The day Daigo became The Beast; Tom Cannon and others react to footage of the first times the US and Japan officially locked horns in Street Fighter
The year was 1998, the internet was almost a thing, Street Fighter Alpha 3 was the big fighting game, Dominique "FOX|SonicFox" McLean was only a few months old and CYG|Daigo Umehara didn't have a nickname.
Fighting game arcade culture was at an all time high point and the Japanese/United States rivalry only went as far as theory. That was all about to change as Japan would send out their top player, 17 year old Daigo, to face off against the United States' best.
A 28-player tournament was held in NorCal inside of an arcade about 50 miles south of San Francisco. The prize for winning this particular tournament would be a shot at the Japanese invader, and it would be none other than 20 year old LU|Alex Valle who would earn said prize.
Up until this point there were only rumors in America as to how strong the Japanese players truly were. No one really knew what to expect as Alex's reset and set up heavy style was pitted against Daigo's patiently calculated approach.
BornFree and UYU rummaged up the old footage of the historical first meeting of Valle and Daigo. Tasty Steve and Sajam both offer some new age commentary on the old footage while EVO co-founder Tom Cannon remembers being on site during the event.
Check out the footage as well as the reactions, stories and more with the videos below. Then let us know your reactions to it all in the comments after.
Only three characters didn't make it into the top 64 of EGX 2018's Street Fighter 5 bracket
It's not always that we see such a large scale event completed on Saturday, but EGX 2018 is prepping for Sunday's eight man finale that will determine the European representative for the Capcom Pro Tour Regional Finals.
We had a strong turnout as European players vied for position at their last chance for local points, and the turnout was quite varied in terms of character usage.
We've broken down how many times each fighter appeared in the top 64 of EGX and found some interesting results. While Cammy continues her reign as most popular, Zeku actually finished hot on her heels with a very close second place.
If a player used an additional character for certain match ups we included them in secondary counters marked in parenthesis. Zeku and Cammy were both used by five players, but Cammy had two pocket appearances whereas Zeku only had one.
We'd also like to point out that only three characters did not make it into this part of today's bracket. We won't spoil which three they are as you can view the entire breakdown below.
Finally, you may notice this only adds up to a total of 63 characters. We could not find the information for the player named Cross Counter, who tied for 49th.
'It's the game that didn't get the attention it deserved' - Maximilian reflects on Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite on its anniversary
Of course there were major issues with Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Maximilian will be the first to tell you how many missteps MvCI saw during its development and initial release process, but for all of the face and function fiascos, the game actually did turn out to be quite fun.
In a recent video Max has decided to take a look back at Infinite now that its one year anniversary has come. After a quick acknowledgement of the game's issues he delves into some of the positives that made it his "favorite current day fighting game."
While not entirely polished, MvCI's gameplay was both entertaining and showed promise as it revealed that developers had fixed up certain details that ultimately hurt previous franchise entries.
One such example is seen in the way throws were changed from being a death sentence to being a strategic option. The three character system was reduced to only feature two fighters at a time, but still the levels of chaos and personal expression were to many a player's liking.
It's also pretty entertaining just to watch as Max goes about to singing this game's praises while holding back temptations to rib it for any of its many follies.
Let us know if you agree with his sentiments and if you still play Marvel Infinite now that we're one year beyond its official debut.
Free Dragon Ball FighterZ update bringing Galactic Arena stage, Halloween themed content, special SonicFox lobby avatar and more in late September
There's a lot of cool new content headed to Dragon Ball FighterZ at the end of this month according to a few tweets released earlier today by Bandai Namco US.
The first of these tweets posed the question, "Did you know at the end of Sept. there will be a free update & it'll include the Galactic Arena Stage? It will display your profile, but you may also be able to fight with the WT logo in the background by joining an Official Tournament!"
The second showed off some new Halloween-themed lobby avatars, one of which sees Goku Blue as a FOX|SonicFox-themed furry. There are also Halloween colors en route for at least some of the game's existing characters and Halloween Z-Stamps.
This post specifically marked September 26th as the date this Halloween content would be available via Z-Capsules, though it's not entirely clear if the new stage will be coming on this day or with September 28th's proposed Cooler update.
On the twitter thread one user pointed out that the audience in the Galactic Arena is the same we saw in Dragon Ball Super's tournament of power (take that as you will). To this statement, Bandai replied with a few wide-eyed emojis as well as, "...stay tuned we got more info incoming today!"
We'll be sure to keep you posted on anything and everything more of note that Bandai decides to reveal. You can see images of all the aforementioned Dragon Ball FighterZ goodies via the gallery below.
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Martin Wong's fighting game cosplay photos are all total KO's
We're excited to share some absolutely stellar photography from Martin Wong as he captures gorgeous models in top tier cosplay outfits.
These quality images feature characters from a wide range of franchises including Street Fighter, Super Smash Bros., Mortal Kombat, Marvel vs. Capcom and others.
Such cosplayers as Jessica Nigri, Vera Bambi and Meg Turney bring all new life to characters like Fox McCloud, Spider-Man and the pool party versions of Chun-Li, E. Honda and Cammy White.
Mr. Wong doesn't limit his craft to gaming and pop culture characters alone, but also specializes in portrait, fashion, surreal and wedding photography.
As you'll surely see when looking through the selection we've garnered for you here, these images exude professionalism from start to finish.
You can see more of Wong's work by visiting his (somewhat NSFW warning due to boudoir photos) Instagram as well as his personal photography site. Check out the gallery below and please share your favorites in the comments when you're done gazing through.
Terminal cancer patient receives special in-home visit from Nintendo, gets to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate before release
A bit of a reprieve amidst a more solemn backdrop, 21 year old Chris "SpookyWoobler" Taylor got some special advance time with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate after Nintendo delivered it right to his door.
Taylor is a three time cancer survivor who has found himself in a fourth battle with the disease, and as of July 17th he's chosen to no longer pursue treatment.
Atop the gamer's wish list was to get some game time in with the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is slated to drop on December 7th of this year. The young gamer expressed his hopes on the matter on his Twitter about a week back.
"I'm really scared I won't get to play Ultimate." Taylor tweeted on September 13th. "December is a long way away for someone who's already bedridden..."
Those words resonated heavily with many on the social media platform, and eventually made it all the way up to Nintendo. The gaming big wig sent a pair of representatives to Taylor's house on Friday with a Nintendo Switch equipped with the E3 demo of Smash Ultimate.
The wish came true and SpookyWoobler was able to get a few hours of Ultimate in from his bed. He uploaded some photos that capture the sheer joy on his face quite nicely. Our well wishes to the Taylor household.
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Thanks to Xurkey for sending this in.
Brian and Jiewa's explosive back-and-forth set, smart trades for Luffy, and insane damage from Infexious's SPD — EGX 2018 Street Fighter 5 highlights
Day two of EGX 2018 has already concluded. This is the European Regional Finals for the Capcom Pro Tour 2018. Obviously this means that this is a premier event.
Players competing at this event included Mouz|Problem X, NVD|Phenom, RB|Luffy, CYG|GamerBee, FNATIC|Shakz, NASR|BigBird, Liquid|John Takeuchi, FNATIC|Akainu, NASR|AngryBird, exceL|Hurricane, Method|Broski, iG|Jiewa, NVD|SaltyKid, FE|Humanbomb, NVD|Momi, exceL|Infexious, Method|Packz, Will2Pac, Ryan Hart, JonesArcade, ROGDSC|RASS, EnVyUS|MisterCrimson, Cobelcog, exceL|Isam, Konsollsport|Ixion, Shivryuken, EnVyUS|NassimClaw, exceL|Brian, ImStillDaDaddy, NVD|Veggey, GunSlinga, EnVyUS|Layo, Unilad|Boltstrike, Atrosh, Gen1us and of course, many more.
We've got a batch of highlights to showcase as a result of the hype sequences that went on during the event. First, let's talk about Brian and Jiewa's set together.
While Brian was using Blanka, Jiewa went with Akuma. It was down to the fifth and final game of the set. It looked like Brian was going to win quite handily as Blanka as he was able to stun Jiewa.
After getting out of the corner, Jiewa managed to return the favor by stunning Brian. All of a sudden, it looked like Jiewa was about to score an epic comeback.
Despite Jiewa's hard work, Brian managed to close the set out with a risky jump back attack with only a sliver of life remaining.
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EGX 2018 early results, stream ft. Problem X, Phenom, Luffy, GamerBee, Shakz, BigBird, John Takeuchi, Akainu, AngryBird, Hurricane, Broski and more
Update: This story has been updated with day 2 results.
The European Regional Finals for the Capcom Pro Tour 2018 are upon us this weekend.
They're taking place at EGX 2018, in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and the vast majority of European competitors have come out to compete, though a few out-of-towners will be showing up as well.
This year, the Regional Open Event effectively functions as its own Premier event, with points on the line, and players not eligible for the Europe finals are still allowed to partake. This portion of the event will end on Saturday, while Sunday hosts the European finals themselves, in a top 8 bracket.
Players set to compete at this event are Mouz|Problem X, NVD|Phenom, RB|Luffy, CYG|GamerBee, FNATIC|Shakz, NASR|BigBird, Liquid|John Takeuchi, FNATIC|Akainu, NASR|AngryBird, exceL|Hurricane, Method|Broski, iG|Jiewa, NVD|SaltyKid, FE|Humanbomb, NVD|Momi, exceL|Infexious, Method|Packz, Will2Pac, Ryan Hart, JonesArcade, ROGDSC|RASS, EnVyUS|MisterCrimson, Cobelcog, exceL|Isam, Konsollsport|Ixion, Shivryuken, EnVyUS|NassimClaw, exceL|Brian, ImStillDaDaddy, NVD|Veggey, GunSlinga, EnVyUS|Layo, Unilad|Boltstrike, Atrosh, Gen1us and of course, many more.
The players currently set to compete in the European grand finals on Sunday are, in order of seeding — NVD|Phenom, RB|Luffy, Mouz|Problem X, NASR|AngryBird, exceL|Hurricane, ROGDSC|RASS, FNATIC|Akainu and NVD|Momi. This is because the 4th placer, SSYSDR|SwagSkheletor, could not make it to the event.
Streaming will all be done over at Capcom Fighters.
Cammy representation more than double than any other character in the top 64 of the Tokyo Game Show 2018 CPT — character usage stats
The premier Capcom Pro Tour event at the Tokyo Game Show 2018 is already down to its last eight competitors. There were over 735 entrants at this particular event.
Let's take a moment to look which characters are seeing the most success at events like these. We'll consider everyone used in the 64 portion of the premier tournament's bracket.
Perhaps unsurprisingly to many, Cammy ended up being the most popular fighter in the top 64. Although the number of Cammy players were more than double than any other combatant, only one of them actually made it into the top eight.
While there were eleven players in the top 64 that used Cammy, M. Bison and Birdie users were also somewhat plentiful. There were a total of five competitors each that made use of these characters.
Interestingly enough, low tiers Juri, F.A.N.G, Zangief, and Nash actually made it into the top 64 — with only one player using them each. An impressive feat considering the competition.
Unfortunately for fans of Ryu, Zeku, Vega, Ed, Falke, Alex, Cody, and Sakura, we didn't get to see any action for these characters when the bracket's numbers started to narrow.
CEOtaku 2018 live stream ft. SonicFox, HookGangGod, SKD, LostSoul, Samitto, Kedako, KizzieKay, LordKnight, Jona, Supernoon, Dekillsage and more
Big happenings in Florida this weekend, as the annual CEOtaku 2018 is taking place.
As something of a CEO spinoff focusing heavily on airdashers or anime-styled games, this event has just grown and grown with every year.
This year, the main game, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle has surpassed 300 entrants, with three other games — Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late[st], Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 and Dragon Ball FighterZ — also all surpassing 200 entrants, making for a huge turnout.
Besides these four games, there's plenty more to be played — tournaments will also be held for BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Koihime Enbu: RyoRaiRai, Skullgirls: 2nd Encore, Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R, Sailor Moon S, Fighting EX Layer, Arcana Heart 3: Love Max Six Stars and Dissidia Final Fantasy NT.
As for players attending, you can expect to see FOX|SonicFox, NRG|HookGangGod, PG|SKD, WN|LostSoul, Samitto, Kedako, UYU|KizzieKay, LordKnight, Jona, NRG|Supernoon, FOX|Dekillsage, UYU|Cloud805, PurePure, PAG|Grover, Hotashi, FOX|Punk, 1Up|PepperySplash, PG|MarlinPie, PG|Nakkiel, Foo, FF|ElvenShadow, Clim, KnowKami, UYU|BeautifulDude, BxA|Argenrost, DATA|TectalEastside and many more.
Streaming is being done at CEO Gaming, DATA FGC and Polarity GG.
Never Give Up 2018 live stream ft. Chris Tatarian, DoomSnake, Stunner, Misterio, Moise, Baek, BabyBrasil, Pikoro and more
This weekend is seeing a lot of tournament action across the globe, and the Latin American region is no different.
Never Give Up 2018 is taking place in Santiago, Chile, and will have a lot of tournament action going on.
This is a Ranking Event for the Capcom Pro Tour, so points are on the line to try and grab one of those qualification spots for the Capcom Cup.
Besides this, the event will also be hosting tournaments in Dragon Ball FighterZ and King of Fighters 14.
Players attending include CYG|Chris Tatarian, SB|DoomSnake, TPT|Stunner, DM|Misterio, NFMS|Moise, DM|Baek, AAG|BabyBrasil, Raptor|Pikoro and of course many more.
Streaming will be done at F2G CL.
Fujimura barely survives first set encounter with Zangief, Fuudo's reads are on point, while NuckleDu is an impenetrable wall — TGS CPT highlights
The Tokyo Game Show 2018 CPT Premier Event is already down to its final eight competitors. At the very start of this tournament, there were over 735 entrants that were in the brackets.
First place awards the winner with a total of 700 CPT points. For any player, this is enough to swing the CPT standings. Professional players like FOX|Tokido, UYU|NL, FD|Fujimura, UYU|OilKing, Fursan|Verloren, CYG|Daigo, RZR|Xian, FOX|Justin Wong, Liquid|Nemo, CYG|Fuudo, FAV|Sako, RB|Bonchan, Gachikun, Ghost|NuckleDu, FOX|Momochi, DouyuTV|Xiao Hai, Mago, OC|Gafro, DNG|Itabashi Zangief, and many more were present as a result of this.
We've got a batch of highlights that need to be talked about. Let's start by taking a look at the set that almost sent Fujimura to the losers bracket in the very first round of pools.
His opponent was AB|Kichipa-mu — a Zangief player. Not surprisingly, Fujimura stuck to his guns by utilizing his deadly Ibuki. You could say that Fujimura was one of the competitors that many would bet on taking this premier event.
Fujimura was just one hit away from being stunned by the Zangief user. Luckily for him, he was able to get a jab trade that pushed Zangief just far enough away so that the following command grab would whiff.
From here, Fujimura was able to get a high damage combo going thanks to Ibuki's V-Trigger 2. Unfortunately for Fujimura fans, he would later be eliminated by Kichipa-mu when they met again in the losers bracket.
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Android 17 trailer released for Dragon Ball FighterZ
We got quite a good look at Android 17 yesterday with a bunch of new screenshots, and the reveal of his stats via V-Jump.
Bandai Namco clearly didn't think that was enough, though, because today they hit us with his gameplay trailer.
As is customary with the character trailers for Dragon Ball FighterZ, this is a relatively short affair, but it gives a good glimpse at what Android 17 will look like in action when he releases.
Although the trailer does not confirm a specific release date, Cooler was previously confirmed to be dropping on September 28th, and given that each DLC for Dragon Ball FighterZ has been released in packs of two characters, it seems fairly likely that Android 17 will follow suit and join the game together with Cooler on that date.
We also got some details earlier this week on upcoming content that will be releasing this month and in November, in the form of a new stage and Halloween colors, which you can find details for here.
Check out some images of Android 17's trailer below.
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Tokyo Game Show 2018 CPT Premier Event early results, stream ft. Tokido, NL, Fujimura, OilKing, Verloren, Daigo, Xian, Justin Wong, Nemo and more
Update: This story has been updated with day 1 results.
Tokyo Game Show 2018 is in full swing, with tons of game announcements and other fun stuff going on at the venue, as it's one of (if not the very) biggest gaming expos in all of Japan.
As has become tradition by now, it's also hosting a Premier Event for the Capcom Pro Tour, so there's some serious Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition action coming up this weekend.
With a whopping 723 entrants, I'm fairly sure that this makes it the biggest Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition event of the year besides EVO events, though correct me in the comments if I'm wrong.
Among these 700+ names, you can find familiar faces such as FOX|Tokido, UYU|NL, FD|Fujimura, UYU|OilKing, Fursan|Verloren, CYG|Daigo, RZR|Xian, FOX|Justin Wong, Liquid|Nemo, CYG|Fuudo, FAV|Sako, RB|Bonchan, Gachikun, Ghost|NuckleDu, FOX|Momochi, DouyuTV|Xiao Hai, Mago, OC|Gafro, DNG|Itabashi Zangief, GRPT|MOV, Surugaya|Machabo, FD|Haitani, GGP|Kazunoko, SZY|Mizuha, FAV|Ryuusei, AB|Poongko, Ponos|Moke, WP|Daikokugo, AB|StormKubo, CO|Go1, YHC-Mochi, Trashbox, UYU|Jeondding, Nishikin, Talon|HotDog29, AB|Kichipa-mu, Mishie, Talon|Denesis, AB|Gunfight, FD|Johnny, FD|Haku, EG|Ricki Ortiz, Xiaobao, FD|Otani, CYG|PR Balrog, P2G|Harumy, Reiketsu and Saisak... But of course, many more besides them as well.
This year is also special, as an extra prize pot has been added — which is probably why so many people have gathered. Over $90,000 is up for grabs, and you can read more about the details of the prizing here.
Streaming will be done, as is customary for Premier Events, at Capcom Fighters.
Rumor: Ken Masters possibly leaked for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
In the digital era, fake video game leaks are an all too common occurrence especially in the Super Smash Bros. community which is no stranger to some pretty elaborate hoaxes, but there are still leaks that legitimately appear every now and again — this may just be one of those times.
A supposed screenshot from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate popped up anonymously earlier today that shows off Street Fighter's Ken Masters posing with Ivysaur, Pichu and Pac Man on the game's new Splatoon stage which has the internet scrambling to prove it fake — which it can't yet. As it has not been officially confirmed though, it should still be taken with a huge grain of salt.
The render of Ken used in this image has not been traced back to any existing model of Ken in another game or elsewhere though that does little to prove the image's validity due to multiple hoaxes in the past creating their own assets from scratch. That may be the biggest detractor to its case currently, however.
There are many small details which might appear to be off from what you'd expect, but are actually consistent with Super Smash Bros. in ways that most false leakers probably wouldn't even realize or consciously alter.
Ken has been rumored to be among Smash Ultimate's roster by the same leaker that predicted Ridley, Simon Belmont and Isabelle's inclusions in the new game, and even Ultimate's box design may point to his inclusion.
You can take a look at the alleged screenshot of Ken below, and we'll dive into what evidence may point to it being legitimate after the jump.
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Tekken World Tour Online Events Week One — North America, Latin America and Australia
The Tekken World Tour is in full force for Tekken 7 this year, and the online events for it are happening this week and next.
Although there are no official streams, players are free to stream their matches on their own twitch channels if they wish to do so, and we will provide Smash.GG brackets, and full results after the events are over in this story.
This weekend, there will be separate events in North America, the first one being North America West, which includes Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Manitoba, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Oregon, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Yukon.
North America East encompasses Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland and Labrador, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, Latin America North includes Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Puerto Rico. Latin America South, on the other hand, has Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay as its eligible regions.
Australia also has its online event being played this weekend, and each of these begin at noon in their respective time zones, which can be found on their linked Smash GG pages. Results will be posted in this story once the events have ended.
Daigo's stubbornness gets him KO'd, two students face masters and 801_Strider is a true 'G' in Capcom's top five Street Fighter 5 moments from SCR
It's been nearly a week and we're still a bit shaken up from all the exciting moments that came out of SoCal Regionals 2018.
With all the crazy Street Fighter 5 action it's hard to whittle things down to a simple top five best moments, but Capcom Fighters has done that and created a video to share their countdown with the rest of us.
Some poetic goings on occurred when two younger players, FOX|Punk and CYG|Chris T, ran into their respective idols, RB|Bonchan and FOX|Momochi, in the top eight bracket. We also saw some pretty awesome plays from FAV|Sako.
The highlight that caught our attention came from the match between Mr. 801_Strider and CYG|Daigo "The Beast" Umehara. Daigo has shown an exceptional amount of patience in the past as he endured no less than five command grabs in a row from NVD|Phenom.
While Strider didn't land a whopping five in a row, he did use G's command grab paired with his knowledge of The Beast's tendency to take them over getting hit with a combo to his advantage. Not only did the Utah player best one of the game's best, he popped off with a stylish G reference after the match.
You can see the full sequence by clicking the thumbnail here, and you'll find the entire top five countdown after the jump below.
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