Capcom's Seth Killian was kind enough to introduce me to Street Fighter X Tekken's notably unkind new "Pandora Mode," a desperation move that can only be activated when a character has less than 25% health, kills that character, and gives that person's tag partner an infinite EX meter -- for about eight seconds, after which that character is also killed.

"They basically sacrifice themselves to the pandora box, which loves fighting, and which has brought the Tekken and Street Fighter universes together," Killian explained, offering a narrative reasoning for this new element. He then distinguished this from Marvel vs. Capcom 3's "X Factor" and other desperation moves. "There's really no disadvantage to them," he noted. "You get them for being beaten up, but there's no disadvantage. This has a massive disadvantage."

It might be good for a comeback -- but it's not going to turn the tide of a one-sided battle, because you have only eight seconds to make your desperate salvo.