Cognitive Dissonance: Subjectivity

The debate to ban Kokonoe rages online and her game is still two months away from its North American release. BlazBlue: ChronoPhantasma launches in the United States on March 25, but by then it's likely that the DLC character who is causing such a fuss will be deemed unplayable in U.S. tournaments. It has already been a long and somewhat annoying road, but make no mistake banning characters from tournament play is something that is never done lightly. Tournament organizers want to have enough evidence that they can be sure they aren't simply removing one top-tier character so another can take its place. They need to be sure that the character in question is “breaking” the game.

Sadly, this is something that can never be proven. This is because, as a decentralized body of small scenes and tournament groups, there is no objective set of rules that determines when a character has indeed overstepped the bounds of simply being high tier into broken territory; every decision people make is subjective. Even when Damien “Damdai” Dailidenas convinced the HD Remix community that Akuma needed to be banned, some people still argued against it. Looking back on that decision now, it seems that banning HDR Akuma was the right decision for the game's lifespan, but that's about as close as anyone can get to saying it was objectively the right choice.

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Super Desperation Radio Episode 247 Archive Online

The latest episode of Super Desperation Radio is now available for watching on IPLAYWINNER'S YouTube channel.

Even Super Desperation Radio cannot escape Kokonoe, as new developments in the ongoing ban discussion took center stage and the cast decided her time as a playable character may be coming to an end.

There was also talk about the upcoming NorCal Regionals and its move to Sacramento; the Smash Bros. community and their successful Apex event; and Ayaikun finally came out of the woods to exchange heated words with Hellpockets over MMOs when he suggested that Final Fantasy XIV is a worse game than Tera Online.

Super Desperation Radio is live every Monday at 6:30 p.m. PST on Twitch and YouTube.

Super Desperation Radio Episode 246 Archive Online

The latest episode of Super Desperation Radio is now available for watching on IPLAYWINNER'S YouTube channel.

This week on the show the cast discussed the many recent tournaments including Defend the North, Rebel Up, the 3S Coop Cup and the Capcom History Olympics from A-Cho. Along with the results there was also renewed discussion about BBCP community arguments regarding the status of Kokonoe and the banning of the Cronus device for the upcoming SoCal Regionals.

Walkman, Sanchez and ManChest also took time to lavish praise on the Bravely Default demo for the 3DS, explaining how the upcoming game seems to do everything an RPG can do right. From the game's variable encounter rate to its beautiful visuals, the three were quick to call it a potential game of the year. Meanwhile, the cast was still unable to locate the whereabouts of Ayaikun, who may be lost in the woods.

Super Desperation Radio is live every Monday at 6:30 p.m. PST on Twitch and YouTube.

Patrick Collins Fundraiser; Tournament Jan. 18 at Super Arcade

The Tekken community was recently shaken by the death of Patrick Collins, a longtime community member from Northern California. To help support Collins's family in this time of grief, Mad Catz's Mark Julio has set up a donation drive and raffle with many exclusive prizes for those willing to give to the cause.

Julio is also working with Southern California's Tekken scene and Super Arcade to run a Tekken Tag Tournament event on Saturday, Jan. 18 at Super Arcade in Walnut, Calif. The event, which will consist of Tekken Tag Tournament 1, its sequel and a side Tekken Ball tournament, will donate all tournament fees to Collins's family. For those that enter the tournaments there will be a special raffle of a signed Paul/Law Banapass card by Tekken Project leader Katsuhiro Harada.

The event will be streamed by IEBattlegrounds at Twitch.tv/iebattlegrounds. Hit the jump for more details of the tournament.

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Alex Jebailey Joins Iron Galaxy as Community Manager

This morning it was announced that Alex Jebailey, longtime fighting game player and organizer of the Community Effort Orlando group of events, has joined developer Iron Galaxy Studios as their community manager. Iron Galaxy is best known as the creator of Divekick and a number of Capcom high-definition remakes including Darkstalkers Resurrection, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online and Marvel Origins.

Shoryuken reached out to Jebailey, who had this to say about the news:

It is with great pleasure that I was recently offered a position I have always loved to do within the gaming industry. Since I’m always well connected with the Fighting Game Community and gamers in general through CEO, when an opportunity came from Iron Galaxy, a company I’ve been lucky to have interacted with on multiple occasions in 2013 through Divekick, it was something I jumped at the chance to do. The Gaming Industry has been something I’ve wanted to be a part of for over 20 years now so my passion for gaming will show through to hopefully entertain and both benefit Iron Galaxy and the great communities that enjoy their works. Looking forward to working with an amazing group of people and keeping the best interests of their fans connected wherever possible.

Capcom History Olympics Streaming from A-Cho

A-Cho arcade in Kyoto, Japan, is currently streaming its series of tournaments featuring almost every game in Capcom fighting game history. The event, which is running from Jan. 11-13, has featured games including Street Fighter Alpha 3, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Vampire Savior and many other classic titles.

The final day of tournaments features Street Fighter EX2 Plus, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Cyberbots and Street Fighter 2 Rainbow Edition.

Interested viewers can check on the stream on Ustream.

Super Desperation Radio Episode 245 Archive Online

The latest episode of Super Desperation Radio is now available for watching on IPLAYWINNER'S YouTube channel.

The first SDR of 2014 took time to discuss the game list of the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament 10 in May, focusing on the possible benefits of the banning format found in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom X.

This topic then morphed into speculation about the changing Road to Evolution and the games that may or may not make the cut for Evolution finals this Summer. While the hosts believe the main two Capcom games are certain, everything else seems up in the air.

Super Desperation Radio is live every Monday at 6:30 p.m. PST on Twitch and YouTube

Mad Catz and Capcom Team Up For Philippine Relief

Mad Catz's own Mark "MarkMan" Julio has revealed plans to raise money for the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. The storm, considered one of the strongest in recorded history, cost thousands their lives and caused billions in damage.

To raise the money, Mad Catz has teamed with Capcom to offer 12 of the limited edition Capcom Cup Arcade Fightstick Tournament Edition 2s as eBay auctions. The stick, of which only 24 were produced, will only be available to top placers in Capcom Cup and the winners of these auctions.

Auctions for the sticks will begin at 12:01 a.m. PST on Saturday, Dec. 14, with four sticks added each day until all have been listed. The listings will each last roughly a week. Julio has stated that all of the auctions are open to international bidding, and that a portion of the proceeds will go to the Philippine Red Cross. For more details on the event, check out Julio's post on the Mad Catz website, and hit the jump to learn more about these special TE2s.

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Imperium eSports Bar Opens in Philippines, Stream by IPW

On Thursday, Dec. 12, the Philippines welcomes its first esports bar: The Imperium. Located in Metro Manila, the bar has invited some of the local gaming communities to come and participate in its grand opening festivities. AK, the third place finisher in this year's Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Global Championships, will be at the event, as well as Garrett, a stand-out Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 player from the recent Homecoming tournament.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. PHT. Those not in Manila will be able to catch the grand opening online (2 a.m. PST, 5 a.m. EST) on IPLAYWINNER's Twitch.tv channel, with streaming provided by Offcast. Players interested in more information about the event or just The Imperium can contact them on Twitter.

Super Desperation Radio Episode 241 Archive Online

The latest episode of Super Desperation Radio is now available for watching on IPLAYWINNER'S YouTube channel.

This week the crew discussed the good and bad of NEC, taking time to focus on the results of Blazblue and the lack of Kokonoe in singles top eight. They also talked Guilty Gear, Sanford vs. Justin and stories of thrown arcade sticks from years past.

Once talk of NEC concluded, the guys (minus the vacationing Ayaikun) talked about the other big events of the week, from the Guilty Gear Xrd loktest to the return of the Valle CC in Killer Instinct. Lord Walkman also detailed the possible Skullgirls delisting that could happen at the end of the month. And Chess 2 got mentioned...again.

Super Desperation Radio is live every Monday at 6:30 p.m. PST on Twitch and YouTube

Footage of Guilty Gear Xrd's Bedman Online

Editor's note: The YouTube video has subsequently been taken down, so the link is removed. Sorry for the inconvenience.

With the Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- loktest currently going on in Japan, players knew it wouldn't be long before footage of new character Bedman appeared online. And YouTube already has it.

Bedman's moves look interesting: he has a fireball that can be called back, a tornado spin and what appears to be an E. Honda-esque splash move. The thing to note is that at these moves leave shadowed marks on the screen that seem to be used to create another instance of the move outside of Bedman. If true, that would grant the character some very good mixup potential. One of his supers, meanwhile, involves a slow-moving black cloud that can sandwich the enemy between Bedman and the projectile.

There is sure to be more coverage of Bedman and returning character Zato=One as the weekend progresses, but this first look at the new Xrd character is a taste of things to come as -Sign- comes closer to completion.

Super Desperation Radio Episode 240 Archive Online

The latest episode of Super Desperation Radio is now available for watching on IPLAYWINNER'S YouTube channel.

This week's episode covered the surprisingly large amount of news that happened while the U.S. was enjoying its Thanksgiving holiday. The cast discussed Dreamhack's misspelling of Daigo's name, the arcade release of Persona 4 Arena 2 in Japan and the revelation of Bedman for Guilty Gear Xrd.

And the cast actually talked Street Fighter IV, taking ample time to discuss the recent loktest of Ultra Street Fighter IV at Super Arcade in Southern California. Some individual character changes were noted, along with SuperFX and Sanchez's overall feelings about the game going forward.

Super Desperation Radio is live every Monday at 6:30 p.m. PST on Twitch and YouTube

Guilty Bits Covers FRCs, Teases BlazBits

As the Guilty Bits series nears its end, creator Novril has created a special episode dedicated to the Forced Roman Cancel. The FRC mechanic is a very polarizing topic among players; while veterans laud it as a tool that allows much flexibility in playstyle and strategy, many new players find the execution requirement an unnecessary hurdle to competency in the game.

Guilty Bits tries to ease new players into the mechanic, breaking down the process of learning FRCs step by step and even giving players hints as to how they can remember precisely where the FRC window in a move is located. The video even breaks down why FRC timings can seem different on whiff as opposed to on hit or block.

Novril also has released a teaser for a possible BlazBits series, asking fans if they would be willing to help fund the project. The survey can be found here.

Bedman Revealed as New Guilty Gear Xrd Character

Image courtesy of Famitsu.comFamitsu has revealed that the mystery character on the Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- website is none other than Bedman, a new character to the GG universe. Nothing else is known about Bedman at this time, but the upcoming issue of Famitsu is scheduled to contain information on him as well as returning character Zato=1.

While the name Bedman may seem confusing at first, posters over at Shoryuken have gleaned a possible reference that meshes with Guilty Gear's world. A few people have suggested that the romanization of the name is a homage to Bedemon, a side project of members in the doom metal band Pentagram. While not confirmed, the name would then continue GG's tradition of linking character and move names to well-known hard rock or metal bands.

The Famitsu issue with information on Bedman is scheduled for newsstands on Nov. 28 in Japan, and he will make his debut in Japan during the next loktest on Dec. 6-9.

Super Desperation Radio Episode 239 Archive Online

The latest episode of Super Desperation Radio is now available for watching on IPLAYWINNER'S YouTube channel.

The beginning of this week's show focused on answering the question of what tournament-legal character is the most broken fighting game character of all time, with viewers writing in several suggestions.

The crew also dicussed some of the big happenings of the previous week, such as the Arc System Works announcements regarding Guilty Gear Xrd and Persona, the Ultra Street Fighter IV loktest and release of the Xbox One. There was also a conversation about day 0 tournaments and how those events, including the recent release event for Killer Instinct, could actually be a help to the fighting game scene.

Super Desperation Radio is live every Monday at 6:30 p.m. PST on Twitch and YouTube

Yuri, King and Vice Invincibility Glitch Discovered In KOFXIII

Chilean player GuttsCL has discovered a new glitch that gives three members of the King of Fighters XIII cast a distinct advantage against offensive pressure when they are knocked down.

King, Yuri and Vice all have some invincibility on their neutral wakeup animation after certain knockdowns, which allows them to punish otherwise safe jump-ins. Although Vice and Yuri get the biggest benefit due to having reversal command throws that can take advantage of this method, King still gets a normal throw attempt.

You can check out this video along with other great informational videos about KOFXIII and other King of Fighters games on YouTube. Hit the jump for the video.

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Super Desperation Radio Ep. 238 Archive Online

The latest episode of Super Desperation Radio is now available for watching on IPLAYWINNER'S YouTube channel.

During the show, the cast discussed the recent Dueling the KOF 12 event in Japan, the release of the next-gen consoles and how those consoles may affect the future of the fighting community in terms of Killer Instinct and streaming.

There is also a lengthy discussion about two recent additions to established games, namely Big Band to Skullgirls and Kokonoe to BlazBlue ChronoPhantasma. While the Big Band discussion simply breaks down the character and what he what will bring to the Skullgirls universe, the Kokonoe talk focuses on banning characters from fighting game tournaments and what criteria need to be met in order to accept that course of action.

Super Desperation Radio is live every Monday at 6:30 p.m. PST on Twitch and YouTube

Hadocon 5 Announced

Kineda today announced the upcoming Hadocon 5, taking place in San Mateo, Calif., on December 15. The one-day event will feature Super Street Fight IV: Arcade Edition 2012 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, along with a team tournament for SFIV.

Registration is now open, and signing up online will cost players $15 along with $10 for each individual game. The stream will be provided by IPLAYWINNER.

Details of the full schedule, along with possible exhibition matches, are to be announced soon. Players with questions can reach Kineda on Facebook or Twitter.

Nemo Releases Statement on Capcom Cup

Recently on The Fray, Japanese player Naoki "Nemo" Nemoto commented on his forthcoming participation in Capcom Cup:

まず投票して頂いた方々ありがとうございます。日本のマーベルの戦いかたで優勝を狙っていきます！ところで優勝したらフロッカーとの1000＄ボーナスチャレンジなの？1000＄のボーナスはピーノじゃないの？

First of all, a big thank you to everyone who voted for me. I am aiming for first place with a distinctly "Japanese Marvel" fighting style!
By the way, I heard there's going to be a $1,000 bonus challenge against Flocker for the winner? If they wanted to give the winner of the tournament extra money, they should've made the last boss F Champ!

American players have yet to issue a response to Nemo's comments.

Thanks to Ryan "Fubarduck" Harvey for translation

Slayer Revealed for Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign-

As the upcoming Nov. 2 loketest for Guilty Gear Xrd gets nearer, Arc System Works is rolling out more additions to the game's cast.

This time, the vampire assassin Slayer has been revealed as making his return, complete with his classic set of moves. This, however, may be the cause of some dismay for Slayer players who started in Accent Core and +R, as his toolset will lack options like Big Bang Upper and forward Dandy Step.

For the full character profile, check out the Guilty Gear Xrd website.