Super Street Fighter 4!

from 1up.com today...

It seemed abundantly clear that we were witness to an impressive hoax or simply an early look at a new Super Street Fighter game after a leak surfaced over the weekend. Screenshots showing, among other things, a returning T. Hawk led us to believe it was real and now we have confirmation of Super Street Fighter 4. Despite the popular theory that the new game would be released as downloadable content for the existing Street Fighter 4 game, GameSpot reports that Super Street Fighter 4 will be released in the form of a disc next spring for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 -- and it won't be a full priced release.

The very immediate and obvious question that springs to mind is just why Capcom made the decision to make this a disc-based released, as opposed to simply doing it as DLC. Producer Yoshinori Ono explained that this was due to the fact that Street Fighter 4's code wasn't designed with this sort of expansion in mind, and the game simply wouldn't be able to support the features being added in SSF4. A downloadable release was considered but ultimately ruled out due to these technical constraints. To ease the minds of SF4 owners, Ono promises that there will be some sort of bonus given to SSF4 buyers who own a copy of SF4, but just what that bonus might be is unclear at this point. You'll definitely want to hang onto your copy of SF4 if you plan on playing online with non-upgrading fans, as the two games won't be compatible with one another.

You can expect to see "roughly" eight new characters -- though that figure could still change -- in addition to the 25 that Street Fighter 4 shipped with. Among the additions are T. Hawk and the brand new Juri, who may not be the only new character added to the mix, as Capcom is looking to add both new and retro characters alike. Other changes include various balance tweaks, new ultra combos for the existing cast of SF4 characters, and an enhanced online component (no specifics on just what's being improved here, except a hint of a potential lobby system).

More details are sure to emerge as we approach the game's release next spring. At least now we know that we can firmly file this rumor as "fact."

I am, of course, excited... I love SF4... can't wait!

Update! Footage of T Hawk and Juri! T Hawk looks awesome :)



from Shoryuken.com:

Some of the information was listed as two new characters, Juri, and Hakan (Hakan being a Arab grappler associated with lots and lots of oils), and EIGHT returning cast members from other Street Fighter games. Dudley, Ibuki, and Makoto from the Street Fighter III series. From the Street Fighter Alpha series, we have Cody, Adon, and Guy, and from the Super Turbo series, we have T. Hawk and Dee Jay. We will have to wait and see what Capcom reveals to see if any of these rumors turn out to be true.