Fighting Games Friday: Kiss Those Street Fighter 6 Coins Goodbye

The roster for Street Fighter 6 was bound to receive new outfits eventually, just as Capcom provided them for the rosters in Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V. Some received more than others, with Chun-Li in SFV netting so many that it became a meme among the community. But the development team really took their time for this game. It’s one matter that it takes months for the team to implement the new outfits, as it involves testing physics on the character models and ensuring they don’t induce glitches. Yet, it’s clearly another matter when Capcom prioritized making new outfits for the player avatar in the World Tour mode, which has received several special outfits since launch — including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collaboration outfits.

That’s okay, though, because the third outfit options for the characters have finally arrived. Capcom has been slowly providing concept art for these threads for several months now, since around Evo 2023 in the summer. But they finally revealed them on the characters themselves in the new trailer, to wild internet applause from the fanbase. It couldn’t have been clearer from the reactions that fans liked these outfits more than the first threads offered for prior SF titles. This was all a rosy situation until the fans realized one thing: How much would these things cost? Their concern was justified given how ridiculously-priced the other post-game content has been thus far. Boy, weren’t we lucky that the first batch of alternates could be unlocked through the World Tour mode.

The outfits are now available in the game for the very affordable price of 300 Fighter Coins per outfit. That’s a notable $6 per outfit. These are prices for a free-to-play game, albeit one still regularly priced at $60. It will be more economical for players to only purchase outfits for the characters they use, and hope for sales for the others. These, notably, cost more than they did for SFV, just as all the other downloadable content does. But Capcom and the development team haven’t received anywhere near as much heat for it. That’s the benefit of launching a game extremely well received from the start this time around. It’s also the standard for microtransactions in games, a sure sign that the gaming community lost their war against them at large.

That said: The outfits are nice. Most of them, anyway. The outfits for Juri and Kimberly have been well highlighted, and are both great. The same applies to Cammy, in another clear homage to Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. But there are almost too many standouts for me to name here. Zangief’s is incredible, mainly for being an outfit that fully beats the “dumb oaf” stereotypes aesthetically, not that it ever applied to his game version. I also like Lily’s, which makes her look a hell of a lot like Talim from the Soulcalibur series. Chun-Li’s has been divisive, but I’m in the category of fans that approves of it. It’s also tough not to like Ryu’s given the story behind it. Manon’s also has her looking like Lady Oscar, from a franchise likely older than most of the player base (including me).

On the other hand, Ken’s looks kind of awkward, threads and a hairstyle from an old-ish guy trying his damnedest to cling to his younger days. It’s still far better than that one notorious outfit from SFV, but it’s a weaker link among the outfits here. Blanka’s is also rudimentary, though they haven’t run the Blanka-Chan meme into the ground just yet.

Anyway: Happy hunting for the outfits, and finding the money to get them in this economy. Perhaps that discounted bundle isn’t too far off, though I fear it is.

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Meanwhile, character trailers for Tekken 8 are arriving again, now for characters who’ve already been revealed. Leo was the new first here, shown with a special intro with new-character Azucena, apparently offended at the mere thought of anyone referring to herself as the “Coffee Queen.” Steve Fox came second, shown having a special intro with Hwoarang.

These trailers are nice, particularly for Lenne Hardt’s fantastic pronunciations. But these were clearly intended to be shown earlier. Bandai Namco’s plans were likely altered after the roster was leaked several months before the game was set to arrive. Special focus was placed on showing the new characters in action, who all look so great in action that the game should have included more of them. This worked out fine enough for them considering how much buzz the new characters generated. But it’s clear they had to fill the weeks with something until the game arrived. That “something” should also include another beta to ensure the online netplay is up to snuff. I assume they care enough about that.

I’ll close out this week by noting the Evo Japan 2024 lineup, one predictably good in most ways. Of note: This will be the first significant tournament for both Tekken 8 and Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes. It will also be a treat to see SF6 again, despite tournaments for the game happening all the time now. But Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is the biggest surprise, in matches that should deliver great action. There should be plenty of old favorite players participating, perhaps even two from a certain Evo Moment. We’ll see.