You’re asking for a game that only the (extremely few) hardcore would play. There are tons of people on this very forum who started with SFIV and wouldn’t even play it. Mass audiences will wonder where all the flashy meters and animations went.
Sadly it’ll never happen. There are too few who would want such a thing.
null speak for yourself mowr
I don’t want to sound like a dick, but I feel like I’ve seen this before. We’re spoiled again. This might be a bit long, but I feel it captures how easily spoiled we can be. At least, in my area’s arcades back in the day.
I’ll spoiler this so it doesn’t flood out the page with my inane bullshit. I’ve been drinking coffee so I tend to type a lot. Here 'tis:
Back in the 90s when SF2 dropped it was nuts. Nothing like it was around at the time and it was a phenomenon. Later, Championship Edition arrived, it was really cool to play the bosses (and Ken’s new DP was insane), but the impact was certainly softened. Then Hyper came out (perhaps what I consider the purest version of SF) and while cool with some new moves and a speed bump, it wasn’t the second coming like SF2 was.
Both these follow-up versions would see huge gaming magazine spreads with fuzzy photos of what to expect. I remember seeing Ryu’s new colour. I remember seeing Ken being impossibly high in the air whilst performing a tatsu. Chun Li’s fireball. Two shots detailing each hit of Guile’s double hitting flashkick. A P1 Vega fighting E.Honda. What looked like a gigantic character select screen. It was crazy how much these blurry images amped up the anticipation. When the games became available you were shoulder to shoulder, literally, in the arcades. Tournaments began to happen. You’d see new guys come out of nowhere that were insanely good. Competition was fierce. Huge lines of coins were stacked on arcade cabinet screens. Lots of new friends were made and every arcade had that arsehole who insisted on throwing with reckless abandon those who didn’t properly understand the mechanic. Classes were skipped. Arcade hours extended dramatically. Walking into said arcades you would hear a cacophony of Dhalsim’s stage elephants crying punctuated with ‘hadoken’, ‘shoryuken’ and ‘sonic boom’ from every corner of the place. Scatterings of the KO sound from those who had lost. Every milliamp delivered to an arcade was powering an SF2 machine. If they weren’t, they were pissing away money.
For a while we then saw a few hacked versions (Rainbow, et al) emerge which were amusing but obviously only for laughs. Then Super came out (incidentally during a period when the market was being flooded with a huge array of SF2 clones and so forth, so it was sorta ushered in at a time when not only was it trying to outshine it’s previous incarnations, but also many new kids on the block). Visually and sonically it was really cool. It was vibrant and there were lots of new graphical flourishes. I especially loved the new ‘large’ sprites for when Gief was set on fire. I loved the slowly fading embers that hung in the air after Ken’s multihitting HP DP. Ryu having new fireballs was awesome. The new attack impact sounds using Capcom’s Q-Sound tech sounded quite tasty. The four new characters were interesting to tinker with despite being mauled by the original cast. But the game was too slow. It was unexciting. It was disappointing once you looked past the new gloss.
Then ST dropped and it was actually pretty awesome but wasn’t without its detractors. A little of the aforementioned ‘purity’ of SF2 was perhaps lost. Unlike Super, ST ushered in completely new moves, mechanics, colours, sounds, selectable speed, tonnes of new stuff. ST also had a mysterious quality about in with Akuma’s presence in the attract mode and for a while rumours floated around about it being Sheng Long and how he was a secret character. Reminded me of the early days again. The mystery his presence fostered was really cool. Later we’d figure out how to choose him which was kinda fun.
The main draw with ST though at the time was the wealth of new stuff to learn and understand. It truly was fresh. I remember throw techs messing with people’s heads. Overheads were a huge game changer for me. Supers and what at the time seemed like impossibly difficult inputs to deliver them. DPs no longer being these utterly invincible specials. What people considered to be “shit” characters now actually being pretty damn good. Combos both new and flashy that long term players displayed utter looks of confusion when being torn up by them. I vividly recall figuring out Ken’s wide variety of command kicks and using them in combos and blowing people’s minds. Plugging Ryu’s Super onto the end of a f.hp > c.hp as a punish for a colossal comeback was insane. Dudes commanding Gief’s new greenhand and Super saw our arcade erupt into cheers.
During this period we also saw the Versus games emerge. This became a fork in the road for many players who enjoyed the insanity of Xmen VS SF and its massive combos. KOF was big in our area. I really enjoyed KOF '94 and '97, particularly the technical aspect of '97 and the truly wide array of characters. Using teams forced you to experiment with many characters and in many cases forced players use character types they’d otherwise never bother with. I loved World Heroes 2 and its big, glossy, chunky art style. Some dudes really got into Mortal Kombat, particularly 2. The Alpha series was dropped on us with a whole new art style, air blocking, multiple supers, with new characters including secret ones. Alpha counters were pretty fun and it with all these new games, the SF2 series began to seem somewhat quaint.
Fighting game choices were huge and varied. Arcades were truly packed though at the same time home consoles with the release of the PS1 saw a few guys stay at home. Some to play other games, some to simply enjoy games such as SF Alpha and so on without chewing through cash in the arcades.
After a while promotional posters for the highly anticipated Street Fighter 3 appeared in arcades. It was coming, it was going to be awesome. Alex was literally a poster boy for it and the idea of new characters in a true sequel to SF2 was something highly anticipated. When it arrived it was somewhat lacklustre. Nobody disagreed that it looked amazing however. Though the new characters were a little off-putting and the dramatic change in feel and pace (particularly from the still popular ST) was a little odd to many of the long-stay players of the franchise. It wasn’t uncommon to see dull SF3 matches between Ryu and Ken being played almost out of obligation and there was a sense in the air that perhaps the new addition to the Street Fighter series while looking really nice (seriously, that animation at the time and still today is a work of art) was perhaps a sign of the franchise losing its edge. Playerbase splits began take hold by way of those interested in the 3D offerings. I particularly remember being saddened by some of my old SF2 rivals migrating to Tekken. Oddly, I vividly recall however finding myself teaching new people that wanted to learn the SF2 series also. Almost like a little resurgence.
We’d been drip-fed a long and steady stream of SF and indeed all sorts of fighting games for years now. Maybe the array of choice began to foster boredom. Perhaps it was simply too much. It wasn’t uncommon during this period to walk into an arcade and see a ‘new’ fighting game, hammer away at it for a few days and move on, often back to ST for many of us. SF certainly wasn’t dull, but anything new didn’t carry with it the amazement and allure of even at the time what we considered the old days. If you cast your eyes around your arcade you’d notice the cabinets of old didn’t have the huge crowds around them anymore. The stacked coins on screens were a smaller pile now. You’d see little kids playing side by side on their own on a cabinet that a couple years back was almost an impossibility in the bigger arcades. It seemed like the drug was beginning to wear off and in a sense it was. The skill level of the long-stays was insane though. Goddamn there were some brilliant players. The games were understood so well.
And that sorta brings us to where we are today. SFIV’s deferred release back in '08 was in many ways comparable to the release of Champion’s Edition. Familiar, but new. Our systems had time to recover from that massive binge of years ago and the effects of this wicked drug could be enjoyed again, and it was. Certainly not for many (I being among them when I first tried IV) though it did have a “grow on me” effect also. But just like the 90s, we’ve seen another resurgence, another flood of choice. Players splits due to new releases, just like the days of old. Preferred games over others, defecting players. Online play has really assisted to so we can perhaps play a lot more. IV has had quite a few updates stamped onto it just like SF2 did back in its time. Some incremental, some kinda large. While perhaps nowhere near to the extent ST shook things up, but we’ve seen some mechanic changes, new moves and new characters tossed in.
Though just like the days of old, apathy or maybe boredom has reared its head once again and we see ourselves walking down familiar territory. SF5 has just been announced and while received quite positively, still has this air of “Oh right, another one. Cool.” about it. Its difficult to recapture that anticipation and hype for a new release when you’re just coming down from the previous dose that’s been in your system a while. One might argue that for SF5 to truly recapture jacked up anticipation would be to intentionally defer its release for a good while (and in a sense, it’s not like its being released next week) though business doesn’t work like that, or at least, it certainly doesn’t work like that for Capcom right now.
So, we’ll see. I think its safe to say that even the most ardent IV player is a little bored of the game. Ultra delivered a pretty limp-wristed punch to be honest and many are hoping that SF5 gives us the shot of adrenaline we all want again, but I feel delivering that shot so soon lessens the effect. Frankly, I am surprised Capcom are delivering us gameplay so soon. I truly feel doing so might diffuse anticipation somewhat, though its certainly awesome to see what these guys are working on. But who knows, perhaps what is showcased at Capcom Cup this weekend is something truly revolutionary and shows us something we are itching to get into. I just hope that itching isn’t predicated on players simply wanting something ‘new’ but actually stands on its own as a truly great addition to the series that can recapture the leap that can make new SF releases truly special all over again.
Make it happen, Capcom.
This post reminds me of that really old thread where some guy explains his life from playing SF1 in the arcades as a kid, all the way to being an adult around the time Alpha was released.
IMHO Ultra is the problem. This may sound stupid, but the last real update to SF4 was way back in mid 2011 with AE (2012 was just a balance patch). We received a poorly made update 3 YEARS after the previous one, which is kinda ridiculous the more you think about it. If the update we received was actually good, then I would be less hostile towards it; however, what we got was an extremely buggy mess that ended up making the game even more boring than it already was.
If Ultra never would’ve existed, then this announcement would have been made 3 1/2 years after the last real SF4 update. That is ample time for everybody to get excited for a new SF again. Announcing a new game when it’s predecessor has received a fairly large update just 6 months before is just asking for a lukewarm response. I actually am very much anticipating SF5 because I don’t even play SF4 anymore, so by the time it is released I will have had over a year to recover. Thing is, I’m not going to lie and act like I’m going bananas over SF5 like I was when SF4 was revealed. It’s just not possible when the time frame between previous release and new reveal is so soon.
The good thing is that I do think SF5 will do better than most here are expecting. By the time is is released, it will be the first new SF game in 7+ years, which is pretty big considering most of the people who will buy it will probably not have bought anything more than Vanilla. This means that the majority of the people who buy SF5 will be either new to the series, or had enough time to make a new SF worth buying again.
I do think releasing USF4 on PS4 is a huge mistake though, because when SF5 is released it will no longer have the same “Street Fighter on a new system!” charm that I think it needs.
Hopefully this game lives up to my expectations, but sadly I can’t help but feel like I’m going to end up disappointed somehow.
I sincerely doubt this. If check comments on videos and other casual hangouts you’ll see most of them don’t want to touch it knowing there will be a Super Ultra AE 2016 Turbo edition of the game. They will be expecting that and will be likely skipping the vanilla version.
This is said with literally every new SF game, but they always end up selling. People said the same with Vanilla, then Super, then AE etc. Vanilla had over 3 million sales, Super had over 2 million, and AE had over 600k. While you do see a drastic decline, it still shows that people will inevitably buy the first version anyway, and then a majority of them will also continue to buy the updates.
Don’t you know? People are all talk. Like they gonna be able to resist playing sexy ass Chun Li in SF5 for 1 whole year?
Street Fighter IV has sold 3.3M units.
Super Street Fighter IV has sold 1.9M units. about 57% of vanilla.
SSF4: Arcade Edition has sold 1.1M (full game only). **Total of full game only is a remarkably exact 57%, same as before, but this doesn’t count DLC updates, so percentage should be higher, in the 65% area. (est. 1.2M)
**
Ultra Street Fighter IV has sold 500K copies (full game only) by September 30, 2014. It will take an additional 280K sales to reach 65%. The release of USF4 on PS4 is likely to lead to a fair number of double dips and new customers and easily reach this goal.
So you’re right that the majority continues the buy the updates (although it’s not a huge majority, we do lose 35% or more of players for each update).
Of course, the price of both physical and DLC updates is significantly lower than that of the initial game. This is only partially offset by the lower development costs for add-ons so I’d wager Capcom’s profits are greater for the first title.
ps: Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition sold an additional 1.2 million copies but let’s disregard it since it’s mobile. Vita version is a rounding error.
I never understood people who say they want to wait until a “fully updated” SF is available cheap. SF isn’t a whogivesafuck RPG that you can play 10 years after everyones already played it and have the same experience.
In a competitive game like SF, the community is a large part of the experience, and not playing the game when the community is young and something you can learn the game with is and always will be a huge mistake.
Yeah, I think that’s a good point. Its not coming out next week, its 1 - 1.5 years away. As such there’s a potential buffer there for anticipation to grow to the point where even the most jaded IV stalwarts will be keen to revisit the franchise when it drops.
I’m mixed on this. The unified playerbase has serious potential for growth (or by presenting the same numbers in a more focused way) at the expense of having the game available on all/any platforms. It’s difficult to speculate on. Right now for the most part if you’re a fan of the game, you’re either grinning over having chosen a PS4, or considering picking one up or committing to a serious PC to drive the game. This whole player unification thing is somewhat new for SF, though if handled properly, could actually be very cool and is one aspect of this new game I am quite excited about. The real question is will this hurt numbers, or coral them more efficiently.
Also, I’d be curious to know how many FGC (or potential FGC) members actually own Xboxes, which effectively makes this announcement a huge piss off. Either way, I think it is a fair assumption that a Next-Gen console or sufficiently ballsy PC was on the cards for anybody wanting to play SF5. One bonus for us PC dudes is that a new stick purchase isn’t required.
I’d imagine this weekend’s demo will deliver some cool stuff to beef up interest. Later that will die down as folks remind themselves that the game is a long way off yet. Then as the release date creeps up a year or so from now, we’ll see a drip feed of the usual trinkets such as stage, mechanics and character reveals that tends to keep people curious.
Say what you will about the game SFxT had some of the hypest adverts (I’m thinking about The Devil Within short that Capcom had Thousand Pounds produce too, though I can’t seem to find it on YouTube now).
A marketing campaign for SFV with similar production standards would be mad hype
I love sf x Tekken wish it didn’t die 
Well said Gamago (the spoiler post). I am pessimistic cause of SF4, but I am hoping that 5 is something really special/exciting that rekindles the deep love I’ve had for the street fighter series as a whole. I am hoping this is the best street fighter yet.
The weekend demo should be interesting.
If anyone expended all their hype on the billion SFIV revisions, that’s their own fault. To say that the changes in SFIV throughout the years were “minor” would be an understatement. They finally set to release a brand new game from the ground up and now you guys choose to not be hyped? Crazy.
My main commitment this generation is a PC, I’ve pretty much lost all interest in buying consoles because of the politics. I just want my experience to be simple and not flooded with so much choice that it becomes complicated, and for me the PC is the way to go. Not only will I be getting the most out of my games, but the power and accesibility of the PC will allow me to do so many other things that a console simply won’t be able to. The fact that most of the games I’m looking forward to are all on the same console I finally feel happy about committing to the PS4 for a good while. My money is put better places by concentrating on the PC than wasting my time thinking about the XBO as well, even Dead Rising 3 is on the PC and it’s the only game on the XBO I want. For me as a fighting game player and a games player in general Capcom made the absolute best decision they could have, they just made my life a hell of a lot easier.
I’m glad Capcom is bringing USF4 to PS4 because my PS3 died exactly 30 days before the PS4 launch and that was the end of my fighting game fix, even with USF4 being on the playstation now streaming service you can’t use your arcade fightstick if you have one and i stopped playing with a controller after i got my SF4 arcade fightstick.
USF4 will keep me busy until SF5 gets here, after seeing the gameplay trailer i can’t wait to play it and hear about the new upcoming features and characters leading up to the official release date when it’s finally announced.
Street Fighter II eclipsed its predecessor in popularity, eventually turning Street Fighter into a multimedia franchise. The release of the game had an unexpected impact on gaming and was the beginning of a massive phenomenon. By 1993, sales of Street Fighter II exceeded $1.5 billion in revenue (equivalent to over $2.6 billion in 2014). By 1995, Street Fighter II and Street Fighter II: Champion Edition arcade machines had exceeded $2.312 billion (9.25 billion quarters) in gross revenue (equivalent to over $4 billion in 2014). In addition, the video game console ports sold more than 14 million copies for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis consoles
dang. W-Woooooooooooooooooooooooooow!!!
see newcomers, why the OG claim SF4 sucks?
cuz it does.
Capcom, how the mighty have fallen lol.
it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why SF2 was so successful, and why SF3 & SF4 was not.
quite simply because Capcom got away from what made SF2 so successful. Which was…that the game made sense. Meaning, it didn’t have gimmicky bullshit like FAs, Ultras, super meter build from whiffs, parrys, supers, isms, grooves, ex moves, etc etc.
I’m not saying these additions so much make the game worse. like I’m not saying overheads and guard crushes or ultras or any mechanic post SF2 detract from the later games…I’m saying if you implement things, make sure they make rational sense.
like giving characters overheads that don’t even have an overhead look to their animations, or making the ultra meter take50% health when it should only do 25% max…or giving some characters way too many special moves that bypass fireballs or giving some characters great frame data while others have horrid frame data , or giving characters special moves that take grey life even though the special move does 0.0% damage to the opponent…
its random nonsensical madness that makes you throw your hands up in the air in disbelief to what just occurred on the screen that really makes you question what they, the developers, were thinking when they programmed it.
cuz I’m not against “evolution” if you wanna call these additions to the gameplay “evolution”
I’m just against the straying away of things, namely the gameplay, being well thought out.
SF4 and SF3…were NOT well thought out. I understand the geniuses that made SF2 left Capcom, with good reason since Capcom never takes care of their most brilliant gifted developers…but the sad thing is that the people who came in and replaced the SF2 creators…I really don’t think they understood what Street Fighter was really about.
Which was quite simply fair, balanced fighters that had movement, characteristics, properties, styles, special moves, and normals that made sense for them, their opponent, and the overall game in general.
when I played SF2, many many moons ago…I don’t think I ever threw my hands up into the air and said “that made no sense.” to whatever just happened on the screen.
That always happens when people play SF4. Always. cuz the game is inundated with just boatloads of random nonsensical madness.
in SF4, you’ll lose matches you were supposed to win against players less skilled than you and in turn you’ll win matches you were never supposed to win against players much better than you.
That never happened in SF2
ever.
that’s why, then, now, and forever…SF2>SF3, SF4, and yeah fuckers,…and SF5 too.
and yeah, SFV is gonna suck. Is it being made by the same people that made SF3 & SF4???
yeah?
then yeah. its gonna suck ass.
until Capcom wakes up…fires everyone on the SF3,4,5 staff…and goes back to the roots, the basics of what made SF2 so very very popular…Capcom is gonna continue bleeding money.
good riddance.
I hope they go bankrupt and someone buys them out, dissolves the company, and does what needs to be done with all their IPs. Which is make good fuckin games. long past due.
p.s.
I also think the alpha series wasn’t well thought either. in certain respects.
Forum rules thread is up.
This means we can now be a bit stricter when it comes to stuff.
Also means we can start to try to clean up the sub-forum and weed out redundant stuff.
Guys remember this is how SF4 first looked early in development.
@Tarek pretty much the same as final release? Ryu looks almost identical to final release, the stage didn’t change much either. Ken’s colors and lightmaps are a little different in final build I think otherwise the same as far as I can see.
The only major difference is the hitsparks and IIRC those were the actual hitsparks used in SF4 arcade release but got changed in Super.