Famitsu interviews Ono San

Along with new screens that we have mentioned earlier, famitsu published on their website a little chat with SF4 producer Yoshinori Ono.
Big thanx to SRK user Azrael for the translation.

The interview:

Q: How did you feel about the double loketests in Tokyo and Osaka?

Ono: First Tokyo - I don't know if the repeated Osaka loketests had anything to do with it, but I felt that things were definintely hotter than before. I saw a lot of players, before challenging others, they confirmed their moves on the single-play machine, and I felt that these were really dedicated players getting ready for serious battle. Osaka also accepted our new and improved version. That's how I felt. We listened to the fans opinions on the location of the gauges from the Osaka loketests, so I hope many fans were pleased with that.

Q: How about impressions for the newly released character Rufus?

Ono: To be honest, our 4th new character Rufus was secretly released at the last Osaka loketest. As there were a lot of pictures taken with hidden cameras and put up on message boards, I suspect people already knew... For our longtime Street Fighter fans, to unexpectedly have a fatty show up in "4" for the first time, I'm sure it caught them by surprise. There were players who didn't hate him outright and even got used to his movements, so as a developer I was really happy about that. I also saw a players used the new characters we introduced at the AOU Show, Viper and Abel, at a level far, far beyond our expectations. We're taking into consideration the good and bad things, and with the research from this loketest and final adjustments we'll try to balance out the new characters.

Q: What kind of opinions did you get from the players at the loketests?

Ono: Ever since the AOU show, I feel that the scathing comments in surveys we've been getting back is becoming less and less. As a director, it makes me really happy to be able to get comments and impressions from players in the middle of the loketest. Especially, we got a lot of feedback regarding the control, motion, and old combos for the original 12 WW's from SFII to come back, but if we do that then "IV" doesn't really establish its own identity. So its kind of difficult to hear those opinions. Also, we had an incredible amount of requests for characters from previous titles to appear. If the chance presents itself, I'd like to give all the fans a little bit of service...

Q: Are you still hiding some new characters up your sleeve?

Ono: I think there have already been plenty shown at the loketests..... Probably!

Q: SFIV is scheduled for a summer release, but could you give us a general idea of the actual release day?

Ono: Now, we're undergoing final adjustments at the developing location. For that reason, we've got the circuit board manufactory waiting just a bit longer. As for the day of release, please wait just a little bit longer. If I were to give you something defininte, all of our staff are working as hard as we can for you all to have the game during the first period where you'll start wearing short-sleeved shirts!

Q: Was this loketest the last one?

Ono: As we're enterin the final stage of adjustments, we're going have some sort of tests for the mobile site info and the moving parts, but as for a loketest with a survey and what not, I'm thinking this was the last.

Q: Any message for everyone whose reading?

Ono: I started this project in October 2007 in London, and before I know it its already June 2008. During that time, we had the announcement at the AOU show, the loketests in Tokyo and Osaka, and we've been giving and taking little bits of info from everyone...and very soon, IV will arrive as the new fighting game. Everyone's been waiting a long time for this. Thanks again to all those who came out to the loketests. From now on, you'll all get to try out your own skills. Please put your skills to the test in the new SFIV arena. And I'll be looking forward to seeing play that exceeds all our expectations!