Arc Revolution Cup returns on Oct. 21, 2017

Arc System Works has announced the date and titles that will be part of the 2017 edition of Arc Revolution Cup.

The competition will take place during Taito's Toushinsai event and includes Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, BlazBlue Central Fiction, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] and Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold.

Guilty Gear and BlazBlue will both be held as team events—Xrd will be teams of three, BBCF teams of two—while the other two games will be single player. Each competition will consist of 32 teams or players.

In the past, both teams from both Europe and the United States were given a chance to qualify for Arc Revo, but nothing has been announced at this time. 

Persona fighters, Nitroplus Blasterz join US Round 1 NESiCA library

Round 1 locations in the United States are adding three games to their NESiCAxLive game selection on July 1: Nitroplus Blasterz, Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena and Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold.

While the first two titles are already available on consoles in North America, P4U2 was updated in Japan in January 2015 to version 2.0 on the NESiCA system but that update never reached home systems.

The P4U2 update contains many changes to both the system and individual characters, which left players in the U.S. disappointed by the seeming abandonment of support for the title.

Arc Revolution Cup 2015 Streams Announced

Arc System Works has announced the streams for its flagship tournament that happens on Aug. 15. Featuring two main games as well as two side events, Arc Revo Cup will be split into two streams, both on Nico Nico.

The main stream will feature three-on-three tournaments of Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- and BlazBlue Chronophantasma Extend, while the second stream will feature Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold and Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st].

According to Dustloop, the main stream will run from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Japan Standard Time, and the side stream will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. JST. For those in the United States, the event will start at 6 p.m. PST (9 p.m. EST) and the main stream will end at 1 a.m. PST (4 a.m. EST).

Top 3 Footage of Guilty Gear Xrd, Under Night In-Birth, Blazblue & More from KVO x Team St1ckbug

If you missed KVO x Team St1ckbug in Japan, check out the best players from multiple anime fighting games duking it out after the jump!

The Japanese streaming group OgreLive streamed the event for English speaking viewers. At KSB 2015, players competed in Guilty Gear Xrd, Blazblue: Chronophantasma Extend, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax, Under Night In-Birth EXE:Late, Arcana Heart 3 Love Max!!!!!, Aquapazza and Shin Koihime Musou Otome Taisen Sangokushi Engi.

It features English commentary from St1ckbug himself, Jiyuna and more! You can follow OgreLive's stream on Twitch!

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Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Will Use Current Version at Evo 2015

According to Atlus, players will not be receiving the 2.0 update for P4A2 before Evolution 2015 in July. On the official Atlus Twitter, the company wrote

"Regarding Persona 4 Arena Ultimax at EVO: We are confirming that the current PS3 console version will be the version used at @evo2k."

This is a relief to some players, who feared that the U.S. would not be getting the updated version of the game until weeks before the event, but a disappointment to others who hoped to have the newest version by July.

The arcade version of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax 2.0 released in Japan in January 2015.

CEO to Present "All Anime" Tournament in October 2015

Alex Jebailey is looking to make the dreams of AnimEVO a reality in October as he throws a tournament dedicated to all games that fall under the umbrella of "anime." Taking place in Orlando, Florida, on Oct. 17-18, the event will offer nine titles:

• Guilty Gear Xrd
• Blazblue Chronophantasma 2.0
• Persona 4 Arena Ultimax 2.0
• Under Night In-Birth 
• Dengeki Bunko FIGHTING CLIMAX
• Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX
• Skullgirls
• Melty Blood
• Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R
  

Jebailey also said that more titles may be added in the future, and that the six games with the most entrants will have finals on Sunday with the remaining titles finishing on Saturday evening. For more information on the event, head over to the CEO website or directly message Jebailey on Twitter.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax 2.0 Changes Translated by Xie

Arc System Works recently released the list of system and character changes to Persona's second fighting game in a post on the company's website. However, as the document was in Japanese many U.S. players were left filtering the text through automated translation programs or waiting on fellow gamers to fill in the information.

James Xie has now come to competitors' rescue, releasing a Google Doc translating the entire change list for the public to view. Xie admits that his work may not be perfect and that the file "still needs to be proofread/formated/verified," but it certainly lessens the legwork players would otherwise have to do to see the changes for the whole cast.

Players can find the document here. 

P4U2 Arcade Update Releases Jan. 15, Changes Detailed

Arc System Works has announced that the new update to the arcade version of Persona 4 Arena's sequel—named Persona 4 The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold in Japan—will launch on Jan. 15. After several loketests in November, the company has finalized changes in the title and is ready to release it to the general public. 

Changes in P4U2 include not only character tweaks but also system changes to the game. ASW has made all those changes available to the public in a recent post on the company's website. The change list is in Japanese, but posters over at Dustloop are in the process of sharing translations in the character sub-forums.

European Release of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Dated for Nov. 21, 2014

Players in Europe can get their hands on the Persona 4 Arena follow up in the coming weeks.

The European end of Sega confirmed in September that they will be publishing Persona 4 Arena Ultimax for the region. Sega also updated that it will be available on Nov. 21, 2014.

Like the North American version, P4AU will be available in both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. Pre-orders of P4AU will feature bonus tarot cards based on the Persona 4 games.

The original Persona 4 Arena, published in Europe by Zen United, met with development issues when trying to release the game. The game came in May 2013, nine and ten months after the North American and Japanese releases respectively.

P4A2 Margaret Impressions by Lord Knight

The last DLC character for the Japanese Persona 4 The Ultimax: Ultra Suplex Hold—to be released as Persona 4 Arena Ultimax in the U.S.—has released and Lord Knight has taken some time to break down Maragret according to her various normals and gameplay options.

LK points out important normal and special moves that may define Margaret's air and ground game, even giving a quick overview of his thoughts on the character. He also provides a link to a gatling chart for the character.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax launches in the U.S. on Sept. 30.

New Trailers Reveal P4AU's Story, New Mechanics, Three Characters

Gematsu has uploaded a number of English trailers for the upcoming Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, scheduled to release in the U.S. on Sept. 30, 2014.

The first trailer sets the stage for P4AU by revealing the story of the title, which revolves around a red mist engulfing Inaba and several characters being captured. Another trailer reveals some of the game's new features including Shadow Mode, Skill Boost Supers and the S Hold System.

Lastly, there are also trailers for Adachi, Aigis and Marie so that now U.S. players can get more than a visual taste of what is to come from these characters if they haven't played the game yet. Check out the Story and new feature trailers after the jump, and head over to Gematsu's YouTube page for the rest of the videos.

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Margaret Coming To Persona 4 Arena Ultimax As Paid Additional Content In North & South America

The Velvet Room assistant of Persona 4 will be playable but at an additional price.

PERSONA 4 ARENA ULTIMAX MARGARET SCREENSHOTS

Margaret is one of the three new additional characters for Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, next to Adachi and Persona 4 Golden's Marie, but will be the only one that requires payment for access. While pricing has not been announced, Margaret will arrive a week after the North and South American releases of the game.

She will posess a total of three Personas, Cu Chulainn, Yoshitsune and Ardha. To compensate, she will have a total of eight Persona cards to help her go all out with the Personas without worrying about their overall health.

You can check out screenshots of Margaret in game in the link above!

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Playable at Wednesday Night Fights on Aug. 20

Level|Up has announced that the sequel to Persona 4 Arena will be playable a month before its release date during a special event at Super Arcade on Aug. 20, 2014, during the weekly Wednesday Night Fights tournament.

For a small venue fee, players will have access to several demo stations of the game to check it out before P4AU releases on Sept. 30, 2014. Attendees and those watching on Level|Up's Twitch channel will also be treated to special Kanji vs Akihiko grudge match featuring Alex Valle and Kanji's voice actor, Matthew Mercer, who will also be in attendance for the event.

Yukiko, Yosuke and Yu Trailers Released for Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

Atlus USA has released Yukiko Amagi, Yosuke Hanamura and Yu Narukami trailers for the English version of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax.

The trailers show a brief overview of what the characters will be capable of in Persona 4 Arena's sequel, as well as glimpses of the new game's continuing storyline.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax launches on Sept. 30, 2014, in the U.S.

Hit the jump for the trailers.

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Shadow Labrys & Chie Satonaka Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Trailers, Arc Revolution Cup Qualifier

Atlus uploaded two new trailers for the upcoming Persona 4 Arena Ultimax!

One of the featured videos has original Persona 4 co-protagonist Chie Satonaka and the shadow version of P4A character Labrys. Shadow Labrys is the first shadow character featured in P4AU promotional videos. Both trailers features the usual set of story and gameplay footage found on previous clips.

Both trailers as well some an Arc Revolution Cup qualifier for the game can be found after the jump! Persona 4 Arena Ultimax will be available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on Sep. 30, 2014!

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Persona 4 Arena Ultimax-Branded Mad Catz Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition 2 Coming To Japan

Mad Catz will be releasing another game-branded Tournament Edition 2 stick exclusive to Japan.

In preparation for the release of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax in Japan, titled Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold, Mad Catz in collaboration with Atlus will sell a TE2 featuring promotional artwork from the fighting game. With P4AU only available on PlayStation 3 in Japan, this stick is compatible with PS3 and has the ability to work on PlayStation 4 through a convenient switch system. It will contain the same features found in other TE2 models including an antislip bottom, easy internal access and a multi-tool.

Atlus previously collaborated with Hori during the release of the original Persona 4 Arena in Japan by having a branded Fighting Stick V3.

There are no details on whether Mad Catz will be releasing this TE2 variant internationally at this time.

Details On Adachi Content In Persona 4 Arena Ultimax's Initial Japanese Release

The Japanese version of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax will feature more additional content in its first production run.

PERSONA 4 ARENA ULTIMAX TOHRU ADACHI SCREENSHOTS

In addition to accessing Persona 4's Tohru Adachi, owners of P4AU on release day will be able to play the story scenario centralizing on the RPG's main antagonist. The "Adachi" chapter will take place following one of P4AU's main story pieces. Players will also receive glasses and additional colors for Adachi.

Those who buy the game later will have to pay for the extra content. The Adachi content isn't announced for the North American version of P4AU. The image featuring the NA pre-order items mentions "... and more to come" so stay tuned for updates!

Tohru Adachi Coming To Console Version Of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Preview Of English Version By IGN

Here is new info for the upcoming console version of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax!

Originally shown as a non-playable character, Persona 4's main antagonist, Tohru Adachin(with persona Magatsu-Izanagi), will premiere in the console version of P4AU. In Japan, he will be intially accessible for those who bought the game in its first production run. Stay tuned for a trailer showing Adachi in action soon but check out the screenshots here!

IGN's Vincent Ingenito also had a hands-on with the English version of P4AU. Ingenito breaks down some of the new elements featured in the game including shadow characters and various system changes. You can find the preview after the jump!

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Latest Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Trailers Show Off Ken Amada & Koromaru Together As Well As Golden Arena Mode

Check out Persona 3's Ken Amada and Koromaru in action after the jump!

Following the announcement of Ken and canine companion Koromaru in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax/Persona 4 The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold, there is a trailer showing more of their gameplay! The trailer also reveals a shadow version of Ken to be playable.

Atlus also uploaded a trailer featuring the Golden Arena Mode. This mode gives players challenges that can be completed for the chance to level up statistics and gain new abilities.

The videos can be found after the jump!

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Digital Distribution For Persona 4 Arena In Europe Currently Handled By Atlus

The Persona 4 fighter in Europe is back with its original company following a controversial publishing period.

Siliconera reports that developer and publisher Atlus now has digital distribution rights to Persona 4 Arena in Europe following the game's removal from the PlayStation Store on May 22, 2014. There is currently no reason behind this acquisition. The game can still be found in retail stores across Europe and downloaded in PSS if already owned.

P4A in Europe was originally handled by English publisher Zen United. After the summer 2012 releases in Japan and North America, P4A in Europe was hit with delays until it eventually came out in May 2013.

There is also no information whether or not Atlus will be involved in publishing its upcoming followup, Persona 4 Ultimax, in the region.