Here's some food for thought: the original version of Street Fighter IV was released in 2008 - Capcom's flagship fighter made its comeback nearly six years ago. Sure, the publisher released no less than four 'updated versions' since then, but it's still been a long time since something truly new has come out of the Street Fighter franchise.
From the looks of things, that's about to change...almost. It's now clear that a sequel to Street Fighter IV is in the works, but Capcom isn't quite ready to show it off just yet.
Earlier today, a certain YouTube video went live: the debut trailer for Street Fighter V. It was no 'Hyper Street Fighter IV Turbo,' but the real deal - a true sequel to the 2008 fighter. Unfortunately, Capcom pulled the video almost immediately, and subsequently snuffed any third-party attempts to re-upload the video. It may be gone now, but that doesn't mean fans weren't able to learn a lot about the upcoming game...most notably, the platforms on which it will be released.
Obviously, the reveal that Street Fighter V will be a PlayStation 4 console exclusive is a huge deal - for now, the Xbox One will be completely left in the dust. PC users will still get a chance to play on their machines, but if you're a console user, the PlayStation 4 is the only way to play. Granted, the game's exclusivity could change before release, but all things considered, it looks like Sony has yet another massive exclusive in its arsenal.
The timing backs everything up, too: Sony is hosting the 'PlayStation Experience' this weekend, and the publisher is expected to focus on a massive list of upcoming exclusives. Standards like The Order: 1886 and Uncharted 4 were expected, but a game like Street Fighter - which has traditionally come out on just about every platform possible - is a huge deal.
That being said, none of it matters if the game looks like something you'd scrape off the bottom of your shoe, right? While the trailer may be gone, users over at NeoGAF were able to snag some screenshots and animated GIFs before the trailer was taken down:
It's clear that Street Fighter V will be using a version of its predecessor's engine, but even in this seemingly early stage of development, the game looks amazing. Whereas Street Fighter IV used hints of an ink-like splash for heavy hits and knockouts, Street Fighter V goes all out with it. It looks great, and the level of detail on Ryu and Chun Li is fantastic.
For now, there's no other way to see the trailer than with the GIFs above. Don't fret, readers: it's highly likely that the Street Fighter V trailer will make its grand re-debut sometime this weekend.
