The following two joysticks from Mad Catz won’t be shipping until February 20 of 2009, but that shouldn’t stop you from pre-ordering three months in advance. The $70 FightStick should be sufficient for all your Hadouken needs, but what sort of fanboy would you be if you didn’t get the Tournament Edition (pictured above) for $150?

via Max Console

Even though you can find imported stand-up arcade units of Street Fighter IV in the big cities, Capcom will not officially releasing it here.

You all know why: arcades in the U.S. have been dead for several years—when was the last time you or someone you know said “let’s go to the arcade”?—so it’s not worth Capcom’s time to release it here. That means it’ll be one of the only Street Fighter games to be released onto consoles without a prior arcade run.

And yes, it’s still scheduled for a February 17, 2009 release for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Meanwhile, we’re all waiting for Capcom to release Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix to be released for Xbox Live Arcade and PSN later this month, supposedly. I fully prepared to stop playing Warcraft for a few minutes to run through arcade mode with Ken for approximately the 80 billionth time.

Street Fighter IV will come out in Japan in February. Capcom said as much earlier today at an event over there—“over there” being Japan and “Capcom” being the fine gents who developed the game.

No, we don’t know exactly what date it comes out, nor do we know the North American release date.

An animated (“anime”) movie is slated to appear with the first few copies of the game.

Also, remember that Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is scheduled to come out this month on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. That should hold us over till February.

Thanks for the heads up, Steve!

Though still several months away, box art for the PS3 version of Street Fighter IV has been released. The US version feature Chun-Li, while the UK version has Ryu.

The game is scheduled for release early next year for both the PS3 and Xbox 360.

As a lifelong Ken player, I am Al-Sharpton-Outraged that dumb Ryu got a cover and not my guy. Who do I complain to?

Fact: Ken is better than Ryu

Head on over to Super Arcade in Walnut, Calif. if you want to be one of the first in the U.S. to play Street Fighter IV. The SoCal arcade was one of the first to have Tekken 6 in the U.S., too.

The address of Super Arcade:

1211 N. Grand Ave.
Walnut, CA 91748

Apparently it’s only 50 cents per play. Too bad none of us on staff are even remotely close to SoCal.

via Kotaku

Are you picking this up?

I still play Street Fighter II Turbo on the SNES primarily with my friends if I play any fighting game at all, so seeing this insane trailer is kind of a shock for me. I love the art style and while I’m sure I would suck pretty bad at it, the gameplay looks pretty good. It’s awfully hard to judge without playing it oneself, but you can usually tell if something truly sucks just from seeing it in motion, and fortunately I don’t think that’s the case with SFIV.

From this shot above and the one in the link, it looks like the art team hasn’t lost their sense of humor with the expressions. I wonder if characters will still barf, though.

Street Fighter IV news, friends. It seems the console edition—yes, there will be PS3, 360 and PC versions—of the game will have full-length anime cutscenes for each character’s ending. They’ll be animated by “famous” anime studio, and won’t be some man-on-the-street hatchet job.

And if you had any doubts about the console versions’ authenticity, Capcom has said the game will be “arcade perfect,” a phrase I haven’t seen trumpeted since the days of Street Fighter Alpha 3. Pretty sure home consoles are now just as powerful, if not more so, than arcade units.

Allow me to say, “eew, anime.” Not a fan. Sorry.

via Computer and Video Games

You missed it, didn’t you? I did, too. For some reason I was expecting a bit more and I’m not sure why I thought that. Don’t get me wrong, it looks great and I’m stoked to play it when released, but I had higher expectations. Nevertheless, enjoy the trailer and let us know what you think.

I suggest you set your DVR for CBS’s EliteXC Saturday Night Fights on May 31 starting at 9PM EST because that’s when Capcom will debut the first commercial for Street Fighter IV. You will also be able to preorder the game for Xbox 360 and PS3 immediately after the fight from Gamestop. If you don’t have a DVR or just won’t be around to watch it then fret not because you’ll be able to view the trailer at StreetFighter.com.

I’ll be honest; the last time I played Street Fighter was on the SNES, so I’m admittedly out of touch with what’s what as far as world warriors go.

That being said, a new Street Fighter IV character’s been spotted in Famitsu magazine. His name is El Fuerte, which is Spanish for “The Fuerte,” if memory serves.

Breaking: New Street Fighter IV Character Leaked! [Kotaku]

Yes, it’s true. There’s going to be a new Street Fighter arcade game. If you’re still into arcade games and still know where to find an arcade, you might very well love this game. I recently went to a Dave and Buster’s in Providence, Rhode Island and man oh man, do those little cards they give you with points on them make it a lot easier to spend money. I miss the old, dirty, germ-covered tokens.

Many more Street Fighter IV movies at the following link…

Street Fighter IV for Arcade Games Movies [Gamespot]

Street Fighter fans owe Akihabara News today. Their coverage of some arcade trade show thing over in Japan has resulted in a high-def gameplay video (you may have to go to Aki to see the high-def version, I’m not sure how the embed code works) and more than 20 photos of IV. The video more than speaks for itself, so rather than re-hash what we’ve already said about the game, I’ll leave you to your own devices.

AOU 2008: Street Fighter IV Hands-On… Lord this Game is Killer! [Akihabara News]

I think he’s…French?

Methinks these scans are slightly distorted, or else the art director for Street Fighter IV has a thing for squat, powerful young ladies (and beasts). Either way, I’m pumped for some SFIV, though my heart will always be with Samurai Shodown II or IV — Ukyo FTW! Anyway, check out the character art and a few screens straight from Famitsu.

[via GamersReports]