I will never get sick of this.

The Street Fighter IV experience just refuses to get old. I would really enjoy reclaiming my console time for something other than working up serious callous, but Capcom will not let me quit. Although the recent purchasable DLC packs were scornfully ignored by gamers who do not feel the need to play dress-ups with their warriors, the latest update bucks the DLC trend in being completely free, and aimed at "serious gamers". The Championship Mode update certainly looks to be bringing the goods, paving the way to serious online competition, and arrives next Friday.

Actually, fans of 2D fighting have been impatiently awaiting this pack since launch, as the pack was originally expected as a day-one patch. The update unlocks five different grades of tournaments, with the higher level competition initially out of bounds but unlocked through the collection of Grade Points, awarded for wins within tournaments. Confusingly, a second type of points - Championship Points - are awarded as prizes to the overall victors of tournaments, but what function these points have isn't clear. Bragging rights, maybe?

Along with Championship Mode comes Replay Mode, which has different features depending on your platform. Xbox 360 owners seem to get the best of the deal, being able to download and save replays with the option of turning on a key input display, making it possible to study the technique of skilled competitors. Playstation 3 owners get the much less interesting opportunity to rate matches according to different criteria, which are then used to rank replays. Hmm.

The inequality seems to end there, though, as both Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 owners will be able to enhance their competition experience on Friday, 24th April, although the time zone difference will probably lead to the usual late-afternoon or next day nonsense.