New Vega compilation shows the pain that rains from Spain

YogaFlame24 has released a new video showcasing the claw-wielding Shadowloo fighter in both Street Fighter IV and V.

The video, which runs roughly three and a half minutes, collects many different highlights for the character in the two most recent versions of Street Fighter. Meaties, ground cross-ups, flashy combos and even simple reads are all part of the compilation taken from online play.

Readers can check out the video after the jump.

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NorCal Regionals 2016 Announced, March 25-27 at Sacramento, CA

NorCal Regionals is heading back to the California capital of Sacramento for 2016.

This will be the third consecutive entry that NCR will be at the Holiday Inn Sacramento Capitol Plaza. From March 25-27, the Northern California major will host Street Fighter V, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- and Mortal Kombat X. SFV is part of the Capcom Pro Tour as a Premier Event.

While the aforementioned games are part of the main list, players can also participate in the Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Dead or Alive 5 Last Round and Killer Instinct community tournaments.

Registration for NCR 2016 is live with different packages. If you are planning to register, there are multiple options with various benefits including the weekend-long After Hours Room. If you are looking to stay at the Holiday Inn, it's priced at $99 a night.

You can register now on the official NorCal Regionals website!

Ono: 'Part of the fun is going back to zero'

At Capcom Cup 2015, Vice had a chance to talk to Yoshinori Ono about the upcoming Street Fighter V and its place in the lineage of the series.

Ono did not shy away from talking about the controversial direction that he took Street Fighter IV in, saying that perhaps older players "felt somewhat betrayed" that Capcom focused on making the game more friendly to online play. But he also noted that Street Fighter is a series in which each game does not need to simply add on to the game before it; instead each iteration of the main series has been a gameplay experience unto itself.

In that way, Ono has said that with Street Fighter V "we're going to have to toss [the Street Fighter IV rule book] out the window" as Capcom attempts to reach the exponential community growth it hopes the title will have once it releases in February 2016.

Ono also talked briefly about the challenges of making SFV a more robust online experience, and whether the future of fighting games may reside as much online as it does in person. Readers can check out the full article at Vice.

Celebrate Halloween with the Horror Costume Packs for SF4

Halloween is a couple days away, but Capcom is clearly already in a festive mood as it has released several costume packs centered around the holiday.

Featuring the characters of Ultra Street Fighter IV as any number of ghoulish or absurd creatures, the eightdifferent Horror packs each feature four to five characters dressed up or transformed.

Whether it is zombie formalwear Ryu or Hugo as Frankenstein's monster, the outfits are sure to be entertaining for players looking to get in the holiday mood. The Horror Costume Packs are available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and Steam platforms, and each of the individual packs can be bought for $3.99 with the whole set of costumes available for $19.99.

Check out the trailer for the costumes after the jump.

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Final Showdown: Ultra Street Fighter IV on PlayStation 4 at EVO? What You Can Do!

The announcement of Ultra Street Fighter IV being on PlayStation 4 at this year's EVO was a disappointment for many players. The conversation in various outlets focused on peripheral access, something not all people have. Many were so accustomed to the Xbox 360 version featured in the past two EVO events that the change is alien to them.

In one exchange, a player did mention that he might not go to EVO anymore because of this change. The community shouldn't be apathetic like this. There are a couple of solutions that players can use to get themselves to Las Vegas for the biggest fighting game tournament in the world.

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Curse Gaming Merges with Team Liquid

Two pro gaming teams have decided to join forces as the former Curse Gaming will fold into Team Liquid. Former Curse owner Steve Arhancet will be known as "Liquid112" going forward, and will co-own Liquid with team founder Victor Goossens.

"Across all games, Liquid is better equipped than ever to attract new recruits and treat our players better. We're able to cater better to our sponsors, and are able to provide better conditions for our staff. By doing all of this, we place ourselves right among the largest esports teams in the world," Goossens said in a statement.

The new Team Liquid will include former Curse fighting game players Kashan "Chillindude" Khan, Juan Manuel "HungryBox" Debiedmad and Du "NuckleDu" Dang.

Ogawa, KOG, Dogura Coming to Northwest Majors

At the end of the Pacific Northwest Regionals Guilty Gear Xrd tournament, it was announced that three Japanese players will be attending Northwest Majors on April 24-26, 2015. While fellow players KOG—known for his T. Hawk play in both Street Fighter IV and Super Turbo—and Dogura—a top player in both BlazBlue and Guilty Gear—are big names added to the event, the major news is that Japan's top Zato-1 player, Ogawa, will be making an appearance.

Ogawa has always been a well-known name in the Guilty Gear community, considered one of the top players in the world. He made mainstream fighting game community news several months ago by supposedly saying that U.S. players were not of a high enough skill level for him to travel to the States for tournaments.

Capcom Cup 2014 Finals Coming To San Francisco's The Warfield Theatre

This year's Capcom Cup finals will be at the heart of the Bay Area on Dec. 13!

Moving from its original location in Burlingame, Calif., the 2014 edition of Capcom Cup will be held in San Francisco's The Warfield. Known for featuring various artists and bands including Slayer, Grateful Dead and more, The Warfield will host the top Ultra Street Fighter IV players to see who can be the champion.

In addition to the main tournament, there will be other content available at Capcom Cup finals including an announcement from Capcom's Yoshinori Ono, a performance from Los Angeles-based rock band The Megas and more.

While The Warfield can host up to 2,300 people, those who want to get the best viewing experience can register for VIP passes. Not only you get a premium seat, you will also get a special bag of goodies and access to the Capcom Cup afterparty at The Folsom Street Foundry.

Check out Haunts' full post here for more information.

Archive of USFIV Global Challenge: Korea by World e-Sports Championship Games

All of the videos from the special Korean Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament by World e-Sports Championship Games are now available for viewing!

WECG conducted the top eight finals of their Global Challenge: Korea tournament. This tournament brought many players from Korea to compete in the preliminaries for a shot at the finals held at Nexon Arena. This recorded event spanned three days in a double elimination bracket featuring Korea's best including Infiltration and iim83man. Other players including Xiaohai from China, Humanbomb from Hong Kong and NorCal's own Hoodaman of Pandora House also qualified.

Results from the Global Challenge can be viewed here. All three days of the tournament, with English commentary by Laugh, are found below. You can also check out individual videos, with commentary featuring Nin, on their YouTube channel.

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Footage from Capcom Pro Tour's Ranking Tournament At EGX London

Take a look at what was in store during one of the latest Capcom Pro Tour tournaments in Europe.

This ranking tournament took place at EGX London, formerly known as Eurogamer Expo. From Sept. 25-28, players from all around England competed for ranking points in the Capcom Pro Tour in hopes of getting to the Capcom Cup finals later this year. English fighting game channel Unequalled Media was there to cover the tournament.

UM already uploaded both top threes, which you can find after the jump, as well as the earlier phases on their YouTube channel.

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Jayce the Ace vs. Pepeday in Online Ultra Street Fighter IV First to 10 Set

One of the United States' best Viper players challenged the Tokyo Game Show 2014 Ultra Street Fighter IV champion in a first to 10.

Fukuoka Gamers Club's Pepeday, who dominated the TGS tournament with El Fuerte, was issued a FT10 set by Jayce the Ace, representing Yubiken. Streamed on YBK's Twitch channel, both players competed online to see who was the better player. Prior to the fight, a hype video was featured where both Pepeday and Jayce shared their thoughts towards each other and their characters.

Both the FT10 challenge and the hype video can be viewed after the jump!

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New Episode of Hold Back to Block's Climbing the Ladder Season 2

Esteban of Hold Back to Block returns to record some of his Street Fighter IV online matches in Climbing the Ladder.

With Ryu, Esteban plays both a Ryu and a Juri player. The most notable match is against one who plays Hugo. This segment best exemplifies his retrospective analysis of his matches as he talks about matchup knowledge, mistakes from himself and his opponent and more. The video can be viewed below the jump.

You can subscribe to Hold Back to Block on YouTube for more Climbing the Ladder videos as well as interviews from various fighting game events. Esteban is currently working on the crowdfunded documentary FGC: Rise of the Fighting Game Community.

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Ultra Street Fighter IV Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition 2 Models From Mad Catz Coming October

Mad Catz will finally release their Ultra Street Fighter IV arcade sticks outside Japan!

The Ultra Street Fighter IV-branded Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition 2s will finally arrive in North American territories in October 2014. Introduced during the console release of USFIV in Japan, the TE2 sticks will be available in both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3/PlayStation 4 models. These sticks will also carry most of the characteristics from both the non-branded and Killer Instinct versions including a new body design, easy internal access, dedicated tool and more.

For more information including pictures of the stick, check out the page made for the Japanese release here!

Stay tuned for more information including preorder options whenever available on Mad Catz's site.

UNIEL & USFIV Top 4 From Sacramento's Capitol Fight District At Best There Is Comics & Games

Capitol Fight District, our friends up in Sacramento, recorded matches from their recent tournament.

They held both Ultra Street Fighter IV and Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late tournaments at Best There Is Comics & Games found in the Roseville area on Aug. 16. The top four players from both games were recorded and uploaded to the CFD YouTube channel.

You can check playlist featuring all recorded videos after the jump!

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Pandora House Presents NorCal Fight Club Round 2, Saturday, Aug. 16

Pandora House and IPLAYWINNER are bringing you round two of NorCal Fight Club League! The same 14 competitors will fight for ranking and try to overcome their loses from last week.

The stream will begin at 7:30 p.m. PST on our Twitch.tv Channel. The event will be hosted by Bay Area Fight Night at the MADE in Oakland. There will be plenty of stations for casuals, so those not competing are welcome to come down and play Ultra Street Fighter IV or other games!

For those who missed last week or are new to the league, the players are fighting for money, prizes and the right to call themselves the KING of NorCal in a round robin tournament. 

The players are as follows: EG Ricky Oritz, MMG Julio, pH Hoodaman, Kelvin Jeon, BJ Unchained, pH LPN, Crackfiend, Ramin, Nima, Dirty Paws, MMG El Cubano Loco, Nando, Crizzle, and Filipino Champ.

Full standings and replays are after the jump!

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Pandora House And IPW Present: NorCal Fight Club League This Friday (8/8) - Updated With Results And Replays

The long-awaited NorCal Fight Club League is here! Pandora House is looking to find out who truly is the best of the best in the region.

Here's how it's going down. This League will consist of 3 individual rounds taking place at various locations. The qualified 14 players will battle it out. The points scored at each location will carry over and accumulate to determine the victor at the end of the season. That's only the beginning  because there's more. Not only does the person who accumulates the most point at the end of the season gets crowned as CHAMPION of Nor Cal, they will be inducted into the "A League" for season 2!!! Along with that, the champion will be joined by the distinguished top 4 fighters just right below him into the A League as they sit comfortably for the next season!

Now, let's meet the competitors: EG | Ricky Ortiz, Filipino Champ, pH | Hoodaman, pH | LPN, MMG | Julio, MMG | El Cubano Loco, Dirty Paws, Crizzle, BJ Unchained, Ramin, Crackfiend, Kelvin Jeon, Nima and Nando.

The NorCal Fight Club League will be streamed on IPLAYWINNER's Twitch channel. 

Update: Check out the first week's results on challonge here. And if you missed any of the matches head over to our Youtube channel to checkout the full playlist! Round 2 is next Saturday at 8 p.m. PST.

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Ultra Street Fighter IV EVO 2014 Champion Luffy Interviewed By Patrick Klepek For Giant Bomb

Courtesy of David ZhouThe first European champion of a Street Fighter IV game at EVO had the chance to talk to Giant Bomb in regards to his historical victory.

France's Olivier Hay, also known as Luffy, was interviewed by GB's News Editor Patrick Klepek about his competitive experience playing Ultra Street Fighter IV at EVO 2014. Luffy details his mentality and feelings going through losers bracket and eventually grand finals against Japan's Bonchan. Hay gives personal insight including why he uses an original PlayStation controller and how his friends and family treat him following his win.

You can read the full interview, as well as watch the full grand finals match, here!

More Information Behind All Qualifying Events In Capcom Pro Tour Asia 2014

China, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore earned qualifying spots for the Asian segment of the Capcom Pro Tour. Lets take a look at where players need to go to compete.

The first of the qualifiers, on Aug. 9, will take place in Shanghai, China's Layer 7. South Korea, the second qualifier on Aug. 23, will take place in DartStream/ArcadeStream in Seoul. The penultimate qualifier in Taiwan, scheduled for Sept. 6, will be at Taipei's 8FloorSpace. On Oct. 4, Tough Cookie in Singapore will be holding their own qualifier before the finals on Oct. 25-26 also in Singapore.

Tough Cookie TV will be at South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore to help stream the qualifiers. The qualifier pages above also feature a link to the venue, rules and registration. You can find a quick breakdown of the qualifiers after the jump!

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Street Fighter IV AE 2012 "Experiments in the Lab 7" by Luparez

In the wake of a new installment in the Street Fighter IV series comes another great video from Luparez. "Experiments in the Lab" is an ongoing series of Luparez's findings in training mode, leading to the discovery of some interesting and unique combos, mixups and resets for a handful of the cast. Although not everything in the video is suitable for competitive play, the video contains some jaw-dropping moments and useful ideas alike, so players can watch the video to be entertained and intrigued.

Luparez's channel also holds all his previous entries in the "Experiements in the Lab" series, which still contain great ideas that can be carried over to Ultra Street Fighter IV.

Hit the jump for the video.

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Ultra Street Fighter IV Bracket Notables for Evo 2014

With Evolution 2014 having the most players in Evolution history, there will be a lot of good players spread out all over the 125 Ultra Street Fighter IV brackets. A lot of old faces have shown up from the days before Street Fighter IV, but also a lot of new faces are here to make their names known on the biggest stage in fighting games.

I have compiled a list of notable players for Ultra Street Fighter IV. As a note, I’ve added a double forward slash symbol ( “ // “ ) to indicate what side of the bracket the player is in their pool, as I felt like this was important for predicting pools outcomes. Names separated by the forward slash are on opposite sides of the bracket. Pools with no names in front of them means I have not found notable players in that pool.

Hit the jump for the list.

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