Hello everyone.

The festive Christmas atmosphere is starting to pick up around town. Personally, a lot of games and moves that I've been looking forward to are coming out in succession... But no matter how cute the little Chocobo is, now we gotta focus on Super Street Fighter 4! The development staff has been pouring their blood and sweat into the project, so what once seemed like a distant goal is now within our sights! We'll give it our all for the final push!

Well then! Today we're bringing back the "Q&A Series"! If we count from Street Fighter 4, this would be the 9th entry.

This series is like using up 3 bars of super meter. The choice of questions and opinions to be addressed is left up to me - but I'll try to answer as many questions as I can the best that I can! Let's get to it!

Q: Yes! A continuation of Street Fighter 4! Sweet! I love the Street Fighter 4 staff, Lil' Ono, and Nakky as well! I could hug you all to death! I'm looking forward to Super Street Fighter 4!
A: Wow! If it makes you this happy, I won't mind getting hugged to death!

Q: The blog's banner is pretty cool. Modeled after the new character Juri. Could it be that that's you?
A: Could it be...! I often said to Lil' Ono and the dev staff "Taekwondo is pretty fun... but up until now there's been no taekwondo characters in Street Fighter... I wonder why...?"

Q: What's going on with the character balance in Super Street Fighter 4?
A: We're giving it our all with character balance! Not just the new characters, but the 25 from Street Fighter 4 as well!

Q: As I'm a player from the Street Fighter 2 era, just looking at the title makes me feel all nostalgic!
A: Yes! As we made the title logo with Super Street Fighter 2 in mind, for you to say that makes me happy!

Q: Ah, I'm a little late, but I've finally made it to the Super Street Fighter 4 party! As Ono kept saying "Dash" I was looking for "Street Fighter 4 Dash" and almost missed this site on the net!
A: Thanks for your always energetic comments! This site does seem like it can get lost on the net easily, so please take care in coming here!

Q: I like Juri Han's hair. And I love your blog.
A: At the developers site, Juri's hair is often called "Cow Horn Hair". And you love my site... and with two stars to boot... I'm deeply moved!

^{Cow Horn Hair. This is what it looks like from the back.}

Q: I'm from Australia. I'm following this blog as closely as possible. Please give us some more news on Super Street Fighter 4!
A: Thank you very much! I have been to Australia before! I put my hand in a mother kangaroo's pocket, and the baby kangaroo inside pulled on it with a bit of force. The baby kangaroo didn't seem to like it. Sorry fella.

Q: No matter what happens, I'll accept it, but - for online battles, if we could make a room, have several people enter, and then they can watch the fight as they wait their turn, that would be great.
A: That would be great! And you can do just that!

Q: Please make the character themes for everyone from Street Fighter 2.
A: Heh heh heh. Thanks to everyone's passionate requests, all character themes will be present in Super Street Fighter 4. (This is the biggest announcement of today's blog) You may have noticed that Balrog and Vega didn't have themes in Street Fighter 4, but this time we've got everyone covered with cool remixes of their themes!

Q: I'd like to see some blood when Vega uses his claws or Blanka bites.
A: Blood! Yes, that would definitely make things interesting. But if we did that, it would make our target audience a little older... We'd like for everyone to enjoy Super Street Fighter 4 regardless of age!

Q: Dudley's gonna be in this, right? I really want him in! ... I wanna throw the rose (laughs)
A: Throwing the rose is a part of Dudley's identity isn't it. Right now, I can't say if he will be in or not. But I understand how you feel about wanting to throw the rose.

Q: I was relieved to hear you hadn't given up on an arcade version. It would be great if there was one! Get on it, developers!
A: We've heard your passionate requests for an arcade version loud and clear! Thank you very much! We'll do our best!

Q: The new character Juri... she's pretty cute! I really like her design! She's the best. I wanna see her in action!
A: Everyone loves Juri! She's a bit of an intense character, so while she might get your blood pumping a bit, if you think "I wanna use her" that makes me the most happy!

^{Way cute!}

Q: About Juri's chest, is that a tattoo, or cloth... I don't know.
A: Hmm, right. We're giving you a nice shot of her in the above picture! But yeah, as you can see the shoulder straps and the chest looks like a tattoo. So the designers are working hard now to make it look more like cloth!

You can properly see the line of the clothes!

Q: Could it be that Juri's eye only glows during battle and some of her win poses?
A: That's right! She has the "Feng Shui Engine" in her left eye, so whenever it gets going it lights up.

Q: Give Dhalsim a shoryuken.
A: ?! If we gave Sim a shoryuken, his arms would extend and he'd really launch the opponent. (So in some ways, it would be a real rising dragon...)

Q: Rose's hair is hard like a shell. Would it be possible to soften it up a bit?
A: It would be nice if she had soft flowy hair huh. But I believe she's using hair spray to harden it up. So her hair will stay the same in Super Street Fighter 4! ... Um... sorry about that...

Q: Please give us the ability to fight cross-platform between PS3 and 360!
A: Sorry! That's not something that we have any power over.

Q: The alternate costumes I bought for Street Fighter 4... I don't have to buy these again, right? They'll be in from the beginning?
A: They're not in from the beginning, but if you bought the alternate costumes for Street Fighter 4, you'll be able to download them for free!

Q: I'd like another character besides Vega who uses weapons.
A: No problem, no problem! (Pun: kunai, kunai!)

^{Sakura's getting beat. By who?! (For the second time...)}

Q: Please make me stronger. (Commenter: Vega)
A: Wow, a comment from Vega himself! To pour your heart out here of all places... I feel your pain, Lord Vega!

Q: Don't nerf Viper! If you do I'll have to switch to Juri!
A: We're not going to make her weak, so don't worry. But, I would like it if you tried out Juri once!

Q: I wanna go out drinking with Ono.
A: Heh heh, to be honest with you Ono doesn't drink alcohol. He has ginger ale, and I like umeshu on the rocks!

Q: Excuse my bluntness, but the Yoga Tower is awesome! I think it has infinite possibilities!
A: You are pretty blunt. But the dev staff as well as Capcom staff, when they first saw the Yoga Tower they were like "What is that?!" Work hard to bring out those infinite possibilities!



Q: Would it be possible to make a system to be able to give your opponent praise or props after a fight? I'd like some preset comments or greetings.
A: For after the fight... we don't have anything for that. Sorry. But for before the fight! There are some preset comments you can choose from to display in the lobby.

Q: Reading everyone's comments every week and giving us important information... I think you must be pretty tired. Please take care of yourself.
A: Thank you very much. But, thanks to everyone, I came to be a director for Street Fighter 4 and Super Street Fighter 4, and I have a lot of joyous memories, so I'm doing just fine!

Q: The 2 patterns of the illustration of Dee Jay on the last blog were pretty good.
A: That was when I showed you the character select image, right? I showed you 2 patterns, and then we took in everyone's advice and the following week brushed it up to the final version, which everyone liked! The designer in charge ran a little over schedule but he got it done!



Q: I heard that at first, Juri was supposed to be a bit more of a well-rounded woman, but I guess its a lot harder to change female models than male ones?
A: As its pretty difficult to change things once the model has been made, first adjustments are made through illustrations, and then the final image is decided on. Juri as well, once her image was decided through the illustrations then her model was made.

^{The current Juri just when her image was finished.}

Q: Thank you for responding to our requests to include the name of the voice actors along with the voice samples for every character.
A: No problem! In fact, getting these requests helps us out a lot! "Please do this," or "I'd be nice if..." please continue to add these into the comments.

Q: I thought of a new move for Honda. The name is "Fundoshi Removal". It will increase his speed.
A: Uh... well, if we put that in, we'd be asking for it from the soccer moms...

Q: Ms. Shiozawa, go for that fight money. As for me, I'll be collecting titles.
A: I've been busy lately, so I haven't played Tekken (?) at all! But Taguchi, who you know from the dev blog, uses Xiaoyu. I haven't fought against him yet, but I will someday!

Q: There's no other official blog out there where such dedication and love is shown to the players. Thank you very much!
A: I also feel the same!

Q: In the background of the car bonus stage, you can see someone from SIN collecting data. I thought that was funny.
A: Yeah... and if you didn't notice, that SIN members is also in other stages collecting data. Haven't you seen those intense movements somewhere before...?

This is someone who Street Fighter 4 players should know pretty well!

Q: Why didn't you use this poster as the main image for Street Fighter 4? I've been wondering about this ever since I bought it.
A: This poster is pretty cool. Seeing all the warriors gathered together like that is an everlasting image. We had Ikeno draw it up not as a poster, but just for the sake of having it, but it was too cool not to make into a poster!



Q: Rufus's legs are really long! Is this Super Rufus?
A: Hm? .... Holy crap, they are pretty long!

^{When looking at him together with Viper, Abel, and Fuerte, what you said is accurate. That's gotta be Super Rufus. He can definitely beat Ken now.}

Q: In the end credits you have all the characters appear, but for the characters that haven't been unlocked yet can you make them appear as silhouettes?
A: In Super Street Fighter 4 all characters will be unlocked from the start! The character select screen is now really something else!

Q: If you can pull this off it will be the pinnacle of online fighting games. Good luck with debugging! The Street Fighter 4 staff, always striving for the best, is really cool!
A: Pinnacle! That sounds nice... We're working hard to bring you a title we'll have no regrets about!

Q: Are the bonus stages accessed through the Challenge Mode? I'd like to be able to play them while waiting in the arcade.
A: Whoops, we missed this! Sorry! You won't be able to select them in the Challenge Mode at first, but after beating Arcade Mode then they will become available through Challenge Mode.



Q: It would be awesome if the Bonus Stages also had time scoreboards or could be saved to replay!
A: Wow! That would be pretty interesting! But, as we thought of the bonus stages as something for a single player, unfortunately those options aren't available.

Q: No matter how many times I fight him, I always hear Sagat say "The Emperor can be defeated!" What he really means to say is "The Emperor can't be defeated!" right?
A: Yes, he's saying "The Emperor can't be defeated"!

Q: I can't take waiting anymore. Hurry up and show us the new characters!
A: Heh. We're gonna push you to the very limit!

Q: Ken's new voice is great. As I like Ken, I'm a bit envious of Eliza... Will these sample voices be used in the game?
A: Hmm... its possible that they will only be used on the official site. Depending on the voice, some may be used in the game, but as for Ken's "I love you Eliza!" I think that is not used in the game. Probably.

Q: I'd like for the rankings to be done separately by character Battle Points.
A: And we've set it up that way!

Q: For team battles, I'd like to be able to team up with my friends.
A: And we've set it up that way!

Q: For the bonus stages, which way do the characters face? Towards the car, or according to the direction you turn the stick in?
A: Towards the car.

^{You can almost hear the "WATAH!"}

Q: Can we get a bonus stage where we can trash Dan's shabby Saikyo-ryuu Dojo?
A: That's terrible! Poor Dan! ... But, it would be funny to see Dan as his dojo is getting wrecked.

Q: Of course, we'd like the bonus stage music to be the same as before!
A: Its new music! We understand the desire for the old BGM, but its really cool new music, so please look forward to it!

Q: As another alternate costume is fine, but I would like to see a Viper without the necktie.
A: But the necktie is what makes her mature! Without it... then its just pervy!

Q: Come to think of it, how about Santa costumes for the Street Fighter 4 characters? Out of the Street Fighter 4 cast, it'd look the best on Gouken wouldn't it?
A: Look good on him... no, he would be Santa! If we put a Santa costume on Gouken, then his nationality would change to Finland...

Q: Please give us one of the ninja characters.
A: First off, we have Guy!

Is he angry about something?

Q: While there have already been a lot of people to mention this, I want to say it again so you don't forget. Get rid of having to hit 3 buttons for the ultra!
A: Really sorry to those who hate having to hit 3 buttons for the ultra, but in Super Street Fighter 4 as well, ultras are activated by pressing 3 buttons.

Q: On T. Hawk's profile, his sizes are listed as bust 114 / waist 98 / hips 112, but really? Bust 114?
A: Wow, nice eye! Between ST and A3, there have been characters whose dimensions have changed (Ryu, Ken, Chun, Zangief, Bison, etc...) But in Street Fighter 4 we're going by the Street Fighter 2 settings, so 114 cm it is!

That big chest is for hugging Julia!

Q: In Super Street Fighter 4, will all characters be getting new character select portraits?
Will there be all new stages? Will some of the old stages remain?
How about BGM for all of the characters? (having it be stage-dependent would be fine)
A: The characters from Street Fighter 4 will use the same character select art, no change.
Stages from the original Street Fighter 4 will be ported over to Super Street Fighter 4. (We are making the volcano stage a bit less red though!).
Also, we are making specific BGM for all characters!

Q: Will there be new alternate costumers in Super Street Fighter 4?
A: Just wait for more info! ... Is what I'd like to say, so cut me a little slack here!

Q: Is Rufus's fighting style self-taught Kung-Fu, or mistaken karate?
A: Sorry that this is a bit confusing! According to his character setting, its neither karate or kung-fu. As he watched martial arts movies, he came to put his own spin on moves, so its either karate or kung-fu, but his own style.



Q: I'd like for there to be several different rival battles. For example, Ryu could have the Sagat rival battle, as well as a Ken rival battle.
A: I also love the rival battles! During the development of Street Fighter 4 I really looked forward to their implementation. Right now I can't really say anything, but if we're talking about Ryu's rival, of course that would be Ken!

Q: The movement of Cody's chains and the sounds they make are very realistic.
A: Endo, who loves sound effects more than eating three times a day, will be happy to hear that! Endo always gathers the real items from which to make the sound effects, so it takes a lot of work just to record one effect!



Q: Hey... is that Andore in the distance?
A: Heh heh heh... nice catch. I'm planning to tell you more about the new stages on Dec. 18th, so wait a little while until then!

Q: Guy... Guy's just too cool for words!
A: Yeah, this time Guy has really exceeded expectations as a good-looking guy. But, since he does set up those barrels by himself... that's quite a reduction of cool points...

Q: The kunai heading towards Guy... is that... Ibuki?! Or... Geki?!
A: Ho ho ho. I can't say anything. But just wait a little while longer! However, Geki doesn't throw kunais, rather he throws shurikens!



Q: Will they ever make a good looking guy character with long legs, a tall nose, sunglasses, slicked back hair, thin, not muscular, but with enough strength to throw down with Zangief, and loves spaghetti?
A: Since the Street Fighters are all pretty unrefined, maybe one day we'll have a cool Italian character such as that. If they do make him, I hope he likes squid ink pasta!

Q: Will Super Street Fighter 4 be sold as a add-on disc for those who already have Street Fighter 4?
A: No, we have no plans for that at this time. Super Street Fighter 4 is being built from the ground up, so you have no need for an add-on disc (so its like the engineers are making a brand new game!)

Q: If you got in trouble for hinting at Cody back in June, does that mean that the new characters had already been decided at that time?
A: Nope, not at all. At that time, everyone was still debating over it.

Q: Will there be any objects in the background that can be broken, like barrels or boxes?
A: Unfortunately, we have no plans for that.

Q: When I asked my mom to buy me Street Fighter 4, she said "There's gonna be an update, so just wait for that." So yesterday, I asked her to buy Super Street Fighter 4, and she said "They're gonna make an update to that as well, so just wait for that." So... is there going to be another update?
A: Wow... I feel bad for you. Regarding continuations... honestly, its impossible to say until its actually been decided on, and at this point in time we have no plans, so I don't there will be anything for awhile. (At least, I hope not!) So, please show this blog to your mom so she can buy it for you. Super Street Fighter 4 has enough in it so that we really could call it Street Fighter 5. So mom, even if you don't want to please buy it!

Q: I'd like for you to be able to make adjustments to the characters and the game even after it goes on sale.
A: Hmm, you mean patches, right? I'm still not really sure, but one thing we worry about are those without network setups. This is only a what-if scenario, but suppose we did make an arcade version - so there'd be some rough spots between those players who did get the patch and those who didn't. We're a little worried about that kind of thing...

Q: It seems like there's been some change to the Revenge Gauge in Super Street Fighter 4?
A: There is, there is.

^{The name of the move is now displayed! That would be Jaguar Revolver.}

Q: The CPU was just too strong in the last game...
A: Yep, it was too strong for me too. So in Super Street Fighter 4 we are making some adjustments to that.

Q: How about a demo as a Christmas present?
A: Sorry! As Street Fighter 4 didn't have a demo, there are also no plans for a Super Street Fighter 4 demo.

Q: Real street fighters use their surroundings in the fight. It'd be nice if characters could do this instead of just having their moves.
A: I see... that would be an interesting game! However, if we did that, then it wouldn't really be Street Fighter. It'd turn into a different game.

Q: This is a little extreme, but I'd like for a system where if you push one button at the right time, you get a specific combo.
A: Hmm... that would be great for beginners! You'd get more courage out of that. But, as it says on the Street Fighter 4 poster, "Practice hard and develop your skills" is the basis of this series, so work hard and become stronger!

Q: On the car bonus stage, after wrecking it will the car owner come out and say "Oh my God!" or "Oh my car!"
A: When it was first developed, either the SIN member or the car's owner would come out at random. But if we are destroying cars that someone owns, then it gives off the image of doing something bad. There was a lot of consideration put into it, but ultimately it was decided to leave this out. Sorry!

^{Pointing at the car he just destroyed, ruthless Guile.}

Q: (In Street Fighter 4 Championship Mode) Currently I'm in G1, but I keep losing points from losing the first match. If this continues, can I be dropped down to G2? Before Super Street Fighter 4 comes out, please tell me the conditions for SS.
A: Okay! First, if you continue to lose points, you will get dropped down to G2. And here are the conditions for SS! The points necessary to rank up from each grade are...

SG-A 300,000
SG-B 200,000
SG-C 150,000
SG-D 100,000
SG-E 70,000
G1-A 50,000
G1-B 40,000
G1-C 30,000
G1-D 20,000
G1-E 15,000

Q: Isn't it about time to show us some new moves and ultras for the existing characters?
A: Oh, nice question! We don't have any trailers for the existing characters in Super Street Fighter 4 yet. So it may take a little while, but around New Year we may have something for you! I really want to show you too, so please look forward to it.

Q: So, what is the release date?
A: Yeah, when is the release date?

Q: 1. Do we get character specific BGM and stages?
2. Will the animation all be new?
3. Will all of the characters have more than one costume?
4. Will there be any hidden surprises?
5. Will there be a movie showcasing everyone's ultras in the near future?
6. Is the staff getting enough sleep? Hang in there without pushing yourselves too hard!
A: 1. Characters are getting their own BGM, however the stages will not be assigned to any one character.
2. The prologue and ending anime are all being re-done.
3. A ha ha, I can't say anything about that!
4. If there was, if I talked about it here it wouldn't be a hidden surprise!
5. Heh heh heh... We've already gotten started on that.
6. We're getting just enough sleep. We're ok!

Q: Will there be a Greatest Hits version of Street Fighter 4 to go on sale for the PS3 and 360? Are there any plans to sell the Alpha or SF3 series on PS3 or 360?
A: There are no plans for either at this time. I have heard nothing about it. But it would be nice...

Q: Guy is American?
A: In Final Fight he was Japanese, but in Alpha 3 he became American. As the Guy in Super Street Fighter 4 is based on A3, Super Street Fighter 4 Guy is also representing America!



Q: Won't there be any characters from 3S? Also, regarding adjustments for the existing characters and system, and the release date... can you just give us a general estimate?
A: 3S characters... I can't really say anything about that. We've definitely heard a lot of clamor over them. Regarding the existing characters, we've been adjusting them! But when you tweak one character, then you have to look at the balance for all of them, so its a bit difficult.

Q: Can you at least tell us if there aren't going to be any more characters from Alpha?
A: Hmm... well... Sorry!

Q: Will there be any special features for Street Fighter 4 included in Super Street Fighter 4?
A: We are currently discussing this internally. Please look forward to it!

Q: How many completely unknown surprises are left?
A: I can't tell you how many completely unknown surprises there are!

Q: The voice for the announcer that you hear at the character select and at the beginning and during the round seems to have changed. Is it the same voice from the Street Fighter 4 loketests?
A: Yes! The voice for all of the narration has been changed. We thought we'd change it up to give the sound guy, Endo, a real surprise when he played. The "Street Fighter 4 loketest guy" is the localization lead for Street Fighter 4 as well as Super Street Fighter 4, Debito!

Q: Will Super Street Fighter 4 be able to run at 1080p?
A: No.

Q: "When we get home, stop playing games! If you've got that much free time, at least be a Dad and help out around the house!" I tried explaining that games are like sports or shogi and require a high level of skill, but...
A: Oh.. ah... I agree with you. We'll work hard trying to get an arcade version out there!

Q: Will there be a PC version?
A: Undecided.

Q: Will Abel be in the game!
A: Huh? Of course he is! All characters from Street Fighter 4 will be in the game!



Q: I'd love to be able to practice on the go, so how about a PSP version?
A: Eh... That's pretty difficult. If you want to practice, you have to be able to do so on a version that's not inferior to the arcade. More than technical issues, that's what I'm concerned about.

And that's a wrap!

Wow, this was really something else. This was the biggest Q&A of the series. In MS Word it was 22 pages. Wow! That's like a thesis paper!

Please continue to write your opinions, requests, questions, support, expectations, and any news of places with delicious foods!

Well then, see you next week!

Q: Are we right to interpret that no more characters from Alpha will make it?
A: You're right.  Sorry!

And I think they're overdoing the whole kunai teasing thing too.  They may as well say "The next new character rhymes with Shmibuki."

Q: Is Juri's outfit clothing or a body tattoo?
A: I don't blame you.  The straps are tight enough to look like tattoos.  It'll be a struggle for the designers to make that look like cloth.

Q: I want more characters that can use weapons, aside from Balrog
A: Kunai!  Kunai!  

after seeing that It proves that roster is one big popularity contest and I hate it Ugh!!!!!