The scale of interest seems to be tipping toward (more) mixed emotions.

Last month, EGM gave us our first official impressions of SF4 which to be honest, was written in a very mild, political tone. I can't blame Shane though, he's trying to keep an open mind. Whether you've been a longtime fan or someone who got recently caught up with the Street Fighter phenomenon over the years, we all want to wish the best for this highly anticipated release. Recently players from SRK (the biggest online destination for fighting game discussion, news and more) presented some solid impressions based upon the arcade test location release and well, let's just say there wasn't a whole lot of fanfare in their words. (I like just noticed this so cut me some slack if you've already went there k?)

No, I am not going to hop on that soapbox I rode last week. You already know what I think. The collective thoughts are more or less what I feared and thankfully Capcom has more than enough time to actually correct the issues fans are addressing. Seriously, we don't even know about the rest of the undisclosed characters and look at the reception it's getting so far! This is a sign Capcom - FIX the GAME!

Moving on, IGN recently gave their take based upon a visit at this year's AOU event which didn't actually make me any more interested in the game before I read the article. I just didn't think there was enough personal insight in the article. 

Meanwhile, former GN editor Jared Rea offered his two cents via GameTap based upon the arcade location test featured at this year's GDC and it's by far one of the most solid articles I've read on the game so far. This cat has gone head to head with some of the most skilled players throughout the globe and has the writing chops to match. Here's a small clip: 

…after spending hours upon hours with the game, dissecting it with equal players and debating endlessly with Yoshinori Ono, I'm convinced that Street Fighter IV will turn out to be something special. It may not be there just yet, but the hurdles that Capcom faces aren't terribly tall and at this point, its more a question of whether or not they actually care enough to leap them. Seeing as how Ono never kicked me out of this suite with my near endless whining, I'd say they care.

Enigmatic, amnesia and out to kick some ass.

Call me bitter, but the more info we get about Street Fighter IV, the more my emotions get all mixed up with skepticism and a compulsive desire to be cynical. It's out of place, I know — the game hasn't even hit stateside, no one here (besides Shane at EGM) has actually played it and I am cutting it down to size. Perhaps it's because the art style just REALLY just doesn't sit too well with me. Chun actually looks pretty cool (folks at the Capcom-Unity boards find her to be fugly, go fig) and the other classic SF2 crew look awesome too. Ryu and Ken? Eh - the jury is still out on those two. Those expressions… blech.

Anyways, getting back on track here, AOU just ended recently and Capcom revealed a new character in the SFIV cast. The brawler is Abel, describe as "a man without a past". (Hm, wasn't Q like that?). Reportedly he has a really bad case of amnesia and has been traveling throughout the world attempting to gather clues from the remaining members of Shadoloo. Was he some secret project created by Bison? Is he somehow linked to one of the classic SF2 characters? Most importantly — will his awkwardly sized feet get fixed when you defeat the final boss? Yeah, I said it — those feet are hideous. LOL. Peep these new screens and enjoy. I am off to enjoy a good 'ol game of Bomberman to get over my current jaded state. :p

Official site plays catch-up and makes up for it with a first look at unique battle system.

At the rate of all these Street Fighter IV updates, I may have to start making an index. Fans should be pleased to hear that the official Street Fighter IV site now has officially presented the screens which have already made their way to numerous online media outlets big and small. So why should you bother visiting? Well, for one, there's a new trailer showcasing the Saving system in action. Up till now, we've been given some light details from Ono, but this trailer gives visual proof which should help draw more constructive opinons.

Looking good guys, now can you treat us to some new stages? I am sure everyone else is very eager to see something other than the revamped Chun Li environment. :p

Guess who else is joining Ryu and Ken? 

Street Fighter IV seems to be shaping up to become a rebirth of the original SF2 classic, at least that's what many are being lead to believe with the recent reveal of more classic World Warriors. My guess is that even game development isn't safe from Hollywood insisting on doing reboots for anything and everything under the sun; but I digress. Earlier this week, Capcom revealed that Guile, Chun Li, Dhalsim, Blanka and Zangief will be making a return in the highly anticipated release.

We also know that there's word of some newer characters (i.e. Crimson Viper) which seem inspired by the SNK style which could totally change the dynamic veterans are used to. Judgment will be reserved until more players stateside have the chance to finally get some hand-on time with the arcade build. As for the story, well, the little which we know of it — a recent Gamespot interview with the producer Yoshinori Ono and Capcom's Director of Communications Chris Kramer hints that the alleged reason behind the classic characters returning might have something to do with a time parallel. No, I am serious and here's an excerpt of the proof from the "Street Fighter IV Q&A - Familiar Faces article…

"GS: When is the game's story set in Street Fighter chronology?

YO: Well, the [sequel] number has indeed ticked up one unit, but the story and time period is actually not after SFIII. This game actually takes place after SFII. Is it before SFIII? Does it represent some parallel timeline? I guess you'll have to wait and see…"

(Let's all do a collective "WTF?" God please no time parallels, that just sounds so cheesy)… 

Moving on, it looks like Famitsu has beat the rest of the general Japanese public and media to the punch as evidenced by new shots featured on their website. Below is just a small taste of what you'll find there including several close-up shots of the game played in a cabinet and (cleaner) official artwork scans of the aforementioned cast. Additional screens can be also found here.

Update: Gamespot has larger "high-res" screenshots available. Check them out here.

Be on the lookout for more reports to trickle out next week as the AOU 2008 kicks off on February 15 at the Makuhari Messe just outside Tokyo.

(more…)

Stealing is bad, nuff said.

I spend a 8-hour shift at work and come home to find an explosive amount of drama and hysteria has flooded several popular online destinations. I am talking about Kotaku, a certain Brazillian freelancer, and Ziff Davis. To put it simply, those two new screenshots that circulated faster than any virus epidemic turned for the worst. Why? Because the leaked info was in fact, the same "intellectual property" which was published in the SF4 cover story. You know… the same story which my colleague Shane Bettenhausen worked so hard to put into words that I'd be able to say "nice job" just won't have the same impact now.

See, that certain Brazillian freelancer actually used to work for EGM Brazil and it turns out that he stole a password to EGM USA's servers, posted the information on his blog (which was *surprise* shut down of course). As for Kotaku's role in this… well, they initially jumped the gun and sort of gave ZD the middle finger. Funny how we all roll in the media world when all the facts aren't revealed. Everyone's getting along now it seems, after Dan Hsu set the record straight leading to Kotaku to take a step back and realize: shoot, we were wrong — shame on you Douglas for being a thief and forcing James Mielke to write an extensive blog reiterating all the hard work that goes into creating a successful publication and building strong relationships with videogame developers (like Capcom for instance).

It's crazy y'know… all this time, I just wanted to kick back with the message board patrons talking about how I am finding it difficult to keep an open-mind (that's a story for another blog), but instead — I am left pondering how pathetic this guy had to be. And if I were in Shane's shoes, I'd certainly feel devastated, especially since he was the first editor anywhere to actually have some hands-on time. Some people might not see this as a big deal because those shots eventually would have made their way to the net (but in case you haven't figured it out… that's a big no, no… seriously). If things aren't sinking in yet, go read Milky's blog, take it all in and then you'll see that my colleagues in the field certainly are justified to be upset. This was a very big story for EGM and that's been tainted.