SF4 AE Adjustments

There's an updated list of Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition changes over at SRK. I found some of the listed changes intersting.

Hakan can be very scary with his new buffs. Stacking oil will give him the ability to actually stay oiled for a good portion of a round. Hitbox buffs to his F+LP and s.HP will give him some better anti-airs. The ability to combo s.LK into LP Slide (which can then be followed with an oil-up) will help his pressure game tremendously. It's defintely much better than c.LKx3.

Honda is getting well-deserved nerfs. I like the idea that his Headbutt will do less damage from far away. This makes trying to counter random Headbutts less risky. LP Headbutt also loses upper body invincibility, making it far less effective as an anti-air.

Bison's changes are a nice compromise. His s.HK does less damage from a distance, which seems totally fair. His Ultra 2 gets a charge motion, but also does more damage. His super gets complete projectile invincibility, which may or may not come in handy.

T. Hawk can supposedly cancel j.MK into EX Condor Dive, which could make for some interesting mix-ups (or juggles?) His Ultra 2 gets faster startup and better range, which could be a godsend. His Ultra 2 would be awesome if it just reached a little further. I think it has the potential to be more useful than his Ultra 1. Although, none of this matters if T. Hawk remains subpar overall.

Abel gets nerfed really hard. I don't think his Ultra 2 was that scary to begin with, but it sounds like total garbage in AE. His roll is more vulnerable, and his Tornado Throw does less damage. Abel was definitely strong in Super, but I don't know if he was in need of such punishing adjustments.

Dan gets some interesting adjustments, mostly in the way of buffs to the frame advantage on his normals. These buffs give him the ability to do some nice combos via linking. He can do c.LK, c.LK, Koryuken; s.MP, c.MK, EX Dankukyaku; or even counterhit s.MP, Ultra 1.

Gief's EX Glove no longer knocks down, which is something we've heard before. This might totally kill his knockdown mixup game, but will his new in-your-face mixups be even more dangerous? You can apparently steer his Ultra 2 now, although it still probably pales in comparison to "Mother Russia." And in the most unexpected buff category, LP SPD gets more damage and range! I don't think a Gief player could wish for anything better. Jab SPD is already a threat, but this makes it a promise: You will get scooped up! This will help Gief in matches where his opponent is able to poke from further than he currently can really do anything about. I'm looking forward to it.

Third Strike Video Featuring Sugiyama's Necro

I haven't showcased Third Strike in quite a while, but I found this great video uploaded by TheShend on YouTube. Highlights include some amazing Necro action by Sugiyama and solid Elena play by Teppei:

Licensed to Take You for a Ride

Marvel vs Capcom 3 has a new online ranking system involving "license cards." A player's license card contains data about his strengths and weaknesses, wins and losses, and most-used team. Mentioned (but not pictured) in the Capcom-Unity post is that license cards also contain data on a player's favorite attacks. Before entering an online battle, you'll have a chance to scout your opponent by reviewing his license card.

The game will also contain a Mission Mode, containing character-specific challenges. Performing the required challenges and combos will apparently earn titles that can be displayed on your license card. Will it have SF4-level challenges, or will we see SF EX-style challenges that are maniacally difficult?

The Most Important SoCal Regionals Championship

SCR played host to a Tekken Ball tournament. For those unfamiliar, Tekken Ball is a mini-game included with the PlayStation version of Tekken 3. The game plays like a cross between dodge ball and volleyball. The players attack the ball with standard Tekken attacks, which transfer damage into the ball. The ball can then damage the opponent if it hits him or the ground on his side of the court. The finals (embedded below via Level|Up's YouTube channel) feature commentary from MarkMan and AJ "PotatoHead" Papa and are quite exciting once the players switch from Gon to "business" characters.

She-Hulk and Zero Gameplay Videos

From the OfficialMvC3 YouTube channel:

Yet Another "Leaked" MvC3 Roster

This latest list has some credibility, because it predicted Jill and Shuma as DLC characters before they were announced. As reported on SRK (and found on NeoGAF), we might expect the following characters:

MARVEL SIDE:

• Galactus (Boss)
• Taskmaster (Unlockable)
• Sentinel
• Storm
• Phoenix / Dark Phoenix

CAPCOM SIDE:

• C. Viper
• Hsien-ko / Lei Lei
• Mike Haggar
• Akuma / Gouki (Unlockable)

Reportedly, Phoenix can perform a resurrection, ala Gill, if she is KO'd with a full super meter. When she comes back, she does so as Dark Phoenix.

MvC3 Coming Feb 15, Shuma and Jill Confirmed

Capcom has announced a February 15, 2011 release date for Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. Additionally, Shuma-Gorrath and Jill Valentine (in her RE5 outfit) were revealed as DLC characters. Codes for the DLC will be included in the game's special edition, and the actual downloads should be available in mid-March. It is safe to assume that these will not be the only DLC characters and that all of the DLC will be available to owners of the standard edition, albeit for a price.

The Special Edition version contains a bunch of stuff you probably don't need, but it does look nice. The cover of the steel case is actually the art from a poster given out at NY Comic Con (given out in a contest on this very site). The comic cover from NYCC (also a contest prize) actually becomes an entire prologue comic written by Frank Tieri.

Judging by the availability of DLC characters, we may be seeing new characters announced throughout the game's life. It might actually pay off to keep bugging Capcom for your favorite characters over time. February 15th is only the beginning.

MvC3 Upcoming Characters

There may be no truth to this, but you might expect these characters to fill out the MvC3 roster:

Capcom Side:

• Red Arremer (the winged goblin from Ghosts N Goblins)
• Frank West
• Mega Man (no idea which)
• Haggar
• Strider Hiryu
• C. Viper
• M. Bison

Marvel Side:

• Shuma-Gorrath
• Howard the Duck
• Ms. Marvel
• Spider-Woman
• Venom
• Storm
• Thanos

Zero, She-Hulk in MvC3

Zero looks a bit different from his TvC incarnation, despite his similar normal attacks. He's got a full-screen super that he didn't have before, and his Rekkoha is no longer completely useless. At 50 seconds into his video, is he reflecting MODOK's projectile?

She-Hulk looks interesting. She's got some Fuerte-like luchador-style attacks, as well as an air-grab similar to Abel's Falling Sky. The difference is that her grab leaves the opponent stunned right in front of her when it hits. Her video has a hard cut at 1:02 that makes it look like she combos into her super air grab. Though this may be possible, the super lands completely independently. Look at the players' life bars and super bars right before the super flash. Here's the frame at 1:02 showing Trish getting grabbed:

Videos of the characters in action:

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/marvelvscapcom3/video/6284010
http://www.ign.com/videos/2010/11/15/marvel-vs-capcom-3-she-hulk-trailer

Tokido: SoCal Regionals Champion

Everyone knows of Tokido's awesome win-pose shenanigans. What most of his new fans don't know is that he's a great BlazBlue: Continuum Shift player. He actually won the SoCal Regionals BB:CS tournament. The finals pit him against Zong One's amazing Carl.

For those unfamiliar with Carl, he fights along with a sort of marionette that can attack remotely and independently. It can be compared most closely with stands from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, particulary D'Bo's Ebony Devil. When Carl traps an opponent between himself and the automaton, that opponent is in huge trouble. Watch as Tokido adjusts to Zong One's nasty traps and eventually takes control. (Finals begin at about the 25-minute mark).

GamerBee vs Justin Wong: Korean BBQ Edition

Watch this intense match between GamerBee and Justin that took place after-hours at SoCal Regionals:

Eventhubs is Bad, Mmmkay?

I've never been a fan of the relative newcomer to the Street Fighter scene called Eventhubs. Majestros, a longtime contributor to the scene, recently lashed out against the site in a post on his own SonicHurricane.com. The author of several famous combo videos says:

Ask yourself how much original content Eventhubs produces. Yup, it's damn near zero. All their frame data is copied from Shoryuken.com... all their strategy guides are stolen from SRK forums, and all their embedded videos are created by people like me.

Maj is upset to see Eventhubs profiting off of the work of others — so much so that he is apparently ceasing work on combo videos and his site SonicHurricane.com. It looks as if his new site ComboVid.com will stick around — at least for now — so I'd urge anyone interested in Maj's stuff to check it out.

Hulk 100% Damage Combo

I found this over at Iplaywinner, along with two Dante 100% damage combos. While the combo is interesting, I don't think it's anything to get too excited about. It's impractical for a few reasons. It requires Hulk to be in the corner. Then, he has to land his slow, blockable command throw. He must also have two meters stocked and spend his only X-Factor activation for the round. Admittedly, it would be totally worth doing under those circumstances; however, I think that it will be extremely rare to see this happen in actual match play. (The Dante combos, on the other hand, look completely doable once per round). Let's not forget that this is not the final version of the game and that all of this can change.

SoCal Regionals Schedule

All times are Pacific. Also, clocks go back an hour Saturday night. Don't forget!

SATURDAY
Prelims run from 10:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M.
Special events run from 8:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M.

SUNDAY
Finals start at 10:00 A.M. (TvC @ 11:00)
1:30 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. is a live Dogface Show.
3:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. is intermission/Tekken.
6:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M is Street Fighter finals and a NorCal vs SoCal 5-on-5.

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Wrasslin' Match

Shoryuken.com recently featured a massive interview with CigarBob. It is almost completely Super Turbo-centric, but I'd still consider it required reading. If you want to understand the passion of a true ST die-hard, look no further.

I'm mentioning the interview here because of one of the numerous clips that were referenced. Here is an amazing ST match between T. Hawk and Zangief. I don't think I've ever seen a more technical grab-fest than the grappler-on-grappler violence exhibited here:

Wait For It...

Please watch this short video in its entirety:

Everybody Loves Sako

Sako, honorary captain of Team NAH, will be coming out to SoCal Regionals this weekend. He will also be at Wednesday Night Fights tomorrow night. Be sure to check SRK's front page for the stream info. Sako is known for his Cammy, but maybe he'll play some of his new character, Rose.

News in Brief

(and Zangief in briefs)

A few minor news items came and went recently without any mention from me, so I wanted to try to catch up with this little news-in-brief post.

• SoCal Regionals will be attended by Japanese players Daigo, Sako, Tokido. Sako is known not only for his unrivaled execution, but also for his hesitance to attend tournaments. It should be quite a treat to see him compete [SRK].
• NorCal Regionals (and now SoCal Regionals) will have playable MvC3. Will it be a new build? For the record, the ATL build was the same as NYCC build [John Choi].
• A video of Scorpion shows off some of the possible combos in MK9 [Gamespot].
• Mago continues undefeated in the latest Godsgarden Online tournament: