Street Fighter x Tekken Vita gets new characters and cross-platform matching

Street Fighter X Tekken for the Vita brings with it new characters.

The ever-dubious question of whether or not to plunk down for a mobile version of a game you may already own for a console just got a lot simpler in at least one instance. Street Fighter x Tekken will be shipping for the Sony Vita with 12 extra characters that you can import to your PS3, according to Capcom officials. Fans of Blanka rejoice.

The complete list of characters:

Tekken:

• Baek
• Christie
• Alisa
• Lars
• Brian
• Jack Cross

Street Fighter:

• Elena
• Dudley
• Cody
• Guy
• Sakura
• Blanka

Connecting your Vita version of Street Fighter x Tekken to your PS3 running the PS3 version of the game will unlock all of these characters on both platforms. And you can then proceed to fight against any friend (or foe) either via direct link between your Vita and PS3, or via online cross-platform matching.

You can fight on your Vita against any PS3 or any other Vita anywhere on the Playstation Network, via WIFi or data network. The demo we saw in early April suffered from slightly long load times, but gameplay between connected Vita and PS3 was seamless and perfectly synchronized.

The Vita version will also ship with expanded character color options and touch controls both in combat and in character customization menus. The Vita's front and rear touch screens can be customized to emulate "virtual controls" expanding the fighting capabilities of the device, and shaking the Vita in the character customization screen will create a random costume color, which is good for at least a laugh.

Additional enhancements include camera-enabled augmented reality displays, digital compass and Near functionality.

More details and a release date are expected to be announced at E3 2012.