I always say this: if you want to make your game more accessible, just teach the player how to play your game. You don’t have to add “easy mode” inputs or anything.
I don’t have a problem with links in general, but I do think SF4 goes overboard with them.
You want to know something funny? The one game that people consider to be “too complex” has the most lenient inputs: Virtua Fighter 5. There’s only a handful of moves that require any sort of precise button presses.
Capcom isn’t obligated to do anything for the FGC. They didn’t create SFII with the intention of fighting games becoming this big. They were just trying to make money. However I will say if they want more people to get into fighters they need to make their next fighter with a decent tutorial. No need to dumb a game down, just explain properly how to play and guide them along.
If SF had a tutorial like Skullgirls that explained how to use the game’s mechanics, fighting game fundamentals, character specific challenges that explained their moves and their practical uses. Street Fighter would probably rival Smash Bros sales numbers.
So while they’re not obligated to introduce people to fighters. They are limiting their success with fighters by not making it easier for players to learn the game which would make the average consumer more interested.
If they make a tutorial, and actually want to make a good one, they would also have to commit to updating the tutorial when it turns out something they put in there isn’t correct. When a dev makes a game, they’re just guessing at what the meta will produce, it’s very likely that whatever is in the tutorial will be obsolete and useless very quickly.
New players get into FG’s by buying the game your not going to get millions of people to buy a game by saying “its got a really awesome tutorial showing you all these inane arbitrary archaic design decisions that are hold overs from decades ago :)”
This topic again? Seems like we have this discussion every couple of months.
The problem with SFIV was that Capcom assumed that hardcore players wanted things like 1 frame links. More precisely, they thought adding them in would appease players in the face of more lenient inputs and Ultras.
The stupid part was that they designed the game to have them for no reason other than to have them. It’s dumb as hell that for 4 versions of this game Guile’s BnB had a 1f link in it.
So does Ryu (c.mp -> sweep).
And Rufus (close LK -> close HP).
So what.
Ironically, I find doing links in CVS2 are much easier than they are in SFIV and I think plinking is a placebo myth (although it isn’t but doesn’t work for me.)
Do we actually know that that was their thought process? Was that in an interview or something?
I want to know the source too. I’ve heard this before, what a retarded move (if true).
Does Capcom have that responsibility? Lord no. Would it be to their benefit to do so? Probably; lowering the barrier to entry, holding all else equal, will get more people playing, and that means more people spending money on their games
There’s nothing ironic here. Normals in CvS2 give like 3 hours of frame advantage.
It was stated on an interview, but i don’t remember in what of the many.
They basically stated that they wanted to appeal to both hardcore and casuals with SF4 and it is why they made the game that way, link heavy but with input leniency due the horrid input buffer and ultras
I think most who bought SF4, SFxT, and Marvel 3 to a certain extent knew what they were getting in to. Sequels to the genre. How about Midway/Netherrealm? They made MK vs DC, had Freddy Kruger as a guest character in MK9, and made an all DC fighter. If anything they brought in more beginners. Pretty sure random DC fan who happens to own a Xbox 360/PS3/PS4/Xbox One/PS Vita/Gaming PC would think about buying it. Maybe a die hard Nightmare on Elm Street fanatic would buy MK9 and Freddy DLC for full price. Don’t get me started on the Star Wars fans that ran out and bought Soul Calibur IV.
Other than SF4. The game that rejuvenated FGs in the eyes of the general public. Capcom shoulders no such burden.
Considering how much people bitch and piss and moan at how easy some things are in newer games I’m not surprised they assumed veterans wanted tricky combos
This is wrong. They do have an obligation to the FGC, at least in terms of self interest. The tournament community is basically a huge chunk of Capcoms income right now. They arent doing well financially. Resident Evil, the old flag ship title has flopped. SF is probably their biggest game right now.
No they are not…
Ever heard of a lil game called Monster Hunter? Because that is Capcom’s money maker as of now. As successful as The SFIV series is, it’s numbers are peanuts compared to other genres. Fighting games as a whole are niche and don’t do big numbers compared to other genres. The main exception is Smash Bros series due to how easy it is to pick up and play so its very accessable for casual gamers, and has iconic well known characters.
Honestly I think those who continue to make fighting games do so out of love for the genre and the fans.
I’m pretty sure 1 frame links is a walk in the park when you compare to old fighting games. Special moves inputs are much more lenient in SF4, the core of the game system is much simpler and you don’t have to master different modes like K-Groove, V-Ism, A-ISM. There is a clear lack of highly advanced techniques that were extremely demanding in the player’s execution but were absolutely necessary at high level competition such as CCs (Alpha 3), RCs (CvsS2), FFs (MvsC2), Walk Canceling (Jojo), Charge Partition (3S). Also, these days most players already found a way around 1 frame links by using p-linking (which is not very hard IMO).
If anything, I feel Capcom decided to take a step back and make SF4 entry level much easier and they succeeded. Even if they took away 1 frame links, I’m pretty sure people would still complain about some sort of execution requirement. The question is how low should they go?
Part of playing fighting games is not only about planning ahead but also being able to put up with the pressure. Anybody can grind and land combos all day in training mode but just a few of them can do it consistently not matter the circumstances (like thousands of players watching and just a couple of matches away from top 8). This is one of the things that separates the good players from the bad ones and I’m not sure if I would be willing to sacrifice that for the sake of the majority (who will most likely quit the game in a month anyway).
BTW I found hilarious how the OP is complaining about input leniency being too easy but also complaining about links. In the other topic some guy asked Capcom to make the AI smarter and this guy is asking to make it easier. At this point, I’m not even sure if the FGC knows what they want.