Das Interview: Street Fighter IV Producer Yoshinori Ono, Part 1 [Das Gamer]

Obviously lag will be a huge problem for online play. We're working on it. Compared to other games such as Virtua Fighter and Soul Calibur, they've got replay functions and so forth. It's quite difficult for 3D Street Fighter at the moment.

In order to prevent the lag we're thinking about trying to balance it up at user interface level and input timing by using joystick or something like that. We still haven't got a complete plan as yet. We're still working on it. That's all we can say at the moment.

Here's hoping they figure something out.

Street Fighter IV interview [OXM via Joystiq]

That means it won't be coming home with console-exclusive fighters a la Yoda and Darth Vader (or Link, Spawn and Heihachi). Instead, each version is planned to include the same roster, the arcade line-up plus whatever new additions the SFIV team sees fit. We have a fairly good idea that Cammy is one of those new additions, but hope we'll get much more than just her.

Any requests?

Ono seems to like it better, too. Just look at how happy he is!

「メインポスター完成！」　プロジェクトマネージャー：塩沢夏希 [SFIV Publicity Blog via Kramez's Blog]

As Ono and crew already specified, the Street Fighter IV home conversion with feature characters not seen in the arcade version as well as online internet play. Ono stressed that the two characters not in the final arcade version who showed up in preliminary art form, Dan Hibiki and Fei Long, are not yet confirmed to appear in the console version. He told us that the team simply hasn't decided yet who will be added to the roster and that SFIV artist Daigo Ikeno "is still working on many designs."

As for what features we can expect, Ono often mentioned the SNES version of Street Fighter II, in its multiple incarnations, as something the team was striving to match. Maybe not in terms of feature set, but that they're hoping Street Fighter IV's home version will be as popular amongst console gamers as its '90s predecessor was.

Ono revealed that the home versions of Street Fighter IV may see the return of bonus levels, the kind that led to much car and barrel destruction in SFII. As for the arcade version, Ono says don't count on it. He chalks it up to capitalism, noting that due to the high cost of the SFIV arcade set up, time spent kicking steel drums or smashing in headlights is money out of arcade operators' pockets.

One other goody that the console and PC ports are expected to get are fully animated endings for each character. While the arcade version of Street Fighter IV features simple still frames—something Ono chalks up to budget limitations—the console follow ups will be packed with more cinematic endings, said to be produced by an unnamed, but famous anime studio.

Ono showed off one animated sequence early in the day, one that featured Ryu, Akuma, Ken and a man who appears to be Gouken in a dramatic battle rife with flashbacks and over the top attacks. The SFIV producer mentioned that this particular sequence was not going to be included in the final version, but was limited to media events, possibly to give us an understanding of how the final product will look.

Those anime-style port-exclusive clips will help flesh out the Street Fighter storyline, according to Ono, giving us insight into plot points such as the return of M. Bison.

Arcade purists will be happy to learn that Capcom plans to ship an "arcade perfect" controller in time with the console and PC versions. Ono revealed that they're already in talks with a peripheral maker in the U.S. to release an arcade accurate stick with a steel base plate, steel shaft and arcade style buttons, possibly bundled with a copy of the game.

For a look at the animation sequence we saw at Captivate 08, check out a few stills in the gallery below.

Ono tells Chris "Chun-Li Lighting Leg Spam" Kohler that SFIV home ports could see appearances from Sakura from Street Fighter Alpha or Ibuki from Street Fighter III, for example, and that the team is listening to fan requests with regard to the character roster.

According to the piece, sounds like Ono is taking the perception that Street Fighter III was limited to an "exclusive club" of fighting fans seriously.

Inside Street Fighter IV's Nostalgic Allure [Game|Life]