New Akuma in game sprites for Super Street Fighter 2 (xbox 360 and PS3 download game).

Beta Testers,

There has been a lot of debate and feedback about the balance of the Rifle and Pistol -- it did not fall on deaf ears! Here's what we've changed. Again, these changes are in the primary code branch and will not show up in a public BETA patch. You guys know how this stuff goes :-)

Rifle vs Pistol Balance:

* The damage of the Pistol has been reduced. In the BETA each pistol round did far more damage than the rifle rounds. This coupled with the other attributes of the Pistol caused it to be a dominant weapon -- even when Rifles *should* have been the preferred weapon. Each pistol round still does more damage than a Rifle round, but the Rifle’s ROF is so high that it makes up for it.

* MAX Pistol RoF is now 8/sec and the Rifle RoF is 15/sec.

* The target assist range on the pistol has been reduced. In the BETA, the aim assist had a pretty long range. This caused players to switch to pistol while we really wanted them to still be in the Rifle's "sweet-spot".

* The lifetime of the pistols projectile has been reduced. In the BETA the bullet from the pistol would last an incredibly long time, allowing players to rain pistol fire towards a target over too great of a distance.

* The accuracy spread on the pistol has been opened up, causing it to still be very effective at close range, but it's effectiveness drops off more quickly at medium range. In the BETA the accuracy delta between the Rifle and Pistol were not contrasted enough. This resulted in the Rifle not being accurate enough and the Pistol being too accurate.

* Rifle accuracy spread has been decreased (tightened). In the BETA the effective range on the Rifle was not as good as many players expected. This helps remedy the problem.

* Rifle accuracy spread while crouching has been greatly decreased. This adds more depth to the use of the rifle and further helps is combat effectiveness at longer ranges. This tight stream of bullets greatly increased the chances of head-shots while using the Rifle -- something that all of you requested.

With all of these changes, we are hoping to strike a better balance with the spectrum of range and weapon. In very close quarters, we want the Knife to the weapon of choice. The next ring out is the Pistol. We don't want the Pistol to be a weapon of last resort but rather, the preferred weapon that you use just outside of Knife range. Outside of Pistol band is the Rifle and it's range and overall effectiveness have been greatly increase. As I mentioned, the ability now to better control head-shots makes a big difference.

We have received a lot of feedback about spawn camping and as such, we have changed the way we handle the respawn invulnerability / "grace period".

I also want to be clear that all of these changes have been made to our primary code branch -- meaning that they are in the release build and will not show-up in a public BETA patch prior to the games release.

Respawn Protection Changes:

* Once a player has respawned, he will *not* be seen by any other player until the respawn invulnerability ceases. Currently in the BETA, all players see respawning players as ghosts as they respawn. This unfortunately allowed base-campers to line up attacks on players coming out of respawn limbo. Sadly, this actually put the players respawning at the disadvantage rather than provide them much needed protection -- Thankfully this has been resolved.

* A player will have 5 seconds of respawn invulnerability. At the end of which, he will become visible on all other player's viewports. Currently in the BETA, players have only 3 seconds of protection. This was found to not be enough time to allow players to get out of their base to assume safe positions if the opposing team was employing meat-grinder tactics.

* Players now can attack while in the respawn invulnerability, however, the respawn protection is immediately canceled upon execution of the attack. This action also makes the player visible to all other players. Currently in the BETA, respawning players are not allowed to attack. As a result, many players found it impossible to defend their base during heavy spawn-camp engagements.

* Players' respawn invulnerability is immediately canceled if they mount a vehicle or turret.

* Players *are* allowed to climb ladders during the respawn invulnerability.

* Players' respawn invulnerability is immediately canceled if they collect a pickup.

* All of the above applicable respawn rules now apply to Aircraft in Dogfight gameplay modes.

We all agree that the meat-grinder spawn-camping is pretty bad in the BETA right now and our internal testing with this new functionality shows a *massive* improvement in the defendability of bases and, a huge decrease in respawn frustration :-)

More to come...

BETA Testers,

This is a simple change but one that many of you requested:

4x4 Horn:

* We added a horn to the 4x4 that is activated by pressing R1

* There is a different sound for Chernovan and Eucadia 4x4s

* There is a time limit tracked "under-the-hood" that prevents annoying horn abuse.

* The horn is played in full 7.1 surround *with* accurate Doppler simulation

Hey, just because it's a simple horn, doesn't mean that it shouldn't sound next-gen!

More to come...."Soon"

BETA Testers,

Our goal with the .50cal turrets was to have a good source of anti-troop defenses for bases and other bunkers that are scattered around the levels. As we all realized, the .50 cals were pretty much useless against troops. People could use them against 4x4s, Tanks and Aircraft, but they were straight up useless against troops. So...

.50cal Turret Changes:

* Aiming assist has been added to both the .50 call turret *and* the turret on the back of the 4x4. Our internal testing showed a huge difference in players being able to defend against incoming ground troops *and* provided some really fun drive-by opportunities when player roll-out with their friends.

* Fixed Armor rating and Hit-points on the turret geometry. Once we made the changes to the aiming, and our testers starting using the 50cal turrets more, we noticed that the turrets themselves seemed too tough. So now, players that mount 50cals will have access to strong firepower but are more susceptible to grenades and rockets.

We have noticed that holding bases that are equipped with these heavy machineguns is a lot more fun -- now that player can actually get kills with those weapons.

More to come..."Soon"

[regarding camera positions of 50 cal turrets in bunkers]
I forgot we fixed that as well. Our level scripters went through and corrected the camera settings for all 50 cals. The cameras in the BETA were awful -- they got caught on stuff too easily. Now they pull in closer to the character for better control and predictible firing arcs. We fixed this too -- just forgot to include it on the 50 cal post! :-)

BETA Testers,

We took an initial "stab" at what the awards and rank requirements were going to be when we released the public BETA. Many of you responded that the ranks were too hard to get, especially when they were tied to ribbons, medals, badges, etc that were *too* had to achive. So, while the changes are too numerous to list here, We did make the following global changes:

Awards and Rank Balance:

* Ranks and Rank requirements have been completely adjusted to create a better progression.

* The very difficult award requirements that showed up early in the Rank progression have been removed or redistributed. For example, there was an early rank that required the Joint Service Commendation (10 kill streak). This is a hard ribbon for many players to get -- especially as a requirement for such a low rank.

* Point requirements for the Ranks have been adjusted.

* Requirements for all Medals, Ribbons, and Badges have been adjusted.

This may seem like a small thing, but many players, myself included, really dig on collecting these. And nothing is more frustrating that trying to get an award that is simply too tough to get -- it breaks the whole collection system.

More to come..."Soon"

BETA Testers,

Many of you have asked for a lot of different things for the Aircraft co-pilot slot -- tons of good ideas but I hope you can understand that many of them are just not feasible given how close we are. That said, the copilot does have a role it was just horribly busted in the BETA -- we have fixed it so it works properly.

Aircraft Co-Pilot Slot:

* When 2 players are in an aircraft, the co-pilot now has access to the enhanced mini-map that displays *all* blips. Eucadian and Chernovan troops, tanks, aircraft, etc. This allows 2 players to work together like a Fighter -AWACs plane.

We found that once this feature was fixed, players here in the studio would take on "eye-in-the-sky" roles -- helping call out attacks, incoming and coordinating teamwork from high above the battle.

Like I said, there are a lot of good ideas, but we're too late to add a tail gun :-) This was an easy fix to a feature that gives the co-pilot something to do.

More to come..."Soon"

Wow, just wow.

* JoJo no Kimyouna Bouken / JoJo's Venture (1998)
o JoJo no Kimyouna Bouken Miraie no Isan / JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (1999)
* Street Fighter III: New Generation (1997)
o Street Fighter III, 2nd Impact: Giant Attack (1998)
o Street Fighter III, 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future (1999)
* Warzard / Red Earth (1996)