Clear Eyes

Look at how far we’ve come.

It’s hard to believe that only 3 years ago the only place you could watch players like Ricky Ortiz, Filipino Champ, John Choi, Magus1234 and many other NorCal greats was actually going to an “underground arcade” called Keystone II. Back then we had no cares in the world, we were just a bunch of similar minded people who wanted to play/watch games, and do it against the best. We then started to share it with the world, one stream at a time.

Look at how far we’ve come.

NCR11 encompassed what we at IPLAYWINNER have been preaching for the past few years: Strength by Community. It would have never happened without a full team effort across every single facet of this community.

Kineda, John Choi, Crackfiend, Dominic and all the unsung heroes of the NCR11 staff all put together an outstanding and smooth tournament.

The EVO Staff for making NCR 11 a Road to EVO event, making it enticing for more people to come to the tournament and watch it around the globe.

The sponsors: Mad Catz, Arcade Shock, Brokentier, Eightarc, The Underground Syndicate, AGE, Focus Attack, Divekick and their staff, as well as the other sponsors who were on site. Allowing us to showcase their products that make the fighting game scene go round.

The Domain Hotel staff for allowing us to run a tournament there and putting up with all our requests.

Every single commentator that got on the mics at some point during the three days. You were the voices of the tournament, and I am so grateful that each of you were apart of the production. It is not easy to give up part of your tournament experience to put on the headset. Thank you.

Our production staff. Thank you to Spooky, Harrison, HonzoGonzo, Offcast, Haunts, Slash5150, Gabby_Jay, RogerDodger, bluerei, Southtown Arcade and many many many more that made the two streams incredible to watch. It was a total team effort.

To Richard Li who brought forth every single emotion of Sunday in a single video.

Lastly, and most importantly, to the players and the viewers who attended/watched NCR 11. You are the reason we do these events. To showcase all of you. Your talents, your emotions, your hype. Thank you.

Thank you to everyone and anyone that I have missed. It was an incredible experience and I can’t wait for the next one. Over the next weekend, and many many more times in the future you can log on to www.youtube.com/iplaywinner and check out a rebroadcast of NCR11 and watch any VOD you would like that was on stream and some matches that were recorded off stream.

Look at how far we’ve come.

Chris Ceg
via iPlaywinner

DarryH sets the pace.

This video produced by James “Gabby_jay” Gowdey for iPlayWinner’s Bread and Butter promo series. Titled “The Little Things,” this piece features Darry “DarryH” Husky discussing the important differences between our community and the wider eSports conglomerate. While it’s definitely a topic that’s been done to death, his thoughts and perspective on the growth of the fighting game scene, its eventual future, and the importance of focusing on the finer details are worth hearing out.

Expanded competitive avenues are certainly a noble endeavor, but are they worth pursuing if it means casting aside the positive qualities that got us here in the first place? For a time, it appeared inevitable that fighting games would be caught up in the eSports wave, but frequent lineup changes at MLG due to lackluster performances and the complete dissolution of IGN’s Pro League have drastically shifted the landscape, making any future steps towards respectful integration shaky at best.

Is there still a chance for the fighting game community and eSports to merge in successful ways? Or is continued evolution on our part better in the long run? Be sure to check out the video above and let us know what you think in the comments.

Source: iPlayWinner

AG Kazi Fuerte changes v.2013

Hi Guys,

I don’t think anything I say here will have an effect on how El Fuerte turns out. I just thought I’d join in the fun of listing how I would like to see El Fuerte in future. Now during the SSF4 days I used to wish El Fuerte jab was 3 frames or so, I am really glad they made that change..but it seems now he is still is worse… so let’s give him back some small things that can help him win his tougher matches.

-ULTRA 1 BECAUSE OF ITS DIFFICULTY SHOULD DEAL MORE DAMAGE (DEMON DAMAGE)

It’s safe to say almost every player abandoned this ultra. With the addition of more ex moves and air trajectory changes in moves this has just become too hard to continually hit with. Therefore either a damage buff or someway they get grabbed out of air “similar to Oni air demon.” I’d rather a damage buff in most scenarios than a property change.

-ULTRA 2 SHOULD DEAL MORE DAMAGE AND POSSIBLY HAVE OTHER PROPERTIES (BUT NOT MORE DAMAGE THAN ULTRA 1)

This move is a great ultra but when comparing it to very similar moves ex. Raging Demon or Breathless it fails to rival them. NO INVINCABILITY , NO FULL SCREEN MOVEMENT , NOT AS MUCH DAMAGE . I only asked that it be compared to similar moves and evaluated with ULTRA 1.

-HIS TOSTADA PRESSES , TORTILLA PROPELERS ETC. ETC. SHOULD HAVE THEIR HIT AND GRAB BOXES ADJUSTED

First off I don’t mean to be better! Not that at all, there’s just some blatant inconsistencies with them…. some go out to his hand, some go past his hands, some go to elbow length, some don’t. Please just look over the boxes and make a general rule like from elbow to tip of hand or something.

-REVERSE EX QUESADILLA BOMB (WALL BOUNCE) HAS NO REAL USES AND WAS TOTALLY OVERLOOKED BY MOST PLAYERS
Honestly just make it always bounce no reversal needed. And recover faster so you can do more follow ups.

-GUACAMOLE LEG THROW WHEN IN TRADE SHOULD HAVE SOME SORT OF DAMAGE

This one is a big deal and I’m not so sure if there is a way to do it. But honestly why does it hit them? cause knock down? and not trade? Either make the hit do damage or just take away the trade possibility. It’s odd that I can knock down and opponent yet deal no damage.

-CROUCHING HP RUN CANCELABLE

This is something most characters can do and I think it would hugely benefit El Fuerte in terms of possible mix ups and spacing. You pretty much hit them and then have to wait anyway so essentially this just improves flow and speed of next mix-up.

I wrote this entire guide without the help of others after completion I decided to search the web to see if other had chimed in.

Less recovery frames on EX Quesadilla bomb, Crouching FP run cancel were provided by IIPeru, Densuo via El Fuerte Character Discussions

Thank You MarlinPie

After two strong and loyal years together MarlinPie and Always Godlike have decided to part ways.  What makes Always Godlike so strong is that we are all friends first and foremost.  The team is just a title, we came together because we all had a passion for the FGC.  We are a family.  From the first time Kazi and I met MarlinPie we loved who he was.  He has so much potential and in our mind is everything a fighting game player should be.

For those of you who haven’t gotten the opportunity to know MarlinPie he is a unique, funny, kind, down-to-earth and a hard working guy.  Anyone would be lucky enough to call him a friend let alone a teammate.  MarlinPie was more than a team member to us; he is and always will be a brother.  The time he gave to Always Godlike was much appreciated and no matter what he does in his future we wish him happiness.  As of today we would like to formally and respectfully resign MarlinPie as AG, but he is still always godlike.

-Annie Eagle

CEO Always Godlike

Namco Bandai’s Live Action Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Girl Power Trailer from Comic-Con 2012

Namco Bandai’s latest trailer for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is all about the women, showcasing a few principal members of the cast thanks to live-action cosplayers before jumping into new game footage of the ladies in action. It also includes a teaser for the recently announced swimsuit costumes near the end.

Street Fighter X Tekken: Release of 12 DLC Characters Moved Up to July 31st Along with Balance Patch. Details.

Capcom has announced that the 12 new DLC characters for Street Fighter X Tekken which were originally planned to be released later this year (around the time of the Vita version hitting shelves) will be released for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions on July 31st. The date was moved forward so that the release would coincide with a balance patch that will also arrive on that day.

In case you forgot, the characters are Blanka, Cody, Dudley, Elena, Guy and Sakura from Capcom and Bryan Fury, Jack, Alisa, Lars, Lei and Christie from Tekken. The price is still the previously announced 1600MSP/$20.00. If you planned on buying the game on both PS3 and PS Vita you can get a really good deal. If you buy the PS Vita version on October 2nd (which includes all DLC characters) you can also download them for free for the PS3 version.

Here are a few of the changes you can expect on the balance patch. These were revealed at a panel during EVO 2012:

The hitboxes on Ryu, Ken and Akuma’s Hurricane Kicks has been reduced and the blockstun has been shortened by 5 frames.
Rolento’s standing Light Punch block stun has been reduced by 2 frames.
Xiaoyu’s crouching Hard Kick phoenix loops only possible 3 times.
Raven’s crouching Hard Punch loops also changed.
Auto-Block and Auto-Tech gems now require more meter and will use more each time they are used to block or tech.
The team is looking for a solution to accidental quick combos and will give you the option to disable them with the Quick Combo DLC.

Capcom also continued to put out damage control over the whole DLC on disc issue by issuing a short statement on the topic along with this news. Here’s what they had to say:

I know the 12 DLC characters have been a contentious topic since they were discovered on the disc, but your reactions have been heard. We can cite our reasons why they were on the disc all day – compatibility for all players, save HD space, download bandwidth etc – but in the end you have to hear what the community has to say. The dev teams are listening, and promise to incorporate that feedback into future titles.

New JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Fighter Being Developed by CyberConnect2, Produced by Namco Bandai Games

UPDATE – Higher quality trailer added courtesy of Namco Bandai.

During a recent press conference to discuss plans for the 25th anniversary of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Japanese game studio CyberConnect2 took the stage to announce a very special project: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle. Many of you may remember the original JoJo’s fighting game that Capcom released here in the States back in 1998, which incorporated the manga and anime series’ Stands into the fighting system in a unique and entertaining way.

Though CyberConnect2 made their foray into fighters with the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series, this new JoJo’s project looks to stick very closely to the standard set by the original, presented in a 2.5D style similar to Street Fighter IV. Other information is scarce at the moment, but the game does seem to include the main characters of each individual story arc, including Jotaro Kujo, Gyro Zeppeli, and more.

Interestingly enough, this seems to clear up both the rumor of an HD JoJo fighter and Namco Bandai’s own teasing through their All Star Battle teaser site. The game has only been announced for Playstation 3 at this point, and the release date and regions are still up in the air, so we’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

For now, enjoy the little bit of footage from the official website and get hype!

Persona 4 arena director kazuhisa wada confirms a 30-40 hour storymode for the console release

Yes, you read that correctly.

In a recent post to the official Persona blog, Persona 4 Arena director Kazuhisa Wada divulged some information pertaining to the story mode being included in the game’s console release. According to Wada, P4A has been created as an official sequel to Persona 4, and will detail events that happen after the initial game’s story over the course of 30 to 40 hours of play time. The story will play out in the same visual novel style as Arc System Works’ BlazBlue titles, and will be fully voiced throughout.

While it’s been obvious for quite some time that the story mode would would extend past the events in Persona 3 and Persona 4, the amount of work they’ve put into creating a great experience for fans of those games definitely extends its appeal past just the members of the fighting game community. They also released a better quality version of the story mode trailer that was previously shown on Famitsu.

Persona 4 Arena is set to release on July 26th in Japan and August 7th in North America for both Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Source: Persona Blog via Japanator

Street Fighter X Tekken Vita Bonus Character Screenshots Featuring Lei, Christie, Cody, Guy, Jack-X, and Brian

Capcom recently released a bunch of new screenshots of the PlayStation Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken. These screenshots show the main draw of the Vita version:  the 12 new characters that come unlocked with the game.

For those who aren’t planning to buy the Vita version, the new characters will also be available for purchase on other platforms sometime after its release.