Picked up the PS3 version today.  Game looks blurry/muddy as hell when stretched to 16:9, but it's more fun to play than I remembered, and it's fun seeing just how much this game influenced SF4, even though SF4 is much more accessible and less technical.  I had a blast playing online on the first day because I was actually winning, something I expect to change once more hardcore fans get on.  My biggest complaints with it so far stem from the interface which seems to be a step backward from SSF4.  You can't create your own lobbies for ranked matches (only for player matches), matchmaking takes forever, you can see who each person is selecting on the character select screen, and connection speeds seem worse than in SSF4.  I'm hoping the connection issues are just because this is brand new, but some of the other things seem silly.  It's also a little obnoxious that Capcom wants to charge you $0.99 for the privilege of unlocking the last two pages of dip switches should you not feel like beating the game with every character.  Those gripes aside, SF3-3 is a great game with some really different characters.  For $15, why not?

I'll definitely pick it up soon, but after coming off of the assist-heavy SFIV, I suspect I'm going to suck terribly at III's ultra demanding, precision-based gameplay.

Hoping online is solid.  I can't imagine a game's mechanics being more hindered from lag.

Online is done using GGPO, which is considered the best online netcode for fighters. Anything less than perfection would be considered a disappointment.

I'm getting the 360 version. Anyone who's interested in playing, add "GF From Hell", but I'm rusty as hell, so don't expect much.

Purchased it day one, and was instantly reminded of how much I suck at these games.
Doesn't help that SFIII seems to be more demanding than other games in the series either.

I'm too scared to spend much time online, but from what I've played (1 quick match and a 4-player tournament) the game runs just as smoothly as when playing with someone in the same room.

Also, I suck at parrying.

I experienced a fair amount of lag, more than I usually do in SSF4, but again, I'm hoping this is just cause the game is new and the servers aren't optimized yet.  Capcom has already said that it's aware of the matching issue I mentioned earlier and working on a patch to fix that.  One thing that's particularly weird about GGPO is that if there's lag, it will actually rewind the match a few frames which really took me surprise the first time I saw it happen.

i tried the demo and couldn't get into it, same as 10+ years ago. the reports of bugs, lazy UI and sloppy online, don't help swaying me the other way.

I always hear people talk about Third Strike like it was God's gift to 2D fighters. I've been beefing up my Dreamcast collection, so if I can find it for cheap, I'll get it, but I hear Double Impact was the better iteration of that game (as far as the Dreamcast ports go).

Been wondering how that oft-mentioned parrying system works.

The rough idea is that you tap directionally into the attack as it comes - forward for things high- and mid-level, and down for low - thereby making it not damage you at all (whereas blocking would result in some damage) and ideally getting a microsecond to counter-attack. It requires aggressive play and ultra-precision, as special moves have unique timing requirements for successful Parrying. Parrying isn't necessary for making your opponent scream, but it's at the heart of what makes SF3 an enduring favorite among diehards, and skillful play is always a crowdpleaser.
I should add that I'm kind of terrible at it and the advanced trials in the OE (one of which involves recreating the climax of that last vid) are making me a little batty.

Played some more of this last week, and I'm still enjoying it.  My biggest surprise is just how bad some people suck.  I personally consider myself to be awful at the game (can't parry to save my life and don't know any combos) yet I'm still winning much more often than I do in SSF4. Weird.

To be honest, and to my big surprise, I find myself doing better online than I had expected (not good mind you, but better than expected), despite some serious connection issue starting to rear their head.

Also, after spending some time with it, there are some things that annoy me:

1. Why the abstract button naming? Why "strong" "fierce" and "forward" instead of tried-and-tested MP, HP and MK etc.? It's very confusing when you're doing the trials, not to mention it sounds incredibly dumb.

2. Why only 8 categories for button settings? I want a single button for throws (as other people might want a single button for taunts and target actions, I expect), but I don't get that option, which is just stupid.

3. More trials with better build up would have been nice. These seem to start on a fairly high level right from the beginning. Still, some of the parrying stuff is cool, it felt great actually pulling off a perfect parry against Goro's gigantic meteorite-type Super, but I don't expect I'll ever master that legendary Evo moment

Yeah, there's a lot of questionable user-interface and presentation choices.  The biggest annoyance for me is how you get kicked back to the menu after every ranked match.  Why not have an option to simply move onto another player instead of having to go back to the menu?

3SOE is a blast.

Does anyone have an opinion about the redone soundtrack by Simon Viklund?

Personally, I found it to be very hit or miss. I either really loved the song or hated it.

Best Songs: Snowland, The Long Shoreman, Twilight, Theme of Q, The Circuit

Worst Songs: Kobu, Crowded Street, You Blow My Mind, Beats in my Head, Jazzy NYC

Beats in my Head particularly disappointed me. I loved the original so much, I was looking forward to a new version of the song with a little less repetition. Unfortunately the soul was sucked out of it. Main melody replaced with an acoustic guitar....please. Don't even get me started on the missing sax in Jazzy NYC.

I am disappointed he didn't attempt to remix Psych Out.

Oh well, at least you can custom select the version you want for each stage.

EDIT: I have to say the new soundtrack really rubbed off on me very well. I actually love Beats a bunch now. Even some songs I couldn't stand like The Beep and China Vox have a serious improvement. Just listening to the music is one thing but when paired with the action and stages they really meshed well.

I still want my sax though.

With the exception of the very poor remix of "Beats in My Head," I'm fine with his remixes.  I agree that the rest are mixed, but none bothered me the way the "Beats in My Head" one did.

I was immensely disappointed they used the console soundtrack instead of the arcade one, which I think is MUCH better. I don't care much about the remixes either, although I did take an immediate liking to Ibuki's theme, which I made my menu music to get rid of that horrible default music.

Both of those options sound retarded to me. Why not just make it so it says what the actual button on the controller is? I'm sure it wouldn't take too much time to make it do that.

Spoken as someone who was ingrained with the original arcade naming convention of buttons, I'm kind of pleased to hear of this change.

Honestly the

Jab     Strong   Fierce
Short  Forward  Roundhouse

is just to maintain the Capcom flavor. The way you speak of with LP and such is really more SNK

LK HP HK
LP

But more people see it as

B C D
A   

And if your playing Blazblue it could be

A B C
D

These are all pretty standard and I guess they really wanted to please the hardcore 3rd Strikers. Honestly I come from more of an SNK background myself so I prefer that method.

I think there is room for a dedicated company to have alternate ways of explaining the controls. It doesn't hit me as that hard to do.

D-Pad
7 8 9
4 5 6
1 2 3

Like: 236 + HP
        Quarter Circle Forward + Fierce
        Quarter Circle Forward + R1
        Hadouken

Additionally, I too switched the main menu to Twilight

As an SNKer I have really grown to hate the hardcore 3rd Strike crowd. "3rd Strike is the best fighter of all time. Can't mess with perfection. Screw Super Easy Fighter 4. There only needs to be 1 fighter, 3rd Strike. God, you like Elena?"

If I so much that mention that somehow SF4 is enjoyable, Garou MotW is equally impressive, or to put in a copy of Darkstalkers I get raged at. Hopefully with this port I can close the gap and put them to shame. At least in 3rd Strike. Good luck with them playing 2002 Unlimited Match with me

Really?

I have never heard of this naming, like, EVER, and I've been playing Street Fighter since I was a kid.
Is this an SF3 thing?

SF2 used terms like LP and MP etc., why change that?

This is an image of a
Street Fighter 2 Turbo panel

just poke around on Mamedb to check out some other control panels of your favorite arcade games.

Yeah, it's always been a staple for Street Fighter games. To this day though, I always get "forward" and "strong" mixed up. Realistically speaking though, none of my friends use it...it's normally light kick, heavy kick, mid kick, etc. Only time I hear it is if someone is reciting buttons in a combo.

Ah, so it's an Arcade thing!
That explains it then, since I only ever play the home console versions.

The first patch went out today.  Here's the list of fixes:

http://www.capcom-unity.com/lunch/blog/ … ate_1_news