Hi everyone,
I am just wondering if I buy the SF4 PC version, would I be able to play with people online with PSN/xbox Live? If not, is there good competition in the PC SF4 network? how lag is it compare to psn/xbox live?
Which of PSN/xBox Live/PC is preferred amongst the players?
Thx
No it is not cross platform, most people online suck horribly, however you’ll meet a few good players, don’t trust anyone below 3 bars or you’re destined to get a lag match.
Overall online play sucks.
No.
Yes.
I can’t compare it to those in detail, but get excellent connections here (Europe).
I don’t see how online sucks. I never have a problem getting a 3 or higher match, and they’re all more or less smooth.
Just don’t play ranked, that place is full of really weak players, laggers, ragequitters and “1 round, 30 second” players. In my experience.
Edit: Also Europe here, maybe PC ver is bigger here, thus better online.
You can’t play Xbox or PS players with PC.
Competition is rather scarce compared to XBL and PSN, I’m sure.
It comes down to preference. I prefer to play on PC and it’s too bad most of the players seem to be on console but that’s how it is.
You can download character model skins for the PC version, if that’s of any interest.
Competition isn’t so bad, though. There’s always a game to find in either ranked or player matches, and if you’re new, there will be plenty of championship games waiting too. The higher grade you get in championship mode, the player base gets smaller because most players don’t spend the time in championship mode.
You start with G3 grade. I’m G1 now and the instant I ranked up from G2, it felt like I was in a wasteland. Never had a problem finding a G2 match. The good thing with the PC version is that you can host a game and watch a movie at the same time.
IMO, PC players are much better. And I rarely get laggy matches…
Plus, skins are badass 
I wouldn’t say PC players are “much better”, that seems like a rash generalization. Strictly based off a correlation I’ve seen on these forums however, is that PC players send less hate mail. Either that or they simply don’t talk about it as much.
I’ve actually made several friends so far, very casual friends just a “Hey nice to play with you again man” type people. I find the online play to be ok, the only downside to it that consoler’s won’t get is when someone is playing on something like a Dell from 1998, despite a 5 bar connection it runs terribly because for some reason they keep their graphics cranked.
Though sometimes that can be kind of fun, watching Zangief falling out of the sky doing a body slam in ultra, ultra slow motion is hilarious the first few times. Not so fun when he finishes you with a SPD and the KO takes about 3-4 minutes to complete though.
Overall, good experience. The only problems I have are my own short-comings at playing the game, any frustrations I have are me making bad decisions in matches.
I don’t think that arguement really applies. The PC version hasn’t been out nearly as long as the console version, need more time for people to make their way up the grades.
The main question I have is whether or not the netcode is better, do you still spend a long period of time trying to get into matches?
It’s the same shit as PS3 and 360. With a smaller userbase, though…
i’ve played all iterations of online SFIV.
i think for me, the PC runs the smoothest online (depending on your hardware really).
as for the competition, so far i’ve seen some pretty good people on the PC ver. I do prefer the PC ver. bc i can load up a playlist on itunes then get to playing.
I’ve only gotten one. Something to the effect of “you can only pick ryu or ken”(but worse spelling)… Not very hateful, but very confusing. 
But I have gotten 10% “bad sportsmanship” player reviews though. And I’m a crappy Sakura/Abel that never disconnects. I can imagine better players having a lot of % there.
^ lol. i got like 30% trash talking.
i think its bc i usually taunt when they’re getting wrecked.
in my experience, online for pc is going to be the best when it comes to gaming. at least with pc you can tweak your network settings to give you the absolute best connection as possible, however, in my opinion, online play is always going to be bad. executions are going to be completely different from online vs lan.
46% unsportsmanlike here and I’ve never sent a message other than “good game” or “you need to switch frame rate to fixed”
I own SF4 on PS3, 360 and PC and I must admit apart from my PC only having a 24" monitor compared to my 40" TV I have my consoles hooked upto I prefer the PC version.
Matchmaking has generally been far better for me, both lagwise and availability. The only other one that came close was 360, PSN was horrible and I’ve just put my PS3 stick on my PC instead.
Note that this is in europe, SF4 @PSN might be awesomesauce in asia/US.
Thx for the info guys, I’ll see you guys on PC network!