Karin option selects by Naast

Twitter user Otanaast has put together a small video showing how Karin can take advantage of possible option selects in Street Fighter V.

The video covers being able to always get confirms off standing short or crush counter, along with more advanced ideas like punishing Dhalsim's teleport and throwing opponents for trying to V-Reversal.

The video can be hard to follow at first as the inputs are not listed outside the in-game display, but the ideas are still great for any Karin player looking to get more out of each situation. Check out the video after the jump.

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Capcom releases details on Street Fighter V 'rage-quit' penalties

A post by Haunts on Capcom Unity has outlined the temporary solution the company will be employing to punish people who are disconnecting early from online ranked games to avoid losing League Points.

Effective immediately, Capcom will be making a weekly sweep of online competitors and those considered problem users with "abnormally high disconnect rates (particularly at the end of the match)" will have their League Points reset. This action will be handled internally without any need of video proof without players.

Haunts also said that Capcom started taking action last week, giving a warning to around 30 players by severly reducing their League Points. There is currently no timetable on a permanent solution to the problem.

South Korea's PlayStation Arena 2016 to feature Street Fighter V, HD Remix & GGXrd -SIGN-

SPOTV Games in South Korea will be holding another edition of PlayStation Arena focused on fighting game tournaments.

The second edition of this tournament event will bring back Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- from last year, and Street Fighter V and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix will be the other headlining games for 2016. The top two finishers for each game can earn a cash prize including the 2,000,000 won prize for winning Street Fighter V.

What's known so far is that it will take place on March 20, 2016 at Seoul, South Korea's Nexon Arena, known for hosting last year's PlayStation Arena as well as Tekken Crash. The preliminary qualifiers will be on March 6 at the Nexon Arena as well. If you live in Korea and are interested in competing, make sure to register here.

The announcement trailer can be found after the jump!

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The Salty Runback: Rise Up

Eagerly, you tore the cellophane from your copy of Street Fighter 5 and sped home to gingerly ease it into your PS4 or PC like it was prom night. This is my time, you’ve thought to yourself. You’ve watched Justin Wong, Daigo and Ricky Ortiz, and you’ve thought, "I can do that." Maybe you have played fighting games for a while. Maybe this is your first go-round getting serious about them. Either way, you’re full of vim and vigor, picturing yourself standing on the stage at Caesar’s in Las Vegas, medal around your neck.

Before you go buying plane tickets and paying entry fees, there’s a few things you need to know. First among them, I’m sorry to tell you, is that with all your determination and belief that you’re going to break through and be the next PR Balrog: You’re wrong. You won’t. At least, most of you won’t.

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Digital Foundry analyzes Street Fighter V graphical power on both PC and PlayStation 4

The respected graphics analysis group has a series of videos breaking down the elements found in Street Fighter V.

Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter explains that SFV on PC slows down when it's hitting below the intended frame rate, similar to that in the Street Fighter IV PC ports. Despite the slowdown offline, playing online under the limiting condition enables frame skipping but it's still not operating optimally.

John Linneman talks more about the graphical detail between the PlayStation 4 build and the various PC visual options. What's new is the Max setting, something not found in the beta. Leadbetter and David Bierton do a more side-by-side graphical shootout using the cross-play replay system to their advantage.

Make sure to check out Haunts' post on Capcom about the PC spec recommendations if you are looking to get SFV on the platform. If you notice any slowdown on your setup, make sure to change settings accordingly. Also subscribe to Digital Foundry on YouTube and look forward to a full analysis on their Eurogamer page soon.

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More details emerge on Street Fighter V's alternate costumes, colors

Data mining let players get a glimpse of the alternate costumes that would be shipping with Street Fighter V, but Famitsu has new images including a picture of original costume Charlie Nash and concept art for the outfits. These costumes will be unlocked by clearing Story Mode with each character in the game.

Meanwhile, eight extra colors for each character will be unlockable as well. The colors will be earned by playing through the game's Survival Mode, with the difficulty impacting which colors are unlocked. Easy will only unlock one color, normal will unlock three colors and the hard difficulty will unlock four more.

For the rest of the costume images, head over to Famitsu.

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!

Evolution 2016 lineup announced, coming to Las Vegas Convention Center & Mandalay Bay

In a sitdown interview on Red Bull eSports, Joey "Mr. Wizard" Cuellar revealed the games that will be part of Evo 2016 as well as its location.

The Evolution staff is putting on nine games for the competitive fighting game community. You can expect Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, Mortal Kombat X, Pokkén Tournament, Killer Instinct, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Tekken 7: Fated Retribution.

A majority of Evolution will be at the Las Vegas' own convention center for Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, the finals day will come to the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The hotel is set for the Westgate Hotel. Stay tuned for information on tickets.

Other information revealed includes the return of the Indie Games area. Brook's Super Converters will be allowed but can be banned if any future issues affect them.

Evolution 2016 is coming July 15-17! Make sure to check the Evo website for updates!

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.

SteamOS & Steam Controller Compatibility Coming to Street Fighter V

The computer version of Street Fighter V will be available to play beyond the Windows operating systems.

SFV will feature full compatibility with Valve's Linux-based SteamOS. Those who installed SteamOS on their existing PCs, or who have one of the many Steam Machines on the market, can access SFV. No other information has been announced at this time. 

In addition to the OS compatibility, SFV will feature support with Valve's recently released Steam Controller. The upcoming beta test weekend for the game on Dec. 18-20 will feature controller compatibility. If you have one, give the controller a try in one of the most anticipated fighting games of 2016.

For reference, check out some YouTube videos of Street Fighter IV with the Steam Controller.

Capcom Pro Tour 2016 Starts at Final Round, $500,000 Prize Pool

At the end of Capcom Cup 2015, Street Fighter series producer Yoshinori Ono announced that Capcom Pro Tour 2016 will start at Final Round 19 on March 18-20, 2016, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Street Fighter V will be the featured game of Capcom Pro Tour, and the tour will again have $500,000 as the prize pool for its various events across the globe.

No more information about CPT or its events is available at this time.

F.A.N.G Joins Street Fighter V, DLC Characters Revealed

During the Capcom keynote at PlayStation Experience, the company revealed the last remaining character for SFV's starting roster and it is F.A.N.G.

F.A.N.G is an assassin who serves as the second in command for Shadaloo. Within the game, F.A.N.G introduces a poison mechanic to the Street Fighter series, where once poisoned a character's life depletes until F.A.N.G is damaged or a set time for the poison expires. F.A.N.G's v-skill creates a slow-moving poison projectile, and his v-trigger engulfs his body in a poison cloud that will deal damage to characters close to him.

In addition to F.A.N.G's reveal, Capcom also confirmed the identities of the shadowy figures who will appear as downloadable content in during SFV's first year: Alex, Guile, Balrog, Ibuki, Juri and Urien. Capcom gave no other information about the characters at this time.

Hit the jump for F.A.N.G's reveal trailer.

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Street Fighter V Beta Returns Dec. 17-20 for US Players

While all the excitement surrounds the upcoming Capcom Cup 2015, Capcom has quietly announced that another round of beta testing for its upcoming Street Fighter V will happen near the end of December.

From Dec. 17-20, players will get another chance to play SFV online. The beta received a large update recently, but the update information left no idea as to what may be different when SFV comes back online later in the month.

No other details of the upcoming beta are available at this time, including whether other regions will be included in the test.

Datamining Reveals Possible Street Fighter V DLC, Pro Tour Events

Sifting through the code of games, completed or not, has recently become a tool in figuring out what players can expect from a title in the future. The process allowed gamers to learn of Ryu's inclusion in Smash Bros. before it was officially announced, and now it may have revealed some more information about Street Fighter V.

User AceKombat at Shoryuken pulled audio files from the game's beta that include the names of every character in the game, including six that are not yet officially revealed. These characters—Urien, Juri, Alex, Guile, Ibuki and a name that sounds like Fan—may well be the six mystery combatants that Capcom hinted at during Paris Game Week. The last name, Fan, could then represent another brand-new character to the franchise.

Also interesting is that there are audio files for specific tournaments and their locations in SFV and generic sound clips for Capcom Cup's online, ranking and premier events. This could indicate the major stops on next year's Capcom Pro Tour, as the company is looking to bolster the in-game presentation of the CPT.

For all the audio clips, head over to Shoryuken.

Dhalsim Joins Street Fighter V, Mystery DLC Characters Announced

Capcom has announced that Dhalsim will be joining the ranks of returning characters in Street Fighter V. Sporting an older look—complete with white beard—the yoga master can now float in midair, lob yoga fire like a grenade and create a flame carpert much like Dormammu.

During the presentation revealing Dhalsim, Yoshinori Ono also showed the shadows of six character who will be added to SFV after the game's release.

For Dhalsim's reveal trailer and the shadowy image (courtesy of Shoryuken), hit the jump.

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Street Fighter V Zangief Analysis by UltraDavid

UltraDavid got a chance to spend a little time with Zangief at SoCal Regionals 2015 and, after comparing notes with Ghodere, has put together some early thoughts on the character.

Starting with Gief's normals, David breaks down what veteran grappler players will find similar and different in his SF5 toolset and how even returning moves may not function the same way. He also talks about special moves, Zangief's new SF5 gameplay features and even the character's walkspeed.

David admits he did not get a lot of time to play the character, but he feels positive about how Zangief will turn out in Street Fighter V. Check out his notes on Reddit.

Laura Matsuda Officially Joins Street Fighter V

After a week of accidental leaks and anticipation, Capcom has announced that Brazilian Laura Matsuda will join the cast of Street Fighter V. An heir to the Matsuda Jiu-Jitsu fighting style—and probably a relative to Street Fighter III's Sean Matsuda—Laura will use "quick moving attacks and command grabs" to overwhelm opponents.

Laura's V-Skill is called Linear Movement, and is reminiscent of Blanka's beast hop in that it quickly moves the character forward or backward depending on the direction held. Where it differs, however, is that by just hitting the buttons with no direction held Laura will perform an overhead attack much like fighters in Street Fighter III: Third Strike.

Her V-Trigger is called Spark Show, and it enchances all her attacks and V-Skill. Linear Movement will move farther, her fireball travels a greater distance and all of her attacks and grabs deal more stun.

For those who have not seen Laura's official trailer, check it out after the jump.

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Official Street Fighter V Laura Trailer Appears Online

It appears that another mistake has been made for the upcoming reveal of Laura in SFV. Her official trailer is now online for everyone to see, although the original source, PlayStation, has made its video private. 

In the trailer, Laura uses fast-moving strikes that lead to grappling enders that leave her close to the opponent. She has the same overhead kick most recently used by Abel in Street Fighter IV—which originally appeared as part of Sean's arsenal in Street Fighter III—an anti-air move that functions similar to El Fuerte's guacamole leg drop and a slow projectile. She also has an elbow strike that leads to another grapple knockdown.

Laura's moves also emit an electrical charge, which can be buffed by her V Trigger. Check out her trailer after the jump.

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Images of Street Fighter V's Laura Leak Online

It seems the Street Fighter V announcement for the Brazil Game Show has already been spoiled. Famitsu has uploaded pictures of unannounced fighter Laura in a gallery with images of Zangief.

Dressed in the colors of Brazil's flag, it looks like Laura will incorporate moves from Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well as possibly some leg attacks from capoeira. She also seems to have a fireball of some kind.

There are no other details of the character available at this time.

Editor's Note: Famitsu has since deleted the pictures from its website. The images can be viewed in the gallery.

The Red Cyclone Returns as Zangief Joins Street Fighter V

Another grappling character has been added to the newest Street Fighter game. While some players might have worried that the additions of Birdie and R. Mika reduced the need of another wrestling character, the original fighter of bears and friend to Gorbachev returns in SFV.

Zangief's mat skills have increased in Street Fighter V, as he has added an atomic drop and powerslam to his arsenal among other new throws. His V-Skill, Iron Muscle, harkens back to Mecha Zangief from the VS series of games and allows him to gain one hit of armor. If the buttons are held down, Zangief can slowly walk toward or away from the opponent until they are released when he will flex his muscles as an attack.

Zangief's V-Trigger is the Cyclone Lariat. Taking his nickname to heart, 'Gief will create a small vortex with his arms, pulling the opponent closer to him. If the player holds the activation buttons down, Zangief will continue to pull the other character toward him and hit the opponent multiple times.

Check out Zangief's trailer after the jump.

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