Tekken 7 console characters coming to arcades on July 27

The arcade version of Tekken 7: Fated Retribution will be updated with console characters at the end of July.

According to a tweet from the official Tekken Project Twitter, Eliza, Eddy, Lee, Panda, Kuma and Miguel will join the cast as part of the newest version on July 27, 2017. While the update will also contain changes to game balance and item customization, those details will be announced later.

The update was first announced in May, when no date was given for additions to the game.

Evolution 2017 stream schedule reveals "The Jumpoff"

The Evo stream schedule is now available for viewing, and it has included a new wrinkle in this year's broadcast: The Jumpoff.

A collaboration between ten/o, Twitch, Evo and more, The Jumpoff will be a rountable discussion on a separate stream channel where the rotating panel will have access to all the different happenings of Evolution simulataneously. According to executive producer Chris Ceglia, The Jumpoff "is us 'Jumping' around to all the streams within the venue and able to have full length conversations about games that are going on with different members of the entire FGC." (full disclosure: IPLAYWINNER is an affiliate of ten/o LLC)

Ceglia promises that the experimental show will have special guests, amazing commentators and "heartbreaking matches."

While the full list of talent involved with The Jumpoff will not be unveiled until Evolution, Sajam, Rynge and Progducto have tweeted that they will be spending a lot of time with the show. For the complete Evo schedule, readers can head over to the official website.

Evo, Street Fighter V return to ESPN2 in 2017

ESPN will again broadcast from Evolution as ESPN2 carries coverage of the Street Fighter V finals on July 16, 2017.

The game will be the closing title of Evolution 2017's finals day. ESPN's coverage will begin at 10 p.m. EDT (7 p.m. PDT) on ESPN2 along with streaming on the ESPN app.

"It's great to be back at the Evo Championship Series Final with Street Fighter V this year," said Kevin Lopes, a director of ESPN's programming and acquisitions, in a statement. "This final will provide no shortage of compelling competition, and we look forward to delivering this event to fans."

Evolution 2017 will take place from July 14-16 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Super Desperation Radio episode 623 archive online

The latest episode of Super Desperation Radio is now available for watching on Team Spooky's YouTube channel.

Days before Evolution 2017, SDR talked about the upcoming tournament weekend and all the action that will take place at Mandalay Bay. This included discussion about favorites in each game and the yearly "Pockets Pick" as Hellpockets tried to predict the champion of Street Fighter V.

The cast also covered the funding of Arcana Heart 3 Love Max Six Stars!!!!!! and the upcoming stretch goals; the impending release of Under Night In-Birth Exe:Lat[st] and its recent arcade patch; and the new Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 digital figure patch.

Super Desperation Radio is live every Monday at 6:30 p.m. PDT on Team Spooky, and will be archived at the TS YouTube channel. Classic episodes can still be found on the IPLAYWINNER YouTube.

Six Stars!!!!!! funded, new character stretch goals coming soon

Examu has already reached its $100,000 goal for funding the Arcana Heart 3 Love Max Six Stars!!!!!! PC release, and now the company is preparing to unveil stetch goals in the form of new characters.

The announcement was made on July 9, as part of a thank you message to fans for their donations.

Examu promised that the new characters "will be uniquely distinct and will not disappoint," and said more information will be coming "this week." While the company did not explicitly say how many characters players can expect as stretch goals, the Kickstarter shows three locked stretch goals and three shadowy figures appear above the stretch goal section of the page.

Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] version 3.20 changes by Sourenga

The new balance patch for Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] has released in Japanese arcades ahead of the game's console release on July 20, and Twitter user Sourenga has translated the changes.

The eight-page document includes changes for all members of the UNIST cast, and also makes note of overall goals the designers wanted to achieve with the update. The big ideas for 3.20 were adding new attacks to characters to create more depth; strengthening assault and jump overheads to help break the guard of defending players; and adding attribute invinicibility to certain attacks which will allow them to act as effective anti-airs.

Players can find the original Japanese change list on the official UNIST website, and a link to the translations on Sourenga's Twitter.

Ultimate Tekken Bowl DLC coming to Tekken 7 in August 2017

After some speculation thanks to modders of the PC version, Bandai Namco has released an official trailer announcing Ultimate Tekken Bowl as downloadable content for Tekken 7.

Originally a minigame added to the console release of Tekken Tag Tournament for PlayStation 2, Tekken Bowl spawned a following over the years of players who remember it fondly. It was most recently added as a bonus to the PlayStation Portable version of Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection and even released as a standalone application for cell phones.

Ultimate Tekken Bowl will likely be part of Tekken 7's first DLC pack, but no other details about pricing or other content are available at this time.

Readers can check out the trailer after the jump.

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Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 update adds new digital figures, improvements

A new patch has been released in Japan for the PlayStation 3 and 4 versions of Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 containing a big update to Digital Figure Mode along with improvements and bug fixes.

The update brings new characters and poses to Digital Figure Mode, including nonplayable characters such as Ariels, Zappa, Robo-Ky, Gabriel and more. These can all be earned through fishing like other models.

The rest of the update includes small changes, like the ability to see a combo's list of inputs in training mode via "Combo Recipe Display," and fixes to bugs that prevented players from receiving the money bonus for clearing Answer and Baiken's combo trials or sitting at a machine in an online lobby. 

Though currently not available outside Japan, the update should be heading to other regions soon. Arc System Works did not reveal details on when the Steam version of the patch is coming, but did note that more story mode content will be added to Rev 2 in a different upcoming update.

A brief history of Arika and its fighters by Josh "funkdoc" Ballard, part 4

(Links to the previous articles can be found here: one, two, three)

Part 4: Street Fighter EX3 and Looking Ahead

Full Disclosure: I am one of the biggest goddamn EX3 truthers in the world. It's one of my absolute favorite fighting games of all time and I could gush about it for days on end. I will try to keep that out of this section, though.

Released in 2000, Street Fighter EX3 was a first-generation PlayStation 2 exclusive. It sold better than you'd expect given the general state of fighting games at this point, since it was the only early PS2 fighter besides Tekken Tag Tournament. It's the only Arika fighter not to receive an arcade release, which has had major effects on its long-term reception compared to that of EX2+.

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UNIST balance update coming to arcades

Arc System Works has announced a balance update will be coming to the arcade version of Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st].

The update comes just ahead of the game's release on PlayStation 3, 4 and Vita console on July 20, 2017. The title was also recently announced for a late 2017 release in the North America via Aksys Games.

No changes have been revealed as this time, but it seems like this is intended to get the arcade version to parity with the upcoming console version. Console characters Enkidu and Erika Wagner are not going to be added yet, however.

Tekken 7 version 1.3 balance changes translated

Avoiding the Puddle's Flying Wonkey has translated the character-specific changes found in T7's newest patch.

The changes have been available as a PDF on the Japanese website, but so far only a more general list has been given to players in other regions.

The document includes alterations for Nina, Lee, Kuma/Panda, Miguel, Eliza and Eddy. Readers can check out the changes, courtesy of Avoiding the Puddle, after the jump.

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Tekken 7 version 1.3 rolling out on PlayStation 4

A new update to Tekken 7 has been released in Japan and will be available in other regions on or before July 5.

The patch aims to reduce input lag on the PS4 version of T7, which according to Tekken Project leader Katsuhiro Harada only occurred with certain wired controllers. Harada also said that version 1.3 will also contain other changes to online play and some fine tuning. The patch notes can be found after the jump.

According to TekkenGamer, the patch is already showing up in other regions, as players in the England and Australia are currently downloading it.

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Ultimate electric wind godfist guide by The Main Man

Sweden's The Main Man has created a new tutorial explaining one of Tekken's signature attacks.

The electric wind godfist is one of the strongest tools in a Mishima—Devil Jin, Kazuya or Heihachi—player's toolkit, offering both strong combo damage and great punishment options.

In a 16-minute video, The Main Man explains the move, its variations and how players can practice improving their own execution for ewgfs.

Readers can check out the video after the jump.

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Super Desperation Radio episode 622 archive online

The latest episode of Super Desperation Radio is now available for watching on Team Spooky's YouTube channel.

SDR welcomed Daryl "DJcream" Bunao back to the show to talk about AnimEvo at Evolution 2017. He talked about the free Gundam Versus tournament that will be sponsored by Bandai Namco, and discussed some of the entrant numbers for AnimEvo games.

Joey "Mr. Wizard" Cuellar then suprised the cast by joining along with Chris Ceglia to reveal more details about Evo as they pulled the show into overtime. He talked about the bigger BYOC area (complete with a bar), three-out pools and other interesting bits of information about the upcoming event.

Super Desperation Radio is live every Monday at 6:30 p.m. PDT on Team Spooky, and will be archived at the TS YouTube channel. Classic episodes can still be found on the IPLAYWINNER YouTube.

A spectator's guide to BlazBlue Central Fiction by Ebonic Plague

With Evolution 2017 only weeks away, Portland's Ebonic Plague has compiled a guide to help viewers enjoy the title when it makes its appearance on the main stage.

The "Spectator's Guide to BlazBlue" is a 15-page document that tries to break down the game's system and characters in a way that viewers of other fighting games can easily understand. It offers small paragraphs on each of the system mechanics and characters in BBCF, and also includes notable players to watch at the upcoming event. Ebonic Plague even offers a small frequently asked questions section and other useful links at the end of the guide.

Readers can check out the guide on Google Documents.

Six more pilots added to Senko no Ronde 2 cast

The official website for G.Rev's upcoming sequel has revealed six new pilots.

Each pilot and their partner has a dedicated page with story profiles and a gameplay trailer. The character pairings—Ursule Uexkull/Giles Hitzfeld; Jasper Hilquit Hongo/Alessandro Gilardino and Theo Tveit/Gustav Grafenberg—represent the game's three main factions while Ranatus/Nino Picciioli and solo pilots Ernula and Sakurako Sanjo exist as separate entities.

Readers can check out each of the trailers after the jump and head over to the official Senko no Ronde 2 website for the complete profiles.

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Arcana Heart 3 Love Max Six Stars!!!!!! Kickstarter launches July 5

The crowdfunding effort to bring the newest version of the Arcana Heart to PC will begin early in July 2017.

Developer Examu first announced the start date on June 22, and has since tweeted an update.

Originally released in Japanese arcades in 2014, Six Stars!!!!!! introduces a new character (Minori Amanohara), a new arcana (Ichor) and balance changes. The game has never been released on any console or home platform. 

The idea to crowdfund a PC version of the game was first announced back in March, and Examu has stated if this campaign is successful the company will create one for Daemon Bride as well. 

Super Desperation Radio episode 621 archive online

The latest episode of Super Desperation Radio is now available for watching on Team Spooky's YouTube channel.

After two weeks off, SDR returned with its first show since the announcement of Dragon Ball FighterZ. This lead to plenty of hype from Hellpockets, and some from Sanchez, before the crew got down to business with guest Antonio "CoolGrayAJ" Javier.

The fighting games manager for Echo Fox, Javier answered SDR's questions about his job, his history in competitive gaming and the type of players Echo Fox is interested in signing. Javier also took time to field questions from the audience.

Super Desperation Radio is live every Monday at 6:30 p.m. PDT on Team Spooky, and will be archived at the TS YouTube channel. Classic episodes can still be found on the IPLAYWINNER YouTube.

Theo joins the Echo Fox roster

Echo Fox has announced another high-profile signing from the NetherRealm community in the form of Theo.

The player formerly known as Emperor Theo was one of the strongest players on the West Coast for the original Injustice, dominating the title at Wednesday Night Fights, placing highly at major events and tying for seventh place at Evolution 2014.

While Theo took a hiatus during Mortal Kombat X, "he is back with a vengeance for Injustice 2," Echo Fox team manager Antonio Javier said in an announcement video. The new signee has already made his mark, placing fifth at CEO 2017 after putting tournament favorite and now-teammate Sonic Fox into losers.

Theo will join Scar and SonicFox as the third member of Echo Fox's Injustice team.

A brief history of Arika and its fighters by Josh "funkdoc" Ballard, part 3

Part 3: Fighting Layer

Fighting Layer was released in 1998, though a bit later than the original version of EX2. It was published by Namco, whereas all of the EX games were published by Capcom. It remains a highly obscure game since it didn't have the Street Fighter name to draw player attention. Being a Japan-only and arcade-only release, it still sees occasional play there but is hardly touched elsewhere. It may be known best for the fact that Arika used Blair & Allen in this game instead of EX2 and 3.

This game retains the super cancels and general feel of the EX series but is very much its own creature. The most obvious difference lies in the movement: Fighting Layer has dashes and sidesteps. Additionally, Guard Breaks have been replaced with universal overheads that don't cost meter and will stun crouching opponents for a follow-up combo. Most characters have Target Combos, often from repeatedly pressing LP. These can usually combo into specials and supers so they're important for hit confirms. There is also a universal wakeup option called the Hard Reversal, which costs meter but is invincible for an extremely long time and can be performed early in the knockdown state. This game doesn't have as many traditional reversals as EX, hence the need for this feature.

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