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Street Fighter V Might Be Out This Decade… Barely
Street Fighter IV. Super Street Fighter IV. Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition. Ultra Street Fighter IV. But where the heck is Street Fighter V? Well, we hope you like the incremental updates you've been getting, because the next numbered sequel is going to be a while.
In an interview with VG 24/7, Capcom producer Tomoaki Ayano shared some details about the new characters coming to Ultra Street Fighter IV. The four revealed so far (one is still a mystery) appeared in Street Fighter x Tekken, but Ayano assures that just cutting and pasting from one game to the next won't work. The systems and balance are far too different.
He also addresses the multiple iterations that Street Fighter IV has seen. "It took six years to go from Street Fighter II to Street Fighter III, and nine years to go from Street Fighter III to Street Fighter IV," Ayando said. "Purely based on that it would probably take us until the year 2018 before Street Fighter V comes out. So I hope everyone will play Ultra Street Fighter IV for a long time.”
Four of the Ultra Street Fighter IV characters have been disclosed. There's also a reveal trailer that we shared with you during EVO 2013. The update to Capcom's marquee fighting franchise is due out in early 2014 as $15 DLC.
[Source: VG 24/7]
Our Take
My understanding is that these incremental changes to Street Fighter IV make a big difference in the Fighting Game Community. However, as a casual fighting fan, I'm hard pressed to to drop $40 on a new retail disc every time Capcom decides to tweak the formula. Thankfully, Ultra is coming as affordable DLC.
Thankfully, Capcom is spacing these updates out now. When Marvel vs. Capcom 3 got its updated version, less than a year had passed since the title's first release. The "Ultimate" edition took the place of the promised DLC (and didn't even include the only two characters that were out as paid add-ons).
For competitive players, this practice might not be a big deal. For casuals (like me), it tends to feel pretty ugly. The approach the company is taking with Ultra is the right way to go.
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