Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition slapped with always-on PC DRM

Last year, Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono said Super Street Fighter IV was unlikely to see the light of day on the PC after the original PC release of Street Fighter IV earned the dubious title of "number one in piracy." If the game were to ever make it to PCs, Ono said that a proper antipiracy measure would need to be devised.

With the Arcade Edition of SSFIV already confirmed for the PC release this July, Capcom has detailed its antipiracy measures, as well as the impact they will have on legitimate customers. The foremost part of Capcom's plan is a requirement that all PC users have a Games for Windows Live account and that their game maintain a constant online connection to access the full game. If that connection drops, players will be able to continue what they were doing, but at the next break in the action, they will be asked to sign back in. If the PC can't sign back in, access to any online features will be denied, as will save functionality for challenges or settings and access to downloadable content. On top of that, local play will be restricted to just 15 of the game's 39 playable characters.

The Arcade Edition of Super Street Fighter IV is headlined by the addition of four new characters to the game's roster. Along with Street Fighter III veterans Yun and Yang, the game sees a demonic pair joining the roster in the form of Evil Ryu and an even more evil version of Akuma called Oni. Returning fighters include Ryu, Chun-li, Juri, El Fuerte, and Rufus. All characters will be unlocked at the game's start.

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition will also sport several technical tweaks. Capcom said the game will sport all-new character balancing, "further refining gameplay." It will also feature an updated replay channel that will let players follow up to five individual player replays, making it easier to track down individual players. The My Channel Advanced option will let players send out their replay data to 50 friends. Finally, the Arcade Edition will sport an Elite Channel, which will let players watch replays from players who boast a rating of 3,000 PP or more.

The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition are set for release June 24 in Europe and June 28 in North America.