Heads up! The Capcom Store received a long-awaited shipment of Mad Catz's official Street Fighter IV FightSticks today. Both the standard ($69.95/$79.95) and rarer Tournament Edition ($149.95) models are on sale for PS3 and Xbox 360. (Note: The FightPads are still out of stock.)

Still reading? You must not be interested. These bad boys go fast ... but are they built to last?

[Via Capcom Unity]

For the few of you out there waiting for a PC version of Street Fighter IV and who, simultaneously, had not prepared for playing the game with a keyboard and mouse, Capcom has luckily thought ahead. It's including a MadCatz Fight Pad in the $60 Games for Windows version of SFIV that'll be sold at your local brick and mortar. We're wondering how many folks are willing to snag one of these for the controller alone!

Problematically, the company has at once solved your problem and caused another -- how are you going to play against friends in your house with only one controller? Knowing that the arcade controllers released have come in fairly short supply, here's hoping the introduction of PC Street Fighter IV brings with it a bevy of the unfortunately necessary controllers to the market.

Poor Games For Windows Live. The branding and service have been so neglected that it actually gives us a little spring in our step to see someone embracing it, like the way we like to hear about Brad Pitt buying mosquito nets for poor countries.

Its latest benefactor is Street Fighter IV on the PC, which will use the service to provide multiplayer and Achievements when it arrives on home computers this summer. Out of curiosity, have any of you been waiting for a PC release to polish up your Tiger Uppercut?

[Thanks, The Weaponeer!]

Just a quick reminder that free Street Fighter IV DLC, called the Power Up Pack, is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. The pack comes with the new Championship Mode, which adds new tournament features and double-blind character selection. The pack also includes a new Replay Mode, which allows players on Xbox Live to download replays of matches, which even include the controller inputs used by each character.

The download clocks in at 16MB and, once again, it's free. Strangely, it appears the DLC is not available on PSN just yet. We'll be sure to let you know when it shows up.

Update: We apologize for the error, as the DLC has been available for the PlayStation 3 version as an update for a few days now.

Capcom has been combing the desert Europe looking for the best Street Fighter IV players around, Eurogamer reports. Utilizing the new Championship mode to track your Grade Points (which determines your overall rank in the standings, naturally), the contest is open starting today and ends on May 17. Then, on the week of May 30, the best 30 fighters from each of the participating countries -- UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain -- will be matched up to decide the champion of each nation. After that, the five winners will then be flown to a secret location (we're crossing our fingers for inside of a volcano) on the weekend of June 13 to compete for the grand prize: an Aerox R Yamaha scooter and matching SFIV jackets.

If you're a Joystiq reader, and you make it to the finals and win this scooter, we suggest you name it Sasha.

Good news for fighting game aficionados out of Capcom and MadCatz HQ today. A new shipment of the specialty controllers and arcade sticks for (and that should have come bundled with) Street Fighter IV will be available soon. Darin from the Capcom Unity Blog sends word that MadCatz will have a few units of the popular -- but somewhat problematic -- controllers by the end of this month and the end of April.

While the number of units isn't being thrown around, Capcom says there should be enough stock to take care of most, if not all, existing orders. As for the ability to one day walk into a store and freely purchase a unit off the shelf ... let's not talk crazy, folks.

Our very personal bestest friend, Major Nelson, has posted Xbox Live activity for the week of March 2nd. Halo continues its never-ending battle with Call of Duty with Halo 3 nudging World at War from the top spot. Call of Duty 4, Gears of War 2 (somehow) and GTAIV round out the top five.

The Halo series receives some backup this week, with newcomer Halo Wars debuting at number six. On top of that, the Halo Wars demo inched up the top ten, moving from the ninth most played to the eighth. FIFA 09 moves up a notch to number 9, shoving Street Fighter IV to the tenth spot.

Considering the limited edition of Halo Wars including the Mythic Map Pack, it might have had something to do with Halo 3 reclaiming the top spot. The big question now is whether or not Halo Wars can maintain its momentum. As one of the few RTS games to make a big splash on consoles, you can bet Microsoft is watching it closely.

For our PC brethren that have been watching 2 million console gamers with envious eyes, know that your time will come, uh, months from now, as Capcom has dropped word that Street Fighter IV could be arriving on the PC as soon as this summer. Capcom vice president of business development, Christian Svensson, even says that Capcom has been in talks with Mad Catz to bundle one of those SFIV fight sticks with the game. "I'm in talks with Mad Catz to figure out how can we actually do some bundles of pads and Street Fighter IV PC," said Christian.

However, a release date of "this summer" isn't even set in stone for the game. When asked about the PC version's release, Christian merely responded by saying, "Let's say summer." We have a feeling a lot of PC gamers have some choice words for Christian, but we remember what our teachers told us about assuming.

Well, this is awkward. David Sirlin, a major designer behind Super Street Fighter II HD Remix (and the awesome Super Puzzle Fighter II HD Remix) is calling out Street Fighter IV. More specifically, he's calling out reviewers who call the game accessible to casual gamers. Sirlin points out a number of complicated commands used in the game as well as a host of very technical maneuvers that only dedicated Street Fighter players can pull off.

"Qcf x 2 +PPP all the time, extra button presses to throw, extra button presses to roman cancel, and many, many extremely difficult link combos work in concert to create that impenetrable wall of execution between you and the actual game," writes Sirlin. Throughout the lengthy piece, Sirlin notes that several things were added to Street Fighter IV that were unnecessary and only serve to make the game more complex. The end result, according to Sirlin: Playing the game becomes more about mastering esoteric techniques than focusing on strategy. To be fair, Sirlin does say that there's no reason the game has to cater to a casual audience, but he finds it puzzling that so many reviews claim that it does.

What do you think? Is Street Fighter IV n00b-friendly? We've posted a poll after the break, give us your vote and tell us what you think in the comments.

[Via OXM]

The number of stitches on a baseball. The number of prayer beads strung together to form a mala. The number of minutes in which Desmond had to press that damn button again and again. And, the new Guinness World Record for consecutive Street Figther IV wins. What do these seemingly unrelated phenomena have in common? The Number 108 ...


The UK's Zak Bennett has sealed his inseparable fate to this sacred number by setting the SFIV record at a London launch event last Friday, now confirms Guinness World Records. Initially, Bennett was defeated after only 28 consecutive wins, but even that was enough to break the previous record -- set at a paltry 10 wins. Still, something inspired him to try again. In his second attempt, Bennett would not be defeated for 108 consecutive matches. (Guinness did not confirm, however, just what caliber of opponents Bennett faced during his immaculate run.) Quick! Someone make this kid's Wikipedia bullet point.

Source - Street Fighter Savant To Set New Guinness World Record [Press Release]
Source - Guinness World Records Gamers Edition 2009 [Press Release]

Nearly two decades have passed since Street Fighter II flooded arcades. Having grown up with the franchise, like other children of the '90s, my heart holds a special place for Capcom's premier fighting franchise.

When Street Fighter IV was first announced, an immediate excitement washed over me, which then quickly turned into panic. Melding the perfected 2D gameplay with ... 3D!? Blasphemy! I've never been the petitioning sort, but the laundry list of changes coming to the franchise nearly had me storming the Capcom (and co-developer DIMPS) offices.

Fortunately, my laziness -- and inability to secure fake passports -- paid off and an invasion was not required. After sinking time into both console versions of Street Fighter IV, it is clear and easy to admit: Capcom has delivered.

Just in time for the impending release of Street Fighter IV, owners of the standard MadCatz FightStick are reporting several problems with the peripheral. Reported on the Shoryuken.com forums (which seem to be overloaded as of press time), the various problems include the joystick itself sticking in certain positions and sticky buttons.

Other users are reporting that the controller may fail to register certain directions on the stick or certain button presses, with at least one user reporting that the stick stopped registering all inputs entirely. Certain users have attributed the stuck joystick inputs to a metal washer that actually grinds away at the inner workings of the stick while in use.

In a statement to Joystiq, Mad Catz Global PR & Communications Manager, Alex Verrey, said, "There are no major problems with the Street Fighter range of products. Customers can buy with complete confidence."

"As with all complex precision-engineered products, there is always a chance that a tiny percentage of product may exhibit a fault," said Verrey, adding, "This is TOTALLY normal and not at all unexpected. Usually this is due to circumstances beyond our control but this does NOT mean that there is any kind of inherent fault with the design or manufacture of the product." Verrey advises all customers who have encountered a problem to contact Mad Catz directly for a repair (visit this link for Mad Catz warranty information).

For those that already have a standard FightStick, have you experienced similar problems?

We hope you've all been tightening up your Hadoukens and hitting the ceiling with your Flash Kicks, because when Street Fighter IV releases in the U.S. on February 17, you're going to need to bring your best moves. Capcom has dropped word that the fun begins before the game even releases, as the Street Fighter IV launch party is open to the public.

At this launch party, producer Yoshinori Ono will be available for autographs, and Capcom has even enlisted the aid of performers DJ QBert, Supreme Soul, and The Knux, if live music is your kind of thing. There will even be customized sketching by Udon artists, and, of course, a chance of winning copies of Street Fighter IV.

If you live near the Los Angeles area, then head past the break for full details on the event.

Anticipating the release of Street Fighter IV and a horrifying new film (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li), 1UP has compiled some of the best scenes from Street Fighter: The Movie, one of our generation's best unintentional comedies of all time.

Pieced together from choice sequences of the 1994 debacle, the feature showcases some of the cheesy one-liners, awkwardly choreographed fight scenes and cringe-worthy fan service moments that make Street Fighter: The Movie one of the best -- and ironic -- films you must own. Seriously, the Blu-Ray version was released this week.