Sheng Long
Encyclopedia
Sheng Long is a character hoax
related to the Street Fighter video game series, created by Electronic Gaming Monthly
(EGM) as an April Fool's gag in 1992. The joke, based upon a mistranslation that suggested the existence of a character named Sheng Long in the Capcom
video game Street Fighter II
, described a method to fight the character in the game. After other publications reprinted the details as fact without verifying the authenticity, the Sheng Long hoax spread worldwide. As a result of discussion revolving around the possibility of the character's appearance in Street Fighter III
during the game's development, EGM revisited the joke in 1997, printing an updated version of the hoax for the title while establishing a backstory and appearance for the character in the process.
As a character and a hoax, Sheng Long has been described as one of the most famous and well-known legends related to video gaming by publications such as GameDaily
and GameSpot
. The hoax has been attributed to the creation of both Akuma
and Gouken
as characters in the Street Fighter series, with the former appearing in Super Street Fighter II Turbo
as a secret boss. Fan appeal for the character affected later Capcom titles, with public requests for the inclusion of Sheng Long in an actual video game leading to the consideration of his inclusion in the Street Fighter: The Movie
video game and years later resulting in the appearance of Gouken as both a secret boss and playable character in Street Fighter IV
.
; the words "shō ryū" (昇龍 rising dragon) from Shōryūken (昇龍拳), Ryu's flying uppercut, is "shēng lóng" in Chinese pinyin
. This was carried into one of Ryu's quotes to defeated opponents in the English
localization of the 1991 arcade game Street Fighter II
, changing the Japanese
quote to "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance." As a result players were given the impression that Ryu was referring to a person instead of the attack.
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System
(SNES) port
of Street Fighter II released shortly after the April Fool prank changed the translation to "You must defeat my Dragon Punch to stand a chance." However, the English instruction manual for the SNES Street Fighter II referred to "Master Sheng Long" as Ryu and Ken's teacher. Instruction manuals for later ports to the SNES and Sega Mega Drive
consoles replaced all references to Sheng Long by referring to Ryu and Ken as "disciples of Shotokan
Karate". A character named Gouken
was later introduced in Masaomi Kanzaki's 1993 Street Fighter II manga as Ryu and Ken's sensei, and was adapted into the series' backstory in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
could neither hit Bison nor let him inflict any damage until the time limit expired, thus ending the round in a draw. After repeating this for ten consecutive rounds Sheng Long would then appear out of nowhere and throw Bison off of the edge screen and out of the way. The game's on-screen timer would then stop at 99 seconds, resulting in a "fight to the death" between Ryu and Sheng Long.
Sheng Long was stated to feature the special moves of all the fighters, such as Chun-Li
's "Spinning Bird Kick" and Sagat
's projectile attacks, but inflict more damage. In addition, the character was supposedly faster than any other fighter in the game, negating the pause between projectile attacks. Other attacks mentioned included an air-based throw attack and a "Dragon Punch" shown to consume his fist in flames to represent his greater power.
The joke became an international sensation when publications from Europe
, Hong Kong
and other countries reprinted the trick without verifying it or asking EGMs permission. A Hong Kong comic based on Street Fighter II by Jademan Comics altered their story to include the character. Players tried unsuccessfully for weeks to unlock Sheng Long, until it was revealed in the December issue of EGM that it was a hoax, with the staff stating they were surprised at the worldwide coverage the joke had received.
, fans discussed the prospect of the character's inclusion in the new title. EGM perpetuated the hoax again in 1997 by claiming that Sheng Long was in the game, providing character artwork depicting his appearance and new screenshots. Unlike the first article, they did not finish their explanation of how to reach him, ending the article with "To reach him, you will need at least six perfects and..." Additionally, the words "April Fools" were spelled out in the first letter of the first ten sentences of the article.
The character's design was expanded on greatly in the article; Sheng Long was now stated to be the American name for the character Gouken, much like Akuma
is the American name for Gouki. His profile listed in the article paralleled Gouken's, but instead of Akuma killing him he was knocked into a raging river. The result gave him a scar over his eye, and a desire to get revenge on his brother. To this end, he revived several "killing techniques" of his fighting style, which included an air version of Akuma's red fireball that knocked his opponent down, a double ground high-low Hadouken, an unblockable Denjin-Shinryuu-Ken super attack that would shock the opponent, an air rapid Hadouken super attack akin to a move used by Ibuki
, and a third super attack intended to be a stronger version of the Akuma's Shun Goku Satsu.
's "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" list, in which the character placed nineteenth despite not being an actual character. IGN
placed it second on their list of the "Top Ten Gaming April Fools' Pranks", noting it as having the biggest impact of all of Electronic Gaming Monthlys April Fools jokes. UGO.com named it one of video gaming's greatest urban legends, noting its impact upon the series' success. Capcom's community manager Seth Killian described the hoax as "a part of gaming history", comparing him to the Konami Code
. However, GamesRadar
listed it as one of the video game legends that they never want to hear again, stating that while it was a good prank at first, Sheng Long has gone from "sly wink to the fans" to "Borat
t-shirt." The rumor is often credited with inspiring the creation of Akuma
, a character who debuted as a hidden final boss in Super Street Fighter II Turbo
, due to their similarities, although Capcom has never confirmed nor denied this. As in the hoax, the process of fighting Akuma would require certain achievements met during the game, with Akuma interrupting the final match of the game between the player and M. Bison. The similarity was nodded at in the high-definition remake
of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, in which an Xbox 360 Achievement titled "Sheng Long is in Another Castle" could be earned for defeating Akuma in the game's arcade mode.
in the endings for Ryu, Ken, and Akuma. In each, he is stated as the master of Ryu and Ken and Akuma's brother, but never stated as dead. Despite the repeated mention, Sheng Long does not appear in the game. On January 30, 2007 the game's designer, Alan Noon, appeared on Shoryuken.com's forum and discussed aspects of the game cut during development, among them a playable Sheng Long character.
According to Noon, while shooting and digitizing the character images for the game, talk had circulated about adding extra characters that were not in the film. As the Sheng Long hoax and Akuma's debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo were fairly recent at the time, the designers asked for Capcom's permission to add both characters into the game. Capcom approved the addition of Akuma, but denied the inclusion of Sheng Long. However, during the digitization sessions for Akuma, Capcom unexpectedly approved the addition of Sheng Long; Noon stated that Capcom had ambitions that the game would crush Mortal Kombat II
, and felt the character's inclusion was a necessity for that goal. Noon designed Sheng Long's appearance for the title, giving him a "mandarin style" gi
and one hand taking the form of a dragon's claw, described as a result of his power being so great that he began to physically transform into a dragon. Capcom approved the design, and an artist from the development team posed as Sheng Long. However, the character was left unfinished because of time constraints.
regarding the possibility of Sheng Long's appearance in the title, Ono replied "Are you coming to the Tokyo Game Show
? How about you ask me that question again then." Capcom later revealed Gouken as a character in Street Fighter IV, with Ono stating in a interview with Play
magazine that his inclusion in the title was in response to fans requesting Sheng Long's presence in the game.
On the first of April 2008, Capcom announced Sheng Long as a "secret, unlock-able character" in their Japanese development blog for Street Fighter IV and later posted in their official US blog accompanied with a silhouette of the character. The post took the tone of a Capcom PR representative trying to announce a character without giving away too many details, hinting that "Sheng Long is Ryu's..." then holding back and saying to wait for an official character announcement. Similar to the original EGM joke, the post lists the method to unlock him as requiring the player to win every round as Ryu without taking any damage whatsoever and then perform his "Shoryuken" move during the final boss fight. Reception to the joke the third time was negative, and included criticism from 1UP.com
. The following day, the Japanese website confirmed that it was indeed a joke, and explained the origin of Sheng Long while adding "Sheng-Long is still now and always will be, truly a character of legend."
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
related to the Street Fighter video game series, created by Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
(EGM) as an April Fool's gag in 1992. The joke, based upon a mistranslation that suggested the existence of a character named Sheng Long in the Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
video game Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
, described a method to fight the character in the game. After other publications reprinted the details as fact without verifying the authenticity, the Sheng Long hoax spread worldwide. As a result of discussion revolving around the possibility of the character's appearance in Street Fighter III
Street Fighter III
is a fighting game in Capcom's Street Fighter series, originally released as coin-operated arcade game in . Street Fighter III was produced for the CD-ROM-based CP System III hardware, which allowed for more elaborate 2D graphics than the CPS II-based Street Fighter Alpha games , while revamping...
during the game's development, EGM revisited the joke in 1997, printing an updated version of the hoax for the title while establishing a backstory and appearance for the character in the process.
As a character and a hoax, Sheng Long has been described as one of the most famous and well-known legends related to video gaming by publications such as GameDaily
GameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
and GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
. The hoax has been attributed to the creation of both Akuma
Akuma (Street Fighter)
Akuma known in Japan as , is a video game character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games. Akuma made his debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a secret character and hidden boss. In the storyline of the Street Fighter video games, he is the younger brother of Gouken, Ryu and Ken's...
and Gouken
Gouken
is a fictional character in the Street Fighter series. He is the martial arts master who trained Ryu and Ken, as well as the elder brother and former training partner of Akuma. Gouken is usually depicted as a bearded man who wears Mala prayer beads on his neck and a karate gi with the kanji mu , or...
as characters in the Street Fighter series, with the former appearing in Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Street Fighter II Turbo, released in Japan as , is a competitive fighting game released for the arcades by Capcom in . It is the fifth arcade installment in the Street Fighter II sub-series of Street Fighter games, following Super Street Fighter II...
as a secret boss. Fan appeal for the character affected later Capcom titles, with public requests for the inclusion of Sheng Long in an actual video game leading to the consideration of his inclusion in the Street Fighter: The Movie
Street Fighter: The Movie (arcade game)
Street Fighter: The Movie is a head-to-head fighting game released as a coin-operated arcade game. The game is based on the 1994 live-action Street Fighter movie and uses digitized images of the films cast posing as the characters in the game...
video game and years later resulting in the appearance of Gouken as both a secret boss and playable character in Street Fighter IV
Street Fighter IV
is a fighting game produced by Capcom. It is the first numbered Street Fighter game released by Capcom since . The coin-operated arcade game was released in Japan on July 18, 2008, with North American arcades importing the machines by August...
.
Origin
The name Sheng Long comes from a mistranslated portion of the name of a special attack performed by the series' main character, RyuRyu (Street Fighter)
is a video game player character created by Capcom, the main protagonist of the Street Fighter series. Having premiered in the first Street Fighter in 1987, Ryu appears as the lead character from the game along with his best friend Ken Masters participating in the Street Fighter tournament...
; the words "shō ryū" (昇龍 rising dragon) from Shōryūken (昇龍拳), Ryu's flying uppercut, is "shēng lóng" in Chinese pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
. This was carried into one of Ryu's quotes to defeated opponents in the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
localization of the 1991 arcade game Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
, changing the Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
quote to "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance." As a result players were given the impression that Ryu was referring to a person instead of the attack.
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
(SNES) port
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
of Street Fighter II released shortly after the April Fool prank changed the translation to "You must defeat my Dragon Punch to stand a chance." However, the English instruction manual for the SNES Street Fighter II referred to "Master Sheng Long" as Ryu and Ken's teacher. Instruction manuals for later ports to the SNES and Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
consoles replaced all references to Sheng Long by referring to Ryu and Ken as "disciples of Shotokan
Shotokan
is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi and his son Gigo Funakoshi . Gichin was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing karate through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including...
Karate". A character named Gouken
Gouken
is a fictional character in the Street Fighter series. He is the martial arts master who trained Ryu and Ken, as well as the elder brother and former training partner of Akuma. Gouken is usually depicted as a bearded man who wears Mala prayer beads on his neck and a karate gi with the kanji mu , or...
was later introduced in Masaomi Kanzaki's 1993 Street Fighter II manga as Ryu and Ken's sensei, and was adapted into the series' backstory in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
Original EGM April Fools 1992
The mistranslation spawned rumors about the existence of a Sheng Long character in the game, and players sent letters to video game publications attempting to confirm the character's existence. In the April 1992 issue of the video game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, a method was "revealed" to reach Sheng Long in the arcade game. The reporter, cited as W.A. Stokins (waste tokens) of Fuldigan, HA (fooled again, ha), claimed that the character could be found if a player using Ryu did not let the character suffer any damage during the entire game, and upon reaching the final match against M. BisonM. Bison
M. Bison, known in Japan as Vega, is a video game character created by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, he is a recurring character in the Street Fighter series of fighting games, acting as the final boss and primary antagonist of the Street Fighter II and Street...
could neither hit Bison nor let him inflict any damage until the time limit expired, thus ending the round in a draw. After repeating this for ten consecutive rounds Sheng Long would then appear out of nowhere and throw Bison off of the edge screen and out of the way. The game's on-screen timer would then stop at 99 seconds, resulting in a "fight to the death" between Ryu and Sheng Long.
Sheng Long was stated to feature the special moves of all the fighters, such as Chun-Li
Chun-Li
is a video game character produced by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II, she has since appeared as a player character in nearly all subsequent games....
's "Spinning Bird Kick" and Sagat
Sagat (Street Fighter)
is a boss character from the early editions of Capcom's Street Fighter fighting game series. He was later turned into a regular, playable character. Sagat is depicted as a well-renowned Muay Thai expert fighter known for his incredible power. He is often called the "Emperor of Muay Thai" in his...
's projectile attacks, but inflict more damage. In addition, the character was supposedly faster than any other fighter in the game, negating the pause between projectile attacks. Other attacks mentioned included an air-based throw attack and a "Dragon Punch" shown to consume his fist in flames to represent his greater power.
The joke became an international sensation when publications from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and other countries reprinted the trick without verifying it or asking EGMs permission. A Hong Kong comic based on Street Fighter II by Jademan Comics altered their story to include the character. Players tried unsuccessfully for weeks to unlock Sheng Long, until it was revealed in the December issue of EGM that it was a hoax, with the staff stating they were surprised at the worldwide coverage the joke had received.
EGM April Fools 1997
During the development of Street Fighter IIIStreet Fighter III
is a fighting game in Capcom's Street Fighter series, originally released as coin-operated arcade game in . Street Fighter III was produced for the CD-ROM-based CP System III hardware, which allowed for more elaborate 2D graphics than the CPS II-based Street Fighter Alpha games , while revamping...
, fans discussed the prospect of the character's inclusion in the new title. EGM perpetuated the hoax again in 1997 by claiming that Sheng Long was in the game, providing character artwork depicting his appearance and new screenshots. Unlike the first article, they did not finish their explanation of how to reach him, ending the article with "To reach him, you will need at least six perfects and..." Additionally, the words "April Fools" were spelled out in the first letter of the first ten sentences of the article.
The character's design was expanded on greatly in the article; Sheng Long was now stated to be the American name for the character Gouken, much like Akuma
Akuma (Street Fighter)
Akuma known in Japan as , is a video game character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games. Akuma made his debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a secret character and hidden boss. In the storyline of the Street Fighter video games, he is the younger brother of Gouken, Ryu and Ken's...
is the American name for Gouki. His profile listed in the article paralleled Gouken's, but instead of Akuma killing him he was knocked into a raging river. The result gave him a scar over his eye, and a desire to get revenge on his brother. To this end, he revived several "killing techniques" of his fighting style, which included an air version of Akuma's red fireball that knocked his opponent down, a double ground high-low Hadouken, an unblockable Denjin-Shinryuu-Ken super attack that would shock the opponent, an air rapid Hadouken super attack akin to a move used by Ibuki
Ibuki (Street Fighter)
is a video game character from the Street Fighter fighting game series. She along with Elena were the lone female characters in the Street Fighter III series, until 3rd Strike, where they were joined by Makoto and Chun-Li...
, and a third super attack intended to be a stronger version of the Akuma's Shun Goku Satsu.
Legacy
Sheng Long is cited as an influential factor for the Street Fighter series, earning mention in articles such as GameDailyGameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
's "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" list, in which the character placed nineteenth despite not being an actual character. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
placed it second on their list of the "Top Ten Gaming April Fools' Pranks", noting it as having the biggest impact of all of Electronic Gaming Monthlys April Fools jokes. UGO.com named it one of video gaming's greatest urban legends, noting its impact upon the series' success. Capcom's community manager Seth Killian described the hoax as "a part of gaming history", comparing him to the Konami Code
Konami Code
The Konami Code, known in Japan as the , is a cheat code that appears in many Konami video games, although the code also appears in some non-Konami games...
. However, GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
listed it as one of the video game legends that they never want to hear again, stating that while it was a good prank at first, Sheng Long has gone from "sly wink to the fans" to "Borat
Borat
Borat Sagdiyev is a satirical fictional character invented and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen...
t-shirt." The rumor is often credited with inspiring the creation of Akuma
Akuma (Street Fighter)
Akuma known in Japan as , is a video game character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games. Akuma made his debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a secret character and hidden boss. In the storyline of the Street Fighter video games, he is the younger brother of Gouken, Ryu and Ken's...
, a character who debuted as a hidden final boss in Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Street Fighter II Turbo, released in Japan as , is a competitive fighting game released for the arcades by Capcom in . It is the fifth arcade installment in the Street Fighter II sub-series of Street Fighter games, following Super Street Fighter II...
, due to their similarities, although Capcom has never confirmed nor denied this. As in the hoax, the process of fighting Akuma would require certain achievements met during the game, with Akuma interrupting the final match of the game between the player and M. Bison. The similarity was nodded at in the high-definition remake
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a two dimensional fighting game released using the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Arcade download services...
of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, in which an Xbox 360 Achievement titled "Sheng Long is in Another Castle" could be earned for defeating Akuma in the game's arcade mode.
Street Fighter: The Movie
Sheng Long is mentioned three times in the 1995 arcade game Street Fighter: The MovieStreet Fighter: The Movie (arcade game)
Street Fighter: The Movie is a head-to-head fighting game released as a coin-operated arcade game. The game is based on the 1994 live-action Street Fighter movie and uses digitized images of the films cast posing as the characters in the game...
in the endings for Ryu, Ken, and Akuma. In each, he is stated as the master of Ryu and Ken and Akuma's brother, but never stated as dead. Despite the repeated mention, Sheng Long does not appear in the game. On January 30, 2007 the game's designer, Alan Noon, appeared on Shoryuken.com's forum and discussed aspects of the game cut during development, among them a playable Sheng Long character.
According to Noon, while shooting and digitizing the character images for the game, talk had circulated about adding extra characters that were not in the film. As the Sheng Long hoax and Akuma's debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo were fairly recent at the time, the designers asked for Capcom's permission to add both characters into the game. Capcom approved the addition of Akuma, but denied the inclusion of Sheng Long. However, during the digitization sessions for Akuma, Capcom unexpectedly approved the addition of Sheng Long; Noon stated that Capcom had ambitions that the game would crush Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat II is a competitive fighting game originally produced by Midway Games for the arcades in . It is the second game in the Mortal Kombat series. Like its predecessor, various home versions were produced...
, and felt the character's inclusion was a necessity for that goal. Noon designed Sheng Long's appearance for the title, giving him a "mandarin style" gi
Keikogi
or dōgi is a uniform for training, used in martial arts derived from Japan, or budō. . The prototype for the modern keikogi emerged in the late 19th century. The keikogi was developed by judo founder Kano Jigoro...
and one hand taking the form of a dragon's claw, described as a result of his power being so great that he began to physically transform into a dragon. Capcom approved the design, and an artist from the development team posed as Sheng Long. However, the character was left unfinished because of time constraints.
Street Fighter IV
In an interview in the January 2008 Issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono stated "Let's just say that [jokes] that your magazine have reported in the past might find their way into the game as fan service." Executive editor Shane Bettenhausen took this to mean the appearance of Sheng Long in Street Fighter IV, though added that if the character did appear in the game, it would be Gouken. When asked in a later interview by 1UP.com1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
regarding the possibility of Sheng Long's appearance in the title, Ono replied "Are you coming to the Tokyo Game Show
Tokyo Game Show
The , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and the Nikkei Business Publications, Inc...
? How about you ask me that question again then." Capcom later revealed Gouken as a character in Street Fighter IV, with Ono stating in a interview with Play
Play (US magazine)
Play was a U.S.-based magazine focused on video games, anime, manga, film, DVD, television, comics, music and media. Published by Fusion Publishing, Inc. since 2001, Play magazine also had a separate Internet presence on its website, Play Online...
magazine that his inclusion in the title was in response to fans requesting Sheng Long's presence in the game.
On the first of April 2008, Capcom announced Sheng Long as a "secret, unlock-able character" in their Japanese development blog for Street Fighter IV and later posted in their official US blog accompanied with a silhouette of the character. The post took the tone of a Capcom PR representative trying to announce a character without giving away too many details, hinting that "Sheng Long is Ryu's..." then holding back and saying to wait for an official character announcement. Similar to the original EGM joke, the post lists the method to unlock him as requiring the player to win every round as Ryu without taking any damage whatsoever and then perform his "Shoryuken" move during the final boss fight. Reception to the joke the third time was negative, and included criticism from 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
. The following day, the Japanese website confirmed that it was indeed a joke, and explained the origin of Sheng Long while adding "Sheng-Long is still now and always will be, truly a character of legend."