Champion Edition will be as good as it was for the original Street Fighter II."

Even competing video factories are full of admiration. Said one top manufacturing exec: "I don't know how Capcom did it, whether it was by accident or design. But who cares? The point is, they created a game which players are crazy for."

PRODUCTION PLANS: FULL STEAM AHEAD

Introducing the game at ACME, Capcom had originally said Champion Edition would be produced in limited quantities, noting that plenty of Street Fighter Its had already been sold. In fact, the run on that game was so long, Capcom admit

ted, that the factory had several new titles "backed up in the pipeline" and they were anxious to get started building them.

Now that's all changed. Dealers and operators nationwide are clamoring for more games, so "Champion Edition is no longer a limited edition," Backer said. "We're building them as fast as we can to meet everybody's needs. People at Dynamo and 3-Koam are even working on Saturdays! We plan to build Champion Edition through the summer and are doing our utmost to get the game out." He added that Capcom had decreed no limit on U.S. produc

tion. (Heavy demand and relatively short supply of the game in the U.S. was aggravated by a significant number of parallel imports from overseas. See separate story for details.)

DEMAND FOR "MEGA-HITS"

One note of irony about the success of Champion Edition: operators have spent the last several years going to trade shows looking for "another Pac-Man, " only to have the socalled experts tell them not to be so demanding. Such phenomenal hits only happen rarely, said the experts. Operators were told they should not judge the success of an entire trade show, or of the entire industry, on the presence or absence of a single mega-hit.

But such comments were not heard during this spring's ACME show. Instead, it's a safe bet that video factory execs were telling their designers: "I don't care what it takes, I want you guys to create another Champion Edition for this company! " As Louis Boasberg wrote in our last issue, the industry is fondly looking forward to the day when it enjoys the luxury of five, six or ten Street Fighter Its at the same time. It's a lovely dream... but meanwhile, tradesters are happily making the most of Capcom's boun

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