Category: Entertainment & Lifestyle

One of the absolute highlights of the 2023 Capcom Pro Tour is upon us this weekend as we’re finally getting the Asian offline Premier event for the season, and it’s taking place in Singapore.

Notable players are plentiful — here’s just a sample of some of the big names participating in this event: NASR|AngryBird, Ibushigin|Kakeru, Bandits|MenaRD, NASR|BigBird, Rohto|Tokido, BST|Daigo, Bandits|Caba, BST|Fuudo, Victrix|Momochi, RB|Gachikun, Saishunkan|Nemo, GyoGun|Moke, GyoGun|Mago, Saishunkan|Higuchi, Gumout|NL, M80|EndingWalker, SNB|Fujimura, Saishunkan|Shuuto, FAV|Ryuusei, G8S|Pugera, Xian, FAV|Sako, Mister Crimson, DFM|John Takeuchi, Mouz|Problem X, CAG|Go1, CAG|Dogura, TM|OilKing, DouyuTV|Xiao Hai, HB|Kawano, CAG|Fenrich, DFM|Itabashi Zangief, BLG|Vxbao, SNB|Yamaguchi, GamerBee, Talon|HotDog29, NOJA|Oniki, BLG|DCQ, AZ|Kichipa, DFM|Nauman, Valmaster, Otani, Rox3|Narikun, Bravery, iXA|StormKubo, ZJZ, Gank|Seo, iXA|Acqua, IamChuan, SNB|Johnny, iG|Jiewa, KoreanWrestlingMan, CAG|Eita, Somniac, Chris Wong, iXA|Inaba, Xiaobao and iXA|Jazzy, and of course there are plenty more where they came from.

As one of the only offline events on the Capcom Pro Tour of the year, many top players have shown up to test their mettle against the best of the best. Around 370 people traveled out to Singapore (or already lived there) to partake on this grand stage.

There’s a prize pool of $37,000 up for grabs so there’s a lot at stake for the players besides the coveted Capcom Cup spot which is obviously the main reason most players joined the event.

With so many players, there’s obviously going to be a lot of action to behold so there will be three full days of matches featuring many of Asia’s finest as well as some other international guests who traveled even further to participate.

Streaming is being done at Capcom Fighters.

I’ve argued (and still do) that Street Fighter 6 is, even in its initial vanilla form, the most balanced Street Fighter entry to date, but balance doesn’t necessarily translate to fun. I wouldn’t go as far as to say the game isn’t fun or engaging, either, but it seems we’re increasingly seeing discussions surrounding the game become more negative here in the game’s fourth month on shelves.

On our latest episode of Talk and Block, Catalyst and I dig into what we’re seeing and hearing as it really does appear as though the Street Fighter 6 honeymoon is over. With that in mind, developers will need to be especially strategic when they eventually do make larger changes to the game.

While complaints about the top tiers and input issues are becoming more prevalent, people are still happily booting up Street Fighter 6 in droves. The good news is that, while it may not quite have the charisma it did upon launch, the game has plenty of charisma in its reserves.

As Catalyst remarks during out discussion, people were very much happy to simply be able to move on from Street Fighter 5, and so SF6 had a lot of initial love simply for being the next thing to move on to from a game that was relatively polarizing.

Capcom clearly made massive improvements on the issues that plagued SF5, making sure to launch its successor as a fully complete title with tons of added bells and whistles that showed just how much they were listening to fans.

A quarter of a year is a long while in video game world, and one would all but expect that fans would begin to lose a bit of interest around this point in time, especially with competition like Mortal Kombat 1 popping up. Conversations about the less flattering aspects of SF6 are actually good, in a way, because they’ve become a very necessary part of the patch/update process.

Looking to the future, we know that Capcom plans to give SF6 a major update once every year, and while we still have a good eight months before it celebrates its first anniversary, the potential for fixes is at an all time high.

Competitive legend BST|Daigo Umehara and biggest name on the Tekken development team, Katushiro Harada, both recently discussed the evolved nature of the relationship between fighting game developers and fans. These discussions weren’t intertwined and came from vastly different points of view, but illuminate where this important relationship stands as of 2023.

While it used to be that fighting game developers would make changes to their games (recall the many updates and version Street Fighter 2 went through) communication with their player base was massively limited compared to modern times. It wasn’t really until the Street Fighter 4 era (some 13 years ago now) that the internet began revealing more specifically what fans wanted.

This is, of course, a double edged sword as many who are vocal are not all that thoughtful, but now information can spread so quickly and in so much detail that developers have all but no choice in incorporating fan feedback when making updates.

We talk on all of these points and more in the full episode of Talk and Block embedded below, and would love to hear your thoughts (both here as well as in the comments directly on YouTube) on the matter too. Give our discussion a listen and chime in as we all try to articulate our feelings and hopes for SF6 as it evolves forward.

Timestamps:

00:00 – The SF6 honeymoon is over

09:52 – Developers MUST listen to players, but it’s a double-edged sword

18:33 – The politics of game balance

Over the last couple of weeks, PC savvy fans have been modding Mortal Kombat 1 to add new looks to NetherRealm Studios’ latest entry in the long-running fighting game franchise. Today, however, players can get their hands on some new costumes directly from the in-game store.

Mortal Kombat 1 has added two new alternate outfits to the game — one for Scorpion and the other for Mileena — and they’re available for purchase right now. Both combatants get spooky new digs that are perfect for Halloween.

These latest costumes are premium outfits and can be purchased in-game with Dragon Krystals. Like Sub-Zero before him, Scorpion now gets his own Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) skin, while Mileena gets the “Kannibal Killer” skin.

Both can be purchased individually for 800 Dragon Krystals each, or you can opt to purchase the bundle that includes both skins, plus Sub-Zero’s Day of the Dead costume. This bundle is listed for 1900 Dragon Krystals, but right now it appears to be on sale for 1,100 Dragon Krystals — which is actually quite the good price.

Purchasing Scorpion’s outfit here will give you access to the skin itself, five different color palettes for it, and the Dia de Muertos face mask as a customization item. Similarly to Sub-Zero again, Scorpion’s look sets him up in traditional Day of the Dead garb complete with skull face paint and the candy skull face mask.

Mileena, on the other hand, channels her best Hannibal Lecter and dresses as an escaped psycho killer. With this new costume, Mileena wears a straightjacket and a muzzle over her mouth, all while rocking a pretty slick ponytail.

Her straightjacket is also covered in blood here, signifying that the opponent clearly won’t be her first victim.

Mileena’s Kannibal Killer skin comes included with six different color palettes and a set of sai as her customization item.

Featured below we have screenshots of Scorpion and Mileena’s new Mortal Kombat 1 costumes, complete with a look at each of its colors. You will also find some beautiful shots of Mileena’s new skin courtesy of TQT.

Click images for larger versions

Amjad “NASR|AngryBird” Al-Shalabi is the man to beat right now when it comes to Street Fighter 6. He’s the reigning Evo champion and thus arguably the top Ken player on the planet, so it should come as an exciting bit of news that he’s released a video on how to fight and defeat his character of choice.

Ken is regarded as one of the absolute best, most commonly used, and most frustrating to fight against characters in all of SF6, so getting some insight from the top dog is wonderfully helpful. If you have trouble dealing with Ken’s Jinrai kicks, Dragon Slash, his rush down, and more, this latest upload from FGC Birds is very much for you.

The first move to be placed under the microscope is the aforementioned Jinrai kick. This is where Ken spins around for a quick kick, and can then proceed into either an overhead or low kick follow up. Many Ken players use this for mix up pressure, but understanding where you can interrupt is key.

AngryBird explains how the light version of Jinrai kick (which can be discerned from the medium version via audio cue) can be interrupted easily, or even punished heavily if it’s done from too far away. Life will surely change for many once they stop letting online Ken users get away with fake pressure and mix ups.

Things go a little more in Ken’s favor if he’s using the slower and heavier versions of the move, but there are still more than likely moments when you’re letting him continue pressure instead of checking him when he’s at disadvantage.

The second move AngryBird gets to is the dreaded Dragonslash, the leaping kick that Ken uses to close distance and garner yet another mix up in your face.

The champ’s wisdom here? The aggressor is playing a guessing game right along with the defender, and the latter should keep this in the forefront of their mind.

Ken is only +1 after a blocked Dragonslash, meaning that while he does have advantage, he’s really only got limited options: jab or throw (you also see a lot of neutral jumps here to bait defensive throws). Checking with a jab of your own will lose only if Ken immediately jabs here, but will cleanly beat his throw and will give you enough time to react with an anti-air if he jumps.

There’s a lot more to the video and we’ll let Angry do the teaching, but will note that you can sort of use this guide as a barometer to see where you are as a competitive player.

If the idea of going into training and understanding frame data or listening for audio cues to be able to discern strengths of moves sounds like more work that SF6 is worth, that’s okay, just know that you’re going to hit a ceiling in terms of your growth.

If you’re willing to dig into to the game at those kinds of levels, however, you can start upping your win rate against frustrating top tiers like Ken in no time.

Street Fighter’s own Chun-Li and Cammy are not only two of the most popular characters in fighting games, they are video game icons. While Chun-Li certainly paved the way for her Street Fighter 2 comrade and the fighting females that followed, both world warriors are immensely popular and highly recognizable.

When it comes to cosplay, these two Street Fighter contenders are among the most frequently portrayed, but with designs and cosplay work as good as MELMO‘s, it’s pretty hard to get tired of seeing new depictions of them.

To kick things off (pun intended), let’s take a look at MELMO’s amazing Chun-Li cosplay. The inspiration for this look is taken from the powerful fighter’s design from back in the Street Fighter Alpha days, as opposed to her classic Street Fighter 2 look.

The first game in the Street Fighter Alpha series was released back on June 5, 1995. With this new (at the time) generation of Street Fighter, Chun-Li saw her updated look make its debut.

In the Alpha games, Chun-Li rocks a blue and yellow tracksuit with sneakers. We see her two hair buns return, only this time they’re held together with yellow ribbons.

MELMO’s Alpha Chun-Li gets everything right. The details in the costume, the hairdo, and the attitude all shine brightly here, and this cosplayer even goes the extra mile by hitting some of Alpha Chun-Li’s poses from various artwork to really make the work come alive.

This Chun-Li cosplay looks incredible, and MELMO looks stunning with this getup as well.

Though the majority of the cosplay we have here is of Chun-Li, MELMO also put together a depiction of Cammy. We see a battle-ready version of Cammy here, and this cosplayer even strikes Cammy’s most iconic win pose making for a top notch Cammy cosplay.

While Cammy wasn’t a part of the initial eight world warriors in Street Fighter 2, she would go on to join the fight in Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers which launched on September 10, 1993. Cammy joined the roster alongside T. Hawk, Dee Jay, and Fei Long.

春麗 pic.twitter.com/C6Fi7MqEPF

— MELMO (@MELMO_BABY) October 12, 2023

キャミィ・ホワイト pic.twitter.com/NCdRmYkkwq

— MELMO (@MELMO_BABY) October 15, 2023

StreetFighter ZERO2 / 春麗 pic.twitter.com/qySkj5ZFji

— MELMO (@MELMO_BABY) October 14, 2023

やっやっやっやっやーっ！ pic.twitter.com/TFNX8JEOyW

— MELMO (@MELMO_BABY) October 13, 2023

女の子だからって手加減しなくていいのよ / 春麗 pic.twitter.com/2mt3m9Zuqm

— MELMO (@MELMO_BABY) October 14, 2023

MELMO’s cosplay work extends beyond Street Fighter, though. We also see an excellent portrayal of Honoka from the Dead or Alive series, which you can check out below.

DOA/ほのか

photo @Sheryl_Noooome pic.twitter.com/rSZzbCGDg5

— MELMO (@MELMO_BABY) March 27, 2023

Outside of fighting games, MELMO has cosplayed as Ulti from One Piece, Nobara Kugisaki from Jujutsu Kaisen, and many others. Be sure to head over to MELMO’s Twitter for more amazing cosplay.