Celebrate 25 years of Street Fighter with global tournaments and new Street Fighter X Tekken PS Vita details

To help celebrate Street Fighter’s 25th Anniversary, Capcom today revealed a few new tidbits of info for Street Fighter X Tekken, including a PlayStation Vita release date.

To celebrate the milestone, Capcom is arranging a number of international Street Fighter tournaments with cash and prizes totaling a whopping $500,000. The tournament series will feature not only Street Fighter X Tekken, but also previous Street Fighter releases.

As for the PS Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken, Capcom has confirmed a Fall 2012 release and the debut of 12 characters that will not be available on the console versions at launch. These fighters include: Blanka, Cody, Dudley, Elena, Guy and Sakura from Street Fighter and Alisa Bosconovitch, Bryan Fury, Christie Monteiro, Jack, Lars Alexandersson and Lei Wulong from Tekken.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 version of Street Fighter X Tekken will be shipping on March 6th, 2012, with the PC version following up in May, and the Vita release in the Fall.

Read on for more details or to pre-order the game.

Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today revealed exciting long term plans and activities for the Street Fighter franchise, including the upcoming Street Fighter X Tekken game. 2012, the Year of the Dragon, marks a major milestone for one of the premiere video game franchises of all time. As a way of celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Street Fighter, Capcom plans to give back to its loyal fan base by hosting numerous international tournaments honoring the series. Additionally, the company will be releasing Street Fighter X Tekken, an all-new standalone product that features action-packed long-term DLC support, new characters on the PS Vita and even an upcoming fighting competition reality show!

Releasing soon on the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Street Fighter X Tekken is the newest addition to the Street Fighter family and will rely heavily on player feedback as a way to enhance and evolve the experience. Exciting new features and additions will be consistently introduced, allowing fans of the game to tap into a wide variety of robust Downloadable Content (DLC) options that will breathe new life into the product. The retail version of Street Fighter X Tekken will be the only disc-based version consumers will need to own and all future upgrades will come from post-launch DLC.

In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Street Fighter and the upcoming new product launch, Capcom is in the process of organizing a series of tournaments throughout the year in locations across the globe, culminating in a grand finals tournament in December 2012. Through this series, Capcom will be providing over $500,000 worth of cash, non-cash prizing, and amenities. These high-stakes tournaments feature the upcoming Street Fighter X Tekken game, in addition to previous titles from the highly-acclaimed Street Fighter catalog. More details on the specific territories and tournament structure will be coming soon

In order to provide the most intense fighting experience possible, the Street Fighter X Tekken development team is working closely with the tournament community and organizers to offer a post-launch game update that will help streamline the Gem selection process for competitive players. A customized gameplay experience is at the heart of the new game, and the innovative Gem system adds an extra level of depth and provides a pioneering way to experience fighting games.

Also joining in on the 25th Anniversary festivities, 12 new fan-favorite Street Fighter X Tekken characters have been selected to be introduced in the PS Vita system version of the game when it releases later this year. Fighting their way into the handheld world of Street Fighter X Tekken, from the Street Fighter side… Blanka, Cody, Dudley, Elena, Guy and Sakura will be playable and from Tekken…, Alisa Bosconovitch, Bryan Fury, Christie Monteiro, Jack, Lars Alexandersson and Lei Wulong will all make their debut on the PS Vita system.

Additionally, Capcom is excited to be collaborating with IGN, iPlayWinner and Team Sp00ky to deliver the first ever fighting-game-centered internet reality show, completely LIVE. ?Cross Assault? begins airing on February 22, 2012 and will feature 10 players (split between Team Street Fighter and Team Tekken) who compete for pride, fame and a grand prize of $25,000. Competing on Capcom?s next premier fighting game, Street Fighter X Tekken, players will receive strategic advice from the coaches and must work together as a team to find the most effective strategies to win team challenges, or risk elimination. Capcom has partnered up with IGN to provide the central destination for the ?Cross Assault? live streams, news, and daily recaps. Tune in to http://crossassault.ign.com beginning on February 22 and? FIGHT!

Street Fighter X Tekken launches in North America on March 6, 2012 and March 9, 2012 in Europe. A PC version of Street Fighter X Tekken is due for release on May 11, 2012 and the PS Vita system version is slated for Fall 2012. More details on the PC and PS Vita system versions will be announced in the near future.