Street Fighter IV not hitting consoles until 2009?

After having spent a decent amount of time with Street Fighter IV at CAPTIVATE last week, I must say: "Do want." That said, the lack of arcades in the United States is going to make it difficult for me to find places to "put up my quarter."

So the home versions of the game (for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC) are the only way I'm going to get my fix. It's too bad it doesn't look like that will be happening this year. According to a recent listing found on GameStop's point-of-sale (image attached), Street Fighter IV is tentatively scheduled for a February 3, 2009 ship date. Yes, that's next year. 

Speaking to him at CAPTIVATE in Las Vegas, producer Yoshinori Ono told us that his team would begin working on the home ports as soon as the arcade game was complete. As he put it "they wouldn't be getting vacation," and they'd be trying to get the game done as quickly as they could.

While GameStop doesn't think slave driver Ono-san will have it done for North America before the holiday, there's always a chance. Retail release dates have been wrong in the past, haven't they?

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