I'm totally stoked about the new character, Juri, comin' out for SSFIV.  When I first saw her though I couldn't get it out of my head...  I've seen that character design before.  No, not Rita Repulsa but... Aha!

Even though I've been playing SFIV competitively these past several months at a handful of arcades, I was totally stoked to finally get the game for home and online play.  I Tore straight through the mediocre packaging, tossed the retarded an' fugly C. Viper figurine into the garbage (recovered it later after my wife suggested 'Ebay') and popped the game into my 360.

It's just like havin' the arcade at home, only with a lot more content but missing the whole arcade vibe.  Though the online play is pretty smooth an' solid, there's no subbing the real arcade experience.

My bro pre-ordered the TE stick months ago so he's happy playing on that.  Top grade Sanwa components, can't complain about that.  I'm still usin' my seasoned EX2 (couple soldering jobs later, works better than ever, hahah), though I'm planning on picking up the Real Arcade Pro which's comin' out soon (if it hasn't already).  The Seimitsu LS an' buttons should suffice, but if not I'll head to akihabara's site for some Sanwa Denshi goodness.

Anywho, really enjoying the home port!  The Challenge Mode is awesome an' I had fun unlocking all the characters, the half-assed corny movies, conceptual artwork an' all that jazz.  I've been hearing a lot of complaints, though, 'bout the new boss - Seth.  Honestly... I can't relate with this alleged problem.  How people can lose to any CPU on Easiest is beyond me.  Newbies an' nooblings I can understand but self-proclaimed seasoned players?  Hmmm...

Kudos to Capcom on a game well done.

Found a couple more vids, this time from reaver666.  Good games, great times.

I was explaining the FA system to this guy an' letting him try it out at the beginning of the match.  He insisted that I not go easy on 'em, lol, which I respected 'cause there're a lot of people who start off that expect you to throw an entire game (not at Super, but I've met 'em...).

Had a great night over at Super in Walnut.  Great crowd, awesome people, only thing that sucked was the cab kept eating everyone's tokens.  It's been that way for a couple weeks now, an' unfortunately JG's 2P cab has been down for awhile (they're waiting for the parts).  Super's owner is too lazy to do anythin' about it, plus he's not complaining about the extra money he's getting so yeah... if you go to Super be conscious it's all Play At Your Own Risk!

None of the really fancy, flashy vids were posted, lol, these videos were captured by a couple of cool doods who were also playing.  Big thanks to cvargas1979a for posting the vids!

I'm a Sagat, Ryu an' Chun-Li user primarily.  (I'm the white gi Ryu in these vids.)

Can't wait for the console release!

It's been over an hour since I found out that Sakura was included into the Street Fighter IV lineup.  While I haven't, by any means, been active in the petition to get her into the game, I am a fan of the character and am very happy she made the cut.  However, I have to admit, my initial impression wasn't one of joy but more along the lines of, "Whaaaaa~?"

Before reading anything official I saw the screenshots of Sakura sporting her old school uniform.  Of all the characters in Street Fighter IV I was expecting her to change the most.  Over a few years have passed according to the official canon and, if my math is correct (which it usually isn't but I get close), she should be 21 years old.  I couldn't help but scratch my head an' raise an eyebrow to her SFIV design.

But, I believe it's still too early to come to any conclusion, especially considering all we're going on are a handful of screenshots and assumptions.  One thing I will note, her legs look damn fine - I have no complaints with the short skirt at all.  She is also the first Street Fighter character, aside from the original World Warriors and newbies, to make it into the game.

At this point there're only a couple of items I'm interested in regarding Sakura.  What her alternate costume will be sparks some interest in my mind, naturally, but my primary concern is how well she'll play in SFIV.  I'm primarily an aggressive Sagat user when playing SFIV an' my consistent win streaks suggest I'm not too bad.  With the inclusion of an Ansatsuken-hybrid I can't help but feel that little bit of anxiety.  I can't wait to see how she plays an' stacks up against the rest of the cast.