SFIV has arrived on consoles so what is the verdict? UPDATED

With SFIV making it’s way to consoles in less than a year than it was released to arcades in Japan (and then through imports elsewhere), one has to wonder how it stacks up? Unfortunately for myself I cannot say since I have played either version of the game. But other people have! From the few reviews I can find out there at the moment where the reviewer has played the game in the arcade and the consoles, the reviewers seem to agree that there are no notable graphical differences between the home and the arcade versions of the game (unless you count online). IGN UK calls it the “very definition of arcade perfect” and this review at Gamemanx was pretty straightforward about the subject too.

Also it should be noted that in Japan the game sold out all over the place so this was certainly good for Capcom.

Here is a video where they review the console version of the game and they make an interesting note about the  joysticks and the fact that the arcade sticks need to be calibrated, which I find to be unexpected. They must be analog sticks or something.

What are your thoughts? Have you played the arcade and the console versions yet and what have you noticed between the two?

UPDATE: I would like everyone to read the comment we got below, in case anyone still likes to argue that there is absolutely no effect that console ports of arcade titles have on arcades themselves. Of course this is nothing new – years of ports have proven time and time again that when the console port is released of a popular game, most people will just stay home and play instead. This is why I still believe that arcades do compete with consoles on some level – they compete for players dollars and time and certain games can bring players out of home intentionally to come and play.If they can get close enough of the experience at home, they are less likely to make the effort to go out and play at arcades where instead they will occasionally play at the arcade when they just happen to be out.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not completely against ports although I am against ports that come out quickly after the arcade release, especially for games that cost as much as something like SFIV does. Those of us operators are running a business and some of us are trying to make a living out of it and it is difficult when the rug is pulled out from under us like this. Fortunately, most arcade developers understand this by now.

As Bill says in our comment section:

“Wow, I can sure see immediately that the console version came out. Our two cabinets that were grossing well fell to nothing the last 24 hours. The players all said goodbye, and thanked us for having them at our arcade, and are saying they will be playing in home tournaments now rather than coming here. BTW, we are still over 5000.00 away from recouping the cost of this setup. ARGH!”

Any other operators out there with SFIV that has seen a negative effect on earnings since the console version came out?

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