SEGA OF JAPAN TO CLOSE 110 ARCADES

Wow, more bad news for arcade gaming as the economy countinues to ruin everyones fun all across the world. According to WIRED, Sega is closing 110 arcades, or about a quarter of all the arcades they own and operate in Japan. They are also laying off hundreds of employees and halting the development and research of a lot of their titles. Beyond that, SEGA laid off about 30 employees from their San Francisco office that is about a couple blocks from my house last month.

This could be both good and bad news for Virtua Fighter 5: R depending on how you look at it. Creating a port for the game could be cheaper than developing a whole new game, but then again they may not want to take the risk in the first place of trying to release the game since VF5 sold pretty bad over all.

TOKYO GAME ACTION SHUTTING DOWN - LIQUIDATING ASSETS

Very very sad day in arcade gaming as I just found out yesterday that Tokyo Game Action will be shutting down after a series of unfortunate events including a flood that makes it impossible for them to stay in business.

I have never been to TGA and was planning to go later this year as I am planning a trip to MA, but if you are reading this please go to their site and check out the post from their arcade owner, Andy. They are in a lot of trouble right now due to bills and can use any support that is available.

Taken from the blog post on their website:

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HOW TO UNLOCK ALL CHARACTERS IN STREET FIGHTER 4

With people receiving early retail copies of Street Fighter IV and the official release less that a week away I figured it would be a good idea to post up this information. If you've been following Street Fighter IV, it is no surprise you have to unlock all the characters in the game, but it hasn't been entirely clear how to do that until now.

Here are the unlocking conditions along with some other details on how to fight Gouken and what-not:

CHARACTER UNLOCK CONDITIONS
[Can unlock with one-round matches on the lowest difficulty level]
Sakura: Clear with Ryu
Cammy: Clear with C. Viper
Dan: Clear with Sakura
Fei-Long: Clear with Abel
Gen: Clear with Chun-Li
Rose: Clear with Dictator

Gouki/Akuma: After unlocking the above six, defeat Gouki
[For one-round matches: At least one perfect, no continues]
Gouken: After finishing the game with Gouki, defeat Gouken with any character
[For one-round matches: at least two perfects, no continues, at least three Ultra finishes]
Seth: Clear with all other characters

NOTE: Gouki and Gouken only appear to show up on the second or later playthrough with a given character. Perhaps it depends on your performance in Arcade Mode.

Regarding the number of ultra combo finishes required to face Gouki or Gouken:
Gouken only appears after at least two ultra combo finishes

Thanks to doctorfedora on SRK for this information.

NEW SEGA 2D FIGHTER TO BE ANNOUNCED AT AOU2009

Looks like another fighter is on the horizon with SEGA planning to announce a new 2D Fighter at AOU2009 (Japanese Arcade expo). It's a SEGA/Arc Systems Works collaboration so don't expect a 2D Virtua Fighter game or anything out of left field  like that, it's most likely a new Guilty Gear or Hotuko no Ken game.

Keep in mind this an arcade announcement, so regardless of what they announce, it may not show up on consoles at all, and if it does there is a chance it wont make it out of Japan.

Thanks to Reno on SRK for the heads up.

NEW KING OF FIGHTERS XII SCANS

With Street Fighter 4 right around the corner, seems like all other games are being swept under the rug at this point! It's been a while since I've seen any new media for KOFXII but a couple scans showed up on CYBERFANATIX today with some assorted screenshots for the game.

1UP.COM MYCHEATS STREET FIGHTER 4 GUIDE PREVIEW

So between posting news and managing Lil' Shoto I've been working on another project in the background: a Street Fighter IV guide for 1up.com's MyCheats. Over the past day I've been given the go ahead to give a sneak preview of the guide for everyone to check out. I can't go into too many details as to the what the guide will contain but I will say this will be the most comprehensive Street Fighter IV guide available online for both the arcade and console exclusive characters.

You will be able to access the guide in its entirety the day the game drops on the 17th so be sure to bookmark the page and check it out soon as you load up the game.

MyCheats Street Fighter IV Super Guide

VIRTUA FIGHTER 5 RETURNS TO WORLD CYBER GAMES

Some more good news for Virtua Fighter 5 fans showed up yesterday with WCG announcing that VF5 will be one of the featured games in the international tournament this year. The interest for this game has waned over the past 6 months considering most people would rather be playing VF5:R (or any number of the new fighting games that are coming out) so hopefully this will revitalize the scene here in North America to some degree.

From WCG Website:

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EL FUERTE RUN STOP FIERCE GUIDE BY LIL' SHOTO

After getting crossed-up and dizzied numerous times at California Reigonals last month I knew I had to up my game from the inside on Street Fighter IV's real wildcard character, El Fuerte. The best way to beat a character is to know what they are fully capable of so I consulted Lil' Shoto and had him break down El Fuertes game for me. Check it out!

If Lil' Shoto's new track has a bit too much Latin flavor for you, maybe you should stick to text and check out our super white, super tight Street Fighter IV Move List and Strategy section for more ways to go buckwild with El Fuerte!

NEW TEKKEN 6 TRAILER

I love NAMCO Tekken trailers! Always have, always will and this one is no exception. I just wish I wasnt so bad at this game!

Check it out:

FAMITSU: MORE INFO ON STREET FIGHTER 4 DLC

A Famitsu scan showed up on SRK today which revealed some more details on the game itself. It appears the costumes will be offered in packs rather than one at a time. Each pack will be for 5 characters and will cost 320 MS points, or about 4 dollars per pack.

I had hoped they would offer all the arcade alternate costumes for free and offer new costumes through DLC. I don't think anyone minds paying for extra content, but at this point most of the alternates are nothing new thanks to YouTube.

Famitsu also gave the game 9.8.8.9 as their score in the same issue.

From the SRK post:

Alt. Costumes are available only in 5-character 320-MS-point DLC packs, one new pack every week as follows:
Grapplers Pack - Zangief, E Honda, Rufus, Abel, El Fuerte (Feb 12)
Beauty Pack - Chun Li, C.Viper, Sakura, Rose, Cammy (Feb 19)
Shoryuken Pack - Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Gouken, Dan (Feb 26)
Shadoloo Pack - Dictator, Sagat, Claw, Boxer, Seth (March 5)
Classic Pack - Guile, Blanka, Dhalsim, Gen, Fei Long (March 12)
All-In Pack - Get everyone at a discount (1000 MS Points; available from April 30th)

LIL' SHOTO TAKING YOUTUBE BY STORM

It appears someone enjoyed Lil' Shoto's Chun-Li guide so much they uplaoded it to YouTube and of course it's getting a ton of positive feedback. With over 6k views at this point maybe I can convince Lil' Shoto to make another slapper for everyone to enjoy.

Also, if you haven't heard his Blanka guide, be sure to check it out!

MARCH '09 ARCADIA MAGAZINE RANKINGS

Tekken 6 has reigned supreme in Japan for months on end, but this month is a bit of surprise: Arc System Works' BlazBlue has taken the #1 spot. This should answer peoples questions on whether or not BlazBlue would ever be considered a "competitive game".

Tekken fans shouldn't be too upset though, both the vanilla version and Bloodline Rebellion are still in the top ten. The two rankings on my personal favorites, VF5: R and SFIV haven't changed much from previous months.

Thanks to MarkMan from SDTEKKEN for the updates. You can purchase a copy of the March issue from Play-Asia.com.

1. Blazblue
2. Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion
3. Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam
4. Virtua Fighter 5R
5. Street Fighter IV
6. Melty Blood Actress Again
7. Sugoi! Arcana Heart 2
8. Tekken 6
9. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (NEW)
10. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core

PRICE INCREASE FOR JAPANESE ARCADE GAMES

SIGN REFLECTING THE PRICE INCREASEOichi from NeoGAF posted some photos and information about Japanese arcade games receiving a price increase at certain arcades. He mentions most games are going from 100 yen to 120 yen per play, or about a buck-fifty in US dollars. Although bad news for those who play in Japan, this still doesn't make me feel any better about paying 75 cents to play Street Fighter IV here in San Francisco!

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EVO2K9: GAMES & LOCATION REVEALED

Evo2k.com updated their site with the full game list and location for the largest tournament in North America. Of course Street Fighter IV makes an appearance, but a couple surprises: Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is a 2v2 tournament and Tatsunoko vs Capcom is an invitational exhibition tournament only! Beyond that, Marvel is still in the mix and Guilty Gear returns this year.

I had personally been pushing for a 3rd Strike team format since last year to make the game fresh again at tournaments, so I am very happy they are setting up a 2v2 format. Although I'm sure there will be a good mix of top tier characters, having a 2v2 format will surely make things much more interesting this year. On that note, anyone need a Makoto for their team?

GAMESTOP TOURNAMENT DETAILS REVEAL EVO2K9 DATE

Gamestop updated their site with the official rules and prizes for the Street Fighter IV tournament they are hosting where you have a chance to win a Street Fighter IV arcade unit (I thought this was only for the pre-orders) and be automatically entered into EVO2K9. Not bad right? Well, sure, except for one small detail: you are forced to use a Xbox 360 pad to play.

Not being able to use your own equipment in a tournament like this should make the results interesting. Either way, this is worth checking out considering what is on the line.

One other detail mentioned in the rules, EVO2K9 will be held in Las Vegas, NV on July 17th-19th.

TEKKEN 6: BLOODLINE REBELLION PLAYABLE IN CA & TN

Most of us will have to wait till later this year to play this on console, but arcade operators in California and Tennessee have taken the initiative and upgraded their Tekken 6 units to Bloodline Rebellion just a month after the game has come out in Japan.

SUPER ARCADE
1211 N Grand Ave
Walnut, CA 91789
(909) 594-5954

Game Galaxy Arcade
5252 Hickory Hollow Parkway
Hickory Hollow Mall next to the Food Court
Antioch, TN 37013

Thanks to SDTEKKEN for the update on these locations. I'll be sure to post more if other arcades decide to go through with this upgrade (SF State Rack-N-Cue where you at!?).

Also, if you're curious about the install process, there is a video that shows what these arcade owners have to go through to perform the upgrade.

GAMEWATCH: STREET FIGHTER IV ONLINE SCREEN SHOTS

Gamewatch published an article just yesterday showcasing the different modes and options in the console release of Street Fighter IV. Most of the shots go over aspects of the console version that most of us are pretty familiar with at this point, but as far as I know they have the first screen shots of the online matchmaking portion of the game. Much like other games, green bars indicate the signal strength between you and your opponent, and it sounds like you will have the choice of playing Ranked Matches for Battle Points or just player matches where nothing goes on your record if you win or lose.

The game drops Feburary 12th in Japan.

Update on Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 9:01AM by haunts

Anoop at adriansang.com posted up a translation of what is going on in the screen shots. He mentions he isn't sure what the "private" option is in online match making, but I assume its so you can invite people to your lobby without random people entering on their own.

STREET FIGHTER IV BATTLE POINT RANKINGS

Nohoho posted Battle Poing ranking from August '08 until early January '09 a couple weeks back,  and as you will see Daigo has been dominating ever since the game came out. So five to six months into the game, there are still a few Sagats ranking in the top slots, namely Mago and Ojisan boy but over all it's a good mix of characters.

The console release has been rumored to also use a Battle Point ranking system for online matches, although there is no way it will be as accurate as an actual arcade ranking system (no lag at the arcade for one). It will be interesting to see if the top North American names end up at the top of the list or if it will be a mix of somewhat familiar names with a bunch of new faces beating out more well known players.

Beyond that, one has to wonder if competitive players will opt to continue to play at their local arcade or if they will put just as much time into battling it out online. With so much information on the game floating around these days, that is really one of the last questions on peoples mind at this point: how seamless is the online play? If its just as good or better than HD Remix's then people will probably put a bit more faith in the online rankings, but we will have to wait and see.

CAPCOM: HD REMIX PATCH IN THE WORKS

Looks like a patch for the numerous bugs in HD Remix is in the works which is great news for those of us who still play the game frequently. I've read a bunch of threads since the game came out documenting the bugs, but honestly I figured they would sweep a patch under the rug thinking that no one would care once Street Fighter IV came out. Thankfully I've been proven oh-so wrong by JimmyRey, the games producer, who although wont go into details about the patch, say it's for sure coming.

From the official CAPCOM Blog:

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GUILTY GEAR ACCENT CORE PLUS ANNOUNCED FOR PS2, WII & PSP

AKSYS GAMES announced Guilty Gear Accent Core Plus is finally coming to North America for PS2, Wii and PSP today. According to the press release, this version of the game includes two more playable characters Kliff and Justice, along side some new single and multi-player modes.  I'll post updates as they come.

From Aksysgames.com:

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