At the Tokyo Game Show, Capcom is proudly demonstrating the latest betas of SFIV on the PS3 and Xbox 360 – which has led to questions about what differences there will be between the versions. Comments have been raised about the backgrounds and frame rate yet again – with the arcade version coming out on top. Of course the console versions are still in a beta state so it remains to be seen what will happen there and at this point it still isn’t clear how well the vs. online support will stack up on the console versions. Also provided to us by The Stinger Report are screenshots of each version so far. Naturally one can’t see the frame rate difference but it’s still a decent guideline to go off of for now:
Arcade:
Xbox 360
PS3
I’m not sure what this Stinger Report is, but if the screenshots you posted was what was provided, I don’t even want to bother. The arcade screenshot is obviously a picture from an early location test if you look at the location of the revenge meter and the way the super bar looks. Also, the PS3 shot is a photo of the game running on a TV…
Sorry, but the console versions have Sakura, so it wins by default. ^_^
Haha, what’s with the silly arcade to console comparisons lately?
Ignoring the fact that the home versions are still in development, I’m pretty sure that the port will be close enough to satisfy everyone. Sure, there might be ten percent fewer triangles flying around on screen, and perhaps the texture detail on the pants of one of the background spectators won’t be as high, but I would bet the framerate and gameplay will stay intact. There’s no reason to believe that going by what developers have already accomplished with the 360 and PS3. The majority of folks plunking down the sixty bucks to play Tekken 6 or Street Fighter 4 on their three hundred dollar piece of hardware in the comfort of their homes won’t notice the lack of anti-aliasing, and the rest will just accept it and not give it another thought.
Besides, an old shot of the arcade beta and a photo off a television screen probably aren’t the best ways to compare. And if you ask me, it looks like it’s close enough.
Doh, that sentence should say “There’s no reason to NOT believe that going by what developers have already accomplished…”
The real questions is if the game is still coming to the PC? If so looks link homemade cabinets will be in full swing.
http://www.bemanix.com/sf4/sf4-5.jpg
^^^ Take note. That is a screenshot taken from the arcade machine. not this beta crap.
secondly, if the console versions can handle Tekken 6, VF5, and Soul Calibur4, theres no reason why it shouldn’t do sf4, which is running on lower spec hardware.
Yes the screens were provided by Stinger. I wouldn’t mind switching the arcade version for the one you provided though Scott.
I would really like to do a mouse-over comparison of all the final versions but naturally it will be best to place each version next to each other running on it’s respective hardware and compare from there.
Great to see the ‘shoot the messenger’ fixation from some posters is as strong as ever – make a comment about consoles and it is like dressing the kids up funny!
Knew this would ruffle a few feathers – first we wer v 100 and 10 per cent better than arcade for the home version. Then “oh what are a few poly’s and not anti-alias”. Now here hear new characters, but slower frame rate. Yes we know this is a Beta (as is Tekken 6), but the PR team are already starting the spin to lower expectations on their original claim of ‘Arcade Perfects – if not better”!
The images was all we had at the time of sending the News Feed, we knew better shots would come – but as there are two very big ‘NO PHOTOS’ signs by the TGS machines it is difficult to get true comparison shots. I was hoping that we would be able to run the YouTube video comparison after the show!
Personally, graphical differences between ports have never bothered me that much, my main concern is will it play the same as the arcade version. I care more about arcade perfect gameplay, as well as the lag issue with playing online then how pretty the home version looks. Being that I have an arcade near me with Street Fighter IV, I wouldn’t mind being able to practice on an arcade perfect home version.
Heh, don’t get me wrong here, it’s not like I’m some Console warrior, defending the honor of my particular system of choice. I regularly patronize my local arcade, stuffing dollars into their token dispenser and such. I dig the interaction with actual human beings standing right besides me as we engage in the sorts of battles a game like SFIV can create, much more so than the random twelve year old yelling raical slurs over the internet. Heck, I wouldn’t be reading this blog if I wasn’t supportive of the arcade ’cause’ or what have you. But hey, the last time I really cared that the arcade version looked better was when I tossed a copy of Daytona USA into my Sega Saturn.
Perhaps I’m reading into things too much, but to me it seems petty for a website about arcades, run by an arcade owner, to run two stories within the span of 24 hours about how the graphics a 6000 dollar piece of hardware can produce are slightly better than what is capable from a box anyone can walk into their nearest Best Buy and pay 200 dollars for. I mean, that much should be obvious to anyone. No need to treat it like some sort of victory in this silly Arcade versus Console war you guys are manufacturing. Nobody else is going to care.
IMHO, there is absolutely no reason why the home console versions should be inferior in any way. This is not CRYSIS, or FAR CRY 2, it’s Street Fighter IV…
The Tekken and Virtua Fighter series on the current consoles is graphically superior by a great margin, so both consoles should be able to pull of SF IV pretty easily.
I was thinking today that arcades might actually make a comeback, especially since the economy is going in the crapper. If everyone can remember, the 1970′s and early 1980′s, were an economic sinkhole, and still the arcades thrived. Granted, video games were brand new at that point, and times certainly have changed, but for the next few years, arcades could indeed make a comeback.
I seriously believe if the companies made the games, people would play them.
The public is not going to be able to afford $400+ games systems, and you may see the decline of the home market because of the high cost of entry.
Of course, I am not predicting anything along the lines of the arcade boom of the 70′s and 80′s, but I do think aracde games may come back from the brink of doom.
Fernando: I think you’re reading too much into this. I was sent information about some popular arcade games that will be coming to consoles and I posted it but I’m not trying to get a ‘war’ going on here – I have plenty of consoles at home and have enjoyed them for years. I really just like video games no matter where you get them. Obviously I show a little bit of arcade bias to make up for the lack of support out there but I have nothing against consoles at home. I admit that I would like to see more ‘big’ games stay exclusive in arcades for a few years instead of months. And of course it is helpful to know if there are any differences from an operator standpoint as if they are pretty similar then they know whether or not it will be worth it to them. Of course it’s been a long time since the differences were major anyways. That’s why I think they should start getting into higher than 1080p resolutions (if it can be done at a reasonable price) and using techniques like ray-tracing.
Neil: I think you’re right – historically people have sought entertainment to keep their minds off of bad economical stuff. Orices do need to be low enough though – paying $2 a credit isn’t probably going to move a lot but arcades that are able to charge less will probably benefit from what we probably have ahead of us. Now while at the moment we’re probably not able to head to a boom in arcades, if companies play their cards right, get us some great games at a good, affordable price and give us exclusives, I think it could boom again. It’s always been about the games and there is plenty of genres that could get attention in arcades, we just need them now. I can hardly wait for IAAPA, that should be telling of how the first part of this next year will go down.
12:40 AM (EST): I just came back from an hour trip over to the Tokyo Game Action in Winchendon MA (Check te website link) to which I was able to play one of their 4 – Street Fighter 4 systems in offical Tatio Cabinets. Let me tell you the graphic image displayed for the Street Fighter 4 arcade game in this post is exactly what I just came back from playing. This game is AWESOME. It saddens me that CAPCOM did not find a way or did not feel that it was worth making the Arcade more affortable to vendors in the US. This game would be a driving force to bring people back to the now small Arcade industry in the States. I am so lucky in an area where I can play the arcade version. IF YOU GET A CHANCE IT SHOULD NOT BE MISSED.
Now that being said I have not played or seen any video on the console version but the current HD arcade version is somthing that you can only experience with your own eyes. It had a awsesome 3D visual feel in a 2D fighting plain.
Tokyo Game Action in Winchendon MA
http://tokyogameaction.com/
Ah, it seems I was then, many apologies. I guess that’s what happens when I’m up late and got nothing better to do. @_@ Sorry about that.
Thanks for updating the arcade image.
I am surprised by some of the comments about the indifference on the quality? I agree that the Arcade version should be easily emulated graphically on the PS3 and XB360 – to hear that it wont be ‘exact’ was a surprise, and seemed to prove the complaints by developers about working on the PS3 hardware.
As the arcade version received 9/10 and 89/100 reviews in some consumer mags (an uncomfortable surprise for some in the consumer scene), it would be important for Capcom to ensure a exact experience (minus the NESYS, IC Card and joysticks).
Finally, I am very arcade Bias – that said when the console industry attacks my industry, I expect them to be thick skinned enough to take criticism of their own. It seems that rather than being even handed more magazines are ready to attack with lies our sector than question why the DIMPS developed game can not be developed perfectly on a console platform that clams to be better!
…Oh and on the arcade image above – the icons at the bottom center are the NESYS (tournament and network mode) symbols – yet another element being revised for the console version!
There has just been a question about my DIMPS statement – DIMPS developed (in secret) all of the Street Fighter IV product, directed by Capcom and funded by Capcom USA. This little secret proved uncomfortable for the executive team at AOU, as DIMPS is expanding their development capability and would not be available to develop to console ports… not you see the issues!
I wonder, why will Capcom make the console version different from the arcade version..?? when Xbox 360 and PS3 are more than capable to have at least the same graphic features..??
We just had this discussion over at the SFJP forum – the simple fact is that a console system is built to support multiple games, online and different graphic formats (displays) – while a arcade box is ‘dedicated’ to only one task – and are over clocked to support being used in a cabinet. Remember a game like Street Fighter IV has a Taito Type-X2 platform which is more powerful than the PS3 on frame-rate and clock-speed but not on poly push (numbers on screen).
There is also the issue of being able to support two player on one console, when the arcade version uses two connected Type-X2′s. This issue dose not event take into consideration the sad fact that Capcom are having great difficulty in creating a network (connected) version of the game using the Microsoft LIVE or Sony Home systems.
Sources speak of a lake of anti-alias images and below 60htz frame-rate on the XB360 and PS3 versions. Capcom hoping new characters and locations will placate side by side comparisons. I know of one form that has been asked to close regarding this matter.
Not a problem Fernando.
Editor – you haven’t heard if Capcom has decided if they are going to be bringing SFIV overseas officially yet have you?
We had been promised at AMOA an official statement, but the Capcom team did not materialize.
They said there may be word soon (IAAPA?) but I personally think Capcom USA has lost too much face over this – especially with Andamiro shipping VEWLIX cabs into America an Europe.
I know they also do not like us talking about the arcade version – those distributors that import the game are not going to get official support any time soon!
THIS JUST IN!!!
Direct screen captures do not look as good as a cellphone picture of a television screen.
MORE ON THIS SHOCKING REVELATION AS IT PROGRESSES, ONLY ON ARCADE HEROES!!!
Heheh.
Love the way the console fan boys (with their capital letters) are now attacking all the forum and sites that comment on the TGS report – thank god they can’t speak or read Japanese or we would be at war!
Just one last time for the hard of reading – the comments about the quality difference comes from the Capcom and Namco booths – from those that looked and played the ‘BETA’ versions, and use the caveat that these games shown were in 60 and 40 per cent complete states – and may differ greatly when finally released!
Just on a side, funny how none of the video of the game running at TGS has made it on the web yet??
Talk about getting your panties in a bundle Molloy. Grow up.
I don’t have my panties in a bundle. I just this this post is blatently ridiculous. The article is fine but the comparison pictures aren’t comparing like with like. I prefer arcade to console conversions but this post just seemed to be a bit more tabloid than I expect from what is a generally pretty measured and level headed news service.
Ah so now we know how the fan-boys will defend their position.
If we had not run any pictures and just give the information straight the fan-boys would have jumped up and screamed “not fair, you have no proof!”
We ran ‘early images’, and the fan-boys jump up and say, “hey its not finished, it will be better”, or “those images are rubbish so your wrong!”
And like Time Crisis and other Tekken games, when the console hhits the selves and is proven to be slower, not 60hz and limited game play to the arcade…. we will never be able to get the fan-boy to say a word!
I am willing to stand by the TGS information that both T6 and SFIV will not be 60hz like the arcade, will not have the same clock-rate – will that stop them from being 2009 smashes hit sellers no! But it goes against the claims of the marketing team, who also privately attacked our industry, so that is why it gets covered here… grow up fan-boys!
What the hell. I’ve been reading this site for a year and usually comment positively. Where did I say I was a console fan boy? I don’t even own a next-gen console. The last game I played this week was Sega Race TV, which I was giddily excited to find after months of anticipation.
Console fan boys are idiots. Because they’re idiots no amount of reasoned logic is every going to get them to change their mind so you might as well forget about it. There are too many stupid gaming websites repeating the same old misinformation and you’re never going to be able to shout above that noise.
But you guys are acting like arcade fanboys at this point. I’ll repeat myself in saying you can’t compare direct feed screenshots with bad digital camera shots of TV screens.
I’ve no doubt that the arcade version will have a better framerate and operate at a higher resolution. Loads of the newer console games like Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 are running at much less than 720p, the lowest resolution you could call HD. I’m not arguing with you saying that the console versions will be inferior, I just found the way you’re going about proving it is a little bit questionable.
The SF4 arcade picture is 124KB. The 360 and PS3 pictures are 26 and 27KB.
You guys are on the right side of the argument. The console versions are going to look and run worse. I just feel in your in your eagerness to stick the boot in you’re over egging the pudding.
LOL Molloy, arcade fanboys, lol….
Molloy, I was being generic when calling all complainers Fan-Boy’s please don’t take any statement as personal – just an observation of frustration – you should see the Stinger email!!!
Hey I found a way to guarantee 100% perfect arcade player:
http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2008/09/23/guy_rigs_street_fighter_4_arcade_system_to_his_tv-2.html
hey editor
glad that you were able to replace the screenshot with mine. ^_^
btw after seeing whats in the sf4 taitos, i’m sure of one thing-
i dont believe that the taitox2 hardware is anywhere close to the processing power of the xb360 or the ps3. The consoles should technically be able to run circles around the taito. This has more to do with internal development at capcom-jp being at an early stage or simply being LAZY with the port.
Agreed!
I am concerned that some of the fan-boy attacks (no one in particular on this forum, but on others) may actually be freelancers from some console game sites.
There are a lot of red faces at some sites that have already given high praise to the immanent console release of SFIV, only for them to have to admit they never saw the game or played it – and have no way to make the comparison against the arcade.
An example with be C&VG’s 10/10 review on a game they claimed to play at Leipzig – only for a few months later at TGS for it to be revealed that the game is not playable yet!!!
http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/crysis-warhead/preview/lgc-08-why-wait-leipzigs-biggest-games-reviewed-now/a-20080826102234267033/g-20080609143756441028/p-4
Graphically Street fighter 4 don’t even come close to top looking games for the 360/PS3, so if the port is inferior, then Capcom wants it that way.
If the game is not a perfect port, then I’m not buying it and I hope you guys don’t buy it. Capcom will eventually make much more money with the home versions of the game, then selling a few cabinets. If they don’t care about the home owners, then why should we support them.
All valid points -
*yes the home version is more (financially) important – as has been seen by How Capcom PR reversed previous moves
*yes the graphics are not earth shattering, and could easily be achieved on the next-gets
but…
SFIV is more than graphics, most (if not all) my comments about being a ‘exact’ version of the arcade fame is the ‘play’ – the issue of having to support 2 player combat on a console (where the Type-X only handles one), is a case in point.
I think the main issue is for me the compromise on the port. Capcom did not develop the game for arcade (this was done by DIMPS) and now they have to port other peoples code to two difficult console platforms and ensure that one dose not look better than the other!
We are going to see a interesting compromise, and when the game is released in July’09 (rumor) no game mag that still wants to get advertising from Capcom will dare make a comparison!
Maybe if we’re lucky, as was the case with Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game, we’ll get two entirely unique games.
I just want to play the damn game, and the way it’s going it’ll probably be on console first. Unless of course it shows up at ATEi. If it does, there better be a multiple cabs (not 1 like tekken 6!) coz there are going to be massive queues to play it!
“SFIV is more than graphics, most (if not all) my comments about being a ‘exact’ version of the arcade fame is the ‘play’ – the issue of having to support 2 player combat on a console (where the Type-X only handles one), is a case in point.”
wait, what?????
what makes you think that the taitox2, or the console equivalent version can’t handle having 2 players on a single unit??
I know youre probably not a computer expert, but AS IT IS, the taito unit is “handling” 2 players on each of its satellite units, except one control is being sent through the network, both taitos are sync’ed together. I can see your point if this was a FPS, and it was splitscreen, but this is a fighting games and all the elements are shown on both player’s screens exactly.
The fact that each player sits at their own arcade board is not an issue of whether the hardware can “handle it” (because i assures you it can…) This way simply guarantees a head-to-head setup so Japanese players can play anonymously, and gives the arcade owners flexibility in setting up how the units are networked with each other.
If anything having 2 players on one machine should be less processor intensive because the system doesn’t have to handle the computer players AI.
Your obviously not a developer:
- inclusion of I/O reading for P2
- inclusion of P2 character accounts
- inclusion of P2 selection screen
etc…
But the key fact is that DIMPS optimized the code to run in one player, this will show on the frame rate. (this applies especially to Scotts comments)!
Scott – I am a developer, and DIMPS made a big point of confirming that they could not get the frame rate and I/O functionality if they ran the full game on one board.
Why do you think they have two boards one dedicated per player?? Is this another attack just to try and keep the interest in the console roll out? I really hope I am not having a conversation with a Xbox or Capcom representative!
I have an issue with what DIMPS says about getting the frame rate and I/O right – if they can’t get their code optimized properly then why does it seem like it’s a chore to upgrade the hardware? It’s really just a PC and there are more powerful processors they could throw in the TX2, both CPU and GPU. It’s not like arcades are a console where we are locked into one hardware format for 5-6 years.
I agree some with Shaggy on that. And I’m out to throw a questionable light on what DIMPS says about dedicating one-board-per-player.
As a DIMPS developer, if you didnt have the FORESIGHT in getting 2 players working on 1 unit for a fighting game first, then there is something wrong with your development priorities. And i’m tying this with, fighting games are expected to show up on consoles eventually anyway.
If what you said is true, then they should have delayed the game to fix whatever “i/o stability problems” they had before arcade release rather than deciding DOUBLING the cost and hardware requirements for arcades in getting this game.
And to shaggy.
The TaitoX2 (released 2007) is a platform and has set specs. The video card on it is a Geforce7900.
And there you have it – “then they should have delayed the game to fix whatever i/o stability problems”!!!!! You speak from a position of naivety if you think development is an exact science. There was plans for DIMPS / Capcom to have a fully working single board application, but due to limitations and issues – this was abandoned to meet the 2008 schedule they were working too.
[Remember these guys attempted to develop the game on the AtomisWave back in 2005 first and then shelved it!]
I love the way you say ‘should’ rather than accepting what they ‘did’, and why this is a issue in the port of the original code. This is why we have been saying that the original code will need work, and modification to move towards console, and can not be a cert for being exact. I think this topic is dead now, as Capcom has asked some forums to wait till the release next year to discuss the ‘exact’ nature of the code – shutting the door on the subject. The whole ‘weakest version’ argument got very heated.
Finally, I have to say I am a little fed-up by the “what you said is true” – I am tired of being called out on stuff, when I am not dealing in an exact business, and when the critics vanish when the information is confirmed. All those that said I was wrong that DIMPS was the developers, all seemed to delete their forum posts when the news broke! Look I work here not play about – I pass on what I am given, and can only say that it is being honestly imparted, this is not a hobby, but a job we have been doing since 1994! – how about in future saying “if the information passed on to the Stinger is correct”?
Jesus Christ, man. You’re getting a bit personal if you think this is some attack on you. And you’re fed-up because I’m questioning something that DIMPS said through your Stringer Report? (honestly i dont care if its bullshit), but if making it “run on multiple boards”, was the solution to “frame rate/ i.o. problems”, then yes, i have a very hard time believing the truthfulness of that statement.
And i’m naive because i’m not a developer and i dont understand “the exact science” of developing? Are you talking about the code, or the issue between Ono and Inafune?
yep taking it way too serious – need a major chill pill. Never mix forums!
And just as a nice little conclusion to this wonderful discussion, I got a chance last night to play Street Fighter 4 on both the 360 and PS3. And aside from a slightly extended loading screen before the match I couldn’t tell the difference between those versions and the arcade, 60fps and all.
I’ve played the console version of SFIV on both ps3 and xbox360 along with some of the best players in the world, and NOBODY noticed a difference between the console ports we were playing, and the arcade version everone had just played before going to the event
douches!