Dee Jay and T. Hawk Gone in SF4 but not Forgotten!

I haven’t posted in awhile as I’ve had the blahs so bad; blahs that I'm happy to report have been cured by my recent purchase of Street Fighter IV. I even sprung for the Collector’s Edition (which is now going on Amazon for $129—sheesh!). It’s a great game and I plan to post impressions as soon as I get past what to say besides “It’s a lot like playing Street Fighter II, but newer, fresh and different somehow,” and “that last boss Seth guy is cheaper than any SNK boss ever. And what kind of name is 'Seth' for a final boss anyway?!?”

In the meantime, you may recall the brief article we did on SFIV’s full lineup, where we reported that the whole Super Street Fighter II Championship Edition gang would be there…except T. Hawk and Dee Jay. It seems these characters, one an apparently unwanted Mexican and the other the only Street Fighter created by an American (and thus presumably uncool to Japanese developers) had no place in the annals of new Street Fighter IV glory. Then again, maybe they did…and still might!

IGN has the goods from a recent Famitsu interview with SFIV producer Yoshinori Ono, who revealed that 3D models of both Dee Jay and T. Hawk were created for Street Fighter IV originally and the development team actually spent time working out how T. Hawk would fight in the new game. No reason was given for the fact the pair were ultimately left out, but Ono claims that if there’s enough demand from the fans, they may be added at a later time—though did not specify how (presumably through DLC for the home versions). Ono also hinted that if there’s enough user support there will be a Championship Edition of the game; no details were given on what that might include (more characters? Other modes? An excuse to re-live the multitude of Street Fighter II rehashes?).

So fans, it’s up to us. What are you waiting for? Start emailing Capcom, posting on their boards and others’ message boards and demanding these two characters on your own blogs! Their exclusion defies reason and they deserve to kick butt right alongside SFIV characters new and old! Get to it! We want Dee Jay and T. Hawk and we want them now!

Max

On Deck: old school is the best school

Looking forward, i noticed that a few of the games i was looking to get are throwbacks. not all, but some. so, that's where i'll start this On Deck:



Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection

Jesus! "over 40 Genesis games"? wow. sure your now standard Sonic games are on there. As well as Golden Axe and Altered Beast. But the games that I'm hyped about are overlooked classics like E-SWAT, Streets of Rage and Ecco the Dolphin. All are the standouts to me. "All the games will be upgraded to 720p"? Sweet deal. But, really. Did we REALLY need Golden Axe 3 AND Shinobi 3? Why not Shinobi? Oh well. it's a must buy for the old school console owners and Putt-Putt arcade visitors like me.



Street Fighter 4

I love Street Fighter. It's a god among fighting games. And with 4 coming next month(!), it's going to come back around again, hooking gamers with fireballs shooting from hands, mouths and feet. The little that I've seen is really fluent and fast. Relying on knowledge of the moves and blocking at the right time rather then cheep ass combos. (like Marvel vs. Capcom, as much as i like it) Don't know about online, but it should be there if it wants to hang around with the other fighters on the market. The lineup seems solid, although, the exclusion of Dee Jay is full of fail, as the kids say. At least Fei-Long is in it. Every fighting game should have a Bruce Lee clone in it.



Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom

Mahjong is one of these games that i've always been intimidated by. It seems very complex and difficult. But as i've gotten older, it's become a very relaxing game. Kind of like Lumines and Pixel Junk Eden is for me, it's a game that i play in the morning or at night before bed as a wind down. Something that's not so heavy as Fallout 3 or Bioshock or MGS4. And now, it sounds like Majong Tales should be coming out in the next week or so. Hopefully, the game isn't too much money. X-mas kind of wiped me out. So hopefully Sony thinks about that when it comes out. Until then, check out the video.



Killzone 2

Nothing left to say about this game. It's out next month and it looks amazing. and with some reviews leaking out, some think that the game isn't the internet meme that we all thought it would be back in the old days. I look forward to seeing what the gaming blogs have to say about it next month. I really can't believe i just said that......


Well, that's all for now. Back to Lumines Supernova and Bioshock tonight. Fallout 3 in the morning.


J.

Street Fighter IV vs Iron Chef

Seriously, I can't believe that nobody else has noticed this yet, but Iron Chef America himself (Bobby Flay) has been included as a playable character in SFIV! Add that to the full roster line up, Max!

Dustin

Complete Street Fighter IV Roster Revealed

Some of you may already know the full roster of Street Fighter IV, but some of you may have been in the dark as I was about the full lineup, totaling 25 characters. Although none of the SFIII characters appear (aw!), some from the Alpha series are included (Rose, Gen, Sakura) and almost all of the Street Fighter II: Championship Edition gang are here (save for T. Hawk and Dee Jay, sorry guys). There are also a handful of new characters too. Many of these characters will be console-exclusive and do not appear in the arcade version. Check out the story on Joystiq, as well as their awesome alphabetized character gallery to see the full cast of characters. While you’re there, take a look at all the things being offered in the Collector’s Edition of the game (I usually avoid collector’s editions but whoa, I might have to get this one). I gotta say that with its awesome character line-up, Street Fighter IV is shaping up to be one of my most anticipated post-holiday games!

Max