Oct/09

Exclusive: Hadoken.net interviews Seth Killian!

62 Comments | Posted by strugler in Super Street Fighter IV

Hadoken.net has been officially online for only minutes and we already have our first exclusive interview with non other that Seth “the man” Killian. In this Interview i talk to seth about everything super street Fighter 4, and dared to ask him some hard boiling questions. Enjoy and make sure to leave comments and let us know what you think:

1- First of all, i would like to thank you for this great opportunity

It’s my pleasure. Any friend of Street Fighter is a friend of mine.

2- Capcom surprised us with the recent anouncemnt of the upcoming sequel to Street Fighter IV, titled Super Street Fighter IV, my first question is how did the idea to make a sequel to the awesome SFIV came up and was this planned way before the first game’s release?

SSFIV was definitely not planned before SFIV’s release. Although it seems like an easy success now, SFIV was a big gamble for the company in a lot of ways. Many people even internally were not sure the world was still interested in Street Fighter. The true beginnings of a sequel began late in the development of SFIV itself-we still weren’t positive that the game would be a success, but we knew people were excited, and could also start to see even more things we wished we could make happen. You’ll see a lot of those ideas finally reach fruition in SSFIV.

3- While many of us fans were expecting a sequel to SF4 we did not expect it to be a super version, but more like the champion edition of SF4, why did you guys jumped the Dash edition and turbo edition and went directly to Super

It was basically a way to try and signal the massive amount of content we’ve got planned. The jump from SF2 to SF2 Dash was great at the time, but frankly it pales in comparison to all the new juice in Super SFIV. Frankly, SFIV -> SSFIV is a bigger jump than all of the SF2 upgrades combined.

4- Ono san revealed in a recent interview that SSF4 will have an aditional 8 ish characters some old some new, are those characters already set in stone or can the fans still cast their vote on what fighters they want in the game?

Although we’re still talking about it, based on the very aggressive dev schedule for this game, I can’t promise we’ll be able to let fans vote this time around. What I’d hate most is to have a vote, then not be able to follow through on the results. That might sound demoralizing, but the good news is that we’ve been listening very closely since SFIV was released, and we’re very aware of what the fans want from another Street Fighter game. So in one sense, you’ve already voted, and on much more than just characters.

5- So far you guys revealed only 3 characters, when will more be revealed?

I can’t give you an exact date, but you’ll definitely be hearing more before Christmas.

6- In terms of gameplay what can we expect from SSF4? Are there major differences between the gameplay of SF4 and ssf4 ?

There are major differences (every single character has some exciting new stuff), but at the same time, the game won’t feel unfamiliar at all. I can certainly say we’re not doing anything drastic like returning to parries, or adding another mechanic that would fundamentally change the game. It’s still very much a SFIV game, so returning players will feel right at home.

7- One of the major complaints i myself saw online was the lack of stages in SF4 and in particular character individual stages, since Capcom is making an improved version of SF4 can we expect the return of individual stages ?

Still TBD. There will certainly be more stages.

8- What about character theme music? in SF4 we could only hear them in the rival match, however in the T-hawk vs Juri video we could clearely hear t-hawk theme music playing in the background, does that mean that character specific music will be played during the arcade mode and versus mode matches?

There is character specific music in the game. Where and when it gets played is still being worked out.

9- Since we are talking about the music, will Super Street Fighter IV have another boys band music type playing in the main title? (i can’t get that damned indestructible out of my head even though i dislike it)

We’ll have new main title music for SSFIV, and I think it’s safe to say that Exile has been… “exiled.” For the record, although I wasn’t initially a fan of “Indestructible,” it also grew on me-very infectious.

10- How about the announcer? the T-hawk and Juri video showed that there is a new announcer, does that mean our beloved SF4 announcer will not comment on our online matches anymore?

We’ve got a new announcer in the current build. We’ll see whether he makes the cut as we prepare to go gold, but just like “Indestructible,” he’s grown on me pretty quickly.

11- Speaking of online, Capcom licensed the excellent GGPO netcode last year and we have yet to see a capcom title implementing the netcode, could Super Street Fighter IV be the first one to do so?

Tony (GGPO creator) is one of my good friends and longtime EVO associates. We’re still working out the online details, but all of the online modes are being reworked.

12- A lot of fans were not very happy about the exclusion of multiplayer lobbies in SF4, is SSF4 going to make those fans happy ?

We heard those fans loud and clear, and are working on adding some new modes that will “enhance the social aspects” of playing SFIV.

13- The PC version of Street Fighter IV did do quite well in terms of sales, however Capcom announced SSF4 for only PS3 and Xbox 360, is there any reason why the pc was left out ?

Given the aggressive dev schedule, it’s just too early to be considering other SKUs apart from the primary focus, which are PS3 and X360.

14- It was also a surprise that Super Street Fighter IV is not coming to the arcades in Japan, aren’t you guys afraid that this decision might alienate the Japanese SF players and hurt the worldwide tournament scene ?

An arcade version is in a similar position to a PC version, but I’d personally really like to see this happen, for the sake of Street Fighter history as well as in support of the amazing arcade SFIV arcade, in Japan and around the world.

15- Let’s talk a little bit about the story of Super Street Fighter IV, does the game takes SF4 place in terms of the cannon (like how ssf2 replaced sf2 turbo) or is it a continuation of the previous game?

It’s a continuation, not a replacement. You’ll get answers to some lingering questions for sure.

16- Can we expect new anime prologues and endings that will be maybe a bit longer and with higher quality than those of SF4, since those were met with negative opinions?

The team is redoing all of the anime prologues and endings. They’re even making new dramatic “Now… Fight your Rival!” scenes to help enhance the presentation, integrate the new SSFIV challengers, and advance the story.

17- Last but by no means least, SSF4 is coming out in Spring 2010, when will we hear a more specific release date?

I couldn’t tell you for sure-that one is up to the marketing guys, but hopefully we’ll be able to get the game in people’s hands ASAP-certainly at more fight club events with more advanced builds, while we’re waiting for the final release.

18- Than you Seth for your time, and we are eagerly waiting to play Super Street Fighter IV and love it like we loved its predecessor

It was my pleasure.

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62 Comments for Exclusive: Hadoken.net interviews Seth Killian!

TheHYPEOne | October 27, 2009 at 11:13 am

Thank You! you finally asked a question I’ve wanted to hear “when are the rest of the characters being announced” and the answer got me HYPE! also, on another note awesome job with the new site!

Fire.Tisane | October 27, 2009 at 11:48 am

I actually feel like some of these answers are not just the standard fair we usually see. These actually get me hype as well!

Ansatsuken-TKD | October 27, 2009 at 12:56 pm

Wow - I really like this site! The format looks a ton of a whole lot better!

Glad you were able to get the interview! And I’m also glad the game is advancing the storyline. As it’s been said before now’s an exciting time to be a Street Fighter fan. So true.

Now onto Gamestop to go get Tekken 6 to hold me over!

Justin | October 27, 2009 at 1:21 pm

Nice article. Always wanting more SSF4 news.

P.S. Your banner says “You source for everything Street Fighter” instead of Your*

bossman | October 27, 2009 at 2:12 pm

good read!
few things i would like to get off my chest…
sf4 is a brilliant game im a big fan of the sf brand and have never battered a game so much in my life lol not even sf2/turbo

things i would like to see in ssf4
- ryu to still be the best lol i have studied him too much to start losing lol and we all do love mr daigo! he needs to remain champ with ryu lol
- i have strong faith with capcom and believe the balance of the game will be good as sf4… i hope!
- im more interested in the small things… rival matches… more taunts! i want to be able to taunt after i win a round maybe only after a certain finish
- more possible ways to communicate within the game before the match starts using the smiley faces of some sort
- more smiley faces… eg. i need to pee, thew close game/i got lucky… you got lucky… maybe a its too laggy face! lol
- if possible a lag meter just to make me feel better
- if ever possible which i doubt! online laggless play???
- maybe DLC tourney matches cheap tho considering we can watch them on youtube
- i do quite like the skin mods on the pc version if we could get someting like that on DLC it would be nice
- overall i hope this gets to capcom
- any char added i will appreciate i never really liked fei, cammy, rose gen… but when i got sf4 i took the time and i really do enjoy using all the chars!!! but pls lets keep ryu the master! he is the main face of sf and has been from sf1!!!! long live street fighter!!!!!

Ultima | October 27, 2009 at 2:33 pm

I’m excited because it’s a new SF, but at the same time, I’m not.

SFIV actually needs to play *considerably* different (and Bison needs a total overhaul) before I get really excited. It needs to be faster, characters need to move/dash/jump faster, stages need to be smaller so that characters can’t jump backwards for so damn long, crouch tech needs to be removed, and I’m still not happy with the EX/super/Ultra meter setup.

NO TO ULTRA SELECT. If we must have multiple Ultras, let us have them both at once, for for Chrissake the supers need to be fixed - most aren’t worth doing. Multiple supers and a single ultra makes the most sense, but I guess we’re not getting that. Can we at least have supers that cost only two EX stocks instead of 4? Reduce their damage if you must.

Jdigitalseven | October 27, 2009 at 2:46 pm

I really hope they dont mess this game up with LAME sf3 characters. The arcade and console release had SF2/SFA characters only and they need to stick to that pattern!!

Nando | October 27, 2009 at 2:58 pm

Congratulations on the new site!

Also, good read. Thanks.

Magus | October 27, 2009 at 3:13 pm

Hi. I can only hope somebody at Capcom will actually read these comments… Anyway, I think I should specifically point out how EXCELLENT cross-platform play would be - of course, rollback-based GGPO-like netcode with the possibility of 0-frame delay (configurable) must be the absolute top priority if you care at all about online play. In fact, I think the whole Live/PSN-centric model should be ditched so PS3, XBox360, PC and Arcade (yes, Arcade) could all play together online. If this last idea is just infeasible, at the very least integrate XBox360 and PC, since they both use Live (yes, the non-trivial integration is worth your effort, as we’re not talking about some obscure game played online by just a hundred guys around the world)… PS3 XBox360/PC gameplay could perhaps be implemented by allowing direct IP connections, though this idea might be shunned due to piracy concerns.

Pleeeeease don’t screw up again with the online play. Moreover, the community would immensely appreciate it if you patched “regular SF4″ so as to give it outstanding (no, “fair” isn’t enough) netcode.

Regards,

Magus

Jonny Modlin | October 27, 2009 at 3:23 pm

We want bonus stages, more new stages, more characters of Adon, Birdie, Charlie, Cody, Guy, Juli and Juni, Karin, R. Mika, Rolento, Hagger, Hugo, Sodom, Maki, Ingrid, Eagle, Retsu, Alex, Dudley, Ibuki, Elena, Gill, Urien, Oro, Necro, Sean, Remy in Super Street Fighter IV!

J | October 27, 2009 at 4:40 pm

Good questions…and good answers! A worthwhile interview, and I’m really looking forward to the game.

I will also admit to pulling for R. Mika to make an appearance, heh

RadarTrap | October 27, 2009 at 4:57 pm

I don’t understand why the cutscenes are anime at all. Why don’t they just do them all using the game engine like they have done for the little intros before each fight? That would be much better imo.

TheRealSentai | October 27, 2009 at 5:36 pm

@RadarTrap
I think that will take more time and money if they do the cut scenes with the game engine.

I don’t mind the anime. But it could have been way better. Move a little, more action, a little long-ER cut scene, something. Come on Capcom. Have a little fun.

Oh, I hope the intro Music turns out good. I’m not saying SF4 was bad. But, it felt out of place.

I hope there will be more bonus in single player in SSF4. The Challenge Mode felt a little…Meh. Add something fun in it.
Like, how may cars can you destroy in 1 min?
Something.

But in all, I’m getting this game.

Street Fighter IV - Page 56 - Computer Games Forum | October 27, 2009 at 6:25 pm

[...] still working out the online details, but all of the online modes are being reworked. mai multe aici __________________ "We apologise for the inconvenience" - God’s final message to [...]

geodude | October 27, 2009 at 8:21 pm

For your first article ever, it’d be nice to double-check spelling and grammar! Mistakes already in the first paragraph! Not poking fun, just saying.

Atmey | October 27, 2009 at 11:42 pm

Hadoken.net attacks
Seth evades
0 exp gained

The next door was not so bad (Japanese version of indestructible).

NGXL | October 28, 2009 at 2:36 am

I surely hope there is a PC version and I’m glad Seth’s comment doesn’t send any worrying messages.

I wouldn’t mind if they stepped in Third Strike’s direction with regards to super and EX meter, but still… new Ultras will be cool and I’m sure they’re doing their best to balance the game, which will be a FRIGGIN’ SUPERLY GREAT ONE!!!!!

Omelette | October 28, 2009 at 6:21 am

+1 @Ultima

i agree with ultima on this one.

1. they game play need to be a bit faster

2. the jump ( forward & backward ) feel strangely to far

3. smaller stage and no kiddies ( seth stage with lots of colors and Las vegas ) it need to be more immersive, maybe the return of the iconic grassland from alpha ( ryu vs sagat stage )

4. give the one in attacking position a priority

5. NO SHORTCUT

6. implement the link combo much better for all character and maybe not to strict on the timing

7. no stupid shoryuken motion spamming when your defending. so maybe when the opponent miss 1 frame link combo you got a free shoryuken

8. you need to be able to taunt when you win

thank you thats all from me

orlando | October 28, 2009 at 3:41 pm

i am very glad to have read this interview, got alot of good questions answered and others left on the ” omg i cant wait” mode. i myself mostly wanna see who all the new characters and returning new characters are gonna be from previous street fighter titles. i am pulling for makoto and ibuki from sf3 and r. mika from alpha. they do need more females and please do add more varied outfits. the pc version has tons of characters with outfit mods. capcom should most definetly look into doing the same thing but not just as DL content .