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CES 2010: Capcom

by: John -
More On: Dark Void CES 2010 Super Street Fighter 4 Dark Void: Zero
Capcom’s been at CES the past few years and they always have cool things to show off. This year there were three titles we focused on with two of them being on display in the past… well one sort of.

Dark Void this year was shown on the PC showing off some cool features that will only be in that version of the game. Recently, Capcom worked closely with NVIDIA to produce a great 3D feature for Resident Evil 5. Dark Void’s looking to continue that tradition as they are also going to be supporting the NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision.

Playing Dark Void in 3D is a fun experience with the added depth really making some nice visual eye candy for the game. During the flights with the jet pack, you got a better sense of being in flight because of how the 3D image looks. It’s just too bad the lighting was messing up the 3D Vision setup as when it worked it worked damn well.

Also added to the PC version of Dark Void is PhysX which will give you enhanced effects not seen on the console version. Some of the effects are subtle but does enhance the visual quality of the game. The enhanced lighting and smoke seen on the PC version does make for a better looking game.

Texture quality remains the same though so PC gamers won’t get an increase in fidelity there but you can adjust resolutions so if your setup can handle it, you can go past those set forth on the console as well.

Look for the Dark Void review on the console soon and hopefully we’ll have the PC version as well in the near future.

Dan Keener checked out the 8-bit Dark Void Zero for the Nintendo DS while we were there:
After watching John demo Dark Void, I had the fortune to play with Dark Void Zero on the Nintendo DSi. The game is basically an 8-bit game version of the Dark Void series and was quick to learn and fun to play. It offers true 8-bit characteristics, like respawning of items and bad guys. It was actually born out of a title from way back in Capcom’s library, and even has some 8-bit humor (seen in a pic below) where you blow into the DSi mic like you were cleaning off a cartridge. It also features the name Jimmy Fallon in it. Yes, that Jimmy Fallon. Dark Void Zero will be a downloadable title only, and will probably follow suit to similar titles and have a 500 Wii point price tag.

Finally, I had time to sit down with Super Street Fighter IV with uber-SF geek Seth Killian. It was at last year’s CES where I first got a chance to play Street Fighter IV and it’s fitting that my first chance at Super Street Fighter IV would be at this year’s CES.

First off, I was disappointed that the update won’t be hitting the PC… for now. Seth expressed his disappointment as well as he wanted to see it be released on all platforms but hopefully with the voices from the gaming public expressing, which Seth said he’d heard a lot of, their desire to see the game on the PC side will help change Capcom’s mind.

Make no bones about it, a lot has been tweaked from Street Fighter IV to really make this a worthwhile product. You’ll now be able to choose between two UItras to use and each Ultra is different in terms of when and how it’s used. It’s sort of a way to customize your character to your play style by giving you the choice. One of the ones I saw that looked pretty cool was T. Hawk’s air Ultra. Catching the player in the air, it did a massive amount of damage that only few can do. If you’re one of those players that love to catch the opposition out of the air, this is the Ultra to choose for you.

Bonus stages are back and Seth seemed pretty happy about the return. It’s not going to be exactly the same as the original as destroying the car or getting a perfect on the barrels is a lot tougher but he said once you get to gist on how to destroy the car you shouldn’t have too many problems.

There are other new features that we’ve touched on in the past such as new stages and tweaks to the characters in Street Fighter IV so I won’t go into much more into that but suffice to say there are some good additions to the game.

I asked Seth which he prefers working on, new characters or updating the old. His response was that while anyone can make new characters, bringing some of the classic ones back to life is really what gets his blood pumping. Time wise, there are some aspects of bringing and old character back that makes it easier because it’s been play tested in the past and you sort of know how they play against other characters in the game. The new characters, of course, present a new sort of challenge in that you have to do a lot more tweaking and testing and massaging in trying to produce a fair and fun character.

Seth also talked about the hooks needed to do DLC. It was kinda, sorta, but not really there in Street Fighter IV but they turned on the necessary items needed for DLC in Super Street Fighter IV. No mention on what they are planning but Seth said it would definitely not be something like a new hat for Chun Li. They’re opting for some meaty DLC to satisfy the fans of the game.

Overall, fans of Street Fighter IV and the franchise should be happy about the upcoming game. It’s priced at a reduced rate and owners of Street Fighter IV will get something if they pick up Super Street Fighter IV. No street date yet but let’s hope it won’t be too long before it gets pushed out.