The long wait for Street Fighter fans finally came to an end on 20th February with the release of the Street Fighter IV in India. To celebrate the release, Milestone Interactive hosted a launch event in Bangalore with The Living Room playing host. When we reached the venue, we had anticipated a good turnout, but we were in for disappointment as barely fifteen people had showed up.
Whether it was due to a lack of publicity or the effect of recession, it was surprising to see such a low turnout for a public game launch event. With the event details being available on IndianVideoGamer and The ANGRY Pixel only a couple of days before the event, and little or no other publicity elsewhere, it was obvious that not many people even knew about the event.
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The Living Room has a total of seven screens, out of which the game was setup on five. Besides that, big Ken and Ryu cutouts inside the venue were the only indicators that some sort of Street Fighter event was underway. At the same time, paying customers played Halo 3 and FIFA 09 on the remaining two screens, which seemed rather strange at a Street Fighter IV launch event.
The people that did make it, however, seemed to clearly enjoy the game, specially a group of tourists, who were totally hooked to the game. I did try a game or two myself and they instantly took me back to the good old Street Fighter days. It would’ve been nice had there been a small tournament organised in conjunction with the launch; it may have convinced a lot of the visitors to stick around a little longer. We have been informed, however, that Street Fighter IV tournaments are being planned at Consoul in Bangalore and Blur in Chennai.
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With Bangalore usually missing out on major gaming events, this one could have been a great crowd puller, had it been advertised properly. But as it stands, the launch event came and went without causing much of a stir, but it signalled the realease of a great game all the same. Check back soon for our review soon.
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