Doesn’t help the growth or longevity of the competitive scene very much…which is what matters to us and our players. And, that’s the point. All the talk of how SF5 “should have done what NRS did”, and look at the results of “what NRS did”. No long term growth.
If it weren’t for Smash and “ol’ barebones” SF5, the FGC wouldn’t be growing like it is. Tekken 7, Revelator, KOF14, and any other future games have this massive stage to debut on because SF5 decided to focus on what IT focused on…NOT because MKX focused on what IT focused on.
Give credit where credit is due.
MKX’s sales success helped NRS, and in the long run that’s about it. SF5’s success in the FGC is actually helping the entire competitive scene grow…IN THE LONG RUN.
Different values for block/hits stop (something that was already present in previous NRS games)
A net code that made SF4’s look like GGPO. Only got fixed with XL
I really honestly sincerely wanted to play MKX and start a scene where I was at. The above 3 factors made this virtually impossible.
I don’t understand why people like to use NRS to beat Capcom over the head with. I can’t imagine the shit storm that would happen if Capcom did any of the above, not to mention all 3 in one game.
I think your point is fair (for once) but I think a better way of looking at it is that they - Capcom- could have done both. Street Fighter carries a lot of automatic buys ( as does Mortal Kombat), it’s getting those extra 1-2 mil sales that protects the longevity and support of the game and future games.
Why a company wouldn’t design a game to receive maximum profit is still pretty puzzling.
Capcom intrigued by the glitz and glamour of eSports and just went hard towards that first. Don’t see why SFV won’t be supported for 6 years at this point even if they don’t make a bajillion dollars. MKX made a bajilion dollars but had underwater can’t do basic bnb netcode for a year. I was out month 1 due to that.
Plus nobody here that says good stuff about MKX actually plays MKX. People want that better gameplay with SFV LOL
This bothers me. Your giving SFV too much credit for the scene those brands built on their own. Tekken7 is doing what Tekken does, the renewed interest is mainly from a focus on the 1v1 aspect. Revelator, or just GG in general, has always had a cult following and Revelator packs so much into it’s presentation. As for KoF same thing as Revelator, alot packed into the presentation with small nods that alot of long times would notice.
What SFV expands on the competitive aspect isn’t anything new. Just that there’s more focus on it in regards to prize pots and officiating. I want to say Bamco might be better at it though, however sometimes they have their heads stuck up their ass with the Japanese market. I don’t know enough about the other games’ competitive (globally) scenes to comment on them nor should I if I don’t know.
T7, Revelator, KoF14, and MKX worked their asses off to be the best they can be at LAUNCH - Those games are packed. All those games are doing their best to attract and keep their playerbases. SF5’s most successful achievement is how much it turned off people from Street Fighter and probably fighting games. 20k hardcore fans will keep the competitive scene alive, but it won’t keep the franchise alive in the mainstream, and it won’t make difference to anyone who doesn’t care about twitch.
There is also this foolish idea that Capcom could not have catered to the competitive scene AND made the best damn SF game on release. This is a lie. Capcom chose their course of action out of greed, and in true Capcom tradition it was an attempt to exploit its fans further.
Finally give credit to the FGC. The FGC is the #1 reason why we are having record numbers at EVO this year. It’s the #1 reason why more people care about competitive fighting games than ever before. That took years, decades even, of hard work and dedication from thousands of people. Capcom will not get and do not deserve credit for this because they decided to release SF5 early or because of some prize pot. WE care more about Street Fighter than they do and this is why this game is still alive.
5000 EVO entrants is like the only fucking thing I hear.
It’s not even that much, a lot of eSport events get much higher viewership/attendees, Starcraft has filled out entire arenas. Now imagine if a MOBA had a public signing register so everyone could play instead of having invitationals, the numbers would be insane.
FGC still in the kiddy pool tbh, it’s always going to be niche because of how hard fighting games are to get into and how much adaptation they require from the players. The defining feature of FG tournaments is that anyone can sign up and play, other eSport events are too big and time consuming to do this.
Yeah wouldn’t say fighting games are that niche but unfortunately competitive playing within the genre is super niche. Just happens to any genre which takes a lot of effort I guess. Many arcade genres seemed to have suffered from this.
I think we’re pretty far into the niche genres, or some form of “subsidiary mainstream” where it’s a popular genre but isn’t ever truly in the spotlight.
Fighting games are unique in that they require you to have a willingness to self-improve, how many games require you to use a training feature for more than an hour? No other genre requires players to train and discipline themselves as much as FGs do, I think it’s this fact entirely that drives the majority of players away from fighters. There are scenarios where someone will go online and get destroyed by a better player, and how will most react? They’ll get pissed or salty at the loss. How many of those people would go into training mode to try and improve? I highly doubt many would. Gaming is a leisure activity, I don’t think many people expect to have to work towards something whilst gaming, a lot of folks wanna have fun - just fun without having to work at it.
Only players with the competitive mindset will push towards being the better player, and not many gamers have that mindset IMO. Without my natural ability at fighters racked up from the 10 or so years I’ve been playing them I wouldn’t have bothered with SFV. I don’t train, and I play it in my off time, luckily that natural ability carries me against most of the competition online. A lot of people here are probably the same, running on ability they got through games like CvS, ST, 3rd Strike or Marvel.
TL;dr - we’re niche because the games require practice.
