I spoke to Sirlin a great deal on Friday night at the BYOC at EVO. We had a good and very honest exchange about HDR and ST. To get to the point, we listened to perspectives and conceded to some of each others points, and had a very fun and genuine exchange. Not as a creator and a critic, but as two enthusisits sharing the same subject matter. Without getting into the exact details of every thing discussed, we did joke a little bit about my vocalism in the forums about ST vs. HDR. It was something like: (Heavy Paraphrasing)
Fatboy: Well you know, I am not a huge fan of HDR.
Sirlin: Yeah I know, your the BIGGEST hater on the forums.
Fatboy: We’ll can deny that.
(Both laugh)
Fatboy: But, for the record. It is not aimed to you. I just really love ST and its community. But I commend you for your efforts. You’ve done more than anybody else to try to bring new players to the community.
If your goal was to bring new players to the “classic” type of street fighter game, albeit a remixed version of a classic game. I think you succeeded. Its appealing to general public and that is awesome.
Sirlin: Thanks, I really appreciated that. But, would you mind posting something nice about it then in stead of all the hate?
(Both laugh)
Fatboy: Yes, I will. I promise (laughing)
So, I just wanted to keep my word. I really have a special place for ST. However, I have to be honest with myself. I can seeing that the scene is changing.
I was speaking with Dog-Face this weekend, and we talked about how perfect the ‘Evolution’ name was for the Evolution. Wizard, inkblot, and ponder really encompassed the meaning of the event and what it stood for perfectly in choosing that name. We are all getting older, and everything is our life is always changing/evolving. Why can’t SF be allowed to change/evolve as well?
The point of my post is not to debate which version of the game is better or the methods in which the game play adjustments were made. Most forum dwellers know my points of view and that I am an ST loyalist, and due to my own personal preference would prefer classic mode. But the point of this post is to take note that HDR had a lot of support this weekend, the HDR community is bigger right now than the ST community has been in the recent past, and people are still ultimately having fun (myself included).
With HDR being the second biggest event at EVO. Sirlin injected some new life into the scene.
For 99% of us, we can’t take much of game specific knowledge and skills sets we learn from Street Fighter games down the road of life. When I am 50 the changes made to HDR are not going to matter. The only thing that is going to matter is that I had fun in the last bits of my youth, enjoying my time with good people.
Its obvious that HDR has divided the community in several ways which is disappointing. However, if the introduction of HDR keeps the classic type of SF game alive at EVO for several more years, then it ultimately means that I get to spend more time playing a version of classic SF at a very cool event, with a peer group that I really enjoy. Which when I think about it, is pretty awesome. And for that, I do owe a bit of thanks to Sirlin.
~fatboy :china: