I was a bit taken a back when I first booted up Street Fighter IV and heard a guy start singing “I can feel it coming over me” as Ken and Ryu went at it. Street Fighter games and theme songs with vocals have been long estranged, so it’s both odd and refreshing that Capcom opted to change things with their latest Street Fighter game.

More often than not when games get themes sung by Japanese artists and said themes get translated into and performed in english, I opt for the Japanese version. But in Street Fighter IV’s case, I’m in preference of the English theme.  The lyrics and timing suit the music better, where-as in the Japanese version certain parts of the song don’t sound right. Almost makes me wonder if the song was written in English first and then re-worked into Japanese. Both versions are performed by Japanese boy band EXILE, and their English is perfect. No Engrish to the ears here! Okay…so there’s a little. But cleverly, the engrish is masked by loud guitars and synths. As a cool in-game option you can set whether you’re greeted with either the Japanese or English version of the song – so everybody wins!

I love this theme. I’d always avoided EXILE’s music like the plague, because frankly: Japanese boy bands suck. But I may check out more of their stuff as a result of their contribution to Street Fighter IV.

Listen: The next door: Indestructible

Performed by EXILE
Street Fighter IV
© 2009 AvexTrax / Rhythm zone

For the mp3 players: EXILE – The next door: Indestructible

In a press release issued from Capcom moments ago they announced the availability of an industry first. Starting today Capcom fans nation wide will have the opportunity to take their love of all things Capcom to the next level and show that they truly bleed yellow and blue by applying for a Capcom Unity prepaid Visa card. Now this is NOT a credit card; there are no credit checks, no finance charges, no debt. Think of it as a reloadable gift card that is accepted anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. When used, not only will card holders  earn cash back that can be redeemed at the Capcom Rewards Mall, but they will also be given a 15% discount on items from the Capcom Online Store and will earn points on Capcom-Unity.com. And this is naming only a few of the perks associated with the card.

Hit the jump for more information on the Capcom Unity Prepaid Visa Card. Read more!

With Street Fighter IV’s explosive release around the corner, Capcom are beginning to roll out the new footage and game info to keep players appetites whet. The new, but familiar faces of Street Fighter IV were announced some time ago. But we now have HD footage of them all in action. Check ‘em out after the jump!

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For reasons unknown to me and I’m sure many other Street Fighter fans out there: Capcom chose to include Rose in the home versions of Street Fighter IV. Rose had to be one of the most boring, useless un-memorable, un-inspired and crap characters in the Street Fighter Alpha series. She was absolute shite. Her only quirk was that she could reflect fireballs, she had more masculine legs than Chun-Li, gravity defying hair (which I’m sure Capcom would say was floating as a result of psycho powers) and a foot that looked like it bulging out of her high heel.

Rose was a really odd choice. There are many other, more worthy characters in the Alpha series that could’ve been placed in the game instead of Rose. I would’ve greatly welcomed Guy, Rainbow Mika, Sodom or Birdie.

Street Fighter IV is still gonna rock and at least we got Sakura and Cammy back. But honestly…Rose!?

I actually got a chance to play this game back in October at an expo in the UK. But having gone to Japan last month, I got several chances to get hands on with Street Fighter IV and kick some challengers arses in the process, which was largely gratifying.

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Capcom’s worst kept secrets regarding Fei Long, Cammy and Dan appearing in the home conversions of Street Fighter IV have finally been shown in-game!

They all look really cool! It’s gonna be great seeing these guys (and girl) brought to life in 3D. No doubt the dynamic camera during super combo’s will ensure the floss shots of Cammy are as violating as possible. The greedy bastard in me wishes Capcom added a couple more characters, but that’s only because I’m so in love with this game and just always want more of a good thing. With that said, Capcom could still add more characters. They kept Gen on the down low pretty well. I can’t wait to see what other goodies Capcom throw into this game. As is, it’s looking like a winner. But you can bet Capcom will include some other stuff they’ve yet to disclose. The best Street Fighter game yet? It’s well on its way…

[the magic-box]

Akuma’s back to grace the world with his spiky red hair, prayer bead necklace, bad teeth and geta sandals. Oh yeah! And his murderous intent. Akuma looks as though he’ll play similar to the way he did in Street Fighter III. The major difference here will be that Akuma will be able to execute EX specials – something he was not able to do in 2nd impact and 3rd strike. So he’s probably going to be a tad more powerful and a bit more of a bastard to fight against. I just hope his EX air fireball doesn’t cause him to lob two instead. I can see it being the case unless Capcom have plans to have Shin Akuma show his face.

I’m not liking Akuma’s remixed Shun-goku-satsu though. I prefer the grab, darkness, the 15 hits going off and then the pose. They also could’ve picked a better stage for him to have done it on for the trailer too. The hip-hop ho and the low rider in the background after he K.O’d Ken with it dampened the effect of the move ever so slightly.

Despite Akuma getting his cool own reveal trailer after the release of Sakura’s, (although he was confirmed for the game a good month ago) he is not exclusive to the home console versions of Street Fighter IV and is playable in the arcade version of the game.

Not much else to say really, except it’s good to have her back again! And how can you not love that “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!”!? Just when I didn’t think Sakura could get any more charming!

It appears Miss Kasugano is still stuck in her Junior year at school. Beating up punks and fire-balling them in the street whilst keeping the Chuck Taylors squeaky clean and the panties on display obviously takes priority over her academic studies. It appears she’s been hitting that same gym as Chun-Li too. Her legs and arms are like tree trunks!

This is great news! Capcom can never be too generous when it comes to additional characters. I just hope it doesn’t stop with Sakura, Cammy, Fei-Long and Dan.

After 10 years of Street Fighter intro and ending sequences consisting of gif images that slide across the screen, it’s great that Capcom finally decided to grace us with animated sequences. Nobody looks to Street Fighter for its story, but it’s good to finally have a game with a stronger narrative that everybody can follow. It’s a shame we didn’t get Chun-Li sporting the un-bunned hair, wife beater and denim hot pant combo that she rocked in her Street Fighter II ending on the SNES version. But I guess waistcoat, skinny jean, Chuck Taylor wearing Chun-Li will do for now. Fans of ‘Chun-Li’s titties in the shower’ scene from Super Street Fighter II: The animated movie can do away with their wishful thinking of that scene getting re-created for Street Fighter IV. It ain’t happening.

One thing got me though. Why does Guile’s wife look like a man? I thought it was Ken at first and that Capcom were throwing a gay relationship into the mix. Well…people have argued for years Ryu and Ken have never had eyes for anybody else but one another. But to have an all American man like Guile embark on a relationship with Ken would be a curveball to say the least!

Street Fighter IV doesn’t have a console release date as of yet, but this anime video shows Capcom are well into production and that Cammy is a dead cert. Other console exclusive characters include Dan and Fei-Long, with the possibility of other characters from the Alpha and III series’ making appearances. I’m all for Sakura and Ibuki.

[Gamekyo]

Well, for now anyway. Producer Yoshinori Ono says “lag will be a huge problem for online play,” and that eliminating lag will be tougher for the Street Fighter IV team than it was for devs working on Soul Calibur and Virtua Fighter, adding “It’s quite difficult for 3D Street Fighter at the moment.”

Unfortunately Ono’s current answer to the problem sounds more confused than hopeful: “we’re thinking about trying to balance it up at user interface level and input timing by using joystick or something like that.” Oh ok, that makes perfect sense. Wait, what?

Lag has always been a sore spot for gamers, and especially for fighting game fans (as any hardcore Super Smash Bros Brawl will let you know). Capcom is dedicated to delivering great multiplayer experiences though, so I have faith in them.

[videogaming247]