Advertise on podcast: Neutral Game

When's Marvel? Right now. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 hit the FGC like a bombshell years ago, and despite some misgivings about its development time, the Ultimate revision is the one of record. In the world of tag fighters, there is none more prestigious, chaotic, and celebrated. But fifteen years after its launch, with no big patches in well over a decade and no new characters added since Ultimate, the game's meta is starting to feel a bit stale to some, including Kyrie and Six. The idea of adding new characters through mods is not a new one- but the game is such a tangle of spaghetti code that such a thing is easier said than done. Four years ago, a modder figured out how to trick the game into loading new data, and created "Wack-Bot." A janky but fun mod that swapped Sentinel for a ridiculous custom version. It would be a while before modders figured out how to make more sophisticated characters. Then they learned how to add them as new slots, not just replacements. Then they learned how to add new animations to the game. Today, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Community Edition boasts a staggering 75 new characters across both Marvel and Capcom, with pulls you'd never guess. It's got its own title screen, it's got a great soundtrack. And it's got us hooked. NexusMod page for UMvC3:CE: https://www.nexusmods.com/ultimatemarvelvscapcom3/mods/286 SuperCombo page with movelists, frame data, and more: https://wiki.supercombo.gg/w/UMVC3:CE Our artwork for the show is drawn by @WistWhistley! Our opening is Scene38 強者の足音, and our ending is Battle6 さあ、戦いを楽しもう!!, both royalty-free offerings from the wonderful Kazuki Kaneko. You can find both our cohosts on Bluesky- Six is @six.scanlinemedia.com and Kyrie is @kyrie.scanlinemedia.com. The Scanline Media Discord can be found here!

How do you turn this show on again? Oh, like that. Ok. Hello, friends and folks! Welcome back to Neutral Game, your newbie friendly fighting game podcast! 2025 was a year where we were both super busy and there wasn't a lot of fighting game stuff we wanted to talk about, but 2026 will be different, starting now. Kyrie and I are gonna be heading to Combo Breaker this year- our second time attending. Between that, playing in locals and online tournaments, and Kyrie's decades of convention experience, we're here to give you advice as to how to have the best possible time at a major tournament: the prep work to do, the things to do on site, and the mindset that will help you get the most out of the experience. Our artwork for the show is drawn by @WistWhistley! Our opening is Scene38 強者の足音, and our ending is Battle6 さあ、戦いを楽しもう!!, both royalty-free offerings from the wonderful Kazuki Kaneko. You can find both our cohosts on Bluesky- Six is @six.scanlinemedia.com and Kyrie is @kyrie.scanlinemedia.com. The Scanline Media Discord can be found here!

Well, it's a bit overdue, but let's talk about Tekken, shall we? The King of Iron Fist has returned, and our hosts have taken a while to sort out their feelings. Clearly, it's a well made game that does some impressive and admirable things. But it also engenders a weird sort of animosity in us? We finally sat down and decided to figure the whole thing out. Our artwork for the show is drawn by @WistWhistley! You can find both our cohosts on Bluesky- Six is @sixdettmar.bsky.social and Kyrie is @kyriepage.bsky.social. The Scanline Media Discord can be found here!

Six and Kyrie are more than ready to Rock the Dragon with the newest fighting game in the Dragon Ball series! But, while Dragon Ball FighterZ was a tag fighter in the style of Marvel vs. Capcom, and thus very familiar, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is an ~arena~ fighter. You know, that genre that people scorn as being casual, fanservice only, broken and unbalanced, only fun for spectacle not to play... a lot of scorn from the FGC (fighting game community) in general. Is it deserved? Is this arena fighter worth taking seriously? While we're on the subject, is it worth taking not seriously? Or should one simply... not take it? Our artwork for the show is drawn by @WistWhistley! The Scanline Media Discord can be found here!

Today in Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, 2B was released as the latest DLC character! Don't expect thoughts on her in this episode recorded last Thursday, but we have plenty of other thoughts about the cast of GBVSR, the modes and tutorials, the missteps, and the future of the game. Our artwork for the show is drawn by @WistWhistley! You can find both our cohosts on Cohost- Six is @sixdettmar and Kyrie is @KyriePage.

The original Granblue Fantasy Versus, high-budget fighting game adaptation of the popular gacha game Granblue Fantasy was... imperfect, to phrase it kindly. Netcode, balance, systems, there were some shortcomings that could use addressing. Unfortunately, the game hit at the worst possible time, and its life was squashed out of it- not given a chance to grow and realize its potential. I for one mourned the loss. Fast forward to 2023, and a successor is announced- the Super Street Fighter to GBVS's Street Fighter. With the number of things that could use changing, does Rising fix this fighter? Or do its changes move us further away from the goal, instead of closer? Let's find out, together. Our artwork for the show is drawn by @WistWhistley! You can find both our cohosts on Cohost- Six is @sixdettmar and Kyrie is @KyriePage.

Our Street Fighter 6 breakdown continues with discussions of the other half of the roster, modes, tutorials and training, handicap settings, World Tour discussion, and more. Plus, what's this about Rashid being legal at Evo despite how soon after his release that tournament will be? All this and more as we conclude our thoughts on SF6... for now! Our intro music is Ken's Theme, and our outro music is Marisa's Theme, both from Street Fighter 6. You can find both our cohosts on Cohost- Six is @sixdettmar and Kyrie is @KyriePage.

Neutral Game is back with a new cohost to cover a 2023 hit! Street Fighter 6 has been eating up a lot of time over at Scanline Media, as many normal hang sessions quickly become SF6 lobbies. Where does this new game fit in the legacy of Street Fighter, how is it a response to the lessons of 4 and 5, and what makes it just so electric? These questions and more answered in the first of our two part coverage of Street Fighter 6! Our intro music is Ryu's Theme, and our outro music is Juri's Theme, both from Street Fighter 6. You can find both our cohosts on Cohost- Six is @sixdettmar and Kyrie is @KyriePage.

The power of a rollback netcode update has revived an old favorite! Six and Miodrag bonded in early days over BlazBlue, and yet somehow have never done an episode on a main series entry- only the Cross Tag Battle spinoff. How does it fair when approached with a 2022 mindset, and does this new netcode do the job? Our intro and outro music is Boss 06 from Demon Souls, a Japanese royalty free music site. Don’t forget to check out Six and Miodrag on Twitter at @sixdettmar and @mdkii respectively!

For this special episode, Six is joined by fellow Scanline Media staffer Kyrie to talk about the DNF Duel beta! The first 8ing fighting game in a long time has Kyrie buzzing with excitement, and Six a little anxious though enjoying it. Let's talk new systems, new characters, new stuff! Miodrag will be back on the next episode, this is just a side thing we decided to put up on this feed! Don't forget to check out Six and Kyrie on Twitter at @sixdettmar and @KyrieAPage respectively!

Conventions deserve to be challenged in every medium, that's how we truly explore the form. It's in that spirit we are checking out Touhou 12.3 Hisoutensoku, the expansion to Touhou 10.5 Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. As you might guess, it's a Touhou fighting game. It's not the first, and it's not the last. And if the others are anything like this, they're worth checking out. Let's question our fighting game assumptions together. Don't forget to check out Six and Miodrag on Twitter at @sixdettmar and @mdkii respectively!

This is an extension of our coverage of the beta, which you can find here or on the RSS as episode 42! Strive has now been out for almost a month, and met with great sales success. But how does the game hold up for our two genre fan hosts? Unusually, the podcast is split: Miodrag is pretty onboard, and Six is quite skeptical. Don't forget to check out Six and Miodrag on Twitter at @sixdettmar and @mdkii respectively!

To pursue the way of fighting games is to pursue mastery. You aim to be stronger, faster, smarter, all in pursuit of the win. And thus, most fighting game education is around teaching you to win, making you more likely to win. But the reality that folks don't want to talk about is no matter how good you are, you're going to be doing a LOT of losing. So let's talk about how to lose: with dignity, with grace, and to grow stronger from your defeats. Don't forget to check out Six and Miodrag on Twitter at @sixdettmar and @mdkii respectively! A big thank you to Kayin for joining us on this ep, you can find them on Twitter at @KayinNasaki.

NOTE: This podcast was recorded before the announcement of Guilty Gear Strive's delay. The year's most anticipated fighting game briefly opened its doors and let us inside! Miodrag is a longtime Guilty Gear fan, whereas Six runs more hot and cold on the series. This beta of the newest entry offers a LOT to love, but some structural choices that don't quite come tog Don't forget to check out Six and Miodrag on Twitter at @sixdettmar and @mdkii respectively!

Another year has come and gone, and so has another Deckcember! Miodrag spent another month streaming tons of fighting games, and is here to report about a bunch of classic and forgotten fighters, as well as the current state of Fightcade 2's multiplayer services. Don't forget to check out Six and Miodrag on Twitter at @sixdettmar and @mdkii respectively!