I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Capcom’s Street Fighter x Tekken, not only because I wanted to make sure to test out the online play and the additional PS3-exclusive fighters (y’know, “fat” Mega Man” and Cole McGrath from Infamous), but also because it’s not just another typical crossover fighter.  Yes, it combines characters from both Capcom and Namco’s respective fighting universes, but its controls are set up a little differently, rather than relying on the mechanics that worked so well in the Marvel vs. Capcom games.  That’s not a complaint by any means.  In fact, I can’t think of a hardcore fighting fan that wouldn’t dig into this thing like a treasure chest.  Casual fans, too.

Namco Bandai Games America has released a free update for SoulCalibur V on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The title update contains new online ranked game search optimization, gameplay tweaks, character balance adjustments for the entire roster based on player feedback. This updated version will be used in the SoulCalibur V Worldwide Finals taking place on April 10, 2012 at the Cosmopolitan hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

The Tekken series has been brawling for years now, but over the last few months, Namco Bandai has really been pushing the series hardcore.  Last year’s Tekken Hybrid turned out to be a cool little collection of stuff, including Tekken Tag Tournament HD and a demo for Tekken Tag Tournament 2; and this past week’s release of Street Fighter x Tekken has gone over moderately well with the hardcore crowd.  But let’s not forget the portable front, where Tekken 3D Prime Edition has left a little dent as well.

Once upon a time, fighting game giants refused to work with one another, instead competing for attention in the arcades with their own individual products.  But then someone got the crazy notion, “Hey, we should team up our franchises and see what comes up.”  And thus, crossovers was born.  Many companies have done it, including Capcom and SNK with their Capcom vs. SNK games, respectively, and soon Street Fighter x Tekken will be knocking around the streets, set for a release tomorrow.  But are you possibly ready for…Sega versus Tecmo?

Though it would’ve been nice to see a new Guilty Gear game by now, I’m rather overcome by the amount of effort Arc System Works has put into its latest fighting series, BlazBlue.  Sure, there have only been two really complete games to the series, but both of them come with the kind of presentation that resembles an anime being brought to life in a video game, and controls that a true fighting fanatic can certainly appreciate.  To help build the series even further, Arc, along with Aksys Games, has opted to release a portable version of its fighting phenomenon with BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend.

SAN FRANCISCO – Kyle “Kungbu” Kingsbury has celebrated success on the gridiron and in the Octagon. The MMA fighter was a defensive lineman on the 2005 Sun Bowl Champion Arizona State University football team. Kingsbury went from football to “The Ultimate Fighter” TV show, which led to a career in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Kingsbury was in San Francisco to check out THQ’s new UFC Undisputed 3 game. He talks about his own gaming background in this exclusive video interview.

SAN FRANCISCO -- MMA fighter Danny Castillo has game outside of the Octagon. The lightweight UFC fighter was able to check out UFC Undisputed 3 early in San Francisco, just down the road from his training headquarters in Sacramento where he trains with Urijah Faberat. Castillo talks about the new game in this exclusive video interview below.