Street Fighter IV – Championship Mode Update Arrives April 24th

Street Fighter IV fans have been waiting for the Championship Mode update since the game shipped on Feb. 18.  The long wait will finally be over on Friday, April 24th when the free update will be available for download on both Xbox 360 and the PS3.

Championship Mode Features

• Tournaments – The essence of the SFIV experience is VS. play and the Tournament feature will allow players to compete in tournaments against players of equal skill.  Divided into 5 separate skill levels (Free,G3,G2,G1 and SG) players will only face opponents in the same tier and will earn grade points (GP) for wins in that tier.  When enough GP has been earned players will be moved up a rank and face the appropriate challengers.  Winning tournament will also net you championship points (CP) which are awarded as a “purse” to the winner.  The higher the level of the tournament the more CP will be available in the purse.    Tournaments will  consist of single elimination brackets where competitors will select their warriors in a double-blind format, which will hide what characters are selected until the round starts.    Ragequitters beware though because the tournaments will penalize you for disconnecting or dropping out of rounds in two ways.  First you will lose GP for your actions and second the game will keep track of your disconnects and display them for future opponents to see.

• Replays – If you’ve never witnessed a top tier SF match then you’ve been missing out on videos like this.  With this new feature though this should be a thing of the past as the top 5000 Championship Point leaders will be given the option to upload replays of their matches that will then be viewable by anyone to watch and study.  You can download and watch the replays on both the PS3 and 360 but each platform will also have a unique set of features.
  • PSN – On the PlayStation Network, you can rate matches while you watch according to characteristics such as “awesome” or “funny.” Replays are then ranked based on these vote ratings.
  • Xbox Live – On Xbox Live, instead of rating the matches, you can choose to download and save your favorite replays to study the players’ techniques. You’ll also be able to turn on the input commands from both players to be able to review their button and joystick motions in precise detail.

Why the ability to turn on input commands is only available on Xbox Live is mystery as that feature is much more desireable than being able to label a match as “funny” or “awesome.”

Be sure to download the update next Friday and participate in some tournaments.

Tags: Capcom DLC PS3 Street Fighter IV Tournament Xbox 360