QCF: Hot Gimmick: Cosplay-Jong for Nintendo Switch

e love ZeroDiv over here at Studio Mudprints. They have pretty much single-handedly made the Switch the best place for arcade shooting game action with a slew of digital and retail releases for a number of high profile mid-to-late nineties Psikyo arcade shmups. So it was kind of interesting to see something entirely different from ZeroDiv and Psikyo surface on the Nintendo eShop. After all, shooting games aren't the only titles Psikyo has done. One such game is Hot Gimmick: Cosplay Jong for Nintendo Switch (heretofore known simply as Hot Gimmick 'cause who has time to write all that?) a 1997 arcade Mahjong game with a decidedly Psikyo Twist.

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QCF: Blade Strangers

ighting games are a staple here at PPR. Capcom, SNK Playmore and Arc System Works still reign supreme in the genre, there's no denying that, but it sure would be nice to have a decent fighting game from a completely different studio—something with high-res sprites, decent backgrounds, maybe a crossover of some kind. Like, if there was a game that took a bunch of obscure but cool characters from a slew of cult classics and indies and threw them into a super-Japanese story involving a bunch of computers and a super-strong deity. It would be cool if it were created by Studio Sai Zen Sen, the creators of Code of Princess EX, and published by Nicalis too.

Eh? Whazzat? This exact thing exists, in the form of Blade Strangers on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4? Oh, neat. And, as it turns out, it's a pretty fun versus fighting game, too? Well, sign me up!

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Evo 2016: Day Three Impressions

ur weekend at Evo comes to an end, as we pack into the Mandalay Bay Events Center for the Top 8 and finals of Evo 2016. Some great highlights from the event as well as big announcements were as exciting as the gameplay on Sunday.

Announcements from the day included:

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Evo 2016: The MIX Indie Showcase

he MIX stands for the Media Indie Exchange which is a colaboration between the MIX and Evo to showcase games from indie game developers to the hardcore fighting game and competitive players. From the offical Media Indie Exchange website, the MIX states "The fighting game community (FGC) is a tight-knit culture who share a lot in common with Indies.

Both are interested in system design, have grassroots community backgrounds; both appreciate well-crafted game design, mechanics and both understand that games are only as fun as the people you can play with and talk to. The MIX and EVO are independent productions who strive to develop their cultures and bring people together to share amazing experiences". We were able to play and speak with the developers of several titles on the Evo floor, a few we enjoyed and some that seemed a little out of place but worth discussing either way. 

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Evo 2016: Day Two Impressions

or our second day at Evo, there were several tournament finals that we were able to see during the event. The final standings are:

Tekken 7 Fated Retribution Grand Finals: Knee vs. SAINT. Winner: SAINT. (SAINT and Knee qualify for The King of Iron Fist Tournament 2016)

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Grand Finals: Ally vs. kamemushi. Winner: Ally

Pokken Grand Finals: Tonosama vs. buntan. Winner: Tonosama (Tonosama and buntan qualify for the Pokken Tournament World Championship Series)

Killer Instinct Grand Finals: F3|Hollywood Sleep vs. UA|Bass. Winner: F3|Hollywood Sleep

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Evo 2016: SNK King of Fighters XIV Panel

he second day of our Evo weekend continues at lunchtime as we sit down and find out about the history and the future of The King of Fighters and the rebuilding of it's developer SNK. As a big Neo Geo fan, I personally was very excited to meet and hear from the visionaries of some of the best fighting games including Fatal Fury, Samurai Showdown and The King of Fighters, which got it's start in 1994. The versions that would follow, including KoF 98 and 2001 being to many fans as the strongest entries in the series. Now the upcoming King of Fighters XIV will go back to the roots that made it a mainstay in the fighting game genre.

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Evo 2016: Day One Impressions

he day beginning Evo 2016 is an early one, with the doors opening at 8:00am, where players have been assigned to pools to determine placement in each tournament. The players will have to play through several match ups in the pools to then be placed in the tournament brackets. The pools are for all the game tournaments over the weekend included Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, Killer Instinct, Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator, Mortal Kombat XL, Super Smash Bros. Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Street Fighter V.

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Evo 2016: Killer Instinct Panel

ello once again, we continue our coverage of Evo 2016 at 12:00pm Friday afternoon as we find out what is new at Iron Galaxy and the Killer Instinct team. KI is close to rapping up their third season of content for the game and with the release of the PC version and a retail release of all three seasons upcoming, the team at IG and Microsoft are still rolling out crazy characters as well as content that will continue to make the Xbox One exclusive a mainstay in the fighting game community. 

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