Tag: Fighting Games

Will RIOT’s Patch timeline kill 2XKO?

RIOT is one of the biggest game companies around despite realistically only launching a few successful games that keeps everything on: League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and Valorant. Their patch timeline is incredibly fast for League of Legends. The game is updated every 2-3 weeks with new character balances, item changes and overall mechanics. It’s no wonder the game is still being so heavily played with so many small changes each month. However, fighting games are very different and can RIOT’s new fighting game, 2XKO survive with it’s fast changes?

According to their recent blog post, 2XKO will receive balance patches every 5 weeks alongside new content once it officially launches in 2026. This means the game could change drastically every 1.5 months, especially with a small roster of 11. These changes could range from bug fixes to nerf and buffs which could greatly change how players adapt and get use to their characters. 5 weeks is quite short, especially with modern fighters like Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and City of the Wolves balancing their game every half to full year. Some of the most popular fighting games ever never even received a balance patch, like Street Fighter 3rd Strike, Super Smash Bros Melee, and Tekken 3. Players just had to deal with whatever the game had.

It will be interesting to see how players adapt or enjoy such quick turn arounds. Quick patches can prevent players from learning weakness or strengths with certain characters. Sometimes it takes time for players to learn, especially in fighting games. Will quick patches attract players, or will these patches end up hurting the 2XKO? RIOT can be cuthroat at cutting their games that aren’t bringing enough money like Legends of Runeterra and their Riot Forge titles. Fighting games tend to be niche as well so RIOT will need to hope the fast changes don’t turn people away. 2XKO is currently in Beta and currently available to download https://2xko.riotgames.com/en-us/

Mortal Kombat 11: The Reveal Trailers

Didn’t get to watch the Mortal Kombat stream? Catch up to all the showcases below. Mortal Kombat 11 releases April 23rd, 2019.

Story Mode:

The story continues after the events of MK X but a new character with the ability to time travel arrives. More is down below.

Gameplay and Customization

The gameplay is as bloody and brutal as ever. New mechanics such as an Offensive and Defensive meter has been introduced. Fatal Blows are similar to X-Rays but are only usable once your health is down to 30%. Of course, there are many new fatalities.

Gameplay Matches

Last but not least, the event hosted many professional pro Mortal Kombat players to showcase the game.

Are you excited for the game?

TL; DW Nintendo Direct 8.18.2018: The Smash

Didn’t watch the direct at 7am like most people?! Don’t worry, I have it covered in this TL; DW for the Nintendo Direct. The game shown was Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and it showcased many new characters and info about the game. The animation was stellar in the direct.

New Characters!

  • Simon Belmont from the Castlevania series joins the list of fighters. His moveset is reminiscent of his NES/SNES whips, items, and attacks.
  • Echo fighter for Simon: Richter. The voice, animation, and a few moves are different.
  • King K. Rool joins the fray from the Donkey Kong series. Another big fan request! This fatty comes with his classic rifle, huge stomach strike, and castle!
  • Alucard is an assist trophy.
  • The Castlevania stage featuring the monsters, bosses, and Dracula is Dracula’s Castle. If you hit the candles, it will release items! No wall chickens yet but Dracula only appears at specific times…
  • Chrom from Fire Emblems Awakening and Dark Samus from Metroid Prime join as Echo Fighters!
  • You can have echo fighters on the fighter select option

New Stages:

  • New Donk City Hall from Mario Odyssey. Platforms are rising and falling as you move around the stage. The musicians and Daisy appear as well. The theme of Odyssey will also appear
  • Returning stages from Melee will include some rebalance changes.
  • N64 stages are meant to be classic and nostalgic for players
  • There are now 103 stages to choose from. Every stage has an Omega and Battlefield form.
  • Every stage now has 8-player mode!
  • You can turn stage hazards off
  • A new option called Stage Morph! You can have a stage change midmatch and alter the time when it occurs. Just select two stages before the fight.

    Not just Final Destination

Music:

  • Stages now have tracks based on the franchise. You will be able to hear different tracks and can change the frequency of how often it plays!
  • 900 tracks! It is separated by franchises. You can make a playlist
  • You can listen to it with the screen turned off. Not sure anybody will be casually carrying their Switch to listen to music.

  • Turn up the jam!

New Battle Options and Rules

  • You can finally start with stock instead of time.
  • Whatever option you left it at before is saved.
  • Stamina battle is now a standard option
  • Stages are selected before fighters. This gives you the option to choose your character based on the stage if you play competitively.
  • You can make the option to have the loser choose the stage.
  • Sudden Death will cause the screen to zoom in to add drama and shorten the KO borders!
  • Final Smash Meter rather than a Smash Ball. It will charge as you fight but it will be weaker than a Final Smash Ball version
  • Final Smashes can’t occur at the same time! So no Samus vs Dark Samus Final Smash beam clash
  • The options are meant for competitive play so it’ll be interesting to see how the Smash community changes with these new options!

Battle Modes

  • Squad Strike: 5v5 or 3v3
  • Start team fights online with players choosing multiple characters. You can do it solo or with multiple players
  • Tourney Mode: Start your own tournament and brackets! IT can go up to 32 players.
  • Smashdown: After each round, those fighters are unselectable and you’ll have to choose different characters. It continues until there are no more characters left
  • Training Mode Map: It will show you how the characters fight and how they will react based on hits
  • Classic: Fight through a set number of characters and stages similar to Melee’s adventure mode

Solve for X

Items:

  • Banana gun: Shoots one strong bullet before becoming a banana peel
  • Killing Edge: Sword which will glow to grow stronger
  • Bomber: Lift it up and it’ll explode and damage enemies around you
  • Death’s Scythe: It kills you…if you’re badly damaged
  • Staff: shoots a laser but it deals more damage the further the enemy is from you
  • Ramblin’ Evil Mushroom: Reverses opponents’ controls
  • Rage Blaster: The higher your damage, the stronger it is. For players who take hits a lot

Pokemon:

What a view!

  • Executor Alolan Form. It’s so tall you can wall jump on its neck!
  • Abra: Teleports your enemies over the edges
  • Solgaleo: The legendary Pokemon charges up and smashes into your enemies for huge damage!
  • Lunala: The legendary Pokemon shoots a huge laser from afar that deals major damage
  • Mimikyu: Grabs the enemy and gives it a big hug underneath its disguise.
  • Pyukumuku: Damage it and get hit with a huge fist!
  • Vulpix and Vulpix Alolan: Shoots a fireball which hits multiple times. Alolan form freezes you.
  • Marshadow: The mystic pokemon makes you dizzy and punches you
  • Ditto: transforms into you and attacks enemies

Assist Trophies:

X, you sure are small

  • Zero from Megaman X series slash, dashes, and teleports!
  • Knuckles from Sonic digs and punches your enemies
  • Krystal from Starfox hits you with her magic staff
  • Klaptrap from DK bites you. Not to be confused with the Borderlands character
  • Kapp’n from Animal Crossing kidnaps you off the stage and drives away to kill you
  • Chef Kawasaki from Kirby throws you in a pot and cooks you and makes food items appear.
  • GREY FOX from Metal Gear Solid reflects projectiles and slashes enemies
  • Nikki draws stuff to hurt your enemies
  • Shovel Knight shovels your enemies
  • Moon from The Legend of Zelda smashes into the stage and damages everybody
  • Rathalos from Monster Hunter appears as a boss and an assist trophy!

Mad Catz is Back

Resurrection! Mad Catz, the video game peripheral company, went out of business in 2017 after poor investments into Rock Band 4 and other poor and expensive controller design choices. The company was well known for their controllers and their arcade sticks. According to sources from CNET from Alex Verrey, Mad Catz is back. After a teaser trailer showcasing on of their mouses, it was revealed today that the company is back. After most of their assets were acquired from a Chinese holding company, they are building new products and are showcasing them at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. They will be showcasing the Strike 4 mechanical keyboard with RGB lighting, the Freq 4 gaming headset, a new gaming mouse known as the Rat Air which can operate completely wirelessly — thanks to a wireless power system built into its included mousepad.

On their website, they are also showcasing keypads, mouses, headsets, and mousepads. Mad Catz may be under new management but the new owners have experience in the peripheral industry. The owners are individuals who worked in the companies’ Chinese factory. They have an understanding in manufacturing since they were the ones who made the products. They are planning to bring back the products that Mad Catz abruptly stopped manufacturing because of the shutdown. The company’s main focus will be on quality instead of quantity. They also only be producing products under the Mad Catz name and will look to expand in the future.

A big question from fighting game fans is Mad Catz going to continue to create fighting game sticks. While there has not been an official announcement, Selena Chang announced on the website that “we’re already working on delivering products which we believe will enhance gamers’ abilities and do justice to the Mad Catz name.” Mark Julio, aka MarkMan, was one of the biggest faces for Mad Catz. He helped change the perception of Mad Catz FightSticks from garbage to legitimate options.

Unfortunately, he announced during an interview with CNET he would not be returning after being let go during the huge lay offs from Mad Catz.

I believe in the brand focusing on its strengths. I felt Mad Catz had a few good products and key communities that backed them. It’ll be interesting to see how fans, communities and individuals will feel about them making a comeback. Just having a product is one thing, having the vision and competency to make the products live longer than just their marketing/shelf life…. that’s another thing.

Many people (myself included) have moved on with life after Mad Catz. Can ghosts from our past still find a place in today’s gaming world? I think so… they’re gonna have their work cut out for them though. Timing is everything.

Are you excited for the return of Mad Catz? Do you consider the return to be good or do you know them as the second controller makers?

Sources:

CNET

MadCatz

Polygon