For many, many years, SNK was always over-shadowed by Capcom and the Street Fighter Franchise. Only within the past few years has SNK really started to get more exposure on our side of the ocean. Granted, there were a few titles released many years ago (Dream Match 1999 for DC and King of Fighters 99 for PSX) but before that, there was nothing. There may have been a King of Fighters, Samurai Showdonw, or Art of Fighting Cabinet at your arcade, but chances are, there were few of them.
SNK is arguably one of Japan’s most popular developers, so why can’t the same be said for North America?
I think we can all agree that Capcom has had some phenomonal sales and they have always sold better than SNK, no matter what genre it is
What is it about North American that desires Capcom over SNK? Both of which are arguably equally fantastic developers and is likely the most common rivalry on the SRK boards.
Street Fighter II’s thunderous introduction in 1991 at arcades had a tremendous impact that resonnated for many years to come
ithen in 1992, SNES owners got to bring it home, and almost all SNES owners owned SF2. So kids who didn’t go to arcades but loved SF2 at home got their taste of it.
Call it 1st impressions or whatever, when you taste SF2 first, before any other following SNK Art Of Fighting, Fatal Fury or KOF… SF2 felt authentic and North Americans love authenticity
Until recently, SNK hasn’t made much of an effort to make an impact in North America and the few games they did release where subpar compared to the stuff in thier library.
Actually I take that back, they are still doing that to this day.
Look at SamSho V, they delayed it so long where two upgrades where released and no one gave a damn by the time it was out and sales show it. The game wasn’t that great to begin with, if they where to pick a game to release they should have went with Garou with xbox live support. I bet a lot more people would picked that up.
well snk america can’t even release rebout in america so capcom still takes the cake in america with anniversary edition and the sfa anthology coming up. overall ,however, snk with kof xi, ss tenka, and ngbc is kicking capcom’s ass with new games.
Because the SNK community in North America is made up of a majority of collectors who fancy expensive carts and otakus who like to dress up and re-enact stuff from the games. Sadly, NEITHER actually play the games, let alone them knowing HOW TO play them in the first place.
This affects the actual support for the company in NA, but it should be noted that SNKNEOGEOUSA don’t make very good business decisions in the first place.
//Shameless plug, hit up Guardcrush.net for all your SNKP and HNK needs.
There’s some major distortion of reality here. I can’t imagine SNK as a major giant anywhere, if they were, why’d they go bankrupt? SNK couldn’t be the Capcom of North America, Capcom is not limited to fighting games and never was.
Kyoji hit the nail on the head with his breakdown as to why there was never a U.S. scene, but I think you probably get that in Japan too. I’m not saying they don’t have serious comp going on, just that you had the same rabid loser fans who like to latch onto dead crap and pay out their asses for shitty hardware and overpriced carts (wouldn’t probably be so bad if they could or knew how to play games).
Anyway, I think it’s a quality issue. SF and Capcom titles are just on the large better in my eyes. SFII set a standard, and begged for imitation. Capcom remained the company who continually set standards while others tried desperately to live up to them.
cuz capcom changes with the times… until recently, how long has SNK used the same hardware as the basis of it’s fighters (if not entire game collection)?
Capcom = Good at making games, good at business, good at marketing
SNK = Good at making games, horrible at business, horrible at marketing (at least outside of Japan)
As much as I love SNK’s games they really need to do something and do it quickly because if they don?t we will see them go away again and I fear the second time might be for good.
If you are talking purely fighting games then SNK has a chance to come back and they may have already passed Capcom in terms of good new games. They already moved on to better hardware and While Rebout was a bit disappointing Neowave wasn?t and KOF XI is one of the best games I have played in years and is (arguably) as good as MOTW and 3rd Strike. They are also doing the one thing Capcom refused to do. Go 3D to lure in a more casual crowd and sell games. This is a good marketing move and will maybe bring them back up. However Max Impact 2 will have a lot to live up to if they want it to be successful in terms of graphics and game play. If SNK is smart they will have On-line play in all territories and promote the shit out of it and do better commercials for it than they did with Max Impact 1
WTF was that stupid shit? So far MI2 looks like it has potential to win if SNK can get it out before PS3 hits and promotes it right.
SNK?s main problem is the reason we all love them. They have ONLY been doing fighters. Outside of Metal Slug that has a very small following you don?t hear of any other games form SNK. Capcom has built a massive library of titles such as Mega Man, Resident Evil, Onimusha, Devil May Cry, and many others. They also try some new things that work (PN03) and some that fail (Crimson Tears). However SNK has well KOF and MS and that?s it anymore
This is pretty sad because Before the Neo-Geo SNK at least had Ikari Warriors for an action series and they made Crystalis which many people will argue is the best ?Zelda type? game made on the NES. Even when the Neo-Geo came out I remember people pumping a ton of quarters in the Magician Lord and Nam 1975. I think if SNK wants to stick around they need to expand and revisit their past. IF they made a new Ikari game that was a balls out shooter along the lines Far Cry for example. A New Magician Lord done in the vein of DMC or GOW. A new Crystalis that played out like a lot like OOT they could really have something going for themselves again. However I just don?t see this happening and because that Capcom will always top them and SNK will always be that ?niche? developer.
DAMM Straight! every other game capcom has made has had a different look/feel/groove. snk has recycled the same trash for, like 7 years. dont get me wrong they have great characters but they’re just dying for a better engine.