Street Fighter IV System trailer

With E3 occuring this week in Los Angeles, new media from Street Fighter IV has been popping up across the internet. The video I've embedded below comes courtesy of Game videos and while it doesn't showcase anything new, it does at least provide a few seconds of footage for each of the characters in the game. Unfortunately the soundtrack also isn't as inherently cool as the Faith No More Street Fighter IV trailer, but you can't win them all...

Street Fighter IV Guide

Event Hubs, the group responsible for the great Street Fighter III Third Strike guide, has opened their initial strategy pages for Street Fighter IV. Currently the moves lists as well as basic game details have already been updated for the known cast of characters. I'm hoping that as time goes on, the Street Fighter IV guide becomes as all encompassing and visually impressive as the Street Fighter III guide is now. The use of videos in order to demonstrate specific examples really works well, especially with some of the more difficult techniques for new players to master.

Street Fighter IV is being released to arcades this week with the official launch scheduled for the 18th (all stats and data stored before then will be cleared on the day of the launch). Though some early reports are stating that some locations already have the final version of the game, I'm still looking for verification that this is accurate and not just testing versions pulled out prior to the game's release (since the last few test locations were able to keep the machines from my understanding).

Street Fighter IV will be here in the US at E3, ComicCon, and EVO. There's still no word on whether or not it's going to be offered through any sort of official arcade distribution channels however, so these may be some of the only chances US players will have to get their hands on the game prior to the consumer release later this year.

Street Fighter 4 Strategy Guide -- Moves, Hints and Tips

Hey look, it's Akuma! ...And Gouken? (Street Fighter IV)

Despite being released later this month, another location test for Street Fighter IV was planned for this weekend, July 4th - July 6th in Nagoya. Because of this, I've been watching for updates as they may pop up on the official Street Fighter IV website and other Capcom fansites and was happy to find this morning that a new animated video has been posted by Capcom. The latest video (found here), is part of their animated feature that showcases the characters in Street Fighter IV in a series of promotional videos. The latest video shows off Ryu, Akuma, Ken, and for a brief moment, Gouken. Considering the hints that Capcom has been leaving that Gouken may be playable, it should be interesting to see if anything new pops up at the location test this weekend (or maybe left as a surprise for the game's official release?).

Street Fighter IV's alternative looks

Famitsu posted a short article today on the NESYS card system featured in Street Fighter IV. While it has been known for a while now that Street Fighter IV would be featuring stat tracking and alternative colors, the Famitsu article also showcases the first look at one of the new 'alternative costumes' that can be purchased via the mobile zeny shop with the currency awarded for fighting. For more information on some of the other items that will be available through the mobile shop, including ring tones and wallpaper, I recommend checking out the Street Fighter IV mobile site here.

Outside of the Chun Li costume, Famitsu's print magazine had a blurry image of Blanka's alternative costume. It's a bit hard to make out any details of it, so I'm waiting for a cleaner shot before I post it. Hopefully the Famitsu site will be updated with that as well in the next few days (if I haven't already missed it)...

Even though I do like the look of Chun Li, I can't help but think that the costume looks a little too familiar...


Mai - is that you?

Battle of Destiny: Road to Evo hosting 2 Street Fighter IV cabinets in London

Neo Empire has teamed up with Capcom in order to offer UK gamers one of the first opportunities to get some hands on time with the final build of Street Fighter IV at the tournament promoter's Battle of Destiny event in London on July 26th and 27th. Featured at the event will be two linked arcade cabinets set on free play for heads up gaming. Perhaps with enough demand, this can be used as a signal to Capcom to just how desireable a Street Fighter IV arcade cabinet could be outside of the Japanese market...

The latest playable build of Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix will also be shown off at the event (running on an Xbox 360). No word yet on just how much more progress the game has made since last being seen, but presumably more than just the Shotos and Dee Jay should be available for play (I would think).


Being hyped as a prelude to EVO 2K8 (which is being held in August), Battle of Destiny has players vying for both a plane ticket and paid entry into the EVO tournament series. Slots are being held for Capcom vs. SNK 2, Street Fighter 3 Third Strike, Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection, and Hyper Street Fighter 2 Anniversary Edition. For more information on the event, check out the official Battle of Destiny website.

Stealthy pictures of Street Fighter IV's movelists

Frankie over at Hobby Media was able to sneak in a few shots of the movelist art at this past weekend's Street Fighter IV location test at the HEY Akiba game center. Some of the new character portraits on the overlay have been drastically improved since they were last seen, but it looks like the old adage of teaching an old dog new tricks is carrying over a bit into Street Fighter IV's move lists. There are some slight changes to the returning Street Fighter 2 cast, but for the most part Capcom seems to want to stick with the tried and true.

Capcom rocks Street Fighter IV with Faith No More

Okay... Forget every complaint I've had about Street Fighter IV. Tonight Capcom launched their first television commercial for Street Fighter IV and they have redeemed themselves in my eyes for one reason and one reason alone...

Faith No More.



Later tonight another trailer will also debut on Street Fighter.com, so you may want to keep an eye for it. As for me, I'm going to rewatch this brilliant example of early 90's alternative rock awareness over and over again.

(As a side note, the trailer was clearly for the home console versions of the game... Probably at the request of Gamestop who is featured prominently at the end. Surprised that the PC version isn't mentioned or isn't even available for pre-order. I wonder if that's a sign it is going to be a Steam exclusive.

The fact that the arcade version wasn't brought up was fully expected, but also a little disappointing in the grand scheme of things.)

No love for a US Street Fighter IV arcade release?

Yesterday Capcom issued a press release revealing that Street Fighter IV would be coming to the PS3, Xbox 360 and PCs. Though this wasn't a huge revelation, what was notable in its absence was any mention of an arcade release for the game.

I would've written this off as Capcom USA catering their press releases for their target audience (the console gaming crowd in this respect), but after thinking on it for a day, I can't help but get the nagging feeling that we are looking at how the whole Tekken 6 US arcade release situation began; a complete antipathy towards any potential the US arcade industry may have on the part of the developers (or in this case rights holders) of the game.

I'm willing to accept certain realitites about the US industry.

I'm willing to accept that the market for a Street Fighter IV arcade release in the US is not near the market that once saw its predecessors being bought and played in droves. I'm willing to accept that there may be additional difficulties in providing a US release by way of hardware and standard operations. I'm even willing to accept that the number of arcades that would be able to sustain a Street Fighter IV cabinet may not necessarily seem 'worth the trouble' on the part of Capcom USA. But with all this in mind, I wonder how much effort is really being made to provide the option for arcade owners in the US to purchase the game without going through importing middle-men that end up raising the prices for their own 'cut'.

At the very least, a simple acknowledgement of the arcade version of Street Fighter IV in the press release would've been nice. I'm not giving up hope yet, but I think any chance of Street Fighter IV coming to US arcades will once again rely on importers. Perhaps when the embargo on Capcom's Captivate event lifts there may be some good news in regards to the game's future status...

Street Fighter IV boss revealed (home console platforms also announced)

Earlier today Videogamerx uploaded a few new Street Fighter IV scans including one of the new boss character, Seth.

While I'm happy that we are getting an original boss for Street Fighter IV, I'm a little surprised that Capcom has once again decided to opt for the almost nude, buff male character for its 'end game' (I'm already getting flashbacks of Gill). I'm also reminded of Urien, especially with the shoulder charge being pictured in the scan (long lost brother, cousin, uncle's nephew perhaps?).

In addition to the first details of Seth, the link above also provides some concept character pieces of Fei Long and Dan (!!!). I can't make out any of the details, but I'm hoping that this constitutes an announcement of their inclusion into the game. If so, this bodes extremely well for more new (old?) character prospects (I'm holding out hope that Capcom loves Deejay as much as I do).

In other Street Fighter IV news, late yesterday Kotaku broke the first 'official' console announcement for the game that I've seen. Like the leaked rumors revealed earlier last week, Capcom is currently planning Street Fighter IV for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. There were no new or exciting details in the press release, but with the Captivate '08 event starting two days from now, I'm sure there are still a few more surprises in store for Street Fighter fans.

I was a bit surprised at first to see the game listed for PC release, since I didn't feel like Capcom would really offer that direction for fans. I'm pleased though, since it would be my platform preference outside of the actual arcade game, but it makes me wonder if it is going to be a retail release or a digital release or both. Some of Capcom's games are currently available on Steam, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise to see Street Fighter IV pop up there. I wonder what PC fans would be more eager to accept in the long run?

I'm still looking for any news on a US release of the actual Street Fighter IV arcade game. Desite the early promise being made that the game would make it to US arcades, there seems to be a bit of hesitancy in making that happen right now. I'm a little worried that with the console announcement made so soon Capcom is hoping that any 'hype' of a US arcade release will die down if a port is released prior to this winter (which I believe is the target release date for the console game).

If anyone out there has heard anything or knows of any additional details in regards to Capcom USA's efforts in trying to bring the arcade game stateside, I would love to hear it.

[Update - By the way, did anyone notice the giant countdown on the Capcom's Street Fighter World site?]

Capcom's Street Fighter IV development blog promises big things May 30th

The Street Fighter IV developer's blog was updated today. Based on what was said, this past weekend's location test went well for Capcom, however there are still a few changes in the works for Street Fighter IV before its July/August release date.

According to the developer's blog, some fairly large announcements are being planned for Street Fighter IV later this week. To start with, at Capcom's Captivate '08 event in Las Vegas, Ono (the game's producer) will be on hand to provide attendees with some new information about Street Fighter IV. This will be accompanied with several website updates as well as a Famitsu Weekly article (which may be coming out prior to Captivate if it will be in this week's Famitsu Weekly). I have a feeling part of what we are going to learn is a console platform unless Capcom has found an arcade distribution partner for Street Fighter IV in the US.

Capcom has also stated that they are planning on revealing a new boss for Street Fighter IV. I'm hoping for a new character (it's what the blog hints at), but I wouldn't be surprised if we are simply getting the official 'reveal' of Akuma since we haven't seen him yet and early reports list him as being 'important' to the game's story arc.

Street Fighter IV 5th Location test videos

This past weekend was the fifth and perhaps final location test for Street Fighter IV. While Capcom didn't show off any new characters, it was the first time that the full network capabilities of the game were put onto display. Players from Akihabara and Osaka were able to compete in versus matches against one another as well as participate in an online-enabled 'leaderboard'.

There have been videos popping on YouTube from the test, so I went ahead and embedded a few below for those interested. From the first hand reports coming out of the event at the SRK Forums, there were only a few changes made between the current build and the build seen at the last test. The game's speed has been increased slightly, there are some alternate character colors now available, and a few minor tweaks have adjusted the tier rankings slightly. Chun Li and Ryu also had their character models update that has improved their overall look.

Zangief vs. E. Honda


Vega/Claw vs. E. Honda


Guile vs. El Fuerte


As a side note, several online sources have been claiming that Street Fighter IV popped up on the Capcom European press site this past weekend with several platforms associated with the game. Supposedly (before the site took down the listing), Street Fighter IV was listed for arcades as well as the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. I think it's safe to say that the PS3 and Xbox 360 are practically a given once the time comes for a home console port, but it should be interesting if the PC is also in the game's future... I'll keep an eye out for any more information.

Street Fighter IV Location Test Announced

As promised, earlier today Capcom announced the location and date for the latest (and perhaps last) location test for Street Fighter IV. The location test will be held this weekend, May 23rd - 25th at the Hey Akihabara arcade as well as Sega's AViON in Osaka. The game's official website has been updated to reflect the announcement.

Last Street Fighter IV Location Test?

It's been a while since I've posted any new Street Fighter IV news (outside of the DIMPs information from EGM)... Despite the introduction of Rufus (???) and the return of the original Street Fighter 2 'Kings', I haven't been as excited about the game over the past few months as I was when it was first announced. I'm sure it's going to be all sorts of amazing, but I guess in some ways all of the recent pessimism has started to wear down on me a bit.

I'm not blameless in this I know... Reading over some of my older posts on the game I realize I come off somewhere between cautiously optimistic to outright cynical at some of the directions Street Fighter IV has taken with its development. As much as I've wanted to sing the praises of Capcom for bringing back their flagship fighting franchise, I'm still not convinced that what we are receiving with Street Fighter IV is exactly what the core audience wanted and from the rhetoric from Capcom about wanting to bring back the 'old fans', it's clear that Capcom realizes this.

With that said, I still find myself hopeful about the game and it's possible place as a quality tournament fighter. Overall, most of the complaints have been all stylistic on my part (and from most other people). The 'base', while not very innovative, for all intents and purposes is Street Fighter II with some fun new tricks. Everything has been fairly positive from everyone who has had hands on time with the game, so I am able to admit that my apprehension mostly may be coming from the fact that I haven't been able to have that opportunity yet. I'm ready to be a believer Capcom...

So I'm sure everyone's wondering where this rant is leading. Well, based on a couple of posts over at the 'official Street Fighter IV blog', the next location test for Street Fighter IV will be announced this Tuesday and if that's not enough, based on some foreshadowing in a previous Capcom blog post this may be the last location test for the game. I'm a little shocked about this. While I know that the game is set to be available later this summer, after glancing over the official website for the game I can't help how incomplete everything seems about the game at this stage.

I don't know if this is because of the overly familiar cast of characters (we're essentially being given Super Street Fighter 2 the New Challengers with a whole new set of New Challengers) or the fact that out of the new characters only two really interest me, but for whatever reason, it seems like it should be way too early for Capcom to be naming the next location test the final one. I guess however if the core gameplay has been receiving as many positive reviews as it has been, there really isn't too much that would still be holding the game back.

With 15 characters already revealed and one unrevealed but known (Akuma), I'm not quite sure how many more characters Capcom may have in store for us. I know some people are holding out hope that we may get another handful of characters for the game (with some Street Fighter 3 characters making up a good mix I would hope), so I guess we'll just have to wait and see what Capcom has planned for the final testing cycle. I've been told that the game is going to be making a few US appearances this Summer/early Fall, so even if the game isn't seen again prior to its Japanese arcade release perhaps we may see it stateside before its US release.

I still haven't heard anything in regards to potential US distributors for the game for arcades in the US after some early rumors were circulated. I'm not sure how high this falls on Capcom's level of importance right now, but I'm anticipating that despite an early announcement that the game would be made available by Capcom to US arcades there may be some push back in the company that could be holding back this decision. I guess that's just going to be another one of those things that we are going to have to wait on...

I'll keep an eye on everything Tuesday to see what Capcom reveals in their announcement.

Street Fighter IV: Not being developed internally?

Back when Street Fighter IV was first announced, one of the earliest debates circling most forums was who the developer was going to be. Due to the complicated issues surrounding the rights to the game and the close down of a portion of Capcom's US development studios, the early speculation had the game being outsourced to another company eerily similar to how the Street Fighter EX series was sent off to Arika for development.

These rumors were further flamed by a post on Kotaku that actually named DIMPS (of Rumble Fish fame) as the primary developer of the new Street Fighter title. Eager to 'set the record straight' (and possibly clear up some anti-Capcom sentiments that were floating around following the first footage), Christian Svensson posted on the Capcom BBS that Capcom USA had contracted Capcom Japan to handle the development of Street Fighter IV.

Pretty cut and dry, right? Question asked and answered.

Well, not so fast...

According Jarrod at Neo Gaf, the upcoming issue of EGM comes with something of a wallup to Street Fighter IV. Though I haven't been able to verify this myself (I have a subscription but I never seem to get it sent to me with the first batch), supposedly it has been officially revealed that DIMPS once again is being named as having a part in the development of Street Fighter IV.

After re-reading Christian Svensson's post on the Capcom forums, it's a bit more clear to me that there was a bit of double speak (whether intentionally or unintentionally) in the way he chose to word his statements. By simply stating that they had contracted Capcom Japan to handle the development of Street Fighter IV, he didn't eliminate the possibilty of another studio also being involved.

What isn't clear from Jarrod's post on Neo Gaf is how big of a role DIMPS actually has in the development (hopefully the EGM article or statement is more than just a little blurb). While Capcom Japan's lead (with Ono as producer) is not in dispute, it does make me wonder why it took Capcom so long to 'clear the air' so to speak in regards to the make-up of the production team behind the game.

I remember an article (on Gamasutra maybe) that discussed the trend of uncredited, independent development studios working on the nitty gritties of games under the guidance of a larger studio (I imagine slaving under a corporate overlord may be a more suitable description - but from the article it seemed the team being interviewed didn't mind at all)... I guess this is just another example of business being business.

Street Fighter IV location test details

I missed this earlier in the week, but at the latest location tests in Japan the ID card system for the game is being tested out for the first time.

According to Famitsu, the ID cards will be available in a limited quantity for purchase for 500 yen (about $5). Though the full details of the ID card system hasn't been fully revealed yet by Capcom, stored ranking data has been (and will be) the primary use of the card at this weekend's test. The test in Osaka will conclude on Sunday March 23rd.

As a bit of a disappointment, the latest character on the Street Fighter IV roster, El Fuerte, will not be playable at the test. Neither will Balrog (Boxer) or Sagat, according to early reports. The characters playable will be limited to the original world warriors with Crimson Viper and Abel. This has been the third scheduled location test for the game since its playable reveal at AOU 2008.

[Discuss on Forums]

NCSX posts Street Fighter IV Kit price

While I was a bit shocked at the cabinet pricing on Street Fighter IV, the PCB kit price that was recently posted by NCSX (via Kotaku) is a lot easier to swallow.

The Street Fighter IV software and Type X2 hardware is now available for pre-order for $2,590 via the popular online importer. The kit also includes cabinet artwork and 25 ID cards. While NCSX pricing is usually pretty good for importers, it is possible to see the PCB for even less if you have a way to cut out the middle man and direct order (via a friend or a colleague in Japan).

Either way, with the ease of hooking up a Type X2 cabinet to basic monitors/LCDs (pretty much a simple direct connect), I can definitely see some more enthusiastic players jumping in at this opportunity even with the inevitable console release nipping at Street Fighter IV's heels. Hell, I'm almost tempted myself if I wasn't recently put on a no more arcade games moratorium after purchasing a used Tekken 5 cabinet.

[Discuss on Forums]

New Fate: Unlimited Codes and Street Fighter IV images

Famitsu has posted a new set of Street Fighter IV and Fate Unlimited Codes images online earlier today and late yesterday. I may be mistaken, but the screens from Fate Unlimited Codes are among the first I've really seen to detail some of the characters in a lot of different shots in various descriptions.

Berserker and Shiro are the two highlighted by Famitsu with the accompanying article which can be found here. The game still looks a bit rough, but it is at least attracting positive attention from Type-Moon fans from what I've read online, so 8ing must be doing something right with the game...

The Street Fighter IV article by Famitsu (here) has some of the best screens that I've seen of the game in action thus far. I know I've been a bit down on the game in the past, but seeing the slightly new look (with what appears to be some heavy post-processing effects) makes me begin to second guess the issues I've had with the game. Perhaps fixing the colors is the start of something even more positive...

The article by Famtisu really focuses on the new fighters (includuing a brief blurb about El Fuerte), so its worth a quick glance over for more than just the eye candy. Like most Japanese sites however, the images are fairly low resolution. Fortunately, IGN has posted some of the same shots (and even some shots not shown by Famitsu) in a higher resolution format so you can really check out all the little details...

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First videos of Balrog/Boxer and Sagat in Street Fighter IV

The first YouTube videos of this weekend's Street Fighter IV location test at Hey Akihabara have officially confirmed the presence of Balrog/Boxer and Sagat in the game. Though neither video is very clear, they do at least offer the first glimpse of the characters in action. According to the videos, Sagat is currently the final boss of the build at the location test. After defeating him, a message pops up thanking the gamer for playing.





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Balrog/Boxer and Sagat spotted in Street Fighter IV?

Based on some reports I'm reading over on Insert Credit's forums and on the SRK forums, Balrog/Boxer and Sagat have both been spotted at this past weekend's location tests in Japan for Street Fighter IV. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any videos or images pop up of the two characters yet (is Capcom still trying to enforce a no image policy after the second day of AOU?), but if anyone out there has seen the two characters on another link or has taken footage themselves and would like to share either, please let me know. I'm eager to see whether or not this information pans true, but based on the "authority" of at least one of the two sources it seems likely that it's legitimate.

It's interesting to note however, that the official developer's blog for the game had a small write up from this past weekend's test and did not mention the presence of either character... Odd to say the least.

When Famitsu revealed the news that all of the original World Warriors would be returning to the cast of fighters, they also mentioned that they had a few other characters that they were shown that they could not reveal yet. I find it hard to believe that if Balrog and Sagat made the cut that Vega/Claw wouldn't as well to finish off the trifecta of sub-bosses from Street Fighter 2. Part of the reason for the lack of an announcement from the two characters is that Famitsu magazine should be coming out today or tomorrow in Japan. Capcom may be holding off officially revealing the two characters for the magazine.

On another note, Capcom has announced a new location test for Street Fighter IV in Japan at the Hey Akihabara Taito Game Center for this coming weekend. With the official announcement that Capcom is looking for a distribution partner in the US for Street Fighter IV, I wonder if they are going to be putting one or two location tests stateside (most likely on the west coast) for a US location test. I would definitely argue that it would be a great show of support for Capcom USA if they tried to work out those arrangements prior to the Japanese arcade release of the game.

[Discuss on Forums]

Street Fighter IV GDC Videos

I haven't seen any new information in regards to Street Fighter IV from GDC popping up online, but IGN and Gametrailers has been kind enough to post a series of videos taken from the GDC floor.

IGN features four matches with Ken vs. C. Viper, Ryu vs. Abel, Abel vs. Chun Li, and Blanka vs. Abel. The videos are off screen cam videos, so don't expect the best quality, but they are notably better than some of the recent shots we have been receiving from Street Fighter IV (and with no YouTube compression issues). From the background sounds of it, a portion (if not all) of these videos are being played by one of Capcom's staff explaining aspects about the game to IGN. Because of this, there are a few tricks that are shown off we haven't seen before in regards to the saving system.

The Gametrailers video (embedded below) features C. Viper and Blanka. Neither player seems too comfortable with their characters in the Gametrailers videos, but new media is new media.


If any more videos of Street Fighter IV come out of GDC, I'll be sure to post them on this link. It's interesting to see an actual arcade cabinet at the Game Developer's Conference... It's a bit of a rare site for a such a console focused US show.

GDC Street Fighter IV videos
Guile vs. Abel
Guile vs. Blanka
C. Viper vs. Blanka
Ryu vs. Ken
Guile vs. Dhalsim - is this the first Dhalsim video we've seen? I'm having a hard time remember him in any others...
Ryu vs. C. Viper
Guile vs. E. Honda
Guile vs. C. Viper

Gamespot First Look videos
Dhalsim
E. Honda
Chun Li
Ryu
Guile
Zangief
Blanka

Joystiq Street Fighter IV interview

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