State of the Fighting Game

I'm getting a little worried here. I know that it's no secret that less fighters are making it out than in the past, but are we about to see fighters go the way of the shmup?

The only releases I know of for the rest of this year are Soul Calibur 2 (Xbox, PS2, GC) and King of Fighters 2002 (DC). Capcom has ended their arcade games division (I believe?). Yu Suzuki has said that right now, Virtua Fighter 5 isn't a priority. Tekken 4 was a flop. Playmore's got a few games in development, but the only thing I've heard from them in the past few months is that SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos is being prepped for arcade.

I'm hoping that I'm just missing a ton of stuff, and/or that there may be some stuff shown at E3. I'm just getting more and more worried that the main genre that I play games for in the first place is being eclipsed in favor of a million survival-horror and GTA clones. Ok, I think I'm done rambling for right now. :sweat:

You're pretty much on track. They're dying in popularity. While we'll still be treated to fighting games, they won't have nearly the amount of impact they've had at the arcade since most of the new games will be straight to console. The only series I foresee with any possibility of continuing in popularity at the moment is the guilty gear series, which is catching on like wildfire here because everybody is just so bored of the same ol' bullshit.

E3 I'm hoping will have promise of new fighting games on the horizon, but right now I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

P.S.: You forgot Power Instinct: Matrimelee in your list. :p

Well the problem is that there's no new innovation entering the genre. The new horsepower of machines today is adding absolutely nothing the games and as a result, we're treated to prettier rehashes of what we've seen a million times before.

It's no wonder they're not doing as well as they used to... people are prefectly content with their old ones... or are just bored silly with the new ones.

I've gotta' tell you, the only thing that's saving fighting games from a PAINFUL death in my collection is GG:XX

If Tekken 4 was a flop (on consoles), what does that make VF4?

Uberflop?

Flop Evolution?

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Originally posted by MVS
If Tekken 4 was a flop (on consoles), what does that make VF4?

Uberflop?

Flop Evolution?

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I'm not sure what you're trying to say. I thought it was widely recognized that Tekken 4 was nowhere nearly as good of an update as Tekken 3 was to Tekken 2, while Virtua Fighter 4 was an incredible update to Virtua Fighter 3, which was a mediocre update to Virtua Fighter 2.

I wasn't trying to rile up any diehard Tekken fans. :p

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Well the problem is that there's no new innovation entering the genre. The new horsepower of machines today is adding absolutely nothing the games and as a result, we're treated to prettier rehashes of what we've seen a million times before.

It's no wonder they're not doing as well as they used to... people are prefectly content with their old ones... or are just bored silly with the new ones.

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I really love all my old fighters, yeah, but even rehashes are fine. Most Capcom fighters for the past eon have been rehashes with slight tweaks and differences in the gameplay, but I still love them all the same. I go back and play my old fighting games a ton, but there's still something nice about having that brand spankin new release that makes a game special. :D

Two words: Neo Geo. Rage of the Dragons is very recent. SNK vs Capcom and Samurai Shodown V are coming. Don't pretend the DC is the ultimate fighting machine.

Soul Calibur 2 is the best fighting game of all time. There was what, like 5 years between VF3 and VF4? Yu Suzuki shouldn't be in a hurry to toss out another VF game after VF4. From what I've heard Tekken 4 is still selling sorta well, but Dream Factory fucked the game up so bad that the hardcore Tekken players won't go near it. Guilty Gear X2 is no question worth the $40 asking price. Capcom has hinted there's huge plans for the Street Fighter series next year.

The only reason there's less fighters being released is that the crappy fighting clones are dropping off. At least the ratio of quality fighting games is a lot higher than it use to be.

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Originally posted by negitoro
Well the problem is that there's no new innovation entering the genre. The new horsepower of machines today is adding absolutely nothing the games and as a result, we're treated to prettier rehashes of what we've seen a million times before.

It's no wonder they're not doing as well as they used to... people are prefectly content with their old ones... or are just bored silly with the new ones.

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Negitoro hit it right on the head. The lack of innovation has essentially been the factor that's choked the continued interest in fighters for quite some time. Capcom has continued to milk every aspect of street fighting derived from its classic 6-button fighter (do I really need to acknowledge what game I am talking about here?) Fortunately, the Vs. and SFIII releases respectively allowed them to establish a significantly different outlet. (Oh, and then there was the Ex series, but who really acknowledges that as "innovation")

In what supposedly has been considered to be their last hurrah, Capcom v. SNK 2 while still considerably popular, still doesn't quite hold the level of magnitude and popularity as say...Super Turbo. Granted, from a hardware perspective - it's not graphically oozing with glitzy effects, nor does a player need a degree in Combo Dialing 101; but it remains one of the most universally appealing and challenging titles amongst all those who truly recognize the art of fighting and competition. Heck, you've even got players currently on SRK eagerly demanding for Alpha 2 and 3 to get on Apex. But that's a discussion for another time.

Which leaves the remaining games as alternatives - VF4, Guilty Gear X2, and Soul Calibur 2. In their own right, each game has offered a substantial degree of innovation and uniques. Each has their own niche market and for what it's worth - there's still room for improvement. (No 17,000,000 different fighting editions to come unlike the said illustrated developer above).

Personally, I am extremely disappointed in Capcom for their continued laziness and failing to demonstrate their potential to create a solid fighter on the Naomi hardware. They've easily been outmatched by the Guilty Gear X series 3 to 1. At the time, I loved the CPS2 hardware, it was quite impressive...when Marvel v. Capcom 2 was new. SF3 was also sweet, ideally, this lead me to believe that eventually Capcom's games would move and perform as smooth as a animated cartoon. Sadly, we'll never see anything else from the CPS3 board.

Now we're given somewhat dated fighting games which have been ported to the next-gen platforms, and it's a evident sign of just how great a demand to evolve beyond the previous fighting engine. Why is Morrigan's aged Darkstalkers sprite still being used? Why won't SNK upgrade it's hardware? Sure it's easier to upgrade 3D hardware tools, seeing as 2D games are initially based off hand-drawn art...but GGX throws that excuse right out the window. It can be done...laziness has no advocate.

There was a good discussion going on about this - a brainstorm of ideas if you will as to what fighting games should/shouldn't be doing for future titles. It would be great if developers actually took the time to recognize the consumer input, and then analyze the collective ideas and perhaps intergrate them. (!) Imagine that?

...but that's wishful thinking talking.

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Originally posted by Keres
The only reason there's less fighters being released is that the crappy fighting clones are dropping off. At least the ratio of quality fighting games is a lot higher than it use to be.

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Yes, Street Fighter's 15th anniversary draws near. And rumors ring loudly of SF4 undergoing testing/development.

I for one, do NOT want it on 3D hardware.

Quality fighting games? Hm, Tao Feng somehow saw the light of day...you call that quality? It's development team shouldn't have even been allowed to work on anything short of Pong.

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Originally posted by bahn
Quality fighting games? Hm, Tao Feng somehow saw the light of day...you call that quality? It's development team shouldn't have even been allowed to work on anything short of Pong.

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I don't think anyone is calling Tao Feng a quality game. I just said the ratio of good-to-bad fighting games is a lot better than it use to be. Heh, as far as I'm concerned, Tao Feng wasn't a fighting game. It was a cool idea for a TV commercial with a crappy game license tacked on.