It must be quite an annoying wait for you PC gamers, knowing that your console brethren are already finding enjoyment in Street Fighter IV. There must be something we can do to make this interim more bearable? Oh, we know! We have just the thing; we've got the specs, thanks to Capcom.

Wouldn't you just love to know if your PC can handle all of Bison's psycho power? Chances are, it can. Check after the break for the minimum requirements and see if your rig stacks up.

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.

If the prospect of not having to fork over extra Zenny for Street Fighter IV's upcoming Championship mode isn't enough to put the sonic in your boom, Capcom has released additional details behind the impending DLC's April 24 release.

In addition to previously revealed features, Capcom notes that tournaments will be seeded randomly, based on player skill, with single elimination bouts and double-blind character selection helping to keep fights as fair as possible. In addition, Capcom promises that players who disconnect at the first sign of trouble will be knocked down in their tournament rank. Even better, quitters will have their disconnect percentage put on display for all to mock when the free download hyper uppercuts the PS3 and Xbox 360 later this month.

The rough-and-tumble Street Fighters enjoying their youth is likely the most adorable thing we'll see all week. Kei Acedera, an illustrator and art director at Imaginism, has just such a drawing in her portfolio on the company's website. If you click the image above, you'll be treated to the full work, which also includes the rest of the Super Street Fighter II Turbo cast cheering in the background (Dhalsim's long arms were a nice touch).

Acedera's work includes illustrating books for Harper Collins and design work for Disney and Sony. Her bio also states she makes t-shirts for her guinea pig, Tobi. We wonder if she puts little pants on Tobi and dyes him so he looks like the little Blanka in the picture ...

[Via ThreeSpeech]

There are those who like fighting games. Then there are others whose passion for the genre surpasses mainstream zeal to set up shack somewhere in the middle of crazy town. From the latter comes a chart sizing up the fighters in the console flavor of Street Fighter IV, highlighting the probable outcome when any two brawlers go toe-to-toe.

Compiled by Japanese enthusiasts, the chart breaks down out of ten bouts how many times on average a fighter will come out on top against a given opponent. For example, when Blanka enters the ring and sinks his teeth into Zangief, the burly wrestler only wins 3 out of 10 matches. However, according to the chart it's Sagat that trumps all others, with Rose at the bottom likely wondering if she should look into a different line of work.

Own a copy of Street Fighter IV? You can totally take down a Capcom representative today. Log on to the PlayStation Network today at 6PM EST (3PM PST) for your chance to play. Look for PSN ID: Snow_Infernus. This Capcom n00b won't have his arcade stick -- just his DualShock 3 -- so he's asking for you to all go easy on him.

You won't do that, right?

Capcom has released the "Femme Fatale," a set of alternate costumes for the ladies of Street Fighter IV. The DLC is the second in the alternative wardrobe series, following the "Brawler Pack," and will set fashionistas back 320 ($4) on XBLM, and $3.99 on the PS Store.

Having watched the first two minutes of Capcom's video showcasing the outfits, only one thought comes to mind: Moar liek booty pack, lolz. Check out the video after the break.

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]

Street Fighter IV has come out of its corner with a Hundred Hand Slap, as worldwide shipments of the title have reached two million units. Publisher Capcom did not provide any regional information to IGN about where all those little boxes went, but we're sure the company used a few to replenish the stock in Japan, following reports that the game sold out during its launch week.

The good news is that retailers purchased a couple million copies and now Capcom doesn't have SF IV just sitting in a warehouse somewhere. Are two million (and more) of you ready to buy our favorite fighting game this generation?

Trouble telling your Tiger Knee from a Sonic Boom? Now UK newspaper The Guardian, along with Capcom's Anil Das-Gupta have stepped up with some friendly advice to help transform your hadou-can't into a Hadouken.

For starters, beginners are advised to turn a blind eye to the bulk of the Street Fighter IV's roster of brawlers, instead sticking with the game's vanilla duo of Ken and Ryu as they "both offer a full range of moves and styles while the other fighters merely exaggerate specific elements." Anil also notes that despite their similarities, there are even some fundamental differences between the pair, explaining that "Ryu has always been better at ranged attacks while Ken is better up close."

Funny, we always thought that Ryu was the smarter one while Ken was better with the ladies. Anyway, take a read, and hopefully some of these pointers can help sharpen your street fighting know-how. Anything to keep from the unsightly embarrassment that comes from mistaking a friendly Yoga Noogie for a crispy Yoga Flame.

Street Fighter IV Producer Yoshinori Ono has teased the inclusion of Dee Jay and T. Hawk in the fighter to Famitsu, reports IGN. Ono apparently stated that incomplete 3D models were created of the characters, and the staff even planned out T. Hawk's combat, but no explanation was given for why the pair didn't make the four-quel. The characters are the only two fighters from Super Street Fighter II Turbo missing in SF IV.

Ono expressed that if there's enough support from the fans, the characters will be added at a later date. It's not clear if that would be DLC for the current game, or if they'd be added in a later iteration, like, Super Alpha Street Fighter IV Turbo Remix Deluxe.

Everything old is new again, as Street Fighter IV attempts to reinvigorate the fighter genre. The title may not be friendly to newcomers, but do the Street Fighter faithful really care? Just give them a worthy adversary, a dark room, a proper controller, a quarter and they'll be as contented as Chun Li's Thighmaster.

• Giant Bomb (100/100): "My only real complaint about Street Fighter IV is that the trial mode represents a missed opportunity to help brand-new players get into the game, and perhaps the genre, as well. I only know what I know about Street Fighter because I've been playing and watching it since the early 1990s. Will it take 20 years for new players to acquire the same bits of knowledge that I have? The good news is that Street Fighter IV is a game so great that playing it for that long doesn't immediately sound out of the question."
• IGN UK (95/100): "Regardless, Street Fighter IV is no less than the new standard for beat-'em-ups. It's a triumphant return for the series after an eight year hiatus and is a seamless blend of the old and new, at once accessible to lapsed pugilists while being nuanced enough for the dedicated core to wallow in its depths. What's more, Street Fighter IV takes an aging template and makes it fresh once more, offering a revival in every sense of the word."
• Game Informer (93/100): "A distillation of everything the genre does right. It delivers the intensity of competition and the thrill of victory, all through elegant techniques that are easy to learn and difficult to master. Street Fighter IV is more than mere nostalgia - it's the best thing to happen to fighting games in years." [Mar 2009, p.82]
• GameTrailers (92/100): "Fighting games have long been out of the spotlight, and Street Fighter IV basically carries the future of the entire genre. It refuses to make itself accessible, doling out tough love in place of true tutorials or simplified control schemes, but by proving to be deep and fundamentally enjoyable, the series has once again proven itself worthy of attention."
• Onion AV Club (80/100) "Once fans have relived their virtual-martial-arts glory days; once they've defeated Seth, the poorly named final boss; once the patina of nostalgia has worn off, most will wonder whether they needed to spend $60 on a game they already own ... except for Street Fighter completionists, Street Fighter IV merits, at best, an afternoon rental.

Source - Metacritic: SF IV (PS3)
Source - Metacritic: SF IV (Xbox 360)

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?