If you aren’t keyed into the Japanese arcade scene, Arcadia Magazine is like the New York Times of arcade games—it’s THE place to go in Japan for amazingly in-depth and expert coverage of a large amount of titles (and no, I don’t write for them anymore!).  They also sponsor the awesome Super Battle Opera tournament, so it’s safe to say that these guys know what’s up. 

SFIV wasn’t really in the running for any Game of the Year awards in the West, since it’s “merely” an arcade game right now, but in the one place on earth where the game is in wide distribution, it’s blowing everybody away. 

Street Fighter IV won: 

-GAME OF THE YEAR

-Best Graphics
-Best Production
-Best Character (Ryu)

I’m not sure a single game has ever been so dominant.

And just in case you thought SFIV was only popular with the Arcadia editors, here is where I tell you it also won the write-in Reader’s Choice voting for best game of the year.  Beastly!

Thanks MarkMan and Reno for the translations!