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After a successful partnership on XBLA/PSN release Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (breath), Udon Entertainment and Capcom are once again working together, though this time the Street Fighter comic book artists are adding endings to upcoming Wii fighter Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. Despite Udon's pedigree, the announcement post remains overwhelmingly humble, saying, "Everyone at Udon is very proud to have contributed to such an epic piece of video game and anime history." We haven't gotten our hands on any screens of the endings just yet, but we'll be sure to give you a gander as soon as we do.

[Via Capcom-Unity]

Udon Entertainment has announced its next Capcom artbook, following collections of Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and Mega Man art: The Art of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, featuring 240 pages of improbably dramatic images of lawyers and their teenage friends. The book features covers, promotional art, and character designs and profiles from the three Phoenix Wright graphical text adventures, as well as "the complete artwork" from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.

Udon plans to release this in October -- the same month in which it will release the Mega Man Official Complete Works, potentially causing a problem for people with only enough money in their artbook budget for one book about a blue-clad Capcom character per month.

[Via Kotaku]

Capcom didn't have to tease Udon Entertainment's new SF20 art book with an Akiman image of Chun-Li and King of Fighters' Mai Shiranui almost kissing and almost punching each other. In fact, we really wanted to post about this art book, which features work from Capcom artists like Shinkiro, Kinu Nishimura, and others, but we hesitated because of that preview image, which would have made us look like total pervs instead of Capcom art aficionados.

We were pleased, then, to see this less make-outy Chun Li image among Udon's preview pages. The book contains art from Street Fighter all the way through Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

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-branded Okami 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.

After teasing us with tons of sprite art from the game, the very first screenshots of the HD Remix of Street Fighter II have been revealed to the public. As expected, it's absolutely gorgeous. Featuring the hand-drawn art of the fine folks at Udon, this fully redrawn game looks brand-spankin' new. Will Street Fighter IV be able to beat this?

[Update: Capcom has posted a revised image of this stage.]

Capcom has released the first glimpse of a turbo-high-def-remixed Super Street Fighter II stage, Mike Bison's Balrog's Las Vegas strip, now saturated with bright purples. Background historians will also notice that the crowd has been scaled back from the original version, apparently to cut down on animations, in turn, decreasing the game size. Other modernization efforts bring bigger busts and an Escalade limo (thankfully, a pimp hat is still just a pimp hat). Most noticeably, the old Golden Nugget casino has been bulldozed, making way for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix's Crazy Buffalo; named in honor of one of Balrog's signatures.

Producer Rey Jimenez also fills us in on a new game mode, call it "re-balanced mode" for now. The optional mode is being designed with input from tourney players, but Jimenez doesn't elaborate further. Expect it to make the final version of the game as long as it doesn't "totally break" the gameplay.

If you've caught yourself staring, mouth agape, at UDON's gorgeous re-imaginings of classic Street Fighter II characters, being prepared for the XBLA and PSN release of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, know that you're not alone. Our buds at PS3 Fanboy spoke with Jim Zubkavich, Artist and Project Manager at UDON, about their pixelicious collaboration with Capcom. A snippet: "The game is an exact port of SSF2T, so the hit boxes and poses must be identical, even while the detail and resolution are increased to approximately 4.5 times the original. Along with character sprite designs, we're redrawing and painting each stage background to match the enhanced resolution."

Everything old is new again. The internet has been abuzz ever since the first sprites from Capcom's upcoming HD Remix of Super Street Fighter II were publicly released. The art, created by Udon, looks absolutely spectacular. We interviewed Jim Zubkavich, Artist and Project Manager at Udon, about their collaboration with Capcom.

How did Udon and Capcom first team up?
UDON began in 2000 as a team creating illustration/design artwork for comic book or toy manufacturing clients. After a couple years getting established, we decided to publish our own comic books. One of the first ideas that came to mind was creating comics based on licenses that all of us enjoyed growing up. At the top of that list was Capcom's Street Fighter property. After some negotiation and art samples sent back and forth, Capcom allowed UDON to create a new full color comic series that debuted in the summer of 2003. When the comic series began we would just send Capcom the script and artwork for approval each month. Eventually our relationship with Capcom grew stronger and they started communicating with us more frequently about the franchise and the strength of our artists.

In 2004, after the debut of our Darkstalkers comic series and translation of the Eternal Challenge Street Fighter artbook were well received, Capcom approached us about contributing artwork to their Fighting Jam video game. In turn, that strengthened the bond between the two companies even more. At each step we've strived to show Capcom how much we respect their properties and how much we enjoy being a part of their creative process.

With the 20th anniversary of Street Fighter coming in 2008, Capcom wanted us to be a part of the festivities. The high definition re-release of Super Street Fighter II Turbo is something we're very proud to be contributing to.

If you're going to find yourself at this weekend's Anime Expo, you best hightail it over to UDON's corner and get a look at their 300+ page artbook titled, simply, UDON's Art of Capcom. Not going to be at Anime Expo but would kill a loved one (preferably with a brutal combo) to get your murderous mitts on one? They'll only be available "at conventions throughout the summer." No word on what those other conventions might be, but we doubt you'll find UDON at your annual holistic podiatry convention.

The rest of you, you'll just have to wait until the fall when they'll be available at your favorite stores, far from the cosplaying crowds of Anime Expo. Be sure to peep the back cover after the break or hit up the Read link for the high-res wallpaper-worthy version.

[Thanks, Jim!]

The Capcom blog finally gave us a taste of what Chun Li will look like in the upcoming Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. Do they show us happy Chun Li, angry Chun Li or fighting Chun Li? No, they show us crying I-just-got-the-stuffing-beat-out-of-me Chun Li. Poor girl. The image hasn't been colored in yet and wherever you see blotches, that'll be filled in with the crimson color of her blood. Obviously, this is the animation for the continue screen.

Kinda stinks that the first image we see showing one of the strong ladies from SSFIITHDROMGSRSLY has to be one of her all abused. Show us Chun Li thigh, that's her strongest feature! All the guys we've seen were portrayed all macho in fighting poses. So far we've seen Ken and Akuma, then last week we saw Guile, with his controversial backwards American flag. One of the developers for the game says, "Guile's flags tattoos are not backwards. Well technically they are, but it depends on which way the character is facing. Because the old code flips the character art depending on which way the character is facing, it was like this before but just not as noticeable." We're pretty sure that violates some rule about the flag. Yeah, the US flag has rules. Maybe we'll get a non-Frank Miller Sin City version of Chun Li next?

Capcom continues its morphine drip of showing off a character per week from Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for XBLA and PSN. This weeks character is Guile, the master of the flat-top. This follows the releases of both Akuma and Ken over the last couple weeks. Capcom swears the images are what the characters will look like in the game and says we'll all be impressed when we see them in motion. Hopefully that'll happen as soon as Min-E3.

Last week Capcom showed off another character sprite for their upcoming (here we go again with the title) Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix , or SSFIITHDR, for XBLA and PSN. Capcom swears that the Ken model is how he'll look in the game and we really can't wait to see him in motion. This week, to give a better comparison, Capcom is showing off Akuma in his original and redone versions for a clearer comparison. And they still swear this is how he'll look in the game.

If you don't know who Akuma is, don't feel bad, he was a secret character until Street Fighter Alpha 2 and was only a secret boss in Super Street Fighter II Turbo -- perhaps not the best character to choose on this little promo leakfest that Capcom is doing. Capcom is now asking what character you'd like to see next. Us? We'd like to ask for a character in a comparison shot that we actually know well. It might be nice to see Chun-Li's upcoming HD curves on those thunder thighs of hers.