I ended up getting a PS3 CE at Best Buy after all. They only had three CEs (behind the counter); I told them I had reserved one but lost the receipt, didn't care about eating the $5 blah blah blah, and the guy gave it to me. Since they had no problem with this, it tells me that anyone could walk in and say the same thing.

Saw maybe 5-6 copies of the regular version on the shelves.
I would get the CE if you care about the movie. The box is flimsy as hell, the Ryu figurine is tiny n' crappy (and mine is scuffed up), the "collector's hint book" is just a few pages, and the included unlock key for the first costume pack doesn't even work right now (

). But the Blu-Ray comes in its own nice case, with space for the soundtrack CD (which has the character themes only, no stage themes), which is nice I guess. The Japanese version (no CE, you get the DVD regardless) just comes in a clear CD case.