Oh wow. The bomb has just dropped, folks.
With this year’s Comic-Con in full swing in San Diego, lead producers on two of the industry’s most revered fighting franchises have just announced what must surely go down as one of the most exciting collaborations of well, ever really.
Tekken? Street Fighter? There’s only way to find out! Fight!
Speaking at Capcom’s own “Street Fighter IV and Beyond” panel, Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono teamed up with Tekken head honcho Katsuhiro Harada to give the world its first live demonstration of Street Fighter X Tekken. The video linked below shows Ryu facing off against Kazuya Mishima in a Street Fighter IV visual style. Both characters featured Street Fighter’s token EX special moves and there were even tag team cameos from Chun-Li and Nina Williams.
That’s not all though. While Capcom will lead development of Street Fighter X Tekken, Namco Bandai will simultaneously take the reigns over Tekken X Street Fighter; essentially the same basic idea but with Ryu and co appearing in a more Tekken centric package, right down to the aesthetic and controls. Although word on a release date currently goes no further than “not for a while!” for the time being, we do know the game will appear on PS3 and 360, and it’s probably safe to assume both flavors of the game will launch side by side.
Put me down for a Day One purchase. Although growing up as more of a Tekken player, the absence of a worthy entry from Namco Bandai since Tekken Tag combined with the resurgence of Street Fighter has led me to switch allegiances as of late. Street Fighter X Tekken it is, then!
You can find the live gameplay demonstration courtesy of Game Videos (check out those cheers!), along with a pre-rendered trailer and some gorgeous screen grabs (direct from the live gameplay itself) at Kotaku.
Email the author of this post at matc@tap-repeatedly.com.
I was originally a Street Fighter fan then switched to Tekken, then later to Soul Calibre, but now fighting games don’t hold that same magic any more. I’d like to try Street Fighter IV but I’m not quite willing to put the money down, especially when I don’t see Lewis quite as much these days. Me and him were deadly on Soul Calibre. We once played 400 consecutive games and ended up with 200 victories each. Crazy days.
It’s nice to know that two versions will come out though, one more Street Fighter centric and the other more Tekken. That way everybody will be happy. Apart from the Virtua Fighter fans.
It’s been a long time since I played a good old fashioned fighting game – I remember the original Soul Calibur at the smoky arcades on the University of Michigan campus. Good times!
With Meho’s recent enthusiasm over BlazBlue and SSIV, plus this cool cross-pollination, I may have to invest in some of these games. Thanks Mat!
The other great news out of Comic-Con: those lunatics at the Church of Bigotry (or whatever), Kansas picketed it, with signs saying “God Hates Nerds,” on account of comics fans worshiping, like, Batman as a false idol or something. It had to do with golden calves. Perhaps Ryu would head out there and kick some ass for us.
I heard on the radio this morning that there was some kind of attempted stabbing at Comic-Con involving a ball-point pen as the “weapon” and an argument over “sitting too close”.
I may actually have to grab that game though. I don’t often get into fighting games anymore. They tend to either be too hard or just boring. I prefer an action game with a strong focus on the fighting element when I’m looking to beat the crap out of something. Tekken and Street Fighter are two of my old favorites however, and I may be compelled to buy the game so I can pretend I am ten years old for a while.
I went a good few years with barely an ounce of interest in the fighting genre. Infact, pretty much the time between Tekken Tag – an insanely awesome PS2 launch title – and Street Fighter IV. I make that almost a decade.
I’m rubbish at Street Fighter. Really, really rubbish. But I do like it a hell of alot.
As a Virtua Fighter fan, I’m glad to see the game has got past the sprite graphics and lame impact splashes so suitable for Saturday morning comics for the under 5 age group.
Now now, I’m just joshin with ya. 😉