Capcom’s free Street Fighter IV Championship Mode upgrade comes out in Japan on April 24. The “championship” part refers to a new mode for real time online tournaments. Challengers earn grade points after each match which are used to determine their rank. The G3 championship houses fledgling fighters as they progress their way up the ladder reaching G2, G1, and GS all the way at the top.
Championship Mode matches are recorded for everyone to watch and learn from in replay mode.
However, the replay viewing experience differs depending on your console. PlayStation 3 owners gets a replay voting feature where you can tag replays with pre-set comments like funny, awesome, and beautiful. This feature is sort of like adding comments to a YouTube video or NicoNico Douga. Comment points are tallied up which gives each replay a ranking.
The Xbox 360 version has a more technical feature that allows users to see key inputs during replays. Also, replays can be downloaded and saved onto a hard drive or memory card for offline viewing. Strangely, this feature is only mentioned for the Xbox 360 version and not the PS3 even though every PS3 has a hard drive.
International release dates for Street Fighter IV‘s Championship mode have not been announced, but Capcom should release it around the same time as the Japanese version.
Update: Capcom confirmed the Street Fighter IV: Championship Edition update will also come out here on April 24 too.
