Shiburizu

What is Luke’s background in private military contracting? Seems that Capcom wants to tell you all about it in the lead up to Street Fighter 6 with a new series of prequel comics in collaboration with UDON Entertainment and Capcom’s very own Bengus.

Issue #1 is available to read completely free on the official SF6 website, and is quite meaty with 49 pages and the promise of more issues by the labeling. Check it out!

We’re releasing four comics, written and illustrated by artists from Capcom and UDON Comics – all leading up to the story of #StreetFighter6!

Days of the Eclipse: #1 Indication
Artist: @bengasu
Cover Art: Shinkiro

🗨️ https://t.co/ApH88kyBGN pic.twitter.com/3Yf4PnsObA

— Street Fighter (@StreetFighter) May 5, 2023

The fan-game that keeps on giving has yet another veteran fighting game composer to add to its star studded credits. Available with patch 1.9.20 for TMNT x Justice League Turbo the “Osaka Suburbs” stage has been added with a plethora of references to Gōketsuji Ichizoku, the series by Atlus better known as “Power Instinct” in the west.

The music for this stage features new work by Toshikazu Tanaka. Tanaka’s discography starts with some of SNK’s early hits including Ikari and King of the Monsters to his most well-known work in Fatal Fury and Metal Slug, then moving to Atlus to define the sounds of Power Instinct.

TMNT x JL Turbo is available to play for free, and you can check out Matrimelee for an excellent entry in the series that was defined by Mr. Tanaka’s compositions.

#TMNTXJL 1.9.20 is live introducing the Osaka Suburbs. In it you'll find 3 amazing tracks by Toshikazu Tanaka of Power Instinct Fame, one of which is completely original for this game! Also bug fixes but do we really care about that when this is here? https://t.co/RC9QkNyHU6 pic.twitter.com/E2MXzD99BO

— Kamekaze, TMNTxJL dev (@OldEra_Kamekaze) May 4, 2023

Looks like NetherRealm is gearing up to show us what’s next! This morning series creator and notorious social media enjoyer Ed Boon tweeted out a trailer cycling through the many talented people that contribute to NetherRealm Studios in the making of Mortal Kombat, and it’s got a very expensive looking CGI teaser right at the end. It’s difficult to really get any meaning from the sequence aside from clearly having influence from the events of Mortal Kombat 11, but it’s the first we’ve seen of anything truly showing off a new game in the series.

If you somehow need more confirmation, the existence of the next Mortal Kombat was blurted out in an earnings call. As for timing, reporters with insider knowledge have suggested we can expect to see more this month.

A big THANK YOU from us, with a (not so subtle) tease of what’s koming 👍🏻#MortalKombat pic.twitter.com/p02TeUiBGK

— Ed Boon (@noobde) May 1, 2023

Capcom is making it clear: the Street Fighter 6 Closed Beta Test “crack” can land you in trouble. It’s no secret that modders have bypassed Capcom’s measures to enforce a time limit on the PC Closed Beta Test of Street Fighter 6 from last year, and it’s lead to many people questioning if players covertly training using a modified copy of the game should be allowed to compete.

Today the Capcom Fighters Twitter account has put out a statement: “from this point forward, any player who is shown with clear evidence to be accessing the CBT [Closed Beta Test] in an unauthorized way may be deemed ineligible for the upcoming Capcom Pro Tour and Street Fighter League seasons.” Check out the tweet below.

Want to try out Street Fighter 6 right now? Check out the demo.

pic.twitter.com/t4aQmwMhLY

— Capcom Fighters (@CapcomFighters) April 28, 2023

How much do you know about Advanced V.G. 2? The answer is probably not much, but you should fix that because it’s part of Combo Breaker 2023’s All In Together tournaments, and playable with rollback netcode. Today you can learn the ins and outs of the system in a comprehensive primer video released by IdolismJ in collaboration with Sleepmode, two heads of the English speaking AVG2 scene. Check that out below.

In all seriousness, this gem of the PlayStation’s fighting game catalog is easily one of the best 2D fighters on the platform, smattering wild twists on a solid layer of Street Fighter fundamentals. Join the Discord and check out the SuperCombo Wiki if you’re looking for matches and more information alike.

Community newsletter writer Arcade Press has put together a Google Map of arcades across Europe, Japan and the United States and I feel compelled to share it because I have not seen anything like it to date. Right now you’ll find it has pretty coverage of notable arcades around Tokyo and a few different choice spots along the East Coast of the United States (I personally vouch for Lost Ark Video Games!).

Of course you’re more than welcome to suggest an arcade you know about by replying to their Twitter post or sending them a DM there. They’re looking for help in compiling the International Network of Arcade Centers!

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is the sequel to the original that delivers on what the fans are looking for: rollback netcode, cross-play, and new content. Announced back in January with a planned release this year, we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the promised online open beta due for May. Instead we can look forward to registration for a closed beta test to go along with a revised schedule for these tests, then an open beta to follow.

No word on if this will affect the overall release schedule. We’ll follow up whenever closed beta applications open up! GBVSR is coming to PS4, PS5 and Steam.

An Update on the Online Beta

The GBVSR online beta has been delayed from its previously scheduled May 2023 release.

We realize our community must be as disappointed as we are and offer our sincerest apologies.
An updated schedule will be posted as soon as possible.#GBVS #GBVSR pic.twitter.com/BwkVnBR3xr

— グランブルーファンタジー ヴァーサス (@gbvs_official) April 24, 2023

Good morning motherf——! Idol Showdown is a fighting game featuring the cast of VTuber agency Hololive, and it’s got a release date. Firstly, rounding out the 8 girl strong roster is the draconic Kiryu Coco. True to her chaotic energy she appears to be the most grappling-focused character on the roster.

Coco is an interesting choice as she’s the only talent on the roster that is currently retired from Hololive (a term called graduated if you’re not into this stuff). As a Coco fan myself I couldn’t be happier to see her continued appearances in high-quality fan games that Hololive fans have a knack for making.

Idol Showdown hits Steam on May 5th and will be completely free. Yes, there will be rollback netcode. You can wishlist it right now.  Check out the trailer!

Right after Joka succeeded in defending his crown in Tekken 7 at TheMIXUP this weekend, the latest challenger to Tekken 8 was revealed.

Can I just say I’m a big fan of all the matchup interactions they’re peppering into this game? This time her rivalry with Asuka Kazama plays out in dialogue. Check out Lili’s gameplay trailer in 4K below.

I recently sat down with combo video guru turned event director Brett to do a retrospective and interview on his new regional anime FGC event out in NorCal called Slashback. With the inaugural run in March being a bona fide success for the west coast Anime FGC, I wanted to know all the details on starting from scratch.

Brett shares a lot of insight on how to organize communities and structure your event to make the most out of grassroots budgets. Osugure was also there! You should listen to him talk about tweeting. Watch The TO Desk #12 on YouTube or get it on Spotify. Follow @SlashbackEvent for more news.