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Street Fighter IV debuts in Japanese arcades 'late July'

  • By Hirohiko Niizumi, GameSpot
  • Posted Feb 18, 2008 12:34 pm PT

Fourth true sequel in Capcom's hallmark fighter busting up Island Nation's coin-ops this summer; beta test planned for next week.

While it's been less than four months since Capcom's announcement of Street Fighter IV, the game's debut today at the Amusement Machine Operators’ Union show in Japan revealed that its development is far enough along for all known characters to be fully playable. Given that, it's not surprising that Capcom already has a good idea on when the game will be ready for the arcades.

In a sales leaflet given to arcade dealers and members of the press during the event, Capcom once again confirmed that Street Fighter IV is on course for a summer release in Japan. According to the leaflet, arcade operators who purchase the game board in conjunction with a Taito VEWLIX arcade cabinet will receive their order in late-July, while those picking up the board stand-alone will receive their orders in mid-August.

Gamers eager to check out the latest edition of Street Fighter for themselves will have two chances this month to do so in Japan. The game will be playable at the AOU show when it opens to the general public tomorrow, and the game's first beta test will take place at Plaza Capcom in Tokyo from February 22 to 24.

For more on Street Fighter IV, check out GameSpot's hands-on with the game from AOU 2008.

26 Comments

  • xgalacticax

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 2:26 am GMT

    Tekken has very nice graphics but is too slow to be a proper fighting game. YAY to Street Fighter...Its still some way off though. Oh and somebody bring back Killer Instinct *Crying*

  • 02sfraser

    Posted Feb 19, 2008 2:28 pm GMT

    i want to play it but dont have arcades in my area

  • dj_b02us

    Posted Feb 19, 2008 11:16 am GMT

    yea i was at dave and busters this weekend (a big arcade type bar) and tons of the machines were kept in horrible repair. Sadly the american arcade is long passed its prime and i doubt we'll se any street fighter 4 arcade towers here =..(

  • maaly81

    Posted Feb 19, 2008 10:39 am GMT

    they should have sent this one straight to home consoles. I am 26, and have a career and family that occupies most if not all my time. I like to be at home to play my favorite games not go to an arcade to play the lastest and greatest. Only, I would say, the ages of 10-17 would be interested in arcade gaming in America, and that is being generous. Home game systems with better graphics, like monolith said, are the arcades downfall.

    let me know when SF4 comes to the 360.

  • monolith66

    Posted Feb 19, 2008 10:30 am GMT

    diablobasher:

    I agree with you to an extent, yes arcade owners were the most part lazy and didn't maintain their machines properly, but the downfall of arcades in America I believe was caused by home console gaming. When console graphics started to surpass arcade machines (most notably ps1, not SNES), they became the viable alternative to playing video games in general, you could play at home and you didn't have to put up 25 cents each time to play. And so the decline began and people started frequenting the arcades less and less and the fighting genre took a big hit because of this for quite some time.

    Street Fighter in general has enough of a reputation to turn this fate around, attracting old players of the 90's and the new generation. Either way, it'll be interesting to see how it pans out. I'm still an arcade believer and hope the scene comes back as big as it once was. Street Fighter 4 can certainly be the catalyst that drives the movement once again.

  • sasquatchua

    Posted Feb 19, 2008 7:34 am GMT

    Not to be a complete grammar dick or anything, but wouldn't the fourth game in the series be the third true sequel?

  • Roscoe245

    Posted Feb 19, 2008 6:34 am GMT

    i so cant wait for this game to come out, its gonna be sick i just hope it lives up to expectations

  • diablobasher

    Posted Feb 19, 2008 6:26 am GMT

    monolith66:

    I would be VERY surprised if that happened.

    The reason arcades died out isnt because people just stopped liking them, it's because lazy/ignorant arcade owners didnt run them properly and faulty machines and 'the latest games' became the focus, instead of keeping multiple cabs with popular games like Street Fighter and maintaining them properly.

    It's why Japans arcade scene is still thriving, because the people that run them actually care about the quality of their machines compononents and their customers.

    It's the same principal with retro games, in the west, if its not new and shiney its relegated to Ebay or a bargain bin. In Japan store owners pride themselves in getting hold of rare and good condition games.

  • Timstuff

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 10:21 pm GMT

    They'd better hurry up with the console port. US arcades are almost dead, and so consoles will be the only way most US gamers get to play this game.

  • Sam_Lowery

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 9:55 pm GMT

    OK, Tekken is the best fighter around, but T6 is like half a year away maybe more, and I can't wait to get my dragon punch on.

  • monolith66

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 4:12 pm GMT

    I wouldn't be surprised to see Street Fighter 4 being the reason for another arcade craze in North America and also re-popularizing the genre for old and new generations to enjoy. If arcades do come back to NA, it'll be because of street fighter. I'm sure it will still be nice to play it on the console and I'm excited about it if it turns out that way , but if I had a choice, I'd much rather play it in an arcade atmosphere. I guess it's because I grew up playing these sort of games in arcades some of the newer generations may not feel the same way and prefer to play on the console instead.... Long live 1991 !!

  • Lucidmike78

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 4:12 pm GMT

    Can't wait to place my quarter to get in line to get my ass kicked in25 seconds by a someone only doing cheap moves.

  • sonictank

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 3:20 pm GMT

    its gonna be a good game and same with king of the fighters XII

  • Gamebox88

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 3:09 pm GMT

    It's good that's coming out soon but like MadrikerXIV said hopefully it's not going to be a rushed release. So i hope it'll turn out well.

  • peeweeshift

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 1:59 pm GMT

    they are done. thats awesome news. unlike other devs they release info on the game when they know they are near finishing the game. I'm looking at you rockstar, konami, ubisoft. And the stupid fans complaining doesn't help either. Therefore thanks goes out to you capcom

  • RageSet

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 1:55 pm GMT

    Please consider the fact that fighting game makers like Capcom use the Arcade as some sort of "Open Beta", but its a Beta you usually pay for. This helps the game maker achieve complete balance and refinement. An arcade release of the game will give you NO actual time table of the release date for the console versions. Do you believe Capcom is going to hurt the little bit of success the arcade version could receive by releasing console versions by Nov/Dec 2008?

  • ghost867

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 1:46 pm GMT

    What? They've apparently been holding back a lot of information, because the EGM cover story a couple months ago had them only being able to play two characters and one stage. And only now have they revealed any sort of roster, which probably isn't close to balanced. Now all the sudden they have the Arcade beta test ready for next week? And the full game hitting arcades in late July? Oh come on....

    I understand that there will be a lot of extra features in the inevitable console versions, but that puts it on track for a holiday release. Really? I really think this game is going to slip into late summer/early fall for arcades and next year for the consoles. I really don't think the game will make it, and with all the games Capcom has coming in the next years worth of time, they can afford to push a game to Q1 2009 like they did with DMC4 this year. Street Fighter IV isn't some holiday release like a Halo 3 or a COD4. It can surely afford a push. It'll probably be for the best anyway....

  • ocdog45

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 1:44 pm GMT

    I really want to play some good fighting games

  • GEMINIVice

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 1:34 pm GMT

    I don't know about the sudden release. Hopefully the game will have more characters than what we've seen so far. If it doesn't then, I think we all know Capcom will make several spin-offs to Street Fighter IV just like they've done with Street Fighter II and III. Then again, it's just being released in arcades across Japan. So, maybe the console versions will have more characters and content before they're released in North America. I would like to see them introduce a tag-team mode (like Dead or Alive 3 and 4) that supports up to four players on consoles (PS3 and 360).

  • monolith66

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 1:27 pm GMT

    I think a flight to Japan is in order.

  • Zerosumgame

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 1:16 pm GMT

    SF4 will debuted as "Halo Buster" in North America this fall

  • N15PCA

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 1:14 pm GMT

    Need to play this has soon has possible.

  • Dreski83

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 1:08 pm GMT

    mmmMMMmmmmm... actual gameplay Can't wait to see more characters in action.

  • bubnux

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 1:03 pm GMT

    Sweeet. But I thought it was only a couple percent done...

  • condemned100

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 1:01 pm GMT

    Awesome news

  • MadrikerXIV

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 12:49 pm GMT

    Summer release, eh? Hopefully it won't be a rush job... otherwise, we'll be seeing Street Fighter IV Dash Turbo soon afterwards...

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