Street Fighter IV creeped up on me. I had completely forgot about the games release until jonguy mentioned it on his Twitter.
The week is finally upon us, Capcom's Street Fighter IV is here. Rejoice! When thinking about this momentous arrival for fans of Street Fighter, I felt the need to look back at two events that helped to build the anticipation for the game.
SDCC08
July 08: San Diego Comic-Con. Capcom had a pretty sweet setup featuring the arcade machines of Street Fighter IV, and consoles of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix in a nicely designed boxing ring where players would bash each other Capcom style.
The swag: everyone got a cool Street Fighter headband like the one Ryu wears, but with the Street Fighter IV logo on it.
The downer: lineups at this attraction were quite long. Come to think of it, almost everything at Comic-Con has a ridiculous lineup.
Overall, Capcom definitely brought Street Fighter to the fans with all their exposure, and willingness to talk about the game, doing lots of Q&A's on the floor, and in the halls with the game producers.
Producer signings.
Q&A with animated segment of Chun-Li unveiling from the 'Making of' panel at Comic-Con.
TGS08
October 08: Tokyo Game Show. Capcom had a massive presence at Tokyo Game Show, though the booth was more focused on Resident Evil as the main attraction, Street Fighter had a pretty good setup, which was centered on the console versions of Street Fighter IV, pitting players against each other in competition. Players who beat 5 or more opponents got a Street Fighter IV baseball cap, while all other participants (especially the losing ones), got Street Fighter IV pins. I managed to collect quite a few pins from losing, so I hawked that shit on ebay. Ahah!
The swag: Street Fighter IV Chun-li and Ryu pins, baseball caps, and other handouts.
The downer: Competition was competitive. Hardcore Street Fighter players really showed off their skills.
Overall Capcom's Street Fighter TGS presence was awesome. Their booth was themed after Chun-li's stage in the game, which I think was better than Comic-Con's boxing ring, plus their official booth babe/cosplayers were awesome too, and pretty spot on. Just being at TGS was amazing!
With both these events in mind, the buildup to Street Fighter IV's release has been huge thanks to a well-oiled marketing machine at major events. Now gamers like me just want to own it, ASAP! I gotta dust off my 360 Hori stick. I'm a huge Virtua Fighter fan, but I loves me some Street Fighter too.
Better use your Focus Attack, biawwwwwtch!
Wednesday release for Canada. Blarg. Should I just drive to Seattle to get a copy? Yup, forgot to preorder. Oops.
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