Street Fighter IV gets inspiration from unexpected source

Japanese gaming mag Famitsu talked about the latest Street Fighter game with producer Yoshinori Ono, and came out with some interesting tidbits (tidbits, get your tidbits here!). Firstly, he cites New Super Mario Bros. as an influence. Why..how..guh?

“When we heard during development that Shigeru Miyamoto was making a new DS version of Super Mario Bros., we were really happy that our vision [for Street Fighter IV] and [Shigeru Miyamoto’s] vision were the same. [Lost Planet and Dead Rising producer] Keiji Inafune said to me, ‘If you’re doing the same thing as the giants of gaming, surely it’s bound to go well?’”  

Part of what he's referring to is Nintendo's trend lately of bringing back older games and gamers with their titles, which relates to Street Fighter IV's codename: R35. This referred to their intention to make it appealing to gamers 35 and older, in other words, everyone who grew up with Street Fighter and its popularization:

“People who have been away from the arcades might return, and it’s possible that a new generation of players will buy home game consoles [to play SFIV]. I think it might not be a ‘killer title’ like an RPG, but if we’re gambling on the possibility of being able to call back those [older] players, a name like ‘Street Fighter IV’ will help. Even if we can interest just a fraction of the two or three million people who used to play Street Fighter II, I think the environment surrounding new games could change.”

Well, I'm onboard, how about you? I think it's a good idea and Capcom could certainly pull it off. The game's looking great (if you ignore the man hands, anyway), and gamers seem excited. I say it's about time someone revitalizes that warm fuzzy feeling we all got playing Street Fighter II in arcades, especially if it can be recreated at home. But really, I hope it ends up on the Wii, especially with this shared vision they speak about; I really think it belongs on the Wii, especially with the disparaging lack of solid and engaging fighters on the system.