1UP: In continuity in terms of characters, when did [Akuma] first appear?

YO: Super Turbo.

1UP: So he's not really a candidate for this one?

YO: Would you like to see him?

1UP: I'm pretty sure everyone would say "yes."

YO: I'll give that some thought.

1UP: If you're planning online play, I know that you're trying to keep it true to the spirit of Street Fighter -- you're focusing so much on what made Street Fighter II so popular -- but will there be any sort of customization like in Virtua Fighter 4 and 5 that lets you unlock things, specifically for online play, so that you know you're up against someone who's super good just because he has a really great hat? Shane [executive editor of Electronic Gaming Monthly] loves that kind of thing. Shane loves hats.

YO: I can't dig too deeply into this or else I'll run out of things to talk about for next time we meet, but I will tell you that we will not be doing the sort of thing that you see in Virtua Fighters and in Tekkens. We'll be taking the customization thing in a different direction.

The characters in this series are quite iconic, and everyone has a lot of love and respect for them. The idea of Ryu wearing a girl's sailor suit and a funny hat would kind of crush the SF memory that we all know and love, and we're definitely not going down that route. The project is still early, so I can't go into much detail, but we want [the online mode] to tie into the central SF concept of going out into the world to fight different people and becoming stronger.