Killian did me one better, discussing Capcom’s evolving view of community engagement and sharing his analysis of Noah “The Prodigy,” the eight-year old Marvel vs Capcom 3 competitor who captured the imagination of EVO attendees when he outmatched much older players to place among the competition’s top 64 finalists.

PlayStation.Blog: Street Fighter III was famously a huge departure from Street Fighter II, earning it a fair bit of controversy. How does it hold up today?

Seth Killian, Strategic Director of Online & Community: For me, the essence of any great fighting game is learning how to read the mind of your opponent. If you can do that, Street Fighter III gives you the ultimate way to show that off — you can deflect any move that your opponent can do using the Parry mechanic, where you tap forward or down to deflect attacks. The Parry is at the center of SFIII; if you use it correctly, you can get out of any situation. That’s why it has this enduring legacy.

As for its reputation, there’s no question that SFIII is an incredible game. It has a huge tournament legacy, particularly in Japan. It’s one of those games where the execution bar is a little bit higher: it took everything that had come before and built and built upon it. Particularly with the Parry, which is a bit harder to learn — you need to be familiar with the kind of attack that is coming, knowing how it hits and how many times it hits. With Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition, we’ve added a new mode to specifically help people understand that Parry, practice it, and get comfortable with it.

PSB: Aside from the training mode, what else is Capcom bringing to SFIII: 3rd Strike Online Edition?

SK: We wanted to preserve the integrity of the game, so we used the arcade code and removed a few minor crash bugs. Otherwise, the core gameplay is untouched. We did add a few extras to the online and single-player modes, including the ability to unlock items though in-game challenges. It brings a little bit of that Call of Duty, carrot-on-a-stick incentive but it’s purely optional.

Online is a key focus. We’ve added new netcode developed by the EVO organizer, who happens to be a programming genius who created a piece of middleware called GGPO. It’s extremely popular with fighting fans because it’s a great online experience; it was designed by hand for 2D fighters. It has some very crafty ways of getting around input lag. It doesn’t defeat the speed of light or anything, but it uses a fixed frame setup. It will skip frames of animation to hide latency, which makes an attack finish at the same time as it would if we were playing offline. I’ve never heard a piece of middleware get an eruption of cheers at a panel, so that’s how seriously this is taken among fighting-game fans.

We also have online tournament and spectator modes, plus YouTube uploads that enable you to share your favorite matches with your friends whether you’re on your PS3 or off it.

PSB: Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 comes this fall. Other than the new characters, what new features will be included?

SK: They’re going back to the drawing board with some of the netcode, and adding a spectator mode — a major request from the North American and Japanese fans. It’s particularly challenging for a hyper-busy game like Marvel vs Capcom 3, but the team did manage to figure it out.

There will also be some additional single-player surprises, some new graphical elements, and of course re-tuning for the existing characters. There are little changes to certain moves, and sometimes all-new moves, animation tweaks…it’s a complete package and coming in at a lower price point. If you missed out on Marvel vs Capcom 3, this is the perfect time to dive in.

PSB: Tell me about this eight-year old kid, Noah “The Prodigy,” who fought his way into the top 64 players in the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 EVO world finals. Is he as good as they say?

SK: He was finally eliminated, but he took down some of the best players in the world. His brother is in the competitive fighting scene, so this kid has grown up with this stuff. The thing that distinguishes Noah is, here’s got skills, but he’s very composed. He’s got this weird calm for an eight year-old kid playing on stage in front of hundreds of thousands of people. We’ve had 12- or 13-year old competitors who have done some damage, but Noah is unprecedented. He took out real players. I think he’s got an amazing competitive career ahead of him.

Once he develops more agility and insight he’s got a lot of room to grow, even using his existing gameplan. He also played some slightly unusual characters, and his opponents may not have been ready for that.

PSB: Let’s shift to Street Fighter X Tekken, one of the more unusual fighters to come out of Capcom in recent memory. How much of Tekken’s gameplay made the cut?

SK: It’s set in a Street Fighter world on a 2D fighting plane but, at the same time, we’ve tried to preserve some of the Tekken elements. For me, the essence of Tekken is getting in your opponent’s face and forcing him to guess between your high, low, and mid mix-up attacks. Not only are the Tekken characters performing some of their signature moves, they’re able to do it in the same sort of style. They have a more fluid ability to execute those kinds of mix-up attacks. The Street Fighter characters are a little stronger at a range with their projectiles. The other nod to Tekken is that many of the traditional Tekken combo strings will still work.

PSB: How can the Tekken characters get past those projectiles? It seems like a major disadvantage.

SK: I feel like, in many ways, there’s less difference between Tekken and Street Fighter than people often think. In Tekken, you have sidestepping — moving into the third dimension to dodge attacks. In Street Fighter, you have a similar concept: Cammy, for example, can use her Spinning Backfist move to flip around an incoming projectile if you time it correctly. From a game design perspective, it’s quite similar — she’s briefly moving into the third dimension to dodge that fireball. The Tekken characters have moves that work much like that, where they spin, dash, or slide around projectiles. So the Tekken characters are very adept at passing through projectiles if you read your opponent correctly.

PSB: Explain this new “Tag Assault” move, where you call out both of your characters to pummel your opponent.

SK: Street Fighter X Tekken is a tag-centric game, an homage to Tekken Tag Tournament, so you can tag normally or cancel a special move into a tag. With the Tag Assault technique, you can bring in both of your teammates at the same time — you control them both simultaneously. Then you can do all sorts of dirty tricks like creating a sandwich so you can ping-pong your opponent between both of your fighters from both sides. It’s actually really strong right now — we’ll probably tone it down a bit as we move forward.

PSB: We’re surrounded by some of the best fighters in the world here at EVO. What are they saying about Street Fighter X Tekken? What’s the feedback been so far?

SK: I get worried, because this is the toughest audience in the world. If these guys are good at anything besides fighting, they’re good at complaining. [laughs] They will let you know exactly what’s wrong with your game. The worst complaints we’ve had to date has revolved around certain UI elements and the lifebar being hard to read. Ono-san has already gone back to the drawing board to re-tool them.

In terms of gameplay, people seem to be walking away with a smile on their face. Which actually just makes me nervous! I want to say, “Guys, this is the time! Let us know what you love and what you hate.” So far, it’s sort of a half-step between Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

So right now, the EVO crowd is digging in and finding the worst possible things they can do to each other.

PSB: Fighting game creators haven’t always been hugely receptive to their fans. But Capcom has clearly led the way in terms of enabling community feedback. What’s the philosophy there?

SK: It’s been a learning process. Capcom is a traditional Japanese company, and Japanese companies tend to engage in one-way communication. You know: “Here is what we are doing. Please enjoy. We’ll see you again in a year.” [laughs] There wasn’t a lot of back-and-forth there.

But today’s social media tools have changed the game. Capcom, I think, has led the pack among the Japanese game publishers in adapting to that — though obviously, PlayStation is no slouch either! Capcom has been aggressive with community interaction and they’ve seen the power of it. I’m proud to be a part of it because I came from this very community, the EVO community. It’s how I got my start at Capcom.

It’s not a matter of being bound by the demands of fans. You know, “well, fans voted to put a clown wig on Ryu, so that’s what we have to do.” It’s about good ideas, and fans have some of the best ideas in the world. Being able to bring those ideas forward and presenting them to the right people who can evaluate them is what it’s all about.

The games are all here at EVO for a reason: the designers want to hear feedback from the fans. As a business, you need to be responsive to the concerns of your fans, or you’re doing it wrong. It’s smart business to have a real dialogue with your fans.

PlayStation.Blog: What made you and Harada face off in the Ono X Harada video?

Yoshinori Ono, Producer, Street Fighter X Tekken: We started a tradition at last year’s Comic-con, this kind of a pro-wrestling-style rivalry. The new video is just this year’s version of our wacky rivalry. The game itself has kind of a festival atmosphere, so we didn’t want to be too serious about it. We wanted to bring Tekken fans and Street Fighter fans to the same table, and the best tool for something like that is humor.

PSB: On that note, what was the genesis of Street Fighter X Tekken? Who came to who?

Ono: It’s something we’ve both wanted to do for a long time. We’ve known each other for a long time, and years ago we’d have dinner and talk about the idea. But we were in different companies, so there was kind of an invisible wall between us…especially to combine our top brands and mix them together, that would have been unheard of a few years ago.

At one point, Capcom got out of fighting games for a little while. By the time we got back into them, I had risen within the company a bit; Harada had as well. So we have more political capital to make things happen back in the home office, so to speak. So it seemed like the right time to make something happen, and sure enough we pulled it off.

We actually set up a meeting between the presidents of both companies (Capcom and Namco Bandai). I was a little nervous — I thought they might back out or be lukewarm on the idea. Sixty seconds later, they’re shaking hands and the deal is done. So this was the right time to do this.

PSB: What are some other series that you have considered a crossover with? I know that, in the US, many fans would love to see a Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat…

Ono: I actually get a lot of requests for Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat on my Twitter feed and elsewhere. I understand why people want it, but it’s easier said than done. Having Chun Li getting her spine ripped out, or Ryu’s head bouncing off the floor….it doesn’t necessarily match.

But I’ve had a couple of dream projects in my head for a while, one being Street Fighter X Tekken, which is actually coming true. Another would be a Marvel vs DC game which would be pretty damned cool if we could ever pull it off. I’m a big comic-book fan.

Now if I can get the presidents of those two companies in the same room shaking hands, then we could get something started. I’d love to see that just as a fan!

PSB: It’s got to be tough to combine two radically different fighters; Tekken couldn’t be more different from Street Fighter. What were some ideas you had early on the process that you had to discard?
Ono: There was one feature that we gave up on, but then we brought it back: the Cross Rush combos. When you think of Tekken, it’s always been about aggression and in-your-face combos; dodging a move and then letting the opponent have it. The long Tekken combo strings…we thought, should we put them all in SF X Tekken? At first we thought, should we put them all in there? But if we did, we’d just be making a Tekken game. But we couldn’t take them all out, either, because there wouldn’t be much Tekken-ness left.

So we decided that the Cross Rush would be a good way to mix them together. You have that feel of rapid combos from Tekken, but it still feels like Street Fighter…or more precisely, a bit more Darkstalkers. But it’s sufficiently Capcom-y, so to speak. So the Cross Rush serves as a bridge between the two gameplay styles. It fits in there pretty nicely.

PSB: Tell me why you chose Cole from inFAMOUS for Street Fighter X Tekken. Did you seek him out? Are you an inFAMOUS fan?

Ono: Actually it was 50/50. I had been talking to SCE about perhaps getting Cole into one of our games because he seems well-suited to a fighting game: he’s got all of these cool moves. And it just so happened that, almost simultaneously, Sucker Punch was also wanting to do some sort of tie-in with Street Fighter. So it was a perfect storm, it was almost exactly 50/50. Luckily we could pull off the E3 announcement, which tied in nicely with inFAMOUS 2’s launch.

Here’s a little bit of behind-the-scenes info for you. inFAMOUS 2 was still in development and we didn’t have a lot of visibility into it, so our original version of Cole was mostly based on his appearance in the first inFAMOUS. Then we started talking to Sucker Punch and they showed us inFAMOUS 2 and we said, “Oh crap, he uses weapons now! We don’t have any weapons.” So we went back to the drawing board to make his moves more familiar to inFAMOUS 2 players.

It was a good collaborative process. Sucker Punch offered us a lot of information and data, so we’ve done our best to mimic the way he looks and feels. It was a fun process that’s still ongoing, but it’s been a real pleasure working with those guys.

PSB: How would you describe Cole’s play style?

Ono: If I was going to compare him to any character, it would be Seth — he has a lot of sneaky, tricky moves. I took the latest build of Street Fighter X Tekken up to Sucker Punch just before EVO, and even those guys were wondering if Cole wasn’t too strong [laughs]. So there’s still some tuning to be done. I don’t want to upset Street Fighter and Tekken fans by making the strongest character from neither camp!

PSB: What did you think of your first trip to Sucker Punch’s studio?

Ono: Actually, the impression that I got there was that it felt very Capcom-y to me, a lot like our Osaka office. Clearly these guys love games, and the dedication and energy that they put in reminds me of our Osaka office. And for an American studio, they’re in kind of a unique position in that they’ve worked on the same IP for a long time with a lot of the same time — that’s not necessarily common in America. That part is very much like Capcom. I think we can do something really special together.

All joking aside, I talked to the president of Sucker Punch while I was there about how awesome it would be if SCE, Capcom and Sucker Punch could get together and do something really cool. I plan on taking that conversation to SCE next time I’m there!

The biggest difference between Sucker Punch and Capcom is that those guys have all this free soda and cereal and snacks…Capcom’s way to cheap to do that kind of thing, we have nothing like that! [big laughs]

PSB: Have you played any interesting fighting games lately?

Ono: I’ve been playing a couple of things, and some of them make me feel a little bit bad about myself. One of the reasons we went with a tag system in Street Fighter X Tekken is because I personally loved the first Tekken Tag Tournament so much. In talking to Harada, he dropped that he thought of that in five minutes and it was a simple idea. That made me feel like a dumbass and just reinforced to me what a genius he is. I still do play Tekken Tag Tournament when I can.

I also have a penchant for wacky, over-the-top games so I’ve been playing a lot of Mortal Kombat, enjoying their Story mode. And they did such a good job with their Story mode and some of the other features that I feel like they kind of beat me in that sense. So I’m playing these other fighters and enjoying them, but sometimes it depresses me, too.

As far as upcoming games, I can’t wait to play Skullgirls. It looks like a really cool independent fighter, I’ve been on YouTube checking it out. I would love to meet that team someday, those guys seem like they know what they’re doing.

PSB: There’s obviously going to be a PS Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken. What’s your philosophy for PS Vita development?

Ono: First of all, it’s always fun to work on new hardware and try new things….We’re doing a lot of customization and tweaking to make sure it’s as good as possible on PS Vita.

The really cool thing about PS Vita, of course, is the wealth of new features: Wifi, 3G, GPS, the gyroscope, and touch panels on both sides. There are all sorts of cool things that we can do with those. We want to take advantage of that and really encourage people to get out into the world with their PS Vita and play Street Fighter X Tekken. And we’re looking at ways to link to the PS3 version as well to get you into the habit of leading a double-life of Street Fighter X Tekken. When you’re out of the house, you play it on PS Vita and then you come home, turn on your PS3 and keep going.

With EVO’s popularity soaring in recent years, it’s become common to see legendary figures in fighting game design prowling the demo stations, studying player reactions and answering questions. At EVO I caught up with Katsuhiro Harada, the outgoing game director for Tekken since its inception on the PSone. I particularly wanted to discuss this November’s PS3-exclusive Tekken Hybrid, the upcoming Blu-ray compilation that will include CG film Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D, an enhanced version of the seminal PS2 fighter Tekken Tag Tournament, and an appetizer in the form of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue.

PlayStation.Blog: How are you managing the creation of producing so many Tekken projects? It seems stressful: You’re working on Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Tekken X Street Fighter, and now Tekken Hybrid which includes a new Tekken CG film and Tekken Tag Tournament HD.
Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken Director: It is tough to manage all of these projects. But rather than having some sort of special method, the secret has more to do with the core team working on Tekken for so long that everyone knows what needs to be done. We’re right on top of things.

PSB: I think a lot of Tekken fans are going to be excited to hear about Tekken Tag Tournament HD, which comes with Tekken Hybrid this November. What has been enhanced?
Harada: We wanted to keep the feeling of the game itself from the PS2, so we haven’t changed a lot there. The graphics aren’t just upscaled or anything, we actually re-created a lot of the in-game textures. A lot of work went into refining the graphics. Another reason we’re doing it now is because a lot of people in Europe played the PAL version, which was a slower version of the game. Now they’ll be able to get the full experience here. There are also younger players out there who never played it, and I think it will appeal to them.

PSB: Tekken Hybrid will also include Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue. How many characters will we be getting, and which ones?
Harada: Ahhh! [laughs knowingly] Well, for Prologue, we’re mainly focusing on the characters lineup that appears in the movie, Tekken Blood Vengeance 3D. We want them to have the spotlight. But we can’t say all of the characters that we have planned yet….but as you’ve seen with Devil and Ling Xiaoyu, we matched their costumes in Prologue to the movie. We also include a 3D model viewer in Tekken Hybrid. It’s a good package.

PSB: Do you plan on supporting stereoscopic 3D in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue?
Harada: Yes, we do. We haven’t really announced a lot about it yet, because we’re still working on it. We weren’t quite sure if it would end up in the final version. But…we’re about 85% sure that 3D will make it into the final version.

PSB: What made you want to add stereoscopic 3D support for Tekken?
Harada: There are several factors. The movie, Blood Vengeance, is also in 3D on Blu-ray. Not only that, but our programmers and core staff were quite interested in 3D as a new challenge to tackle. So it all came together. Since Tekken is a three-dimensional fighter [in terms of fighting and movement style], I think a lot of people will like seeing what 3D adds to our gameplay model.

PSB: I remember Tekken 6 being a bit controversial when it first came out — with walls hits and juggles and bounds, some people were annoyed by how long combos could go on. How will you balance this juggle-heavy gameplay with the addition of a tag partner?
Harada: There are some people who say the combos are too long and that it gets out of hand. The flip-side is, if you’re the person doing the combos, it’s really entertaining and fun. But you have to look at it in a new light with Tekken Tag 2. A lot of tag combos aren’t as long as those in Tekken 6 but they’re of strategic value: they reduce your opponent’s red recovery gauge. So you may wish to play that way. Also, after the bound, you can do a “Tag Assault” where you and your partner pummel the opponent. It looks really over the top, and it does a lot of damage, but the flipside is that you lose your red recovery gauge. So there’s a strategic element to the tag juggles — the goal isn’t to just perform the longest combo possible. You really have to choose the best time and place for each combo that you use.

PSB: I understand that you’re veeery early in development for Tekken X Street Fighter (the Namco-produced, Tekken-centric answer to Capcom’s Street Fighter X Tekken). What’s your overall vision? Have you thought about how you might implement fireballs in a Tekken setting?
Harada: [laughs knowingly] Obviously, the Street Fighter characters will have to have their fireballs. Ryu without a fireball just wouldn’t be…right. Obviously we’ll need it. When you look at executing a fireball in a 2D setting, it works almost like a jab. It keeps your opponent where you want them. When we bring fireballs into Tekken X Street Fighter, there are two different ways we could go. It could be used as something similar to keep your opponent in the place you want, or it could be some kind of a special move or powered-up version of their techniques. We’ve not decided on what route we want to take with this yet.

Another element to think about implementing fireballs in Tekken is, how do you avoid them? When you play a 2D game like Street Fighter, you obviously can’t go back and forth in the screen — you usually jump over it. But in three-dimensional fighting games like Tekken you can sidestep. So do we want players to jump over fireballs? Or is it okay to sidestep them? That’s something we’re not decided on, we haven’t had enough time to look into it. We have a lot of staff, myself included, who grew up liking Street Fighter. I’m really confident that we can come to a good balance between the two worlds.

PSB: I work for PlayStation, and I’m a huge Tekken fan, so I have to ask: Are you interested in developing for PS Vita at some point?
Harada: Oh! [laughter] I have to be really careful in how I phrase this so it doesn’t get taken out of context. But since you’re a Tekken fan…you probably know the answer to that, right? [laughs]

All week long, I’ve had this strange tension in my shoulders. I was hunched up, and was even having trouble sleeping. As Comic-Con came to a close, I couldn’t figured out the source of my weird aches, until I finally realized: it’s EVO time.

EVO is the World Series of Fighting Games, and it’s this weekend, July 29th through the 31st, in Las Vegas. EVO has been running for over a decade, and has grown from a small gathering of friends into the biggest fighting-game event on the planet, with thousands of competitors and fans attending from dozens of countries (46 countries are represented this year!). The best of the best come not only to win prizes, but to claim a place in fighting game history, to earn a name, and to test themselves at the highest levels.

For fighting game fans like me, it is so exciting that my body literally starts tensing this far in advance because of what I know is to come. Wonder how little kids feel when they are on their way to Disneyland? For fighting game lovers, this is that feeling.

If you’ve always wondered why people still talk about arcades, EVO is as close as you’ll come to seeing it for yourself. It’s this big space, filled with people who are — at the same time — your friends and your enemies. You can feel the thrill, excitement, and anxiety of competition all throughout the room. Champions add to their legacies, and total unknowns walk in the door and take down some of the best in the world. EVO is a place where anything goes, and everything is possible.

People scream. They jump. They get hyped. It comes straight from the heart, because this is what we do. It’s the shared sense of excitement, anticipation, and the incredible heart that the competitors have on display, and even if it’s just pixels on a screen, you can’t help but get swept up in it.

I was competing and working at EVO for years before I came to Capcom, including a few finals appearances :)… though I never won :(…. But now, approaching it from the other side, I’m proud of everything Capcom will bring to the event in 2011. First and foremost we’ll be there with early access playable prototypes of our new fighters, including Street Fighter X Tekken, Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3, and a near-final build of Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition. In addition to the games, there will be a ton of Capcom staff on hand, not only to help out at the booth, but to simply watch the action. For the producers and teams that make these games, there’s no better payoff than seeing your work turn so many into grinning, screaming lunatics.

The producers on all our new fighting games are each holding their own panel (see below for full EVO 2011 panel details). For my part, I’ll be sitting down with Street Fighter legend and 2009 and 2010 champion Daigo Umehara to go in-depth on how great players make winning decisions, and how you can learn to think like they do. In the end, anyone can master the technical side of a fighting game with some practice, but it’s the mental games that separate champions from the rest of us. Apart from that, I’ll be trying to see as many of my old friends from around the world as I can, as well as tagging in to do livestream commentary on the Street Fighter and Marvel Vs Capcom 3 matches.

Oh right, the live stream! For anyone that can’t make it (registration for EVO is closed, but it’s free to attend if you’re not competing) the EVO action will be streaming live into PlayStation Home all weekend (you can also score a ton of cool EVO items and outfits for watching), leading up to finals on Sunday. Sunday features the final eight competitors, boiled down from thousands, and the excitement in the room is always through the roof, so check it out. If you aren’t able to watch from PlayStation Home, you can check out the stream on your PC here.

If you can’t be there or watch the whole time, Sunday is finals, and the day you do NOT want to miss. The greatest players will line up for the final showdown–who will it be this year? Two-time champion Daigo “the Beast” Umehara from Japan? The U.K.’s Ryan Hart, who defeated Daigo at the British championships? Justin Wong, one of the most dominant players in US history? Or Tokido, “the Murderface,” a vicious player strong across many titles, who also defeated US Marvel-master Justin Wong in their first meeting? Many will be watching Kayane from France, one of the strongest women in the world who has her eyes set on winning the main event, but regardless of who goes the distance, you can bet the road there will be full of surprises, tears, joy, and just plain hype.

Hope to see some of you in Vegas this weekend! It needs to come already, my body can’t take it!

EVO Panels

FRIDAY, JULY 29th

2pm: Inside the Mind of The Beast: Daigo Umehara Exposed!

Seth Killian sits down with EVO 2009 and 2010 Street Fighter champion MCZ Daigo Umehara for an in-depth discussion and review of past match highlights. You will learn to think like a Street Fighter master as they will talk over and explain the tactics, player reads, moment-by-moment thought processes, and even the mistakes that Daigo made on the road to his championship victories.

4pm: Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Past, Present, and Future!

Capcom producer Ryota Niitsuma will share behind-the-scenes insights from the MVC3 development process and discuss thoughts on Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and the future direction of the Marvel Vs Capcom franchise. He will be joined by MVC3 and UMVC3 battle system designer and Capcom fighting legend Hidetoshi “Neo_G” Ishizawa (whose credits include Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Capcom Vs. SNK 2, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Darkstalkers 3, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, and many more) to discuss the thinking behind the battle systems, and what the future might hold for everything from character balance, mechanics, and more. Fighting fans will not want to miss this rare opportunity for insight and discussion.

SATURDAY, JULY 30th

12pm: Street Fighter III: Online Edition Reinventing a Classic

This panel will feature Derek Neal (SF3:OE producer and former EVO competitor), Christian Svensson (Sr. Vice President, Capcom), and Dave Lang, CEO of Iron Galaxy (SF3:OE developer). Join them to discuss the many decisions behind bringing back a classic, and for a spirited face-to-face chat about the kinds of features *you* would like to see in future fighting games!

4pm: New Directions in Street Fighter X Tekken

The one-and-only Yoshinori Ono will be on hand to discuss recent developments and new directions for his latest production, Street Fighter X Tekken. Will the always-surprising Ono-san have some special EVO-exclusive news to share with the audience? You’ll just have to come and find out!

The largest fighting game competition in the world is right around the corner and we are giving you, the PlayStation Home community, a front-row seat to witness the no-holds barred action of the 2011 EVO World Finals.

From Friday, July 29th until the final battle on Sunday, July 31st we will be streaming the event live from the Rio Resort in Las Vegas to the PlayStation Home Theater. Watch as competitors from around the globe duke it out on PS3 across five competitions: Marvel vs Capcom 3, Tekken 6, Mortal Kombat, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II, and Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition. Players include 2009 and 2010 Street Fighter champion Daigo Umehara who will attempt an unprecedented “3-peat” victory. Along the way to his goal he’ll face one of the strongest fields of competitors ever assembled, including US legend Justin Wong, Korean wizard Poongko, French phenom Kayane, and UK champ Ryan Hart.

The purpose of this event is twofold: First, bring the world’s top fighting game competition directly to your PlayStation 3. Secondly, we have some new video streaming technology to test in the PlayStation Home Theater and what better opportunity than this? Join us for this special event and help us test this new video streaming technology by posting about your experience in GlassWalls’ EVO 2011 World Finals Stream Test thread on the official PlayStation Home forums. Attendees will receive a line of exclusive PlayStation Home/EVO virtual items: Visitors on Friday will receive a limited edition EVO t-shirt for their PlayStation Home avatar; on Saturday players will be rewarded with a special fighting stick companion item; and on Sun all viewers will receive a replica of the EVO trophy for their PlayStation Home personal spaces.

From high-profile grudge matches to the Grand Finals (running all day on Sunday, July 31st), this year’s EVO World Finals is not to be missed. Knuckle up and log into PlayStation Home this weekend to watch the best of the best throw down until only one champion remains.

Full schedule:

Friday, July 29th

8:00 AM – 6:00 PM Super Street Fighter IV Tournament, Early Rounds

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Super Street Fighter IV Tournament, Quarterfinals

8:00 PM – 11:00 PM Super Street Fighter IV Tournament, Semi-Finals (top 32 players)

Saturday, July 30th

8:00 AM – 6:00 PM Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Tournament, Early Rounds

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Tournament, Quarterfinals

8:00 PM – 11:00 PM Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Tournament, Semi-Finals (top 32 players)

Sunday, July 31th

9:00 AM – 9:00 PM The top 8 in each tournament square off for the 2011 championships. In order:

BlazBlue Continuum Shift 2 Tournament Finals

Tekken 6 Tournament Finals

Mortal Kombat 9 Tournament Finals

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Tournament Finals

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See you in Home!

Wes Phillips and Sid Shuman discuss Marvel vs. Capcom 3’s new characters and gameplay tweaks at E3 2010.

Hello PlayStation Nation! This is a big weekend for fighting game fans, as the world’s best descend upon Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for the EVO 2010 World Fighting Finals this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Thousands of contestants from over 30 countries will battle it out for fame, glory and cash in Super Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter II HD Remix, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and a couple non-Capcom games… Tekken 6 and Melty Blood: Actress Again.

Registration for the event is officially closed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a piece of the action. If you can make the trip to Las Vegas, admission to watch the event is free.

We’ll also have the E3 build of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 available to play on PlayStation 3 for anyone who shows up! This will be the first time the game is playable for the general public.

Did I mention that Marvel vs. Capcom 3 just won Best Fighting Game at E3?

If that wasn’t enough, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 producer Ryota Niitsuma and Super Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono will both be on hand to greet the fans.

Can’t make the trip? Capcom and G4 have teamed up this year to bring the action into your home. G4TV.com will be streaming 45 hours of matches over three days, including the Super Street Fighter IV Grand Finals on Sunday night with special commentators Adam Sessler (G4’s X-Play) and Capcom’s fighting guru Seth Killian. (Big ups to the crew at Level Up for producing the stream.)

Also, during the live stream one lucky viewer will have the chance to win a limited-edition gold EVO fight stick furnished by the fine folks at Mad Catz.

It all culminates with a special episode of X-Play on Tuesday, July 20 at 6 p.m. PST entitled X-Play vs. Capcom: EVO 2010 World Fighting Finals. (Check your local listings.)

So much awesome to fit into one weekend, but I think you can handle it.

I woke up on Monday morning having felt like I’d been in a car wreck. My joints ached, I had bruises on my shoulders and the world felt slightly muted. In all actuality, I’d been in Las Vegas for the EVO fighting game championships. The only wreckage I experienced was the carnage of watching some poor souls get absolutely wrecked in the biggest fighting games of today. This is the result of getting hype for an entire weekend of world class competition. Quite honestly, it feels fantastic.

As Capcom‘s Seth Killian succinctly put it on this very blog, EVO is the world’s largest and longest-running fighting game tournament, and this year it was bigger than ever. Largely thanks to the incredible success of Street Fighter IV, EVO’s overall attendance positively exploded compared to recent years, with over 1,000 die-hard players entering for it alone. This was my third EVO event and I was simply blown away by the endless waves of people making their way through the convention hall. While Street Fighter IV was most definitely the main event, it shared center stage with fellow Capcom favorites Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Super Street Fighter II HD Remix and Marvel vs Capcom 2 (its last year running on Sega’s Dreamcast), along with Soulcalibur IV and Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core.

With thousands in attendance, six games are simply not enough and as the fighting-game mecca of the world, there is a ton to experience every year. Capcom set up shop and showed off the latest builds of Marvel vs Capcom 2 for PlayStation Network, as well as Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Codes for the PSP. Likewise, Namco was on-hand running a side-tournament for the extremely impressive looking Tekken 6 for PLAYSTATION 3, which has to be seen to be believed (seriously, screenshots do not do this baby justice). Not to be outdone was Aksys who brought their increasingly popular 2D fighter BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, which found its way onto the main stage as well. These titles don’t even begin to scratch the surface of EVO as the bring-your-own-console space had everything from King of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match to cult favorites like Breaker’s Revenge. If you can name a fighting game, chances are, it was played during EVO at some point (yes, even Primal Rage).

But it’s not the games that makes EVO so incredibly special, it’s the people who play them. It’s an event that truly brings the world community together and over this weekend I met dozens, possibly hundreds of incredibly welcoming, talented players from all over the world. It didn’t matter if they came from as far away as the UK like Ryan Hart or were as close as Southern California like Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez, everyone who comes to EVO is there for the same reason: to keep the community strong, and with so many new faces these days, I’d say it was definitely a successful year.

Personally speaking, this was by far the most enjoyable year at EVO I’ve ever had, for a multitude of reasons. I had a ton of fantastic people greet me during the weekend to either thank me for running the weekly online stream of San Francisco tournaments (Keystone Light represent!), my work in a previous life as a member of the gaming press who actually covered the arcade scene, and hey, even a couple of you folks recognized me from PlayStation Home! A great big thank you goes out to the PlayStation community for coming out in full-force at EVO this year, especially considering that three of the main games were run exclusively on the PS3!

It’s also safe to say that my custom PS3 arcade stick, affectionately known as the “LittleBigThigh” is now certified famous! If it wasn’t fellow competitors asking for pictures of it or Northern California legend Graham Wolfe borrowing it for his amazing Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix performance in which he completely dismantled Japan’s Daigo Umehara, I got a huge kick out of seeing the response! Even Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono wanted to check it out, taking the time to pose for a picture and sign the back of it after our interview. If the LittleBigThigh isn’t somehow composed entirely of magic now, nothing short of leprechauns would do the trick.

Of course, it’s just not EVO unless people aren’t getting mad hype and this year was nuts. Trash talk was in abundance as usual (The Beast Coast is salty, what can you say?), but it’s always the positive moments that shine, like someone’s pizza getting totally shoryuken’d out of their hands as the Northern California section of the crowd exploded during Crackfiend’s insane run during the 5 on 5 Street Fighter IV regional exhibition. Speaking of the regional exhibition, did anyone else catch that topless streaker who ran on stage with “SOCAL RULES” written across his chest? It’s just not EVO unless some dude loses his shirt after all!

Other memorable moments include Sanford Kelly of the East Coast finally claiming the Marvel vs Capcom 2 throne after years of defeat at the hands of his fellow region-mate, the world renowned Justin Wong. Of course, Justin went on to face the beast from Japan, Daigo Umehara, in the grand finals of Street Fighter IV, but eventually succumbed to his flawless Ryu play. People can say whatever they want, but in what was truly an epic finale to an incredible event, that night, we were all Justin Wong fans.

As I pop a few Advil and prepare for another year without EVO (And this upcoming Comic-Con trip. Stop by the PlayStation Home booth and say hello!), I can’t help but get excited over next year. For you, the reader, there’s no excuse: if you love fighting games, you absolutely, positively must make the journey to EVO. You will not regret it. Thank you so much to everyone in EVO staff, especially the amazing volunteers for making it such an incredibly memorable event.

What is EVO? It’s the world’s largest and longest-running fighting game tournament. Every year, thousands of competitors from every corner of the planet descend on Las Vegas to determine the best of the best on the most competitive fighting games. It’s been running for over a decade, and with all the hoopla over SFIV, this year is going to be bigger than ever—at a conservative estimate, we’ll be playing over 50 thousand matches over the course of the weekend as we work our way towards a champion.

Why are we talking about this on the PlayStation Blog? Because EVO is especially PlayStation 3-flavored this year. PlayStation has been an important part of EVO history, but this year, we’ve selected the PS3 as the platform of choice for our very biggest competitions, including Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Street Fighter IV.

Why else would you care? Because EVO is rad. It’s fighting game heaven with some of the most exciting gaming you’ll see anywhere, it’s run by players, for players, and best of all, it’s free to watch.

(I’m actually the one holding that handicam and yes, that’s my stupid voice cracking with excitement. For reference, this wasn’t even the finals—EVO is full of insane moments)

What is there to do? Well, there are all the tournaments to play in, but beyond the official tournaments (on games including my Capcom favorites, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, and of course Street Fighter IV), there are a ton of DIY side events and free-play on every fighter imaginable in the free “BYOC” area. BYOC = “Bring Your Own Console.” Nearly half of our gigantic tournament floor is devoted to a free-play area, where we set up TVs, and you can plug in any games you want, on everything from next-gen PS3s to old arcade hardware. You’ll find competition on nearly any fighter you can imagine, from classic Street Fighter games to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters. There are also plenty of exciting grudge matches, and when you’re tired of playing and watching the madness, you’re still in Las Vegas.

One of my other favorite things about EVO is that unlike most “pro gaming” events, EVO is an open tournament. By “open,” I mean that anybody can just walk in off the street and take their shot against the best players in the world. You don’t have to jump through any hoops or join a silly league—if you’ve got the skills, you can step up to the plate take your shot. All of the EVO directors grew up playing in the arcades, where skills talked, and BS walked. EVO grew straight out of our desire to preserve that electric spirit of live arcade competitions, and—just like our old arcades—anyone can walk in, put their quarter up, and prove that they’ve got the skills to be the best.

All of that is hotness, but what I love most about EVO is the people. They come from around the world, from Korea to Kuwait, the UK to the US, and Portugal to Peru. And yes, while it’s mostly dudes, beyond that, you’ll find every race, every background—rich, poor, old and young, tough guys and pencilnecks. Of course you’ll find the world’s top fighting game players, including US champions like Alex Valle, John Choi, Justin Wong, and the legendary Japanese champ Daigo Umehara, and everyone comes together with a shared sense of history, and a shared passion for these games. They are the best, the hungriest, and the loudest players in the world. They are shouting, they are cheering, and they mean it.

So with all of those experts from around the world, do you have to be a great player to go? Nope. 99% of the people there realize they’re probably not going to win, but they love to go anyway because it’s a ton of fun, a great way to see old friends and meet new ones, a great place to step up your game, and because it’s an amazing show. There’s a ton of history and heart in the competitive fighting world, and this is the The Big Show, with everyone is welcome to come and watch (or compete!). Fighting games are FUN, and even if you don’t understand every intricacy, everyone can understand a punch in the face, cheering for their hometown favorites, and trying to KO the opponent.

The EVO World Finals run from July 17-19th (finals on the 19th) at the Rio Hotel and Resort, in sunny Las Vegas, NV.

Check out EVO2K for the full details, then pack up your PS3 joysticks and fightpads, and I’ll see you at EVO. If you totally can’t make it to Vegas, we’ll also be streaming some of the event’s best matches, as well as putting up a whole mess of footage afterwards, complete with commentary, player interviews, and the like, so stay tuned.