And today, we got official confirmation that was the case. “Development stopped but we got about 30 percent done,” Harada said in the latest episode of Harada’s Bar, his video talk show. “We even had motions, which you can see reflected in Akuma.”

“We were working really hard on that, we really were,” Harada added. “Wish we could show you the models and stuff. We had really nice models. I really wanted to show them Chun-Li. I wanted to show you guys all the characters. We were pretty confident.”Harada also said that while he would like to have shown off the models and concept art the team had, it can’t happen without Capcom’s permission.

This isn’t a huge surprise. Harada had previously said that making Tekken X Street Fighter was harder to justify given the success of Tekken 7. “Traditionally, the life cycle of a fighting game is very short – maybe one or two years and then you make a sequel. But Tekken 7 is very successful as a service game with its DLC. That makes it much harder to justify releasing another game, while Tekken 7 is still doing so well.”

It’s a shame that the game will never release, as several people told Harada they were still excited for it when he asked about the game in a Twitter poll in 2019. Officially canceling the game, however, does let fighting game fans move on. Now if we could only get Rockstar to admit that Agent is officially canceled.

Let me be honest. What percentage of you are really waiting for "TEKKEN x Street Fighter"?

(My marketing view is that TK7 and SFV are selling very well, so there is no opportunity to drop TK x SF on the market).

— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) December 13, 2019

Destiny – The Dark Below

Four story missions, each taking place in the base game’s levels (except backwards). Two strikes, one being exclusive to PlayStation players for a year. A short and buggy raid that was best completed by pulling the LAN cable from one’s router. Destiny was quite the meme when it first launched and there was no bigger meme than The Dark Below, which cost a whopping $20 standalone. Have fun completing the content in a week or two and then waiting five months for more!

It was all the way back in 2010 when the ambitious Street Fighter and Tekken crossover titles were announced. On paper, it seemed like a brilliant idea. Capcom would do a crossover with characters from the two franchises in their Street Fighter influenced style, then Bandai Namco would do one in their Tekken-inspired style. In execution, however, something went wrong.

Only the first part of that idea ever came out with Street Fight x Tekken, and it released in 2012 to mixed reviews (due to not being what people expected and the in-game gem system that many found confusing and an unneeded bog on gameplay) and disappointing sales. Since then, the Bandai Namco part of the crossover has faded into memory, with many assuming it’ll never happen. But Tekken lead designer Katsuhiro Harada still has it on his mind.

In an interview with VGC, Harada mulled on his thoughts of the game. In 2016, the game was said to be “on hold”, with no updates since then. He said the project actually did reach about 30% completion, but the success of Tekken 7, coupled with the drastically changed gaming landscape of today – particularly with the games as a service model – makes him cautious of going into it again.

“Yes, I am emotionally up for it,” he said. “I still want to release the game. However, as much as I want to proceed with the project, things have changed a lot since 2012. So I need to get approval and I need to speak to Capcom again as well — they may say ‘no’ now.

“Traditionally, the life cycle of a fighting game is very short – maybe one or two years and then you make a sequel. But Tekken 7 is very successful as a service game with its DLC. That makes it much harder to justify releasing another game, while Tekken 7 is still doing so well.”

I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Tekken X Street Fighter, but you never know. A lot of once-thought-dead or unlikely projects have ended up coming to fruition in the past. Think of Duke Nukem Forever, The Last Guardian, or the sequel to Beyond Good and Evil. Who knows- in the end, Harada might get to play with the Street Fighter cast after all.

Do you remember Street Fighter X Tekken? The crossover fighter between the two major Japanese fighting game franchises was announced right alongside Tekken X Street Fighter. Where Street Fighter X Tekken was going to be headed by Capcom, and translate both series’ gameplay into the Street Fighter style, Tekken X Street Fighter would be put out by Namco, and translate the gameplay into the Tekken style.

Street Fighter X Tekken came out as planned, and ended up being a controversial title due to its use of microtransactions, underperforming as a result. However, Tekken X Street Fighter never did come out. In the period since, we have had Katsuhiro Harada, the producer of Tekken, and the man who was supposed to be leading work on Tekken X Street Fighter, work on Tekken 7 and Pokken Tournament, but there has been no sign of Tekken X Street Fighter. Last we heard, the game was on hold, though we had also been told that the development could eventually resume.

And that’s what might have happened. Speaking at a year-end drinking party in Japan, Harada said (courtesy of OU Gaming) that development on the game is 30% done, which seems to suggest that it has resumed active work—either that, or it was at 30% back when development was suspended, and he’s just messing around with everyone.

Hopefully, Tekken X Street Fighter does come out, and ends up being better than its counterpart when it does. Though at this point, given the flux it is in, it is hard to tell exactly what systems the game will release for, if/when it does.

Knuckles – Sonic Boom

Take Knuckles, Sonic’s nemesis and beloved cool guy of gaming. What if Sega made him into an over-buff (but skinny-legged) muscle brain? For as annoying as Sonic’s rework was in Sonic Boom, Knuckles was way more baffling. Even worse is that his character is little more than a “dumb jock,” with oddly intellectual viewpoints in the animated series because it’s randomly funny or something.

Sony has released a new preview trailer for February’s PlayStation Plus offerings. We already know about Outlast being offered for free on the PlayStation 4 but what can PS3 and PS Vita users look forward?

PlayStation 3 users will receive Metro: Last Light, Remember Me and PayDay 2 for free. Metro: Last Light is the highlight, especially since it was one of the two best single player first person shooters of last year. PayDay 2 meanwhile is one of the best coop and multiplayer titles of all time, as you and 3 other friends work together to complete various heists. Remember Me is the odd one out but for a free game, it’s still a fun third person action adventure, beat ’em up.

Vita users can look forward to Street Fighter X Tekken and Modnation Racers: Road Trip, which both allow for cross platform functionality with their PS3 versions. While in the former you can challenge PS3 players, the latter allows you to use your PS3 creations on the go with the Vita version.

Which game are you most excited for? Let us know below.

Said games include Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 3 for Xbox 360 and PS3 at Rs. 1999; Capcom’s Street Fighter X Tekken for PS3 and Xbox 360 at Rs. 999; and Guerrilla Games’ Killzone Trilogy for PS3, for just Rs. 2099.

PC gamers can also take advantage of deals on vintage classics like Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, Battlefield 2 Complete Collection (which actually packages four titles in the series), Rockstar Games’ open world opus Grand Theft Auto 4, Hitman Blood Money, Tomb Raider Anniversary and Tropico Collector’s Edition – each available for just Rs. 299.

Check out Game4U’s site for more information on discounts. Also, stay tuned for more such offers from the retail outlet, as it also offers several games for pre-purchase at discounted prices on its online store.

Street Fighter X Tekken is exactly the same as its console brethren minus a few graphical effects, and looks stunning on the Vita. When a game that hardly has any effort put in manages to look good by default how amazing it must be if the developers actually did something about it from the bottom of their hearts. I’m not saying the effort is missing from this game, but there could have been some Vita specific features to make it more handheld like rather than just cramming in more touch-based functions.

However, there are quite a bit of modes exclusive for the Vita which utilize its touch features, but in a way it seems minimal effort has been put in into polishing it. The game is fantastic on the Vita though, with terrific visuals that really lights up the OLED screen at night. Everything works smoothly to the controls to how your characters respond on screen. Yes, there is hardly any input lag here.

The Playstation version of the game contains a bunch of exclusive characters like Pac Man and the likes which was announced at E3 last year, and they will be available in the Vita version as well. The controls being smooth is a massive plus, because it really reduces annoyance and makes it enjoyable to play.

There is an enjoyable tutorial mode as well, which is quite in-depth and guides you through various combos ranging from basic to complex. If you’re new to fighting games you will easily get the hang of it as it is a two-versus-two fighting game and it is easy to switch between characters and even maintain combo.

There are almost 55 fighters if you count the additional DLC ones and plenty of well created stages that makes it a joy to fight in. They’re varied too. The main advantage the Vita version offers is console quality on the go and that definitely applies to this game.

The game is so identical to its PS3 version that you can even play the PS3 gamers on PSN and still have an enjoyable experience. The netcode which has been a major problem in the console versions is quite good here on the Vita version, and don’t ask me how that happened, because that’s just how it works. I guess the lack of traffic can contribute to that but the netcode is quite good.

Scramble mode online contains the ability to play against 4 players, while the Endless mode allows you to keep continuing the fight if you win. There’s also something called the Replay channel mode which allows you to view battles over PSN and even your own battles. It’s kind of like the Theatre mode of Halo games but much more advanced. You can even customize your characters using the touch feature of the screen.

The cross-compatibility is such a great feature as it enhances the online quite a bit by providing a much larger player pool to choose from. The experience isn’t skewed either. While I would have loved some handheld specific modes, there is enough content here to justify a purchase for any fighting game fan. For players new to the genre, the game is quite accessible as well, so overall Street Fighter X Tekken is one of the best games on the system.

This game was reviewed on the PS Vita.

Speaking to Siliconera, producer Tomoaki Ayano stated, “What we really wanted to do was to keep the frame rate at 60 FPS because we wanted this to be an authentic fighting game experience. Having a 60 FPS rate was something we really wanted to aim for and we achieved with Street Fighter X Tekken for Vita. That was one of the most important things for us. We tried to keep that as the main focus and then we tried to put in other graphic effects.”

Concerning whether features like customisable touch panel controls, which makes the game easier for beginners, would skew odds in the favour of Vita gamers, Ayano replied, “No, I don’t really think Vita users will be too over powering. I’m an old school guy. I use an arcade stick and I feel to play a fighting game at its highest level having that huge stick in your hands and the range of motion that an arcade stick allows is what allows you to be the best player at this kind of game. With Street Fighter X Tekken for Vita, the Vita does have touch panel buttons, but a player using a real arcade stick on a console will come out on top.”

The game is already released worldwide for PS Vita – pick it up now and judge for yourself.

So what can you expect? Cross Play, which allows you to play against opponents gaming on the PS3, along with the special Cross Controller, wherein you customise onscreen buttons for mimicking multiple button presses. Hilariously, there’s also a Casual Style being advertised. Replay Exchange lets you trade replay videos while we get to see Pandora Mode for each fighter in action.