Street Fighter III fans had better warm up their thumbs; Capcom’s upcoming online update of the fighter is only a month away.
It seems that Capcom was in a generous mood this morning. Alongside that flurry of Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 info the firm released, comes a solid release date for Street Fighter III 3rd Strike Online Edition as well as a brand new vignette detailing the title’s updated gameplay options.
Before I break into the crucial details, I should note that Street Fighter III 3rd Strike Online Edition is a modern remake of Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, a 2D Capcom fighter originally released in 1999 that was widely beloved among hardcore fighting game fanatics, despite being the least popular Street Fighter title among mainstream gamers.
Well, that’s assuming you don’t count the original Street Fighter, but since Capcom seems to be doing its level best to ignore that that game ever existed, I’m willing to overlook the title for the purposes of my last sentence.
This new iteration of the game is a downloadable title designed for the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. It includes enhanced graphics, replay sharing via YouTube, live match streaming, online leaderboards and a subtle reminder that you will never, ever be as good at fighting games as Daigo Umehara.
The clip embedded above details many of the game’s new features over the course of its nearly 2-minute run-time. Though I’m not terribly fond of the game’s graphical smoothing — praise Gill that the title includes the original pixels as an aesthetics option — I am incredibly excited by the video’s mention of GGPO-based netcode.
Essentially, GGPO is an online multiplayer gaming protocol crafted by PC gamers who wanted to play emulated arcade games with the best approximation of lag-free local multiplayer gaming possible. I have no idea how it works technically, but in practice GGPO is hands down the best way to punch a foe from halfway across the planet.
Capcom licensing the GGPO tech for inclusion in this game is a wise move for the company, and great news for fans of multiplayer pugilism.
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike Online Edition will hit the PlayStation Network on August 23, and the Xbox Live Arcade on August 24. Both versions feature a $15 retail price.
Source: Capcom Unity
