Capcom and Square Enix are taking their collaboration efforts between their respective titles a little bit further. If adding Street Fighter costumes to the high-flying 4-on-4 team action of Gunslinger Stratos wasn’t enough (see the video below), perhaps a joint tournament will do the trick.
The Ouka Ranbu Cup (“Wild Dance of the Cherry Blossoms”), will not only feature both Ultra Street Fighter IV and Gunslinger Stratos 2, but also some special invitees. Capcom will be bringing in Mad Catz’ Daigo Umehara, Evil Geniuses’ Justin Wong, Razer’s Xian, and Falcon Arena’s Ryan Hart as representatives of Japan, America, Singapore, and the United Kingdom respectively, to compete in this crossover event.
The tournament is taking on a bit of a unique format. A series of qualifiers around Japan will bring the number of participants to eight Street Fighter players (including the four invitees) and eight Gunslinger Stratos teams. At the finals tournament on July 5, each USFIV player will be paired with a GS2 team by lottery. The players will then compete in a round-robin for their respective games, and the tag team with the most total wins will claim victory.
You might not get to see Justin Wong try his hand at Gunslinger Stratos, but Street Fighter players and Gunglinger Stratos teams alike will have to depend on each other for a shot at the championship. Capcom and Square Enix have prepared special titles for the participants as well as the winning tag team.
Gunslinger Stratos 2 – Participant Prize Title: “I Go to Meet Those Stronger Than Me” (Street Fighter IV’s Japanese tagline)
Gunslinger Stratos 2 – Champion Team Prize Title: “Ouka Ranbu” (Wild Dance of the Cherry Blossoms”)
Ultra Street Fighter IV – Participant Prize Title: “Operation Stratos”
Ultra Street Fighter IV – Champion Prize Title: “Ouka Ranbu Cup Champion”
Ouka Ranbu Cup is set for July 5 at TAITO Station BIGBOX Takada no Baba in Tokyo.
Sources: Capcom, NESiCA, 4Gamer via Kakuge Checker