Why NOW Is the Time for a NEW SNK vs. Capcom

SNK vs. Capcom is a game that I think needs to come back from hibernation. And because of the characters that were released in both fighting games, I think now is the perfect time for SNK and Capcom characters from their fighting game IPs to clash once more, so today, I'm gonna be diving into a classic crossover fighting game that has been dormant for 26 years, SNK vs. Capcom.

I'll be the first to say that I am a huge fan of fighting games. SNK vs. Capcom or Capcom vs. SNK, in particular, brings the magic to the FGC. I like to investigate some details and hints towards a brand new Capcom vs. SNK. Will it come back? Is there's any evidence for it? Are the rumors true? Let's find out now.

Now, I like to preface that since SNK vs. Capcom was founded in 1999, 2024, the previous year marks SNK vs. Capcom's 25th Anniversary, so something did good happen in 2024. But for context, I'm gonna rewind back to 1999 when the series was founded, so I'll be right back into the present.

In 1999, SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium was released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color as the first title of the franchise. Then it was ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2021. This is a game that features two on two tag battles and three on three queue battles from the King of Fighters franchise. The game was met with positive reception over the representation of SNK and Capcom characters battling it out. This franchise has characters from their fighting game IPs unlike in the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise where the Capcom side has various IPs.

Back in 2000, Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000, the first title published by Capcom, released on Arcade, Dreamcast and PlayStation. It uses a ratio system that has up to four characters, but the combined ratios must equal and can't go any higher than four and two Grooves, with the SNK Groove based on the Extra mode used from KOF '94 to KOF '98 and the Capcom Groove based on the gameplay from the Street Fighter Alpha series. When 2001 came, Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, another Capcom published title, came out for Arcade, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, original Xbox and PlayStation 3 through the PS2 Classics and uses the expanded Groove system that utilizes the core gameplay seen in classic Capcom and SNK titles. 2003 saw the release of SNK vs. Capcom: SvC Chaos, which received a mixed reception over a bland representation and then it was ported to PS4 and Switch in 2024 by Code Mystics with modern features.

After the release of SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS, the series has went on a hiatus for 18 years and fans are demanding for a new one. In 2021, Hideaki Itsuno had confirmed at one point that they were plans for Capcom vs. SNK 3 to use 3D models, but it was cancelled due to SNK's bankruptcy. There were interviews with SNK that it would be possible to renew their contract with Capcom for more titles, but both companies had agreed to not agree to collab with each other ever again in another interview and it's on the fault of games that are developed by SNK being met with mixed reception, but not the ones developed by Capcom and they're met with widespread positivity.

But fast forward to 2022, Eisuke Ogura and Shinkiro have done the hypest thing. They created special promotional posters that feature both companies' characters to celebrate EVO 2022, the first live tournament since the COVID-19 pandemic. The artwork at EVO paved the way for further collaborations between SNK and Capcom, sparking speculation and fan demand for SNK vs. Capcom's revival.

To push the speculation and fan demand even further, if we fast forward to 2024, multiple crossovers between SNK and Capcom came throughout the year in time for the franchise's 25th Anniversary. During the Summer Game Fest in June, Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui were announced as guest characters that are a part of Street Fighter 6's second season, and during the Tokyo Game Show in September, Ken Masters and Chun-Li were also announced as guest characters as DLC for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. These announcements have sparked speculation and fan demand for a new Capcom vs. SNK game. The fan demand is very high and the odds for a revival weren't impossible, but in an interview, Oda stated that there were hurdles in the way.

However, while there was a big hurdle as Oda stated, SNK vs. Capcom could come back from hibernation because fast forward into today, the present time. If you have been living under a rock like Patrick, Mai Shiranui and Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury have been released on Street Fighter 6 while Ken Masters and Chun-Li from Street Fighter came out in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. These four popular characters have received innovations in two respective fighting games, with Terry and Mai's usage of the Drive system and Ken and Chun-Li's usage of the REV system. Their gameplay was universally met with total praise in both games, fueling fan demand and speculation for a potential a new game even further.

And because of Terry and Mai's debut to Street Fighter 6 with their usage of the Drive system and Ken and Chun-Li's debut to Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves with their usage of the REV system, it's safe to say that a new Capcom vs. SNK is likely to come into fruition instead of a new SNK vs. Capcom. Now, the reason why a new Capcom vs. SNK could be confirmed is because of not just Terry and Mai's usage of the Drive system and Ken and Chun-Li's usage of the REV system, but the ones published and developed by Capcom were met with acclaim while the ones developed by SNK were met with mixed reception, so I think it's best for a new Capcom vs. SNK to come to fruition since Capcom vs. SNK is very appealing.

Street Fighter 6 and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves have shown that with the rich innovation, the right studio behind it, the right environment and the right controls, a fighter-esque masterclass of a game outside the AAA line of companies can be made by Capcom's small teams. They can take a crack at developing a new game with the freedom to develop the new Capcom vs. SNK title however they want without the shareholding shackles and constraints of a big AAA company. After all, bigger doesn't always mean better and smaller companies have agility and can take risks, but less money to mean that small or indie studios have no place for greed so that their games would be reasonably priced. However, playing as Terry and Mai in Street Fighter 6 and playing as Ken and Chun-Li in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves could be used as an example to pitch a brand new title and to get that title approved by Capcom.

Both games featuring Terry, Mai, Ken and Chun-Li as guest stars have already shown that it serves as a masterclass of a crossover fighting game. In that masterclass is already gonna be the blueprints and DNA for a modern Capcom vs. SNK as playing as Terry and Mai on Street Fighter 6 and Ken and Chun-Li on Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves on Training Mode could serve as tech demos for a modern Capcom vs. SNK. And that modern Capcom vs. SNK game can use the RE Engine and must be based off of Capcom vs. SNK 2 to have a KOF-style 3v3 queue battles format and the CAPSNK Grooves format to have Grooves that utilize the gameplay based on Capcom and SNK's 2.5D games, two control types consisting of Arcade and Modern control types and a huge roster with an even number of characters.

This is a perfect legitimate way to confirm a brand new Capcom vs. SNK game that uses the RE Engine, six Grooves that utilize all of the core aspects from both companies' 2.5D games with Arcade and Modern controls and English voices in mind, so a new game like that sounds like an absolute blast to not just me, but to the rest of the FGC. So will it be a Capcom vs. SNK 3 or whatever it's gonna be called? I don't know and I don't care. I just want to see SNK and Capcom characters face each other again in a modern era with Grooves that utilize the core aspects used in 2.5D games and the RE Engine.

I think we're at the point in time when the Game Awards is fast approaching, so I think that a potential new Capcom vs. SNK might be announced at the Game Awards.

The thing is, wanting SNK vs. Capcom to come back in a modern twist is not the only thing that we, the members of the FGC. Porting classic fighting games to modern consoles are also what we wanted. If you want to know more about it, here is the link below.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2025/10/blog-post-%20companies-plan-of-porting-classic-fighting-games-to-modern-platforms.html

FOLLOWING Things 2XKO REALLY Needs

The new patch for 2XKO came out recently and it looks dead on arrival with nerfs for Yasuo, Ekko and Teemo, buffs for Blitzcrank and UI changes that involved the mode select screen with the all new Learning Hub tab that has tutorials, training, Bot Beatdown, combo trials and advanced, the polished fight card screen with both teams listed horizontally with the red and blue background, etc. But I figured that there are things 2XKO really lacks, so in this post, I'm gonna go over the following things that 2XKO really needs.

But before we get to the things I want, I like to preface that Shaun stated that they are working hard on bringing 2XKO to consoles as soon as possible and I'm glad to hear that because I want 2XKO to be brought to consoles as soon as possible, especially since there are a lot of people who are itching to play it on console and so that tournament organizers wouldn't have to set up the PC version in offline tournaments as setting up the PC version of a fighting game in offline tournaments comes with problems when it comes to setting up controls and playing it on PS5 in offline tournaments would alleviate that.

This resulted in setting up an offline tournament for Them's Fightin' Herds on the PS5 version to alleviate control problems completely. The control settings have unfolded really quick and that's the only thing that porting Them's Fightin' Herds to consoles has benefitted. Since they're working hard on bringing 2XKO to console as soon as possible, it can be either in early December or after the Game Awards, which I think it's perfect.

Now that you're caught up on my info about console, on to listing the things I want.

Custom Lobbies

I know that there are already custom lobbies, but currently, they are private lobbies. But this can be cranked up to 11 so that custom lobbies can be both public and private like in any traditional fighting game, especially when players claim that duos are better than solos. However, rewards can't be earned as they are only earned in Casual and Ranked matches.

An Ability to Duo with a Random Player

The survey has a page that lists the potential new features and one of them I put on top is the one I've been wanting since the game entered Closed Beta. It's the ability to duo up with a random player through matchmaking on both Casual and Ranked lobbies so that I wouldn't invite anyone for duos, especially when they're grinding the First Steps missions. It would be nice to have that.

Now, if this proves me right, there was a duos-only online tournament that became a hit. That is BoxJam Slam. It's like Sajam Slam, but dedicated to 2XKO and duos and hosted by Sajam and BoxBox. Riot saw this and decided to encourage duos at some point.

The Return of Two Characters Posing After a Round Win

Ever since Alpha Lab 1, 2XKO used to have a part where both the point and assist characters perform their win pose together when the assist character landed a killing blow. But now, it's removed and I like to see it return because I love seeing two characters perform their win pose. It's bars and I like to see it again.

Cross-Region Play

Riot has planned to support cross-region private matches, which is great, but I think it needs to be amped up a bit so that cross-region play can be done not just in private lobbies, but also in Casual and Ranked lobbies. This makes matchmaking lengths much shorter and since Riot is planning to improve netplay, if a player in North America is playing against a player outside of North America, the lag can be alleviated no matter what region or how high the ping count would be. Think of MultiVersus. There's no lag when playing against an opponent with high ping. If the game comes to console, crossplay will be supported, but not just for players in the same region, but across the globe as well.

Tony Cannon did an awesome monologue talking about how 2XKO handles online play and how they're looking to improve netplay. If you want to learn more about it, I have the link to it below.

https://2xko.riotgames.com/en-us/news/dev/how-2xko-handles-online-play/

Wi-Fi Indicator

Many fighting games like Tekken 8 use a Wi-Fi indicator. The only thing about this is that when lobby owners see the indicator, they kick those who use Wi-Fi out because of the fact that Wi-Fi is less stable than wired. I think 2XKO needs a Wi-Fi indicator to make it easy to tell if players are using Wi-Fi. I am welcoming Wi-Fi players, but they must check their connection first.

Character-specific Voice Lines for Tags

Closed Beta introduced intro dialogues between certain characters. The ones I like best are the ones between Yasuo and Darius and they slap because this duo became the most popular so far in Early Access. So I said to myself, what if 2XKO gets character-specific voice lines for tagging in like in BBTAG? I think they can work, only on those who have intro dialogues between them.

Tag Team Ultimates

2XKO has introduced something that draws inspiration from tag team wrestling. Duo Play is an inspiration from typical tag team wrestling. To make things interesting, 2XKO needs to have Tag Team Ultimates. Have you heard of tag team finishers? Well, here it is.

They can be performed with S1+S2+T when both teammates' super gauge is full. But the catch is that they are only available if the 2X Assist, Double Down or Freestyle Fuse is equipped and if the assist character is alive. They vary depending on the combination of characters, but only to certain characters that have intro dialogues between them. This may be quite a balancing act, but I think they could work in 2XKO.

Jukebox

I would love 2XKO to have a Jukebox feature to change the lobby music. It doesn't have to have music that play in a lobby, but music ranging from character themes to stage themes. I want to listen to Yasuo's theme in the lobby because it slaps to be the "Nothing personal, kid" type of vibe you would experience in Samurai Champloo. To add on to this, I also want a setting that changes the way the music plays in game.

Casual Queues in Training

Riot has confirmed that they are planning to bring Ranked queues in Training so that they don't have to exit and go to a Ranked lobby, which is nice, but I think Casual queues in Training should also be planned. Other fighting games have this and Ranked is a bit too serious and stressful, especially when it comes to ranking up.

More Female Characters:

Forgive me for making this point a dumb choice. I know this may be controversial, but hear me out as I talk about this. Female characters have been very important in fighting games. They are allowed to fight and they're welcome to join a tournament, especially in the very first Mortal Kombat where Sonya Blade is the only female character in the roster. This shows that women and girls need the same level of attention as men, especially in esports leagues.

Now, in this case, 2XKO currently has four female characters. To add on to this, Closed Beta introduced all-female matches as Vi made her debut and they are the best, especially when they draw inspiration from WWE Women's Championship. And the best thing about them is that they make me think of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer promo on the WB, which is now the CW. Plus, a fifth female character is coming to 2XKO, and that's Katarina, the Sinister Blade. We can be able to expect an all-female match to feature our red-haired assassin in 2XKO. More after Katarina are coming too.

The reason why I'm highlighting this is because this is in response to sexists who claimed that women are not allowed to participate in esports leagues. They should know that they are also allowed to be in esports leagues. Umisho is a perfect example of a female competitor. She won Guilty Gear Strive in EVO 2022 to show and convince sexists that women are also allowed to participate in fighting game tournaments. There's no rule against it. They need to understand that or they'll be made as enemies.

These are the following things that 2XKO definetely needs. I'm not saying that these are guaranteed, but what I'm just saying is that these are the things that NEED to be in the game and Riot will listen to my feedback here. And one of the planned things Riot is planning is the annual cadence of releasing five new characters per year, with Katarina being the guaranteed 12th character and the first 2026 character and it driven me to break down the characters I want. I have the link to the post that covers all of it below if you want to know more about it.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2025/10/2xkos-plan-for-releasing-five-new-characters-per-year.html

Why SEGA Quit the Console Business?

A lot of the gamers think they know exactly why SEGA had to abandon the console manufacturing business. But even SEGA fans may not know every detail. One X user named SuperSisi has prompted us to analyze SEGA's biggest mistakes that caused them to quit the console manufacturing business, so I'm gonna follow her advice and explain why SEGA had to quit manufacturing consoles to restructure themselves to being a third-party developer to release their games on non-SEGA platforms. But before we actually answer why SEGA has quit the console business to restructure themselves to being a third-party developer, we need to talk about the only things that were sold poorly.

First off, SEGA has released the SEGA CD. The SEGA CD plays games that use discs. The one that serves as a tech demo on how the SEGA CD works was Sonic the Hedgehog CD. However, upon release, reception was mixed with praising certain games, but criticizing its value for money and limited upgrades. It has become a dumpster fire of an add-on SEGA has developed that the SEGA CD's fate has been sealed because of its mixed reception.

Over to the 32X. It is another add-on for the SEGA Genesis as a low cost option for 32-bit games. The 32X was also met with poor reception to be criticized for its poor quality that it failed to attract third-party developers and consumers, its weak library, market fragmentation of the Genesis and poor marketing. SEGA sold 800,000 32X units and the rest at huge discounts until it was discontinued as they shifted their focus on the Saturn.

So, the SEGA Saturn is the 5th generation console that uses 64-bit games came out in 1994 in Japan and 1995 in North America. The console is successful in Japan, but failed in North America because of its 1995 rush here. The Saturn's game library was met generally with praise, but it was criticized for having a rushed 1995 release date and lacking a key Saturn-exclusive Sonic title, Sonic X-treme, which is why the Saturn became a commercial failure. The Japanese and American divisions exacerbating strategic chaos, which was caused by the Saturn's success in Japan and failure in America.

Now, if you don't know what Sonic X-treme is, it was a 3D platformer with open levels. This game uses open levels like Bug! The storyline of this game follows Sonic's journey to stop Dr. Robotnik from stealing the six magic rings from Tiara Boobowski and her father and use them for evil.

However, it was cancelled because both teams behind this game were crippled two months before the deadline as SEGA announced in early 1997. It was after SEGA instead concetrated on making Nights Into Dreams and a port of the Genesis game, Sonic 3D Blast and the compilation, Sonic Jam for the 1996 holiday season. Sonic X-treme's absence has ruined what could've been the Saturn's commercial success and became the source of its commercial failure. Fortunately, there are later Sonic titles that use elements from X-treme. Concepts for Sonic X-treme were left over and they do belong to SEGA, so they can use them for a new Sonic game to have open and encompassing levels akin to Spyro and reveal information on who exactly Tiara Boobowski is.

With X-treme's cancellation, the Saturn has slid into a bad Juju land because of its lack of an original Sonic platform game and it was just bad news bears for everyone involved, including SEGA with the entry of the Saturn. It did alright, but when the Nintendo 64 came out, it lost the lead and rapidly lost its market share in the US where it was discontinued. The Saturn's commercial failure was sourced from the its lack of an original Sonic game, but ended up in third place in sales, which is not bad. After the Saturn was discontinued in North America in 1998, SEGA went on to move on to their next console, the SEGA Dreamcast.

The Dreamcast came out in 1998 in Japan and 1999 in North America and other countries. You probably didn't realize what made the Dreamcast so special. It was praised for innovation and its great library of games, including original Sonic platforming games. Not only SEGA didn't make a SEGA Pluto or whatever the name of the next console after Dreamcast. They knew that the Dreamcast would be their last console before they restructure themselves into being a third-party developer after it also slid into a bad Juju land with the Saturn, so we have to answer this question. Why did SEGA abandon the hardware market and restructure themselves as a third-party developer to release games on non-SEGA platforms, and what has caused the Dreamcast to fail and discontinue in 2001?

There is one obvious reason. The Dreamcast's commercial failure was caused by the PS2's launch being the eye of the storm SEGA was in. When the Dreamcast has launched, it was off to a rousing start for online play, until in 2000, Sony came along with the exceptional launch of the PS2. It has ruined SEGA's reputation as Sony was financially able to do everything SEGA couldn't that the PS2 has became renowned in sales, even at launch.

Can you even believe that SEGA struggled on the Dreamcast so hard? The PS2 has nailed the grand slam with selling an outstanding number of units at launch. Sony made a nearly perfect developer-friendly console that has great games and key games exclusive to their platform. This exposed a HUGE reason why SEGA had to quit the console manufacturing business to restructure themselves into being a third-party developer in the software business because they were caught in the eye of the storm being the PlayStation 2's exceptional launch.

I have looked more into this and it turns out that SEGA wasn't the first company that restructured themselves as a third-party developer because Atari was the first company to restructure themselves into being a third-party developer to release their games on non-Atari consoles before SEGA did, following the commercial failure of the ill-fated Atari Jaguar. It was clearly dunked on. Now, I say that it's easy, but it's not. Shifting from being a console manufacturer to being a third-party developer is extremely difficult. They had to call it quits on manufacturing consoles and reorganize tech to develop games and release them on non-SEGA consoles.

SEGA's shift from the console business to being a third-party developer comes with Microsoft taking their place as the console manufacturer for their first console, the original Xbox, to succeed what SEGA has failed in the console market. Following SEGA's shift to being third-party developer after the Dreamcast dropped the ball because of the PS2's launch going off to a blazing start, they began porting their games that were released on the Dreamcast to the GameCube like Sonic Adventure 2 and Crazy Taxi. It became a starting point for SEGA being a third-party developer.

It turned out well that they went on to release games not on the GameCube, but other non-SEGA platforms in the 6th generation-era and beyond like Sonic Heroes, the first new Sonic title they ever released since their shift to being a third-party developer. Super Monkey Ball and Jet Set Radio Future would be launch titles for the GameCube and original Xbox. So far, SEGA releasing their games on non-SEGA consoles, even on this generation, went well so far and will never return to the old console manufacturing business following the failures of the 32X, Saturn and Dreamcast.

SEGA didn't have the time to come up with strategies or urge EA and SquareSoft to develop games to keep the Dreamcast alive because Sony has ruined their reputation. In fact, the Dreamcast's fate was sealed, it was reported that the PS2's overwhelming launch sales is a great sign that Sony was able to financially do everything SEGA couldn't because of the fact that the PS2 is developer-friendly. It did well in both the American and Japanese markets that many third-party developers, including SEGA, were able to develop and release their games well on it without losing money. And if you were in the eye of the storm of the other console's launch, guess what you're doing every day! Imagine if your reputation was ruined. When your console gets off to a great start in your console manufacturing business, your foe's console launch has skyrocketed in sales and you had to restructure your business to being a third-party developer to release games on other platforms.

And it wasn't just the PS2 that became the most popular console, but the PS1 as well, Sony's very first console that is turning 31 years old soon. If you want to know more about the PS1 and PS2's spectacular launch sales and how both of them became a grand slam, I have the link to the post that covers it all.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2025/07/blog-post-the-ps1-and-ps2-became-gems-of-the-gaming-industry.html

SG's New Chapter is BIG

According to the statement, Jason Donnell of Autumn Games has stated that the next chapter of Skullgirls development is gonna be big and Autumn is stepping up to leading the development of Skullgirls. But how is this chapter big? Let's take a dive into the post.

I'm back with another standalone Skullgirls post. Also, as you can see, it has been a year since my father died and will soon be a year since I attended at my father's funeral at my old stomping grounds. But let's not talk about that and move on to something very interesting. Anyway, let's get right into the post.

Autumn Games has owned the rights of the Skullgirls IP from the get-go. For years, they have worked behind the scenes as the unwavering backbone of Skullgirls, ensuring its grouth. They have been working with multiple teams like Reverge Labs, Lab Zero Games, Future Club and Hidden Variable, before they quit Skullgirls development of course. Now, before I tell you what happened to Hidden Variable and why they quit Skullgirls development, I like to rewind back to the point where Hidden Variable took over for 2nd Encore's development.

Back in 2020, the developers had left Lab Zero Games because of Mike Z's behavior and went on to form their own development studio dubbed thee Future Club. This is a development studio they formed and it's basically the same people without Mike Z. They also stepped up for the development of the Skullgirls IP with Hidden Variable because they stated that they planned to work with the people who left Lab Zero, which is a great thing. Back in 2021, the next chapter of Skullgirls development has began with the Season 1 Pass that contains four new characters. Back in 2024, the Season 1 Pass containing Annie, Umbrella, Black Dahlia and Marie is complete and the update for the Nintendo Switch and Xbox ports were done and dusted so that they would double their efforts on the general balance patch. Originally, they wanted to bring in the additional voice content, but they decided to release it in 2025 for quality so that there wouldn't be problems. But what happened, and why we haven't gotten word about them?

Well, let's get to what is factual on what we heard on the grapevine of things. In November 1, 2024, the payments have rolled in and Hidden Variable stated that Autumn owes them that much money. But Autumn refused to make a single payment they owed, not one.

Because of Autumn's refusal to make payments, Hidden Variable has quit Skullgirls development because of the legal dispute with Autumn Games for alleged breaches of contract, implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and for goods and services rendered according to the court papers and for $1.2 million in unpaid fees. That explains why we haven't gotten a roadmap in January. They also added that they wouldn't make further comments until the dispute is resolved. But we haven't heard from Hidden Variable yet because they are still having a legal battle with Autumn for eight months.

It wasn't just Hidden Variable that is no longer involved in Skullgirls development, but Future Club as well, the same people minus Mike Z that quietly quit Skullgirls development as they were working on their first original indie title, Part Time Hero: I'm Broke, but I'm Here to Save the World. But it did not reach the funding goal. It fell way short from it. And now, they are on hibernation, but they'll be back at some point. And now, with no developer in sight, there's no way Skullgirls can continue active development... until one glimmer of hope came.

Jason Donnell of Autumn Games had released a statement saying that Skullgirls is more than just a game, it's a passion project. They are stepping up to reinvest in the IP. To make it even more groundbreaking, Guilds are coming to Mobile later this year and we're getting close to their release as they are in the final stages of testing. That is nice, but that's only just a taste on how Autumn would usurp Skullgirls development. Since Autumn is taking over, left over pieces of content such as the third Guest Star being Roxie, additional VO for the Season Pass characters and the second season of the Webtoon adaptation are still on the docket. Skullgirls is about to be taken into the next chapter and the Mobile release is going strong that we're even getting more Silver Variants every month and Guilds are getting closer to launch.

How is that possible? Well, Hidden Variable has said that they gave Autumn until January 21 to make payments to them. However, when none of the payments came, Hidden Variable has provided Autumn with all of the account login information required to continue providing community support for the game so that it wouldn't cause a single damage to it so that Mobile and 2nd Encore would continue active development regardless. They done that before quitting Skullgirls development and suing Autumn.

Speaking of 2nd Encore, this brings me to my point. Remember what I said that additional VO for the Season Pass characters are still on the docket? I don't think that we're get the additional VO for the Season Pass characters this year Hidden Variable had originally planned before they quit Skullgirls development, so I have thought about this for a while and believe that Autumn is not gonna pick up where Hidden Variable left off during the development of 2nd Encore this year because they got to get the extraordinarily long promised feature being Guilds out of the way first before taking over 2nd Encore development. But that's just me speculating and spitballing. But it can be true because if we go back to Jason for a second here...

"However, it has become especially clear that we have not been delivering on our promises to you the fans; to bring new characters, stories, features, and game modes in the way you deserved. To be blunt, that is why we're making changes now."

Now, this is something you need to hone in on. This means Autumn is making changes to guarantee us to bring in new characters, stories and all that to not just Mobile, but 2nd Encore as well in the way we wanted, so Roxie and the Season 2 Pass are thankfully still on the docket and this is considered as big. Just so you know, I don't think that Autumn is gonna poke the bear when it comes to Skullgirls that they wouldn't release new characters or pick up where Hidden Variable left off with development of left over content like additional VO for the Season Pass characters in 2nd Encore until the Guilds are released as Guilds are an extraordinarily long promised feature being the most important one and fair enough.

See, you would know that the 2nd Encore post from January 20th being the final post before January 21st when Hidden Variable stated that they're no longer involved in Skullgirls development reminds me of the transition between the Walt Disney Television logo to the Buena Vista International Inc. logo. However, it did not get as close as it did with the Cartoon Network skull logo. While Autumn taking over Skullgirls' ongoing development is a great deal, there is one thing that could've happened that serves as a silver-lining of all this.

Now, if I remember correctly, Naughty Dog and Sony had worked together under a licensing deal from Universal to make Crash Team Racing after Sony negotiated between the companies after Universal treated Naughty Dog poorly by turning off the air conditioning to the building, right? So, if Future Club was still involved in Skullgirls' development while Hidden Variable is still having a legal dispute with Autumn, then maybe they could negotiate between the companies so that both Hidden Variable and Future Club would work together under a licensing deal from Autumn so that Hidden Variable would have the least amount of contact with Autumn as possible.

But rest assured that this will be a good difference that if Autumn get Guilds out of the way in November or December, the new chapter of Skullgirls development can REALLY begin in 2026. That will hopefully light the way for a brilliant future for both 2nd Encore and Mobile. They will not make a lampoon out of themselves in both sections like they did to get themselves wound up getting sued by Hidden Variable for breach of contract and $1.2 million after their refusal to pay what they owe.

Speaking of making a lampoon out of themselves in both sections, did you know that moderators of the Skullheart forums made a lampoon out of themselves with their pig slop low content post penalty smear, on both the Beta thread and the visual issue reporting thread? I have the link to the post that covers all of that if you're interested.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2024/06/low-content-post-penalty-rant.html

PlayStation 2 Turns 25!

It's official, gaming fans. The PlayStation 2 has turned 25 when it came out in Japan and in North America. This is the console that became developer-friendly and has most popular and critically acclaimed titles. In fact, it is arguably one of our most favorite Sony consoles of all time. I'm gonna start from the beginning on playing PS2 games during my childhood as well as the life cycle.

October 26 is when the PS2 came out in North America. There was a point of time when I was playing PS2 games during my childhood when I was a kid. I have enjoyed a lot of them and I was astonished at them. This console became the most popular because of backwards compatibility to every PS1 game and accessory, most popular and acclaimed titles and all that. It became developer-friendly unlike other platforms that failed and didn't come close to the renowned Sony did in both eras. This has exposed a reason why I'm into PS2 games as I am with PS1 games because both consoles became renowned and so appealing.

I remember what former PlayStation boss, Jim Ryan, has said about PS1 and PS2 games while he was at a Gran Turismo event. He has disrespected and infuriated us retro gamers to our face by spurning retro gaming just because they looked ancient. He said all that about what we love and cherished for years. How dare he talk down to the golden media that is playing PS1 and PS2 games.

When the PS3 came out, none of the models support full backwards compatibility. Some are backwards compatible to PS1 games while some are backwards compatible to PS2 games. The PS3 has a vast library of PS1 games, but a limited selection of PS2 games, which doesn't do us any good. Then PS Now came to have a limited selection of PS2 games and that's not nearly enough. I have been wanting to revisit my PS2 games from my childhood other than the ones on PS Now, but none of Sony's modern platforms were fully backwards compatible to classic generations because of the PS3's Cell processor and PS Now had a limited selection, rendering it terrible. For years, we've been requesting for an upgrade to PS Now that would bring in a PS1 catalog and a vast selection of games.

But fast forward to 2022, Sony has planned to compete with Xbox Game Pass by developing a beefed up PlayStation Plus with two additional tiers, Extra and Premium. The Premium Tier caught millions of players' eye that it offers a vast selection of PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP games. This was met with fan excitement about those that are looking forward to playing their games they played during their childhood. However, when the service launched, there aren't any new PS2 games so far, until in 2024 when Sony has a brand new PS2 emulator to pave the way for more PS2 games. Finally, my endeavor to revisit PS2 games I played during my childhood has been claimed after all these years.

It went well with revisiting Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus, a PS2 game I played during my childhood. I pretty much loved it and I have beaten it, but not when I was a kid. It also went well with revisiting the sequel. I loved the innovations the game has made, having a Mickey, Donald and Goofy-style trio. I am looking forward to revisit Sly 3 and its crazy adventures soon. I gave my shoutout to Kevin Miller for killing the voice acting of Sly Cooper, both when I was a kid and in this generation.

And I heard Sucker Punch is eyeing on the return of Sly Cooper or the third Ghost game. I thought Sucker Punch said that they're done with Sly Cooper after Sanzaru took over. I think Sucker Punch should bring Sly Cooper back into the limelight and resolve the cliffhanger that was left off in Thieves in Time. Sly is stuck in Egypt and we need them to get him out of there lickety-split and maybe have an episode where the Cooper Gang goes to Hawaii in search of a new member of the Cooper Gang because none of the games involved a Hawaii episode.

To support a Hawaii episode for the new Sly Cooper, I made an Old Man Sly video where the Cooper Gang are going to Hawaii in search of a new member. I have the link, so go check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkREGugNbRI

Of course, I had to make this video that features the new gal from Hawaii where Old Man Sly throws a tantrum over desserts at Boss' Pizza & Chicken. I have the link to it below as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4BTFMhNsfk

So originally, this video was supposed to cover that place I want to go in my old stomping grounds, Wana Pizza, but decided to make it Boss' Pizza & Chicken instead. How ironic that being around those people in big places at my old stomping grounds to bolster seeking my old friends and the Lerner and Rowe 222-2222 phone number on screen would apply to this.

I was able to put the whole Cooper Gang together, including the new gal from Hawaii between Penelope and Sly. Her name is Moana and this character's name is NOT affiliated with Disney in any way, shape or form or appear in any of the games. You need to understand this. Also, I have the next Old Man Sly in the works that is gonna be big. Keep your eyes peeled for that. Of course, Hawaii being a charming place I want to visit since I conquered my fear of flying is because of its names that originate there. However, nothing in that has ever got as close as it did with the part where I watched Moana 2 and the live action Lilo and Stitch remake, so I listened to Yasuo's theme in 2XKO for honor. Great movies by the way.

The process of releasing PS2 games is turning out to be smooth so far and had not backfired. Not one time. If I recall correctly, they have been releasing a lot of PS2 games so far to make things up, especially when PlayStation turned 30, three new PS2 games were revealed with a little bit of Sly Cooper news and it became a big win for us. 

However, while the PS2 does have critically acclaimed and most popular titles like the PS1, there are two outliers that have games that were released on the PS2, but couldn't become successful like those in the PS1 era, the orange marsupial Crash Bandicoot and the purple fiery roastmaster Spyro the Dragon. Both of them became kings of the PlayStation in their time in their original trilogies that became the most popular. Naughty Dog and Insomniac had a three-game contract with Universal to develop the original trilogies after the release of Way of the Warrior and Disruptor. They are the developers of Crash and Spyro that made Universal so amazing even though they treated them like crap just by turning off the air conditioner to the building during crunch time, which is just not cool.

After Naughty Dog and Insomniac left for Sony to make Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank for the PS2, things took a turn for the franchises after the IPs were passed to different studios to continue the franchises. None of the games that came out after the original trilogies came close to the renowned performance of the original trilogies. We can all agree that they all fell short because Universal became a terrible company and they had NO idea what they were doing. But I do love some of these games as a kid and been wanting to revisit them today. I don't care if none of them came close to how well the originals have performed. I just want to revisit the Wrath of Cortex, which sold more units than the original trilogy being an excuse to defend it and its great music.

But here's another thing. Not only the PS2 is developer-friendly, but has great games based on TV shows, movies and anime. The Simpsons: Hit & Run became a perfect example of a great game based on a TV show. While not critically acclaimed, it's a decent game overall. The plot is bearable and based on the unhinged moments we seen in the Simpsons. Then Buffy the Vampire Slayer came along to receive a video game adaptation. There are games based on anime like Dragon Ball Z, One Piece and Naruto. They became successful. These games are what made the PS2 so appealing. Japanese companies were able to develop games for the PS2 well without losing any money.

Japanese companies developing games on the PS2 led to releasing games by NIS, Square Enix and other companies. There is a vast majority of games released on the Japanese market. The GameCube also did do somewhat well in the Japanese market, but the original Xbox however, didn't do well in the Japanese market because the system was well-liked in the American market. This exposed why the PS2 became the bestselling system in the 6th generation because it was developer-friendly like the PS1.

Couple things to conclude with on what makes the PS2 generation the best generation like other consoles in the 6th generation is first off, the use of elements and things like Dolby Pro Logic II, Sofdec, ADX and THX, advanced power and games produced by nostalgic defunct video game companies. These respective elements have less room for error and their respective logos were present in retro 3D generations. I have to stress out nostalgic defunct video game companies. What do I mean is that I'm talking about nostalgic companies that went defunct during the PS2 and PS3 generations, like Midway, THQ, Universal (not the movie company), Namco, SquareSoft, Enix, Koei and Tecmo. The ones that aren't nostalgic are SEGA, EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Bandai Namco, Square Enix, Koei Tecmo, and WB Games. They aren't considered as nostalgic because they are still prevalent and around in today's market, especially in this generation.

This gaming generation does suck because of greed banked by AAA companies' handling of microtransactions and $70 games that caused frustration. That's why they prefer indies now because they're reasonably priced. I prefer indies too, especially the ones that are released on consoles. But I loved the new systems that produce faster loading times, 4K resolution at 60 FPS and Sony's innovative approach of the DualSense controller.

I prefer to play my oldies on PS5 rather than buying a PS2 or PS1 and its games because downloading classics on PS5 and PS4 is much faster and they have shorter load times when playing them in any of the modern systems. You don't even have to purchase a PS2 and its physical games. Heck, Tekken 3 launched in the classics catalog and this was met with excitement from nostalgic gamers.

When it comes to not just PS2 games, but also PS1 games that have silent copyright and trademark notice screens and logos after that, they have been my favorite part in gaming. I would reset my console to watch the flow over and over. Fast forward to now, playing PS1 and PS2 games given me an option to record the flows and that's something I would do. They don't take up too much space. See, embracing the copyright and trademark notice screens and the logos after them was the reason why the 6th generation of gaming had to be the best and I am still embracing them today once I record them. It applied to what I saw in 2XKO, all-female matches. They made me say "Come on, ladies, don't go easy on each other." That also made me think of not just the Buffy the Vampire Slayer promo on the WB, which I know it led to having a video game adaptation with the nuances in it, but also that Last Generation gameplay I experienced.

But I digress. There are endless possibilities for us retro gamers that will cherish the golden standard and fair enough, even on the PS6 and the PSVita 2 or whatever the new handheld console is gonna be called Sony is planning is being greenlit to have backwards compatibility support on PS4, PS5 and PS6, but not on PS1, PS2 and PS3 sadly due to two obvious things; the PS3's Cell processor and its notoriously weird structure. This hurdle prevented modern Sony consoles from achieving full backwards compatibility and is why the PS3 games are only available through streaming and it requires an Internet connection that playing remasters of games released on the PS3 is the way.

But the beefed up PlayStation Plus will continue on the new handheld console so that retro titles, with the exception of PS3 games, would be played on the go. I'm not getting the PS6, but I'm getting the new handheld console to play not just new games on the go, but to also play games I played in my childhood on the go, including PS2 games.

All of this is why the PS2 is our most favorite console of all time. We can be able to celebrate the console's 25th year by playing PS2 games on the PS4 and PS5, including Tomb Raider: Anniversary and Soul Calibur III, which are the two new PS2 games launching on the classics catalog this year and they are going to be a part of the PS2's 25th year celebration to make things even more exciting.

However, the lackluster one classic game per month release cadence was slammed by many, especially when there are many of their fan-favorites are just itching to be on the classics catalog. But Sony is listening to the criticism surrounding the one classic game per month release cadence and they will never return to their lackluster cadence ever again and hopefully picking up the pace by releasing five classic games per month, so this means the Simpsons Hit & Run, Ape Escape 3, Ratchet and Clank (Not the PS3 release) and other heavy hitters will have more of a chance. Regardless, the PS2's 25th anniversary will still be hype because we can play PS2 games on the PS4 and PS5, including the ones with emulation features.

We saw the brand's 30th anniversary celebration become even more hype because of PlayStation Plus Premium that we can be able to play PS1 games on the PS4 and PS5. I have the link to the post that covered it all right here.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2024/12/playstation-30th-anniversary-is-here.html