Gameplay details reveal the secrets of Zeku's ninjutsu

Capcom has posted gameplay details on Zeku ahead of his release in Street Fighter V on Oct. 24, giving players more information on the character's moves and abilities.

Zeku's ability to switch from his older form to his younger comes from his V-Skill, which also teleports him either in front of or behind his opponent depending on the input. Zeku's two forms are very different: in his older form Zeku has slower moves but retains a flip move similar to Guy's for mixup opportunities, while in his younger form he is much quicker and has a short run like his student.

Zeku's V-Trigger, meanwhile, is a special dash that allows him to follow up with a "custom combo that deals additional hits." His V-Trigger does not change depending on whether is he young or old.

As with other characters, Zeku will release with both a Story and Battle costume but he will have a Nostalgia costume as well. For more information, including pictures and gifs of Zeku's abilities in action, readers can head over to Capcom Unity.

BBTag announces three new characters, coming to PS4, PC, Switch

A second RWBY character and two BlazBlue stalwarts have been announced as part of the upcoming game from Arc System Works.

Rachel Allucard and Hazama are coming to BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, bringing their familiar fighting styles to the new game. They are joined by RWBY's Weiss Schnee, who will bring quickness in combat and use of her rapier Myrtenaster to the title.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle is coming to PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Steam in early 2018. Readers can check out the new trailer after the jump.

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Zeku springs into action for Street Fighter V on Oct. 24

Guy's former teacher will make his first playable appearance in a Street Fighter games as the last DLC fighter in season two.

Zeku fights with an array of special kicks and a bushin flip move similar to that of Guy. He can also transform into a younger version of himself, but at this time it is unknown how that affects the character outside of appearance.

Zeku will be available for players to purchase on Oct. 24, 2017. Readers can check out the character's trailer after the jump.

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Oct. 16 patch to bring changes to Spider-Man, others in MvCI

A new patch for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite will release one day before the game's first wave of DLC characters launches on Oct. 17, 2017, and it will change how characters like Spider-Man are played in the game.

The biggest news is that Spider-Man's web ball projectile is getting an overhaul as now after a third "grab" projectile—including Frank's hammer throw—hits an opponent, they will spin out of the combo. These combos can also now be escaped by using counter tag.

Other changes include a fix to a bug that "made it impossible to block during the last frame of crouching block recovery"; the ability to tech in eight directions after certain hits in the air including Dante's bee hive and Doctor Strange's bolts of Balthakk; and specific fixes for those characters along with Captain America and Dormammu.

Readers can check out the complete list of changes at Capcom Unity.

MvCI Spider-Man infinite soft-banned at Battle for the Stones events

The Spider-Man infinite that has been the subject of debate in the Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite community has been weakened in official Battle for the Stones tournaments.

The infinite, which uses the character's web ball attack in conjunction with the Reality Stone surge to create a looping combo, will only be allowed for three repetitions according to the official Battle for the Stones rules. A player who executes more than that number will be forced to forfeit the match.

According to the rules, the combo "is an unintended effect that circumvents the gameplay mechanics" of MvCI and that organizers feel this is the best answer to the current debate. It is also stated that future decisions like this will be decided "on a case by case basis."

Pokkén Tournament DX update to include record feature, online modes

An update coming to the Switch version of Pokkén Tournament will offer several improvements to the game's online and training mode experiences.

The update will offer both Team Battle and Group Battle as online modes, giving players new ways to compete with distant opponents. Team Battle offers a spin on the classic Pokémon experience as players pit their top three fighters against one another, and Group Battle will allow official groups from the game to compete. There will even be special Group Battle incentives like titles in the future.

Pokkén Tournament DX will also be getting a record feature in Free Training mode, which will allow players to more thoroughly test gameplay ideas and their applications outside of match play.

The update will also include balance changes and more, but currently has no release date.

Brawlhalla exits beta, releases on Oct. 17

The platforming brawler created by Blue Mammoth Games will step out of its beta phase in mid-October 2017.

Brawlhalla will see its official release on Oct. 17, one day before a new legend is added to the cast of fighters. This legend, the corsair, will offer "an entirely new playstyle" as she fights with her cannon.

Brawlhalla is a free to play on both Steam and PlayStation 4, but continues to offer the Founder's Pack which immediately unlocks all current and future legends in the game for $20. Blue Mammoth also promises that cross-play is still in the works.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle demo impressions by SKD

Panda Global's SuperKawaiiDesu attended New York Comic Con, and after playing the demo for Arc System Works' upcoming BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle has compiled his thoughts about it into several posts.

In those posts, SKD talks about the basic system of the game as he best understands it, from basic normals and gatlings to the new assist and Resonance Blaze systems.

His fourth post is an overview, in which he tries to clarify thoughts he had in earlier posts and also offers some preliminary evaluations of the depth of the game, discussing what may need to be fixed as development continues.

Readers can check the posts on Twitlonger (one, two, three, four).

Arika’s Mysterious Fighting Game: Evo impressions, recent updates & the future by Josh "funkdoc" Ballard, part 2

(Part one of this article can be found here.)

After talking at length about the gameplay systems found in Arika EX, Funkdoc looks at the individual characters found in the playable build as well as the way the game has changed as Arika continues to work on it.

Character Notes

The Evo build had 3 playable characters: Kairi, Hokuto (whose name was changed to Shirase since then), and Garuda. They got this honor by being the first three characters Arika created for Street Fighter EX, and I enjoyed all of them.

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Gameplay videos highlight newest Dragon Ball FighterZ characters

Game Informer's coverage of Dragon Ball FighterZ continues with video guides explaining the four most recent additions to the game.

The four videos cover the basic attacks and gameplay ideas behind Super Saiyan Blue (or Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan) Vegeta and Goku as well as Yamcha and Tien (Tenshinhan). While short they do give players an idea of how each character will fit in the world of DBFZ when the game is released in early 2018.

Readers can check out the videos at Game Informer.

Tekken World Tour finals coming Nov. 12, playable Geese at event

The Tekken World Tour 2017 will conclude in San Francisco, California, in early November.

City View at Metreon will be the location where 16 of the top competitors in Tekken 7 battle for $50,000 in prize money. This 16-player bracket will be comprised of the top five players from the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific TWT leaderboards as well as this year's Evolution champion, JDCR. 

There will also be added bonuses for those who attend the event as spectators. Demo stations featuring Tekken 7's next DLC character, Geese Howard, will be set up for play before he is available to the general public, and Tekken merchandise booths and a meet-and-greet with Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray of the Tekken Team will also be available.

Readers interested in the Tekken World Tour finals can get more information and buy tickets at Eventbrite.

Monster Hunter, Sigma, Black Panther coming to MvCI on Oct. 17

The first three of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite's six announced DLC characters will be available to players in mid-October 2017.

Although Monster Hunter's gameplay was revealed at Tokyo Game Show 2017, a new trailer from Capcom shows how Black Panther and Sigma will handle. Black Panther uses speed and superior air movement—including the ability to cling to walls and attack from them—to neutralize his foes while Sigma fights with his classic beam saber, a command throw and a counter teleport.

All three characters will be available as part of the game's character pass or will cost players $7.99 each. This will include a premium costume for each character, which can be seen at Capcom Unity.

Readers can check out the trailer for Sigma and Black Panther after the jump.

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Atom to cut Injustice 2 opponents down to size

While the third character of Fighter Pack 2, Hellboy, has yet to be released, NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. Games have announced another new character for Injustice 2: The Atom.

According to the teaser for the character, Atom's powers of altering his size will allow him to quickly manuever around opponents, sometimes in ways almost like a teleport.

There is no other information on Atom at this time, but according to NRS's Paulo Garcia he is a "tiny peak" at Fighter Pack 3. Readers can check out the trailer after the jump.

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First match footage of BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle released

Days before a playable demo of the title will be available at New York Comic Con, the first video of a match of BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle has been released to the public.

The footage shows many features that players have seen in Capcom's team games over the years: assists, being able to cancel one character's super move with another and the possibility of mixing up the opponent once you kill one of their characters.

What is new, however, is the Resonance Blaze, a mode that seems to unlock only once a player loses one of the two characters. It's not clear exactly what Resonance Blaze does, but upon activation the player begins to automatically gain meter at a fast rate and may gain other bonuses as well.

Players in the U.S. will have the chance to check out BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle at New York Comic Con on Oct. 5-8, 2017. Readers can check out the footage, originally courtesy of Rooster Teeth's Gray Haddock, after the jump.

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Alvaaron, Buster Gundam coming to Gundam Versus in Japan on Oct. 17

Two new mobile suits have been announced as DLC for the Japanese version of Gundamn Versus.

Alvaaron and pilot Alejandro Corner appear from Mobile Suit Gundam 00, while the Buster Gundam and Dearka Elsman come from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.

The Alvaaron will have a striker in the form of the GNX-603T GN-X "Jinx" Gundam, while Buster Gundam will have the GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam and GAT-X102 Duel Gundam.

No trailers are available at this time. Both mobile suits will cost players 650 yen (about $6).

Cloud of Darkness to engulf Dissidia Final Fantasy

The main villain of Final Fantasy III is joining the cast of the Dissidia Final Fantasy and its upcoming PlayStation 4 counterpart.

Cloud of Darkness fights with its two tentacles, which give it much longer melee reach, as well as several powerful magic attacks including one that seems like a counter of some kind.

Cloud of Darkness is the third character announced as part of Square Enix's plan to roll out a new Dissidia character for every month from August through November. Jecht and Ultimecia have also been revealed for the title.

Readers can check out the Cloud of Darkness trailer after the jump. Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is scheduled for release on the PlayStation 4 console in early 2018.

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Six Stars!!!!!! coming to Steam in Dec. 2017, preorders available

After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Examu will be bringing its newest version of Arcana Heart to Steam at the end of 2017.

Arcana Heart 3 Love Max Six Stars!!!!!! will come to the platform with a new arcana (Paracelsia), new character (Shark Girl) and updated balancing thanks to stretch goal donations.

Interested players who did not Kickstart the game can currently preorder the game through BackerKit along with other Arcana Heart merchandise including shirts, soundtracks, posters, stickers and more. This money will go toward the original stretch goals for the game, meaning there is still a chance that playable character Dark Heart and arcana Love Prison Geist could be added to the game.

The BackerKit preorders will be live until Oct. 31, 2017.

Is StrongStyle coming back?

Northern California's Tekken-focused tournament series may be making a return after a layoff of more than three years.

During recent streams on the NorCal StrongStyle Twitch account, NCSS staff member and storied Tekken player Bronson Tran has talked to viewers about the possibility of an upcoming event, asking for their input. He has polled people on their Tekken 7 platform of choice, interest in side tournaments and even details about venue. 

Tran even responded to Twitter comments comparing StrongStyle to Halley's Comet by saying, "I hear it's coming back around orbit." The last StrongStyle was held in September 2014, and was preceded by StrongStyle 4 in January 2010.

While this is clearly no confirmation of anything, it does seem like the NCSS staff is preparing the community for an announcement of some kind. Tekken players will just have to wait and see if StrongStyle does indeed make its return. (Full disclosure: IPLAYWINNER partnered with NorCal StrongStyle to help produce its 2010 and 2014 events.)

Arika’s Mysterious Fighting Game: Evo impressions, recent updates & the future by Josh "funkdoc" Ballard, part 1

After an extremely busy couple months, I'm finally back to talk more about Arika's new fighting game! It still doesn't have an official title, so I'll just use Arika EX since that seems to be the short working title. I played it far more than any other game at Evo this year, and was even allowed some press time with it—huge thanks to Jiyuna for that! I'll discuss my thoughts on the game after that experience, factoring in the revelations on Daigo's stream and the recent Nemo vs. Fuudo stream.

Changes from the Initial Build

A couple of the major mechanics in the April Fool's Day build were removed from the versions we've seen since then, as both sidestepping and the Roman Cancel knockoff are gone. In their place we gained the now-infamous Gougi System: the ability to choose from different "decks" of special abilities which are unlocked by meeting specific conditions during the course of the match. People immediately compared these to Street Fighter X Tekken's gems, but that doesn't quite capture the idea. A Gougi is more like a set of gems, and on the whole these abilities change the game far more than gems did.

Many suspect that the Roman Cancel was removed because it could end up being reserved for certain Gougi decks, but it would be highly unbalanced to give sidestepping the same treatment. My own hunch regarding the sidestep removal is twofold. First, there may have been concerns that stepping could cause camera weirdness and make it hard for the players to see their characters. Second, they almost certainly screwed up combos and moved characters off-axis when they shouldn't have been; older Arika fighters had problems with this on certain crossups and D.Dark's wire.

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ARMS update brings new stage, balance changes

Version 3.1 of ARMS has launched for the Nintendo Switch, bringing with it a small number of balance adjustments and a new stage to both casual and ranked play.

The Sparring Ring is now selectable by players and will come up in ranked matches. The square stage has no gimmicks and was previously only part of the Warm-up minigame.

In terms of balance, Ninjara has received a distance boost to his airdash, while several of the ARMS have seen small tweaks in terms of extension or retraction time. Readers can check out the complete list of changes on the Nintendo website.