Capcom should never stop making SF but they should start making Darkstalkers 4
I think they should continue making SF, though it’s apparent that Ultra SFIV is going to be the game to hold us over until SFV happens (when and how). A new IP wouldn’t be a bad thing at this point, as it would help take mechanics in a different, creative direction without alienating fans. Capcom painted themselves into a corner with other IPs, struggling to further patch current games or questioning whether to continue others at all (like darkstalkers). A brand new game is a fresh start.
$500k+ per character is a pretty steep price.
There is no reason for Capcom to let the Street Fighter franchise die, but SF4 probably is getting its last update. People are saying that SF4 is getting stale but the game is still the most popular game in the US and a very popular game around the world. Its a balanced game and though some will disagree, I feel its a good game and so do other people. The game will probably be at EVO for the next two-three years at least and then SF5 will probably come out on Next-Gen consoles.
That being said, many other Capcom fighting franchises wouldn’t be able to sell in today’s market without a marketing blitz and/or the game might have to be a downloadable title. For example, I love Cyberbots but I know in my heart that game probably won’t get a sequel and if it does, it will probably be F2P (Cyberbots would be the perfect F2P game for Capcom.). The same with Rival Schools and Darkstalkers, the games were fun but Rival Schools is a fighting game with moderate popularity in the FGC while Darkstalkers was only popular in the FGC. Street Fighter was a household name in the US and still is. Capcom’s other franchises don’t have that history behind them, investing in them would more risky than when Capcom made SF4 ( I remember reading Ono literally had to beg to get them to invest in SF4). So, while many of Capcom’s older franchises are fun, Capcom has pretty good reasons as to why they wouldn’t invest in them. This whole call for something new is good and it shows that some consumers know what they want, but as the DSR and TTT2 release proved to us, talk is cheap and that it is us consumers who at the end of day, make or break a game’s future.
However, I do think that Powerstone has a future. The game was really popular and is a really good party game. A new Powerstone would be a great handheld or downloadable title. Cyberbots, Rival Schools and Star Gladiator Rest in Peace and DS is remain SF’s ugly step sister who suffers from Chuck Cunningham syndrome.