Category: Entertainment & Lifestyle

Tekken 8 is somehow already 10 months old, and its consistent updates likely won’t be slowing down any time soon.

Bandai Namco is set to run some server maintenance tonight in Tekken while also handing out a new wave of bans to cheaters and rule breakers.

According to their official post, Tekken 8 is set to undergo maintenance starting at 9 p.m. PT / 12 a.m. ET on November 19 and last through around 10 p.m. / 1 a.m. ET.

#TEKKEN8 server maintenance will take place on Nov. 19, from 21:00 – 22:00 PDT | 06:00-07:00 CET | 14:00 – 15:00 JST

Some online features may not be available during this maintenance.
Thank you for your patience, Fighters.

— TEKKEN (@TEKKEN) November 19, 2024

During this time, Bamco notes some but not necessarily all online features will remain unavailable.

It is not stated what this maintenance is for, and there’s no in-game notification for it either.

Considering the Tekken Shop has already been updated with new items like Zafina’s Tekken 6 legacy costume, however, there is a chance the announcement included a typo for the date and was already complete on November 18 instead.

New items are now available in the #TEKKEN Shop!

Zafina’s #TEKKEN6 Legacy Costume
Bunny-Ears Dancer Avatar 5-parts Costume

Check out the in-game Shop for more details pic.twitter.com/IrkA0EOEfc

— TEKKEN (@TEKKEN) November 19, 2024

Along with the items, the developers announced a new wave of account bans for players involved with “malicious and unauthorized activities.”

Those are currently being highlighted as cheaters, those who intentionally disconnect / rage quitters and those who use inappropriate names, customizations and messages.

Bans aren’t typically handed out for one-time offenses according to the developer noting these individuals have repeatedly broken the rules / received multiple in-game reports.

This certainly isn’t the first time Bamco has handed down the ban hammer either in Tekken 8.

Affected users have repeatedly violated the End User License Agreement (EULA) after receiving multiple in-game reports.

We plan to continue account suspensions against #TEKKEN8 players who break these game rules.
Expect further updates as we continue to monitor player behaviour.

— TEKKEN (@TEKKEN) November 19, 2024

As far back as February, Producer Michael Murray warned that repeat pluggers / rage quitters could face permanent bans from online play with the issue plaguing the first few months of the game’s life.

Director Katsuhiro Harada also previously discussed some of the legal issues in banning players by making sure they adhere to the pertinent laws in all available countries.

Since then, Tekken 8 has pushed out multiple waves of violation bans both temporary and permanent as well as additional anti-cheat measures, but there’s obviously more work to be done — even though the cheaters will likely never fully go away.

The use of cheats and scripts is something that fighting games (and competitive games as a whole) are continuing to try to grapple with in this always online age, and those willing to break the rules will attempt to find new ways to slip through the cracks even if temporarily.

In Street Fighter 6, one alleged cheater was caught competing in a Capcom Pro Tour sanctioned event a while back.

But it’s at least nice to know that Bandai Namco isn’t just backing off and calling it a day after the first few waves of bans for Tekken.

Rivals of Aether 2 was recently released with a starting roster of 10 characters. TSM|Leffen, the Guilty Gear Strive champion for Evo 2023 and the Super Smash Bros. Melee champion for Evo 2018, has released his first tier list for Rivals of Aether 2.

Characters have been divided up into the S tier, A tier, B tier, C tier, and D tier categories. Though some characters are stated to be better than others, Leffen is adamant that player skill is the most relevant factor when it comes to winning at a competitive level.

Overall, Kragg is the only character labeled as an S tier combatant. This implies that he’s the best character in Rivals of Aether 2.

The A tier group has the most characters out of all the labels. Clairen, Fleet, Ranno, and Wrastor can be found here. While these combatants aren’t quite as good as Kragg, this implies that these are strong, viable characters in the current meta.

Players using Forsburn and Maypul will have to work a little harder than everyone else. This is because they’ve both been positioned in the D tier group at the very bottom of the tier list.

Of course, it’s worth mentioning that Rivals of Aether 2 just came out late last month. As such, tier positions can potentially change even without the presence of balance adjustments simply due to the meta evolving.

Check it all out below:

Click images for larger versions

Today is the big day for those who purchased Early Access to the Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns expansion as the season’s fourth DLC character, Ghostface from the Scream franchise, has officially hit the game.

As usual, the internet has been quick to mine any and all details surrounding the character, including his alternate costumes and gear (which seems to by synonymous with his mask). We’ve got images of all current costumes and masks thanks to MK Warehouse, and you can see them all right now below.

We actually first saw some of these alternate colors and gear back during the second week in November, but while that sneak peek only showed off a few alternate threads, this showcase looks to offer everything the character has thus far.

The first image showcases the six costumes the Woodsboro killer can slip into for MK1 bouts, the second shows off the nine alternate masks you can obtain and don, and the third is simply a large version of the standard mask.

Click images for larger versions

There’s yet another Ghostface visual not depicted here that we spotted the day before his Early Access release thanks to content creator footage floating about, and that’s of the character’s fully revealed head and face.

It seems that landing a Fatal Blow or Fatality sequence on Ghostface will cause his mask to fall off during the animation, revealing Billy Loomis (the main killer from the first Scream film) as the knife-wielding murderer.

Billy does not act alone in this venture, however, as we also know that there are two other Ghostface figures helping out in the fight: Black Dragon members Kira and Kobra. If you’re looking for more new Ghostface content, be sure to check out his full Animality in which he transforms into a buzzard.

Let us know what you think of Ghostface in MK1 thus far in the comments. Please share your early thoughts on how he plays, how he’s been implemented alongside so many Easter eggs and references, and how he looks in this latest appearance.

Ghostface joins the Mortal Kombat 1 roster on November 19 for Early Access, then November 26 for everyone else.

For those that purchased the Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns story expansion, Ghostface is being made available as a new DLC character starting today. Everyone else will have to wait until November 26 to purchase him as an individual fighter.

Just like with previous DLC combatant’s release, a new patch is being pushed out to make Ghostface compatible. As such, numerous balance adjustments are also being made to the game.

For the main fighters, changes have been made for Ashrah, Geras, Havik, Kitana, Li Mei, Mileena, Raiden, Reiko, Sindel, Smoke, Sub-Zero, Shang Tsung, Tanya, Omni-Man, Quan Chi, Peacemaker, Homelander, Takeda, Cyrax, Sektor, and Noob Saibot.

There are also adjustments being made for the Kameo Fighters Cyrax, Frost, Sareena, Sub-Zero, Mavado, and Ferra.

Looking over the patch notes, this is slated to be a pretty impactful update as a number of characters are actually getting access to new moves. Even some of the Kameo Fighters are getting new options to help them keep up with some of the top tier Kameos in the game.

In particular, Sub-Zero is getting a bunch of buffs with the hopes of elevating him to be a more relevant character. Since the game came out, Sub-Zero has never really recovered from the nerfs he received since the beta, resulting in him being a bottom tier combatant for most of the game’s lifespan.

Check out all the patch notes below:

Masahiro Sakurai recently revealed that he’s been working on a secret game project since April 2022. He apparently whipped up the proposal for this game at “lightning speed” while still developing the Kazuya Mishima and Sora DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate back in July 2022.

Being that “it should be announced sooner or later” and hasn’t been revealed just yet, it’s suspected that this is a game for the Switch successor. It was recently confirmed that the Switch successor will be backwards compatible with the Switch, but not much else has been officially unveiled about the mysterious new console.

Regardless, Sakurai has traditionally released a new entry within the Super Smash Bros. series for every mainline Nintendo console since the franchise first debuted on the Nintendo 64. As such, the most prominent theory about this secret game project is that it’s a sequel or deluxe port for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Switch successor.

“To tell the truth, it’s because I wanted Geno to be a playable character. He has a gun for a hand, and I think he fits in really well with Smash. During Brawl, I thought it would be great if I could add him, but in the end it didn’t become a reality.” — Masahiro Sakurai

With this in mind, fans are expecting to see at least a few newcomers get added into the mix. There’s one character that Sakurai has talked about before that could potentially make his way into the next entry, should everything line up just right.

“To tell the truth, it’s because I wanted Geno to be a playable character. He has a gun for a hand, and I think he fits in really well with Smash,” said Sakurai according to Source Gaming’s translation. “During Brawl, I thought it would be great if I could add him, but in the end it didn’t become a reality.”

Sakurai gave this in response to a question that asked about his decision to add the Geno Mii costume as DLC in Super Smash Bros. 4. This was ultimately a disappointment for fans as it basically disconfirmed Geno from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars as a playable character for that game.

“That’s right. He’s very popular. When talking about older characters, Geno always gets a lot of requests,” continued Sakurai on the subject. “He didn’t appear as a fighter, but I was able to achieve something kind of close to that as a Mii Costume.”

“He’s very popular. When talking about older characters, Geno always gets a lot of requests. He didn’t appear as a fighter, but I was able to achieve something kind of close to that as a Mii Costume.” — Masahiro Sakurai

Though Sakurai thought he’d be a great fit in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it would seem that development for this character didn’t progress much. There doesn’t appear to be many direct references to Geno when taking a peek into the game’s source code.

Within the code for Brawl, character data can be found for Plusle & Minun (implied, not confirmed), Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Roy, Toon Zelda, Toon Sheik (or Tetra), and Dixie Kong. These fighters are often referred to as Brawl’s “Forbidden Seven” as a result.

However, it should be noted that “Beware the Forest Mushroom,” the theme from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars that’s most connected to Geno, does have data in the game. It’s important to note that the data associated with the track isn’t enough for it to actually play, but fans have created an unofficial song based on what it might sound like as an orchestral arrangement.

This recreation certainly serves as evidence of the fanbase’s desire to someday see Geno as a playable fighter within the iconic platform brawler. Could it actually happen with a future iteration?

It’s been widely believed that Geno not making the cut in Super Smash Bros. Brawl was somehow connected to Square Enix’s ownership of the character. Even though Cloud, Sephiroth, and Hero have been added as third party combatants in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Geno was likely perceived to not be relevant enough considering that he was only playable on a 1996 game for the Super Nintendo at the time.

Having said that, Geno’s chances have seemingly soared in recent years due to the release of Super Mario RPG, a remake of the 1996 cult classic on the Nintendo Switch. With this remake, fans were able to see Geno in a brand new way.

More than likely, Sakurai’s desire to see Geno as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. has persisted throughout the years. If he truly is working on the next iteration within the series, it’s entirely possible that it may actually become a reality with this latest development.

Supposedly, the Switch successor is slated to be fully unveiled before April 1, 2025. At this point, it’s looking pretty likely that Sakurai’s secret game project is set to be a launch title considering how long it’s been in development.

We’ll just have to see if the world is ready for Geno to join the fight then.

Those not confident enough to play footsies in a fighting game will often resort to using a “neutral skip” to close the distance against their opponents. Moves like May’s Mr. Dolphin, Gran’s Reginleiv, Banjo-Kazooie’s Wonderwing, and Terry Bogard’s Burning Knuckle are typical go-to moves for these sort of players.

As showcased by RDE, these moves, while potentially powerful in application, look downright silly in real life. He ends up portraying each of these moves from multiple camera angles.

Terry Bogard’s Burning Knuckle in Street Fighter 6 is actually designed specifically for players to close the distance against opponents. With precise spacing, this move can actually leave Terry at plus frames on block.

While Banjo-Kazooie’s Wonderwing in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate isn’t exactly a special that’s safe on block, it’s invincible to most attacks. If the other player likes pressing buttons in neutral, this is generally a good option to power through their attempts at keeping you out.

May’s Mr. Dolphin was particularly notorious during the early days of Guilty Gear Strive. Despite being a fast forward advancing special that was easy to execute, May was always left at a safe distance that made it difficult for opponents to properly pressure her afterwards.

Finally, Gran’s Reginleiv (particularly the medium version) tends to be a useful move in the character’s toolkit due to its hitbox and safety. Of course, it’s one of those type of specials that has to be spaced properly for it to be safe, so players had to make sure that they weren’t too careless with how they utilized it.

Check it all out below:

pic.twitter.com/t9vBAyh1cG

— rde (@rde_irl) November 17, 2024

It’s been quite some time now since the last horror movie icon was welcomed into a Mortal Kombat game, but that all changes on Tuesday as Scream’s Ghostface is set to join Mortal Kombat 1’s roster as the game’s next DLC character. NetherRealm Studios is always careful to mine every reference they can out of these fun guest fighters, and with six Scream films and a television show to draw from, there are already plenty of Easter eggs in the limited Ghostface footage we’ve seen.

Said references call back to scenes featuring beloved Scream actors like Jenna Ortega, Henry Winkler, Anthony Anderson, and others. YouTuber Legacy of Kaiser has compiled all early Ghostface Easter eggs into a video and contrasted them with the scenes they’re inspired from. Scream franchise spoilers ahead.

Henry Winkler’s role as the ill-fated Principal Himbry in the original Scream (1996) was cut short as he became one of the earliest Ghostface victims. Winkler’s character is stabbed multiple times as director Wes Craven takes his time and drags his audience through the uncomfortable intimacy of a drawn out stab kill.

The mainstay visual of the scene has to be a close up of Himbry’s eye as life actively drains from it. We see the reflection of Ghostface as he looms over his latest victim, and Mortal Kombat 1 doesn’t shy away from this grisly scene.

Ghostface’s first revealed Fatality puts his victim (Sub-Zero, in the initial showcase) through these same beats as they’re stabbed multiple times and that same eye reflection shot is used.

Jenna Ortega’s performances in Scream 5 (2022) and Scream 6 (2023) helped usher in a new era for the franchise, bringing a fresh, relatable face to the group of survivors. One of the most memorable moments for the MK1 footage thus far sees two Ghostface figures turn and clean their blades in unison, and this perfect trailer-bait moment is a direct call back to a particularly dramatic Scream 6 scene featuring Ortega.

Brutality is an overt theme here for obvious reasons, but one kill stands out to us as a little more brutal than the rest. This is a reference to the death of Anthony Anderson’s deputy Anthony Perkins from Scream 4 (2011) who winds up with a knife driven directly into his forehead.

NetherRealm added this as a Brutality in MK1 as finishing your foe off with Ghostface’s enhanced “Father Death” attack sees him bury his blade in his opponent’s frontal lobe in a similar manner.

Just as Perkins does in his drawn out Scream 4 death, the victim stumbles around for a bit, clinging onto the fleeting control of their limbs and swinging their arm about instinctively as blood spurts from their head wound.

There are already a ton more references and the character isn’t even out yet, but you can see them all in Kaiser’s full video below. Let us know in the comments what you think of NRS’ handling of Ghostface in MK1 thus far, and if you’ll be playing the scary movie-loving slasher when he drops.

Ghostface is slated to be released for early access on November 19 and will fully launch on November 26.

When Mortal Kombat 1’s Khaos Reigns expansion launched in September, it came with Noob Saibot, Sektor and Cyrax, but fans were left wondering how long it would take to get more of the new fighters — and the answer is not very long for the next.

Scream’s Ghostface is set to slash his way onto the set tomorrow, November 19, but first NetherRealm Studios has to prepare MK1 for the killer’s arrival and all the toys he’ll be bringing with.

As NRS has now revealed, Mortal Kombat 1 is going to receive a round of server maintenance beginning tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. PT / 9 a.m. ET.

They don’t say how long the downtime is scheduled to last for, but judging by previous updates, expect it to be a few hours at least.

During this maintenance, all features requiring online functionality will remain unavailable including matchmaking, the in-game shop, tower rewards and Invasions.

Interestingly, they also confirmed patch notes are coming too. That’s normally a given with a larger update, but they normally don’t state that explicitly.

As we prepare for Ghostface’s arrival in the realms, #MK1 will be undergoing maintenance starting 11/19 at 6am PT/8am CT. Stay tuned for patch notes and further info.

— Mortal Kombat 1 (@MortalKombat) November 18, 2024

NetherRealm did previously confirm balance changes are coming in the Ghostface update including nerfs to Homelander and new combo options for some of the rest of the cast.

On top of that, the developers are also adding a very helpful replay takeover feature to MK1, which has previously appeared in titles like Guilty Gear, Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8.

Unsurprisingly, new items are coming to the shop as well with Mortal Kombat 2 skins already confirmed for Mileena, Kitana and Tanya.

Ghostface will be available for Khaos Reigns expansion owners on November 19 though those looking to pick up the horror icon by himself will have to wait until November 26 to do so.

Stay tuned to EventHubs for more Mortal Kombat 1 updates and the full patch notes once they become available.

After Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite essentially failed to make anyone happy, the future of the iconic franchise was left up in the air and created the question as to whether another release could still grab the attention of players at large.

Pretty much all signs seem to be pointing to fans putting money where their mouth is for Marvel with Capcom recently discussing the new MvC Fighting Collection’s performance.

The corporation recently held its second quarter financial report presentation for this fiscal year where they spoke more about their current lineup of games and how they are selling.

In their Q&A session of the briefing, Capcom specifically brought up the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection as one of their main titles, and we can now know what they said thanks to a report from Gamebiz in Japan.

The report first brings up the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster apparently selling up to Capcom’s forecast at launch before getting to the game you want to hear about.

“Besides that, the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection and the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics are moving units exactly as planned, and the latter will have a physical release in November which should lead to even stronger sales,” according to Gamebiz as translated by our own Nicholas ‘MajinTenshinhan’ Taylor.

While it would obviously be even better news if the MvC collection exceeded Capcom’s expectations, this is still very good for the game and hopefully the future of the series as a whole too.

This is seemingly the first time Capcom has brought up the collection’s performance specifically, but we’ve had some previous indicators hinting at how the title is doing.

The Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection nearly topped the PlayStation 4 digital sales charts for September while also ranking in the top 20 games sold in the United States for the month too.

Despite that, however, they still haven’t provided concrete numbers as to how many people have actually purchased the collection, but we know at least it hasn’t reached a million copies since it wasn’t included on Capcom’s new platinum titles update for the quarter.

Interestingly, the series sales page still lists Marvel vs. Capcom at 11 million games sold total, which could have indicated the new collection didn’t even bridge 100,000, but it appears the company just hasn’t updated that figure all year yet for some reason.

As they also pointed out, the MvC collection is releasing its physical version later this week on November 22, so maybe that’ll be enough to cross the million mark.

Their previous fighter compilations have been a bit of a mixed bag with the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection hitting 3.4 million now, but the Capcom Fighting Collection with a focus on the Darkstalkers has yet to reach a million after two years.

It seems Marvel may end up somewhere in the middle though we’ll need to see some actual numbers to know more for sure.

On the flipside of that, however, the Gamebiz report notes that Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess missed its sales target although it apparently crossed over 500,000 copies back in August.

Capcom relayed the new action strategy game mix didn’t match up to their forecast despite strong review ratings and user reception.

They reportedly attribute this failure to their inability to generate interest and awareness of the project with their promotions ahead of release that the company will try to improve on.

As for Street Fighter 6, which is now up to 4.1 million copies sold, this is what Capcom had to say in their official report.

“Furthermore, the Company pursued wider brand recognition and an expanded user base for Street Fighter 6, the major new title in our flagship series released in the previous fiscal year, by strengthening collaboration with eSports activities.”

They also noted that sales are generally down from 2023, but this fiscal year has been rather light on major releases from series like Monster Hunter and Resident Evil.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on Marvel vs. Capcom’s continued performance and what that means for a potential sequel especially with the physical release on the horizon and Xbox version next year.

The Marvel collection was also just nominated for best fighting game at The Game Awards, so there’s a chance we could have back to back Capcom wins in that category after Street Fighter 6 won last year.

The finisher is both quite fitting and silly for the slasher

After seeing teases of him around a few months now, Ghostface is finally almost here in Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns, and we know a lot more about what he’s bringing to the table… besides his knife.

Some content creators were able to get their hands on the Scream series icon in MK1 early and are showing off the goods including the full Animality for Ghostface.

Although it was teased at the end of Ghostface’s official gameplay trailer, the full animation for his special finisher had not been seen before now.

Said trailer revealed the man in the mask transforms into a vulture, which is pretty fitting for a killer who basically never attacks the strong head on and waits to finish them while his victim is alone / weakened.

Now thanks to Super, we get to see everything in all its gory glory (though the footage has its color altered for YouTube) along with more of his actual gameplay and pre-fight intros.

He also shows the input for the Critically Endangered Animality, which is back, forward, down, 4.

As a vulture, the new DLC character flies in and starts eating a hole through Johnny Cage’s chest when the poor actor already got it once from Ghostface already in his extremely meta Fatality.

Because that’s not brutal enough, the ghost buzzard then grabs ahold of the actor’s spine and rips his whole head through the chest cavity, holding the gruesome snack in his beak, which crosses into the realm of absurdity like most of these special finishers do.

Ghostface FULL animality without it being cut short form the trailer

Has a filter on it for YouTube purposes.

(via @lSuper_) pic.twitter.com/WNJBhqL8r4

— iScream (@iScreamFGC) November 18, 2024

Out of all the previous Animalities, Ghostface marks like the fifth to go with the avian motif since Peacemaker transforms into a gun-wielding eagle, Liu Kang is the Phoenix, Kitana is a hummingbird and Homelander is a patriotic griffin.

Through this new footage, we’ve also gotten to see who exactly is under Ghostface’s mask, and it’s the perfect callback to the series’ origin.

There’s plenty of other Easter eggs and references pulled straight from the Scream movies too used in his move set and interactions.

• Back, Forward, Down, 4

Ghostface is slated to release very soon for Khaos Reigns expansion owners on November 19 after a nice helping of server maintenance and a balance update while those looking to pick him up a la carte will have to wait an extra week until November 26.

You can check out the full video of Ghostface in action below with the Animality taking place around the 3:50 mark on Super’s YouTube channel.