« Sudden Interest Spurred Arcade Version of Super Street Fighter 4 »

Magus1234 levels up at Japanese arcade Big Box. This arcade can soon upgrade to Super SF4.

Soon after Capcom announced that Super Street Fighter 4 was in development, people began asking for an arcade version.  The game's producer, Yoshinori Ono, was asked again and again about such a release over the following months, but he would only commit that he wanted an arcade version as well and was trying to convince Capcom, but the company needed enough interest to justify the costs.

Suddenly, the company announced that an arcade version was indeed in the works.  What changed so suddenly?

"What changed," Ono told Kotaku, "was that I was in the middle of lobbying various branches of Capcom for the capital to release the game to arcades" in March.  Orders began coming in, he said, and "Now it looks like we can make enough money off of the release to warrant an arcade version."

Of course, an arcade version of Super Street Fighter 4 is good for Japanese arcade players.  It's good for Japanese arcades.  It's also great for the community as a whole, as the Japanese arcade scene is generally looked upon as a leader in developing new strategies and techniques in fighting games.  It's also good for the small but vocal arcade community in the United States.

Ono also confirmed to Kotaku that arcade owners would not need a new cabinet or arcade board to upgrade to Super Street Fighter 4.  They only need to change out the hard drive.

Source: Kotaku