NORTH AMERICAN STREET FIGHTER IV COLLECTORS EDITION DETAILS

Just last week details emerged on the European Street Fighter IV CE and today we received news about the North American release. Not too much has changed except that Ryu figure will be packaged with the PS3 version and C.Viper in the 360 version! In the European version, you get both figures in one package regardless of which one you buy unless something has changed.

One thing, I was curious about the DLC that was mentioned in the European release and it appears to be 5 downloadable costumes. Whether they are the same as the arcade costumes has yet to be seen!

Personally, I am going to save my money and pick up the Tournament Edition stick from MadCatz for 360 and I might pick up the Prima strategy guide if it turns out to have some things I don't already know about as well. The SFIV CE in my opinion seems like a lot of fluff and as I mentioned before it would be worth it if it was pre-packaged with a stick and strategy guide.

Anyway, here are the full details and link to the games and joysticks!

Content for PS3 Version:

* A Blu-Ray Bonus Disc with HD 65-minute full-length Anime movie and promotional trailers.
* CD Soundtrack
* Collectible Figurine: Ryu
* Udon/Prima Hint book
* Downloadable Content: 5 Alternate Costumes.

Content for Xbox 360:

* A Bonus Game Disc with HD 65-minute full-length Anime movie and promotional trailers.
* CD Soundtrack
* Collectible Figurine: C. Viper
* Udon/Prima Hint book
* Downloadable Content: 5 Alternate Costumes.

FINAL TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM GAMEPLAY TRAILER FEAT. MEGA MAN

With the game coming out this week (in Japan of course!), it looks like this is the final trailer to be released by CAPCOM for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Some pretty ill Baroque Combos in this one so check it out!

The game comes out December 11th, so if you haven't already, you can pre-order both the game and the new joystick by Exar from Play-Asia.com.

NEW TEKKEN 6: BLOODLINE Rebellion TRAILER

The SDTEKKEN crew posted up a bunch of new Tekken news over the past week. One major piece of information is it looks like NAMCO is considering console exclusive characters for the release of Tekken 6: BR. It's really anyone's guess who it could be but I can't be the only one who hopes it's not more Star Wars characters!

NAMCO always creates the best trailers for their Tekken games and this one is no exception. MarkMan posted up the new trailer on his Youtube channel earlier so check it out below:

Street Fighter IV Ultimate Blanka Guide feat. Lil' Shoto

We've been playing a lot of Street Fighter IV up here in NorCal and we have some pretty respected Blanka players that frequent the arcade. We know that not everyone has access to the game right now, so we've decided to put together another guide on iPlayWinner that will give you the ultimate insight on how to control this beast so you'll be ready when the game drops!

Blanka can be real tricky in the right hands but there are a couple things you should know when playing against him as well. Whether you are trying to pick up Blanka, or you have a tough time playing in battles, don't worry because Lil' Shoto will give you everything you need to know in this audio clip!

Check it out!

Although not as thorough as Lil' Shoto's audio guide, be sure to check out our Street Fighter IV Move List and Strategy section for more Blanka tips!

FIRST IMAGES OF STREET FIGHTER IV LIMITED EDITION

Apparently this is just for Europe and Australia right now, so who knows if we will get the same thing here in North America. It packaged with two figurines, the anime on DVD and mini-strategy guide. Although this is probably a safer bet for the masses, I personally  think a stronger LE would be a MadCatz stick, the game itself of course and full Prima strategy guide.

Update on Friday, December 5, 2008 at 1:40PM by haunts

1up.com mentions exclusive DLC for this package, which means it probably wont be new characters but could be costumes or music? It's anyone's guess at this point!

FAMITSU REVIEWS TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM, NEW VIDEOS

Japanese gaming publication Famitsu reviewed Tatsunoko vs Capcom giving it 8's across the board. This is seemingly a good score but 1up.com has translated the article saying that most of the reviewers said the game felt "flat". They mention that a lot of the matches would always result in unending exchanges of Barouqe Combos (extended custom combos that drain your recoverable lifebar) between two "reasonably skilled players". 

Overall in my opinion the review of the game is pretty meaningless. Until we have a bunch of top players go at it for a while we wont really know the depth of this game. At the end of the day I think most people agree the game looks fun and are happy to have another VS title hit the scene.

The game comes out in Japan December 11th, so if you haven't already, you can pre-order both the game and the new joystick by Exar from Play-Asia.com.

Famitsu also released a couple new game play videos which you can check out below:

GAMEPRO: STREET FIGHTER IV NEW IMAGES AND INFO

A poster on Gametrailers of all places has uploaded some scans and information from the newest issue of GAMEPRO. Thanks to Ultima on SRK for digging this up.

A couple details I thought were interesting:

-Home Console will receive Several Extra characters.

Not sure if this is in addition to what we have already seen or just compared to the current arcade roster. There are scans of the roster included in the game and Rose is nowhere to be seen so maybe they are still working on the final cast for the game.

-Ono hints were going to engineer the home version of the game so you can actually play in arcade mode and you can turn on a function that would allow matchmaking in the background, so you could just have someone jumps in the game exactly as they would at the Arcade. The function can be configure to ranked or player matches or quick warm-up rounds.

I think this is a pretty cool feature even though I rarely play arcade mode with fighting games. It would be nice if you could enable this while you are in training mode so you can hop into a match while practicing combos during the downtime.

In-Depth Street Fighter IV Sagat Strategy feat. Lil' Shoto

So anyone who has played Street Fighter IV will tell you Sagat is a very deep and technical character with a steep learning curve in this game. With so many people coming up to me and asking "Why is it so hard for me to win with Sagat in Street Fighter IV?" I decided something must be done. I asked fellow Street Fighter IV training partner Lil' Shoto to break down Sagat's game piece by piece for anyone who is looking to pick him up.

Hope this makes your life at the arcade much easier!

Take a listen:

If "reading" is more your thing then be sure to check out our Street Fighter IV Move List and Strategy section.

Arcadia Magazine: Umehara Daigo Kumite

Earlier last week I posted up the Street Fighter IV arcade rankings which placed Daigo as the #1 player in Japan. Well, it looks like in the newest issue of Arcadia Magaine there is a DVD that has put Daigo to the test in an all out fight to the death (okay maybe that's a little overly dramatic) with some of the other top ranked Street Fighter IV players in Japan. Over all he dominated, but Sagat player Mago had his number this time around. Mago is ranked right under Ojisan as the 3rd best player in Japan and if you're wondering why check out this video from a couple months ago.

Here are the results, and once again thanks to Reno for posting this up on SRK:

Umehara vs Inoue: 2 - 1
Umehara vs. Itabashi Zangief: 3 - 0
Umehara vs. Fuudo: 3 - 0
Umehara vs. Joe: 2 - 1
Umehara vs. Nemo: 3 - 0
Umehara vs. Mago: 1 - 3

I'm going to try to make it out to Japantown here in San Francisco to see if I can find the newest issue that contains this DVD. It's currently all sold out on play-asia.com but keep checking back for a restock!

EVO2K8 TRAILER

Wow, I know this was only back in August but it sure does bring back some memories. This is the EVO2K8 trailer that dropped on Shoryuken.com today highlighting some of the best moments from this years event. Being there for John Choi's victory in both Super Turbo and CVS2 was something I'll never forget. So much happened at EVO this year and it really marked the end of an era for games like Street Fighter III and CVS2. Personally it represented a new beginning as I realized I'll probably be doing this fighting game thing for years to come.

EVO2K9 will be madness with all the new games and EVO2K10 will be unlike any other Evo since everyone will be on another level by then. Until then, peep the video:

KOFXII Premier Event: CRITICAL COUNTER, DUO LON, MATCH VIDEOS

I've been too busy playing Street Fighter IV over the weekend to do a proper update here, but in my absence looks like the KOFXII Premier Event went down over the weekend with out a hitch. Here are a couple links with all the updates:

Dengeki.com posted some new images showing Duo Lon who has been added to the roster earlier this week.

Cyberfanatix.com posted a bunch of new videos and images form the event along with a rundown of the Critical Counter system that is found in the game.

Video showcasing the Critical Counter system thanks to Cyberfanatix YouTube Channel. Check their channel for more match videos from the event.

After reading up on the system, if I understand it correctly you enter a Critical Coutner state when intercepting special moves from mid to close range with a strong or medium (normal?) attack. This allows you to chain together "whatever moves you choose" (custom combos?) or if you time it right perform a Desperation Move (super).

ARCADIA MAGAZINE RANKINGS

Thanks to Reno for these current rankings of the top 10 arcade games in Japan. While US players complain about the gameplay system of Tekken 6 (in NorCal anyway) the game shows no signs of slowing down in Japan. I have no doubt when Bloodline Rebellion is released it will be one of the best selling fighting games of all time.

In regards to the other games, I'm having a hard time recalling the last ranking but I think SFIV (my current favorite) and VF5: R swapped places this time. Also, I think BalzBlue just came out so we will have to wait another month or two to see how well the game is received over there.

Here are the rankings:

1. Tekken 6 - 308.2pts. (-)
2. Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam - 264.9pts. (-)
3. MELTY BLOOD Actress Again - 224.3 pts. (NEW)
4. Street Fighter IV - 204.6 pts. (-)
5. Virtua Fighter 5R - 183.1 pts.(-1)
6. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core - 164.7 pts. (-)
7. Arcana Heart 2 - 124.1 pts. (-1)
8. Fate/Unlimited Codes - 110.7 pts. (-)
9. Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. ZAFT II - 84.6 pts. (+1)
10. Dondonpachi Daifukkatsu - 81.3pts (+1)

COUNTER HITS WILL BREAK STREET FIGHTER IV

Well, probably not but they do allow you to do combos in this game that you are not able to execute on normal hit. I found this Akuma vs Abel video in the SRK SFIV Video Thread earlier today and seemed like a pretty good video to break down when it comes to counter hits in SFIV.

The way counter hits work in this game is certain attacks will give you more frame advantage if they land as counter hit which allows you to link into moves that you normally wouldn't not be able to link into. (According to the Master Guide, light attacks add 1 frame of hit advantage and medium and hard attacks add 3.) For instance, one night at the arcade here I was able to combo c.mp into c.mk with Sagat because the c.mp was counter hit and added 3 frames of hit advantage. You normally are +4 on normal hit with a c.mp and c.mk with Sagat has a 7 frame start up, so if you do the math, you do not have enough of a window to link the two moves together. But since in this situation with the c.mp being +7 ([4 frames of hit advantage for normal hit] + [3 frame advantage for the counter hit] = +7  total frames of hit advantage) because of counter hit, I was able to link into the c.mk with its 7 frame start up.

So if you watch in the video below, Akuma is able to perform a pretty lengthy combo because the initial MP attack is counter hit. The thing to understand about this video is the combo could have been a lot more damaging under the right circumstances. At the end, he goes for c.mk into fireball but he is too far away for it to connect. If he was closer and had more meter, he could have finished that combo with c.mk xx fireball xx FADC -> c.mk xx fireball FADC -> c.lp -> Hurricane Kick combo. The combo would have been somewhere around 15 hits and would have most likely stunned or killed his opponent. This just goes to show how little we have seen of Street Fighter IV and it's combo system.

AMAZON.COM: STREET FIGHTER IV MADCATZ FIGHTSTICKS AND FIGHTPADS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

MarkMan, the mastermind behind these high quality sticks and pads, posted that they are up for preorder on Gamestop.com and Amazon.com earlier this week. I was going to post this sooner but I was waiting for Amazon to get their act together with the SKUs. There were some duplicate entries for the sticks where there were 2 PS3 sticks available but no 360 sticks. Looks like everything is straitened out now so check the links be be sure to pick one up.

It's said that the tournament edition will be very limited, and if it is anything like the Virtua Stick High Grade which is now near impossible to find, I would highly recommend picking up two sticks so you're not left out in the cold. I've seen the VSHG being sold for close to 300 dollars on Ebay recently due to its rarity so either way buying a couple of these bay boys should be a good investment.

BLAZBLUE: AKSYS GAMES UPDATE, POSTERS & GAMEPLAY SYSTEM

AKSYS GAMES has updated their site over the past week with new videos, gameplay system information and the chance to pre-order a limited edition BlazBlue poster!

From the site:

We mentioned it couple post ago about if anyone would wanted exclusive Blazblue posters. Well, the players have spoken and now the moment is here. We made a limited run of them, 70 total to be exact and pre-orders begins today. They ship next week Wednesday, after the holiday madness! The cost of the poster is about $20 + 5 bucks shipping anywhere to the US. Of course, if you’re in LA or So Cali, you’re more than welcome to come by and pick these bad boys up next week. Here’s link to the poster in our online store, GO GO GO!

They also posted a list of arcades all across the US that have the game a week or two back. I know for sure that Sunnyvale GolfLand and San Jose State University have the game so if you are in the bay area go check it out! (I should take my own advice on that one.)

GAMESPOT.COM: ULTIMATE STREET FIGHTER SHOWDOWN PART 6

Here we have it! The finals for HD Remix from the Gamespot tournament that was held what feels like a year ago! A great final match with some super solid gameplay from Paul Eath and Graham Wolfe!

Also, if you missed it the first time around, be sure to read the iPlayWinner Gamespot SF Tournament coverage!

KING OF FIGHTERS XII ROSTER UPDATE

The newest issue of Arcadia Magazine confirms three new additions to the KOFXII roster:

• Goro Daimon

• Chin Genstai

• Sie Kensou

There may be some surprises at the upcoming Premier Event this weekend in Japan (Where is Mai?), but if not, these will be the final additions to the KOFXII roster. They mentioned all characters will be playable and this will more or less be the final version of the game.

Big ups to Reno for the tip on this one. Keep an eye out for images from Arcadia Magazine in the coming days and footage from the event after the weekend!

Update on Thursday, November 27, 2008 at 4:24PM by haunts

Head over to CYBERFANATIX to check out the Arcadia scans!

1UP.COM: SUPER STREET FIGHTER 2: HD REMIX "A+ PERFECTION", DOWNLOAD TONIGHT ON PSN!

So if you've been following this game you must know that it is coming out tonight for PSN (6PM PST) and tomorrow for XBLA. If you are still on the fence about this game, know that 1UP.com gave it an A+ in their video review. They say the game feels exactly the same as Super Street Fighter II: Turbo with updated graphics. They also mention that online play is flawless so I personally cannot wait to get online and try that out.

Super SFII Turbo HD Remix Video Review

Update on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 3:47PM by haunts

The game is up on PSN right now! Go download it!

NEW STREET FIGHTER IV IMAGES

CAPCOM posted up a ton of new screenshots today from Street Fighter IV. A lot of new Fei Long, Dan and Sakura images so check it out!

CAPCOM CONSIDERING SUPER TURBO HD REMIX SPECIAL EDITION

This was also posted today on the CAPCOM blog and possibly even more interesting than the information posted about the game itself! Like the Mega Man 9 special edition retail package, CAPCOM is considering offering a Super Turbo SE package available through the CAPCOM store. They say post up in the blog post if you have interest in this.

Details on the package:

- Ryu's head band

- Rare Chun Li figurine (only 1,000 made)

- Magnetic Background with two sheets of Static Cling Characters

- Street Fighter Remix Comic

- Asset Disc

Click to read more ...