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'Street Fighter IV' Launch Party Celebrate's Games 20th Anniversary

by Evan Shamoon on February 16, 2009 at 05:06 PM



The launch of a new 'Street Fighter' game is no small occurrence. 'Street Fighter 2' is arguably the single most beloved video game of all time, and yet sequels have been a very rare thing, appearing only about once a decade (the last one, 'Street Fighter 3,' came out in 1997). The fourth game has finally hit the streets, and represents the first time the franchise has hit the third dimension, bringing gloriously detailed 3-D graphics and silky-smooth animation to the series for the first time.

To celebrate the rather momentous occasion (which happens to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the franchise), Capcom saw fit to rent out the entire Museum Of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles (MOCA) last week, and throw the biggest 'Street Fighter' bash on record. And it was packed; with the event open to the public, some 4000 people showed up for the festivities, with some overanxious fans started lining up from as early as 7am. About an hour after things got underway, the fire marshal showed up and prevented a good thousand people from getting inside on what was a surprisingly blustery LA night. Which, it should be said, was a bummer.

Once inside, however, you could see why the superfan wouldn't miss it: classic art from seemingly every version of 'Street Fighter' in existence was strewn about the walls, while customized 'Street Fighter' arcade units from the likes of Guerilla Union, Crooks and Castles, Mear One were on display (these were later auctioned off for charity).


Tournaments took place, cosplayers posed for photos, and copious amounts of Street Fighter swag were passed out. In attendance were celebs like Michael Clarke Duncan (who stars in the upcoming 'Street Fighter:' The Legend of Chun-Li), Bai Ling, Dexter's Zachary Levi, and star in his own right, 'SFIV' producer Yoshinori Ono. Musical accompaniment was provided by notorious 'Street Fighter' fan DJ Qbert, as well as LA outfit The Knux.

Check out our gallery of pictures from the event:

Tags: anniversaries, capcom, launch parties, LaunchParties, parties, street fighter 4, street fighter iv, StreetFighter4, StreetFighterIv

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