GAMESPOT: SFIV ALTERNATE COSTUME SHOWCASE

Gamespot posted up all the alternate costumes you can download for the console version of Street Fighter IV. If you've been following the arcade version for sometime, most of the costumes are nothing new, but they do showcase Cammy, Gouken and Fei Long's alternates. Fei Long is of course a homage to Bruce Lee, Gouken's looks very similar to Gouki's and Cammy's is very similar to Jun and Juli's outfits from the Alpha series.

Keep in mind that all alternate outfits are only available through paid downloadable content.

Thanks to dfyb from NeoGAF for the screenshot!

Update on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 3:20PM by haunts

This video showcases all the alternate outfits in Street Fighter IV.

RUMOR: TATSUMARVEL VS CAPCOM

So, over the weekend I received a tip that although Tatsunoko vs Capcom wont ever see the light of day in North America,  there is a possibility of the Tatsunoko cast being replaced with a Marvel cast and distributed in the states as a new Marvel vs Capcom game using the TvC engine. I'm usually not one for rumors but I personally would not be surprised to see this.

Why you ask? Aside from a head honcho at Marvel saying something a long the lines that he would love to see a new Marvel vs Capcom game and it could be coming sooner than we think, one should note that Mortal Kombat vs. DC has already sold close to 2 million copies world wide. At this point CAPCOM would be insane not to release a new versus game considering the amount of hype around both the Street Fighter and Marvel franchises. If a MK vs game can pull in those kind of numbers, a new MvC game should easily surpass that world wide, maybe even in North America alone.

Again, this is only a rumor but knowing CAPCOM, how much they like to extend the life of their franchises and gameplay systems and the current state of the gaming market, even if they haven't considered this option at this point, they should.

KEEP BUGGING SEGA ABOUT VIRTUA FIGHTER 5: R

So lets be honest here, VF5:R is getting stomped in Japanese arcades by Tekken 6 and other games. There are reports of the game receiving very little to no love at certain locations as well. All this doom and gloom before anyone else outside of Japan has even able to play the game!

Well, looks like there is some good news after all. LA_Akira on VirtuaFighter.com posted that SEGA is listening to everyone's request for VF5:R on console, so keep sending in those requests. He mentioned that there will apparently be a major conference for SEGA discussing the games to be developed over the next two years and heavy interest for VF5:R may play a part in having them seriously consider bringing it to console.

If you haven't already submitted your request, you can click this link and fill out the 3 fields. The first field is your e-mail address, second field is the topic and the third is your comments.

GAMESTOP: WIN A FREE STREET FIGHTER IV CABINET, IN-STORE TOURNAMENTS

This was sent over to me a little earlier today from Colorado top player and tournament organizer, Half-ro. It appears Gamestop is running a promotion that when you pre-order Street Fighter IV, you have a chance to win an official Street Fighter IV cabinet. I don't know much else beyond that, but I am wondering how it will be set up in that the arcade units are meant to be linked to another unit within the same arcade. I doubt they would give away a single player arcade machine so really the main concern is this the original arcade version or an updated version with all the new characters?

Also, Gamestop related, looks like they are going to be throwing in-store tournaments a week or two after the game drops. Not many details are known at this point, the main one being: can we use an arcade stick or will we be forced to use a controller attached to a kiosk?

I'll post up more when I find out more details, but according to this email posted by "ohgee" on SRK you will also have a chance to win an arcade unit (not Street Fighter IV) by playing in the tournament.

Street Fighter 4 Tiered Tournament Program:Our tiered tournament program has been such a success that we are bringing it home to a title that was born for tournaments! Street Fighter 4 will be a perfect partner in our quest to bring the biggest tournaments to our players.

Approximately 160,000 customers will have a chance to compete in a nation-wide, ladder up tournament for a chance to win a Street Fighter Classic Arcade System!

2-21-09: Round 1 Tournaments in approximately 2500 Stores.
2-28-09: Round 2 Tournaments in approximately 270 stores.
3-14-09: Round 3 Tournaments in 16 stores.
4-18-09: Finals!

Participating stores will be provided with tournament kits that will include all signage, brackets, rules and winner's certificates. In addition, all participating stores will receive prizing. This tournament will be supported with in-store signage, call-outs on our website, and targeted emails. Although reservations in stores may seem low at this moment in time, we expect the reservations to increase substantially prior to launch.

Update on Monday, January 26, 2009 at 11:37AM by haunts

Just for clarification, you have to pre-order the game after the 26th of this month to be eligible. Rules from the site:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Sweepstakes begins at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time ("ET") on 1/26/09 and ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on 2/17/09. Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia age 13 or older at time of entry. You are automatically entered in the Sweepstakes when you preorder Street Fighter IV at a GameStop location or from this website. To enter without preordering, complete this entry form and press the submit button. If you pre-ordered Street Fighter IV before 1/26/09 you will not be automatically entered in this Sweepstakes and you will have to enter by using this entry form. Void where prohibited. See Official Rules for details.

Thanks to PimpWilly from SRK for the heads up.

STREET FIGHTER IV: IT'S ALL ABOUT SKILL

Not to say that other Street Fighter games aren't, but it's becoming pretty apparent these days that you can get away with playing pretty much anyone in SFIV, rack up some victories and even win tournaments if you know what you're doing. After hearing about Iyo's victory with Dhalsim over RF's Sagat at the Japanese Nationals Tournament, seeing Vega and El Fuerte do serious damage to "top tier" characters in SoCal and then to find out a Honda placed second at the same tournament I have to wonder if this trend will continue over the years.

Months and months ago I commented that a lot of tournament results were pretty varied with different characters all over the place, thinking that the game was just too new and over the course of time this would change. Well, the game has been out over 6 months now, and people are playing at a relatively advanced level already and not too much has changed. This is pretty refreshing after years and years of playing Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and going to tournaments that were essentially nothing but Ken and Chun-Li.

Virtua Fighter 5 is one of my favorite games, and this is one of the main reasons I enjoy playing it so  much. Not only is there a lot of depth in the game itself, but you end up playing against so many different characters, it really forces you to think about the game a little more than just a handful of match ups. You really have to be prepared to run into any character and know they can easily beat you if you don't understand what they are capable of.

Compare that to some other games, where the strong characters in the game are so much better than the low tier and average characters, you don't even really have to know the match up if you play a top tier character, you can simply just dominate with your game plan. This doesn't make the game bad or any less fun to play at it's core, but I know I am not alone when I say that having the opportunity to play against a ton of different characters with different strategies can only make a game more enjoyable in the long run.

Hopefully the console release of Street Fighter IV with all the additions to the roster does not screw with the balance the original arcade cast, but we will have to wait and see. 26 days to go!

CALIFORNIA REGIONALS REVIEW

DENJIN ARCADECalifornia Regionals has come and gone over the weekend and I must say it was the most eye opening and enjoyable tournaments I've ever been to. Held at Denjin Arcade in Simi Valley CA, players from not only California but literally all over the world (Korea, Hawaii, Oregon, Arizona) showed up to flex their skills in virtually every 2D game that is still played to this day.

Over 4 months of Street Fighter IV training, a chance to play some of the best players in the country and take home the trophy in the Battle for California 5v5. There was a lot going through my mind as I made my trek out to Oakland Airport on BART. So many variables in an event like this, so many possible outcomes and really that is probably what keeps me coming back to tournaments like this year after year. Here is the 3 day break down of the event from my perspective.

Click to read more ...

AMAZON: PRE-ORDER STREET FIGHTER IV FIGHTSTICK TOURNAMENT EDITION

The official Street Fighter IV FightStick Tournament Edition is back up for pre-order on Amazon.com. They have been sold out/unavailable on Amazon for a couple weeks now, so if you haven't already pre-ordered one, now is the time to do it!

Click the product links below for the pre-order page for both the stick and the game itself.

1UP Specials: Street Fighter 4 Preview with Pros

This is the footage from last nights special where Richard Li, MAGUS1234, A_Rival and myself were able to sit down and take a closer look at the console version of SFIV. It was a lot of fun and there is a lot of questions answered in this session so check it out!

1UP Specials: Street Fighter 4 Preview with Pros

PUSHINGPLAY: WIN A FREE OFFICIAL SFIV TE FIGHTSTICK

Alright guys, time to get those creative juices flowing and show PushingPlay.com your best hadoukens. They are running a contest where you have a chance to win an official Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition FightStick. Not only do these sticks go for 150 bucks, but they are virtually all sold out and not up for preorder at this point.

The submission can be anything really, video, audio, art... whatever! The deadline is February 17th so you have about a month to gather your chi and get crackin' on this contest!

Check out PushingPlay.com for the full details of the contest!

1UP.COM GAME NIGHT TONIGHT (JAN. 15th) FEAT. SRK MEMBERS MAGUS1234, A_RIVAL AND HAUNTS

1up.com is throwing another Game Night event tonight where SRK members MAGUS1234, A_Rival, myself and 1up's Richard Li will be playing Street Fighter IV and taking questions from the fighting game community. The segment will be 1 hour long so we should have enough time to go over a lot of details of the console version.

If you have anything you are wondering about in regards to Street Fighter IV, post up in the comments section and I'll see what I can do about answering all relevant concerns about the final retail version.

Should be a lot of fun, check out the full details here.

1UP.COM: SFIV DAN VS DAN SUPER TAUNT

Title says it all!

Street Fighter 4 'Dan's Super Taunt' clipHD

GAMETRAILERS: YOSHINORI ONO INTERVIEW

The video confirms you'll have to shell out some quarters for the downloadable alternate costumes in Street Fighter IV. I've always assumed this would be the case, but I also thought they would have included at least one alternate costume with the game.

1UP.COM GAME NIGHT: STREET FIGHTER IV - 5PM PST

This was supposed to go down last week, but it was the same day 1up was acquired by UGO so they had to put it on the back burner. It's an hour long session of Street Fighter IV, showcasing the new characters and taking questions from their online forum. The action starts 5pm PST.

1UP.COM GAME NIGHT:

1UP's Game Night: Street Fighter 4
Time: Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 5 p.m. PST
Location: Watch the embedded video player right here in this story.
Questions: Ask your question in the Game Night thread on the Street Fighter 4 boards.

Yeah, this was supposed to happen last week, but something got in the way... so now this week's Game Night will be a special show featuring not only Street Fighter 4, but also former 1UP employees. Come join current and former editors as they play Street Fighter 4 in an hour-long streaming session on Tuesday, January 13, 2009, at 5 p.m. We'll show you the features exclusive to the console versions, including new stages and new characters Rose, Dan, Gen, Sakura, and Fei Long.

While watching us play, don't forget to ask us questions in the Game Night thread on the Street Fighter 4 boards. We'll try to answer your questions throughout the hour-long stream!

STREET FIGHTER CLUB SAN FRANCISCO

Looks like all the Bay Area Street Fighter heads finally got their wish.. Street Fighter Club in San Francisco! I wont be able to attend because I will be at the California Regionals tournament but these events have been a real success in the past. If you're in the area and not at CaliRegionals then you should definatley check it out. At previous events, attendees have been given Street Fighter items just for showing up, hip hop music and Street Fighter all night long. This will most likely be the last Street Fighter club before Street Fighter IV drops so be sure to register at this page (send them a message) to get an invite.

If you plan to attend, please let me know!

1UP.COM: STREET FIGHTER IV NEW GAMEPLAY VIDEOS

New gameplay videos showcasing some more of the new characters straight from 1up.com:

Street Fighter 4 Exclusive 'Gen vs. Fei Long' gameplay

Street Fighter 4 Exclusive 'Dan vs. Sakura' gameplay

Street Fighter 4 Exclusive 'Rose vs. Cammy' gameplay

TORNADOFLAME.COM: INTERVIEW WITH HAUNTS

TornadoFlame from SRK has his own site, TornadoFlame.com where he covers a lot of East Coast Street Fighter action and is also conducting interviews with people in the community. He asked me to be one of the first people to interview for his site and we talked about where iPlayWinner.com is going and my thoughts on Street Fighter IV. He also has an interview with Justin Wong as well that is worth checking out.

From the interview:

Click to read more ...

CES 09: SETH KILLIAN STREET FIGHTER IV CHARACTER PREVIEW

GAMESPOT was able to pick up some great footage with CAPCOM Community Manager Seth Killian demoing all the new characters in Street Fighter IV (GEN, CAMMY, ROSE, FEI LONG and...DAN!) at CES 09. He goes over the basic moves of the new characters and shows each Super and Ultra in its entirety. There is also a demo of the new training mode that was mentioned in the previous article and also in the EGM preview.

A great first look at the characters but more is soon to come. Trust me on this one, this is just the beginning. These videos are only scratching the surface of what is possible with these new additions to the SFIV roster. I can't say too much but keep an eye on all the major game news outlets in the coming week.

CES 09: GAMESPOT STREET FIGHTER IV HANDS ON

GAMESPOT was able to get some hands on time with Street Fighter IV like a lot of other CES attendees. Most of the preview isn't really geared towards the hardcore fighting game enthusiast, but they do go over the different modes and impressions on the new MadCatz Joysticks.

One aspect of the article, which was also mentioned in the last issue of EGM, was the training mode feature which sounds cool. I have heard from sources that this training mode will offer combos and strategies that most of us would not expect to see in a retail game like this. I can't say much more than that but this should help level up a lot of new players and expand the base of fighting game players once again.

From the article:

Besides being able to try out the new fighters and content, we were able to try out the new Challenge mode, which is one part training mode and one part fighting tutor. The mode offers six challenges for each fighter, and these initially start out as primers on the basic attacks in the game. The primers lead up to familiarizing yourself with each character's special moves. The challenges we tried were made up of six different tasks, such as performing Ryu's standard arsenal. However, once the basics are covered, the later challenges introduce more-complex tasks, such as combos, crossovers, and other advanced moves that are key to really kicking butt in the game.

CES 09: STREET FIGHTER IV JOYSTICK HANDS ON

Ars Technica posted an article today about the Street Fighter IV sticks they had a chance to try out at CES. They also have the first shots of the inside of the unit.

Overall really good impressions, although someone in the video mentions the standard stick is more suited for shooters. I'm sure this can be taken care of with a quick mod so we will have to see.

You can per-order the sticks and pad on Amazon.com

Update on Friday, January 9, 2009 at 9:03PM by haunts

Some more impressions of the joysticks and pad from Destructoid and GameSpot.

GAMESPOT: STREET FIGHTER IV TOURNAMENT FOOTAGE

Gamespot is finally continuing their coverage of the Ultimate Street Fighter battle they held like 3-4 months ago. They uploaded the first video today and I assume there will be about 5-6 more to follow. Keep in mind this was the first time many people had even played the game so the gameplay isn't up to par to what most people are used to seeing at this point.

Also, if you haven't read our coverage of the event, check it out here.