Well my name is Shannon, and as you can tell from how my name is spelled with the o I am of the male persuasion. I started gaming at the tender age of 3 when my parents got me an NES and from that point I was a goner. I have been into gaming ever since and have loved every second of it.
I found D-Toid about 2 years ago and have been lurking and finally decided to join up and bore all the community with my opinions.
My favorite genres of video games are old school JRPGs, 2-D fighters, platformers, adventure,SHMUPS and turn based strategy. My favorite games are Breath of Fire 2 and 3, Megaman X, Street Fighter 3rd Strike, GGXX Accent core plus, LoZ MM, Touhou EoSD, Banjo Tooie, KoF 2002 UM, FF4, FF9, and just about any Super Robot Wars title.
I am currently playing Bowsers inside story, SF 3 third Strike, Vanguard Bandits(I never get tired of playing this game) BlazBlue, Lost Odyssey, CoD MW2, and Tekken 6.
I am also a very big anime fan and watch many different kinds, the only thing I tend to shy away from is the Moetastic stuff like K-on.
3DS friend code:
Steam: teepothegreat
Battle:
PSN: teepothegreat62
Mii:
Gamertag: Teepothegreat
TeepotheGreat's blog
Follow
RSS
Contact
But, for some, it never stopped! Fighter tournaments persisted even after arcades started to die out in America, with enthusisasts making their own controllers and slagging them off to big tournaments. Come now to 2009, and those tournament players are flourishing with new games like SF4, BlazBlue and KOF12.
I think its a shaky bridge, but once game companies realize all the right things they should be doing in the online space (HD Remix did well, SFIV botched it, BlazBlue pretty much nailed it...), I think we have the potential to really see a thriving 2D fighter space!
The only other thing I'd want/need to see, is more variety! A glut of games saturates the play base, sure. But I'd really like to see more new titles like BlazBlue come into the genre and help push forward and create new fighter types and playstyles.
If you ask me it's as simple as that.
SF4 was a step in the right direction, and I do hope it keeps happening, I just can not help but worry that it is just a bit of a boom that will go down, KoF 12 was a bit of a let down, it almost seem to take a step backwords with the mechanics and some glitchy infinintes were in there like Athena's corner inf.
BlazBlue did have a good online code and was very good for a first game in a series even if Nu is a bit too good.
My main concern though is like yours the genre is getting stale, and can almost be split in two, the slower more defensive paced SF, KoF style, and the faster more aggresive GG, BB, Melty Blood, etc style. I would love to see some more variety.
That could be part of the problem, I know that is a wall I come across when I try to get people I know into the genre, but there are plenty of people that suck at shooters that keep playing and do not stop so I do not see why that attitude does not carry over into the fighting genre.
Of course, I prefer 2D graphics too, but that's preference. I find it allows more room for creative freedom on the developer's front.
I think shooters are a bit different, considering the team based aspect of it. In a shooter, if you suck, you can compare yourself to a few other people at the end of any given match. There's the potential solice of "well, at least I'm better than that guy" or "well, at least the team won".
A fighter loss is a bit more personal, and much harder to hide: The magnitude of your sucking is amplified and unfiltered. And some people (Rage Quitters and Pre-Match Droppers), just can't handle that, unfortunately.
Even the youngest of children obsessed with violence play shooters thanks to their ease of control and our country's general obsession with guns. There's more than one reason why shooters are the dominant genre.
I suppose that is true, I myself love a challenge though, whenever I play a game off BB with someone who kicks my ass I want to keep going until I learn enough to beat them, and I do not get why others prefer something that takes no time or effort to do well in but to each his own I guess.
People (meaning; haters) tend to think that Smash Bros is only popular because it's got a bunch of Nintendo characters in it, but that's far from the case. The series can be played casually, tourament style, and everything else in between. It's got a incredibly varied set of characters, tons of depth, but is easy enough for anyone to just pick up.
That's how it used to be with the SF games as well, but after the series stopped evolving, casual, and even intermediate players, got pushed out. Only now, after SF has taken a ten year rest, is there enough fresh blood playing the game to make it interesting again.
Yup, that's exactly the reason I stopped playing fighters, since I'm mediocre at best and get abso-bloody-lutely hammered online. Nowadays I just have them for the unique art styles. Brawl being the exception of course, local multiplayer is just too good.
It is most certainly a fun series, but it is not a series genuinely designed to be played competitively. To play it competitively actually strips away most of the mechanics that even make the series fun, though that much can be a matter of opinion. I personally prefer to go for a sort of middle ground, and it's great that you can customize the games to suit your personal needs, but the reason Smash Brothers is so popular is not because it's an evolution in fighters. It's certainly not made with that intent; as every item, stage, and new mechanic like the Smash Ball simply make the game more random. That is the anti-competition. Nintendo's appealing to the party crowd, they don't add anything to the series meant to stabilize it and make it more competitive.
The people who play Smash Brothers obsessively play 4 player rounds, in the interactive stages with items on, and Smash Balls on. It is the game everyone plays because it's accessible and they don't want to learn new games. How many groups of gamers have you been in where the only game people want to play is Smash Brothers, because it's all they know and any normal fighting games piss them off because they will lose? I've met enough people like this that even though I like Smash Brothers, I am turned off by the total lack of variety the players I've met bring upon themselves.
Smash is not popular as a fighting game. It's popular as a party game, while a select and infinitely small percentage of the customer base play it competitively. Any game can be played competitively mind you. Though it might be a legitimate attempt and the game can be made competitive, it's not the reason the series is popular and it does not represent an evolution in fighters to me. It doesn't actually encourage the spirit of skill and competition; it's just a party game to most people.
It's not an evolution of fighters because it isn't marketed toward a crowd that values what defines the fighting game genre. Competition and skill aren't even remotely near advertised. What's advertised is Pikachu, Mario, and a win button called the Smash Ball. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Objectively it is a fighting game, and it's a fun one. Subjectively to me it denies the spirit of fighters, and is thus not really part of the genre. As I consider fighting games and Smash Brothers in entirely different realms, it's not possible for me to regard it as an evolution.
and even if the genre are pushed back from the 15minutes of fame, it still will have the hardcore crowd / fanatics, because i think it's the genre's nature, it doesn't have what you may call compelling / epic story telling compared to RPGs out there, nor it doesn't have the easy to 'pickup and play' gameplay structure, and many other things that would make the 'masses' keep interested in the genre.
2D fighters are still alive, but outside the main crowd? not so much. People don't like to lose. People don't like to lose online. People love to ragequit if they lose. Plus online isn't lag free so a lot of people don't bother. There's a lot in general holding not only 2d fighters back, but fighters in general.
but sticking to 2d, I'd only say yes because the casual crowd like pretty GRAPHICKS and since most 2d fighters are still sprite based, most will look at it and ask "...well is it at least online?"
And I'm surprised nobody mentioned this, but fighting games started with Yie Ar Kung-Fu and Karate Champ, not Street Fighter. *nitpick nitpick*
But I have to agree with the article's overall message; I'm very happy that 2D fighters are on the rise again, because fighters are one of my favorite genres and I can't play 3D fighters for crap. Blazblue 4 eva.
Kids won't care about fighting games until you can shoot someone in the face, it seems. This principle illustrates why Mortal Kombat just won't die.
Dude, I play every fighting game that I hear about. I find a way to touch the arcade controls, I find a way to import it, I find a way to play it - without fail.
And do you know what? I still can't stand Smash Bros. At all.
Sure, it's different, and it's fun, but it's like a giant bowl of bleached sugar - I can't take but a couple of bites before I feel like I'm going to be sick. It's all an "eye of the beholder" kind of argument, but I still consider Street Fighter to be the king of the land, man.
"My main concern though is like yours the genre is getting stale, and can almost be split in two, the slower more defensive paced SF, KoF style, and the faster more aggresive GG, BB, Melty Blood, etc style. I would love to see some more variety."
Actually, KOF is and - for the most part - has always been a pretty aggressive game. Emphasis has always been on rushes and using the variety of jumps for mix-up games.
Anyway, I would say 2D Fighters are pretty much finished. Everyone was expecting a 2D Fighter boom, and look at what we have to look forward to - Super Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift. That's it. Oh joy.
SF4 was great, and I do want Super Street also (technically a sequel in its lowest form)...so holla back.