Edit: Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (full version) is now $14.99 / 1200 MSP on Xbox Live.

So it seems there are a lot of misinformed (or ignorant, probably ignorant) people reacting extremely negatively to Ultra Street Fighter IV. Here is my argument for why this is unfounded.

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly: The only people who are angered by this don't even play the game. Yes, that's right. I seriously doubt anyone who plays this game is upset by a $15 piece of DLC. I'm still playing this game after 4 years (in its various incarnations) and it got me into fighting games again, I am so pumped for the new version.

Secondly, check out Patrick's article about how much these updates and new characters actually cost to develop. (Spoiler alert: It's a lot)

Now for a history lesson:

Street Fighter IV, 2009, $60, Retail

- 25 characters

- God-tier versions of Sagat and Akuma (Sagat specifically was a fucking monster in this version, easy as hell half-your-life-gone combos)

- LOOK AT THAT DAMAGE.

- One ultra per character

- Weak online modes, no lobbies, no replay feature

Super Street Fighter IV, 2010, $40, Retail

- 10 new characters, Dudley, Ibuki, Cody, Guy, Dee Jay, T.Hawk, Juri, Hakan, Adon, Makoto

- 5 new stages

- Added replays, team battles, lobbies to online mode

- Brand new ultras for every character (2 per character)

- New arcade endings, new trials/challenges (not that anyone really cared)

- Total re-balance

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Dec 2010/January 2011, $15, DLC, Retail version replaces SSFIV

- 4 new characters, Yang, Yun, Evil Ryu, Oni

- Total re-balance

- Somewhat controversial as it made Yang, Yun and Fei Long very dominant

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition: Version 2012, December 2011/February 2012 (PC), $0, DLC

- Easily the most balanced version of SFIV with very few 'bad' characters

- Total re-balance

- Big ass list of balance changes here

- It's free you guys

Ultra Street Fighter IV, 2014, $15, DLC, Retail ($40) replaces SSFIV AE retail copies and comes with all DLC costumes

- 5 'new' characters (admittedly 4 of them are data mined from SFxT, but work is still having to be done for their super and two ultra combos)

- 6 new stages (rumoured to be from SFxT)

- Total re-balance

- New modes (no idea what these are yet)

- You don't need SSFIV AE to upgrade if you only have Super Street Fighter IV from 2010

So yeah. I personally see no issue with this, is it really that bad that Capcom are updating the most popular fighting game in the world? I think not.

It would be nice if these updates were free, it really would, but frankly it's a rarity that DLC is free these days and this latest piece is still providing more value than 2 hours of Saints Row III gameplay.