Xrd exhibition league reinvented as "Tension Pulse" for Rev 2

The former "Super Steam Xrd Exhibition League" returns for Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 with a new name and a slightly different staff.

Starting on June 1, 2017, "Tension Pulse" will pit North American Xrd players against one another in online matches organized by Silva and zenzen. The events will still mostly be contested on the Steam version of Rev 2, but according to Silva some "exceptions might happen."

The first two matches for the reinvented league involve some mystery, as TSB|Blaze takes on an unrevealed Baiken player and Lord Knight challenges an unknown Answer. 

More information on the first sets will be available "later this week." Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 comes home to PlayStation 3 and 4 consoles on May 26, 2017. The Steam version follows on June 1. 

Stance YRC lets Leo reflect projectiles, attack in Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2

A newly uncovered trick gives Leo a way to attack while still using the properties of stance counter.

According to videos, whenever Leo YRCs or PRCs his counter out of backturn stance the effect stays with him for a short amount of time. This counters any projectile that comes into contact with him, but neither triggers the counter animation nor seems to have any effect on strikes.

Players can check out a couple more example videos after the jump.

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Combo Breaker 2017 will feature Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2

Combo Breaker has decided that it will feature Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 as its official tournament on the day of the game's full release.

At the end of April, organizers from Combo Breaker sent an email to players registered for the Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator- tournament at the event asking them if they would prefer to play on the new version of the game, even though it is currently only available as a PlayStation Plus demo for PS4 users and will not release until the first day of the tournament.

The players apparently responded with an affirmative, and the official Combo Breaker website says organizers found "many [local promoters] were immediately switching to the latest version of the game."

For those players who are not satisfied with this change, they can contact the Combo Breaker staff by emailing combobreakerevent@gmail.com. Combo Breaker 2017 takes place May 26-28 in St. Charles, Illinois.

KidViper signs with Fable eSports, talks about recent win and more

Following his win at Dreamhack Austin 2017, Jason "KidViper" Srouji has been picked up by Fable eSports.

The announcement was made May 1, only days after Srouji defeated Ryo "Dogura" Nozaki to win the Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator- tournament at the event. Since joining the competitive Guilty Gear scene, KV has won or placed highly at numerous events across the U.S.

KV's signing is part of a greater awareness of airdash or "anime" games by the larger esports world, as players such as SuperKawaiiDesu, MarlinPie and Bears have been acquired by teams in the last 12 months.

Additionally, KV recently joined Angelo "TheC0r" DeGrandis on "PNW Power Hour" to talk about his win, switching from Elphelt to Johnny, the current Guilty Gear scene and more. Readers can check out the Twitch archive of that conversation after the jump.

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Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 demo launches May 1 on PlayStation Plus

PlayStation Plus members will get a chance to try out the newest Guilty Gear almost a month before it releses.

Aksys Games has announced that the Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 demo will be available starting May 1, 2017, for PS Plus users on PlayStation 4. Unlike the demo that was released for the original -Revelator-, no preorder will be required to gain access.

The demo will include new characters Baiken and Answer, and will offer players both Versus and Training modes.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 releases for PlayStation 3 and 4 consoles on May 26, 2017, and Steam on June 1.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 comes to Steam June 1, 2017

The newest version of Guilty Gear will be coming to Steam much sooner than most fans thought.

Arc System Works has announced that June 1 will be the release date for the Steam version of Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2. The game will cost 2000 yen for the Rev 2 upgrade by itself, and 4,800 for both -Revelator- and the upgrade. In the U.S., this will likely translate to a $20 upgrade and roughly $40-45 combined package.

This is a huge departure from previous entries in the Xrd series, which did not have PC ports until more than six months after their initial release. The PlayStation 3 and 4 versions of Rev 2 will release on May 26, 2017.

Mikado shirt sale enters its second year to raise funds for Evo

Takadanobaba Mikado Game Center in Japan has begun another year of raising money for Japanese Guilty Gear players trying to attend Evolution by selling shirts via Teespring.

This year, two shirt styles are being offered. The first is the returning design from last year's campaign, which features the arcade's name along with its location in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.

The second shirt is a new design featuring a small Mikado logo on the left side of the chest while the word "slash" is written in large, jagged lettering across both shoulders on the back.  

The returning shirt will cost buyers $21.99 while the new style will be $22.99. Interested buyers can send questions to Jonio or MajinObama on Twitter.

European Rev 2 limited edition will only have 500 copies

European publisher PQube has revealed a very limited run of Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 special editions that are now available for preorder at Rice Digital.

The edition will contain the game, an original Sol Badguy framed art print of which only 500 pieces will be produced and an official Rev 2 shirt in the consumer's size. The whole package will cost players £59.99 (roughly $75). 

There is currently no date set for the European release of Rev 2. The game releases in Japan on May 25, 2017, and North America on May 26.

Arc System Works unveils console features of Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2

The makers of Guilty Gear have released an outline of what players can expect when Rev 2 comes home in May 2017.

Starting with the game's story, Rev 2 will feature a recap of the previous events in Xrd so that new players can feel at home in the world of Guilty Gear. There will also be a free story update after the game has launched.

Online will also see changes, as Ranked games can now be rematched and competitors will be able to spectate Player matches already in progress. The lobby has also been visually updated for Rev 2.

Lastly, the game will feature a mode select that will allow players to switch between -Revelator- and Rev 2.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 comes home for PlayStation 3 and 4 consoles on May 26, 2017. Physical PS4 copies will come bundled with the Rev 2 soundtrack.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 comes to US on May 26, pricing revealed

The newest installment of Guilty Gear will release on console in the U.S. at the same time in launches in Japan, and Aksys Games has confirmed how much it will cost players.

In a Twitter post, Aksys linked to an Amazon preorder page revealing the game's cost as $39.99 for the standalone version of the title, which will only be for PlayStation 4. A follow-up tweet offered that digital upgrades to the PS3 and PS4 versions of Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator- will cost players $19.99.

At this time there is no information about the promised PC version of Rev 2, which is handled in the U.S. by Arc System Works itself.

Third Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 location test starting March 16

The next location test for the new version of Guilty Gear Xrd is coming to select Japanese arcades for a week in March.

Club Sega Akihabara and Sega Kagurazaka will host the test, which will further refine the upcoming update.

Interestingly, Arc System Works announced the test only one day before its beginning and has yet to post any new balance changes. As such, it remains to be seen if the third (and longest) test will simply combine changes from the previous tests or bring more alterations to the cast.

Lineup announced for AnimEvo 2017

Daryl "DJCream" Bunao joined Super Desperation Radio to announce the games that will be part of AnimEvo at Evolution 2017 on July 14-16, 2017. 

The list contains 11 games at this point, but can be expanded if players step up to run other games. The AnimEvo games are: Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R, Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax Ignition, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late, Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code, Gundam Extreme Vs Full Boost, Vampire Savior, Nitroplus Blasterz, Chaos Code: New Sign of Catastrophe, Aquapazza, Puyo Puyo Tetris and Arcana Heart 3: Love Max!!!!!

Players with questions about the AnimEvo lineup can contact the tournament series or DJCream on Twitter.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 comes home in Japan on May 25

The newest issue of Famitsu has given players a date for the console release of Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2: May 25, 2017.

In addition to new characters—Baiken and Answer—and balance changes, Rev 2 will also come with a new Episode Mode, which seems like it will work to advance the world of Xrd with character-focused stories, and other changes to existing modes.

While this is only the release date for the title on PlayStation 3 and 4 in Japan, it makes the possible U.K. release date seem more plausible. There is currently no word as to when the game will be released in the U.S.

Super TSB bringing national competition to New York on March 18

New York City's Team St1ckbug tournament series has previously hosted out-of-towners for its events, and on March 18, 2017, it will again be going major.

With several players already planning to visit the city during March 2017, New York's airdash scene decided to create a gathering of players from across the nation for its monthly tournament. Due to their promotion, 15 competitors from various states have already made plans to attend.

Confirmed players for TSB include: KizzieKay, TheBeautifulDude, Jona, RaphTX, Hamad, Nakkiel, Doren2k, Hotashi, MiniMatt, Grant_Chi, Bears, Kenji, Blacksnake, Eshi and Havoc_Noah.

Games at TSB include Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator-, BlazBlue Central Fiction, Koihime Enbu and KOF XIII, while exhibitions and other events are still being finalized at this time. The tournaments will be streamed on Blazeu's Twitch channel. For complete information on Super TSB, players can check out the Dustloop thread.

Guide by Nage explains how he fights Raven in Guilty Gear -Revelator-

One of Japan's strongest Xrd players has written out his thoughts on how he fights Raven in the most recent entry of the Guilty Gear Xrd series.

Nage breaks his guide into several points, devoting much of the space to explain his thought process when Raven has knocked the opponent down or how to fight the character at the mid-range. Although Nage only discusses the fight in terms of his character, Faust, a lot of the information can be applied to many characters in -Revelator-.

GreatFernMan has translated Nage's blog and posted it on Evernote. Nage admits with location testing for Guity Gear Xrd Rev 2 currently going on his guide may soon become outdated, but he felt he would explain his choices in the matchup anyway.

Upcoming exhibition series puts US Guilty Gear players in spotlight

Starting on Feb. 24, 2017, the "Super Steam Xrd Exhibition League" will be a series of matches pitting GG players in the U.S. against one another in online competition.

Taking inspiration from Mikado and MajinObama's "Slash Series" of high-level exhibitions in Japan, Silva and Sym hope to highlight different players and commentators in the U.S. Guilty Gear scene. The exhibitions will contested using the Steam version of Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator- and will be a race to seven matches in each set.

The first two exhibitions will see BlackSnake's Venom take on Destin's Dizzy and Sym's Millia will square off against Bears' Chipp. The stream will start at 9 p.m. EST (6 p.m. PST) on the series' Twitch channel with commentary from BeautifulDude and DaiandOh.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 second location test changes released

The second location test for Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 happens Feb. 11-12, 2017, and Arc System Works has again made public its list of changes for this version of the new update.

The pdf contains both system changes as well as alterations for almost every character in the -Revelator- cast. Not featured are Baiken and Answer, who it seems will not receive any tweaks in this location test.

The original list is in Japanese, but a number of translations have started appearing online.

As before, since this is a location test, none of these changes are necessarily final.

Second Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 location test coming Feb. 11-12

The second location test for the new version of Guilty Gear Xrd is coming to select Japanese arcades early in February.

Club Sega Akihabara in Tokyo and High Tech Land Sega Nishinakajima in Osaka will host the test, which will further refine the upcoming update.

Arc System Works notes that content from the first location test may be changed, and an image linked in the company's posting shows Sol performing what appears to be a new move.

Players can likely expect a full list of the update changes a day or two before the test.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 first location test changes revealed

The first location test for Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 happens Jan. 20-22, 2017, and Arc System Works has made public its list of changes for this version of the new update.

The pdf contains both system changes as well as alterations for every character in the -Revelator- cast. Additionally, a document containing move lists for the entire cast including Answer and Baiken has been released, with new moves or changed properties highlighted in yellow.

The original lists are in Japanese, but there is already a Google Document collecting translated changes and Greatfernman has created an Evernote with his own translations. Also, as this is a location test, none of these changes are necessarily final.

More details uncovered for Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2

Information intended for an upcoming issue of Famitsu has been released online, giving fans more more insight into the changes and release details of Rev 2.

For starters, the download version of Rev 2 will cost 2000 yen, which is roughly $17.75. There is no estimated console release date for the title, with 2017 remaining the only indicator.

As for the new characters in Rev 2, Baiken's only has one counter move that replaces all her old guard cancels. According to translations by Greanfernman, Baiken "is hard to deal with as an opponent, and might be confusing as a new character, so simplicity was stressed in her design." She will retain her other moves, but it remains to be seen how they will function. Answer, meanwhile, uses business cards and scrolls in his move set. The scrolls he places and can attack from using different specials, while he throws business cards like shuriken and can either teleport to their location or create clones from them.

Existing characters will also see tweaks, with examples including a lowered crouching hitbox for Potemkin, Ramlethal getting one or several new moves and Axl's sparrowhawk stance getting changed "in concept." For the complete translation, head over to Evernote.