Capcom has shed a little more light on the PC version of Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition in a blog post from senior VP Christian Svensson. Topics covered include special PC features, the system requirements, and, an unpleasant "security" system which disables features and reduces the character if you're not online and signed into Games for Windows Live.

Saying that Street Fighter IV was "plagued by pirates and hackers that messed up leaderboards," Svensson unveiled Capcom's somewhat reactionary solution. "If you aren't signed in to an online GFWL profile, the offline mode has limited functionality," he explained.

"Obviously there's no online play, access to replay channels or other online-centric features (and this is the part that keeps the online play secure from hackers or pirates). Additionally, you won't be able to save any progress in challenges or settings, won't have access to any DLC you've purchased and all local play will be restricted to 15 of the 39 characters."

"If you happen to temporarily lose your connection in the middle of your session (let's say you're working on combos in the training room or working on challenges), no problem. You'll be able to keep doing what you're doing until you come to a logical break point, like exiting to a menu, at which point you'll be asked to sign back in," he said. "Assuming your PC is back online, everything will continue as it should, just like on Xbox 360." And if not, well, you have a problem.

While this is not quite as bad as Ubisoft's uPlay PC DRM was when first introduced--the publisher later cut back the requirement to always be online--it's still a bit of a kick in the teeth.

You're also in trouble if you live in a country not yet supported by Games for Windows Live. "Unless you have or can get a Games for Windows Live account and you don't live in one of the supported countries, unfortunately we don't have a good solution for you today," Svensson explained.

On the bright side, there's no installation limit, and "you can install it a zillion times" as long as you log into the associated GFWL account.

Onto cheerier matters, Svensson revealed that a player's system performance will be taken into consideration for matchmaking. Playing Street Fighter IV online against a player whose game ran slowly would affect your game too, messing with your timing. SSFIV Arcade will attempt to match those with good performance against each other, to side-step the problem.

There's also a new setting which governs how the game handles slow performance online. As well as the old SSFIV method of playing every last frame, slowing the game down, players will be able to choose a mode which drops frames to "to keep the gameplay speed and inputs consistent," and another that's a hybrid of the two.

The system requirements were also revealed:

Minimum Requirements:

• OS: Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7

• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz and up

• Memory: 1 GB RAM

• Graphics: DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 and up supported (operation on-board is not guaranteed)

• Video: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 and up (except for NVIDIA GeForce 7300), VRAM: 256MB and up (operation sharing with main memory is not guaranteed) or ATI Radeon X1600 and up VRAM: 256MB and up.

• Hard Drive: 4.5 GB free hard drive space

• Sound: DirectSound, DirectX9.0c Compatible Audio

• Other Requirements: Online play requires software installation of and log-in to Games For Windows - LIVE

Recommended Hardware:

• OS: Windows Vista/Windows 7

• Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 2.0 GHz and up

• Memory: 2 GB RAM

• Graphics: DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 and up supported (operation on-board is not guaranteed)

• Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 and up, VRAM: 512MB and up (operation sharing with main memory is not guaranteed)

• Hard Drive: 4.5 GB free hard drive space

• Sound: DirectSound, DirectX9.0c Compatible Audio

Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition is due to be released for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in July, priced at $39.99 on all platforms. The PC edition should launch "within a week or so of the console retail release," according to Svensson.