Turn the Tweet Back: Episode 1

Welcome to "Turn the Tweet Back," a new feature wherein we discuss interesting Twitter activity by game-makers and other industry luminaries. Today, let's look at Yoshinori Ono (@Yoshi_OnoChin) and the lead-up to Saturday's big Street Fighter panel. Ono first talked about the Super SF4 arcade version's character select screen that was recently circulated. He brought attention to the two extra "black circles," but denied any knowledge of what they represented. He then went on to talk about his upcoming announcement:

I've been hearing of many rumors brewing up this week. Having said that, I have been tweeting to say I will announce something new.

I don't know if this 'something' is what the rumour says or what you had in mind.

I'm only sure of one thing. We will not disappoint.

I'm not only announcing one new 'something'

Nor just two.

But I would like to talk about a few of our recent endeavours.

You are free to record, video, photograph and everything else to capture this moment.

I hope that would help you all to discuss about it.

See you all at noon [Pacific] on Saturday, Room 25 ABC [at San Diego Comic-Con].

So, we're looking at at least three announcements! It's possible that Namco vs Capcom, Capcom vs Namco, and new SSF4 characters are these three, but could there be more? We're only about 24 hours away from finding out.

On Rumors

I just want to make something clear. Even if this Saturday's announcement is not Capcom vs Namco, CvN will be made. This I believe wholeheartedly. The rumors have become too ubiquitous to ignore. Long time fighting game fans will remember this exact situation leading to SNK vs Capcom (and CvS). The rumors became too loud to ignore, and the companies were basically forced to collaborate. If the rumors are not yet true, they will be. Trust me!

Capcom vs Namco (and Namco vs Capcom)

Rumors abound about Saturday's announcement. The prevailinig rumor is something I predicted a while back, Capcom vs Namco. Actually, the rumor is that there are two games in development: Capcom vs Namco, developed by Capcom, produced by Ono, and running on the SF4 engine; and Namco vs Capcom, developed by Namco, produced by Harada, and running on the Tekken 6 engine.

Having Capcom characters in a Tekken game might actually make me want to play it, as I've never been much of a 3D fighter fan. What Tekken characters do you want to see in the SF4 engine? What Street Fighters (or other Capcom characters) would you like to see in Tekken? I'm already imagining what they'd look like...

(Poster by SRK member BossLogix.)

My picks for SF4 enigne: Heihachi, Jack, Lei Wulong, Bryan Fury, Xiaoyu

My picks for Tekken enigne: Elena, Alex, Zangief, Adon, Balrog, Juri, Dudley, Sean, Hinata, Roy Bromwell, Daigo Kazama

Ono's Next Game

SF4 Producer Yoshinori Ono continues teasing his next game. At EVO, he made a joke about working on Dark Void 2. Later, he said he'd received a call from his boss, Keiji Inafune, that he would have to discontinue work on that to work on a fighting game instead. He urged fans to be patient until an announcement at Comic-Con in two weeks.

He offered a hint via a picture he posted to Twitter, seen here. Apparently, that's a picture of Ryu to the left; however, the inkblot to the right is still a mystery. Judging by how friendly Ono was with Tekken Producer Harada-san at EVO, could we see a Namco vs Capcom?