Category: Entertainment & Lifestyle

It’s a new year, and means there’s plenty of new fighting game releases and updates to look forward to over the coming 12 months across the board.

Bandai Namco is currently kicking off January by offering a peek and some details for Tekken 8’s upcoming Winter update.

The developer’s first new posts of 2025 delve into two features being added in the Version 1.11 patch that’ll mostly benefit players who like to dress up their fighters.

First off, the main menu is seeing an upgrade to allow users to not only show their favorite characters, but to display their own customized fighters as well — so all the Lili mains can rejoice.

This footage was technically already included in the prior Winter update and Season 2 reveal trailer for Tekken 8 last month, but the text details offer up some new information.

Part of that being Bamco is adding a new “Shared” tab to the character customization screen that adds 20 more slots to the game, which can be used by any fighter, though it’s not immediately clear what the benefit of this is over adding more openings for individual roster members.

Perhaps it’s just a resource saver since the data likely shows most players only spend time dressing up only a few of their favorite characters anyway.

There’s obviously more planned for the upcoming update as well that were shown in the trailer including the ability to view and use selected Tekken fan art in the game and a special 30th anniversary fight pass.

This is separate from the larger Season 2 patch that’s coming a bit later on.

For the next season, major system and balance changes are coming to Tekken along with new moves for every character — and of course another DLC fighter too.

Although there’s a vocal section of the player base not exactly pleased with where the game is at currently, the Tekken 8 developers are promising big changes for Season 2 to hopefully keep players happy and engaged.

There’s still no date yet for the Winter update, but it’ll presumably be dropping within the next month or two.

Tekken 8’s much larger Season 2 patch isn’t coming until the Spring, so that’s going to be a longer wait to see how the game is going to evolve in its second year.

Let’s start 2025 with a sneak peek at two upcoming features in #TEKKEN8 Patch 1.11!

1⃣The Main Menu is getting an upgrade!

You will now be able to display customized characters in the main menu

Show us which skin you’re going to feature first in the comments pic.twitter.com/VyubbJfDb1

— TEKKEN (@TEKKEN) January 3, 2025

2⃣ Additional customization slots!

Customization fans, it’s time to expand your collection

A brand new ‘Shared’ tab, that can be used by all characters, and 20 more customization slots will be added to the game.

Let your creativity run wild pic.twitter.com/KfdrElQ1yg

— TEKKEN (@TEKKEN) January 3, 2025

Luminosity Makes Big Moves 2025 is happening this weekend to kick off 2025 with a bang and it’ll be taking place in New York, New York, U.S.A.

Notable players participating include FaZe|Sparg0, LG|Sonix, E36|Hurt, Moist|Light, LG|Tweek, LG|MkLeo, MBS|Syrup, Zomba, 26R|Onin, Lima, Moist|Kola, Shadic, Liquid|Riddles, Wrath, Lui$, LG|Marss, CakeASsault, Boiko and many more.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has over 800 entrants showing up to make their mark on 2025 early on, so there’ll be a lot of exciting matches coming your way throughout the weekend.

That’s not the only game being showcased, though, as Rivals of Aether 2 also has bracket play with more than 250 players.

There will also be Doubles and Collegiate Crews for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Streaming is being done at Luminosity Gaming and House of 3000.

It’s been a couple of months since we’ve taken a close look at how the Street Fighter 6 ranked leaderboards are shaping up. Back in early November 2024, Ed led the pack of the top 100 Legend ranked players being represented 10 times, and for the top 500 we saw Cammy at the top of the heap with 43 players.

Here in early January, we’re having another look at the top ranked character usage in Street Fighter 6 to see how 2025 is kicking off. One of the largest takeaways we have gathered from looking over the numbers (and you’ll likely see it fairly quickly too) is that a certain Shoto, who some believe is the weakest Shoto in the game currently, probably isn’t the weakest of that playstyle…

As previously mentioned, we have gathered the character usage statistics for all of the top 500 and top 100 Legend ranks in Street Fighter 6 as they stand right now. For those unaware, Legend rank is the highest rank you can achieve in the game currently on the online ranked leaderboards, and it is reserved for only the top 500 players with the highest Master Rate (MR).

Though the data here isn’t the end all be all for what characters are the best in the game or anything of that nature, they definitely paint a better picture of which fighters tend to be stronger right now and which characters the highest level of players are flocking to at this moment in time.

We’re kicking things off by looking at which characters are represented most among the top 100 Legend ranked players in Street Fighter 6 in this phase. This narrows things down to the absolute best of the best right now.

As far as the top 100 goes, there is one character who is represented more than any other fighter. At the very top we have none other than Ken Masters with 8 Legend ranked players.

Ken stands alone in the top 100, and in the next rung down we have six other strong contenders this season all with 7 players apiece. Those characters are Akuma, Cammy, Chun-Li, Luke, JP, and Zangief.

What’s surprising, though, is that all 24 characters on the current Street Fighter 6 roster have some representation in the top 100, even the lowest tier fighters. On the lowest end of the spectrum, we see that only Dee Jay and Guile are represented by one player each.

Moving on to the full scope of Legend players currently, we see another interesting bit of information. As luck would have it, Ken Masters is also at the top of this list with the most representation at 40 Legends.

Once again, Ken stands alone above everyone else, as the next highest placer is a tie between Akuma and JP with 33 players each. After them, the top 5 on this list is rounded out by Cammy and Zangief who both have 30 Legends.

Moving to the bottom of the top 500, we see that Lily was represented the least with only 7 players. Above her is A.K.I. with 10, then Manon with 11, and E. Honda with 12.

And as quick check in with Street Fighter 6’s latest DLC character and first guest, SNK’s own Terry Bogard, we see that there were two Terry players in the top 100 for Legend rank and 15 total in the top 500.

Be sure to check out all of the character usage stats for the top 500 Legend ranked players in Street Fighter 6 right now, as well as the chart that we put together that organizes all of these numbers into a quick and easy to read visual.

We have seen some truly incredible fan-made trailers featuring the characters of Super Smash Bros. over the years. Most recently, the great King Bob put together a very intense trailer that depicts what Skull Kid’s reveal showcase could look like if he were added to the crossover platform fighter.

Today, however, we have something that is in the same vein, but with its own unique personality and twist. NDY has crafted an outstanding fan-made animation that features Bowser and Yoshi and essentially mixes Super Smash Bros. with Street Fighter 6 into a giant pot with a sprinkling of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure in there for good measure.

The core of this slick animation basically revolves around Yoshi being absolutely terrorized by Bowser. While an official Nintendo offering would see Mario himself step in and save Yoshi at some point, NDY goes a different route and fully realizes what it would be like if Bowser and Yoshi were to go at each other without any interference — spoiler alert: Yoshi is severely out matched here.

Things begin peaceful enough as Yoshi emerges from a warp pipe somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom as he chases down a fruit that he intends to eat. He finally gets his hands on his snack before Bowser leaps out of the same warp pipe with a big explosion and begins his pursuit of the little dinosaur.

Yoshi tries his best to run, but quickly trips over a rock allowing Bowser to close in on him. From this point forward, we are treated to what is pretty much three straight minutes of Bowser torturing Yoshi as he chases him down, catches him, and proceeds to literally beat the colors out of Mario’s dino companion.

What makes this animation stand out up front is its visuals style, which is remarkable. Things have almost a claymation/stop motion aesthetic overall, and the animation is also incredibly well done opting for more of a cartoon / Looney Tunes vibe that fits the whole thing perfectly.

Going beyond that, there are some amazing references to other games scattered throughout this experience. The biggest and most important one for us is the obvious nod to Street Fighter 6, which comes in the form of Bowser and Yoshi squaring off in a Street Fighter-style match.

We hear Jamie’s theme begin to play as they tussle, and Bowser hits Yoshi with a powerful Critical Art that seemingly takes inspiration from Ryu, Ken, Akuma, and Luke. We even see Street Fighter 6’s HUD appear during this scene, and NDY added even the smallest of details such as the controller type icons at the top of the screen.

There’s so much to like about this fan-made animation, and if you’re wondering where the Jojo’s reference is… just wait until the steamroller is brought out.

The opportunity to sit down with a fighting game legend for a personal lesson is one that most anyone would take if they were offered it. One lucky stream viewer recently took a chance, threw a Hail Mary pass, and by some miracle received exactly that.

In one of Daigo Umehara’s latest videos, the legendary fighting game player was asked by a viewer in chat during a live stream if he would come over and help them learn Street Fighter 6. Yes, Daigo ended up meeting up with this person who he had never met before, went to their house, and gave them a personal lesson on how to improve.

While live streaming his walk to the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in Japan, Daigo found that he had arrived at his destination early and had a couple of hours to kill before his appointment. One of his viewers who was watching live informed Daigo that they happen to live very close by and asked The Beast if he was willing to come over.

Daigo noted several times that the idea of showing up to a stranger’s house is a bit scary (and it totally is), but he decided to meet up with the person anyway. Eventually, Daigo linked up with his viewer, who is a university student and a Platinum ranked Modern Zangief player in Street Fighter 6, and the two headed to the viewer’s apartment to begin their lesson.

As shown in the video, Daigo legitimately visited this player’s home, and then proceeded to sit down with them to review some of their losing match footage to help identify where and how they can improve.

He goes over some of the key aspects the player is missing, using an analogy that compares the overall gameplan to a card game. Daigo points out that the player does not have enough cards (offensive options) in their hand at the time, and that their main focus should be adding more.

Daigo also covers some of the overall approaches and concepts Zangief needs to focus on to succeed, such as simply working on getting in on the opponent as the main goal. He also walks the player through how to implement raw Drive Rush into the approach, and what options to look for when the opponent aims for specific counters.

There’s some great information to learn here even if you’re not a Modern Zangief player, so this one is definitely worth the watch. Also, you might want to see this video for the simple, crazy fact that Daigo actually went to a stranger’s house to teach them how to play Street Fighter 6.

10,000 videos currently facing deletion dating back to at least 2002

The Covid-19 pandemic truly did irreparable damage to one of the last bastions of big arcades in Japan where the industry and scene is still struggling after more than four years.

Another of Japan’s most iconic game centers is set to close their doors very soon, and it looks as though they may take their entire lengthy video history down along with them.

Late last year, the legendary a-cho amusement arcade in Kyoto made the sad announcement they would be shutting down for good at the end of January 2025, but it wasn’t just the immaculate cabinets and venue that made the place special.

For over 17 years since 2007, a-cho has continued to post fighting game tournament and match footage from the arcade across multiple dedicated YouTube channels.

All of that history is now in danger of disappearing, however.

a-cho arcade in Kyoto will permanently close on Jan 31, 2025.
Pour one out for another legendary FGC spot. https://t.co/EstA1ZzhN1

— ふーばー@Ryan Harvey (@fubarduck) December 23, 2024

One of a-cho’s workers, user chibax7jp on X / Twitter, has shared multiple posts now announcing the intention to delete all / most of the game center’s video content.

“About the YouTube channel, a-cho will close, and the staff responsible for managing the channel will no longer have any authority over it,” reads the English version of the post. “In addition, the rights to manage video material that belongs to the manufacturer cannot be transferred to a third party. Please understand.”

https://t.co/viKPBJswgn

— へらちょんぺ (@chibax7jp) January 3, 2025

Between a-cho GAME, a-cho battle movie, and a-cho staff, there’s over 10,000 videos spread across those channels, and while they’re not all about fighting games, a vast majority of them are.

From their descriptions, a-cho has archived tournament matches as far back as at least 2002 for Street Fighter Alpha 3 as well as classic bouts in Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, Street Fighter 4, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Guilty Gear XX, Street Fighter EX, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Melty Blood, BlazBlue, The King of Fighters ’98, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Fist of the North Star, Tekken and many more titles featured over the past few decades.

You can probably find footage of your favorite and / or strongest Japanese players from almost any point in time buried in those thousands of matches.

It’s not really stated clearly why the channels are going to be deleted because of these supposed “video managerial rights” and not just left up as an archive for their arcade’s legacy.

Our only guesses at the moment would be some connection to Japan’s stricter copyright laws and / or other potential legal issues that the owners wish to avoid even if they never actually arise.

I hope you guys keep the youtube channel up. A-cho was an important part of the FGC and the videos serve as an archive for that. Even if A-cho is closing it’s doors, it would be nice if those videos would live on to carry the memory for the future.

— Black Norville Rogers (@YungStarscream) January 3, 2025

This has of course sparked a lot of sadness and confusion among the fighting game community around the world that has been able to look to pieces of history and learn from matches that happened years ago.

There may be some hope for their immediate preservation, however, with chibax7jp also posting about looking into a tool to rip YouTube videos.

But that post also came before the announcement of the channels’ shutdowns, so it may not have been an official option after all.

So the preservation of this 20+ years of FGC history may fall on the shoulders of some dedicated community members to try and download and archive this massive amount of footage on a different channel or elsewhere on the internet.

There’s still almost two months before the planned shutter of the channels, so we have time to try and find a solution.

But just in case, go back and start watching some of these pieces of history and soak in the past of our scene from what used to be one of its most prominent locations.

We’re also on the verge of losing that said location in another sad layer to this story that’s provided a home for decades to fighting game fans.

It’s another unfortunate victim of our current times that’s seen around 8,000 arcades and game centers close in Japan over the past decade, so the decline existed before the pandemic though was certainly accelerated by it.

So if you’re in Japan this month, please go check out a-cho in Kyoto for those of us who will never get that opportunity.

Capcom has faced off against the likes of Marvel, SNK and Bandai Namco characters in official Versus fighting games over the past nearly 30 years, but never against the house of Sonic the Hedgehog as of yet.

That’s why one dedicated fan has poured years of work into developing their own Sega vs. Capcom fighter to bring the gaming icons together in an unofficial space.

The developer Madxruler recently dropped his version 2.5 beta demo for Sega vs. Capcom: The Next Level offering up new characters, features and more.

Compared to when we looked at the first playable SvC demo, Street Fighter’s Ryu and Virtua Fighter’s Akira Yuki have been added to the roster along with the previously available Sonic and Mega Max X.

There’s also still slots on the character select screen for Morrigan, Batsu, Linn Kurosawa, Axel, Vyse and Sakura though they are not selectable yet.

Sonic Park, Metrco City Arcade, Suzaku Castle, Liberty Event, and Pumpkin Graveyard as a cross between Sonic Adventure 2 and Super Ghouls ‘N Ghosts are all now stages that can be picked offering up some new options there too.

Character voices, new music and gameplay changes are all making this SvC passion project feel much more polished than before too, however, it’s clear there’s still much work to be done before it could be considered in a complete state.

Beta 2.5 also offers the ability to play against opponents online, but it seems you’ll have to download extra software and jump through some hoops to make that happen — so be cautious and aware of what you’re doing on that front.

This Sega vs. Capcom project was first teased all the way back in 2021 where Madxruler has continued to make slow but steady progress over the years to get it in a playable and presentable state.

Axel Stone (Streets of Rage)
2021 / Now pic.twitter.com/gu1kfRtbYB

— SEGA VS CAPCOM: THE NEXT LEVEL (Ikemen GO Game) (@segavscapcom) January 2, 2025

And though he’s not playable yet, they event just showed off how much their working character model for Axel Stone has advanced over the past four years.

Fan mods and game projects are becoming pretty popular again in the fighting game space, especially with the recent release in probably the largest venture yet through Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite & Beyond.

Please note we are not advocating for the download of this associated software, and only install programs which you personally trust.

You can check out footage of the new Sega vs. Capcom beta in action below, and more information can be found on the project’s X / Twitter page.

On the surface, there are clear differences between a character’s level 3 super and their Critical Art in Street Fighter 6. Most players know that Critical Arts are a harder-hitting version of a fighter’s level 3 that becomes accessible when their health drops under 25%, and the animation for this big, cinematic maneuver also tends to change between the two.

However, there are far more differences when looking at these two attacks on a character specific level that are much less known about, and some are incredibly important and powerful. In MC Mura’s latest video, he delves into what traits, abilities, and advantages certain characters get from both level 3 and CA, and in some cases, level 3 ends up being a stronger choice for certain situations.

Now, the most obvious example of a character who has a major difference between their level 3 super and their Critical Art is Jamie. This one is well known, but with level 3 Jamie gets the ability to juggle afterward and continue the combo, whereas Critical Art is a set knockdown.

But other characters have differences between their two versions also, though they’re more subtle — and in some cases just as important.

Starting with a character like Cammy, we see that her level 3 super leaves her at +17 frames of advantage and pushed back to about Drive Rush distance away from the opponent. After Critical Art, she is left at just about the same distance away, but is +22 instead.

So, numbers are cool and all, but what does that actually mean? Well, that extra 5 frames of advantage makes it so that Cammy can raw Drive Rush in, cut it short with a light punch, and bait out the faster level 1 supers and OD reversals allowing her to block in time where she would normally get hit doing the same thing after her standard level 3.

An even more extreme example can be found with Blanka, where we see that his standard level 3 leaves him at +50 advantage, but nearly full screen away. Critical Art, on the other hand, leaves him at +14, but he’s closer to the opponent.

As Mura points out, after CA Blanka can’t really get much in the way of significant pressure opting for something like his forward + heavy punch on the opponent’s wake up as one his better options here. After level 3, though, that +50 allows Blanka to dash forward, Drive Rush, and get meaty pressure, he can toss out a Blanka-Chan doll and still have time for a follow up, and so much more.

There are several of these cases in Street Fighter 6, and whether you’re playing one of these characters or just fighting against them, this video has information that every serious player will want to know. Be sure to check it out below.

Much to the surprise of fans everywhere, Sega is in the process of reviving the long-running, revolutionary fighting game series Virtua Fighter for the modern day. A new title is in the works, and the developers have already provided a quick glimpse at what it’s going to look like and play like.

With that having been said, not a lot could be pulled from the short gameplay teaser they showed recently, so the developers are sharing more details about the upcoming title via interviews and press events. Sega executive Masayoshi Yokoyama and new Virtua Fighter project producer Riichirou Yamada recently sat down with Famitsu to discuss the latest game, and one of the very interesting topics they touched on was the perception from players that Virtua Fighter is hard to play and the fact that they aim to change that perception with the new game.

Previously, Masayoshi and Yamada provided insight into why it’s taken 18 years for the series to see a proper return with a new entry. The traits that make Virtua Fighter what it is at its core are its innovation and realism, the producer said, and innovating in a space where other fighting games are actively pushing the genre forward is easier said than done.

Thanks to the translation work of our own Nicholas “MajinTenshinhan” Taylor, we learn more about some of the directions and approaches that the team behind the upcoming title is taking to make it impactful.

During the interview, Famitsu asked the developers about immersion and Virtua Fighter’s realism, saying that with the fighting game traditionally being the closest game we see on the market to real martial arts, that that’s one of the reasons high level players strive to master the mind games, reads, and strict inputs.

Opening the door to talk about accessibility here, Yamada had this to say.

“I think that fundamentally, Virtua Fighter is not a difficult game. In Virtua Fighter, the level of research and honed techniques that players have acquired make people think ‘Virtua Fighter is very hard’, but at its base it’s a game with a stick and 3 to 4 buttons which you’re operating, so compared to other fighting games it’s not very complicated at the base level. Also, the end point where you’re doing things with only a single frame as your margin, that’s true in any fighting game,” Yamada explained.

“But I do think that one of the problems is that the steps from the basics to higher levels is difficult to understand,” the producer continued. “‘There are no special moves, so I don’t know where to start’ is something I think a lot of players have probably said. We want to lower the hurdle of how to get into it.”

Famitsu then asked if the developers have any particular ways that they aim to change things up for the modern landscape in the interest of accessibility.

“There’s a lot… But we definitely want to do something about the perception of it being difficult. It has a long history which will inevitably make it feel like the barrier of entry is very high,” Yamada said.

The subject of developers “simplifying” aspects of their modern fighting games to make them more accessible for newcomers is one that tends to be fairly controversial. Longtime players tend to dislike this design philosophy because it can feel like high level tactics are essentially “dumbed down,” making them not as impressive of a feat to pull off, but on the other side of the coin, lowering the barrier of entry definitely helps bring new players in and grow the support for the genre.

From the sounds of it, the team behind the new Virtua Fighter is definitely looking for ways to make new players understand that the series isn’t difficult to jump into, though we don’t quite have specifics on how they aim to do so.

Yamada went on to talk about one of the biggest weaknesses he feels the series has. Said weakness happens to be, put simply, a lack of story.

“Also, Virtua Fighter’s biggest weakness in my opinion probably lies with its characters,” Yamada began. “‘Why are they fighting’ is something that’s barely touched upon within the game. In other fighting games, you have a sort of narrative backbone to the characters which is showcased in some form or other.

“Virtua Fighter was always mainly an arcade game, so that was probably part of [what drew people in], but that is definitely something I want us to insert. And to work hard to express that to the players. Have a story being told, perhaps even through the story mode, would be a fun addition,” Yamada concluded.

The producer reiterated that they are thinking of adding some kind of story mode to the upcoming Virtua Fighter title.