Gone are the days when arcades represented the superior video game experience. While a part of us may cry coin operated tears at this realization, Capcom is quick to remind us that there is even more fun to be had at home, or at least there will be when the recently announced domesticated flavor of Street Fighter IV is released for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Speaking in an interview with Japan's Weekly Famitsu, producer Yoshinori Ono revealed that the home version of the upcoming fighter will include features not found in the arcade original, among them online play and exclusive characters.

As we've come to expect from our Street Fighter IV news, Ono offered few specifics, saying only that the team is "watching the overall balance" in designing additions to the home version's roster. He added that the devs "won't be adding unnecessary stuff" to the online experience, dashing our dreams of an internet thumb war between Blanka and Chun Li.

Since announcing Street Fighter IV, Capcom has given us a number of things to ponder about the upcoming sequel, from 3D graphics to giant thumbs, but one thing the company hasn't given us is a release date, not to mention where exactly we'll be able to play the game once it finally makes its way to retail. However this may be about to change, as according to French blog Jeuxvideo, Capcom recently made mention on a press site that the fighter is headed to the PS3, Xbox 360, and -- surprisingly -- the PC as well, with all three versions slated to hurricane kick retail shelves this winter.

Unfortunately, the site neglected to link to the press site in question, and Joystiq ninjas have since returned from Capcom's press tower with nothing to show for their trouble, leaving us to flag this particular morsel of information as a rumor, albeit one we'd very much like to come true.

[Via Big Download]

If you read our hands-on impressions of Street Fighter IV from GDC, you know the game bears more than a passing resemblance to Capcom's classic Street Fighter II (with admittedly updated graphics). Well, the folks at GamesRadar wanted to see just how far that similarity went, and found that many classic combos from the original game work exactly the same way in the new one.

The video evidence (also available below the jump) highlights the cosmetic differences in the two games while at the same time showing how seemingly identical the basic gameplay is. We can't say this is necessarily a bad thing -- Street Fighter II is a classic for a reason -- but that classic is already available as a Virtual Console download, an upcoming HD remix, and even a PS2 Anniversary collection. Why are we supposed to trudge out to the arcade for a dressed up version of a 15-year-old experience that we can get at home?

After playing Street Fighter IV on its (fantastically expensive) arcade cabinet at GDC for well over an hour, I can't help but feel like Capcom will soon pull off one of the best cons in gaming history. You see, if you've played Street Fighter II then you've essentially played Street Fighter IV. There are a few differences, of course -- we'll get to those in a minute -- but for the most part it's the same game it was nearly two decades ago. There's a common axiom that states, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," or in Capcom's case, "if it ain't broke, keep repackaging it and selling it to the same people over and over again." That's basically what Street Fighter IV does once again. My would-be journalistic sensibilities tell me I should be angry about that. Honestly though, I was having too much fun to care. Hence, a con.

Before the latest issue of Famitsu (via IGN), we knew Ryu and Ken were back for the "fourth" (and we use that term lightly) Street Fighter title. Now we have a confirmation that Chun-Li, Blanka, E. Honda, Zangief, Dhalsim and Guile are all returning. Street Fighter IV is now officially a 17-year reunion for the SFII lineup. Be careful, we suspect Zangief might try to spike the punch.

The magazine also provided an illustration for how the new Saving Attack system will work: Ryu blocks Ken's fireball and immediately counters, causing Ken to fall down. Street Fighter IV is expected to be playable at the Japanese Amusement Expo on February 15.

As is the case with the upcoming, expansively titled Street Fighter II remake, emotions tend to run high before Capcom's latest franchise additions are seen in motion. If the knowledge drip-feed springing from the Street Fighter I.V. has you in a daze and unable to focus on other things in life, you'd best glance past the break to see footage of the game in action, courtesy of the 1UP Show. You might also find interest in the included developer interview and extraordinary tale of sibling nerd violence.

This sort of thing doesn't happen very often, you know. According to Games Radar, a Capcom Gamer's Day event in London has revealed a brand new (and not entirely unexpected) entry in the seminal 2D fighting franchise, Street Fighter. Most notably, this new entry increases the numeral at the end of the title as opposed to the number of Super Hyper Ultra adjectives at the start.

Not much is known about Street Fighter IV at present, save for the fact that its release is more than a year away. Other things you can likely expect while we wait for more details and media to arrive: Ken and Ryu in HD, Hadoukens and extremely pithy victory remarks.