TOKYO - Today we met up with Capcom and Arika and checked out the PlayStation2 launch title from the two, Street Fighter EX3. The game, at the show in its final form, looked very nice, but didn't seem to be taxing the hardware that much. According to Arika, this is because the company wanted to focus mainly on gameplay - the game offers four player action on screen at once. Arika also commented that it didn't have a lot of time to work on EX3, leaving the company no option to try to make the game more graphically impressive. Nonetheless, the graphics are solid.

　　In terms of gameplay, we're happy to report that EX3 is playing quite well. For those of you who've played the other EX games, you'll know what to expect – EX3 feels very much the same. For EX3 though, the focus is on the four player battles. You'll start the game with one character, and after you fight your first opponent you'll be able to keep him or her on your team. Then, as a team, you'll fight other opponents. The game will offer different fight match options as you progress through it. For example, sometimes you'll fight two on two, or sometimes it'll be two on one. In fact, sometimes it's even three on one. Whether or not this will appeal to more traditional fighting enthusiasts will remain to be seen, but at least it's something different. There are other fighting modes offered in the game, but we didn't get a chance to see what they were.

　　Overall, Street Fighter EX3 seems to be a solid fighter for the PlayStation2, and it'll be a good game to keep people occupied until Tekken Tag makes it out. We'll bring you an interview with Arika on Street Fighter EX3 this Tuesday. Stay tuned.