Zangief wrestles his way into Street Fighter V

The Red Cyclone will return in the next installment of Capcom’s bestselling beat ’em up series. Zangief was revealed in the latest trailer for Street Fighter V, set for release in the first quarter of 2016 for the PlayStation 4 and PC platforms. The video debuted at Russian gaming expo Igomir, according to the official PlayStation blog. The Russian bear wrestler has added some flair to his signature moves and introduced some new ones to boot, and in this teaser, the villainous M. Bison takes those big-booted kicks to the face. He is also subjected to suplexes, back breakers, body slams, and spinning piledrivers. You can’t argue with the classics, right? Street Fighter V introduces a new fighting mechanic in the form of the V-Gauge, similar to the Focus Attack from the previous installment. The gauge fills up as a character takes damage or performs moves known as V-Skills. Zangief’s Iron Muscle V-Skill allows him to absorb an attack and grab an opponent if they are within range. When his gauge is full, Zangief can break out his V-Trigger attack, the Cyclone Lariat. This is a powerful spinning attack that pulls in an opponent and strikes them multiple times. Critical Arts are part of a new feature similar to Super Moves from previous Street Fighter games. Zangief’s CA employs the use of a chain of suplexes, which can knock out his opponent. And here’s something we haven’t seen before: Zangief headbutting a projectile. While this marks Zangief’s official return to the series, there have been subtle hints leading up to it. Sharp-eyed fans spotted him when Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono tweeted a photo of SF mainstay Blanka hanging out by Zangief’s belt. Shortly after Zangief’s debut, Japanese video game publication Famitsu leaked photos of a new character named Laura (via Eventhubs). This Brazilian brawler’s style combines jiu-jitsu and electricty. With this latest addition, there are two characters left to reveal.
Vampire-themed online survival game V Rising is finally hitting consoles. Developer Stunlock Studios announced that the game will release June 11 on the PlayStation 5. In a new trailer released Monday, the studio also revealed that players who preorder the game on PS5 will get early access five days ahead of time. The base game will cost $40 (or $36 with a PlayStation Plus subscription). Players can also grab the Legacy of Castlevania edition for $60, which comes with a number of Castlevania-themed cosmetics. It didn’t take long for last year’s excellent Street Fighter 6 to take the fighting game world by storm. Capcom’s critically praised fighting game didn’t just revitalize the Street Fighter series, but reignited interest in the fighting genre as a whole. Capcom then focused on growing the competitive side of Street Fighter 6  by hosting a new entry of its tournament circuit, Capcom Cup, with a first-place prize of $1 million. That historic prize pool was enough to awaken a fighting game community that was hungry to land a win. While many big names battled, the ultimate winner was a bit of a surprise. The million-dollar prize went to an unsponsored face that you might not recognize: Wang “UMA” Yuan-hao.