The font of incredible trailers continues to pour from the bounteous spigot of CAPtivate '08 -- the above trailer for Street Fighter IV went live rather subtly last night, only to deliver a patented E. Honda "thousand hand bitch slap" to our unprepared senses this Sunday morning. It even includes one of our favorite songs to sing from Rock Band: Faith No More's "Epic". We don't know why seeing Blanka go all sparky to the disjointed vocals of Mike Patton gets us so hyped, but our excitement for the revivification of what many would argue is the greatest arcade fighting series ever has just increased tenfold.
However, it should be noted that depending on your feelings towards Gamestop and their pre-order policies, you may view the last seven seconds of this righteous trailer as being decidedly un-epic.
Following this morning's news that the recently announced home versions of Street Fighter IVwould come packing the extra punch of online play and an expanded cast, a new report confirms two familiar fighters who will be added to the game's hurricane kick beyond the arcade.
According to IGN, Japanese publication Famitsu Xbox released concept art illustrating Bruce Lee-inspired Fei Long and Alpha vet Dan Hibiki, adding that both fighters will be home version exclusives. While Fei Long certainly makes sense, the laughably weak Dan has always served more as comic relief, though we look forward to the hilariously drawn out Dan vs. Dan online throw downs to come when the game is eventually released.
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.
How many times have we been sitting on the city bus, bored and without handheld, only to turn to our cellphone for some bastardized version of Snake or Bejewelled? It's not something we like to think about, being forced to drive down the nail of boredom with the Great Hammer of Meh. However, a new mobile partnership now looks to have us struggling to pull off dragon punches on our keypads as well.
According to mobile content provider Handango, the company has partnered with Capcom to bring the Street Fighter and Mega Man franchises to its online store and mobile client on BlackBerry and Windows Mobile phones. Other franchises are promised as well, including miniaturized versions of Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and the deal's underwhelming debut release, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? It will be interesting to see what other Capcom franchises make the jump to mobile phones as part of this agreement, though honestly we're more interested in how in the world we're going to pull off that dragon punch.
If there's one thing to keep us interested in video game golf it's alternate costumes, followed closely by karate masters and top-heavy succubi. Thankfully, however, Capcom is giving us all three in its upcoming Wii exclusive We Love Golf, which will let players dress their golfers as either Street Fighter blondie Ken or Darkstalkers femme fatale Morrigan, among other familiar faces.
While the pair's North American-exclusive inclusion in the game was revealed last March following the results of a reader poll, Capcom took time today to send over some screens showing what we can expect when the duo hits the links on July 15. Check out the shots below, including what Capcom calls its "first African-American incarnation of Ken Masters." Shoryuken!
If there's one thing we enjoy as much as playing games, it's collecting various odds and ends that reflect our passion for the hobby. Whether it's a Lunar Ghaleon puppet on the mantel or the Varia Suit statue on the coffee table, there is never any question where our loyalties lie. Now UDON Entertainment has added another collectible to our radar in the form of a limited edition art book dedicated to the numerous brawlers who have thrown down in Capcom's storied Street Fighter franchise. The hardcover will feature the artistic styling of such artists as Penny Arcade's Gabe and pin-up style comic cover artist Adam Hughes, among several others. The book is available for pre-order now, with orders placed today dropping you in the running for Capcom's IGN-brandedOkami for the Wii. At $80, the book isn't cheap, but really, when it comes to the things we adore, what price can do love justice?
And while we have Street Fighter on the brain, we'd be remiss not to mention an interesting blog post over at Camp Capcom, as the company is apparently entertaining the idea of creating a collection of figurines based on the upcoming Street Fighter IV, and as such are looking for input on which characters deserve to make the cut. So, of the faces we know, both old and new, who would we most like to see make the leap from polygons to plastic? E. Honda? Vega? El Fuerte? Hit up the poll on Capcom's blog and let your voice, albeit anonymously, be heard.
While Capcom's Street Fighter IV wowed us in February with its new fangled graphics and animation, it was the game's decidedly retro feel that grabbed us by the neck and assaulted our head like a barrage of Yoga Noogies. As it turned out, for all its 3D charm the fighter played like a sexed up Street Fighter II, which to be fair is just fine by us.
Now Capcom has released screenshots of Street Fighter II's bad guy quartet, Balrog, Bison, Sagat and Vega, all of whom make a return in the upcoming sequel. We can hardly wait to face down Vega's (or M. Bison for those of you with a name hang up) ever-annoying Psycho Crusher, something judging by the above pic has Ryu equally enthused.
It seems Capcom will be pulling a Crackdown with its upcoming XBLA and PSN game, Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3. According to Gamespot, the latest entry in the top-down shooter series will grant access to an Xbox Live beta of redone and redrawn brawler, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. Upon purchasing the game for 800 MS Points ($10), Gold members will be offered an access key for the fighter's stress test. It's expected to become playable shortly after Commando's release and should last approximately eight weeks.
Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 is due to arrive sometime in Spring.
The bigger the fanbase, the more vitriolic the debates on canon, and Capcom's Street Fighter series is certainly no stranger to tirades and flamewars on character histories, proper chronology, and the like. So it's a big deal when the developer steps in to answer one of the larger questions: How exactly do you spell the name of M. Bison's evil organization?
The official word from top men at Capcom is that the group shall be known as "Shadaloo" -- not "Shadowloo," "Shadoloo," and especially not "Shadowlaw." Are we clear? Good. Now we can move on to more important topics, like if Street Fighter Alpha 1 is really part of the proper timeline.
Shortly before we furiously mashed buttons in an attempt to play Street Fighter IV, Capcom programmer producer Yoshi Ono agreed to have a brief (punchy?) chat with us regarding the franchise's triumphant return to arcades. Be sure to thank the disembodied voice of David Crislip for translating -- without him, the conversation would have been considerably more awkward. We'll have a full report on the gameplay soon.
[Thanks to Veronica Belmont of Mahalo Daily for acting as our inquisitive vector!]
We can do without "whiny" being the default setting for so much indy/emo music, but Arlington-and-Grand Prairie-Texas-based Man Factory serves up enough indy-powerpop-rock to offset any latent emo sadness. Plus the group's latest project is a series of seven songs written from the perspectives of Street Fighter characters. The series is called, "Street Fighter II: Rock Opera: Round 1," and hits enough high notes that we hope rounds two and three follow.
Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.
Chun Li versus Seung Mina; Nightmare versus Morrigan; Akuma versus Tycho Brahe: Ultimate showdowns we're likely never to see outside of crudely-written fan-fiction and our own fevered dreamings. Luckily for us, Sabertooth Games has devised the Universal Fighting System, a collectible card game that allows players to mix and match licensed decks to create legendary one-on-one battles.
There's one problem, or maybe I should call it a caveat: UFS isn't going to be for everybody. Beyond the gorgeous illustrations, and clear appeal to video game fans, this is most definitely a gamer's game; cards are littered with special icons, point values, and ancillary functions that dwarf the relative simplicity of CCGs like Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon. Of course, the reward for this technical complexity is depth, with an incredibly strategic experience waiting to be unlocked by the hardiest of players. Not to deter you, but let this be a warning: A casual card game this is not.
Remember that Street Fighter film we heard about a while back? Remember how we thought Jessica Biel might be playing the lead role of Chun Li? Well, it turns out it's Kristin Kreuk instead, everybody's favorite Lana Lang.
ComingSoon.net reports that the Smallville star has signed on to star in Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li, the live-action adaptation of Capcom's classic fighting franchise. Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, 20th Century Fox will be distributing the film, which begins filming in Thailand next March. Will Kreuk be able to fill Chun-Li's tiny shoes? And, more importantly, does she know how to perform the Hyakuretsu Kyaku? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
This week GameTap hadoukens the Dreamcast version of Street Fighter III: Third Strike onto the service. The game considered by many hardcore gamers as the last great 2D fighter is accessible for both PC and Mac users. The new GameTap titles this week (other than SFIII) are the remains of the year.
Metal Combat (PC) - Just say no. Check out Mr. Robot.
Mr. Robot (PC) - A little-known independent action RPG from a couple years ago that was well received. Check it out for something a little different.
After the break we have GameTap's list of free games. The new free game this week is Texas Hold 'em and is bolded for easy reference. There will be no GameTap update next week due to the holiday, with the next update on Jan. 3rd.
