( Jacky VS Akira ).

-aznpikachu215 updates with a MUGEN match ( Kusanagi VS Kusanagi ).

-BoyUzi updates with Marvel VS Capcom 2 footage ( Blackheart/Spiral/SonSon VS Sentinel/Iceman/CaptainCommando, plus an interesting response video of a Jill reset into zombie grab. )

-Realyst updates with a short video about a very interesting discovery in Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection about Jack-5’s df+2 ( apparently sidestepping left creates more recovery frames to punish it? Peculiar….. )

a challenger appears

Hey, here’s something pretty cool-

For those attempting to enjoy the fighting game footage from Japan’s Nico Video, you can now do so without having a Nico Nico account.

Just use the URL “http://d.hatena.ne.jp/video/niconico/” and use the video’s ID as the last bit of the URL, like so:

“http://d.hatena.ne.jp/video/niconico/sm3059925″ - this should link to King Of Fighters ‘98 Ultimate Match footage from Popy Niigata.

Thanks to Professor at MMCafe’s forums for posting about this!

-Geesendou is up to its 961st piece of Tekken 6 match footage ( Jack-6 VS Zafina ).

-psychochronic has updated psychorarity with Capcom VS SNK 2 footage from Midwest Championships of 2002 ( N-Ryu/Blanka/Sagat VS N-Ryu/Blanka/Sagat ).

-Pharaon92i updates with very nice Hokuto No Ken footage from TRF’s 2 on 2 ( Raoh VS Kenshiro ).

-GenosisDX updates with some very rare footage I’ve been waiting to see - an Evil Zone / Eretzvaju playthrough with Keiya!

-yuuichipey updates with Touhou: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody demo netplay match footage ( Marisa VS Alice ).

-karitakanehakaesanai updates with a MUST SEE Sengoku Basara X match ( Oichi VS Kenshin - watch the INSANE infinite Kenshin pulls off first round! )

-kingofvf4 updates with a Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D match ( Aoi VS Goh ).

-Play Asia lists Samurai Spirits Collection as being released on July 24th 2008, US retail $49.90

Some good resources for the older Samurai Spirits games ( Japanese ):

http://poormanweb.ddo.jp/~shinsamurai/SinSamurai_Main.htm

http://samurai.mania.cx/kekka/free/5f/5f.html ( Lots of SS1 matches here, viewable via the Nico Video trick I showed you earlier in this post! See, I know where I’m going with this. )

-For those looking for Arcana Heart 2 resources, a very thorough page lies here:

http://arcanaheart.sakura.ne.jp/0314arukana2/top.html

-Billy Lee from Evoga’s Rage Of The Dragons has been confirmed to be playable in King Of Fighters XII! For more info check out Cyberfanatix.com.

dream chaser

-The Asia JP/HK network for PSN now has a demo of Arc System Works’s Battle Fantasia, make sure to scoop that up if you have a PS3 online.

-If not mentioned before, Sengoku Basara X is due for a PS2 console release on June 26th for importers.

-Longtime contributer to the fighting game community psychochronic is debuting a new Youtube channel with some excellent Tougeki qualifier footage among other upcoming goodies such as high level Norcal Capcom VS SNK 2 action, channel is dubbed psychorarity, be sure and check it out!

-Famitsu reports here ( http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1214952_1124.html ) that the Playstation store will soon be offering a variety of Hudson titles for PS3 PSN and PSP format, one of which being the first Bloody Roar. Might this signify a revival in interest for the title? Only if Eighting gets out of the Naruto haze they’ve been stuck in for years….

-Geesendou updates with Arcana Heart 2 match footage ( Lieselotte VS Fiona )

-Kizzukun updates with May 1st Super Smash Bros Brawl friendlies ( Marth VS Toon Link @ Final Destination )

-RyonaKing updates with a very….interesting…..Rumble Roses XX exhibition ( a lot of bearhugs going on there…… )

-CHECK4900 updates with more Mortal Kombat Armageddon footage, an Endurance Mode Challenge run on Max difficulty with Shinnok, showcasing some of the ridiculous air cancelling brokenness while he’s at it.

-McWzakky updates with a Virtua Fighter 5 ver.D mirror match ( Jeffry VS Jeffry ).

-gipson123 updates with the recent A-Cho Street Fighter Zero 3 2 on 2 event, with some excellent play and crowd reactions here ( Hisashi Patch (v-cody)/Hot (v-chun) vs Dark (a-gen)/Shinya (a-guy) ).

-SNK Classics Volume 1 has shipped circa April 29th to US retailers, featuring classic fighters Art Of Fighting, Fatal Fury, King Of Fighters ‘94, King Of The Monsters, Samurai Shodown, and World Heroes.

-There are high quality shots of Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M.Bison’s reintroductory appearances in the upcoming Street Fighter IV over here at Magic Box ( http://the-magicbox.com/0805/game080501b.shtml ).

-Get Your Tournament, the acclaimed vestige of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament scene, will return to http://getyourtournament.com this upcoming weekend, having parted ways with e-sports site Gameriot.