Beyond that, Capcom Senior Community Manager Seth Killian (a SF player so good he can beat you with one hand) walks us through some of the new features and moves we’ll be seeing when Super Street Fighter IV drops in 2010. Better yet, he promises to try and get hands on time for some of you readers (like last year’s Street Fighter Club and game launch). Go on, watch.

Set inside a breathtaking Nepalese village surrounding that was constructed with assets pulled directly from the game, this immersive environment contains three unique UNCHARTED 2-themed mini-games that will keep you coming back for more. Treasure hunters will be driven to the Mask Mayhem questing mini-game where you must search throughout the village to assemble the scattered remnants of an ancient Ganesh mask (which, upon completion, miraculously appears in your Wardrobe). Adventurers that pride themselves on their agility will love the challenge presented by the Torch Race, and will revel in getting their PSN IDs plastered on the game’s leaderboard. Action addicts with a penchant for strategy will be engrossed by the Fortunate Thieves card battle game where players will seek out treasure on maps that are fully dynamic (with weather and terrain effects,) all while using the expandable card pack to thwart one another with a bevy of treacherous tricks. Check out the video below to see this space and the associated games for yourself, with even more details explained by PlayStation Home Director Jack Buser.

We also have two new game spaces launching this Thursday Friday that are sure to appeal to all of you fighting fans out there. That’s right – Tekken 6 and Street Fighter IV are getting their own dedicated game spaces. These game spaces come loaded with Tekken 6 and Street Fighter IV-related content and will serve as the perfect hubs for all of you bare-knuckled brawlers and PlayStation 3 pugilists that are looking for areas to organize game launching tournaments (or just looking for a new opponent to quickly pummel). To top it all off, 25 Street Fighter IV alternate costumes will also be released tomorrow, so head to the Mall to guile up and then get to swinging.

Speaking of great new content to collect, the new Penthouse personal space will be released tomorrow. High rollers, big ballers, shot callers, and those of you that simply have a taste for the finer things in life will find this luxury urban condo the ideal place to return to after a raging event in Central Plaza. You can pick this new place up for yourself at the Estates store in the Mall (along with a boatload of new virtual items releasing this week).

Last, but certainly not least, you’ll notice that a new version of PlayStation Home – version 1.32 – will be prompted for download when you attempt to login. This client update will address many of the issues that the community has reported to us post-1.3. You should find that gaining access to the service is much, much, MUCH easier. So if you’ve had problems logging into Home over the last few weeks, have no fear, and be sure to get into PlayStation Home later this week to take part in all of the radness scheduled to occur.

See you in Home!

And for everyone looking for a great value… well you can be the judge and jury! In the US you can grab the Street Fighter inspired table for only $2.49, and a mere 1.99 EURO in Europe. Not bad, right? For more information, be sure to check out the official site for ZEN Pinball at: www.zenpinball.com.

To give you a little idea of what makes this table so unique, we’ve loaded it with all the iconic Street Fighter II characters that revolutionized the fighting genre, from Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Guile to Sagat, Evil Ryu, Vega, Balrog and even M. Bison! The locations, missions, and even the tempo of the game capture the feel and look of the Street Fighter brand, so if you’re a fan of the franchise you’ll need to check this table out.

Right now we have a tentative release date scheduled for sometime in August 2009, so stay tuned to this blog, or check out the official ZEN Pinball site for more details.

What is EVO? It’s the world’s largest and longest-running fighting game tournament. Every year, thousands of competitors from every corner of the planet descend on Las Vegas to determine the best of the best on the most competitive fighting games. It’s been running for over a decade, and with all the hoopla over SFIV, this year is going to be bigger than ever—at a conservative estimate, we’ll be playing over 50 thousand matches over the course of the weekend as we work our way towards a champion.

Why are we talking about this on the PlayStation Blog? Because EVO is especially PlayStation 3-flavored this year. PlayStation has been an important part of EVO history, but this year, we’ve selected the PS3 as the platform of choice for our very biggest competitions, including Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Street Fighter IV.

Why else would you care? Because EVO is rad. It’s fighting game heaven with some of the most exciting gaming you’ll see anywhere, it’s run by players, for players, and best of all, it’s free to watch.

(I’m actually the one holding that handicam and yes, that’s my stupid voice cracking with excitement. For reference, this wasn’t even the finals—EVO is full of insane moments)

What is there to do? Well, there are all the tournaments to play in, but beyond the official tournaments (on games including my Capcom favorites, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, and of course Street Fighter IV), there are a ton of DIY side events and free-play on every fighter imaginable in the free “BYOC” area. BYOC = “Bring Your Own Console.” Nearly half of our gigantic tournament floor is devoted to a free-play area, where we set up TVs, and you can plug in any games you want, on everything from next-gen PS3s to old arcade hardware. You’ll find competition on nearly any fighter you can imagine, from classic Street Fighter games to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters. There are also plenty of exciting grudge matches, and when you’re tired of playing and watching the madness, you’re still in Las Vegas.

One of my other favorite things about EVO is that unlike most “pro gaming” events, EVO is an open tournament. By “open,” I mean that anybody can just walk in off the street and take their shot against the best players in the world. You don’t have to jump through any hoops or join a silly league—if you’ve got the skills, you can step up to the plate take your shot. All of the EVO directors grew up playing in the arcades, where skills talked, and BS walked. EVO grew straight out of our desire to preserve that electric spirit of live arcade competitions, and—just like our old arcades—anyone can walk in, put their quarter up, and prove that they’ve got the skills to be the best.

All of that is hotness, but what I love most about EVO is the people. They come from around the world, from Korea to Kuwait, the UK to the US, and Portugal to Peru. And yes, while it’s mostly dudes, beyond that, you’ll find every race, every background—rich, poor, old and young, tough guys and pencilnecks. Of course you’ll find the world’s top fighting game players, including US champions like Alex Valle, John Choi, Justin Wong, and the legendary Japanese champ Daigo Umehara, and everyone comes together with a shared sense of history, and a shared passion for these games. They are the best, the hungriest, and the loudest players in the world. They are shouting, they are cheering, and they mean it.

So with all of those experts from around the world, do you have to be a great player to go? Nope. 99% of the people there realize they’re probably not going to win, but they love to go anyway because it’s a ton of fun, a great way to see old friends and meet new ones, a great place to step up your game, and because it’s an amazing show. There’s a ton of history and heart in the competitive fighting world, and this is the The Big Show, with everyone is welcome to come and watch (or compete!). Fighting games are FUN, and even if you don’t understand every intricacy, everyone can understand a punch in the face, cheering for their hometown favorites, and trying to KO the opponent.

The EVO World Finals run from July 17-19th (finals on the 19th) at the Rio Hotel and Resort, in sunny Las Vegas, NV.

Check out EVO2K for the full details, then pack up your PS3 joysticks and fightpads, and I’ll see you at EVO. If you totally can’t make it to Vegas, we’ll also be streaming some of the event’s best matches, as well as putting up a whole mess of footage afterwards, complete with commentary, player interviews, and the like, so stay tuned.

Hey PlayStation fans, I’m Ryan, Capcom’s newest Bearer of Good News. Today, I’m here to bring you word of our upcoming PlayStation classics, a library of classic games being brought to you on the PlayStation Network. We’ve sorted through our archives and hand-selected the games that rocked the industry. All of these upcoming classics will be released over the PSN, and will be playable on your PSP.

Coming up first is Capcom Classics Collection: Remixed, available tomorrow. The game is a collection of arcade classics from gaming’s glorious past. Pay homage to the best of the arcades, like Final Fight, Bionic Commando, Street Fighter, and Magic Sword. Prove your old-school dominance with twenty full arcade titles. Check out the full list of included games here.

Later this summer, look forward to Fate/Unlimited Codes. Capcom’s fighting game masters have brought one of Japan’s most popular animes exclusively to the PSN, ready for the new PSPgo. High-flying combos and fast-paced versus action show off the game’s gorgeous 3D graphics, and it’s a fighting-game experience you can’t get anywhere else.

Next, keep your eyes out for more gems from Capcom, being brought directly to the PSN. Check out the full list below, including PSone and UMD Legacy titles, and come back often for more info on individual release timing.

• Capcom Classics Collection Remixed (UMD Legacy)
• Mega Man Powered Up (UMD Legacy)
• Dino Crisis (PlayStation Legacy)
• Power Stone Collection (UMD Legacy)
• Mega Man Maverick Hunter X (UMD Legacy)
• Resident Evil 2 (PlayStation Legacy)
• Darkstalkers (UMD Legacy)
• Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max (UMD Legacy)
• Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PlayStation Legacy)
• Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded (UMD Legacy)

We have some über-cool events scheduled for this week that we want to hip you all to. First, we are holding a live Q&A session with John Diamonon and Seth Killian from Capcom today, March 4th. This chat will focus on all things related to Street Fighter IV and will give a few lucky attendees the chance to win a more intimate follow-up Q&A (complete with an SFIV tips and tricks tutorial) in a private clubhouse at a later date.

To participate in the general Q&A, just bring your bad self over to the Gamer’s Lounge today between the hours of 7:00 – 9:00pm PST (10:00 – 11:00pm EST) – and don’t be afraid to show up dressed as your favorite SFIV character! To start, John and Seth will be tackling the most popular questions culled from the official PlayStation Home forums (under the usernames “HIERO9D3” and “clothhand”), but will hold a brief open chat afterwards. These two gents will be “instance-jumping” throughout the event, so if you’re in the Gamer’s Lounge and you don’t see them, cool out and sit tight! They’ll be making the rounds.

To qualify for the private chat, make sure you attend the general Q&A decked out in the Dan Saikyo shirt (unlockable in Home). Attendees sporting this hot reward will be entered into a drawing and then chosen at random to participate. If you make the list, we’ll send you details via private message in your XrossMediaBar regarding the time and date of the follow-up session.

In other news: We’re launching the Resident Evil 5 game space tomorrow, March 5th. So dress yourself up in that free Resident Evil gear available in the Mall, check out the new space, and learn more about the game before it launches later this month. We’ll be looking out for you!

Locust_Star here giving you a quick heads up about some rad going ons that will be going down in-world this week. As you may or may not know, Warhawk is getting its own game space in PlayStation Home on Thursday, February 26th. This space is a great example of the next level in Home’s development – boasting serious interactive features from tactical furniture to game launching. So on opening day we’re inviting you all out to the new space to meet new people, strategize your next attack (using the interactive sand table), launch into the game, and commence the carnage.

This event will run from dawn to dawn, so when you get out of work, class, or a well-deserved nap be sure to log in and meet up with old clan members and new teammates alike. You might even see me in there kicking some Eucadian butt (or Chernovan, depending on my mood). Look for a video walkthrough of the Warhawk Command Center with Dylan Jobe tomorrow morning!

If you were not yet aware, Capcom’s newly-released Street Fighter IV is tightly integrated with Home, offering unlockable virtual items when users perform certain actions in the game. To help you keep up with the Joneses, we’ll be dropping some hot new Street Fighter IV gear – specifically Chun Li, Ryu, Guile, and Ken costumes. So make sure you grab your favorite (and your second favorite) character’s attire if you want to hit the scene looking your sharpest. It’s a surefire way to get the attention of your fellow community members.

See you in Home!

To celebrate the 2nd (or 3rd, or 4th) coming of the Street Fighter legacy, Capcom threw a giant launch party a few days ago in downtown Los Angeles. Many of you attended, some were rebuffed by the LA fire marshal, but all that made it in had a great time.

When I first arrived, Capcom Community Guy and Street Fighter Legend Seth Killian offered up a tour. I rolled video so you could see what went down inside:

More pics of the event here. Thanks Justin M!

Gushing fanboy time: my personal highlights were getting my phone engraved, meeting Cmdr. Geordi La Forge, and getting my butt handed to me by Destructoid’s Nick Chester 3 matches in a row.

Again, it was great meeting those who got in, and I extend my personal apologies for those invitees turned away due to overcapacity.

The party will take place at the Geffen Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown LA, playing host to both hadoukens and Hollywood elite. You know you want to go, so here’s all you need to do: email us at streetfighterlaunchparty@gmail.com, and put your first and last name in the subject line. That’s it, we’ll get you on the list! One name per email, please, as we can only get 302 of you in.

Why three-hundred and two? Because 2 of you, selected at random, will get upgraded to VIP status, with access to the PS3-only VIP area (must be over 21). Please remember, do not feed the reality show stars!

If you want in, get that 2-word email to us by 9am tomorrow morning. I’ll be there, and hope to see you as well. Challenges welcome… I’ve been practicing!