Who knows, but I doubt it. It’s still an 11 year old game, with 11 year old graphics, and it will never see the kind of commercial support SF4 got. That, and theres a bunch of people who are indoctrinated by years old parry debates who are convinced 3s is shallow despite never having played the game very seriously. Even beyond all that, 3s has a lot of unfriendly mechanics to new players when compared to the 4 series.
What arcade have you been to where 3s was 2 bucks a game with a 30 minute wait? I can’t think of any US arcade that charges more than 25 cents a game for 3s. Arcade 3s is the gold standard, so typically anyone with access to it will play on that. Otherwise people play on ggpo, which, despite lag, is at least an arcade port.
GGPO is a lobby system. It’s pretty simple but extremely finicky. If you can get people with a ping under 60 on GGPO it’s not a bad experience at all (as long as it doesn’t crash on you). It’s obviously not the same as playing in person but it’s not terrible either. SF4 seems to have been designed with netplay in mind on some level so it performs pretty well even with some lag. 3S obviously wasn’t designed for that so some things are much better online than in person.
The US standard for arcade 3S is a helluva lot more lenient than Japan’s(you could pay either 100yen a game, or at the very least 30yen…at least here in Fukuoka). I would kill for 25cent 3rd Strike anywhere. If there’s an arcade near you with 3S, play it. If it’s too far, then at the very least there’s GGPO, but I seriously recommend practicing the more technical stuff offline.
And for the record, a lot of stuff Viscant talked about was right. But he talks about 3S from a traditional SF2 player perspective. His words may have had a very strong influence back then, but this is 2010. There were a whole bunch of new things discovered over the years that distinguish 3S from past SF games, and us players have come to accept and love it. It’s really up to the player to decide whether or not they want to try a different type of SF game with a totally different mindset from other games, including the Alpha game and 4.
This is the best advice I’ve seen in this thread. Its the way I learned how to play 3s aswell. Ken is far and away THE best character to start with. He’ll let you explore the game and understand the rhythm of the game and for a game thats essentially a rhythm / fighting game, understanding that rhythm is key.
Other than that, check out The Shend’s channel on youtube. Watch some match vids and don’t worry too much about the combos…just try to understand how the footsies work in 3s so you can get a feel for how to play the game.
Another thing that sets this game apart from sf4 is the privilege of reacting to normals on start up. Which, if you aren’t in a parrying mood, makes for some counter pokes that can really mind fuck an opponent.
It’s not that he’s wrong. It’s that he thinks Street Fighter is anything but a brand name. SF2 does not define Street Fighter. It’s success lead to the Alpha series, the SFIII series and now the SF4 series yes but that doesn’t give it a special place (gameplay wise). It isn’t like there were a string of SF games all based on the same SF2 formula. Each new version took what SF was at the time and rewrote it. All of those games have things that make them ‘not Street Fighter’. Everyone has a different favorite. His desire to shit on people who like something else is what comes off as completely ridiculous, arrogant, and even juvenile.
His facts aren’t wrong. His attitude is. It is up to the player to decide, and he can decide it isn’t for him. But telling people who do like it that they don’t understand it and that the game they like is terribly designed is unnecessary drama. It’s fine to have an attitude on the internet but that’s a bit much for me to stomach.
Trini_Judoka: you’ll need sfiii3n and I guess sfiii3. just search for mame third strike trainer cheat. You’ll find info on it.
Oh I totally agree. I used to despise him for a long time because of his attitude in his 3S rants, particularly insulting the players that were dedicated to just that game. But over time I just brushed it off as an individual opinion, even if it is presented in a dickheaded way.
And it’s true. Ken really is the best character for starting players. I didn’t start getting better in 3S until I started being able to hitconfirm with Ken. I wish I did this 7 years ago instead of 3. heh
Just thinking out loud: Does counter-picking even exist in 3S? Counter picking is a pretty essential part of SSF4 but I was thinking that it really doesn’t exist in 3S. I mean the low tier characters have to work harder sure, but they’re bad matchups are the god tiers Yun and Chun. But even mid-tier characters have problems with the god tiers, so I think that point is moot.
You don’t see counter-picking too much in 3S(Japanese tournaments usually don’t allow character switching, and many American players try to follow the Japanese’s example of sticking to one character), but it still exists depending on the player. Sorry I keep referring to it, but one of the more famous examples is when Justin Wong counterpicked ramza’s Makoto with Elena during Grand Finals of FRX.
Just because 3S is different from other SF games doesn’t mean the players have to follow some unwritten rules. If the tournament allows character switching, you’re bound to see some counterpicking.
I’ll have to admit that I’ve counterpicked before in a tournament. One dude(I think he played Ken) managed to beat my Q so I switched to Hugo and won the match.
Yeah, but was that REALLY a counterpick? Seems like you switched more due to comfort/playstyle/surprise factor vs better matchup odds.
A counterpick to me is using your alt in a match up where your main struggles badly (Sim vs Cammy) or if you pick an alt to body a character that has realistically no chance of beating you (Zangief vs Seth or i guess the 3s equivalent Yun vs Sean)
tiers exist but “counter” picking doesnt really. but then i dont know if thats a 100% true statement because i sometimes think chun vs necro/oro/alex is impossible at higher level.
i totally agree with learning ken helping understand 3s but i think its equally important as you go down the line to learn an array of characters. not saying learn all of them, but learning others expands your 3s knowledge and understanding to the games mechanics/situations/mentality.
i think learning other characters is best done progressively. someone whos trying to learn many characters at once, ESPECIALLY when theyre relatively new to the game will not really benefit from this.
sure there are exceptions but i really believe learning a good portion of the cast is beneficially later on in someones progress.
i think its no coincidence that many strong players stick to a main for tournament play but in danisen have anywhere from a couple to several alts that they’ve entered in it
Dander: Since like 2007 on, I don’t believe in that theory based on how top Chun play has evolved.
Trini_Judoka: Hmm, you’re probably right. I guess if you go by the books I didn’t really counterpick, though I did feel at the time that my Hugo could do better against Kens than Q, so that’s what it felt like.
Ive counter picked way back in the day. I lost anyway. Serves me right.
Never done it anymore. Tbh I’d rather just lose with my main.
“blind pick” all that shit is stupid. I much prefer sign up with one character, you’re stuck.
Countering mak with Elena? So weird. Chun is like Elena x2.
Ps. I don’t care about tourney pot. So maybe my opinion doesn’t count.