Super Street Fighter IV

Goddammit Capcom, I just might have to plunk down $40 for this game if only for an improved online mode. They're going to implement SFIIHD's Quarter Match, which lets you endlessly spectate and play in a lobby rather than sifting through players with shitty connections after each match. That might be my sole reason for picking this one up.

Oh, and you get to beat the shit out of a car again.

The difficulty of the training is going to be scaled back a bit, but still really fucking tough. I do wish they would hold your hand a bit more, like explaining the benefits and drawbacks of using things like focus attacks or move canceling rather than just telling you to do it. Virtua Fighter's training does this way better, but it's almost required to given the complexity of that game.

And I second the Cody love, wonderfully ridiculous striped prison uniform and all. Speaking of Cody, I hope this release means that we're getting SF Alpha 3 on PSN.

You can get an updated PSP port of Alpha 3 with a ton of extra modes for pretty cheap. I still have Alpha 2 Gold on disc (complete with horrendous load times), so that's just going to have to subside.

Oh and if you can find one, I definitely recommend one of those SFIV Fightpads. They're excellent.

Agreed. I picked up the Tekken 6 Hori Stick Bundle on clearance. It's pretty much the same as the standard stick, just with shitty Tekken artwork. I tested it on just about every fighting game I own on PlayStation, including Masters of Teras Kasi (that's right). Quarter circle motions are a cinch and there's zero lag.

Pretty interesting interview at Shoryuken describing how the developers are balancing the game. Sounds like no one is really getting nerfed, instead weaker characters are getting buffed.

I can admit that I'm guilty of using Sagat way too much.

You've probably heard, but three more characters have been announced: Ibuki, Makoto, and...

MOTHERFUCKING DUDLEY

As for the last character to be announced, it's rumored to be Hakan, an Arab brawler obsessed with oil. Oh, Capcom.

A few more details:
-Each character will have two Ultras. Gen will have a total of four, two for each fighting style
-There will be air Ultras.
-Guile's Sonic Hurricane from MvC2 will be implemented.
-Cody's Alpha Counter is back.
-Dudley was searching for his car in SFIII, in this one he's looking for a rose. I wuv Dudley.
-Preorder bonuses:
-At Amazon/Best Buy: Extra costumes for Guile, Blanka, Gen, Dhalsim, and Fei Long

-At Gamestop: Super Street Fighter IV Penis Caps


They're doing the Fightsticks and Fightpads again. I'd buy another Fightpad in a second if the PS3 ones were wired. I've had two that stopped working due to the shoddy wireless. The sticks are incredible though. Gamestop has the MvC stick on clearance for $100. Worth every penny.

Finally, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is $7.50 this week on PSN. Probably one of the most balanced fighters out there and without a doubt the best version of Super Turbo available.

I've sworn off any PS2 fighters as they won't work with my damn stick. I'm still hanging on to my PS1 fighters though.

Oh, and for the next 24 hours, GoGamer has those SFIV FightPads at $20.

I had one that crapped out because the wireless died, but that was one of the first-runs. I'm hoping the Zangief controller (!) will fare much better. If anything, the pad's great for emulation and awesome for Sonic's Genesis Collection.

As for sticks, yeah, I grew up on d-pads, but I'm having a much easier time discerning between a Shoryuken and a Hadoken, charge characters are much more forgiving, and I can actually get pretty far into Practice mode with most characters. Those Focus cancelling moves are fairly easy to pull off with a stick (with some practice). That said, I'm loving my MvC TE stick. I think Gamestop still has them for $100.

Oh, and I'll place this link here since it's still just a rumor. A rumor that could very well be true: http://kotaku.com/5511912/marvel-vs-...unveiling-soon

I thought Best Buy had the same pre-order deal, but I was there just yesterday and they still don't allow pre-orders for SSFIV.

Yeah Fleed, unlocking Gouken and Seth was a bitch, so I'm glad we get everyone from the start.

SFIV owners were supposed to get some bonus for picking up the new game, but they haven't announced anything yet.

Those are seriously awesome. Aside from the Zangief-as-Haggar alt, the only one I found interesting is the upcoming Fei Long-as-Kato costume. I mean shit, some of those costumes would actually be worth the price.

My Zangief Fightpad arrived yesterday. I'm so glad the others were sold out because I woudn't have ended up with a controller that features a wonderfully lulzy facial expression.

And the incentive for having a Street Fighter IV save file is... graphics filters!

GameTrailers likes it.
Reviews are generally positive, it seems Capcom put a lot of love in this update. But I'm sure we'll hear ignorant complaints about how this is a shameless cash-in attempt coupled with a bunch of tired, unfunny jokes that the next update will have a "comically" long title.

Played through it for a couple hours, here's a few impressions...
-The interface gets a makeover. It's filled with a bunch of colorful, goofy images as opposed to the muted closeups of characters' faces.
-No more Indestructible! Instead we get a remix of the "other" SF4 theme. It even includes that confirmation horn sound effect from the old games!
-So far I think my favorite new character is Cody. He has a relatively simple moveset that's a good way to get acclimated with how combos work. Just from fucking around I figured out a few cool combos. He's just a fun character. His prison uniform is as ridiculous as ever.
-Hakan is so fucking over-the-top. He's a grappler, which leads to a bunch of goofy combos due to his oil fetish. When you add more oil and it's "activated", it basically looks like he's covered in fap. This is, of course, hilarious. His Ultra 2 is awesome.
-Speaking of Ultra 2s, they're a welcome addition. You choose which one you want to choose prior to the match, which isn't anything new to Street Fighter. They basically fall down to range vs leaving yourself open in case it doesn't connect.
-Still having connection issues. This netcode can fuck right off.
-I am very rusty at this game. Online isn't a ton of fun at the moment.
-The bonus stages are cool, but it's glorified fan service at best.
-DUDLEY DUDLEY DUDLEY
-Juri is a pretty complex character on the surface. I'm still not sure how to counter her air specials. SRKs don't seem to do the trick.
-For those unsure on what hardware to pick up, I recommend a stick if you intend to put some time into this game (I recommend the MadCatz sticks or the Hori RAP3... lol rape). Even more so if you have a ton of fighting games. They're a bit unwieldy at first, but there's a ton of combos in the challenge mode that are a cinch to pull off with a stick. Fightpads aren't a bad buy either, especially given their versatility. They're great for Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection and for emulation. I have one in addition to a stick in case a friend comes over and wants to use something between a standard controller and a stick.
-I'm heavily considering picking up the guide. Yeah, it'll make this game $60 and the movelist is in the manual and the pause menu, but it gets into the more advanced tactics that the manual only touches upon. A lot of websites tend to go crazy with the terminology and acronyms, so they're not really writing for casual players.
-Seth is still an enormous cunt.

You can still take a good chunk of energy off him by spamming back+medium kicks, even on the default difficulty.