Loading ...
What do you get when you thrust a controller into the hands of an FPS veteran and push him into the ring to square off against some of the world’s deadliest fighters, both real and virtual?
A palpitating heart?
Cold sweat?
Numb fingers?
I would say all of these and much more, for that is exactly how I ended up once our Editor-in-Chief thrust the latest addition to the Street Fighter franchise into my hands and barked out an order to review it. Now saying I am a newbie to the genre would be putting it very mildly. Having been a PC gamer for the better part of my life, I have always given fighting games a wide pass. So when Street Fighter IV was announced a while back, I wasn’t one among the hordes of fans cheering, fainting or singing hallelujah in the streets, accompanied by frenzied high-pitched screams of “Shoryuken!”, “Tiger Fist” and other guttural noises. Which kinda neatly explains how I’ve remained untouched by all the hype surrounding the game, until the review copy landed in my lap one fine morning.
Phew, we’ve been getting so much of Street Fighter IV love over the days that we just couldn’t bear to tear ourselves out of our game to do the stuff we were supposed to be doing – you know, like, the reviews and contests and all that jazz. With contests raining down every which way at The ANGRY Pixel over the last couple of days, we decided that the best thing to help ourselves and our brain-frozen readers if we ran a (oh god!) trivia contest. So, who amongst you are well versed with your Street Fighter lore? ‘Coz we’ve got one of our resident Transformers-loving, smooth-talking, ass-kicking Street Fighter fan to come up with a list of questions designed to leave you scratching your head as you figure out the right answer. So, what are you waiting for, head on over to our cooler-than-Daddy McCool Street Fighter IV Launch Center to get your shoryuken on, there’s prizes to be won! Chop, chop!
After complaining for months about not getting any love down south in Bangalore from Milestone, we finally got ourselves a nice little launch party for Street Fighter IV this Friday at The Living Room, where fans of the game could just sit back and kick their friends’ butt every which way with punches, kicks and focus moves. In fact, the party was so awesome that we completely didn’t manage to attend it! Don’t ask us why, because it mostly involves our associate editor busy rowing the slave boat and getting whipped good at work. As for me, well, I originally wanted to say I couldn’t make it because I had a brain tumor and had to get it checked out, but if I do, I’ve been promised that I’ll get my neck snapped by Milestone’s friendly neighborhood PR liaise, Payal, who loves nothing more than keeping us on track and, err, “mothering us” to make sure we do what we’re supposed to and don’t go around doing naughty things, like eating sand, spilling cooking oil all over the floor and breaking embargoes. (Ooh, look, Jill Valentine’s dead!)
UPDATE: OK, looks like the original plan’s scrapped. Milestone’s just called us up to let us know that if you’ve got the time and want to take a look at Street Fighter IV, you’re more than welcome to drop in and kick our ass at the launch party. Yes, you heard us – it’s open to all gamers now. So if you’ve got nothing better to do on the 20th, head on over to The Living Room on Residency Cross Road (next to Dena Bank) between 5 PM and 8 PM and get your SF4 groove on!
‘Tis that season again – we’ve all got Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting” set to repeat infinitely on our iPods; we’ve dressed up like Ryu, Ken and Rufus – ready to play mock-fights with the unsuspecting passer-by on a crowded street; we’ve used up the spare “Free Karate Lesson” coupon, and soon after, the “Free Plaster Cast” coupon that we had lying around the house for the last three years; we’ve done nothing but watch martial arts movies (and not the wire-fu crapitos) every spare minute we get and dug up and played through every Street Fighter game ever made till date. But wait, what about Street Fighter IV? Unless you’re a game journalist with a cool site like ours (plug away, my good man) and gotten a orgasmic press kit and a review copy, you’re gonna have wait until the game is officially available in stores.
Dejected? Awww, don’t be! Because we’re giving away five special invites to the Street Fighter IV launch party in Bangalore this Friday! You will find yourself mingling with the most devout gamers in the country, where you can pick on our resident associate editor Street Fighter ignoramus, Abhinav, and use your extensive knowledge of all things Street Fighter to subdue him into giving him your lunch money giving you his lunch money. So, what are you waiting for? Send a nice little email to streetfighter4 {at} theangrypixel(.)com and tell us why we should include you in the inner circle of awesomeness. If you’ve got time on your hands, we’ll even take frenzied cellphone recordings of you screaming “Shoryuken-Shoryuken! Hadoken-Hadoken!”, followed by a couple of death gurgles. Preferably in a library or a hospital or any other environment where you’re supposed to keep your trap shut! So yeah, chop-chop, we’re waiting!
More than half a year after its arrival in arcades, Capcom’s Street Fighter IV has finally come home to console owners (and hopefully PC ones, too). You’d think after 20 years of playing Street Fighter games, as great as they are and still till even now, that numero quarto would seem like the same song and dance all over again. We won’t argue with that, but Street Fighter IV (SFIV) reinforces everything you’ve ever wanted in a fighting game, things you didn’t expect to enjoy, and things that you didn’t want or knew existed – all in one extremely well-executed, polished package. To put it bluntly, it’s a hard dish to not to fall in love with all over again.
With the game just days away from launch, good news seems to be pouring from all the sides for the Street Fighter fans out there. Capcom Europe has outlined its plans for downloadable content and expansion packs that would me made available to gamers post-release of the latest game in the series, Street Fighter IV.
Titled Championship Mode, this expansion pack will add a variety of features to an already impressive list. With the release of this expansion, players will be able to record, upload and download top matches, vote for their favorites and leave feedback. Besides, you will also have a new points system to measure your skill and an improved matchmaking system. And the best part of all this it will not cost you a dime.
And thats not all!
Mere weeks remain before Street Fighter IV punches its way onto our consoles, ready to pummel into submission our weekend drunken gaming spree. In the meantime, while we flex our wrists in anticipation, meditate to elevate our mind and soul onto one plane where no challenge is daunting enough, let us afford a glance at the achievement/trophy list for the upcoming game.
Our Hadouken is strong.
Yoshinori Ono has certainly come a long way. From working as a sound director on various Capcom franchises to playing first-time producer for a hack and slash action game called Chaos Legion, Ono has been fortunate enough to be in a league of respected game designers for both his company and for the entire world. And now that he’s been busy getting a new numerical Street Fighter out for a new generation of home consoles, TAP takes a moment to Hadouken some questions regarding the prospect of downloadable content, thoughts on custom character creation, in-game recording and more. Ono was just too down-right fierce not to answer!
While it’s great to see a huge character line-up from the SFII and Alpha games, why no love for Street Fighter III’s fans? Can we expect to see some further additions in the upcoming months (maybe in the form DLC)?
We had a particular aim in SFIV to achieve and that was a total return to the basics. The intention was to align the starting point for everyone, so those who had played II on SNES and such could just start playing, without having to refer to the manual. Because we thought familiar characters that are well remembered would do the job better we chose not to include characters from SFIII.
DLC wise, there will be no additional characters. This is again to help everyone to be in the same boat and we wanted to avoid just some people who have paid extra to have a wider range of arsenal. However I am not denying the possibility of DLC delivering some fun stuff and I do have some interesting things coming up so keep your wits about you!
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in association with Indian distributor juggernaut Milestone Interactive, The Angry Pixel is confused, tired, but proud to present the Street Fighter IV Launch Center. Forged by the artistic genius of Bobby Sandhu with the power of his cosmic-charged hammer of artistic craftiness, the SFIV Launch Center marks the start of yet another new initiative the TAP crew has been fiddling around with for some time now. For the next month or so, we’ll be talking about the game’s latest happenings, special feature articles geared towards both newbies and oldbies of the series, an exclusive interview with the producer Yoshinori Ono (It’s even in English!) and a sweet contest giveaway that can net you some serious Street Fighter swag. All this, plus our in-depth review on Street Fighter IV for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 platforms.
So head over to the Launch Center and start smothering yourselves in anticipation. It’s a long wait, but we’ll be there to keep you company.
For me, fighting games continue to be a part of my everyday fundamental, button-mashing diet. It only seems like yesterday when I was able to execute my first Hadoken in Street Fighter II. The first time I managed a Fatality off Mortal Kombat’s Johnny Cage, ripping his pretty little head off in supreme satisfaction. The first time experiencing Kasumi’s bouncy-breasty radiance in her Rabbit swimsuit from Dead or Alive Xtreme Volleyball… Oh wait, that last one didn’t have any fighting it in, did it? Ok, more or less, it still had the bouncy-breasty radiance that DOA games are still known for. Upon further reflecting on perpetual conundrums, even cruddy fighting games still had a memorable gimmick or two, like how Primal Fury was essentially Mortal Kombat but with prehistoric animals. Or how Kakuto Chojin so hilariously ripped off Fight Club’s plot. Ah, how one mingles in the memories of the inconsequential!
Getting back to the point, there are still game companies which have stayed long with the fighting genre and continue to support it, despite knowing that the days of coin-op arcades have long passed (Japan notwithstanding). Newer entries continue to be pumped – and thanks to the advent of better net infrastructure, more and more franchises are taking the leap to online matchmaking. No longer content to just playing your homies from the hood or the local game cafe, you’ll now be given the opportunity to fool around with players from all sorts of regions. You haven’t played a real game of Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves until some random 15-year-old Asian munchkin promptly hands over your carcass in less than a minute.
Thusly, I solemnly declare that a brief rundown on potential, forthcoming Beat em’ Ups shall be in effective order. Heaven or Hell, let’s fight!