osu!weekly #42

I could barely catch a break with how action packed this week was. A certain legendary player has made osu! history again, and the resulting tremors shook the entire world! Additionally, community polls are making a return. I couldn't possibly fit everything in this opening paragraph, so you will just have to read on to find out more!

There's a new community poll to kick-start 2016! The osu! community is now bigger than ever before. In the past, people were drawn to the secrets of circle clicking through word of mouth and peeking over a friend's shoulder. Today, many prominent figures and sources helped grow the community into what it is now. How did you hear about the game? Let us know in the thread!

There is no need for introductions. If I were to write a whole article on just how many noteworthy accomplishments Cookiezi has achieved since he joined the game, I would surely run my digital ink dry. Thus, we have but the most recent today. Blue Zenith [Four Dimensions] has a new top score: a Hard Rock play with an unbelievable accuracy of 99.71%! This completely shatters the previous top performance of osu! standard, and marks the first time any single play surpassed the 700pp mark.

The osu!mania 7K World Cup live drawings have concluded! There are a lot of interesting participants this year, including Staiain, a primarily 4K player known for his amazing strength and stamina (who also happens to be live at AGDQ soon!). Also appearing is Vygatron, a player known for his plays using the flashlight mod. We have interviews and special features already lined up for everyone, so don't forget to follow the announcements for juicy details!

2015 was definitely a year to remember. Commemorate it with a special 2016 wallpaper, gracefully contributed by Jlastino! The beautifully crafted typography features an abundant assortment of names from the osu! community of 2015. Did you make the list? I barely did! Try to find your name amongst the others! Last year's wallpaper is also available here.

Do you like big numbers? Of course you do! Our friend Rey has created a neat application that displays interesting statistics from the various community channels in the game. In addition, he is uploading logs from the channels and ordering them by date. Did you miss something important that you want to check out? Now you can!

I'm a big fan of niconico covers. Whether it's the beautiful and composed Yuiko, the exceedingly powerful Hanatan, or the ear-piercingly cute Nanahira, Utaites add their own wonderful twists on existing songs and give them a life of their own. It seems that Stefan shared this sentiment with me, and has released the first ever Utaite Beatmap Pack!

Today, I want to give a spotlight on a lot of the smaller tournaments being run in the community. I have received countless emails from people who want different tournaments featured in the weekly, and these are just some of the ones that are being run right now!

• SOFT (Springtime osu!mania FFA Tournament) - As the name suggests, this is an open free-for-all tournament. The game mode being played is 4K osu!mania, and is being run by some very experienced members of the mania community. Anyone can register, so check it out!
• The USA Taiko Tournament - This was mentioned in the last weekly, but winners finals are happening today! Be sure to check it out!
• The osu! United States Cup - This tournament is based on the interesting idea that teams of players are formed based on their home state! Registration is still going on, so hop on over if you want to join!

It looks like Flyte is finally back! His exciting updates on the state of the design of osu!next has been sorely missed. It seems that he has also dropped a hint that there might be some exciting things coming to the osu! store soon, so stay tuned!

It looks like we've reached the end of another edition of the osu! weekly! A lot of exciting things are happening this month, as we begin our coverage of the osu!mania 7K World Cup soon. We have tons of interviews and special features planned for the tournament season, so be sure not to miss a week with us! Please send any suggestions for what you would like to see in future issues of the weekly to news@ppy.sh. In addition, please be sure to stick around for the results of the first monthly community poll, happening at the end of the month!

—Nyquill