I think it’s a complex set of factors but at least from my experience it’s the learning curve of fighters that put people off. Every time I play a fighter with friends, I have to explain some of the systems (grooves/isms, alpha counters, parries, how the super meter works, etc.), and then there’s having to learn the individual characters moves in addition to all of the system stuff I mention before. It’s too much to take in if you’re new or unfamiliar with the genre. Meanwhile in an FPS everybody can use the same set of weapons and there’s no complicated universal systems to speak of, so anybody can jump in and start blasting away.
I don’t feel fighting games get enough exposure and advertisement on the mainstream. Plus they are not endorsed enough by all the professional gaming leagues and sites out there. Finally, unlike FPS and RTS, GOOD fighting competition isn’t as readily accessible as other genres.
To the rep comment: haha no, FIFA is garbage, sorry. It’s the DOA of football / soccer games while Winning Eleven / PES is ST. But everyone is entitled to enjoy shit games so no worries man.
The point is that the learning curve is much steeper for a fighting game than any FPS shooter out there. Say you start with a clean slate, you would be raping fools much quicker in a game like Halo than ST/Marvel/GG.
Because in shooters you can run away and you have free movement. People don’t like manning up 1 on 1, they just want to stay 10, 20, 1000 yards away from people and be able to kill them. It’s “too hard” to beat someone down and if you are losing, there’s nowhere to run or hide. The head games are too hard, strategy is too hard, if you can’t pull a trigger a few times and have it be done, its too hard. If you can’t hide, its too hard. If you have to do any of that its too hard.
wholeheartedly agree. the only time i can recall playing a game like House of the Dead instead of a FG in the arcade is when i was bored. OTOH, around the same time. i played multiplayer Duke Nukem 3D for hours at home.
i don’t think the alledged difficulty of FG inhibited their popularity. FG were still popular for casual players in the time frame mentioned above. the “difficulty of the game” didn’t seem to stop them from dropping quarters. frankly, it was simply a missed opportunity at a critical time. i think the lack of early online play gave other genres like FPS an incredible jump and assured that many future potential FG players would be lost when arcades became less popular. in short, they missed the boat.
perhaps the goof-off factor plays a part in the casual fps scene
its hella fun to jus drive around in the truck tryin to run ppl over even if u dun get many kills
its jus fun
or having knife fights or grenade fights or sniper fights in cs
they have modes that r jus for fun, not for competitive play–which is good for the casual crowd
zombie matches r one of the greatest things evar in casual multiplayer
fighting games, its all srs bsns
u either play to win, or u dun play at all
only few games have game modes that appeal to a casual crowd
sometimes ppl jus wanna play to have fun
not to always have to work all the time
it is a “game” afterall, rite?
Now we’re talking differences in conventions. In a shooter, it’s just plain SMART to avoid gun-fire, flank, and take as much advantage of your enemies as possible.
I explained the difference between fighter competitiveness and FPS matches to my nephew like this: In a fighting game you want at all times to face an equal or stronger opponent. You want a fair and balanced playing field and viable options in any given situations to see who is the better combatant. In a shooting game the goals are same, crush your opponent, but the journey is reverse. In a shooter you want to take advantage of your opponents disadvantages. You must exploit blind spots, group fire a single enemy, toss grenades prior to an ambush, use elevated positions, control the power weapons, and whatever else so much as you’re not flat out glitching the game.
In other words you want to create a challenging environment in a fighter, but an ‘easy to win’ scenario in a shooter. That’s why squash matches are a bore to watch in a fighter as oppose to a tit for tat contests, while blowing out the other team in a shooter is celebrated.
Both genres have high level play, so trying to apply negative connotations to one is folly as far as what I’ve been seeing in this thread goes. Particularly the “Shooters=Newbs” thing going on. Fighting games fell off the mainstream because they were getting too hardcore (among other factors).
I’m of the opinion that now is the perfect opportunity for fighters to make a comeback. Fighters, in concept, should be more “casual” than shooters anyway… its just a matter of getting people aware. SFIV has taken a pretty big step forward in that direction and I think things like “tag-team” matches, easy tournament setup and customizable (earned, not bought) characters can get more people involved. Of course, gameplay has to evolve and, admittedly, moves have to become more accessible (don’t touch the existing franchises though). Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but I think it can be done.
Fighting games stopped being mainstread in non-asian countries right after everyone stopped making them for PC. Simple. Asians are the ones who opt for a console instead of PC
I can see a patch for SF4 applying HDR’s commands to legacy moves in the future. I think that would help SF4 in the casual department (not by much, Dragonpunch motions are still the bane of casual players).
And yeah, I agree that fighters just aren’t marketed well in the mainstream.
For a casual gamer, people whose idea of hardcore is a blistering game of solitaire and Pacman, a DP motion will not register. And when they pull it off, good luck to them doing it on sight in a match.
I was NOT referring to your skill or mine. Try to follow me, here, 'cause that was an attitude that marked the difference between how these two genres are perceived.
I think fighting games should introduce settings that dictate how complicated a fighter can be. Something that offers choices on whether throws are allowed or not, super moves, special moves, parries and such. If a player wanted he could strip SF4 to a real SF2WW kind of play. I know it sounds crazy, but kudos to the first fighter that offers this (kudos and major sales and recognition).
FPS games have offered plenty ways to manipulate the gameplay for years, I think that factors into their popularity.
Learning curve- FPS never had this problem, neither did RPGs, they’re easy to pick up and easy to get into. You really don’t have to master those types of games IMO, but fighters take weeks, months, maybe years to get the full quality out of the game, or even one character for that matter.
Online- Nowadays online play seems to make or break a game. FPS got a head start in the 90s and they turned out well. Fighters on the other hand require more thought and work to create a great online experience. SFHD was a good start, not great.
Fun- This is the most important point. Take this from a guy that was born in 92. :wgrin: Fighting games just dont seem to be fun to the majority nowadays. Either its too hard or too stupid, whatever reason really. People don’t want to spend their time on a FG that takes massive amounts of hours to get good at rather than have fun with a FPS whis only takes a couple of hours against real people.