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Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix needed a turbo remix of a soundtrack. And that’s what it got from non-for-profit website OverClocked Remix (www.ocremix.org), which provided fan mixes and arrangements. According to the site’s creator David Lloyd, “Artists can submit their own ReMixes of classic and modern game soundtracks, from consoles, handhelds, arcade, or computer games, in any musical genre, from rock to jazz to orchestral to trance”. Capcom was able to tap this pool of talent for the game’s soundtrack. And that’s pretty darn cool.
how OC ReMix put its stamp on Street Fighter II HD Remix [ArsTechnica via s-kill's Blog Thanks, Gantz!]
It’s sequel week in the musty old Xbox Live Arcade, with two classic arcade games making their relatively triumphant returns. First off we have Capcom’s Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3, which features all of the scrolling, shooting, POW rescuing action of the original, along with online multiplay and a free beta version of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, all for 800 Microsoft points.
Also coming this Wednesday is Frogger 2, which includes 15 levels of action, boss battles, two new online multiplayer modes, and no free beta version of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, all for 800 Microsoft points.
I am sensing a clear winner here.
This week on Arcade: Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 and Frogger 2 [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]
Udon, longtime SFII and Capcom collaborators, have released some of their character art that’ll feature in SFII HD. Namely, the little portraits that’ll appear on the character select screen. These ones below aren’t little, though. They’re the big versions. Plenty big enough to show that Cammy’s armpits are fully prepared for the extra scrutiny the HD era affords.
Character Select Screen Art from Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix [Capcom]
360 owners get access to the SFII HD beta when they pick up Commando 3. PS3 owners don’t. That kind of discrepancy leads to questions, which left unanswered lead to thinking, then a wacky hypothesis, then most likely an ill-informed internet forum rant. Seeking to head that kind of rant off at the pass, Capcom have explained just why PS3 owners won’t be getting access to the beta, listing reasons such as a finite number of resources, the fact a double-test would have pushed the actual game’s release back months and the near-impossibility of running a cross-platform beta test. All very legitimate, all very sensible. None as sensible as this, though: this is a beta test. Not a demo. As Capcom’s Seth Killian explains, “There is code parity across the two and any issues found in 360 will be fixed in PS3″. Reasons Behind No SSF2T HD Remix Beta on PS3 [Capcom]
We know SFII HD was causing problems for the development team at Capcom. They’ve got all these lovely HD textures and sprites they want to use, you see, but Xbox Live Arcade’s file-size limit means squeezing these into the 360 version has been a big hurdle to clear. Note I say big. Not insurmountable. Capcom’s Seth Killian: I can officially say that the filesize will not be an issue. With great help from the guys at Microsoft, we will be able to offer the same features on both platforms to the same quality as each other. To use the term I’ve been reading on the forums, neither console version will be “gimped” due to any kind of limitation.
Breathe easy, 360 owners. Unless you’ve still got concerns over the 360 controller’s suitability for this game, that is. In which case, continue breathing frantically. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix: State of the Union [Capcom]
Looking to get your mitts on Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix early? Buy Commando 3! Capcom is giving Xbox Live Gold members an opportunity to help “stress test” a beta version of the 1080p remake of SSFIITHDR if they virtually drop the 800 Microsoft Points on its other offering. That’s the good news. The bad news is that you’ll be limited solely to Ken and Ryu and a single stage and that PlayStation 3 owners don’t seem to be getting a similar deal.
Whatever! As a Commando and Mercs fan, I was already planning on picking up Commando 3 (aka Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3). Getting the HD treatment on Super Street Fighter II Turbo will be a nice little bonus.
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix beta brawling to XBLA [GameSpot]
The man largely responsible for the “re-balancing” of Capcom’s other hi-def remake Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, David Sirlin, recently posted about the upcoming changes to Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, tweaks he hopes will make the 2D fighter more approachable to noobs. Sirlin, who notes his suggested balances to SSFIITHDR are designed to make the game “more inclusive rather than exclusive”, focus firstly on pulling off certain moves. Executing Zangief’s spinning pile driver, for instance, can be a challenge on the d-pads of current gamepads, as are certain moves by Sagat, Fei Long, and Cammy. In the new optional “inclusive” version, these moves have been simplified.
Unsurprisingly, Capcom was less than ecstatic to see ancient, internal art files for the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network release Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix make their way online. But they’ve turned leaky lemons into lemonade, giving readers of the official Capcom blogs and Street Fighter followers a look at what’s a work in progress and what’s expected to change. In short? Just about everything.
The Capcom crew have converted a handful of the old art files into illustrative animated GIFs, showing some of the challenges the team at Udon face when upgrading to high definition frames. They also drive home the point with big bold letters that much of the stuff is old, work-in-progress and will be re-drawn. They’re even nice enough to provide the leaked art file, saving you the trouble of going elsewhere. Lovely.
Street Fighter Art in Progress: The Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Ugly [Capcom Blog]
Those weary of the infrequent drip of artwork provided by the Capcom Digital blog might be interested in an early—and I do mean early—peek at a huge number of redrawn sprites from Capcom’s upcoming Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix which have recently found their way onto the internet. In-progress drawings, complete with design notes and hitbox guides, were squeezed out, presumably unintentionally, in a zipped archive that contains artwork for Guile, Cammy, M. Bison, Zangief, Blank, Ken, Ryu, Akuma, Dhalsim, E. Honda, Fei Long, Sagat, Balrog and Vega.
As anyone can see from the above cropped picture and the dozens of unfinished drawings that these sketches are nowhere near final. That won’t stop everyone from belching forth “Bad art!!”, but it will hopefully give those with tendency for bunched underthings a brief moment of calm. For those rabidly anticipating its release on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, the leak is just an extra dose of delicious hype.
STHD Sprites [via Neo Empire Forums - thanks, James! ]
Put your hype-proof jackets on, kids, because Capcom is ready to let loose with a number of news “bombshells” starting October 15. As with many gaming announcements, the official bomb drop date is next Monday, but leaks and the occasional Famitsu exclusive might see word from Capcom HQ much much sooner. The hype machine was pumped and primed when Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix producer Rey Jiminez posted on the official Capcom USA blog “Well, I can testify, that what’s coming is a megaton bomb!”, adding “You will not be dissappointed.”
Brian Dunn, also of Capcom, later extended the tease, writing “We have our Gamer’s Day event in London next Wednesday (10/17), but there will be announcements and things starting to come up on Monday (10/15) and continuing all week.” Dunn also added, somewhat conspicuously, to the comments thread “everyone at Capcom knows all the fans are extremely anxious for a NEW SF game, believe me. That’s about all I can say about that…”
Today, the official Capcom blog updated with a very cryptic posting titled “Prepare Yourself” with the following message…
