Super Street Fighter IV Staff Answers Your Nerdy Questions

Super Street Fighter IV assistant producer Natsuki Shiozawa posted a ginormous Q&A in last Friday's official blog update. Today, it's the core development staff's turn to answer some of the more... uhh... nerdy questions.

Here are summaries of a few questions and answers. The answers were pooled from the staff as a whole, although I believe director Takashi Tsukamoto actually wrote the post.

The Staff's Picks

Super adds a number of new features and characters, but what did the staff really want to add? Tsukamoto's response was: Replay Channel, the second Ultra Combo and Juri. For the second Ultra Combo, the staff feels it brings about new play for even the older characters.

Weak Connections

Do you hate it when you get matched up with a player who has a weak connection? Super has a variety of methods in place to deal with this. In particular, during the arcade-style challenge play and the quick match mode, the game will only pair you up with players who have good connections.

Ryu and Sagat, Darn Troublemakers

Someone asked for the staff to name the toughest part in Super's tuning phase. It's tough to come down to one area, wrote Tsukamoto, but everyone had difficulties with the new characters. For Ryu and Sagat, these are the game's fundamental characters, so the team took great care for their tuning.

Features Being Saved for the Next Installment

Wouldn't it be neat if the controller rumbled when a new challenger appeared? Alas, this won't be in the game. However, writes Tsukamoto, "If there's a future chance, we'd like to try this." (OMG STREET FIGHTER V CONFIRMED!)

Ultra Combo Differences

I'm pretty sure Nakky touched up on this in last week's blog. There's no difference in how you build up your Ultra Combo gauge. The conditions for releasing the combo are the same, but the strength and ease of use differs between the combos.

Less Waiting

Someone said they wanted a greater sound when people enter the room while you're waiting for a rank match or player match. The staff is making a variety of adjustments to the sound. They're also reforming the matching system, and Tsukamoto believes the waiting times will be shorter.

This is a Very Realistic Request

Someone asked that they eliminate the Ultra Combo selection. Tsukamoto noted that the Ultra Combo selection, like the character selection itself, is done blindly so the other player doesn't know. The staff feels this adds to the strategy and interest of the game.

Pressing Honda's Buttons

I vowed to translate at least one of the super nerdy questions, so here goes. "Is it true that Honda's multi hit supers like the Hundred Hand fist have switched from five button presses to four?" The answer is no -- it's just like it is in SFIV.

Lazy

They've made it so that the game will remember your cursor position for character select, so you won't have to move the cursor to your character each time.

Do your homework before asking a question!

On the note of presentation, someone asked if you can freely adjust the positions of the gauges. As with the original Street Fighter IV, you can do this in Super. You'll also be able to expand the combo gauges to fill both sides.

Compatible with SD?

Still on the note of presentation, the game's font size has been increased, making it much easier to see over Street Fighter IV.

A Nasty Rumor About Gen

Someone asked if Gen's fine tuning has progressed, citing a rumor that fan requests for Gen haven't been reaching Capcom. Gen is actually one of the most adjusted characters for Super, explained Tsukamoto. They've kept the areas that feel good. The character will probably need some new play techniques. (Sheesh... where do these silly rumors start?)

Ken's Only Child

Do they still have the story setting in place where Ken has has twin daughters? Apparently, the kid Ken and his wife Eliza have in SFIV is their first one, meaning they have just one child.

Viper's Status

Someone asked what Viper's husband is like. Tsukamoto explained that seeing as how the man was selected by Viper, he's very likely a special person. "However, it appears that he's no longer with Viper."