M. Bison’s masked Russian Doll, Decapre, has been revealed as the fifth and final new character in Ultra Street Fighter IV, joining previously confirmed fighters Poison, Hugo, Elena and Rolento.

Fans will remember Decapre from her debut appearance as an NPC in Street Fighter Alpha 3. Come summertime, players will get the chance to put her “quick and elusive scramble moves as well as her psycho power infused attacks” into playable action for the first time.

Ultra Street Fighter IV will be available in early June as a $14.99 digital upgrade for existing owners of Super Street Fighter IV or Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition on PS3 or Xbox 360, with a $39.99 retail edition to follow for both consoles in August. August will also mark the release of the digital upgrade and full digital bundle for PC, priced at $14.99 and $29.99, respectively.

Get your first look at Decapre in the reveal media posted below.

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From the Capcom Cup fighting game event earlier today in San Francisco, Capcom has revealed new modes to be included in the upcoming Ultra-sized edition of Street Fighter IV.

When Ultra Street Fighter IV gets its ultra combo brawl on in Summer 2014, fight fans will be treated to the additions of Team Battle Mode, featuring 3v3 online multiplayer battles with an elimination survival twist, as well as an Online Training Mode for players to practice their skills against other players in a non-competitive environment.

Other previously announced content coming to Ultra Street Fighter IV includes an additional five fighters (Poison, Hugo, Elena, Rolento and a “secret all-new playable character”), six new environments (Pitstop 109, Cosmic Elevator, Half Pipe and more), and loads of rebalanced mechanics and gameplay tweaks based directly on fan feedback.

Ultra Street Fighter IV will be available as a $15 DLC upgrade for existing owners of Super Street Fighter IV or Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition in June 2014 for PS3 and Xbox 360, and for PC players in August 2014. Retail console versions, including all previously released character costumes, will also ship in August for $39.99.

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Mad Catz’s line of Xbox 360 Street Fighter IV fight pad controllers, regularly priced at $40, can now be had for only $20 at eStarland.com. Until July 20th, if you enter the promo code “360FIGHT” when purchasing one of the four available fight pads, the price will be slashed in half.

If you want a better fighting game experience but can’t afford one of the high-end arcade sticks, the fight pads are a great option, more so at this low price. They are wired, but the improved D-pad is totally worth paying for. It’s also great for 2D XBLA titles like Bionic Commando Rearmed and Mega Man 9 and 10 — games that, to me, don’t play so well with the crummy D-pad on the standard 360 controller.

These are the available fight pads:

Ryu Fight Pad
Ken Fight Pad
Akuma Fight Pad
Chun-Li Fight Pad

For those looking forward to playing Street Fighter IV on PC in July, here are the minimum and maximum system requirements you’ll need to run it.

Minimum Requirements:

Maximum Requirements:

Fellow game soundtrack nerds, I have great news! Sumthing Else Music Works has partnered up with Capcom to bring a bunch of game soundtracks to North America. Release dates and pricing details have not been announced yet, but right now we know that the soundtracks for Bionic Commando, Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter IV, Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop, Dark Void, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite and Spyborgs are all coming stateside.

Better yet, all of these albums will be released at retail in physical CD form, for folks like me who like to have a physical copy of something they buy, and as digital downloads via Sumthing Digital and iTunes, for those who just want the music on their iPod or other music playing device as fast as possible.

Capcom Soundtracks Coming to North America [Capcom Unity]

Capcom today finally confirms its PC launch schedule for its three biggest games of the year.

Bionic Commando and Street Fighter IV are due on store shelves in July, both optimized with new features just for the PC. Bionic Commando, for instance, will support higher resolutions and both DX9 and DX10, remappable controls, and mouse and keyboard support (dur!). SFIV will also support higher resolutions along with three shader options — “watercolor,” “posterization” and “sumi-e ink” — so you can actually make the in-game graphics take on the art style of all those amazing “artisitc” trailers Capcom produced last year.

But the big news here is that Resident Evil 5, previously only announced for PS3 and Xbox 360 (and released for said consoles back in March), is officially on for a PC port. The cooperative survival horror action of RE5 comes to Windows this fall, and for those who actually use it the PC version will support NVIDIA’s new GeForce 3D Vision technology. Now you’ll be able to blow off zombie heads in real 3D!

Street Fighter IV achieves such brilliance because of how well it fuses new and old ideas. It has the feel of a 2D fighter and this undeniably nostalgic retro quality about it, yet also comes through strong with fresh gameplay features, a deep fighter roster starring old favorites and an interesting cast of newcomers, a robust lineup of story, versus, training, challenge and online modes that’ll keep you playing for hours, weeks and months to come, and gorgeous, meticulously detailed 3D characters, backdrops, effects and animations – all brought to life by a unique ink-splatter cel-shading art style — that will surely cause your jaw to unhinge due to constant shifting between ear-to-ear grinning and awed, open-mouthed gawking.

When I first slid the game disc into my PS3 and started my first match, fond memories of playing Street Fighter II on my best friend’s SNES for hours on end back in the day instantly rushed through my mind (played it some in arcades too of course, but I certainly remember it most on the SNES). Street Fighter IV truly is Street Fighter II reborn anew. All the classic characters and moves are back coupled with a bold mix of fresh faces and familiar venues.

Like Street Fighter II before it, Street Fighter IV excels because it is just so well balanced across the board. Thanks to a whopping eight offline difficulty settings and helpful online match filters, this game is accessible to players of all ages and skill levels. Newbies can jump in on the Easiest setting and enjoy sparring without having to learn all sorts of crazy special move commands, more middle-of-the-road fighting game players such as my self can hover around the Medium range for a stiff but reasonable challenge, and veteran players equipped with unnaturally dexterous thumbs and years of Street Fighter mastery can test their mettle on the Hard, Very Hard and Hardest difficulties – there really is a mode here for everyone.

As always, the fighters are also tightly balanced. Except for Seth and his cheap-as-all-hell abilities, all 18 other characters are evenly matched — no character has an unfair advantage over another. If played to their strengths, each fighter is fully capable of beating down any other character that stands in his/her way, which is exactly what you want from a fighting game.

In large part, Street Fighter IV’s gameplay inner workings are carried over from Street Fighter II. Guile’s ‘Sonic Boom,’ Ryu’s ‘Hadōken,’ E. Honda’s ‘Hundred Hand Slap’ and every other fighter’s signature move is performed exactly the same as they were all those years ago in the arcades and on the SNES. It’s been at least 10 years since I last played Street Fighter II, but Street Fighter IV’s initial sense of familiarity made it feel as if I had just played it yesterday.

However, Street Fighter IV isn’t all Street Fighter II retread (as if that would’ve been a bad thing). Even more nuanced fighting strategy has been introduced with new mechanics like chargeable Focus Attacks good for counter attacking and breaking through an opponent’s defenses, an EX gauge you build up for super combo attacks by dishing out damage, and a Revenge meter you build up for spectacular new ultra combo attacks by accepting damage. With these additions, long-time players certainly have some fun new toys to master.

As brilliant as Street Fighter IV is, I do have a few small bones to pick. First, I am mildly disappointed by the limited online options. Simply having the game play online and running smoothly is certainly all that is needed, but for a game of this stature it’s a bit of a letdown that Capcom didn’t go to town recreating more of an authentic arcade experience with the online suite. Basically, you can create or search for player or ranked matches, earn Battle Points for winning, win special medals for accomplishing certain feats within a match, unlock icons and titles representing your style and skill level to the community, and that’s about it. You can’t play tournaments or spectate other matches, and there is no penalty to hinder losing players from quitting a bout before it’s over. Something I think would’ve been really cool is a group lobby you could setup and play like the old days with two players squaring off at a time while the others watch via a spectator mode, then at the end of the match the loser passes the “controller” on to the next player in line and the winner plays on until he/she is dethroned. But alas, nothing of the sort is to be found.

Elsewhere, I also have a gripe with some of the new fighters. Most fit in very well — like Crimson Viper and Abel — but others not so much. The new Silver Surfer-esque boss Seth is the worst offender. His moves are cheap and his look just doesn’t mesh with the Street Fighter universe, I don’t think. I also found fat boy Rufus and the lucha libre wrestler/wannabe master chef El Fuerte to be iffy additions.

One other small issue I have is with the controls. For the most part the controls are incredibly smooth and responsive, however for anyone looking to sink serious time into mastering their favorite characters and competing online, the D-pad and analog stick of a standard game controller just don’t cut the mustard for such an input-sensitive fighter like this. To get the absolute most out of the game, you MUST own a good quality arcade fighting stick. MadCatz offers two superb fighting sticks specifically built for Street Fighter IV, but they are extremely pricey, and in the case of the Tournament Edition stick extremely limited in availability.

These nitpicks aside, Street Fighter IV pulls through like a champion against absurdly high expectations and easily backs up all its pre-fight hype. Accessibility, nuance, longevity, nostalgia, balance, precision, fluidity and beauty – Street Fighter IV is blessed with all of these virtues, perfectly rounded out with a dash of Capcom’s signature cheesy charm. You won’t find a deeper more well-rounded fighting game this generation, period.

Pros:
+ Perfect blend of retro and modern, familiar and brand new
+ Flawlessly balanced gameplay
+ Spectacular graphics and buttery-smooth animations
+ Extensive mode selection
+ Smooth online play
+ Wide range of difficulty settings

Cons:
– Basic online options fail to recreate an authentic arcade experience
– Some of the new characters don’t quite fit, especially Seth
– Need a high quality arcade stick to experience the game at its best

Game Info:
Platform: Reviewed on PS3, also available for Xbox 360
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: 2/17/09
Genre: Fighting
ESRB Rating: Teen
Players: 1-2

Street Fighter IV isn’t even out yet and already Capcom has an extensive lineup of downloadable content planned out to supplement the game up to a month after it’s launch on February 17th. Think of that what you will…

The lineup includes a FREE Championship Mode expansion pack containing a replay feature, two additional points systems and enhanced tournament matching (stuff that should’ve been in the game to begin with, which is probably why it’s a free add-on), and a series of five weekly costume packs each containing alternate costumes for five different characters at the price of 320 MS Points / $3.99 a pop. Read on for full details on all the planned DLC and a gallery of 50 screenshots showing off some of the alternate character outfits.

Championship Mode Expansion Pack:

* Replay Mode – Record, upload, and download top matches to share with the Street Fighter IV community. Players can analyze top tiered fighters matches, leave voter feedback for others, and share their own triumphant victories.

* New Points System – Two new points systems to measure your skill (Championship and Tournament Points)

* Enhanced Tournament Matching System – Skill level matching system offers improved tournament match making for beginners and mid-level players. Competitors earn Grade Points (GP) to earn entry into more advanced tournaments.

Alternate Costume Packs:

* 2/17 – Brawler Pack DLC Pack will include alternate costumes for: Zangeif, E.Honda, Rufus, El Furete, and Abel.

* 2/24 – Femme Fatale Pack will include alternate costumes for: Chun-Li, Cammy, Sakura, Rose, and C.Viper.

* 3/3/09 – Shoruken Pack will include alternate costumes for: Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Gouken, and Dan.

* 3/10/09 – Shadowloo Pack will include alternate costumes for: Seth, M.Bison, Sagat, Balrog, and Vega.

* 3/17/09 – Classic Pack will include alternate costumes for: Guile, Dhalsim, Fei-Long, Blanka, and Gen.