Summer Game Showcase Wish List

We're approaching the period of summer game showcases where they reveal new games and provide an update regarding games that came out, and that can definetely fill out the gap left by E3's death. Today, I want to make a wish list of reveals I want to see in the period of game showcases in the summer.

Injustice 3:

One man has confirmed that Injustice 3 is in the works. That is nice, but which of the routes Injustice 2 left off that the third game will pick up? Well, either way, I would love to see Injustice 3 get announced, knowing that NetherRealm has confirmed the next Mortal Kombat, the second one that takes place in the new era.

2XKO Senna Trailer:

We are approaching the time when Senna launches in 2XKO since new season releases are mostly separate from new character releases. But I don't think that her trailer is gonna drop at Summer Game Fest. I think it's gonna drop on Tuesday. This is important to remember that showcasing Senna outside of Summer Game Fest is considered a part of the summer season of game reveals, whereas they showcase her trailer, palettes and moves.

Street Fighter 6 Year 4 Pass Trailer:

Ingrid rounds out the Year 3 Pass as the cherry on top and we're getting closer to the point where Street Fighter 6's Year 4 Pass is gonna be. If the leaks regarding the Year 4 Pass is true, then I see a chance that the Year 4 Pass Trailer could drop at Summer Game Fest. Evo is approaching and the first Year 4 character's trailer could drop before Top 8.

New Mana Title:

1991 is when the Mana franchise was established with the entry of Final Fantasy Adventure. It is 2026 and this is the year when the franchise reaches its 35th Anniversary. I think this calls for a new mainline Mana title to be announced because this is the year when the series is 35 years old.

Third Paper Mario-Style Game:

Indie devs started making games that are inspired by Paper Mario. They are Bug Fables and Escape from Ever After. These two games drew inspiration from the first two games of the franchise that are critically acclaimed. You know what I like to see? A third Paper Mario-inspired game. If it comes into fruition, I like it to have the Blue Dragon-style party of five Escape from Ever After used.

New Paper Mario Title:

Speaking of Paper Mario, this brings me to my next thing. Paper Mario has quite a dedicated fanbase, especially to the RPG genre. When we get to Sticker Star, it was disdained by fans of the first two games of the franchise, along with Color Splash and the Origami King. If Nintendo confirms a new Paper Mario title, they need to polish and multiply what made the first two games so perfect in the first place instead of fragmenting and borderline changing the genre like they did with the trio of games since Sticker Star. It's the only way to make a modern Paper Mario title that is on par with the first two games.

And in case if you're unaware, when Paper Mario: Color Splash was announced, a lot of people signed a petition to cancel the game because it continued the action adventure genre to further fragment the original foundation. That's why a modern Paper Mario game needs to be based off the first two games. That is how Bug Fables and Escape from Ever After were met with positive reception from the fans of Paper Mario. They can literally copy and paste the coding and physics of the remastered Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and start from there. They don't have to retool the game up from the ground up. The core of the game is already done.

Spyro 4:

The project went in development late 2023. The director at Toys for Bob believed that the next Spyro is gonna be big and ambitious. What this means that it'll never have the same treatment as Crash Bandicoot 4 to have the standards of the original trilogy. We can expect an open world element, deeper combat and RPG elements. It has been a long wait, but we're finally getting closer to the announcement of Spyro 4, hopefully at Summer Game Fest.

Because the next Spyro is gonna be big and ambitious, this isn't likely gonna be a by the numbers Spyro game. The 4 might be dropped from the official name. Don't forget; this is Toys for Bob's first title as an indie studio. That's why we have to wait three years before it is announced. There's one thing I do want from Spyro 4 the most.

Have you heard of the term, Sonally? The term represents the friendship between Sonic the Hedgehog and Sally Acorn in Sonic SatAM. Well, the one thing I like to see the most in Spyro 4 is Spylora. What is Spylora, you ask? It's a term that represents the friendship between Spyro the Dragon and Elora the Faun. We experienced it first in Spyro 2, so we want the friendship to continue in the new Spyro.

These are all of the announcements I want to see in this year's period of summer game reveals. If there is something I missed, I'll update the wish list.

Joe's Monologues - 5/29/2026

Hello, everyone. Welcome to yet another Joe's Monologues. This will be the final Joe's Monologues before I leave. But the series will continue once I get back home, so without further ado, let's take a dive.

Escape from Ever After:

Right off the bat, I'm gonna talk about one of the games I am finally going through now that I have beaten Bug Fables. Escape from Ever After is just dang near perfect. The combat is fluid, similar as that of the first two Paper Mario games. The party of five in the game is absolutely gorgeous, but it's kind of feels more like Blue Dragon than Lost Odyssey, especially because Eva and Patches are surely the Kluke and Marumaro of Escape from Ever After. But what I like most is when pigs angered Tinder by calling her a lizard, which already became my most favorite part. Good thing I recorded that part when I'm doing a Let's Play video.

I am suspending playing this game until I get some cushion for my gaming chair or after I get back home. I started playing it to fill out the party of five.

Evo 2026:

The biggest thrill ride of the summer is almost here as the registration numbers and the leaderboard have been finalized as signups have been closed.

Evo has posted a leaderboard of games. Here are the twelve games Evo Vegas will have this year like Evo Japan did. With twelve games, there are twelve champions to crown. You might be wondering why the top six games have to be light while the bottom six have to be dark. Well, here's one obvious thing. Since we have twelve games up there, the top six games will have their Top 8 in the Arena while the bottom six games will have their Top 8 at the main streaming area outside of the Arena.

Now, since Evo Vegas is taking place at the West Wing of the Las Vegas Convention Center to allow the Arena finals to go live on Saturday and Sunday, the pendulum swings in both days. Let's start with Saturday's Top 8 finals.

Saturday will see Top 8s for Virtua Fighter 5: R.E.V.O. World Stage, Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Guilty Gear Strive and Rivals of Aether II. But Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Guilty Gear Strive and Rivals of Aether II will be played in the Arena while Virtua Fighter 5, Under Night In-Birth II and BlazBlue: Central Fiction will be played outside of the Arena.

Sunday will see Top 8s for Vampire Savior, Invincible VS, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, 2XKO, Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6. But 2XKO, Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6 will be played in the Arena while Vampire Savior, Invincible VS and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves will be played outside of the Arena.

Saturday's Top 8s:

Games outside the Arena:

• Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage
• Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes
• BlazBlue: Central Fiction

Games inside the Arena:

• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• Guilty Gear Strive
• Rivals of Aether II

Sunday's Top 8s:

Games outside the Arena:

• Vampire Savior
• Invincible VS
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

Games inside the Arena:

• 2XKO
• Tekken 8
• Street Fighter 6

Here is the placement and order of how the games' Top 8 is gonna be played. This is the info I can have when it comes to time limitations.

We're gonna cross out BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Vampire Savior and 2XKO because I don't think that we're gonna see announcements regarding these games after or before Top 8 and we won't see a BBTAG 2 announced there. 2XKO in particular is being played in the Arena, but I don't think that we're gonna get some sort of reveal before or after 2XKO Top 8 since Senna is guaranteed to come out before Evo opens its doors.

While it sucks that they won't announce something for 2XKO before or after Top 8, my prediction of revealing the rest of the Year 1 characters and updating the roadmap to reveal the rest at the Friday Showcase is still in play. However, we can expect something for Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, Fatal Fury, Under Night In-Birth II, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Invincible VS and Marvel Tokon since they have announcements among these games up on their sleeve.

Invincible VS in particular would take Mortal Kombat 1's spot at Evo since they knew that they needed one M-rated fighting game up there, and Invincible VS is considered an M-rated Marvel vs. Capcom clone because of brutal 3v3 tag combat and supers that dismember opponents when their HP is at 0. After all, Marvel vs. Capcom has been a main debut at Evo in the earlier years and Invincible VS can answer that with a bloody Marvel vs. Capcom-style combat.

With twelve games in one lineup to have twelve champions to crown, Evo 2026 is gonna be a blockbuster.

Summer Game Reveals:

The time when they reveal games in the summer is almost upon us. Publishers and developers have a lot of games in the works, ranging from AAA blockbusters to indies, starting with the State of Play, to Summer Game Fest, Xbox Games Showcase and the Nintendo Direct. A number of publishers and developers are getting themselves ready for the biggest showcase of the summer. With a showcase that hype, I do not doubt that it's gonna be enough to fill in the gap E3's death has made.

Indie devs are also gonna be a part of it. Maybe we can see a third Paper Mario-esque game. That would be fire. I love Paper Mario and has been a huge fan of the first two games of the franchise that are the most popular. My next post will have the things I want to see in the season of game reveals.

Future Plans:

And finally, I'm going to talk about my future plans, First off, as I have said before, I'm gonna be leaving on June 10th to go to my old stomping grounds because I got to attend at my aunt's birthday on June 13th at the place located at the street that is the very heart. This means I will not be doing any content until I get back home on the 17th of June. I am excited for this is not just because I'm celebrating my aunt's birthday. But better yet, it's doing nostalgic things, having a forest show and being on the lookout for people that resemble the quality of my old friends and that's something I want to do.

And to cap things off, I am planning to livestream both Sonic Racing Crossworlds and 2XKO together. However, I'm gonna have to wait until the wonky VS screen issue is fixed. The thing is, when the wonky VS screen happens, in game, the background from the VS screen remains to block the health bars and timer, there are shades of yellow on the assist character in the character select screen and you see the VS label at the main menu. Alternatively, if that happens, I can use the workaround; restarting the game.

I reported the issue on X constructively enough. I went on to say, "The VS screen background remains in game when the wonky VS screen happens to block the health bars and timer," instead of, "The background of the VS screen being in game is driving me nuts. Fix this glitch now." This is courtesy of the Skullheart Forums' constructive vs. opinionated threads. That's why we need to make constructive bug reports, not opinionated bug reports.

Conclusion:

Again, this will be my final post of the series before I leave. But rest assured. The series will return as soon as I get home to do more content.

Let's Play - An Ongoing Trend on YouTube

With a lot of gamers across the world, Let's Play has been the best thing to for gamers to bank on. For years, we have been experiencing the long line of Let's Players around the world. The subject in Wikipedia states that Let's Plays specialize in subjective commentary with humorous moments and a focus on going through the story. I know that there are Let's Players that play Pokemon and it's the hardest thing to do a Let's Play on since the mainline games are divided into two versions. Today, Let's Play is something gamers have been cherishing on. Like, of course, PewDiePie, Chuggaconroy and Markiplier. Gamers in general would never stop being a gamer until they grow old because of long live gaming. That's how the documentary became an ongoing trend for decades.

I have been a gamer for years since I was 9 years old. Being a gamer means doing something productive for a change. If I said that I'm planning to become a Let's Player like others before me and recording gameplay videos, well, if I can't beat them, join them. So I did and that is since I have created my separate gaming channel on YouTube where I can post my Let's Play videos, gameplay videos and clips. I'll give you a link to my gaming channel at the end of this post.

I want to talk about one of the Let's Players that I have came across when there is something worthwhile. Enter 1smash18, gamer extraordinaire and Let's Player. He is one of the YouTubers who is known for his Let's Play series. His gameplay videos have commentary and involve Cartoon Network web games from the 2000s, which I know you guys loved those as kids. He now has a gaming computer. That unlocked playing more games other than SSF2 during Let's Play. Currently, he's doing his Hollow Knight Let's Play as he just uploaded the second episode of his Hollow Knight Let's Play series.

This is something that I want to do and with a gaming computer with bigger memory, a GPU and a CPU powerful enough. I am becoming a Let's Player like other gamers before me. I have finished the recording and the uploading process of my Let's Play series for Bug Fables. Now it's off to the publishing process. One of the videos is something interesting that you'll find out soon. My next series will be for Escape from Ever After as I have mentioned before. Beyond Escape from Ever After, there are more games to do my Let's Play series on, including LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, but the Steam version due to it having 50 GB of storage and not playing PS5 games stored on the hard drive.

But that's not all. Not only I am becoming a Let's Player like other gamers before me. I have talked about this in private, so it's time that to announce two things here. 

First off, I'll be streaming Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and 2XKO on the same livestream in the near future, hoping if I can grow my channel anytime soon. But I need to think of a title for streaming these two games. I'm also recording my Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and 2XKO commentary matches and putting them on my gaming channel. And with the Duo Finder and a duo voice chat, I'm gonna be streaming and recording duos in 2XKO because it is best played as a duo. They are more fun than solos and provide little to no selfishness. Not by a little bit, but by a landslide.

However, I will have to wait until one thing comes out. I'm not talking about nerfs to Teamfight or Senna's launch before Evo Las Vegas opens its doors since those who participated will earn a Pool Party Senna skin. But better yet, it's to fix the wonky VS screen glitch that occurs when the VS screen pops up twice and is accompanied by the background of the VS screen blocking health bars. I reported the glitch the moment I first experienced it via X and I hope we get a hotfix to remedy that.

And finally, I'm going to leave in June 10th to go to my old stomping grounds to attend to my aunt's 90th birthday on June 13th. I have finished packing my stuff. Do you know what is the funny thing about this? My mother wanted to go to see her grandchildren; my nephews and nieces. Well, simply put, it is a good thing, per se, but I don't want to go there just for that. I also want to go there to experience the charm in it like the cemetery, the woods and the street that is the very heart of a small town despite the fact that a charming Chinese restaurant like Fortune House is no longer there. Talking about it kind of makes me think of the red haired pirate of Bilgewater named Miss Fortune. Interesting.

The only thing about this is that the next 2XKO patch comes out June 9, which gives me one day to try Senna out before I leave. Fortunately, I got my PlayStation Portal Remote Player. With it, I can play any game I want on the go, so I'll be packing it and my computer. But there are two catches. The first is that I have to leave the PS5 on while I'm away since it doesn't play games independently. The second is that I will not be recording gameplay videos or livestreaming until June 17th when I go back home. But publishing Let's Play Bug Fables videos remains.

Now, if you're willing to become a Let's Player like others, you are more than welcome to do so because being a Let's Player is a productive thing to do. But you need a mic for commentary because without commentary, you can't make Let's Play videos. If you're interested in checking out and subscribing to my separate gaming channel, you can click the link below. The more subscribers, the better.

https://youtube.com/@knockdownjoegaming?si=pQq8aQ3Xnw8Mt-y0

What Could Bug Fables 2 Look Like?

What could Bug Fables 2 look like, and what new features that could be added? Let's jump right in.

It has been quite some time since I have talked about Bug Fables and I want to revisit it. But more of a hypothetical sequel, so today, I'm going to monologue what could Bug Fables 2 look like and what new features can be added to the sequel and things that need improvement. There's a lot to breakdown here. Now, before I begin, yes, I know, we already have a second game of the franchise being the Aphid Festival. But I'm talking about a full-fledged mainline sequel to the Everlasting Sapling.

First things first, from a technical aspect, I think it would be a natural and ideal form of progression to make the next Bug Fables in the same engine that Escape from Ever After. With the power of the same engine used in Escape from Ever After and because of the modern consoles that provide better technology, I think it can make the game overall look amazing.

And I like to make myself clear that Bug Fables 2 and its assets should be developed naturally and by hand, not through generative AI. The reason why I don't want any pig slop AI-generated content on my games is because they are the source of backlash and alienating fans. I kept track of the history of AI backlashes so far and I hadn't forgot about them. Do you remember what happened in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7? Nobody likes this game because of its AI-generated content. NTE faced backlash from Ironmouse due to having AI-generated assets. That caused them to distance themself from it until the AI-generated assets are removed. Expedition 33 was stripped from the Game of the Year award at the Indie Awards due to having AI-generated content to show that using generative AI is not an exclusive offense to AAA devs as indie devs do this as well.

Anyway, this is where we hit a bit of a roadblock, so here's the thing. Bug Fables was just darn near perfect. The battles are amazing. You learn new skills when progressing through the story and reaching certain levels. It has the whole Team Snakemouth trio in battle rather than having two characters in battle. It has NPCs that join the battle, like Maki. Everything is on point and we can see everything for the sequel. But there are some areas that need improvement and couple of new things to be added for a hypothetical Bug Fables 2 that I'll talk about now.

First off, the expanded party system. In Bug Fables 1, you only have the members of Team Snakemouth as the playable characters while NPCs like Maki can join you in some parts of the main story and can have Chompy as an optional companion and it can be accompanied by defeating the Mother Chomper to get the seed, get the Tardigrade Shield badge at the desert and delivering the seed to the elder bee at the Bee Kingdom.

But we can beef up the party system in Bug Fables 2. So, a fleshed out party system in Bug Fables 2 could work so that you can play as not only the members of Team Snakemouth consisting of Vi, Kabbu and Leif, but also others like Zasp, Mothiva, Maki, Kina, Acolyte Aria and even Yin, who is actually experienced after defeating the Wasp King, as well as a few others. They each have their own arsenal of abilities to use against enemies, the ones you see when fighting against them and they gain new abilities when reaching certain levels. This provides players the flexibility to choose the three characters to put in battle.

Here's the next thing for Bug Fables 2; Triple Strikes. The Super Mario RPG remake introduced powerful Triple Strikes and they very depending on the party. They come with a gauge that fills up when nailing the timing. I think Triple Strikes can work in Bug Fables 2 that it can come with a gauge and depend on the characters in battle. It fills up when nailing the timing. Nailing consecutive timings can increase the gauge faster. But blew the timing and the combo breaks and you would have to start all over again. The chain carries over between battles as long as you time your button presses correctly. For example, if you have Team Snakemouth in battle, they can execute a giant iceball move that is acquired from completing Leif's Request.

This brought me to my next point here. You would know that Bug Fables is inspired by the first two Paper Mario games that became the most popular and launched to critical acclaim. Guess what? We can leave the gameplay from the original game as is, but with new and innovative ideas that would polish and multiply what made Bug Fables so great in the first place.

Turn-based JRPGs became a blast to play. Some offer the order of when each character have a turn. We know that Bug Fables is a turn-based JRPG and we can keep the JRPG mechanics in Bug Fables 2 and add a turn window to display the turn order of characters and enemies and whose turn is it, like other turn-based JRPGs that have the turn order window. The turn order window in Bug Fables 2 would be beneficial enough to give battles some kick instead of having the party attack first before the enemies do.

Now, if you have been expecting the one issue in Bug Fables, which is incorrect button glyphs, that can obviously be fixed. The game not showing buttons of the Dualsense controller in game is due to the fact that Bug Fables actually came out before the PS5 does. Thankfully, Bug Fables 2 can fix the problem, by supporting Dualsense button glyphs.

Before I end this post, I want to say that Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling became near perfect. I was able to finally beat the game. The final boss given me a headache that the Everlasting King heals himself up two times. After three rounds, I have finally did it. And almost every aspect became suitable to my tastes. I recorded my gameplay videos and put them in my Bug Fables Let's Play series playlist. As a reward, I directly submitted my logo request to Broken Saw for the one that is capped from Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling. I deserve it for finally beating it.

Let me tell you this. There was a point in time when I was playing Earthlock, right? When I was playing Earthlock, I was struggling a bit on the final battle against Ichabo Locke. It became a connection to struggling a bit on the final battle against the Everlasting King. It's no coincidence to playing on the easiest difficulty in 007: Tomorrow Never Dies and Kingdom Hearts so that I wouldn't get a game over when I was a kid. Nevertheless, there is a silver-lining to all of this. 

If I had befriended Chompy and acquired the Tardigrade Shield medal in the first place, then maybe I wouldn't have no problem of defeating the Everlasting King at all because the Tardigrade Shield medal offers the Sturdy skill to an ally that equips it to raise an ally's defense by 3 and offer immunity to ailments for one turn and Chompy is proven quite useful. But now that I have beaten it, it's off to playing Escape from Ever After with the intention of starting my Escape from Ever After Let's Play series.

The thing is, if we want the sequel for the Bug Fables franchise to be meaningful, we need it to expand and polish what made Bug Fables 1 so amazing and perfect in the first place. But I think these unique and innovative ideas I have stated can overall greatly improve the Bug Fables experience in Bug Fables 2. If the sequel comes to fruition, I can make a Let's Play series for it.

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.

In 1992, a brand new company being Midway Games has stepped up to the fighting game genre to be the competition for Street Fighter. And that's when two adults decided to step up and create a fighting game. Enter Mortal Kombat, led by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Midway started development and did something different to distinguish from Street Fighter by putting digitized sprites and graphic violence and release it on arcades first.

Upon arcade release, things have been calm. It's like teenagers stepping up to the arcade joint to try out the game. The arcade release of the first Mortal Kombat became calm, until 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 due to digitized sprites and graphic violence. 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. Despite the criticism towards the toned-down violence, the original film was praised for a spot-on cast, faithful costume design, sharp fight scenes and choreography and unforgettabble soundtrack that is inseparable from the franchise. They scream "Mortal Kombat!" because of the film, not the game. Then the sequel to the film came to pick up right where the first film left off with the inclusion of Shao Kahn, which became terrible.

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, Midway has kept the 3D space from Mortal Kombat 4 with the introduction of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Deadly Alliance is the first game of the franchise that has new things never before seen in the previous entries like switching between styles, with one fighting style having a weapon, color coded coins needed to unlock content in the Krypt, breakers and interactive stage gimmicks.

Then Deception released in 2004 and introduced Hara-Kiris, which of course they are only performed by the losing player. And finally, Armageddon came out in 2008 to introduce the roster's everyone is here approach to have every character introduced in previous installments and the create your own Fatality mechanic. Ed Boon went ahead to help direct the three games within the sixth generation era that came out every two years for six years.

And as we move on to the 7th generation of gaming, Midway partnered up with Warner Bros. to develop Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. 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, the rage system 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 ranging from games to movies.

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 how third-party games were developed, 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 where 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. It left Universal to brand the IPs however they want. It resulted in both IPs to go third-party so that their games can release on not just the PS2, but also other platforms. 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 like how Elora would be the Sally Acorn of Spyro, which I know it sounds dumb. 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. 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.

While both of Naruto's games are legendary and have high caliber, Clash of Ninja is not a sister franchise to Ultimate Ninja. 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 when first aired on Cartoon Network, 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.

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. But there is one caveat to one of them.

Let's talk about specifically on Tak and the Power of Juju. It is one of the games that take place within the Pupanunu tribe. Remember what I said that there is a caveat to one of them? Well, the only caveat is the fact that Tak and the Power of Juju actually came out before the TV show with the same name premiered on Nickelodeon, so the money provided by Nickelodeon to license it for that deal went to THQ. Then a sequel came to be Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams. 

Tak 2 is a game that retains the charming environment and includes Flora and Fauna, the two goddesses, though Flora did appear in the first game and not in the TV show. While almost identical as that of the first game, animations are more fluid and can die often by falling off cliffs and chasms since there are no lives system. Here's the funny thing about this.

While you and a friend are playing a fighting game against each other, you are on the verge of losing and have to ragequit by turning off the internet constantly to make your friend angry and turn it back on. Ragequitting while playing an online fighting game with a friend comes with three strikes. Two strikes and it can make your friend mad. Three strikes, it's over. It's something that dying in Tak 2 would apply to. Do you know what's the funny thing about this? After ragequitting while losing, they lie about a storm interfereing with the internet to a friend when clearly, there was no storm.

Tak 2 was available on the PS2 catalog on the PS3, but was delisted after THQ filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the intention of selling their assets to several other companies right before we enter the PS4 and Xbox One generation.

And one of the licensed games being one of the well-liked games is the one that a lot of people want remastered, 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 arcade style sports games. 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.

Remember what I said that there is a caveat to one of the licensed games? Let's talk about specifically on Tak and the Power of Juju. It is one of the games that take place within the fictional Pupanunu tribe that draws inspiration from the Native American tribe and has a sense of having a charming environment and being a collect-a-thon like Spyro. The only caveat is the fact that while has the Nick Games logo, Tak and the Power of Juju actually came out before the TV show with the same name premiered on Nickelodeon, like how Donkey Kong Country came out before the TV show premiered. The money provided to license it for that deal went to THQ. Then a sequel came to be Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams.

Tak 2 is a game that retains the charming environment and includes Flora and Fauna, the two goddesses, though Flora did appear in the first game and not in the TV show. While almost identical as that of the first game, animations are more fluid and can die often by falling off cliffs and chasms since there are no lives system. Here's the funny thing about this.

While you and a friend are playing a fighting game against each other, you are on the verge of losing and have to ragequit by turning off the internet constantly to make your friend angry and turn it back on. Ragequitting while playing an online fighting game with a friend comes with three strikes. Two strikes and it can make your friend mad. Three strikes, it's over. It's something that dying in Tak 2 would apply to. Do you know what's the funny thing about this? After ragequitting while losing, they lie about a storm interfereing with the internet to a friend when clearly, there was no storm.

Tak 2 was available on the PS2 catalog on the PS3, but was delisted right after THQ filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the intention of selling their assets to several other companies right before we enter the PS4 and Xbox One generation.

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.

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.

Remember what I said that Tak 2 had to be delisted from the PS3's PS2 library because of THQ filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy? Well, since we have PlayStation Plus offering PS2 games, Tak 2 might have more of a chance to launch on PlayStation Plus since we have WALL-E, a Disney game published by THQ. And not just on PlayStation Plus, but on the GameCube catalog also and one day work on the modern Xbox consoles.

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. They also include the ones my cousins and I played back at my old stomping grounds. 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. I can even play my childhood games on my PlayStation Portal Remote Player, but PlayStation Plus Premium is required for them if I want to play my cherished games from my childhood on the go.

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 are compiling retro fighters in one collection to have modern features. I have the link to the post that talks about the companies' plan to port fighting games into modern consoles and its 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 I don't think the Senna trailer is gonna roll at the Summer Game Fest.

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 9, 2026 - Senna's launch
July 2026 - Mid-Season 2 Patch
August 2026 - Character 4's launch
---
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 predictions 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 are still in play. If you're interested in reading the article about everything coming to 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, Persona 5 and Lost Odyssey. However, if you're a fan of turn-based RPGs, 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. 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 turn-based PS2 JRPGs is the concept of turn-based combat with a musical twist and team attacks. See, the PS2 is the sweet spot for JRPGs since Japanese companies were able to make their RPGs on the PS2 without losing money. That's how Grandia Xtreme and Ar Tonelico came out well on the system.

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 content 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 Warner Bros. to acquire all of their assets, including 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 and I'm submitting both versions.

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 Character 4 having the NEW! label? 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 and updating the roadmap to reveal the rest of the things and characters 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 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 mission 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 right off the bat and for the whole match
-Break and Ultimates remain enabled
-Super gauge buildup 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 at least one bar of super gauge
-Makes the point and assist characters on screen for a brief time varying by the bars of meter
-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 depending on the bars of their super gauge they spent 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 and the roadmap will be updated, so expect a follow-up to this post. 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 teammates, 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 for a brief duration that gets longer depending on how many bars of super both teammates have, 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 or list them them all, so here they are.

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

Yasuo and Akali = Twilight of the Tempest - Akali shrouds the opponent with Twilight Shroud, then Yasuo creates a tornado, combining into a shadow-imbued tornado against the opponent.

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

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

Vi and Jinx = Sistership

Darius and Yasuo = Hemorhagging Wind

Ahri and Ekko = 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 = Foxfire Tempest - Ahri channels her foxfire on Yasuo's wind, then Yasuo flings the foxfire-imbued tornado at the opponent.

These are the examples of duos and their Duo Ultimates. Having these following duos provides unique Teamfight Ultimates as having two characters that don't have dialogues between them in a duo may have generic Teamfight Ultimates in their arsenal, but the Teamfight Fuse is required for them. Maybe the new Fuse can actually be the Teamfight Fuse instead of the Fever Fuse. 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.