'Women face a couple of unique barriers to engage with the scene' - Tom Cannon talks girls in gaming, growing EVO, his biggest challenges and more
Back in 2010 the EVO tournament organizers put together a side tournament that invited female fighting game players to compete against each other as a means of encouraging more women into the community.
That move received a good bit of backlash as some people deemed it an unnecessary separation of women from the rest of the group and EVO would not attempt such a side tournament in subsequent years. Tom Cannon, one of event's three founders, sees not doing this again as one of his few EVO regrets.
Tom sat down with BornFree just before EVO 2018 kicked off this year to talk about a few various topics concerning the FGC's largest yearly major, one of which being the movement to make the FGC more open for female competitors.
"If we're being completely honest, it is true that games are open to anyone , but I think women and girls face a couple of unique barriers to engage with the scene," he starts. "Just one instance is, it's hard to be anonymous. If a guy walks to EVO... you can be completely anonymous and no one cares. Every single woman who walks into an FGC event is representing their gender whether they like it or not."
Tom is hoping to make the scene more welcoming to all groups, especially those that don't have large representations at this point. He also shares the most challenging thing about running EVO these days, why the 2018 event was held in August and plenty more.
More Sako combos, a new champion plus Blanka and Alex upsets: top five EVO moments from Street Fighter 5
We're almost a week and a half away removed from the happenings of EVO 2018 where new champions were crowned, new announcements were shared and the competition was fiercer than it ever has been.
Capcom Fighters released their own top five moments countdown video for Street Fighter 5 at EVO 2018 featuring crazy combos, crazier upsets and of course celebrating the new winner.
At number five, FAV|Sako lands his crazy and creative Menat V-Trigger combo jumping up to hit Ishi in the air with one of his orbs to continue the juggle into Critical Art sending the boys over at the commentators desk over the edge.
Big upsets are also a big part of this particular countdown as LU|Alex Valle rolled over the Capcom Cup 2016 champion Ghost|NuckleDu in pools using Blanka, and last year's EVO runner up, FOX|Punk, would later fall to an Alex player named Pro7otype.
Benjamin "Mouz|Problem-X" Simon is also deservingly featured after his top tier performance all EVO weekend beating top players left and right culminating in his match against last year's champion FOX|Tokido.
You can check out Sako's awesome juggle combo in the clip below and the full countdown video after the jump. Be sure to let us know what your favorite moment from EVO 2018 was in the comments section.
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Optimal for tournament play, some of the lowest display lag in the biz, but the audio leaves something to desire — BenQ Zowie 24" RL2460 review
When it comes to playing fighting games in an optimal setting, one of the most important purchases you need to make is a monitor to play the game on.
As most of you reading this are no doubt aware, this isn't as simple as you might expect, since the reason monitors are so important for gaming, and fighting games in particular, is because you want to avoid display lag at all costs.
If you are currently on the prowl for a new gaming monitor for your fighting game needs, or are looking for something to recommend to a friend or your local tournament organizer, then perhaps this article will be useful to you, as I'll be doing a brief review of the 2018 edition of the BenQ Zowie 24" RL2460 monitor.
This monitor is generally meant to be used together with PlayStation 4 hardware, to the point where there's even a little PlayStation logo attached to the monitor itself, and my testing of the monitor was also conducted in conjunction with a PlayStation 4.
The main game of focus while testing was Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition, as it's the title I've put the most time into of the current fighting games, and it was tested during both online and offline play.
If you'd like to know what the type of experience the BenQ Zowie 24" RL2460 might offer you, then say no more, and continue right below.
Soul Calibur 6 producer says that it is his dream for the upcoming game to have something similar to the Tekken World Tour
Soul Calibur 6 will be releasing on October 19, 2018. The announced roster so far consists of Astaroth, Zasalamel, Grøh, Yoshimitsu, Ivy, Siegfried, Nightmare, Sophitia, Seong Mi-na, Taki, Kilik, Talim, Maxi, Xianghua, Voldo, and Mitsurugi. Geralt of Rivia will be the guest character from The Witcher upon launch.
Okubo-san — producer of Soul Calibur 6 — recently sat down for an interview with Kayane at EVO 2018. While the Soul Calibur 6 team has been adamant that they want to create something that's "fun and engaging" rather than making an Esports game, Okubo-san seemed hopeful that it will receive the same type of support that Tekken 7 has — the decision is ultimately up to Bandai Namco based on fan support.
"I actually watched the Tekken World Tour and I really enjoyed it," said Okubo-san. "I really hope that Soul Calibur 6 [has] something similar too. That is my dream."
Kayane also asked about the possibility regarding an online beta and demo. Suspiciously, Okubo-san stated that this is something that he cannot answer. Very interesting.
She would then go on to press about the subject of in-game frame data. As of right now, this is not a feature that is in the game. While this seems to be as a result of company policy, we could see something that gets added if there's enough push for it.
As there is currently only one guest character announced, Kayane asked about the possibility of 2B from Nier: Automata. Okubo-san confirmed that Geralt of Rivia was the only guest character at launch, but there appeared to be some sort of hint a guest appearing as part of the season 1 pass.
That awkward moment when you rage quit against Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition's F.A.N.G. and it goes terribly wrong
Folks, don't rage quit. It's not a good look.
For those who may not be in the know, a rage quit is a premature exit of an online match where someone will disconnect when they're about to lose in order to avoid letting the opponent get a win. Some modern fighting games have a punishment system in place for when this happens, especially in ranked matches, but that doesn't stop people from dodging the L.
NovaSpec over on Twitter recently shared a clip featuring a match between F.A.N.G. and Sagat in Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition — NovaSpec being the F.A.N.G. player.
In the clip, we see the final moments of an online match that sees F.A.N.G. dip under Sagat's Tiger Shot with his command dash, then confirm into a big combo that ends with his Critical Art. With both health bars low, the Super combo was surely the end for Sagat. Or so the Sagat player thought...
Unfortunately — for which player, I'm not so sure — F.A.N.G.'s Critical Art sends Sagat flying out of the corner, keeping him alive. The Sagat player didn't stick around long enough to see that they were still in the fight, though, as we see the infamous Street Fighter 5 disconnect screen pop up right after Sagat goes soaring in the opposite direction.
NovaSpec chalks the Critical Art drop up to the wrong confirm. Whatever it was, it sure makes for an entertaining clip.
Click image to view the clip
Chrom's introduction in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate breaks the rules we thought were the guidelines for Echo Fighters
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is introducing a new term into the series called "Echo Fighter." Essentially, this is a rebranded term for a clone character in a fighting game.
Thus far, we have Lucina, Dark Pit, Princess Daisy, Richter Belmont, Dark Samus, and Chrom as Echo Fighters. Their movesets are borrowing heavily from Marth, Pit, Princess Peach, Simon Belmont, Samus, and Roy respectively.
Interestingly enough, Dr. Mario and Pichu are not considered to be Echo Fighters of Mario and Pikachu. As a result, there was an impression that Echo Fighters had to have the exact same moveset as the character that they were echoing, but with different properties.
While Marth and Lucina's forward smash attacks essentially functioned the same way, the power and properties of the attack were different between the two based on what part of the hitbox connected. Outside of the properties of their attacks and animations, Marth and Lucina basically did the same things.
Dr. Mario's down aerial and down special were attacks that Mario did not have access to. I believe Pichu probably has a unique up smash and neutral aerial when compared to Pikachu.
The introduction of Chrom and his classification as an Echo Fighter has provided new information about this title. While Chrom is echoing Roy, his up special looks eerily similar to Ike's version of the attack.
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Captain Ginyu in Dragon Ball FighterZ has solid touch of death combos thanks to his unique force mechanic
Captain Ginyu is an interesting character in Dragon Ball FighterZ. He has the unique property to call out the members of the Ginyu Force to perform pseudo-assists.
The specials that utilize the Ginyu Force work in a set rotation. There are many different attacks that are associated within the same special which makes Captain Ginyu a little tricky to master.
Cho_NP3228 recently posted a few touch of death combos for Captain Ginyu on Twitter. As you might expect, these combos make constant usage of one of Captain Ginyu's most centralizing mechanics.
Captain Ginyu's first touch of death combo actually doesn't require any starting meter to set up. Meter needed for the combo will be generated before the supers start flying. It does, however, require Sparking Blast.
If the player controlling Captain Ginyu has five bars of meter to work with, then a different touch of death can be performed without using Sparking Blast. This combo can even be performed with the opponent still in a mid-screen position.
To help out, these touch of death combos use Broly and Super Saiyan Goku as assists and supers. Evidently, Captain Ginyu's damage potential is quite remarkable as most of the damage is dealt before switching to another fighter's super.
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Rare director reveals King K. Rool's original name and look plus Donkey Kong Country's title following the reptile's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reveal
King K. Rool had been near the top of many Nintendo and Rare fans' wish list for Smash characters along with the likes of Ridley even though he had been left off of the roster for the first four entries into the massive series' line up until now.
Nintendo and director Masahiro Sakurai finally made all of those wishes come true last week when K. Rool was finally announced as a playable character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate alongside Simon Belmont, Richter, Chrom and Dark Samus.
Gregg Mayles is a creative director over at Rare — which made the original Donkey Kong Country games — and has been a part of the staff longer than almost anyone there beginning with the company in 1989. He recently took to Twitter to share some history about King K. Rool including his original names and more serious design.
"Never expected old K. Rool to make it out of DKC, let alone turn up in #SmashBros nearly 25 years later," said Mayles on Twitter. "Maybe I should have spent a bit more than five minutes coming up with his slightly rubbish name."
The name given to the character was reportedly Kommander K. Rool according to a document from 1994 showing information about the original Donkey Kong County game including its working title, Donkey Kong's Monkey Mayhem.
Mayles also more recently showed some early Kremling designs on his Twitter which reveal some more serious and sinister looking military reptiles including the character that would later become K. Rool, Krudd. You can take a look at the document plus the early concept art in the gallery below.
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Source: Gregg Mayles
The Season 2 Pass for Tekken 7 seems to be bringing back some more beloved veteran characters, which important ones are we still missing? — Part 2
As mentioned in the previous part of this article series, the internet was lit ablaze with the reveal of Negan from The Walking Dead joining the Tekken 7 roster.
Within the FGC in particular, though, perhaps the more interesting factoid is that we're getting returning characters for the first time since the console launch, in the form of heavy favorites Anna Williams and Lei Wulong.
It was detailed in an earlier piece of mine that this has opened up a lot of speculation amognst fans about who else might be coming back, since it was heavily implied that at least one of those other three spots in the season pass is for a returning character, and perhaps even all three of them are.
For the analysis of this two-part article series, I've narrowed down the focus of the massive cast that is Tekken's library of characters to 14 that seem like the most likely picks to have a chance of returning, opting to ignore boss characters, one-offs and other similar entrants.
There's nothing saying that these 14 are the only ones with a shot to return in Tekken 7, but they seem the most likely based on a variety of factors, including the moves they use, their story within the franchise and just sheer fan demand for them.
In case you missed the first part, please check it out first right here. Now that you're ready and prepared, proceed further down for the rest of the characters included in this second part.
Dragon Ball FighterZ may have had the highest viewer peak of EVO, but Street Fighter had a higher average: full EVO viewership statistics released
EVO 2018 has come and gone, but it left us with a near endless amount of hype moments and announcements from the weekend that people are still talking about over a week later.
We previously learned that Dragon Ball FighterZ actually broke EVO stream records by reaching a peak of over 255,000 people and even became the largest stream on Twitch beating Fortnite for a brief while. Now it looks like we get a better look at the full picture of the weekend.
Esports Charts recently released their reported full statistics from EVO weekend for the eight mainstage titles including Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Super Smash Bros, Tekken 7 and more.
The data not only covers the peak viewership but also average viewers, prize pools, and combined hours watched for all eight games over the three day period giving us a better look at how the games grew and performed.
While Dragon Ball FighterZ indeed did have the highest peak for viewership, Street Fighter 5 actually led the charge in highest average stream viewer numbers over DBFZ and the rest plus total hours watched with a crazy 2.1 million hours of EVO Street Fighter action consumed over three days.
Esports Charts tracks Twitch channel and other streaming service data and logs eSports events around the globe to compare and share data sets for the biggest games and streamers online. You can check out the full breakdown of the reported numbers after the jump.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's mysterious final game type may have already been decoded; likely ties into Nintendo's recent trend of killing characters
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had their big Nintendo Direct stream last week which revealed new characters Simon Belmont, King K. Rool, Chrom, Dark Samus and Richter Belmont along with many more details about the massive upcoming title, but at least one thing was kept a mystery from viewers.
Nintendo and series director Masahiro Sakurai showed off the main menu for Smash Ultimate during the live stream featuring the main Smash modes, Online, the Vault and more though one section was left blurred out to which we were told we'd need to wait longer to learn more about it — looks like people may have already beat Nintendo to the punch, however.
Internet sleuths in the form of users like Noctulescent and Nintendrew appear to have already cracked the mystery hiding behind the pixelated images to show us the reported "Spirits" mode in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
They accomplished this feat by combing through the video frame-by-frame to look for inconsistencies and anything in the images that could be deciphered by messing with contrast and borders to piece together what could be the final look.
As to what this Spirits mode will entail will remain a mystery to us for now, but it very likely ties into some of the previous cinematic trailers for Ridley and Simon Belmont in Smash Ultimate showing characters like Mario, Mega Man and Luigi seemingly being killed off by Ridley and Death — maybe that means K. Rool killed King Dedede in his trailer too.
You can take a look at the mock up of what the final menu may look like in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the gallery below along with the sleuthing process. Let us know in the comments section whether you think this Spirits mode will serve as the game's Story Mode or something else entirely.
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The upcoming Victrix Pro FS will run for $350 and very well may set the new standard for arcade stick gaming
The art of fight stick making has seen quite a bit of evolution since the most recent competitive fighting game boom kicked off by Street Fighter 4 around 2009, and since then the ante has been upped time and time again as better and better products hit the market.
A growing number of companies are taking stabs at replicating that traditional arcade experience as the FGC slowly but surely identifies more intricate nuances in the realm of fight stick customization and development, and it seems as though a new standard may be set very soon.
Victrix had a booth at EVO this year where they highlighted the upcoming Victrix Pro FS, a state of the art arcade stick designed to offer the highest quality of life experience yet for fighting game players.
The gaming hardware creators introduce their latest product, stating, "It is the first and only fight stick that is built on an all anodized, unibody aluminum chassis and offers full customization via an easily accessible open cabinet design. Offered with premium Sanwa Denshi parts, Victrix Pro FS is engineered with the fastest PCB response time."
While speaking with a representative on the EVO showroom floor I learned the finer details of the PCB response time tests. Eighty five out of 100 tests showed a tie with the current leading fight stick while 15 tests actually showed the Pro FS with a faster response.
Here are a handful of images so you can check out the Pro FS from all angles. Read on for the details of my experiences in using it thus far.
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Street Fighter 2 had fireballs, Alpha had V-ism, 3 had parries, 4 had Focus Attacks; a look back at the series' changing mechanics and identity
Street Fighter 2 is the game that kicked off the fighting game craze of the early 90s, so it's only natural that Capcom would produce a number of sequels and spin-offs plus entirely new titles that would need to find their own footing and identity.
The game started out very simplistic by today's standards, but added new characters, moves and mechanics to the later versions of Street Fighter 2 to differentiate it and keep players coming back though the series would move in different directions beginning with Street Fighter Alpha.
Fighting game content creator Novriltataki recently made a video presenting how they see Street Fighter has changed at its core many times over due to the adding or subtracting of new mechanics / "gimmicks" between games. This culminates in the idea that Street Fighter is lacking a true overarching identity between all of its titles when compared to other series.
The main argument brought forward is that Street Fighter 2 relied heavily on fireballs that did good damage, footsies and throws, but games like Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter 3 would shift that focus of a game plan to the new mechanics of the particular game instead of just adding upon what the earlier game started.
The Street Fighter Alpha games added new ideas to the mix like Custom Combos which dominated the way the game was played at higher levels while weakening fireballs. Street Fighter 3 added the parry mechanic which became vital, but also the dash, changes to throws and EX moves which would be used to build upon as the series progressed.
Street Fighter 4 brought with it the age of Focus Attacks and Ultras, but also ditched the "gimmicks" of the previous titles while Street Fighter 5 would get rid of Ultras in favor of the V-system. Novriltataki points to other fighting game franchises which seem to add to, build and fine-tune existing mechanics to develop a series to preserve its identity. You can check out the full video after the jump, and let us know in the comments whether or not you agree with the sentiment and idea presented by Novriltataki.
The rapper you hear on G's Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition trailer theme song is the same you might recognize from Gorillaz's 'Clint Eastwood'
Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition's latest newcomer, G, saw his big reveal back at EVO 2018 earlier this month. The self-proclaimed President of the World debuted in his official gameplay trailer showcasing several of his devastating attacks, an appearance that looks like a cross between Uncle Sam and Abraham Lincoln, and instantly memorable presidential quotes.
You might have noticed that Capcom featured a song in the trailer that wasn't actually G's official character theme. The gameplay montage was backed by a Hip Hop track entitled "President of the World."
As noted in the trailer, this upbeat song came from the minds of producers Dan the Automator and Domino, as well as longtime veteran in the Rap world, Teren Delvon Jones a.k.a Del the Funky Homosapien.
Del, who also goes by Sir DZL at times, hails from Oakland, California, and got his start in Hip Hop in the early 90s. Jones' humble beginnings saw him writing lyrics for former N.W.A. member and legendary rapper Ice Cube's group "Da Lench Mob," and the two happen to be cousins.
Base Form Goku has Dramatic Finishes against Base Form Vegeta and Frieza in Dragon Ball FighterZ — Here's a look at them
Base Form Goku and Base Form Vegeta were released as DLC fighters for Dragon Ball FighterZ not too long ago. As with any new DLC characters, they came packaged with some new Dramatic Finishes.
If the correct conditions are met, Goku is able to trigger a standoff between him and Vegeta. Both Saiyans will struggle against one another by trying to overpower the other with beams of energy.
Goku's Kamehameha wave will meet Vegeta's Galick Gun. Eventually, Goku is able to gain the upper hand by utilizing the x4 multiplier of Kaioken.
Another Dramatic Finish can be triggered against Frieza. This will result in Goku throwing a Spirit Bomb that Frieza is unable to repel.
Notably, Goku is able to generate the energy for the Spirit Bomb thousands of times faster than the anime. Frieza only takes his eyes off of Goku for a second before the preparations are complete.
Ironically, both of these sequences actually failed to finish off Goku's opponents in the original source material. They would return later for a second round.
Poll results: Which Season 3 character in Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition has the coolest design and who is the strongest?
Update: The results are in. It seems that G is seen as a very strong contender with great design ideas in Season 3 compared to the rest. Hit the jump below to check out how everyone voted.
Earlier: All six characters for Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition Season 3 have been released now. While we've only had about a week with the last two characters, players are surely already forming early impressions.
Sakura was the first character to be released for Season 3. Supposedly, Sakura was ranked #1 in Capcom's popularity poll that took place on the CFN back during 2017.
Blanka would be released soon afterwards. Out of all the Season 3 characters, there was only one Blanka player that managed to make it into the top 64 bracket of EVO 2018.
Falke, like Ed, is a character that uses simple inputs for special moves. She is able to utilize projectiles while standing, in a crouched stated, and during jumps.
Cody Travers seems to be utilizing a playstyle that is very different than what veterans of the character are probably used to. There's no denying his damage output.
Finally came G and Sagat. While G is quite the formidable force if left alone to develop his Presidentiality level, Sagat's zoning abilities could rival even that of Guile's.
Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition update will remove unintentional throw invincibility from Sagat's medium Tiger Uppercut by the end of August
Sagat became available to use for Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition players along with G on August 6, 2018. Since then, players have been trying to figure out how to best use Sagat's tools and determine his potential as a character.
It's immediately apparent that his uppercut specials work differently than what is expected. Typically, the light version renders the user temporarily invincible to throws, the medium variant is used to counter jumping attacks, and the heavy form is strong against regular attacks and projectiles.
The EX version of uppercuts typically have full invincibility to throws, normal attacks, and projectiles. Players have found out that Sagat's Tiger Uppercut functions a little differently.
Sagat's light Tiger Uppercut is used to counter jump-ins, the medium Tiger Uppercut has full invincibility at frames 3-7, while the heavy Tiger Uppercut has frames where Sagat cannot be thrown. This is a rare instance where an attack has full invincibility that doesn't expend meter of some sort — Critical Art gauge or V-Trigger meter.
Evidently, this is not of intentional design. Capcom has announced that a patch will launch at the end of August that will weaken the medium Tiger Uppercut by removing the invincibility to throws.
Capcom has noted that this "has a fairly significant impact on battle." In the meantime, it'd probably be best to not develop a habit of relying on Sagat's medium Tiger Uppercut to plow through throw attempts.
