Read the EGM preview on the game and then give an informed opinion please.

IMO, SF3's cast was a joke. It went from the human with powers based fighting game that SF2 was to the freak show that SF3 was. And as Ono said in the interview. He believes that it was the overly bizzare cast and unreconizable characters of SF3 that led to it not becoming anything more then a cult success. And I couldn't agree with him more. (I'm not saying that SF3 was bad by anymeans. Just talking about mass public adoption here)

Also this is an EXTREMELY early build of the game. The stage is 50% done and the Ken & Ryu models are only about 70% complete. As for the overall game. As a whole the game is only about 2% complete and the "save" system hasn't even been put into the game yet. Also they did have the parry system in SF4 up till a couple weeks before they showed the game to EGM. All of this just goes to show that it is WAY to early to judge anything really about the game. So expect it to look 50X better when it comes out sometime 2009.

The "Revenge" and Save systems sound really cool. Can't wait to see how they all pan out.

I think you're right. Capcom's original design for SFIII was to take the series in an entirely new direction with loads of new characters that were kinda like the old guard, but just weird enough to be considered original - Remy was a goth Guile, Hugo was a German Zangief, Necro was a squishy Dhalsim - but the four veteran fighters we ended up getting wound up being the most played in Third Strike. I know Chun-Li and Ken were top tier, with Ryu and Akuma not far behind. Capcom had tried to make their new characters "weirdly original", they ending up sacrificing fighting ability for graphical flair, which was sorta understandable since they had a brand new arcade board to show off. The more "down-to-earth" characters like Yun and Dudley ended up being accepted much better, but I don't think it was necessarily because they weren't "freakish", they just had more refined and reliable movesets that didn't have factors like how far their arms would stretch or if lightning would shoot out of their hands when them.

But weird as it was, it was still really solid. Granted, it took two major revisions, but every good fighter goes through at least some tweaks. If SFIV looks bad right now, just wait. Patience can go a long way for Capcom fighters, and I doubt they're going to let this one sink.

I'm just saying that the graphical style doesn't lend itself to serious competitive play. It's like a Pocket Fighters tournament. How can you even take that seriously.

And anyone with the hopes of producing a fighting game that breaks records in an age of FPS and RPGs needs to put down the pipe. I personally would have taken the art direction from SFIII, brought back all the classic characters, and called it a day.

I know I’m may be the only one who gets the feeling that maybe their playing it a little too safe. I understand that they don’t want to repeat the “mistakes” of other 2D to 3D transition like Sonic. I still would have liked to have seen do a true move to 3D, look back on Super Mario 64, Zelda, and Metal Gear Solid all which started out as 2D games but eventually made an excellent transition from 2D to 3D, something that none of you would argue. I wish people would stop mentioning Street Fighter EX as an excuse as to why SF series should stay stuck in its 2D gameplay, SF EX played similarly to the 2D street fighter except the character were 3D models instead 2D sprites and the clunky game engine. Capcom did developed Power Stone after all.

Capcom has done some excellent 3D work, and I'm convinced that if they handed it over to the Clover guys we'd get a marvelous Street Fighter, or any fighting game, as a result. I think it's more like they don't want to change Street Fighter too much. They see SFII as the bastion of all things good with fighters and they don't want to stray too far from that formula. But you're right, the SF series is one of those rare classic franchises that never made the jump to the third dimension. Some people like it, and some people think it's old hat, but Capcom just doesn't want to cut the chord and make the full leap. This is also a series that stayed 2D when everything else like Soul Calibur, Tekken, and Virtua Fighter were taking advantage of newer technology, and all the old-schoolers saw SF as the series that stayed the closest to the genre's roots. By keepin' it flat, they kept the purists happy, and to lose a series like SF, the personification of the classic fighter, to the "new way" would be like losing a part of our collective past. It's over-dramatic, I know, but I think that's what people think. Deep down, they don't want to see the old ushered out.

It's a different world, that's for sure. I think what Capcom is attempting here is the jump-starting of the franchise by emulating the best game in the series as closely as possible while still giving console owners their money's worth with the 3D stuff. Although, with so much buzz around hi-res 2D these days, it's a wonder Capcom didn't at least consider that option. I mean, they seem to think they have a good thing going with this game, but if they even doubt for a moment that they couldn't make a spectacular 3D fighter, they could have at least attempted to make an awesome 2D one. If history is our guide, I think they certainly could have done that, but I see the current state of SFIV as a bold, intentional step in a new direction, for better or worse. Yeah, the graphics are really wonky right now, but maybe they'll get better. Maybe the other characters won't be as bad as Ryu, anyway.

NEW CHARACTER REVEALED!


It's like a mix of Vanessa from KOF and Reimi From Variable Geo IMO. Totally KOF style and a little of EX too.

Anyone can translate, please? T_T

Edit: Ok, her name is "Crimson Viper". That's the only info I know.

Yeah she's definately got a SF3/KoF style to her.

I guess that's to be expected. Sensibilities now aren't exactly the same as they were 10 or 15 years ago. I refuse to make any conclusions based on one image, though. Ryu's just a random dude in a karate gi, and I doubt a complete newcomer to Street Fighter would think he's interesting just based on character art.

Mostly I'm just holding out to see if Chun Li is still using her pseudo-Wushu from SF3. I'd have used her even if she was bottom tier, just because she looked so slick when fighting.

Does anyone know what the moonspeak on the Japanese SF4 website says about Crimson Viper in the character bios section? Much as I don't like her design I have a responsibility to keep up with the story.

Game Videos has fresh gameplay clips of the arcade.

Crimson Viper looks annoying as hell. And there's a new character named Abel, from France. He's a muscular fighter, kinda looks like Marduk from Tekken, but not as imposing.

New interview with Ono:

Inside Street Fighter IV's Nostalgic Allure | Game | Life from Wired.com

Fricking sweet. Grown up Sakura pretty pleeeease?

Wowwwwww.

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/3...7565774fm3.jpg

Nice arms >.<

OK, realistically Chun Li would have big manly arms, but Street Fighter isn't really supposed to be realistic. This game is shaping to be UGLY. Who the hell is the art director for this thing?

The same guy who did the art for 3 that's who. And to me the game looks spectacular.

Not to discredit your opinion which is also legit.

I don't deny that Chun-Li is one strong lady and would have muscle, especially on her legs, but those man arms and hands are pretty scary to me. It's like her thighs in place of her arms. Cute face, though.

Bleh Chun-Li looks more man than woman in that cap...

Oh and that's great news on a potential return of Sakura, as well as others. Hopefully she'll get a design update, assuming she's no longer in High School.

Something very strange happened between the concept art and the 3D modelling, then. Chun Li sure didn't look like that in SF3. Kind of reminiscent of FF9, where Yoshitaka Amano did all these character designs, then all the in-game models looked nothing like what he drew.

Akiman and previous artist for Third Strike never put that much emphasis on Chun-Li's arms.

wow... that chunli picture looks wrong on so many levels, hell it's bordering on that style that freaks with a muscle fettish like! I find it hard to believe the art director is the same person who did 3rd strike, but I do know if they're keeping remotely true to the characters that if the arms are like that just imagine how her legs are going to look x.x

Her thighs look as big as they were in 3rd Strike.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6...ithighsmp6.jpg

AEQ Trailer, aftering seeing the pre-rendered fight between C. Viper and Chun Li makes we wonder why didn't go with that approach for graphics. Capcom could have achieved that level of detail (well close to it anyway).

Gametrailers.com - Street Fighter IV - AOU 2008 Amusement Expo English Trailer HD

Sagat & Balrog. We kinda saw this coming.

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

I dunno if I like the graphics, or the way the game looks. I haven't played it yet, so I could be wrong, but it looks as though I won't really be impressed.

Also, they should think about retiring some of those characters. For realz.

While it is true that Street Fighter 3's popularity was hurt by a lack of recognizable cast, I'm not sure they needed to bring back all 12 world warriors. I'm seriously expecting to see T. Hawk and company next, at which point I'll have to question if this is really Street Fighter 4 or just Street Figther 2 Turbo The New Challengers Extreme 3D Edition. It's seriously looking more like a remake than an actual new game at this point - the new characters seem to be more of an afterthought.

Not to mention the game's engine seems to be going backwards along with everything else. Perhaps my super low expectations will make me like this game more than I should. We'll see.

I don't think it matters what Ono does with SFIV, he's going to piss people off period. You go the SF2 route you P. off the SF3 fans and visa-versa. You go realistic you P. off the the stylized fans, etc.

I'll admitt that there are things that they probably should have done in keeping with the original trailer, but considering how barely this game got approved by Capcom, as long as the game is good I save my nitpicking for SFV when the game will have perhaps a larger budget and more time in the pipeline.

@MonkeyKing
I'm getting that vibe too. But it all comes back to them needing IV to do well in order for there to ever be hope of a SFV. We'll see when it comes out if they played it too safe however.