Last week there were another series of location tests in Japan for the latest build of Ultra Street Fighter IV. Read below to find what players had to say!

Hey everyone, Tomoaki Ayano here!

As you know, the Beta Location Tests were held last weekend in Japan. I was on location at HEY in Akihabara, checking out the score with Mr. Sugiyama. The first thing I noticed was that the line there was HUGE! But aside from the long line, I also noticed that a lot of people were using the four new characters. Also, I think there were a lot of people who were new to the NESiCA card system there, because there were players who’d sit down at the cabinet with the card and be like, “Okay…now what do I do with this?” My guess is that the appeal of Mr. Oshikiri’s NESiCA card brought a lot of first-timers to the event.

But while there might have been a lot of first-time players there, that didn’t stop the battles from heating up! I saw a lot of people playing in the Super SFIV area, and then once they’d finished there, they came over to the Ultra SFIV area to try things out. That’s like a whole day of SFIV!

We heard a few concerns on Twitter and other social networks that we would run out of the limited-edition NESiCA cards on the first day. Well, we prepared a metric ton of ’em, so everyone who came out was able to get their hands on one! A lot of people were really happy to get theirs. Special thanks to Mr. Oshikiri and Taito for helping to make this happen! 

 You know I had to get one for myself as well!

You can also use the NESiCA stickers that were given out at the Alpha Location Tests on this card. They’re reusable, so you can enjoy the Ultra Double awesomeness of Mr. Oshikiri’s design and the new character stickers!

Anyway, I’m sure you’re all here for the Beta Location Test info! Wait no longer, because here it is!

– Please give us your overall impression of the new characters.

Rolento

Elena

Poison

Hugo

So far we’ve only compiled the numbers, but from now on we’ll be taking a close look at the feedback that came in with them. If anything this tells us that the new characters are still very much a work in progress. One thing in particular I noticed was that Elena players reported that she doesn’t play like her previous incarnations. I also noticed that a lot of people were using Poison, and of the four new characters, her numbers are the best.

Similar to the Alpha tests the numbers are about half good, half bad. We’ll keep going forward trying to figure out what it is that players aren’t satisfied with.

– Please give us your overall impression of the new battle systems.

Ultra Combo Double

Red Focus Attack

Delayed Wakeup

I feel that by releasing the balance update data ahead of the test, players were able to study that before playing, so the data we collected here is probably the most accurate of all the data we’ve collected so far. It’s important to figure out which characters the players were using when they made their responses. This will be key as we look at the new battle systems and how they affect each individual character, and it will also be important once we get into the finer points of balance adjustment.

It’s finally time to announce…that. What’s “that,” you ask? It’s the number one thing you’ve all been wondering about. Yeah, that “that.” You may want to keep a sharp lookout on March 15…

Need a little more info than that? Well, here’s a hint!

110 ‧ 1001 ‧ 1110 ‧ 1 ‧ 1100

10010 ‧ 1111 ‧ 10101 ‧ 1110 ‧ 100

Well, that’s all for this week. See you again next week!