With this current generation of game systems, console gamers were finally graced with the ability to have their games updated, improved and expanded without the need to buy a new disc. 360 and PS3 owners are now familiar with the idea that their games don’t have to remain buggy for eternity. The content of their games are no longer limited to what was in the box they brought back from the store. Multiplayer games can evolve with community feedback. This infrastructure of online connectivity and downloadable content has had obvious benefits to console gaming on the whole.

Even in the advent of comprehensive console networks like Xbox Live and Playstation Network, it was easy to see how this could be a great feature for specific games and genres. One of the clear beneficiary genres is fighting games. Online multiplayer modes and persistent leaderboards have acted as an arcade renaissance allowing for a quarter dropping experience….without quarters.

However, for anyone even remotely familiar with fighting games, the promise of downloadable content and regular game updates was practically messianic. Back in the barbaric and archaic days of the 80’s and 90’s the only way to update or expand a game was to make another full retail release. Fighting games were particularly vulnerable to this inadequacy. Any new characters or gameplay improvements post-release required a new disc to be printed and a new cabinet constructed. Take Street Fighter II; a game that has had a full 6 arcade releases. While it is easy to see these iterations as quick money grabs from die-hard fans, the changes they brought were usually accepted or desired improvements.  Now, with a internet-connected console, game companies no longer have an excuse to ask fans to shell out for multiple copies of what is ultimately the same game.

Despite franchises like Soul Caliber and Virtua Fighter embracing this system with paid DLC and free patches, it doesn’t look like Capcom is ready to let Street Fighter IV join this generation. To be fair, Capcom has shown that they are capable of improving their games through online means. The Championship Mode DLC pack was an appreciated and free addition to Street Fighter 4. That free content made the announcement of Super Street Fighter 4 even more confusing and frustrating.

8 new characters and updates for every existing fighter sounds great to anyone who has enjoyed Street Fighter 4.  Prior to the game’s release I crafted an arcade stick specifically for the game in the same fashion that a Jedi builds his own lightsaber(see below). I happily purchased the game on release day for $70. It was safe to say that the Super Street Fighter announcement was well-received news. I was ready to whip out my credit card and buy some Microsoft points to immediately purchase the Super Street Fighter 4 DLC pack on day one. However, I looked closer into the press release and noticed that my downloadable assumption had just made an ass out of you and me.  

Apparently, Capcom decided that the business model of old was a little to rich to abandon just now. 8 new characters and several gameplay tweaks was enough for them to justify a new retail product. Now, this in itself isn’t awful. Fallout 3 has a Game of the Year Edition coming in a few weeks, which is just the original game along with all add-ons released previously online. However, Street Fighter is taking a different tact. According to Capcom, it was impossible to add these changes to the original game via DLC and a new disc release will be the only way to get them. While I am probably not the first person to say this, I would like to join the chorus of gamers chanting “Rip Off!”. The game’s producer Yoshinori Ono was quick to promise that Super Street Fighter 4  “won’t be sold at full price”, but Mr. Ono should keep in mind that we’ve heard that one before.

Despite the groups who share my sentiments, there are still people who are defending this choice. Personally, I always find it odd when fans feel the need to defend the idea of being sold the same game twice. It is plain to see that this is simply a coping mechanism of fans who are justifying their purchase pre-emptively through vitriolic forum posts and bombastic blog comments. Still, I feel that gamers need to question Capcoms assertions regarding the abilities of DLC, and the reasoning behind the disc-only release of Super Street Fighter 4.

First off, the fact that they aren’t going to be releasing the 8 new characters as DLC for the original game is already an admission of guilt. They are well aware of the fact that these “extensive” changes are not enough to justify a new purchase, so they are throwing exclusive bonuses in to prop up their glorified patch. Capcom has even stated that people who own both SF4 and SSF4 will be receiving an unannounced “bonus”.  They are actually trying to lure gamers in with the equivalent of a goddamn Mystery Box!

As for their “extensive changes” and character updates, Capcom should really know that those go by another name to gamers… patches. The changes they are incorporating were directly influenced by community feedback. That is the very definition of patch. Updates that help fix and balance your game shouldn’t cost a cent, especially when you can deliver them quickly and cheaply through an online service like Xbox Live and PSN.

In online oriented games like Halo 3 and Left 4 Dead substantial changes have been made to the multiplayer aspects of those games through online updates. Anyone who played Left 4 Dead at launch can quite clearly see that the online gameplay has changed drastically thanks to updates. The amount playable campaigns doubled (with a fifth one recently arriving), an entire new and expansive “Survival Mode” was added in and countless balance issues were fixed. All of which were done through DLC and free game updates on a home console. It is not out of the realm of possibility for Capcom to have integrated these changes into the original game through a series of patches and DLC packs.

Capcom attempts to justify the disc-only course through claims that the game code they laid out didn’t allow for the changes that Super Street Fighter 4 brings. If anything, this is even more damning than simply being a regular cash grab.

Let’s not be naïve about this. Street Fighter 4 is only 7 months old. There is no way that SF4 went gold without them starting work on DLC like new characters or game modes. The Championship Mode DLC was released before the game even hit store shelves. So what Capcom is trying to tell us is that they knowingly released a game that they couldn’t make substantive updates to, so now we have to buy their do-over version of SF4 in order to get the complete experience. They have just admitted to making a game so broken that the normal means of fixing it are unavailable.

However, it is not only opinions that will be divided regarding this choice. The game’s online community will now be split between those who shelled out for the feature complete Super Street Fighter 4 and those who are stuck with a paid beta of Street Fighter 4. For a game which is so focused on maintaining such a high pedigree of multiplayer gaming, this is truly shameful.

Usually gaming news like this elicits demands official petitions and boycotts. Super Street Fighter 4 is simply the perfect example to justify that kind of reaction. It is incompetent, careless and opportunistic profiteering. I don’t plan on organizing a boycott myself, and I’m pretty Capcom doesn’t really care what some fan thinks of their business practices. All I can say is that the Street Fighter franchise has taken enough of my money. If it is unwilling to move into a modern and online marketplace, I won’t be joining the series on its future endeavors.