After countless months of waiting, we finally have real live footage of Capcom's upcoming 2.5D brawler, Street Fighter IV.  The 1up show was lucky enough to get exclusive access to footage and developer interviews, and we're lucky enough to be able to repost the video.  Now I know that there are purists out there who will be all up in arms about the departure from sprite-based 2D graphics, but I gotta say this thing looks incredible.  The character models are gorgeous, with excellent textures and fabric effects, the background shown is an excellent 3D recreation of Ryu's home stage from the arcade original, and the animations are silky smooth and totally in-character.  Not to mention the jaw-dropping effects that, honestly, may or may not be part of actual gameplay.  I'm sure that Ken's Shoryuken really does light up his opponent like that, but not so sure about the stylized "ink splash" effects.  Let's hope they make it into the final game.  The video also includes lots of details about the gameplay from the creative minds at Capcom, but honestly, I was too busy looking at the pretty pictures to care.

There was a period there where I was more excited and hopeful for the SFII HD remix than this actual sequel, but now I'm fully stoked for SFIV.  All we need now is a list of playables and I can begin my rigorous thumb training regimen.  Enjoy the video.