I was talking to a friend about it and he said that its in console, but it whiffs on smaller people. I swear though, when I first got the game, I couldn't do it on ANYBODY who was crouching and now I can. So weird.
Guess it's not a change after all. ;-;
EDIT: Okay, so far I've tested the male cast and some of the female cast and it's a pretty interesting trend.
Ash, Saiki, Kula, Athena Leona, and most other females can cleanly duck it. Exceptions are: Vice, Mature, and Elizabeth (Too manly)
Characters like K', Maxima, Ralf, Goro, and most of the men can't.