How not to be a total jerk online in SFIV

But, tempting though it may be to adopt his ways,you don't have to be like him. Follow our simple guidelines and you won't have people cursing your name the world over. Unless of course that's what you want, in which case... you’re going to love these tips.


A simple one, this. It's not that we can't beat Ken players – so long as you block that rising dragon punch, you can maim them on the way down. No, the problem is that everyone picks him.


Above: Does this make you happy? Does it? DOES IT???

You see, unlike Street Fighter 1, there's a roster of 25 playable characters in SFIV. And yet we've seen ONE Abel player. ONE Fei Long player. ONE Sakura player (who probably only picked her because we did). And not a single Dhalsim, despite the fact one of the most recent SFIV tournament winners used Old Stretchy Arms. If you want to show true SF skill, use random select. Of course, if Capcom were to put Battle Point penalties for repeatedly selecting the same character, we wouldn't have to complain.

The Street Fighter Jerk will pick a one-win game with the shortest timer, hit you hard once with Zangief or similar, and then retreat for a time-out. The frustrating thing is, you often don't look at the timer and win count in the rush to make a connection, so your puzzlement turns to dismay as the lose screen appears. But you can't exact your revenge, as they're already gone,lost in the random matchmaking, possibly forever.


One for PS3 players, mainly, though it applies to 360 as well. You can tell who's installed the game by the fact the bout loads quickly. And with everyone having the option, it's just common courtesy to do so. Again, if you want to annoy people, combine this with the one-win match for maximum rage induction.


Some players have an annoying habit of kicking people out of their lobbies. Sure, bad connections are fair enough, but four bar players? Is it the risk of losing BP to a skilled player with a low score, or what? If you're really that good, be like Ryu and accept a challenge from anyone. It’s the way of the true warrior.


Above:What it feels like to be booted from the pre-matchlobby


It's not cool to laugh at your opponent through the mic... although that soon stopped when our esteemed challenger became corner-trapped and lost heavily the following two rounds. We also received a message saying 'you hit like a bitch'. Is that a compliment? An insult? Either way, we had no idea what we were supposed to say in response. Er… you kick like awether? Making friends, on the other hand, sending friend requests after great matches, is good. You can then meet up with like-minded people, with the added bonus of automatically avoiding the Street Fighter Jerk. Everybody wins.

But there's much worse to come...

Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.

Latest in Fighting
"I didn’t have a single ally": Tekken 4's negative reception put series boss Katsuhiro Harada under so much stress that he left Namco for a year
Tekken 8
Tekken lead Katsuhiro Harada says he's spent decades "mentally preparing" for AI to overtake humans, but it's not happening: "If AI had really advanced, we wouldn't be pouring 10, 20, 30 billion Yen into making games"
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. creator says instead of making more "Americanized works," Japanese devs should "seek the uniqueness and fun of Japanese games"
Minecraft characters Alex and Steve riding in mine carts in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, being chased by Bowser Jr..
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate villain Minecraft Steve is the star of the "best Smash clip of all time," as genius player makes a literal Trojan Horse to destroy an unsuspecting opponent
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS key art.
Masahiro Sakurai says Super Smash Bros "might have died out" if not for late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata: "There's no doubt that he influenced me in many ways"
Mortal Kombat 2 3DO
After 32 years, Mortal Kombat 2 has finally been ported to the one hyper-expensive '90s console that could actually do it justice
Latest in Features
Naoe kills a target with a black and white filter over the camera highlighting the red of blood spray in Assassin's Creed Shadows, with an On The Radar orange frame
Assassin's Creed Shadows "has a little bit of Tarantino flavor", but its real secret ingredient is intrigue: "It's almost like you're watching an episode of Shogun"
Helldivers 2 Borderline Justice Warbond helldiver using hoverpack to shoot down with hunting rifle
Talking points from the Game Developers Conference 2025 and how they could impact the future of gaming
Flexispot E7 Plus with plant, monitor, soundbar, and controller on top next to white wall lighting.
Gaming desks vs regular desks: which surface should you buy?
Google Pixel 9a smartphones on a beige background
One Google Pixel 9a feature could make it a better gaming phone than most budget mainstream models
Yasuke and Naoe ready to fight on the Assassin's Creed Shadows On The Radar thumbnail
On The Radar: Assassin's Creed Shadows coverage hub
Captain Planet #1
Captain Planet is back after 33 years with a "sexy" makeover and a message that's as important as ever: "Reality has gotten a lot less subtle"