Super Street Fighter IV *might* get an arcade release

Shaggy October 3, 2009 10

ssfiv

Oh boy, here we go. I for one will not be putting a lot of faith into Capcom for this until we see it. For more perspectives, AH contributors Kevin Williams and Aaron Auzins weigh in on the possibilities, after the jump

Kevin Williams (of  The Stinger Report):

The original decision to abandon the amusement scene, with the September statement regarding this latest release (SSFIV) was obviously not set in stone!

The Asian AM take-up on SFIV has been immense and Capcom has found it difficult to support this interest. That said, this amusement interest has benefited Taito and their distribution arm as much as it has Capcom – as the game runs on the VEWLIX and Type-X² hardware. For Capcom they had lost control of the title in this sector; where the new SSFIV release (now minus DIMPS) will be 100 per cent theirs own.

A number of Japanese and American player forum have proffered another way to read the claimed abandonment of the arcade scene by Capcom— that is that the gloss has been lost from the Street Fighter amusement title, the lack of updates and support of the promised NESYS has allowed other new fighting games to take the top spot on player charts. Possibly some at Capcom R&D felt it unprofitable to compete in the AM battle, focused on the greater prize of consumer sales?

During all this a complicated three way executive battle inside the halls of Capcom has erupted. Days after the first airing of the GameRectorTV interview and rumblings had started. The head of the Capcom AM executives had been furious with the statement from a producer, and demanded that it be recounted – the next day a hurried statement was posted on the official company blog stating “It’s not that an arcade version of Super Street Fighter IV isn’t possible. That’s one thing I really want to get out there, that we never said to give up on an arcade version.”

Off the record the AM executive division chastised both Capcom JP and US producers, in an internal memo, for interfering in “…an industry and market they have no independent knowledge of; a valuable and important component of our current and future business – including complicated partnerships, impacted by unprofessional statements!” It was revealed to the Stinger that over the past days of the original interview statement Capcom and Taito have been inundated with complaints from amusement operators and loyal fans, for claiming to abandon the amusement scene – the company now having to work on a damage limitation strategy, forcing their hand to release a new coin-op version!

The question will have to be, will the console sector be the only place where a new Street Fighter title will be seen, or will the bootleggers yet again, be first to fill the vacuum?

Aaron Auzins:

Through a good portion of the day, Japanese sources have been throwing up pieces left and right in regard to Super Street Fighter IV. It seems the Japanese press has got Capcom talking about the game and for those concerned, a few mentions of Japanese arcades have popped up. While this by no means confirms an arcade update, sources such as
assistant producer “Nakky”‘s blog have indicated an arcade version of Super Street Fighter IV is “in consideration.”

The big announcement for the day was the clear indication that Dee Jay will return to the roster, fleshing out three of the “eight or so” characters that will be introduced into the Super Street Fighter IV list. Quick descriptions indicate that the returning characters are continuing off of their former storylines – since Super Street Fighter
II, Dee Jay has actually been successful in his music career, selling millions of records and T. Hawk is still a little peeved over “Dictator” killing his father. The new character, which has been identified as Juri by Capcom Unity (since the Japanese replace “l” with “r,” I thought it could have sounded like Julie at first), practices Tae Kwan Do and sports an artificial eye that functions as a weapon developed by the S.I.N. organization.

Of course, the original arcade Street Fighter IV limited the game to 17 playable characters plus the hidden CPU Gouken, so an arcade update with the full content would nearly (or actually, if more than 8 are introduced) double the rosters for Japanese arcade enthusiasts. This is definitely a far cry from the “upgrades” Capcom traditionally dished out with the Street Fighter II series. The title also was featured in a huge breakdown on Famitsu.com, delving not only into the new characters, but the tweaking of the game. I’m not sure what this will entail, but a section of the paragraph mentions “the addition of a new grapple system” and an extensive rebalancing of the console version’s 25 characters.

Only time will tell if the expansion lands on arcades, which would predictably work very well as the arcade machine has had a dedicated following and being able to switch the game up for an upgraded version in an old cabinet would no doubt be a welcome addition to arcade owners’ collections all over the world. Given how much has already been exclusive to the consoles, Super Street Fighter IV would undoubtedly be a huge leap for the game in arcades. Today’s information has made it clear the real focus is on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of the standalone title and its upgraded online capabilities, but at least a chunk of people can breathe a little easier knowing an arcade version hasn’t been completely shot down yet.  EVO interviews with Street Fighter IV champion Diago noted Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix isn’t available in Japan and he
believes the title would make a huge impact in arcades so at least someone believes in the cause.

Famitsu.com = http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1227966_1124.html

Nakky blog = http://www.capcom.co.jp/blog/sf4/nakky_blog/2009/10/01_327.html

10 Comments »

  1. Celestein October 3, 2009 at 3:28 am - Reply

    I wish we got some concrete info. “When” is an important question, if the arcade version doesn’t come out by January-February then that really limits the incentive to buy an arcade kit when a likely superior or at least equal, console port will be hitting in just a few months.

    Given that they don’t even seem far into the development cycle, that seems doubtful.

  2. arcads4ever October 3, 2009 at 1:57 pm - Reply

    somehow I knew that it would turn out bad for capcom for ignoring the arcade fans. I do like my consoles but there are way too many games to choose from for each console and hand held than the arcade scene. I think it would be a wonderful idea if capcom released super street fighter 4 in the arcades or just would be better. just look at guitar hero that started off as a home games console title and now its popular in all the arcades I’ve found it in despite being available at home to buy for, imagine what it would mean for super street fighter 4. I think it will happen to be honest but I’m not confident capcom are willing to release it for the arcades in the west, though I think there weird banning to sell the arcade version in the west and if found out will lead to prosecution, god don’t they want to take advantage of the arcade market thats nearly bare? there’s way too much competition on home consoles so why not give the arcade market a chance. they would have a good monopoly if they did with the likes of ST IV 😉

  3. editor October 5, 2009 at 12:25 am - Reply

    …oh we have more news!

    Seems some at Capcom R&D claim that the SSFIV has maxed out the performance of the PS3, and that it may be too powerful for the Taito-TypeX2????

    More stalling me thinks!

  4. Shaggy October 6, 2009 at 2:44 am - Reply

    Wasn’t there a Taito TypeX2+? Or would it be that difficult to throw in a more powerful gfx card, just for that game perhaps?

  5. Shaggy October 6, 2009 at 2:48 am - Reply

    Never mind, I was thinking of the TypeX+. If power really was an issue (which it shouldn’t be as according to the specs, you can just throw in any PCI-E gfx card) then they could just make a TypeX2+. But again, there is no reason they should need to since it’s just a PC that can be easily upgraded to handle the game, unless Taito is lying about the specs and doesn’t know how to upgrade a PC platform.

  6. Bryan October 8, 2009 at 4:33 pm - Reply

    The arcade I work at is getting a SF4. 🙂
    (It’s an Xbox 360 stuffed into a arcade cabinet.)

  7. editor October 9, 2009 at 4:33 pm - Reply

    illegal!

  8. john February 8, 2010 at 12:59 am - Reply

    street fighter is one of the best game of all time in arcade… I love that game

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