Quick Look: Ultra Street Fighter IV

Are you sure this is the final upgrade to SF4? Didn't they say this for the last one too?

not sure why fighting game fans seem to insist that media be expert players of their preferred type of game in order to cover it. :/

if technical analysis is so important to you, go to one of the specialty fighting game sites and look there. there is plenty of the sort of thing you want. don't throw a hissy fit when regular media does not meet your ivory tower expectations of "qualified" fighting game coverage.

@masterrain said:

Giantbomb fighting game quicklooks, like watching a child crash a Ferrari and saying "Yeah it seems pretty fast". Also why they seem to want a new Darkstalkers, Mortal Kombat or new Alpha game baffles me, they don't play the fighting games they have, why would they want more!?

Please do some research before you quicklook, pretty please! D:

Everyone is always chasing their respective genre "high point." If the most memorable platforming game you played was Super Mario 64, you will always want every platforming game to live up to the nearly 20-year-old bar you set way back when. If this wholly personal level of quality is not met you feel let down until something new and promising comes along again. Cue a continuous cycle.

Entertainment is an industry deeply founded upon trying to find success caveated in the this weird soup of consumer expectations. Everone comes in with different sets of past experiences.

This is a good point. I wish the GB crew would get more into the FGC.

I'd rather have them cover it than the kind of person you're talking about. As an average joe generalist gamer, I find the opinion of people with a passing interest in fighting games to be more valuable than the opinion of someone who can hammer out 10 hit combos and spout out lingo no one knows. If the game doesn't have something to make them interested in Street Fighter IV again without them being hardcore fighting players, chances are this update means nothing to the average gamer.

If two other people sat down and I heard buttons rapidly being mashed in the background, while infinite combos took place and portraits of character's faces popped up before supers were executed, watching something like that would do someone like me no good. I want to know what it's like to just jump in, as that's where I'd be operating from. If one wants specialized fighting game coverage, one should go to a specialized fighting game site.

Im glad the QL is here maybe they will make sure the next/new fighting games get them as well.

lol at the idea that to record a video of street fighter they need a ~fighting game expert~ onboard

I'll pick up whichever of the million versions of SF4 came before on the cheap.

Shame they're not releasing the PC version until august.

Hah! The "new" stages are just carry-overs from SFxT, too? Come on... If I already own that game, can't I get this at a drastically reduced price? Paying 15 bucks for one (Cammy derivative) new character seems like a tremendously bad deal.

"I went to Japan, and beat someone in Street Fighter." - Jeff Giant Bombcast 10-7-2008

@hassun: How much money did you expect them to spend on a $15 update? And who's to say they haven't. They've been working on this for a while, arcade version included. Capcom has also promoted tournaments through-out the world with cash money prices.

I dunno what's worse....Capcom keeps doing this shit. Or gamers are so fucking stupid they give them reason too

They have to play and report on all games, not just fighting games. Of course they're not tournament level pros at it. The funny thing is, Jeff and Brad are better at fighting games than 95% of the people who are going to watch this quick look. Its there to provide some basic information to the majority of people who are considering buying it, or don't know what it is at all. Heck, I've played a fair share of SFIV, and I had no idea what this "armor" business was about. Expecting high level fighting game breakdowns of new characters' balance and movesets would be like GB covering minute turn and attack speed mechanics in DOTA 2. Its going to be irrelevant nonsense for all but a handful of people.

tl:dr Its Giant Bomb, not Giant Hadouken. Deal with it.

......ehhh

Brad: I have no idea what I'm doing

Jeff: Well you could look (and try to salvage this Quick Look, even though I picked the most broken character in the series)

Brad: ... eh...

---

Fighting game Quick Looks won't be the same without Vinny. :'(

I bought AE, which even at a massive discount I regret as I have not played it in ages. I want to like fighters, but I'll pass.

Was hoping the whole time they'd just pick Hugo to hear their comments on how god damn huge he is.

Yeah, fuck Capcom for releasing a $15 upgrade that freshens it up the game for the people who really enjoy it. Are you mad that Blizzard is releasing another WoW expansion as well? It's not for you, and that's ok, no reason to be a dick about it and call people fucking stupid.

Man, I would love another Rival Schools game.

Here here, as a casual fan of fighting games, but without the time or the inclination to devote my life to them this approach is a lot more helpful to me. True the game might look cooler if they were pulling off all these insane combos the truth is it wouldn't reflect the level at which me or my friends play those games at.

Im torn...It would be nice if they did do a little bit of research before hand. Not asking them to suddenly be Ricky Ortiz, Xian, or Pr Balrog...but then again i dont know why they are even covering this. Its not like it's a new game. Its mostly just a balance patch.

@scarabus: Capcom is lost at the moment. Fighting games are also not making them enough money.

This is why most of the new stuff in USFIV is things ported over from Street Fighter X Tekken.

Ultras of the 'new' characters even look less impressive than the old ones.

It's no secret this was made on a very tight budget.

That being said it's still the best fighting game out there and has such a massively dedicated community they will continue to support it in some fashion.

But when it comes to big business, which Capcom is chasing, Street Fighter is meaningless.

If you watch/read interviews with Yoshinori Ono he clearly admits they worked him into near destruction.

They should bring it back... IN-DES-TRUC-TIBLE!

After 6 years of Giantbomb I have come to accept that things are just gonna be that way.

And part of the reason why they might comment on wanting more is because they don't have to pay for most of the games they receive. Easy to ask for more when your financial investment is low.

I don't really see many comments like that from the common folk though.

Is Barkerville the capital of Thatland?

While i checked out of SFIV a couple months after Super was released, and have zero interest in playing/purchasing this myself, there is one specific change they made that could shake up the tournament scene for this quite a bit: selectable character versions. If tournaments allow all versions of all characters, that completely changes the tier lists and likely will make a greater number of characters tournament viable (at least for a while). Which means, hopefully, more exciting tournaments this year.

It was cool to see some of the new stuff, and I could probably watch them play fighting games for a long time if they got into it more, too bad neither of them has any passion for it at the moment.

I'll pick this up once the PC version is released and play it exclusively against a friend as always, gonna be some good times.

PC you poor neglected child.....I will wait for you if no one else will

I feel like if they went too in-depth on that stuff, it would end up being way too intimidating up-front for people who aren't already a part of that community. I doubt anyone from the FGC is looking to GiantBomb as their source for info on new fighting games, and for everyone else, it shows the game in a much better light if they just kind of scrub it for a while and have a good time, and just let people know that there's still a ton of depth for anyone willing to really dig in.

Did SF4's commentary get a lot more reactive to the battle than it was? Is it any good?

The top 1000 people in the world should be allowed to play a fighting game, everyone else is forbidden. Really only enjoyable to watch at the very highest levels.

Technically speaking it isn't either/or, you're right. But when you factor in

• time spent filming this
• time spent by Drew putting it up
• Jeff and Brad's admitted lack of knowledge on the game not really allowing them to give creditable purchasing advice
• fans getting angry for whatever reasons they believe, misrepresenting the game, not bothering to do research beforehand etc.
• potential new fighting gamers not wanting to buy this because of how it displayed in the Quick Look

against what a scrub league provides, the scrub league would be far more entertaining to everyone, no matter their Street Fighter experience, would put the game in a much better light and would avoid points 3, 4 and 5 entirely by the very nature of the scrub league tournaments.They might as well have channelled their energy into that instead.

Ultra came from strong interest by the community who wanted status changes on their characters as well as new content. Sure the game is a couple of years old but the support increased its lifespan. The past couple of EVO tournaments, it's consistently been one of the top 3 games to have the most competitors. To some, this will be viewed as some BS iteration but to fighting game players and prospective candidates, this is something they will want to play. Simply put, they wanted more and Capcom brought it.

I will say that research could have helped in this quick look or even get Maxwell from GameSpot since he could have broke down the necessary stuff in layman's terms. Oh well, it is what it is and it's ok.

The lingo used in this game is bonkers, and pretty intimidating.

Hahahaha as an Oni main that was surprisingly frustrating.

Well this makes me look forward to the next generation of background dinosaurs.

I mean I don't expect a lot from them but when Brad doesn't even want to look at the move list or see how the moves work it's kind of a bummer.

Totally with you Jeff. I really like SF4 and I play occasionally, but I never got good at the focus gameplay. I honestly wish I had a friend who could show me how to implement those moves, and then maybe I would "get it". I have similar problems with KOF.

Super Pallet swap fighter 5 ULTRA!

A new fighter! Cammy with a mask! Ohhh ahhh!

I don't really mind the style of GB quick looks, but when you don't show off Hugo and then just play matches with old characters that kind of makes this pointless.

@eojay: Oh no! Someone is being mean on the internet! ;_;

I really wish the people who make fighting games would at least try to do something for people who can never be competitive online. I have owned several fighting games and probably never won a fight against a human.

Pro-tip, of sorts: If you have a 360 and have Gold without any copy of Street Fighter 4 already, definitely wait for the Arcade Edition of this game to be free midway through the month, then buy the upgrade for 14.99. Don't buy the retail game when it drops in August for full price at all.

It's been interesting that some developers have been implementing more tutorial like content for players. I think Capcom could have helped in adding something with Ultra but we will see when the physical version arrives. In terms of playing, I think developers go with the Dark Souls route of getting familiar with your movelist, play a matchup and understand what you did wrong to later play accordingly. As an experienced player in the community, I have my fair (aka large) share of losses but I always stay proactive in learning why some things didn't work in situations.

Personally, online is probably not the most optimal place to play. If you can find a local scene (city, regional or state-wide) then try taking advantage of it. But if you have no choice, make as much use in checking resources like Shoryuken and YouTube to level up your game.

Haven't even watched the video yet and I know this comment is entirely merited.

Most games don't go out of their way for the tutorial content but I will give the newest Killer Instinct a lot of credit for it's training mode. They really do take steps to say what a certain ability does and how it can help or hurt you. Sadly it's X1 exclusive but at least some companies are trying to get newer players involved.

As for the actual quick look: I liked it. Still won't buy the update they're showing (Burn me once etc. etc.) but at least Capcom is trying to make it look like they give a shit.

It is a little odd for Jeff, a guy who has talked enough about fighting games to want to go to Evo, to be so befuddled by focus attacks and the armor of them. I haven't watched a fighting stream in a year and have never touched SF4 myself, and I had no problem.

Definitely super hyped for this. Should be a good time. I'm probably just going to download the update for now as it's cheaper anyway, but I've been contemplating this release as a good time to finally get in on a fight stick. Especially as I've heard people talking about how Red Focus moves are a little awkward on a pad, which is usually fine for most play. Plus sticks are just kinda cool.

I'm waaay into this idea. Whoever they are, here's hoping they're into some crazy stuff the other guys aren't that big on. I'm sure they probably considered that sort of stuff when searching, after all.

Hopefully. The GameSpot side has a good amount of em.