Talim announced for Soul Calibur VI, details revealed on Collector's, Deluxe editions of game and season pass content

After a tease from producer Motohiro Okubo during E3 2018, Talim will officially return as a playable character in Soul Calibur VI.

Talim first appeared in Soul Calibur II, fighting with bladed tonfa-like weapons, and returns to the series after an absense in Soul Calibur V.

Bandai Namco has also revealed the contents of both the Collector's and Deluxe editions of Soul Calibur VI. The CE will come in a special box with a CD soundtrack, metal case with built-in soundbox, 120-page art book and a 12-inch Sophitia statue in addition to the game. The Deluxe edition, meanwhile, will include the metal case and CD soundtrack along with the game's season pass.

According to the graphic, the Soul Calibur VI season pass will have five packs of content, three of which are three characters and two packs of armor. In addition, people who buy the season pass will get a bonus character as well. Unless there is an error in the writing, this means that four DLC characters will be added to the cast of SCVI.

Readers can check out the Talim trailer and images of the two special editions after the jump.

Click to read more ...

New patch to bring fixes to Fighting EX Layer

Arika will be releasing a new patch to correct some errors in the current version of Fighting EX Layer.

The game, which released on June 28, is less than a week old but in a series of tweets Arika said player feedback has already allowed the company to "grasp various problems."

The patch will temporarily remove one stage from matchmaking due to process dropout, make corrections to Training Mode, remove the Desperation Gougi's effects on Hard Attacks and make small fixes to characters such as Sanane and Hayate.

Arika also said that other adjustments will be revealed after the patch is released, which is scheduled for the first week of July. Readers, meanwhile, can check out the existing list of fixes after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Next Dissidia Final Fantasy DLC character to be revealed on July 10

The third of six characters coming to Dissidia Final Fantasy NT as part of the game's season pass will be unveiled in early July.

According to a tweet from the official Dissidia Final Fantasy account, this third character will be one of the female characters from the latter half of the series' history.

The character will be part of a larger update to both the console and arcade versions of the game, which will also include game adjustments and fixes. The details of the patch, including the character, will be revealed during a stream on July 10 at 8 p.m. in Japan (4 a.m. PDT, 7 a.m. EDT) on Niconico and YouTube. The patch will then be applied to the arcade version of Dissidia on July 12.

Square Enix has not made it clear when the patch will be added to the console version of the game. Dissidia Final Fantasy is currently available in Japanese arcades and for the PlayStation 4.

Bleach's Ichigo, Rukia and Aizen officially join Jump Force

Bandai Namco's upcoming arena brawler that features characters from across the different universes found in the Weekly Jump Magazine series is adding some soul reapers.

Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki and Sosuke Aizen from Bleach will be joining characters from Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto and Death Note in the upcoming tag team fighter.

From early gameplay footage, it seems that Jump Force will feature three-versus-three action with tagging, supers and gameplay that seems almost reminiscent of the Gundam Versus series. 

With Bleach now confirmed, it will be interesting to see what other worlds and characters are part of the fight when Jump Force comes home. Jump Force is releasing for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC sometime in 2019.

Blade Strangers coming to North America on Aug. 28, 2018

With the Japanese release date of its new fighter already set, Nicalis has now revealed Blade Strangers' release date for North America.

On Aug. 28, the collaboration between Nicalis and Studio Saizensen will come home to players for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The game includes a cast drawn from several different titles such as Code of Princess EX, Cave Story, Azure Striker Gunvolt, Binding of Isaac, Umihara Kawase and Shovel Knight.

According to listings on Amazon, Blade Strangers will be priced at $39.99 for both consoles.

Patch coming to improve Street Fighter collection netplay, other issues

Three versions of the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection will be receiving a patch on June 28, 2018, to make several improvements to the title.

The big change is that the PlayStation 4 and Steam versions of the game will now include a matchmaking filter, allowing players to set minimum connection strength for matches. The Xbox One version, however, uses Microsoft's system for matching players and thus no filter will be added.

In addition, all three platforms will now ban Akuma from ranked play in Super Street Fighter II Turbo; offer stereo sound output for both Street Fighter III: New Generation and 2nd Impact; and include other "various localization improvements."

Capcom is also currently working on a Switch version of the patch, but no release date is available at this time.

Koihime Enbu RyoRaiRai coming to Steam, PS4 on July 12

The previously announced home version of the newest iteration in the Koihime Enbu series will be releasing in the first half of July 2018.

Koihime Enbu RyoRaiRai includes balance changes, new colors and a new character, Chōryō, as well as a new assist character in the form of Kaku. The game has also removed faction restrictions from the assist characters to create more opportunities for players to be creative in their strategies.

Koihime Enbu will be sold as a separate release from its predecessor, but there is no listed price at this time. Readers can check out the RyoRaiRai trailer after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Listed, hidden changes join Cody with new Street Fighter V patch

The new patch bringing Cody to SFV is now available, and along with the upgrades and additions it has made changes to the game's balance.

Capcom has listed several in-game changes to character abilities, most of which are slight corrections such as Menat now being allowed to buffer commands a bit earlier to make up for timing windows or Kolin now being allowed to activate her first V-Trigger off the Frost Spike chain. However, Loïc "WydD" Petit dug into the game and discovered some unlisted changes including a nerf to Akuma's standing medium kick that makes it -4 on block.

Readers can check out Petit's list on Twitter. He is unclear on what some of the changes he has found mean, and hopes players of those characters might be able to help him discover the extent of the changes.

Loïc *WydD* Petit

Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour rules, dates announced

The upcoming circuit of tournaments for Bandai Namco's newest fighter has been revealed.

Starting at CEO 2018, the DBFZ World Tour will include seven Saga events as well as a last-chance qualifier event on the weekend of the grand finals event. The grand finals event, taking place on Jan. 26-27, 2019, will then host an eight-player bracket to decide the champion.

It wouldn't be Dragon Ball, however, without the possibility of a wish. Each of the seven Saga events will grant the winner access to one of the Dragon Balls and automatic entry into the finals event. For each ball a player collects, they will receive a higher seed at that event and also create another LCQ during that weekend, as qualification will not be passed down. If one player manages to win all seven Saga events, though, that player will receive an automatic bye to the grand finals where they will play the winner of the LCQ in a first-to-10 set for the title of champion.

Five Saga locations have so far been revealed, and they include tournaments all over the globe. For the complete rules and event dates, as well as prize money, readers can check out the official DBFZ World Tour website.

Summer Steam sale brings discounts to many fighters until July 5

A new sale running through the beginning of July 2018 is bringing sizable price cuts to many popular FGC titles across publishers.

Games with dedicated pro tours such as Tekken 7, Street Fighter V, Injustice 2 and Dragon Ball FighterZ are included as well as BlazBlue Central Fiction, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, Killer Instinct, Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code, King of Fighters XIV, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite and more. The DLC for most of these fighters is also on sale under the current offer.

The Steam summer sale runs from June 21 to July 5, 2018, and includes plenty of titles across all genres. Readers can check out the full list of discounted games at Steam.

DBFZ for Switch comes to North America, Europe on Sept. 28

Players outside Japan waiting to get their hands on the Switch release of Dragon Ball FighterZ will only have to wait one additional day.

The console will receive the game on Sept. 28, 2018, in those regions and include the same bonuses given to the Japanese version: immediate access to Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (Blue) Goku and Vegeta as well as a code to download Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden.

None of the other DLC characters will come unlocked with the Switch version, but all that have been released on other platforms will be available for purchase.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is currently available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

Trophies reveal Mui Mui, Terry as playable in SNK Heroines

According to a list of trophies released for the upcoming game, the last two characters in the SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy roster are Mui Mui and Terry Bogard.

These participants are made known by two trophies, one which is awarded by clearing the game with Mui Mui and Terry, and another which is given for beating the story with Mui Mui and Mian.

Much like many of the other characters in SNK Heroines, Mui Mui made her fighting game debut in King of Fighters XIV. Meanwhile, the inclusion of Terry in the all-women fighter might seem odd at first, but SNK's previous Gals' Fighters game—released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color in 2000—did include Iori Yagami as the boss character Miss X.

SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy launches for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on Sept. 6, 2018, in Japan and Sept. 7 in North America and Europe.

Street Fighter V update brings Cody, Devil May Cry costumes, Fighting Chance and changes to Survival Mode on June 25

Cody will coming to Street Fighter V a day earlier than expected, and he's bringing with him several new alterations to the game.

The biggest changes revolve around the game's Survival Mode. Used to unlock colors for each character in the game and earn experience, Survival will now feature new consumables, called Battle Goods, that will help give players an advantage in trying to finish off the CPU opponents. There will also be new options to save progress during Survival and even spend Fight Money to continue if players are defeated.

There will also be a new Fighting Chance Mode added to SFV, where players can spend 500 Fight Money to get random prizes, including exclusive colors and costumes, Battle Goods and art from the Street Fighter series.

Lastly, Devil May Cry costumes are coming to SFV. Two of the new outfits, Ken as Dante and Ed as Nero, will available for $3.99 each on release. A final costume, Laura as Gloria, will only be available through the game's Extra Battle Mode. This means players will have to complete four weekly challenges in the month of July to unlock the costume. 

For images of the Ken and Ed costumes, including a sneak peak at the upcoming Air Man Extra Battle Mode costume for Rashid, readers can check out Capcom Unity.

Details revealed for DBFZ on Switch, releases Sept. 27 in Japan

The upcoming Switch version of Dragon Ball FighterZ will be coming out at the end of September 2018 in Japan, and more details about the release have become available.

According to Ryokutya, the game will come with Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Vegeta and Goku unlocked, as well as a download code for the Super Famicom game Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden. Butōden was the first-ever Dragon Ball fighter. The title will also come packaged with a super rare cade for the Dragon Ball Heroes arcade game.

In addition, the game will also featured an option for simplified gameplay in the form of the "Extreme" control type. This will allow players to perform moves by combining L and R with other button presses. 

Dragon Ball FighterZ is currently available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

Kill la Kill game announced, more information coming at Anime Expo

After teasing an announcement for several days, Arc System Works has revealed that an upcoming project in conjunction with Studio Trigger will be a game based on the Kill la Kill anime.

Kill la Kill The Game looks to be a 3-D arena brawler developed by APLUS, the company responsible for Studio Trigger's Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time game. Arc System Works will be the publisher for the title.

Several screenshots of the work in progress can be found on the game's official website, but no more information is available at this time. According to the site, more details will be released to the public during Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California, on July 5-8, 2018. Readers can check out the game's announcement teaser after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Pro wrestling team battle in Street Fighter V now archived

The showdown between two of pro wrestling's well-known factions at E8 2018 is now archived on YouTube for anyone who missed the original broadcast.

The Elite—New Japan Pro-Wrestling's IWGP champion Kenny Omega and tag team champions The Young Bucks—battled it out with WWE's New Day—Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods—in two Street Fighter V matchups. The first saw a crew battle between the two sides, and the second was a first-to-five-games stipulation match between Kenny Omega and Xavier Woods that would see the loser's team eat hot peppers.

The event, which lasted roughly an hour and a half, was emceed by Tasty Steve and featured commentary by James Chen and Yipes. Although it is certainly not the highest level of SFV play, the competition featured plenty of entertaining trash talk and commentary.

Readers can check out the video after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Blade Strangers release in Japan set for Aug. 30, 2018

The collaboration fighting game from Nicalis and Studio Saizensen is coming to Japanese consoles at the end of summer.

Blade Strangers brings 14 characters from series like Umihara Kawase, Cave Story and Code of Princess together with indie stars like Shovel Knight for a diverse cast of fighters.

According to an April blog from Nicalis, the game "offers easy-to-learn four-button controls and simplified inputs for special moves, placing the focus on skill and strategy rather than button memorization."

Blade Strangers will be coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Japan. The game's release date in other regions has not been unveiled at this time.

The soul still burns: Soul Calibur VI arrives Oct. 19, 2018, new story trailer hints at more returning characters

A new trailer for Soul Calibur debuted during E3 2018 has given players the game's release date along with possible clues as to more of its cast.

Soul Calibur VI will release in mid-October, and the story trailer gives new players an idea of the events surrounding the characters and the game's main conflict.

It has also, however, given longtime fans of the franchise some hope that other classic characters will be coming back as playable fighters. During the trailer, silhouettes that look like Cervantes, Lizardman, Astaroth and Rock are shown, suggesting they will make an appearance in the title. At this point, however, these tidbits can only fuel speculation.

Readers can watch the story trailer after the jump. Soul Calibur VI is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam.

Click to read more ...

Luong, Mian officially announced for SNK Heroines

A new trailer has confirmed more King of Fighters XIV additions to SNK's new tag fighter.

Luong and Mian are the latest pair to join SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. With their reveal, only two mystery characters remain in the game's base cast.

Readers can check out the trailer after the jump. SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy launches for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 consoles on Sept. 6, 2018, in Japan and Sept. 7 in North America and Europe.

Click to read more ...

Dragon Ball FighterZ coming to Nintendo Switch in 2018

Bandai Namco is bringing its popular Dragon Ball fighter to a new platform before the end of the year.

During the Nintendo Direct presentation for E3 2018, it was revealed that Dragon Ball FighterZ will be coming to Switch.

No other details, including the status of the game's DLC offerings, were revealed at this time.

Readers can check out the reveal trailer after the jump.

Click to read more ...