How’s the population? Is it worth buying, despite being so late?
I still think it’s worth buying. I play every night and never struggle to find a match. My only issue is that the skill level is a bit lower on the PC, but you occasionally will come across a player that really knows what they’re doing. Besides, there’s MODS!!! 
Totally woth it, and at 9.99€ much more.
It is hands down the best version of the game.
Hard to say, depends on what you want. It really is generally agreed that XBL has the toughest competition (…and that PSN is the worst online experience out of the three).
If you don’t mind that, go ahead and get the PC version. Better graphics, less lag (most of the time). The population is great right now, easy to find a match no matter when. And I think it’d stay that way; Vanilla died due to a lack of SSF4 PC port, which destroyed any motivation back then. Now, the AE 2012 revision is pretty much confirmed thanks to Sven, so there’s no issues anymore in the near future. I’d say the PC fighting community is a lot more stable now. Oh, and mods.
But yeah, I’m totally super biased, being a PC-only keyboard fanatic.
Wait, since when is that 9.99? Where? Maybe will get few friends in to it that way.
Sorry, the offer was ended few hours ago, now cost 12.99
http://www.g2play.net/store/Super-Street-Fighter-IV-Arcade-Edition-Retail-CD-Key.html
Still pretty cheap.
Yeah it’s easily the cheapest version. Unlike others here I had issues finding matches against people who had a good connection consistently even during prime time. It didn’t happen all the time but it was rough to find matches against people at times. Sometimes you’d end up getting paired against the same people over and over again. I ended up recently buying the 360 version because I wanted more matchups and the ability to play on some of the streams I watch (which are almost all 360 streams).
Reasons to get AE on PC:
- It’s going to be supported like the PSN/360 versions for the re-balance.
- It’s the cheapest by far.
- It has the best graphics by a MILE. The difference between PC and the 360 is insane.
- Mods
Reasons not to get AE on PC:
- Smaller community (note my issues finding matches above). Not a huge problem but one that annoyed me.
- Like any PC game there could be issues with your computer setup and the game. If you know how to use google and update drivers you won’t have much of a problem here.
- There isn’t anybody I’m aware of that has open battles/tournaments that are streamed on the PC. If you aren’t interested in this sort of thing then this is a non-issue for you.
- A lot fewer replays to watch and I had issues actually getting the feature to work a lot of the time. And yes, I have all the proper ports open on my router and I’ve also even tried setting my PC to the DMZ. I’m fairly certain it was a Games for Windows Live issue.
- Speaking of Games for Windows Live…AE uses it and IT’S FREAKING AWFUL. CAPCOM IF YOU ARE READING THIS PLEASE F’ING FIX IT CHRIST ALMIGHTY ALL PRAISE BE TO ALLAH. There has been quite a few nights where I simply couldn’t even log in so that I could play AE with all its features (without a login all you can do is the single player stuff and nothing gets saved).
- No anti-cheat that I am aware of. I’m not sure if this is even a problem with this game though but without basic protection it could have quite a few problems if it became popular enough (where cheat creators would want to make a cheat to sell that is).
I’ve got experience playing the PC and 360 versions and the PC version just throttles the 360 version in every way in regards to graphics and graphical options. Online experience edge goes to the 360 though and a lot of that has to do with smaller player base and GfWL issues.
It’s worth it just for the mods.
2 words:
Heck Yes.
Man, after seeing the mods for the PC version A.E…
I want to pick it up for my laptop but…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/cdb2k3/th_refpicforaefail.jpg
I failed to meet the recommended requirements
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/cdb2k3/th_refpicshotforaefail.jpg
and the minimum just barely…
What do I have to do to get this running on my laptop.
Given the amount of people having problems and the amount of known bugs it may be prudent to wait for the next patch in case you’re in for a dissapointment.