How Mortal Kombat CHANGED the Series Forever

For years, we have been talking about the rivalry between Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. But this wasn't a simple debate between the emperor of Outworld and the owner of an evil organization. The truth was much bigger than that. The regular story is that Mortal Kombat was built to became a competition for Street Fighter, but today, we're gonna go much deeper. We're going to state that Mortal Kombat was something more. It wasn't just a competition to Street Fighter. It was a revolution that dethroned Street Fighter and changed the way we experience the series forever. To understand just how the series became so well-liked, you need to understand the world that they were walking into. Let's rewind back to 1987.

Street Fighter was established in 1987 by Capcom. It was the first game of the franchise that started it all as a pioneer. You only play as Ryu and fight through non-playable characters in a one player mode, but in two player mode, player two controls Ken Masters. The first of the series started out as a pioneer. Then in 1991, Street Fighter II came out on arcades as the sequel to the first Street Fighter. Street Fighter II marks the start of having a roster of multiple characters to play as. Upon release on the home consoles, the fighting game genre was popularized, leading to other companies to make their own fighting games and try and be the competition for Street Fighter.

A brand new company has stepped up to the fighting game genre to be the competition for Street Fighter in 1992. Enter Midway Games, led by creative director and comic artist and graphic designer, Ed Boon and John Tobias. They went ahead to develop their newest fighting game, Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat is known for its digitized sprites accompanied by brutal fights, extreme violence and gory finishing moves known as Fatalities. They only work when Finish Him/Her appears when in match point, unlike in Street Fighter, which has little to no blood.

Midway partnered up with Acclaim Entertainment to begin porting the first Mortal Kombat to 16-bit home consoles. Once that happens, things took a turn for the worse. Mortal Kombat's home console release sparked controversy. That move sparked hearings on video game violence held by Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl and the creation of the ESRB. Mortal Kombat's home console release wasn't just the source of sparking controversy. It became the titan of fighting games like Street Fighter was.

In 1994, Street Fighter has their live action movie directed by Jean Claude Van Damme, which received a negative reception from fans of the franchise due to its lack of special moves. While the film is met with negativity, the fight between Chun-Li and Vega was the only good thing in the film. It recreates and dates to the iconic battle in Street Fighter II. The film industry also had a bit of a competition between Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat in the mid 90s as New Line Cinema made a live action movie aptly named Mortal Kombat.

the 1995 film directed by Paul Anderson became a competition for the live action Street Fighter film, but unlike the games, the violence in it was toned-down due to its PG-13 rating. It was praised for special moves, but criticized for toned-down violence. When a sequel, Mortal Kombat Annihliation, came out, oof, it became a mess of a movie. Let's not talk about it.

The animated series for Street Fighter premiered on the same year on USA's Saturday morning block. The cartoon received generally positive reception due to the inclusion of special moves, the satisfying cast of characters and plot. Then Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm also premiered on the same year on USA and has toned-down violence to make it suitable for younger audiences, but lasted for only one season. The animated series department created the competition between two games also.

In 1997, Mortal Kombat enters the 3D space and does away with the digitized sprites from the first three games with the entry of Mortal Kombat 4. The installment puts the series in a 3D arena space, introduces throwable objects and the use of weapons, marking it the first game of the series to ever take place in a 3D space.

In 2002, as we move on to the next generation of gaming, Mortal Kombat has kept the 3D space from Mortal Kombat 4 and brought in fluid animations and introduced new things, like switching between three fighting styles in game, color-coded coins, breakers and interactive gimmicks. Armageddon in particular, has the half-baked create your own Fatality feature and the roster's everyone is here approach to have every character introduced in previous titles, which became a chaotic mess. One person went on to say that they were working on the 3D era trilogy of games and during development of Armageddon, Midway could not condone to returning the series to the 2D space and wants to keep it in a 3D space going forward, up until 2008 when Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe came out on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

It does away with switching between fighting styles the 3D era trilogy has, but keeps the simple combos and have gimmicks of stage transitions on some stages and two finishers for each character. While the 8th game of the series, it is not canon to Armageddon. The violence and the Fatalitles in it were toned down for all of the Mortal Kombat side and the DC villains with the exception of Shao Kahn and Darkseid, who don't have finishing moves. But not the DC heroes as they have Heroic Brutalities. It's due to the inclusion of DC Comics characters. That's why they wouldn't want fans to see Batman murdered.

That would be the final game of the series to ever be published and released under the Midway umbrella. Then the series went on a hiatus for two years as Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to pave the way for Warner Bros. to acquire all of Midway's assets, including Mortal Kombat and close out the Midway Games structure on July 10, 2009.

Warner Bros. went out to close most of Midway's Chicago headquarters and its San Diego and Newcastle studios, leaving the Chicago studio alive and intact to rename the studio as WB Games Chicago several days later. Over a year later, WB Games Chicago was rebranded and reincorporated into NetherRealm Studios. And guess what? This was their first game they have ever made since Warner Bros. owned the rights of Mortal Kombat. This resulted in the creation of their very first game under the NetherRealm Studios umbrella aptly called Mortal Kombat.

As the first game published by WB Games under the NetherRealm Studios umbrella, Mortal Kombat serves as a sequel to Armageddon and a 2011 reboot of the franchise. It takes away the ability to switch between the fighting styles in game and complex combos and replaces it with simple combos and returns to a 2D fighter format the first three games have. The character roster became fleshed out within the story that entails a modern take on a classic story that involves Shao Kahn as the main antagonist of the story rather than making the roster a chaotic mess. Each character has two Fatalities and takes away the half-baked create your own Fatality mechanic from Armageddon.

Here are the new things that were never introduced in any of the games under the Midway umbrella. Mortal Kombat introduces the super gauge. It holds up to three bars and fills up when taking damage or your opponent blocks. Enhanced special moves deal more damage than the regular version of special moves. They consume one bar of the super gauge. Breakers from the 3D era trilogy also returned to consume two bars of the super gauge.

And here's someting new to the series, X-Ray attacks. X-Ray attacks were introduced to consume all three bars of the super gauge. They deal a lot of damage and come with effects of breaking bones. The feature continues in Mortal Kombat X, which of course, became the starting point of introducing brand new faces that never appeared in the Midway era. Then Mortal Kombat 11 changed how we use supers. Instead of through the gauge, they are only used when HP is low. They are called Fatal Blows. Then the series was rebooted again to a fresh new timeline in Mortal Kombat 1. It has the return of the three-bar super gauge, but Fatal Blows are still available when HP is low and has the return of x-ray effects.

Warner Bros. owning Mortal Kombat would pave the way for a planned movie that had to be R-rated to match the games' extreme violence. It resulted in the creation of 2021's live action Mortal Kombat movie reboot directed by Simon McQuoid. The film introduced an original character named Cole Young, an MMA fighter who was given a dragon symbol to represent he is chosen for Mortal Kombat, making him the film's main character, which created a plothole. He is not supposed to be the main character when he never appeared in any of the games. Thankfully, a sequel is coming.

The sequel titled Mortal Kombat II, fixes the mistakes the first movie had made. More familiar faces are coming and Raiden dons his look seen in the games. Now, this movie is gonna feature a Mortal Kombat tournament on the big screen like the 1995 film and feature Shao Kahn as the main antagonist. After its theatrical release, Mortal Kombat II became a flawless victory that critics believed that the sequel has fixed several mistakes like making an original character the main protagonist, a lack of the Mortal Kombat tournament and the divisive Arcana thing and the fights became more brutal than the first film.

To make it exciting, not only we're waiting for Mortal Kombat II because we're also waiting for a brand new live action Street Fighter movie, which is coming out in October this year. The trailer shows that Paramount and Legendary has nailed the Street Fighter movie reboot. Unlike the 1994 movie by Jean Claude Van Damme, the movie features iconic special moves, like Ryu's Hadokens, Ken's Shoryuken, Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick, Guile's Flash Kick and E. Honda's Thousand Hands Slap, just to name a few. It is gonna feature a tournament as well like Mortal Kombat II did. We now have two live action movies based on the popular fighting game franchises coming out this year that will feature a tournament. This creates a competition between two praise-worthy films.

Not only Warner Bros. owning the rights of Mortal Kombat unlocked new experiences. It also allowed NetherRealm Studios to take what they learned from the toned-down violence in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Ed Boon knew that with the right resources, they have an idea that would fit perfectly. A fighting game based on the DC Universe, so there it is, their original IP, Injustice.

Injustice tapped back into the toned-down violence they learned from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and made a fighting game based on DC Comics. While Injustice was developed by the same studio behind the 2011 reboot of Mortal Kombat, it does away with the use of Heroic Brutalities for the DC heroes and toned-down Fatalitles for the DC villains. Superman was the main antagonist, not Darkseid. And in 2013, Injustice: Gods Among Us was released. NetherRealm Studios now has two legendary IPs all polished up and ready to go. That unlocks experiences we'd experience in Sonic SatAM.

See, WB owning Mortal Kombat would've brought some Mortal Kombat characters to the ill-fated free-to-play platform fighter, MultiVersus. However, that will never happen now that support on the game has been sunset. That allowed Warner Bros. to bring their collaborations to Fortnite for characters to be used as skins, including, guess what? Mortal Kombat.

2011 was when Mortal Kombat was taken to the fresh new level with the return to its roots of a 2D fighter, a fleshed out roster bound with the story, simple combos and two Fatalities on each character. 2026 marks the 15th anniversary of the 2011 reboot that serves as the 9th entry of the franchise and the first entry under the WB umbrella and the 16th anniversary of establishing NRS.

The 2011 reboot didn't dethrone Street Fighter. It allowed Mortal Kombat to be the face of the revolution that changed the series forever following Warner Bros' claiming of the rights of Mortal Kombat and making the games developed under the NRS umbrella. Warner's victory wasn't just a victory for the series. It was a victory for a new way of thinking about the series. It was a victory for new ideas for the remainder of the series. And Warner Bros. is the company to pave the way for future Mortal Kombat and Injustice projects.

6th Generation Era is the SWEET SPOT of Third-Party Titles

If you're a lover of many third-party titles, you might want to think about getting a GameCube, PS2 or the original Xbox. But if you are a part of the community that prefers to play these games on modern platforms and want to buy them digitally, there might be some good news for you because maybe you don't have to buy one of these systems at all. But before we get to that, let's address the history and state how the 6th generation era of gaming has come to this point.

Somehow, the 6th generation of gaming consisting of the PS2, GameCube, the original Xbox and even the Dreamcast became the best generation that many people, including myself, believed. It's not just because of how games were developed. It became the sweet spot of third-party games as well, even though one company has shifted from being a console manufacturer into being a third-party developer. Now, let's take a second here and rewind just a little bit, so bear with me.

First and foremost, if you go back to the part when SEGA has shifted to being a third-party AAA developer following the commercial failure of the Dreamcast to release games on non-SEGA platforms like Bandai Namco, Capcom, Square Enix and a bunch of others before them, it came with a whole brand new company that stepped up into the gaming ecosystem, Microsoft, who would then create the first Xbox console that would be aptly named the Xbox. I said to myself, "It sucks that the Dreamcast had to fail miserably because of the eye of the storm being the PS2's launch SEGA was in" and it wasn't a convincing one. In fact, the PS2's launch got so overwhelming, it was reported Sony would humiliate SEGA as a console manufacturer, allowing them to demote themselves into a third-party developer.

Following Microsoft's step up into the gaming industry upon SEGA's shift to a third-party software business, SEGA has released a compilation of SEGA GT 2002 and Jet Set Radio Future for the original Xbox and Super Monkey Ball for the GameCube as launch titles for both systems. Then they released a brand new Sonic title, Sonic Heroes, which would be their first original Sonic title since the business shift to being a third-party developer. However, while our speedy blue lad may have gone third-party so that his games would release on non-SEGA platforms, he was not the only mascot that did it.

The PS1 era became deemed as charming when they established two legendary titans, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. These two legendary mascots were established in the PS1 era by the original developers Universal brought on after the release of Way of the Warrior and Disruptor for their three-game contract, Naughty Dog and Insomniac. They are the two developers Universal hired for their three-game contract.

Insomniac's three-game contract with Universal was up and done when Spyro 3 came out. But after Crash 3 came out, Naughty Dog couldn't leave the Crash IP once their three-game contract with Universal was done because PlayStation wanted another Crash game from them, but Naughty Dog refused to work with Universal because of their bullcrap--turning off the air conditioner to the building and forcing them to work in a Californian summer weather after hours, so Sony negotiated between the companies to pave the way for Crash Team Racing, which would be Naughty Dog's final Crash title before moving on to new creativity.

As we move on to the next generation of gaming, Naughty Dog and Insomniac parted ways with both IPs to partake on new adventures on the PS2 with their brand new IPs, Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank. It left Universal to brand the IPs however they want, resulting Crash and Spyro to go third-party from passing it on to different studios to continue the franchises on multiple platforms since the developers don't own the rights to both franchises. When each company got a hold of Crash and Spyro, they tried something new and introduced innovations in their games. However, while they garnered a cult following, none of the games that came out after the original trilogies came close to the renowned the originals did both in terms of reviews and sales.

And here's the worst part. During development of Twinsanity, a lot of gameplay hours and content were cut from the game. Enter the Dragonfly kept on getting rewrites and ideas scrapped after nothing worked bi-weekly and was given an awfully short development time to release it early before the Christmas season with bugs galore, leading to intense disagreements within the studios about how to get the game out, escalating to literal fist fights, like sitting in the offices when making a game for Mortal Kombat and a game for Naruto. This is due to Universal's stupidity. They allowed gameplay hours and content to be cut from Twinsanity and they had to release Enter the Dragonfly prematurely because of their refusal to miss the Christmas season that led to literal fist fights within the company.

If we fast forward to 2020, Toys for Bob has taken the mantle of releasing a brand new Crash game, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. It's a modern Crash Bandicoot title that is based off of the original trilogy that was the most popular, which is how it saved the franchise. Fast forward into now, we got some info about a new Crash Bandicoot title and a new Crash Team Racing title across the internet along with info about a new Spyro title, which may not be a modern Spyro that is based off of the original trilogy since we can expect RPG elements, deeper storyline, deeper combat, open world elements and even some moments we've experienced in Sonic SatAM. We're getting closer to the verbal announcement of three anticipated games.

Crash and Spyro became the two kings of the PlayStation in their time in the original trilogies. When we move on to the 6th generation of gaming that is the sweet spot, the IPs went third-party to have games release not just on the PS2, but also other platforms. None of them may be critically successful as the original titles, but we don't care. All we care about is revisiting them.

Rolling back to when SEGA was a hardware manufacturer, throughout the 1990s, CRI gradually transitioned its focus to evolve into a provider of two audio middleware tools, ADX and Sofdec. They went on to develop games for the SEGA Saturn and Dreamcast before it was incorporated as CRI Middleware in 2001 when SEGA restructured themselves into a third-party developer to provide their two middleware tools, and not just for SEGA games, but non-SEGA games by other developers as well, released on non-SEGA consoles. They are so powerful that it can produce lossy audio and video streaming.

See, CRIWARE is not nostalgic, but ADX and Sofdec are. The logos were phased out in 2008, but still usable under the CRIWARE brand. While CRI Middleware is a Japanese software developer that can integrate codecs into games, they also integrate codecs into games produced by American companies, including the one American company, THQ. Which brings me to my next point here; how the WWE games under the THQ umbrella became more revolutionary than the ones under the 2K umbrella. I haven't gone into detail about this in previous posts, so I decided to go into detail here now.

THQ was known for producing wrestling games, right? Wrestling games were revolutionary under the THQ umbrella that the company began production on them when the 5th generation consoles came out. And when we get to the 6th generation era of gaming, things were taken to the next level, with the inception of the SmackDown vs, RAW franchise. And here's something really interesting regarding the fact of the 6th generation era being the sweet spot of third-party games.

THQ didn't just produce regular wrestling games. They also produced spinoffs, ranging from the driving game to the GameCube-exclusive Day of Reckoning series that was so revolutionary. Factors show that the fan favorites are the ones under the THQ umbrella due to the revolutionariness introduced in them.

But when we get to 2014 when the WWE game franchise was passed on to 2K, the fan bases are over the place. The only conception is that the ones under the THQ umbrella were more revolutionary and better than the ones under the 2K umbrella and that's something I can strongly agree. It's also due to the 2K era's lack of cinematic logos the THQ era has. See, games based on TV wrestling are popular in the US, while CRI Middleware developed the middleware tools in some of them. They are basically integrated on the PS2 and GameCube versions of them since both systems did well in the Japanese market unlike the original Xbox.

This applies to the fact that Japanese companies were able to develop PS2 and GameCube games well. They made games based on anime as well, including the one company that is known for making games based on anime, Bandai Namco. It's the company that made the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai trilogy for the PS2 and GameCube, but the third iteration is only for the PS2. But they were Bandai at the time.

Then another anime also entered the fighting game ecosystem with Dragon Ball, Naruto. If you're not familiar with Naruto, it's an anime that stars a young boy named Naruto Uzumaki. He was the worst student at the academy, but he turned things around for the better and graduated from the academy as he mastered his signature jutsu, Shadow Clone Jutsu. Now, he has his one goal similar to Ash Ketchum's goal of becoming the number 1 Pokemon trainer of Kanto and become a Pokemon Master; to become Hokage, the top-ranked ninja of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Naruto's entry into the fighting game ecosystem came with two franchises, the Ultimate Ninja franchise for the PS2 by Bandai Namco and the Clash of Ninja franchise for the GameCube by Tomy.

And guess what? Both franchises became a citation of the sixth generation era being the sweet spot of third-party games. The Ultimate Ninja franchise takes place in the 2D space while the Clash of Ninja franchise takes place in the 3D space. Both of them dated to the edited version of Naruto that was the golden age of Naruto, which I like better than the unedited version that has swearing and blood. If we compare both developers, Clash of Ninja was developed by Eighting, and Ultimate Ninja was developed by CyberConnect2.

For those of you who are unaware, CyberConnect2 is a Japanese game developer who developed their games on the PS2 based on anime with Bandai Namco. They developed the Ultimate Ninja franchise and the .hack franchise that came in multiple volumes. The original .hack had four volumes and .hack//G.U. had three volumes and that is another factor that cites the 6th generation of gaming being a sweet spot for third-party games. CyberConnect2 at the time became prevalent in today's market to develop games on not just on PlayStation consoles, but also on other platforms as well on this generation.

This comes a connection to the plethora of TV show and movie licensed video games. But I look specifically at licensed games that are released on the PS2, GameCube and the original Xbox. We don't consider franchises as a whole like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or James Bond as nostalgic. But there are titles in the franchises that are nostalgic like, of course, Star Wars: The Force Unleased, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Lord of the Rings: The Third Age and 007: Nightfire. But these franchises as a whole are not nostalgic due to their prevalence in today's market. No, the nostalgic franchises are Monster House, Madagascar, Tak and the Power of Juju, Scarface and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These are the nostalgic ones that never been remade for modern consoles.

And one of the licensed games being one of the well-liked games is the Simpsons Hit & Run. This is a licensed game that was well-liked by both the critics and fans. A child friendly GTA with a sense of no killing, guns or explosions, exploring Springfield, partaking on missions and hilarious and witty dialogue. Radical made this game after the failure with Road Rage because of the lawsuit SEGA of America filed against the companies over it being a Crazy Taxi clone for patent infringement. Radical made a Crazy Taxi-esque game that was met with a mixed reception, but not as bad as the Simpsons Skateboarding and the Simpsons Wrestling that were absolute dumpster fire titles.

If you look at Metacritic, the Simpsons Skateboarding has scored a 38 out of 100 and Wrestling scored a 32 out of 100. These two games were worthy of being met with negative reception that everybody hated both of them because of their lack of polish and quality. They both averaged on a meager 34 out of 100 and they are both sports games based on the Simpsons.

Speaking of sports games, this leads me to the next part on how the 6th generation era is the sweet spot of third-party titles; sports games with flashy elements. I know I'm not a fan of sports games, but I prefer the ones that have flashy elements. I know that some people would think that EA was the first, but there was one company that made their sports games with flashy elements first before EA followed suit. That is Midway Games.

Midway had a licensing contract with the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, the big four sports leagues, to develop sports games. The first one that came out on the N64 and PS1 was NFL Blitz. And as we head into the next generation of gaming, more sports games kicked in and Blitz continues. MLB has Slugfest, NHL has Hitz and NBA has Ballers. It literally fits the 6th generation era into a T.

What has also fits the generation into a T is when EA followed suit to develop sports games with flashy elements. They were released under the EA Sports BIG label in 2000 when the PS2 came out. The label has street sports games based on leagues. Then it was phased out in 2008 and the company moves on to make mainstream sports games every year. They are done by big companies and lacked innovations. Many people liked to play sports games that are flashy, grotesque and fun, the ones released in the generation. We have seen some grotesque and wacky gameplay in them and they aged well today. And that's great for the learning curve.

Anyway, if we go back to the Midway part, they were the publishers of the Mortal Kombat franchise. Upon home console releases of the very first game of the franchise, it became controversial due to graphic violence and gore. It sparked the senate hearings held by Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl, and the creation of the ESRB.

And as we get to the next generation of gaming, Mortal Kombat was taken to the next level in 3D space with three games, Deadly Alliance, Deception and Armageddon. The trilogy of games involved switching between styles in game, doing Conquests, combo trials and earning color-coded coins to unlock content in the Krypt. I know we loved switching styles. It became a part of innovation that it is a praise-worthy feature, especially when it comes to combos. They became fan favorites of the series due to switching styles introduced in them.

Well, I covered everything regarding to how the 6th generation era is the sweet spot for third-party titles. Now we can go back to the present. The 6th generation became a sweet spot of third-party games that Nintendo and PlayStation fans want to revisit them in that generation. Their wish was fulfilled. Nintendo Switch Online offers a catalog of GameCube games only on the Switch 2 and PlayStation Plus offers PS2 games on the PS4 and PS5 and will continue on the PS6 and the new handheld console. That includes third-party games that are a citation of the 6th generation era being the sweet spot.

Xbox players get a pass because the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and a future Xbox console titled Project Helix can play original Xbox games through backwards compatibility, so all they have to do is put in an original Xbox disc and that's it, it recognizes it. The Xbox backwards compatibility system is making a comeback to make PC games play most games across every Xbox generation and hopefully make a lot more of them play on modern Xbox consoles despite licensing issues and technical headaches.

As we browse through the GameCube and PS2 catalogs, they currently meet couple of criteria. First off, games that use ADX and Sofdec, so the GameCube catalog has Soul Calibur II and the PS2 catalog has Soul Calibur III. This means it's possible that both Nintendo and Sony were able to throw out games that use the two middlewares, so there will be more to come.

Now let's move on to another criteria; licensed video games based on other media; TV shows and movies, the ones that never been ported to modern consoles to deem them as nostalgic. The PS2 catalog has the recently released WALL-E. This is the very first licensed video game to ever come to the PS2 catalog, indicating that while this is a Disney game, there is a possibility for Sony to throw in more licensed nostalgic video games, the ones that never been remade for modern consoles. But to do that, Sony must create a license and divert it to Implicit Conversions to resolve licensing issues. The GameCube catalog, however, has yet to get a licensed game based on a movie or a TV show due to licensing issues. But will have one at some point.

Both catalogs don't have sports games with flashy elements, Crash and Spyro games, wrestling games, games based on anime yet or the 3D-era trilogy of the Mortal Kombat franchise that involves switching between three styles in game, but we can hope that they make it to the respective catalogs in the future. There are a lot more PS2 and GameCube games to come and that will include the ones that can possibly meet the following criteria we have set on this post. Again, Xbox players are exempt since modern consoles have full backwards compatibility and the program is making a comeback to extend it to PC.

Why I'm telling you about this is because the 6th generation era of gaming has a lot of third-party games in my childhood. That also include the ones my cousins and I played. Heck, I can just play them all day on my PS5 and on my Switch 2 if I get one, but the ones with action in them since action games become the most popular game genre. And not just action games, but also fighting games as well since both Nintendo and Sony can throw in retro fighting games into their classic catalog well and existing companies compiled retro fighters in one collection to have modern features. I have the link to the post that talks about the companies being able to port fighting games into modern consoles along with their nuances.

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

2XKO Season 2 at Evo Japan? About That...

Admittedly, I was supposed to post a backstory post, but I just want to provide you an update on something related to 2XKO. Based on things I stated on the post regarding 2XKO in 2026 and what people have been expecting. And it's something to do with Evo Japan. This post may sting a little, but this is something to get off my chest.

Now, I originally said that we're gonna see the Season 2 trailer dropped before or after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Japan 2026, but apparently, the trailer didn't drop. Bandai Namco is dropping the Kunimitsu trailer after Tekken 8 Top 8, Mr. Karate is revealed for Fatal Fury, Zohar is revealed as the fourth DLC character for Under Night In-Birth II: Sys:Celes, Kula Diamond from KOF and Mai Shiranui from Fatal Fury are announced to be returning DLC for Dead or Alive 6: Last Round and finally, Sony is announcing something for Marvel Tokon.

Evo is known for throwing out announcements for fighting games, courtesy of a number of developers. 2XKO is one of the games in three Evos this year. However, since we didn't get a Season 2 trailer at Evo Japan like I predicted, I don't think that Riot is gonna announce something at any other Evo events before or after Top 8. I did a post talking about the roadmap of everything coming to 2XKO in 2026. I'll provide a link to it at the end of the post.

If you're wondering why Riot can't announce something for 2XKO in a major fighting game event after or before Top 8 like other developers, well, since 2XKO is a free-to-play fighting game, I think the team has the flexibility to make announcements anytime. Here's the thing; they announced Caitlyn at the Game Awards last year. In the previous Weekly Warmup, Akali and Senna were announced. Because of it, since the Season 2 trailer didn't drop at Evo Japan, it will drop one day before launch.

But then, I have realized something. Remember the God release schedule in SMITE 1 that involves releasing new Gods in February, April, June, August, October and December in Years 6-9? If the new Champion releases are mostly separate from new season releases since Akali came out in April, this apparently brought me to believe that Senna is possibly coming out in June. That's explains why the Season 2 trailer didn't drop at Evo Japan. In fact, the Season 2 trailer might not drop at all since new character releases are mostly separate from new season releases. And with Summer Game Fest getting closer, I'm speculatively thinking that the Senna trailer might drop there.

And here's another thing. Each season lasts up to 16 weeks, right? Season 1 launched in January with the launch of Caitlyn, and Akali launched in April, so evidence of shifting from having five seasons to three seasons and separating new season launches from new character launches strongly suggest that May and September will see new season launches while June, August, October and December will see new character launches, akin to the God release schdule in SMITE 1 during Years 6-9. Instead of me telling you, let's take a look at the rest of the release schedule.

May, 12, 2026 - Season 2 launch
June 2026 - Senna's launch
July 2026 - Mid-Season 2 Patch
August 2026 - Character 4's launch
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September 2026 - Season 3 launch
October 2026 - Character 5's launch
November 2026 - Mid-Season 3 Patch
December 2026 - Character 6's launch

Looking at the schedule, new seasons are launching in May and September while new characters are launching in June, August, October and December. As for July and November, I think they're gonna see mid-season patches. Honestly, if Caitlyn actually came out in February instead of January, that could've provided more flexibility at the start.

While my previous expectations have changed since I realized that Senna, Character 4, Character 5 and Character 6 are highly likely to come out in June, August, October and December and the Season 2 trailer may not drop at all because of the fact that character releases are mostly separate from season releases, my prediction of revealing the fourth character of the year and updating the roadmap to reveal the rest of the things during the Friday Showcase at Evo Vegas 2026 is still in play. If you're interested in reading the article about 2XKO in 2026 and the things I went over, you can click the link to the post below.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2026/04/huge-news-for-2xko-in-2026.html

Publishers of Stray Made Something CRAZY

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a magnum opus of a turn-based JRPG that still holds a lot of players today. But what if I told you that the publishers of Stray have brought on a small team that has developed a charming turn-based JRPG that is similar to the critically acclaimed turn-based JRPG, but has a musical twist? Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a brand new post regarding a game that I came across that I heard it became so dang gorgeous. And no, I'm not talking about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Expedition 33 has quite a dedicated fan base. It sold 8 million copies today and won Game of the Year at the Game Awards last year. Many people see Expedition 33 as an indie or AA game that draws inspiration from Final Fantasy X and Persona 5. However, if you're a fan of Expedition 33 or any other turn-based RPG, there is good news for you.

Annapurna Interactive, the publisher of Stray, has brought on Iridium Studios and made something that is gorgeous. Iridium got to work on their project. And what they made is an absolutely groundbreaking masterpiece of a turn-based JRPG. Picture this; a turn-based JRPG that is a combination of Expedition 33, Grandia Xtreme and Ar Tonelico. Seems like a weird and uncanny creation of combining together three turn-based JRPGs into one, don't you think?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is People of Note. People of Note is a turn-based JRPG where musical performances meet thrilling combat. The game's female protagonist is Cadence, a pop singer who realizes that playing solo is not enough to make the judges impressed since she was shut out by the Noteworthy Song Contest, so Cadence travels across the world of Note in search of her new friends to form a band. However, corruption is brewing in the distance. The Harmonic Convergence is set to wreak, or play havoc, with the world's musical energies and the forces of musical evil are working behind the scenes to bring disruption to Note's natural harmonies. That's where Cadence and her musical allies come in to stop the vile forces of music evil and ensure music itself has a brighter future.

People of Note's turn-based combat has a glorious twist that never before seen in any other turn-based RPGs: each battle is an interactive musical performance with evolving combat conditions and genre-bending mashup attacks, akin to the mashup attacks we'd experience in Grandia Xtreme. Each character has their own arsenal of abilities that involve the timing of button presses. Time it right and you'll deal appropriate damage to enemies. Each enemy has a weakness, so exploit it to deal even more damage. There is a cresendo gauge that fills up as enemies grow stronger and battles get more intense. That's where music increases its tempo and things heat up.

The game had a demo that had to be taken out upon its full release in a way to focus on post-launch patches. And maybe they can bring the demo back one day. It was listed as a musical turn-based JRPG. Well, yes, but the combat is like a mix of Grandia Xtreme and Ar Tonelico. The big selling point of these two PS2 JRPGs is the concept of turn-based combat with a musical twist and team attacks. The PS2 became the sweet spot for turn-based JRPGs and it driven developers to make a JRPG that is a combination of these games.

If this game sells well like Expedition 33 did, it'll have surprises in store and it'll become worthy of having future updates. Developers can follow Sandfall's footsteps and make players proud. People of Note is now available on PC and consoles, so go check it out.

I've Been Granted to Submit Logo Requests

So, I have expressed my interest in submitting logo requests to the YouTube channel that is known for covering logos of all media. Then I was given the ability to submit requests and there are two videos that have fulfiled my requests. Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a post that I felt obligated doing. Did you like the last post about 2XKO in 2026? What was so special about that one is because of a long-awaited roadmap. What's the next thing I want to post? Well, there's a backstory in the works that can make gamers understand the true meaning of the game industry. I am even working on a post that talks about a turn-based JRPG and its nuances, which is probably what I'll post next.

But what I want to mention now, though, is a bit of a shoutout about a YouTube channel called Broken Saw. This is a logo-based channel and I know you loved them. They are known for covering logos from TV shows, video games, movies, bumpers and movie and game trailers. The logos I'm into are the ones from video games. There are a lot of videos that cover video games, including the one form I like the most; logos that are deep. And by deep, I mean logos that don't take place in game or refer to what game and can also refer to silent logos.

Why I'm telling you about this is because I was given and granted permission to drop submissions in a document that contains links/requests for logos after expressing my interest in submitting requests for logos from video games. The section has requests, with new ones being at the bottom. If you scroll through them, you'll see my requests that has the signature of my screen name "KnockDownJoe." If you see my signature, they are my logo requests. However, there is a limit of 10 submissions, so I have to wait a little while because they need to focus on what is front of them. It's called patience, you know.

I'll be using IGDB for citation of older games. It is a video game database that collects data from older and more recent game titles. This is the data I can find when it comes to older titles. The separate document currently has a lot of requests that I have planned to submit, so here's the link to the document below.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Oz1SBk0_8juuRYsofhf0HF0xpg52rU1jBfbDoU16ogE/edit?tab=t.0

Broken Saw has fulfilled my requests of two videos that I'm going to show you here.

From Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi:

From WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2008 (PS3 version):

But this is just the beginning. The future document updates over time as I add more of them or put them in the main document. I have a lot of them, but I look specifically at games with the deep logo flows, cinematic and plain logo flows that take place before or after the copyright and trademark notice screens with logos on them. There are a lot of requests I am planning to submit, so I decided to list the following games with the best logo flows I have planned to submit to Broken Saw.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe:

I have to make this the first thing to talk about because on the post about video game violence, I talked about this game and its nuances that led to getting a T rating. This game has the best logo flow of Midway, WB Interactive Elements, DC Comics, Unreal Technology. Beast, Turtle, DivX and GameSpy. However, it would be the final Mortal Kombat game of the franchise under the Midway umbrella before their liquidation allowed the franchise to be published under the Warner Bros. umbrella in development partnership with NetherRealm Studios with the inception of their first game aptly called Mortal Kombat.

Super Dragon Ball Z:

For those of you who don't know what Super Dragon Ball Z is, it's a cel-shaded fighting game that features a handful of Dragon Ball Z characters and unique movesets for each character. Now, I remember playing this game back in the day when the games were in the golden age of Atari. Plus, this is among one of the Dragon Ball games to have the best logo flow of Atari, Funimation, Okra Tron 5000, Bandai Namco, Craft & Meister, Sofdec and ADX. If this game comes to PlayStation Plus, it'll make the FGC who played this game back in the day happy.

Ultra Street Fighter IV:

I'll be the first to say that I played any of the Street Fighter IV games, but never played the Ultra release. But it does have the best logo flow, but different by version. How it goes is the order of Capcom, Dolby Digital, Criware and Autodesk Gameware Scaleform. The console version has the Other Ocean logo while the PC version has the NVIDIA logo. Both versions have the best logo flows overall.

007: Tomorrow Never Dies:

This is a game that I remember playing back in the day when I was a kid. A Nintendo 64 version was planned, but it was scrapped due to memory limits, which is why the logos in the N64 version of third-party games lacked animation, rendering it exclusive to the PS1. It's because the game discs have more space than the N64 game cartridges. There's the logo flow of Killer Game, Black Ops Enterainment, MGM Interactive and Tommy Tallarico Studios. This has the best logo flow. We never had a James Bond game on PlayStation Plus yet, but I think we can see it come to light one day in preparation of the upcoming new game to welcome James Bond back into the gaming realm after his 14-year hiatus since Legends came out.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3:

Currently, logos for Budokai 1 and 2 are on there, but not Budokai 3 yet because I'm submitting this to fill in the database with the best logo of Atari, Funimation Productions, Ltd., Bandai, Dimps, Sofdec and ADX. The difference is the Bandai logo not seen on the previous two entries.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric:

So far, I have requests for games that never released on Nintendo consoles, but this is the only game that was exclusively released on the WiiU to be one of the games I'm submitting. I pretty much enjoyed the game. It was alright, but not the best. However, it has the best logo flow of SEGA, Big Red Button Entertainment, IllFonic, CryEngine, Bink Video, Autodesk Gameware Scaleform and Criware. The game's copyright and trademark notice screen has the last three logos together.

These are the games with the best logo flows I have planned to submit to Broken Saw. But nothing can beat one of the games that have the best logo flow.

From 50 Cent: Bulletproof:

50 Cent: Bulletproof has the best logo flow that contains not just game logos, but also logos of American record labels. It takes place after the notice screen you won't see. There's a two-second pause between the logo flow and the game's intro. However, if you're planning on posting gameplay videos, be sure to turn the music off to avoid getting a copyright strike because there is copyrighted music on there. I never played Bulletproof because it's an M-rated game and I was too young to play M-rated games on that time when the sixth generation consoles came out.

If you're willing to submit logo requests to Broken Saw, the channel's about section has the steps to follow. Here's the link to Broken Saw's channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@BrokenSaw1

HUGE News for 2XKO in 2026

Tosay, we got some huge news for 2XKO in 2026 that I did not see coming. Riot Games has just released a roadmap of everything coming to 2XKO in 2026 and there are several things that come with a big holy crap. Let's jump right in.

I'm here with a new post that has some huge and crazy news for us 2XKO fans. Today, we have been given a glimpse of everything coming to 2XKO in 2026.

Riot Games has just posted a roadmap containing everything coming to 2XKO in 2026. I did not save the roadmap and put it on my files. Instead, I used Bandicam to screen capture the whole thing at a bigger size for better quality. I'm not gonna go over everything in the roadmap, but I'm gonna go over the things I screencapped that are big and exciting.

First off, the character roadmap. Here's a look at the first three characters in the character roadmap containing Caitlyn, Akali and Senna, our upcoming character. While it says that Senna is coming in 2026, we know for sure that looking at the Season 1 countdown, she is coming out on May 12 with the launch of Season 2. The first three characters revealed so far are all female and that's not a problem to me. I am excited for Senna and she's pretty darn dope like Akali is.

We know we have the last two unannounced characters on the roadmap. But something's not right. Why is the NEW! label on Character 4? Well, if we scroll right...

An extra sixth character has been added to the schedule.

There are now three unannounced characters on the character roadmap.

The character roadmap now contains a total of SIX new characters coming this year. That's right, six new characters. The first half contains Caitlyn, Akali and Senna, and the second half has three unannounced characters. This is due to learning how we play in Early Access, whereas each season will have two new characters, following MultiVersus' footsteps. Season 0 saw the introduction of Teemo and Warwick, and Caitlyn and Akali fell within Season 1. What this means is that Senna and Character 4 will fall within Season 2, and Characters 5 and 6 will fall within Season 3. This year will expand the roster to 17 characters. Having six new characters this year is perfect. This could actually work for 2027 and beyond.

Speaking of which, this brings me to my point. Back at Evo 2024, they dropped the MultiVersus Season 2 trailer featuring Samurai Jack and Beetlejuice before Mortal Kombat 1 Top 6, so in a spirit of things, I think we're gonna see the 2XKO Season 2 trailer featuring Senna and Character 4 to be announced at the end of the trailer drop before or after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Japan since Evo Japan is approaching and we're getting two new characters on each season. We know that they will announce something in regards to Ingrid for Street Fighter 6, the fifth Season 2 Pass character for Fatal Fury and the Kunimitsu trailer for Tekken 8 since she's coming in likely May, but it's likely that a Season 2 trailer may pop up before or after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Japan. As for the fifth and sixth characters, they are likely to be revealed at a future Weekly Warmup post.

And here's another point. Remember the part where they announced Vi before Evo 2025 started? I think there are two methods of revealing the fourth character of the year after Senna. It's either announcing Character 4 at the end of the Season 2 trailer or announcing Character 4 at the Friday Showcase at Evo 2026.

Now, remember what I said that neither Kennen nor Miss Fortune are gonna come out in 2026? I have good news for you. Since we're getting an extra sixth character this year to fall with the fifth character in Season 3, I am coming to a conclusion to believe that Character 6 is either Kennen or Miss Fortune. However, since we already have Spirit Hills, an Ionia-themed stage and Akali, it leaves me to predict that Miss Fortune would be Character 6 to fall with Character 5 in Season 3 and that is because of the Brazen Hydra having wanted posters of Gangplank and Tahm Kench on the right side of the stage. My prediction of Katarina being Character 4 to fall with Senna within Season 2 remains unchanged.

Honorable mentions:

Gangplank
Ashe
Riven
Garen

I'm gonna take the four honorable mentions I went over on the last post where I stated which of the five characters I think could potentially launch in 2026, but the last one standing could potentially be Character 5. Since we already have a Noxus-themed stage and I am speculating that Miss Fortune can be Character 6 because of the Brazen Hydra having wanted posters of Gangplank and Tahm Kench, I'm scratching out Riven and Gangplank. That leaves Garen and Ashe remaining. Currently, we never had a Demacian character in 2XKO yet and Braum is currently the only Freljordian in the roster. These characters will come with a new stage in Season 3, but one of them is Character 5 while the other is scratched out. I am scratching Garen out for next year, so that leaves me to predict that Ashe is potentially Character 5 to come with a never-before-had Freljord-themed stage in Season 3.

That said, I'm going to postulate the character release schedule. Now, before I begin, here's the definition of the word.

The definition of postulate is something I need you to understand because the character release schedule and the characters I'm stating are hypothetical. Let's begin.

Caitlyn came out on January 20 with the launch of Season 1, Ferros Promenade and the console launch. Akali came out on April 7 within Season 1 with Caitlyn. Senna releases in May 12 along with Season 2 and a new stage, which what we know for sure. Katarina releases in July 14 within Season 2 with Senna. Ashe comes out September 1 with the launch of Season 3 and a Freljord-themed stage. And finally, Miss Fortune comes out November 17 within Season 3 with Ashe to round out 2026 and its 17-character roster.

Character roadmap:

Caitlyn + Ferros Promenade - January 20, 2026
Akali - April 7, 2026
Senna + new stage - May 12, 2026
Katarina - July 14, 2026
Ashe + new Freljord-themed stage - September 1, 2026
Miss Fortune - November 17, 2026

And I'm sorry that it had to be all female because Darius, Illaoi and Braum are the sole characters from certain regions in the roster and they are related to the characters I'm predicting, and we never have characters that wield a bow, dual pistols or dual knives in the roster; the following things that are classified as the current roster's missing aesthetics and fighting styles. Like, we know that Katarina and Miss Fortune will be a Rushdown like Ahri, Akali, Vi and Warwick, and Ashe will be a Zoner like Jinx and Caitlyn, but Senna's fighting archetype remains a mystery.

2026 character roster:

Ahri
Akali
Ashe
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Illaoi
Jinx
Katarina
Miss Fortune
Senna
Teemo
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo

Despite the fact that we're getting an odd-numbered character roster of 17 this year because of the extra sixth character coming this year, I'm still going to divide the hypothetical 2026 character roster into the SEGA and Capcom sides across the board and state the key points. The characters I'm predicting are written in bold for clarification. Since 2026 is seeing the odd-numbered character roster of 17 thanks to the extra sixth upcoming character, the Capcom side will be one character behind the number of characters in the SEGA side until the 18th character to launch next year in 2027. Let's get to dividing the roster. We'll start with the SEGA side.

Ahri remains, but Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Vi and Yasuo move and Ashe, Katarina and Senna go with Ahri, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Vi and Yasuo. The SEGA side has Ahri, Ashe, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Katarina, Senna, Vi and Yasuo.

Akali, Teemo and Warwick remain, but Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx move and Miss Fortune goes with Akali, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Teemo, and Warwick. That puts Akali, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Miss Fortune, Teemo and Warwick on the Capcom side.

SEGA side:

Ahri
Ashe
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Katarina
Senna
Vi
Yasuo

Capcom side:

Akali
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Miss Fortune
Teemo
Warwick

Key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Ashe on the SEGA side = Skies of Arcadia
Darius on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Illaoi on the SEGA side = Ooga Booga
Katarina on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Yasuo on the SEGA side = Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo
Akali on the Capcom side = Onimusha
Blitzcrank on the Capcom side = Mega Man X
Caitlyn on the Capcom side = Alien vs. Predator (Arcade game)
Warwick on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers

So we now have nine characters on the SEGA side and eight characters on the Capcom side in 2026 and key points to highlight the following. I'm agreeing with Illaoi being on the SEGA side because of Ooga Booga, and Caitlyn on the Capcom side because of the Alien vs. Predator arcade game by Capcom.

I am aware that Katarina is the most ambitious character because she was cut during the earlier stage of development, but as I have said before, these are hypothetical. They don't confirm who they are or the order of the character releases. Please understand that.

Here's a look at the other things that are coming in 2026. We got 14 things coming in 2026. And you were implying that the part I screencapped makes you think of the level select screen in 007: Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough because of the placement and backgrounds. We know console launch, arcade skins, the launch celebration event, Ferros Promenade and local duos came out and we got the Spirit Blossom event coming tomorrow, so we can scratch them out.

Now, we're down to seven things on the docket for 2XKO in 2026.

We have two new stages coming out this year; the Blood Moon variant of Spirit Hills, which is coming out in the next patch, likely obtainable by purchasing the premium track of the Battle Pass, and a summer-themed stage that is likely direct-to-store.

We have a summer event coming to have returning summer skins from Alpha Lab 2 and new ones coming in June's patch along with a new summer-themed stage I have already told you about.

What is the Heimerdinger? Uhh, Heimerdinger? What is the humdinger? Well, here it is.

That's right. A new Fuse is coming next month. People are predicting what the new Fuse is gonna be, so I am going to predict what this new Fuse would be. But my prediction comes on two. The new Fuse is either a Fever Fuse or a Teamfight Fuse. The Fuses I'm predicting can provide an emphasis on playing as a duo since they are investing in Duo Play even more. That said, I want to state the similarities and the differences between the hypothetical Fever and Teamfight Fuses. We'll start with the similarities.

Both Fuses:

-An emphasis on playing as a duo
-The point and assist characters are on screen
-Also available to solos so that the solo player controls both characters simultaneously and holds the team button to focus on the point character
-Earning the double down trophy is easier
-Committing a 2XKO is easier and happens more often
-Tagging and assists are disabled

And that's it. These are the similarities between Fever and Teamfight. Now for the differences between these two hypothetical Fuses.

Fever Fuse:

-Makes the point and assist characters on screen for the whole match
-Break and Ultimates remain enabled
-Provides the same level of bonanza as that of the Cross Fever game mode in SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level and the Assault Fever game mode in Street Fighter X Tekken when both teams choose this Fuse

Teamfight Fuse:

-Activated by pressing the L, M or H and T simultaneously
-Both teammates require one bar of super gauge
-Makes the point and assist characters on screen for a short time
-The effects rescind immediately when the defender lands their Ultimate on a point or an assist character
-Break and Ultimates are disabled

Then you have the Teamfight Fuse. While it makes both characters on screen and controllable simultaneously only on solos, the effects last for seven seconds and involves spending one bar of super gauge for each teammate with pressing the team and attack buttons simultaneously. But Break and Ultimates are disabled along with tagging and assists. It is similar to the Variable Cross feature in SEGA vs. Capcom.

And finally, the knockout punch as there is another humdinger coming to 2XKO along with a new Fuse...

A Duo Finder is also officially coming to 2XKO next month. This is something that we have been wanting since Alpha Lab 1 and it's finally coming into fruition along with a new Fuse. Of course, by "we," I mean myself and the players who got an invite to Alpha Lab 1. They said that they're going make duos much easier to find and form, so here it is; the upcoming gold standard of finding a partner to form a duo with, a Duo Finder. This will make duos much easier to find and form online, encouraging online duos more than online solos.

But I don't think that the Casual and Ranked lobbies are gonna have the same treatment as private lobbies, with readying up for solo and waiting for a partner to duo before readying up. I think that the Duo Finder gonna work similarly to the matchmaker, but will find you a duo outside of the lobby, so all you have to do is to select the plus button on the client, select Find a Duo and boom, it gives you an available partner to duo with.

The Duo Finder will be the gold standard of making duos much easier to find and form when you don't know which player to duo with. We're using it for not just for purposes of grinding missions that pertain to duos, but for fun also. Emphasis on "fun" because duos are more fun than solos, especially to duos-only tournaments and when the new Fuse can provide an emphasis on duos. Finally, we can no longer be forced to use rocks. This means we will no longer be pressured to send a partner invite to anyone in Casual or Ranked lobbies. A Duo Finder is coming to 2XKO for two reasons.

The first reason is to emphasize Duo Play with duos galore. What this means is that Causal and Ranked lobbies will see a lot of duos, living up to the fact that 2XKO is best played as a duo.

The second reason is to make it easier to complete the duo missions. After the next update, both new and existing players can find a duo with the Duo Finder and start grinding the First Steps mission pertaining to playing five matches as a duo future duo missions on weekly, daily and event missions.

We have two exciting new things coming in the next patch that are met with buzz and excitement. With these two new features, Duo Play is about to be taken to the next level.

Since the roadmap has almost everything planned for 2026, there are more details to be announced and they're ironing out and settling their upcoming patches for the rest of 2026. This means the rest of the things that are coming in the second half of 2026 will be revealed, so a follow-up to this post will be posted. And I believe that there is a conjunction to the method of revealing the fourth character at the Friday Showcase at Evo 2026. That is revealing the fourth character of the year and updating the roadmap to reveal the rest of the characters and details at the Friday Showcase at Evo.

There are more stuff to be revealed, so I decided to state several things that I want along with a new Fuse and a Duo Finder coming next month.

Custom Lobbies:

Currently, there are private lobbies and they are only for invited players and have a code for players to put in. But we can change that to custom lobbies. That way, they can be both public and private. A custom lobby being public is actually an open lobby, meaning that anyone can join without a code or an invite, especially when it comes to having a 2XKO Slapfest or someting.

Netcode Refactors:

I am sick and tired of seeing them not choosing their characters and stage because of netplay not being stable enough for some players. What can remedy that is online refactors. Notice that online stability has undergone improvements in Skullgirls? I have thought that 2XKO's netplay needs some refactors and improvements so that way, there would be little to no disconnection or network strain, especially on duos.

An In Game Pulse Indicator:

Alpha Lab 2 introduced Pulse Combos in replacement of the Pulse Fuse because they want to use Pulse while having a different Fuse. In the character select screen, you see the icon when Pulse is on. But I think an in game Pulse Combo indicator can make things easy to tell. When they have Pulse on, it can be either the text of the character name colored purple in game and in the versus screen or the Pulse Combo icon at the upper left hand corner of the in game character portrait. But I think the purple text of the character name would suffice for more clarity, like in BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma where the in game character name text is colored green to make it easy to tell if they're using the Stylish Layout, but colored yellow when they're not.

Bottom line, I love seeing those who use Pulse Combos get their chops busted by those who don't use Pulse Combos at all. Since a Duo Finder is coming next month, if it finds me a duo partner who uses Pulse, it's gonna be a one and done. Pulse Combos are indeed only for scrubs, like Modern Controls in Street Fighter 6, the Smart Style in Fatal Fury and the Special Style in Tekken 8. They involve performing auto combos with one button and one button specials with directional influence like in Smash. And not just Smash, but other platform fighters that have the same control scheme like Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl and Brawlhalla. That's why we need to use Classic Controls in Street Fighter 6 and the Arcade Style in Fatal Fury.

Not to throw shade at Smash, though because really, I do love Smash in general. But if there was a player who is using Pulse, they will get busted by those who don't use Pulse. However, the scrubs term doesn't just refer to players who use auto combos. It also refers to anyone using cake mix, brownie mix and cookie dough rather than starting from scratch and even players using Dokuro in Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax.

Duo Ultimates:

With the new Fuse that is either the Fever or the Teamfight Fuse and the Duo Finder coming next month to take Duo Play to the next level, I think this can take Duo Play to the max. Have you heard of tag team finishers? Well, here's something that 2XKO can answer with as part of investing in Duo Play even more; Duo Ultimates. They are team supers that allow both teammates to perform their combined Ultimates. They are performed with pressing S1, S2 and T simultaneously when both teammates' super gauge is at lv. 3 since Solo Ultimates are performed by pressing S1 and S2 simultaneously.

However, there is one caveat when it comes to Duo Ultimates. Since Duo Ultimates can spend all three bars of the super gauge for both the point and assist characters, instead of being a core feature, Duo Ultimates can be incorporated into the hypothetical Teamfight Fuse since choosing this Fuse grants the ability to make the assist character on screen with the point character and requires one bar of super for each teammate, hence Teamfight, so I'm gonna rename Duo Ultimates to Teamfight Ultimates and that's what they are gonna be called.

The Teamfight Fuse can grant you the ability to spend one bar of the super gauge on each teammate to activate Teamfight Assault and bring the Assist character on screen for seven seconds by pressing any attack button and the team button simultaneously and the ability to spend three bars of the super gauge on each teammate to perform a Teamfight Ultimate by pressing the S1, S2 and the team buttons simultaneously.

When we enter the PS3 and Xbox 360 era, the only 2v2 tag fighter that has team supers was Street Fighter X Tekken. Street Fighter X Tekken has team supers and they are performed with quarter circle towards and medium attack buttons and require three bars of the super gauge, but the assist character follows up with their super after the point character takes action and they share with one bar. It wouldn't make sense for Teamfight Ultimates to have the point character perform an unused move and the assist character follow up with their Ultimate.

There is something that can be done for Teamfight Ultimates in 2XKO. Much more cinematic kick and generic and unique Teamfight Ultimates. Instead of thinking Street Fighter X Tekken, let's think a little more in line with Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2.

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 introduced 2v2 tag battles and uses tag team ninjutsu that are performed when both teammates' ninjutsu gauge is full, both generic and unique to certain combinations of two certain characters. Both the point and assist characters each have their own ninjutsu gauge. So I think that the Teamfight Ultimates in 2XKO could definetely work similarly to Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2's tag team ninjutsu, but with more cinematic kick into them. Here are some examples of duos and their unique Teamfight Ultimates and a description of how would they unfold below. I may not describe them all, so here they are.

Vi and Caitlyn in a duo = Piltover's Finest - Caitlyn binds the opponent with multiple bolas, then Vi rushes in at the opponent.

Yasuo and Akali in a duo = Twilight of the Wind - Akali shrouds the opponent with Twilight Shroud, then Yasuo rushes in against the opponent.

Ahri and Akali in a duo = Twilight Charm - Ahri places her Charm on her opponent, then Akali swoops in while producing Twilight Shroud.

Ekko and Jinx in a duo = Shock Therapy - Jinx fires her zap pistol, stunning the opponent, then Ekko brings out his Mega Timewinder and hits it at the opponent.

Jinx and Caitlyn in a duo = Bullet Barrage

Vi and Jinx in a duo = Sistership

Darius and Yasuo in a duo = Hemorhagging Wind

Ahri and Ekko in a duo = Foxfire Ball - Ahri charges and pitches her Orb of Deception, then Ekko swings his bat sword and hits the Orb of Deception at the opponent

Ahri and Yasuo in a duo = Fiery Tempest - Ahri channels her foxfire on Yasuo's wind, then Yasuo flings the foxfire imbued tornado at the opponent.

Braum and Ashe in a duo = Frost Pressure

Senna and Lucian in a duo = Wrathful Vegeance

These are the examples of duos and their Duo Ultimates. The last two examples have characters that aren't not in the roster yet, but figured that I would list them for creativity and for the game's future, you know. Having these following duos provides unique Teamfight Ultimates, but the Teamfight Fuse is required for them. Maybe the new Fuse can actually be the Teamfight Fuse instead of the Fever Fuse because I think it could be the most popular Fuse both in and outside of the competitive scenes. Heck, we can even see Piltover's Finest together on screen. What a bonanza!

I know I said this before, but I'm gonna say it again. I think God that we didn't take an L like we did with MultiVersus because holy smokes, that would be darning. Talking about Harry Potter. I'm so glad that we have been rewarded for our diligence as fans of 2XKO for letting it thrive. They were waiting for Harry Potter and the game had to be shut down early.

2026 is set to be a huge year for 2XKO as they have a lot of things on the 2026 roadmap and I am already excited for it. We must not spare any of our energy if we don't want 2XKO to die early like MultiVersus did no matter how trash it is.

Joe's Monologues - 4/5/2026

I haven't did a Joe's Monologues for a while. And now, the series is back. Today, we're gonna go over a couple of topics, so without further ado, let's begin.

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

We're gonna start with the elephant in the room, Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling. I am in the middle of the game and I have gone this far. I have recorded my gameplay videos in the source of starting my own Let's Play series. The game just blew me away. It given me some serious Paper Mario vibes that the gameplay is similar to that of the first two games of the series that were critically acclaimed. As soon as I finish Bug Fables, it's off to Escape from Ever After and I'll record its gameplay too.

And dang, the Watcher fight almost given me a headache. I lost on my first and second attempts. My first attempt became a failure because I was running low on TP that I should've get to Venus to replinish it. The second attempt also became a failure that I forgot to restock on recovery items. The third attempt became a success because I addressed the flaws by getting Venus to replinish TP and stocking up on healing items at the shop. I guess third time's the charm is what they say.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

Now let's go on to the next topic about a game that I haven't talked about, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. I have bought the game at a discounted price on the PS5 first. The game blew me away with the gameplay that involves switching courses through the CrossWorlds feature that was met with praise. There are non-Sonic characters that join the race. They got Joker from Persona 5, Hatsune Miku and a bunch of collaborations. They also have non-SEGA collaborations that are paid DLC. They are all great, but do you know what would I like to see in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds? A Simpsons pack.

We have the SpongeBob SquarePants pack and the TMNT and Avatar packs are coming soon and Fortnite had a Simpsons mini season, so what we like to see is a Simpsons pack that contains Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa as playable characters with voice acting and a lot of stuff like decals, effects and Springfield as a playable track.

Why am I suggesting the Simpsons pack to come to Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds comes with two reasons. The first reason is to forward Fortnite's Simpsons mini season. The mini season was met with buzz and excitement that they would petition to make it permanent and it's a sign of nostalgia that the series' games are stuck in retro consoles and never been remade for modern consoles.

The second reason is to convince developers to bring the Simpsons back into the gaming realm with the rumored remaster of the Simpsons Hit and Run and make new games. They can take from what they learned from the original developers and apply it to future Simpsons games. A Simpsons pack with Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa as playable characters and Springfield as a playable track in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds sounds like a good feat to me, especially  because of Road Rage. It can pave the way for a new kart racer based on the Simpsons. But SEGA requires permission from Fox for that.

But that's not the only thing to say in this matter. As soon as the Steam version goes on sale, I am buying it for free online multiplayer. PC versions of games offer free online multiplayer on both free and paid games. But console versions require you to pay a subscription to play online on paid games, not free-to-play games.

2XKO

And last but not least, 2XKO. This one is gonna be a doozy to talk about because we finally know when Akali is coming out; April 7, and it's not that long. Her moves are pretty insane. Development notes show that Akali is the fastest character in 2XKO, but her health pool is the lowest, deemed as risky and comes with Twilight Shroud, a unique mechanic Akali has to give her moves some buff.

Let me tell you; Akali is the character I wanted and theorized since they knew that Akali is the most important and ambitious character the roster needs and her theme is on point, deemed the best character theme that makes me wonder if she's like a pseudo Naruto character since she is actually getting her Naruto palette. See, Akali is Japanese like Yasuo, especially with Ionia being known for fame.

We had to wait until April for Akali's release because they had to nerf Ekko and Yasuo enough to create a balanced and healthy competitive meta and fix screen tearing on console in 1.1.3. Now that they got all of that done, with black smoke galore, kunai and Kama, her portable scythe, Akali is ready for battle in 1.1.5.

But Akali is not the only thing that is coming in 1.1.5 because local duos is also coming. It allows a player to look for a partner to duo up with in real life and play on the same console against players online and it's something people wanted. Which is nice, but it's only just a taste of how would they usurp investing in Duo Play even more.

After Akali, it's off to waiting for Senna, who will come out with a new stage in Season 2. Thankfully, we're not being in the Senna waiting room or having an odd number of characters any longer because it's April and she's coming out on May 12 and that's when Season 2 will launch looking at the Season 1 countdown. Like, we know that Senna will swing her projectile weapon like Caitlyn does since she's a Marksman, come with a unique resource that fills up when collecting Mist and transform into a Wraith when she collects enough Mist like Warwick does with his Bloodlust gauge that fills up with his S2 specials, but her archetype remains a mystery. Her full trailer will drop one week before her release.

Since Evo is almost here, maybe they can announce the 15th and 16th characters after the Senna trailer at Evo Japan. They have to because Evo is the most prestigious event that has reveals, right? I want to see who they are. After all, 2XKO needs to have more characters and having a tag fighter with a small roster is a sign of claustrophobia and repetitiveness, especially in the competitive scenes. But having 16 characters this year is less repetitive and it's the number of characters X-Men vs. Street Fighter has.

Surely, Akali's debut in 2XKO could mean that Katarina could be the fourth character of the year to fall within Season 2 with Senna and that's what we came for since she was Thanos-snapped from the game's earlier stage of development. Now, I know that people are gonna complain when the most ambitious character like Katarina is scrapped. "Hello?! The red-haired assassin of Noxus?!" "For the love of God, Katarina was itching to be in the roster!" I'm telling you, Arucelli's work on her concept art and submission to designers for her redesign stage confirms that our red-haired assassin of Noxus is still planned.

That aside, this brings me to my point. Remember what I said that Kennen and Miss Fortune are potentially making their debut to 2XKO this year? Since the seasonal structure is going to have three seasons that each come with a new stage, I don't think that Kennen nor Miss Fortune is gonna be the 16th character since Season 3 will have a new stage.

But you see, in private, I thought to myself that I planned to stream both MultiVersus and Team Sonic Racing, but that will never happen because MultiVersus died after five seasons with the intention of being left offline for the forseeable future and I found Sonic Racing CrossWorlds much more fun, so I think I'll stream both 2XKO and Sonic Racing CrossWorlds on my computer in hopes of drawing more viewers.

Conclusion:

It has been a while since my previous Joe's Monologues. I hope to see you in the next one.

How Violent Video Games CHANGED the Industry Forever

If you were to look at the history of video games and if you were going to ask what became the ongoing trend in gaming that changed the game industry and changed how we play games forever, the answer, in my opinion, would be violent video games. If you go back to the beginning of video games, especially with the inception of 16-bit era home consoles consisting of the SNES, Genesis and even the SEGA CD, fighting games have always become a popular trend on the era. This was popularized by one of the popular fighting game franchises, Street Fighter. However, there is another popular fighting game franchise, Mortal Kombat.

The very first Mortal Kombat was released in 1992 for arcades by Midway Games. But when Acclaim Entertainment ported it to the NES and Genesis, the game became egregiously controversial because of its photoreaslistic sprites with depictions of bloody violence with gore caused by Fatalities, unlike Street Fighter II, which uses traditional handmade sprites that resembled cartoon or comic book illustrations and has little to no blood. This served as a subject of starting the 1993-94 United States Senate hearings on controversial video games held by two senators, Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl and covers in newspapers.

Nintendo and SEGA released Mortal Kombat, respectively. The SEGA Genesis version, while shipped, has eliminated the graphic effects and can be added by using a well-published cheat code titled "ABACABB" while Nintendo required Acclaim to replace blood with gray sweat, edit Fatalities and change other parts of the game's artwork to remove inappropriate elements like severed heads from spikes in a way for Nintendo to keep the SNES family-friendly on the SNES version, but the gray sweat effects can be reverted to the original red blood effects and bring back uncensored Fatalities via a Game Genie code input as BDB4-DD07. However, the SEGA Genesis version sold more than the SNES version, living up to the "SEGA does what Nintendon't" tagline.

But the first Mortal Kombat wasn't the only one that was graphically violent to be a part of the hearing because another game is also facing backlash upon its home console release, Night Trap. Night Trap is an interactive movie game that was also a part of the hearing after it had sexual violence against women, deeming it very offensive. Lethal Enforcers' home console release is also obvious to have graphic violence. This prompted Toys "R" Us and KB Toys to remove the following games and peripherals that looked like guns from shelves and SEGA to cease making copies in January 1994.

SEGA created their own game rating system, the Videogame Rating Council, which used three ratings, GA, MA-13 and MA-17. When the SEGA Genesis version of Mortal Kombat was shipped to have toned down violence, it was given an MA-13 rating. After the respective extremely violent and offensive video games came out on home consoles, they became a part of the senate hearing talking about the following games. The hearing made calls to establish the rating system in North America, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB).

The ESRB was established back in September 1994 by the ESA in response to the backlash and criticism regarding controversial video games that contain extreme violence or sexual content, especially after the 1993 congressional hearings following the home console releases of Mortal Kombat and Night Trap and even the home computer release of Doom. After the establishment date, future games beyond that date carry the ESRB rating. The Videogame Rating Council was eventually retired in favor of the ESRB.

While Mortal Kombat is aimed at mature audiences because of its graphic and gory nature that leads to getting an M rating, we did see one mainline game of the franchise that is not M-rated, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. It was given a T rating due to the inclusion of DC characters, which is why the violence and Fatalities were toned down. While the game was met with mixed reception, there is one thing that was quite interesting about this game.

When Raiden and Superman, the two leaders of their universes, destabilized the portal when taking down Shao Kahn and Darkseid, the two antagonists of both universes, they created a combined force behind the combat rage, Dark Kahn. It created my favorite events like Liu Kang and Scorpion ending up in Gotham, Raiden teleporting to a different world to save Liu Kang and even Raiden and Superman teaming up to defeat Dark Kahn to make the universes back to normal, which resulted a switcheroo of defeat -- Darkseid being bound in the Netherrealm and Shao Kahn being trapped in shattering pieces of glass. And to be honest, the parts of the story in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe are really interesting to experience. Used Bandicam to record my favorite parts of the story.

However, this would be the final game to be published by Midway before their liquidation. Then the 2011 reboot of Mortal Kombat came out as the first game of the franchise published by WB Games and developed under the NetherRealm Studios umbrella to return to its roots of a 2D fighter, which of course, retained the series' controversy regarding graphic violence and marks of start of strong language where you will hear bad words from certain characters.

There are child-friendly games that have violence in them, but the physical inflict in them is not graphic and has no blood. Take Pokémon for example. It's a child-friendly IP that doesn't have any mature content in them and has content appropriate for all ages, including adults, who also play child-friendly games. That's why the IP is mostly rated E for Everyone, like other IPs that are family-friendly like Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and many others. These are the ones that have non-graphic violence. This type of violence is called cartoon violence.

Violence is something that has zero-tolerance in real life. Let me give you an example. I'll talk about school violence. It is essentially an offense that leads to suspensions or expulsion, except to bullies. Basically hitting others that lead to consequences and it's something that must be avoided. In fact, it happened back in the day. But violence in video games is a staple in the industry today that it has much more tolerance than violence in real life.

Controversial video games became the source of starting the predicament of them having sexual content and excessively extreme violence, so what are two controversial games that sparked the creation of the ESRB upon release on home consoles? Mortal Kombat and Night Trap. That started the predicament and sparked the hearings that allowed experts to make calls to establish the ESRB. That's how violent video games changed the industry forever. The trend of violence in video games will continue as future games with violence will come upon us.

I seem to have another backstory blog post coming soon, so stay tuned for that.