Capcom presented Los Angeles with a party and art installation at The Geffen Museum of Contemporary Art to commemorate the release of their latest franchise game, Street Fighter IV. If you were lucky enough to make it inside the event then you got a chance to hang out with Street Fighter IV producer, Yoshinori Ono (pictured with cosplayers), Capcom community guy, Seth Killian, check out cool custom-made arcade cabinets by local artists, shake your rump to music spun by hip DJs and best of all, sink your teeth into both console and arcade versions of the game. Unfortunately most people who came out to play were left standing in the cold outside when the fire marshal halted the flow of traffic.
Those hanging around outside got to witness celebrities from the Street Fighter film including Chris Klein, Taboo and Michael Clarke Duncan walk the red carpet. The movie’s lead, Kristin Kreuk, who plays Chun-Li, was mysteriously absent from activities. The goods inside were fun and stimulating but the masses of people who showed up left empty-handed. Initially pegged as an invitation only event, things got overwhelming when Capcom invited the public via an announcement on G4tv. Ironically, G4tv’s own film crew, who was there doing coverage got the shaft and was not allowed back inside once they exited to do red carpet interviews. The crowd that showed up in support is a testament as to how popular the Street Fighter franchise is and how eager people are to get their hands on the game. (Photos: BlankLogo Photography)
Most the people that showed up in the line RSVP’d to get into the place from various blogs. There were a few who just showed up, but that was a small number. I got there at about 7pm and after waiting for hours outside I hopped into the group of people crowded around the doors that seemed to be for Media and Press. It was about 10pm or so by the time I did get in, ad by then there wasn’t much left. I lucked out and got a poster while in line to see Yoshinori Ono, just as he ran out of posters to sign. This event was planned poorly,
I see that pennyman did not drop the drink even when the fighters were about to turn his lights off…I guess he paid for it…lol
As Ian mentioned, this even was planned poorly all the way down to the line management. Many things were done wrong. 1. RSVP was a joke. 2. Line was a joke and just turned into a mass of people standing in front of a single door. 3. Well…I think those were the main issues but they were big issues with people waiting well over 3 hours to get in the doors.
Many of the people who were in line RSVP’d. Now….that would normally mean you should be put in a different line and have priority over people who just happened to show up. That however was not the case as RSVPing was pretty much a waste of time. It was great seeing the gang from Coin-OP TV there and actually being remembered from E For All.
I fortunately was able to get a couple posters(one for Ian and myself) so it wasn’t a total loss. Did I actually play the game? Not for one second hah. I did however manage to catch a nasty nasty cold and will miss the next week of work….all for Street Fighter.
My opinion is that they should’ve sprung for a larger venue if they were going to do this again and spring it on people last minute. Heck I think the newly rebuilt Pasadena Convention Center would’ve been a MUCH better venue to hold it at with the amount of space it has now. Maybe that’s just me though :).