Street Fighter IV Panel - Wondercon
http://www.rarityguide.com/articles/articles/87/1/Street-Fighter-IV-Panel---Wondercon/Page1.html
By Douglas Shepard (Editor in Chief, RarityGuide.com)
Published on 03/7/2009
A detailed account of the panel Capcom had on Street Fighter IV at Wondercon 2009.
Many gamers are familiar with the Street Fighter series, offering a wonderful game that consumed many people’s weekly allowance/pay-check. Capcom this year decided it was time to revive this classic series. Many agree though, it was the right style and the right time. Throughout the panel, each person cited just how important the fans were for the series. It was the fans that influenced Capcom to choose Street Fighter II to serve as the basis for the new game. It mandated the original fighters, but not fan of the series was about to complain. That they then took the available technology and got Street Fighter in its tradition 2D format but with full 3D animations and backgrounds, making it look, frankly, gorgeous.
The first topic that received much attention was introducing the new Characters. The game has 8 characters in addition to the original cast of Street Fighter II, which include 6 all new characters. This includes the famed Master Goken, Ryu and Ken’s elusive sensei and he is Akuma’s Brother. They also talked a bit on Seth, the final boss, and C. Viper. C. Viper was intended to be something like a female spy, but naming her proved to be very difficult for the team. Eventually, after much conferencing, (and also using some Marvel character’s names) the name Crimson Viper was selected. The last notable character, Seth, also has a bit of story behind him. It’s funny to think that this boss was named, Seth, a genetic super-fighter, sounds more like an accountant. It’s attributed to Seth Kilian of community relations though trying to give it something more to work from. Taking a good look at Seth’s throne, you’ll notice the crossed-hands.
The next thing they talked about was marketing and testing the game. One of the big things done for it was to have “Street Fighter Clubs”. While requiring that you were a member of Capcom-Unity (which they promoted throughout), it was limited access within that, making it one of the earliest ways to play the game here in the US. It was also through the fan community that they got the art for the Collector’s Editions. While originally intending to only take 4, they instead chose 6 of the 300 entries. The PS3 and 360 versions both have a full-length animated feature (with HD), the OST, mini-guide, artbook and a little more. The 360 came with a figurine of C. Viper while the PS3 came with Ryu.
As I mentioned, they talked a lot about their community, Capcom Unity, that this point in the panel, they simply talked exclusively about it. They explained how easy it was to create groups, find people and get stuff. Many things were tied to just interacting with the site, simply rating the games would give you a chance to start winning things. A good example of what one could get through this site is that it’s one of the few ways to get Japanese exclusives. Another feature worth noting is the auction, letting you use your accued points to bid one exclusive items. It actually was from the forums that a lot of information was harvested for Street Fighter IV, reportedly 20 years worth. The last thing worth noting is that it would be through this Capcom Unity that people could gain access to Press-Only events, Like E3, but getting points.
In true Street Fighter fashion, the panel concluded with some matches. The first match was quickly met with jeering when something went and starting configuring the controller. Many felt to be not groovy. The person still lost too. Ultimately, it was only 3 matches, best 2 of 3 rounds. Blanka beat down Guile while Akuma beat up Sagat. When Akuma faced Blanka though, Blanka won. The player attempted a few “Raging Demons”, unfortunately missing with each one. The prize of this little tournament was a big figurine of Chun-li, worth about $100.
The first topic that received much attention was introducing the new Characters. The game has 8 characters in addition to the original cast of Street Fighter II, which include 6 all new characters. This includes the famed Master Goken, Ryu and Ken’s elusive sensei and he is Akuma’s Brother. They also talked a bit on Seth, the final boss, and C. Viper. C. Viper was intended to be something like a female spy, but naming her proved to be very difficult for the team. Eventually, after much conferencing, (and also using some Marvel character’s names) the name Crimson Viper was selected. The last notable character, Seth, also has a bit of story behind him. It’s funny to think that this boss was named, Seth, a genetic super-fighter, sounds more like an accountant. It’s attributed to Seth Kilian of community relations though trying to give it something more to work from. Taking a good look at Seth’s throne, you’ll notice the crossed-hands.
The next thing they talked about was marketing and testing the game. One of the big things done for it was to have “Street Fighter Clubs”. While requiring that you were a member of Capcom-Unity (which they promoted throughout), it was limited access within that, making it one of the earliest ways to play the game here in the US. It was also through the fan community that they got the art for the Collector’s Editions. While originally intending to only take 4, they instead chose 6 of the 300 entries. The PS3 and 360 versions both have a full-length animated feature (with HD), the OST, mini-guide, artbook and a little more. The 360 came with a figurine of C. Viper while the PS3 came with Ryu.
As I mentioned, they talked a lot about their community, Capcom Unity, that this point in the panel, they simply talked exclusively about it. They explained how easy it was to create groups, find people and get stuff. Many things were tied to just interacting with the site, simply rating the games would give you a chance to start winning things. A good example of what one could get through this site is that it’s one of the few ways to get Japanese exclusives. Another feature worth noting is the auction, letting you use your accued points to bid one exclusive items. It actually was from the forums that a lot of information was harvested for Street Fighter IV, reportedly 20 years worth. The last thing worth noting is that it would be through this Capcom Unity that people could gain access to Press-Only events, Like E3, but getting points.
In true Street Fighter fashion, the panel concluded with some matches. The first match was quickly met with jeering when something went and starting configuring the controller. Many felt to be not groovy. The person still lost too. Ultimately, it was only 3 matches, best 2 of 3 rounds. Blanka beat down Guile while Akuma beat up Sagat. When Akuma faced Blanka though, Blanka won. The player attempted a few “Raging Demons”, unfortunately missing with each one. The prize of this little tournament was a big figurine of Chun-li, worth about $100.