Ian Walker

Thank Goodness You Can Turn Off Street Fighter V‘s New In-Game Ads Because Yikes

Street Fighter V has had its share of disappointments since it arrived in 2016, from a shoddy launch to installing dangerous backdoors for malware in players’ computers. Capcom’s latest brilliant idea is to plaster the entire game with advertisements, turning the most storied fighting game franchise of all time into a billboard. The decision to…

Oh God, Fox Won An Early Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate officially landed on the Nintendo Switch last Friday, giving folks just enough time to hold inaugural tournaments for the new game over this past weekend. Local event series Smash @ Xanadu hosted the first of many Ultimate competitions on Saturday, bringing in players from surrounding states to test their burgeoning skills.…

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Competitor Lands Sick Combo Just Before Ultimate Drops

Although most players are eagerly anticipating the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate later this week, tournaments are still being run for the previous installment during what many consider to be its twilight hour. And lucky us, because, otherwise, we wouldn’t have seen this cool moment from an event last weekend where low tier hero…

Trainer Battles Make Pokémon Go Finally Feel Complete

Pokémon Go is ready to expand once again with the upcoming addition of trainer battles, offering the first real head-to-head competition the game has seen since it launched in 2016. Last week, Niantic invited Kotaku to try out this new mode at their offices, and much like the game itself, these battles are a little…

Tekken 7 Player Wins World Championships With Panda, Of All Characters

Hyeon-ho “Rangchu” Jeong is the new Tekken 7 champion after winning the Tekken World Tour finals over the weekend at an event in Amsterdam. His victory was the culmination of a year’s worth of competition, but at times it felt like he was fighting against history and even his own character en route to earning…

Dragon Ball FighterZ Player Won’t Stop Winning World Tour Events

After months of competition, the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour is nearing its January conclusion. Matches have been fierce as international competitors have fought for a spot at the finals, but the fiercest among them is apparently Ryota “Kazunoko” Inoue, who hasn’t stopped winning Saga events despite qualifying for the World Tour finale all the…

Cammy Is Finally Getting Pants In Street Fighter V

Shout it from the rooftops: Cammy White will be trading in her traditional battle gear for an outfit with pants, thanks to Street Fighter V’s upcoming cross-promotion with Resident Evil. In paying homage to frequent Resident Evil protagonist Jill Valentine, the Killer Bee is set to have an outfit with ample bottom coverage for one…

Last weekend’s ArcRevo Japan attached heart monitors to players during tournament play, providing a glimpse at just how stressful competition can be. The average heart rate at the event sat around levels normally associated with moderate exercise, and they would spike during particularly intense moments. Ian Walker loves fighting games and writing about them. You…

Punk Shows Off By Winning Street Fighter V Tournament With His Opponent’s Character

Red Bull Conquest wrapped up its team-based fighting game competition in Washington, D.C., this past weekend, bringing Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 competitors together to decide which American city is the strongest. Victor “Punk” Woodley, who famously placed second at Evo 2017, ending up winning the Street Fighter V…

Street Fighter V Player Exits Capcom Cup Due To Results Of Domestic Violence Investigation

In response to recent allegations of domestic violence, South Korean fighting game competitor Seon-woo “Infiltration” Lee has been dropped by Panda Global, the professional esports organization that signed him in March, and will not participate in official Street Fighter V events for at least a year. In September, an anonymous Reddit user posted documentation that…

SonicFox Is Still The Best Injustice 2 Player In The World

Dominique “SonicFox” McLean won the biggest Injustice 2 tournament of the year. Again. Last night, the Injustice 2 Pro Series wrapped up months of competition in Chicago, Illinois, bringing together some of the most accomplished competitors in the world to play for a $100,000 prize pool. Competition began early on Tuesday morning in order to…

Flashy Player Intros And Wild Comebacks At Red Bull’s Street Fighter V Invitational

Red Bull Kumite, which started with Street Fighter IV in 2015 before transitioning to Street Fighter V in 2016, often serves as a summation of the year’s competition. The event invites some of the most accomplished players in the world to compete in Paris, France, and also gives additional challengers the chance to earn a…

A competitive King of Fighters 2002 match was spotted in a recent report on the Argentine Antarctica base of Marambio, showing just how far the fighting game community can travel. Scope out that old-school dual arcade stick setup!

What Not To Do When Your Fighting Game Tournament Goes To Shit

Two different fighting game tournaments ran into issues last weekend that discouraged competitors and drew complaints from the larger community. But where one tournament organizer says the event is looking for ways to improve in the future, the other responded with mockery, such as photoshopping fake tears onto a player’s photo and decrying them as…

Street Fighter V Player Removed From Future Competition Pending Domestic Violence Investigation

According to Panda Global, Street Fighter V champion Seon-woo “Infiltration” Lee will not compete again until investigations into allegations of domestic violence conclude. Infiltration has been invited to play at Red Bull Kumite next month, but that appearance is now up in the air. UPDATE 9:15 AM, 10/26/18: A representative for Red Bull France has…

Troll Characters Are Invading Online Soulcalibur VI Matches

The Soulcalibur franchise has included a special mode that allows players to build their own characters since the release of Soulcalibur III in 2005. Soulcalibur VI is no different, and while most of custom fighters thus far have been pop culture-based orlizardmen with gargantuan dicks, the latest oddity to appear online takes the cake. Last…

Soulcalibur VI‘s Unique Mechanics Take Center Stage In Early Competition

Even in a genre as varied as fighting games, the Soulcalibur series has maintained a distinctive personality throughout several installments thanks to its fluid, weapon-based combat. Soulcalibur VI, which landed on store shelves just last week, continues this tradition, and both pre- and post-launch tournaments have provided some of the most exciting moments in modern…

Newly Discovered Super Smash Bros. Melee Technique Turns Link Into A Rocket

Super Smash Bros. Melee turns 17 years old next month, but that doesn’t mean the game has been completely solved. Sure, there’s an upper echelon of competitors who you can count on to win just about any tournament they enter, but there are also Melee players like Joseph “Savestate” El-Khouri grinding out new techniques for…

Massive Tekken 7 Tournament Win Marred By Hardware Glitch

After 12 hours of intense play, MASTERCUP 10’s Tekken 7 team competition ended with the previous tournament’s runners-up finally claiming the title that they had almost managed to win a year ago. But what should have been a joyous occasion was tainted by controversy due to a slight technical malfunction during the championship match. Since…

Well, You Don’t See That Very Often

In fighting game competition, there are supposed to be winners and losers. Players are either one or the other once a match has concluded. But sometimes, the fates like to throw a wrench in that rigid dichotomy with the anticlimactic and almost unheard of draw game. At last night’s Next Level Battle Circuit, local competitors…