musopantz

Thursday was the official opening for the PS3 and XBox 360 versions of Street Fighter 4, and Gametraders held a Launch Party to celebrate its release!

I had only vaguely heard about Perth-based launch parties before so I thought I’d head down to see one. Of course there were going to be an abundance of gamers around, though I had also expected there be some fairly “hardcore” fans there… possibly cosplaying as their favourite Street Fighter characters? But alas, there were only guys wearing their Capcom or Street Fighter related apparel. Fairly typical of the fighting-game genre, there weren’t many girls there. And although there were, some were brought there by their boyfriends.

Since this launch party was at the Reading Cinema in Belmont, you had better expect there be some serious big screen gaming! There were three games simultaneously played with an XBox 360 on the small screen and PS3s on the big and other small screen. Oddly enough, the big screen was not being played in 16:9 widescreen? Anyway, with each game having a ladder of 32 contestants, all players were in the running to win a copy of Street Fighter 4 and a $50 Gametraders voucher for the runner-up. With the cinema setup, it was extremely satisfying watching Ultra combos being pulled off on the huge screens!

There were two guys who brought their USB Arcade sticks to plug into the consoles. I think that classifies them as “hardcore” Street Fighter gamers. Given fighting games had their roots at the video arcades, it’s pretty easy to say that you get the most out of the games tapping sticks and mashing buttons.

Funnily enough, neither of the “hardcore” stick players made it into the finals. As you can see this guy here sitting on the floor, about to slam his control deck in disappointment as he is “K.O.ed” in the last round of his fight. I wonder though- since the cinema-screen SF4 game was connected to the back-room projector, if the stick fighters were to get to the finals, how would they connect their non-wireless controllers to the console?

Fun times were had by all Street Fighter winners, losers and spectators though. It was a pretty good turn out too. Enough for Gametraders to plan regular Street Fighter tournaments. Many players signed up to it. Let’s hope it raises the profile of gaming in Perth!

I have a few more snaps in my Flickr photo set… have a look!