FINALLY! We’ve been in the lab for months now, tinkering away on both the Street Fighter IV packaging as well as the details for what the faithful will be receiving in the Collector’s Edition version of the game. Apologize for the delay on bringing you the official news, but as you can see, there have been some serious changes made. More after the jump!

First off: we’ve been listening to players for the last two months, collecting feedback on your thoughts and impressions on the SFIV box art, especially after images appeared showing the Japanese version. After collecting data from the Unity boards and comments, as well as from other sites like shoryuken.com and conducting some space-age focus tests with two-way mirrors and laser cats, we had a total re-think on our SFIV packaging. As a result of the studies, we have opted to drop the initial Chun-Li packfront in favor of Street Fighter IV art director Ikeno-san’s amazing Ryu vs Ken illustration. Simple, elegant and instantly recognizable. We think that you’ll agree that this image sums up SFIV in true “a picture is worth a thousand words” style. Shoryureppa!

Secondly: North American deets for the long-awaited Collector’s Edition! We’re not just throwing a craptacular “behind-the-scenes” video and “art book” with less images than you can find on any website into a cheesey tin box. Instead, we’re bringing you a gorgeous package that includes:

1. The game (duh)
2. A limited-edition (ie., not sold anywhere else) figurine – Ryu in the PS3 box, C. Viper hotness in the 360 flavor. Decisions, decisions...
3. Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind: a 65 minute anime movie -- created by Studio 4C -- that sets up the story of SFIV by explaining events post-SFII. BluRay disc in the PS3 box! The Xbox version is a 360 game disc that outputs the movie at 720P, not a DVD.
4. A mini-strategy guide from Prima, written by the same people doing the full-on guide and illustrated by Udon Comics
5. CD soundtrack. Rock SFIV stage chunez in your car!
6. …Plus some secret additional downloadable content that we’re not quite ready to reveal at this point. Look for more announcements soon!

All this wrapped up nicely in a box that features Ikeno-san’s instant classic illustration of Ryu, with images of the other characters on the sides.

You like? All this can be yours for a mere $79.99. As a fan, I'm totally blown away. I can't wait to get my hands on one of these, and I work here!