Capcom Fighters Network to Boost Online Experience in SFV

Along with the addition of Karin to SFV, Capcom also announced a new online infrastructure for the game: the Capcom Fighters Network. A "community building tool," according to Capcom, CFN will offer many new features to the online experience in Street Fighter V. The service will let players

- See where battles are happening all over the world on a “heat map”
- View player profiles and detailed match statistics
- Designate “rivals” throughout the world and monitor their performance
- Register friends and follow your favorite players
- Search and watch replay files
- Send online battle invitations
- Check out the latest patch and tournament news
- And much more!

Street Fighter V will not only track wins and losses, but also more minute details including number of throws teched and ways that players win a match. Check out a work-in-progress image of CFN after the jump.

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Karin Returns in Street Fighter V

In a presentation at Tokyo Game Show 2015, Capcom revealed that Karin will be joining the Street Fighter V cast.

The addition of Karin adds more credence to the spoiler list that was making its rounds on forums early in summer 2015. If that spoiler holds, expect Street Fighter III: Third Strike's Alex and Urien to return in SFV as well.

Check out Karin's trailer after the jump.

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Rashid is Street Fighter V's Second New Character

Capcom has revealed another new entrant to the Street Fighter series: Rashid.

A Middle-Eastern fighter who he says he is "of the turbulent wind," Rashid moves around the screen quickly and attacks with moves that generate tornados or make him into a funnel cloud.

The first Middle-Eastern character in the Street Fighter series since Pullum Perna from the EX titles, Rashid was designed in collaboration with Pluto Games, the company that serves as Capcom's distributor in that region. 

No other information, such as his V-Trigger or V-Skill, is known about Rashid at this time. Check out the release trailer from IGN after the jump.

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Capcom Announces SFV Preorder DLC, Special Edition

North American players will be getting added bonuses for preordering Street Fighter V. Along with access to the SFV online beta, buyers can now receive one of four special "Battle" costumes depending on where they purchase the game.

Those who buy from GameStop will receive the Battle Costume for Ryu; Best Buy will offer one for Cammy; Amazon will give M. Bison some new clothes; and both the PlayStation Store and those who reserve the PC digital version will get Chun-Li a new outfit. These DLC costumes apply to both past and future reservations, so players who have already purchased will receive them. Check out the costumes in the gallery.

Capcom also announced the Street Fighter V special edition version of the game. For $99.99, players will receive a 10-inch painted Ryu statue, a 48-page hardcover art book and several download cards in addition to the game. The DLC cards will be for Udon Digital Comics, a soundtrack sample for SFV and a one-month subscription to the Capcom Fighters channel on Twitch.

Rainbow Mika Tags in to Street Fighter V

Street Fighter Alpha 3's colorful grappler is coming back in SFV. Returning with many of the moves that made her a cult favorite character, Mika also has new throws like the giant swing and even a guard cancel Stone Cold Stunner to help her out in Street Fighter V.

Mika's V-Skill causes her to pull out a microphone and cut a wrestling promo on the opponent, powering up both her normal and special throws the longer the buttons are held down. While talking, Mika has one hit of armor and can release the buttons to throw the microphone at her opposition.

Her V-Trigger calls Mika's tag team partner, Nadeshiko, who then becomes an assist to help set up combos and pressure. There are three types of attacks Nadeshiko can perform: she will attack with a body splash from above if no direction is held when activating V-Trigger, a dropkick from the front if back is held and a dropkick from the back if forward is held.

R. Mika will be first playable by those attending PAX Prime on Aug. 28-31, 2015. Check out her release trailer after the jump.

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Capcom Announces Street Fighter V Stress Tests for the Americas

After announcing a group of online stress tests for Street Fighter V that would determine the timing of the next public beta, Capcom has now revealed that North and South America will have their tests on Aug. 25-26, 2015.

The tests will both take place from 4 p.m. to midnight PST, and Combofiend was quick to point out that while Capcom expects the tests to go smoothly players may still run into problems with the online experience. He suggests that, to ensure the best possible quality experience, players try to play on wired connections if possible and to not have any files downloading in the background.

Once these tests are complete, Capcom "will announce the dates and times of the official five-day global beta test."

Street Fighter V Stress Tests to Determine Upcoming Beta Plans

Capcom has announced that they will be performing region-specific stress tests to gather information for the upcoming official global beta.

According to a post on Capcom Unity, these stress tests will begin in Europe from Aug. 20-21 and then be expanded to North America and Asia once Capcom is happy with the results. Once tests have been completed in all regions, the company will roll out plans for the official global beta.

The post also noted that the official beta "will still take place for the previously promised 5 days of time, so the regional stress tests are just an added bonus."

Vega Returns in Street Fighter V

The Spanish master of the claw is joining the cast of Street Fighter V. Known in the West as Vega—but in Japan as Balrog—, the handsome fighter returns with a different look and some new tricks in SFV.

Eschewing his normal appearance from older Street Fighter titles, Vega is wearing a puffy shirt and high-water pants that evoke thoughts of early modern Europe in SFV. He also now has the ability to purposely put the claw away, allowing him access to a new range of attack properties and moves including a command grab.

His V-Skill is the Matador Turn, a dodge with a optional counterattack function, and his V-Trigger is Bloody Kiss, in which Vega throws a fast rose projectile that if it hits guarantees an immediate follow-up attack.

Vega will be first playable at Gamescom 2015 in Cologne, Germany. Hit the jump for preview trailer of Vega.

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Capcom Apologizes for SFV Beta Problems, Postpones Activity

A new post by Capcom's Peter "ComboFiend" Rosas has addressed the problems players were having during what was supposed to be the first of three public beta tests for Street Fighter V. In his post, ComboFiend says that the company was caught off guard by the weight of the problems and thus could not provide the level of quality it had hoped to give players in North America.

With the problems still lingering, Capcom has decided to take the beta offline until a rescheduled test can take place at the level of the company's expectations. The company will also not count this first attempt as part of the three public betas for the game.

ComboFiend also said Capcom is working on a way to reward players who participated in this first test, but did not have any details to offer players at this time.

Ken Returns in Street Fighter V with a New Style

During a panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2015, Capcom has announced the return of Ken Masters to Street Fighter V. While this revelation is definitely not surprising to many fighting game players, what is different is how Ken will be playing in SFV. 

According to the panel, Ken will for the first time play nothing like Ryu, instead focusing on kick attacks. His V-Skill is a command run that ends in step kick or a special move, and his V-Trigger is called Heat Rush and seems to add fire to his attacks.

Ken will be playable on the floor at Comic-Con so expect more information to become available as the weekend progresses.

Hit the jump for the reveal trailer, which was captured by the Mission Start Podcast.

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Siliconera Reports Four Characters Return in Street Fighter V

As Street Fighter V information has slowly been released by Capcom, multiple different character roster "spoilers" have been making their rounds across social media and gaming forums. None of these supposed lists have been backed up with more than hearsay, but they have gotten many players excited for the possibility their favorite Street Fighter characters from the past could end up in SFV.

Siliconera, however, is stepping forward to say it has inside information that Alex, Urien, R. Mika and Karin will all be returning in Street Fighter V. This anonymously sourced revelation comes with no other information at the moment, but the website is not treating this as rumor but as fact.

While it seems hard to believe that this report could be true, in June 2015 Siliconera used similarly anonymous sources to reveal the remake of Final Fantasy VII before E3 made it public.

Breakdown of Street Fighter V's PlayStation 4 Beta Revealed, No Local Play Available

When getting your hands on the Street Fighter V beta on July 23, here is what you need to know going into it.

Capcom's Peter Rosas revealed what will be in store for the PlayStation 4 beta. Intended to test the online netcode, this beta will not feature any local versus. You will need a PlayStation Plus subscription to play online. The beta will include the first four characters announced, Ryu, Chun-Li, Nash and M. Bison, with Cammy and Birdie coming on July 25.

When picking your character, you will be placed in a training stage called The Grid where you can practice while waiting for an online opponent. As you fight, both England's and China's stages will be available along with a stage from New Zealand to be featured in the beta.

If you haven't yet receieved access to the beta, make sure to check the full post on PlayStation Blog for info. Details behind the PC beta haven't been revealed.

Full Worldwide Breakdown on How to Access Street Fighter V PlayStation 4 Closed Beta

Wherever you are in the world, you can get your hands on the Street Fighter V beta.

Details for the PlayStation 4 beta of SFV, coming July 23, surfaced with ways on how to participate in it. In North America, you can get access through retailers such as GameStop and the PlayStation Network through pre-ordering. Other regions such as Japan and neighboring Asian countries will have to be both a PlayStation Plus member as well as downloading the Closed Beta download client from PSN.

Make sure to read the full breakdown found on Capcom's page to know where to get access. Details on the PC closed beta will be announced at a later time.

Street Fighter V Casuals from E3 by NerdJosh

Team Spooky's Josh "NerdJosh" Jodoin spent a lot of time at E3 2015 playing Street Fighter V, and he has uploaded those experiences to YouTube. There are currently 11 videos from the show floor, featuring different players such as NerdJosh himself, Tasty Steve, Ultradavid, LI Joe and more.

While the strategies and ideas may not be useful in the final version of SFV, NerdJosh's videos are an interesting look into the public testing phase of fighters and how a game can evolve over such a short period of time. The videos can all be found on NerdJosh's channel.

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Street Fighter V Playable at Select Six Flags Locations

There is another opportunity for people to try out Street Fighter V beyond the tournament circuit.

Six Flags will be providing playable builds of SFV in their locations throughout North America from July to December. If you are unable to attend CEO 2015 or even EVO 2015, this might be your next opportunity to try out the next big Street Fighter game.

You can take a look below for the full dates and locations.

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E3 2015: Street Fighter V Beta Coming July 23, Trailer for Cammy & Birdie

Here is new info of Street Fighter V from the recent Sony E3 2015 press conference.

The brief video shown at the conference reveals that series regular Cammy and Birdie are the latest set of characters coming to the game. Cammy looks like she still retains many of her traits from past enteries. Birdie, from the original SF and the Alpha series, is the first confirmed grappler character in SFV with moves such as his Bull Head special returning. His command grabs return with easier motions.

Players can get their hands on the beta for SFV on July 23 for the PlayStation 4. Shoryuken was able to get a hands-on with the characters as well as their move lists and V-Gauge abilities. The trailer can be found below!

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Pre-E3 Street Fighter V Trailer Shows Off New V-Gauge Mechanics

The details behind Street Fighter V's newest features, as well as more gameplay footage, have been announced before E3!

New to Street Fighter IV's successor is the Variable Gauge, V-Gauge for short. Getting hit or using a character's V-Skill, such as Ryu's parry, will fill up the gauge allowing players to use two abilities. Using the same command as a Focus Attack, V-Skill replaces SFIV's mechanic. With one bar of V-Gauge, players can escape block stun like Street Fighter Alpha's Alpha Counter with V-Reversal. A full gauge allows players to engage V-Trigger, a mode that provides various changes to a character's moves which can act beneficial in matches.

Aside from the changes in the meter system, SFV also has some differences from its predecessor. The stun gauge returns so both players have a good idea of how close are they to that state. Hard knockdowns only happen during Critical Arts and when being thrown. Backdashes lose their invulnerability.

IGN has a full breakdown of the announced character's V-Skill and V-Trigger here. You can take a look at a pre-E3 trailer after the jump! Street Fighter V will be coming to PC and is console-exclusive for the PlayStation 4.

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Mad Catz Planning to Release Namco Noir Panel for Tournament Edition 2 Sticks & Street Fighter V-branded FightPads

Mad Catz has some new things up its sleeve for those who want a different look in their sticks or have been awaiting a new version of the FightPad.

Compatible on all versions of the Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition 2, Mad Catz will offer an alternative layout panel called the Type-N. Based on the layout from Namco Noir arcade cabinets, it replaces the Taito Vewlix panel. The Noir layout spaces out the lever and pushbuttons while the latter parts are curved instead of being mostly straightened. Stay tuned as it's likely coming in the very near future.

In preparation for Street Fighter V, Mad Catz is currently working to have a FightPad for PlayStation 4 available on the game's release. Other platforms will be considered following its availability. No other details have been revealed.

Capcom Event at Chokaigi 2015 to Show Off Street Fighter V, New Tekken 7 Information to be Featured

Two new fighting game iterations will be shown off at Japan's Chokaigi convention.

At Capcom's booth in Chokaigi, Street Fighter V will be one of the featured games that's playable. In addition to playable demos, there will also be streams on Niconico featuring guests including Namco Bandai Games' Katsuhiro Harada.

Despite being a Capcom event, Harada will show off more info on Tekken 7. In addition, Harada will also reveal an as of unreleased video. Whether or not it's based on Tekken 7 or Tekken X Street Fighter, players will get to see it when he comes on April 26.

Viewers can tune into the Capcom Chokaigi stream here on both April 25 & 26 for the announcements and more games including Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and more.

Street Fighter V Match Analysis by LI Joe

At the end of Capcom Cup on Dec. 13, Peter "Combofiend" Rosas and Mike Ross sat down to play a couple matches of Street Fighter V to show off the new title to the public. Although the game is early in development, the matches contained a lot of information as to how the next version of Street Fighter will be played.

In a new video, Joe "LI Joe" Ciaramelli takes the time to break down as many of the new and different features in SFV as he could see throughout the matches. Watching the rounds along with his viewers, he stops, slows down and rewinds action to point out his thoughts on how and why certain actions are happening. From normals and throws to the new meter system, Ciaramelli tries to fit as much information as he can in roughly 30 minutes of video. Check it out after the jump.

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