In comparing his series to Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono has claimed that the two fighting games represent fundamental differences between Eastern and Western game design, with Mortal Kombat exemplifying Western "result" oriented gameplay.
"I think it represents the difference in philosophy. I find Japanese games tend to find the 'process' of playing the game as the activity and the result may not matter," he said. "So in Street Fighter when you're playing it's the moment to moment gameplay that should be the best, whether you win or lose doesn't really matter. Whereas in Mortal Kombat the fighting and playing is just a pathway to get to the result - it's the Fatality you want to see and you almost want to skip the fighting bit and get to the Fatality because that is the result.
"I think Western fighting games tend to put more weight in the result rather than the process. So it's fun when you win but while you're playing it doesn't have the intricate build up where it's 'opponent did this, so you try this'. Street Fighter is more like a game of chess, it's very quite almost. You sit there, do the moves and enjoy that, there's not really a lot of fireworks or explosions at the end."
It's an interesting statement for sure, and one that may have merit. Many Western games are about getting headshots, blowing stuff up -- getting rewarded and satisfied immediately. That's certainly not a bad thing, however. Anybody who doesn't like seeing some fool's head come off just ain't human.
Street Fighter IV 3DS: "No one has taken the genre to where I want" [CVG]
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Contest:
10:00 AM on 04.07.2011 | 
There's not much of a process to pressing summon > knights of the round. The result though is graphical excess the likes of which western games can't even dream of approaching.
Ok, so what do you call Ultra Moves? I would say they're pretty much the 'fatality' of Street Fighter.
It is my opinion, not simply because these examples, that the Japanese culture prides itself in the mastery of complex systems, while us "westerners" care more about the end result, look at this new idea of 'achievement tracking'.
I think the man spoke a lot of truth.
Gettin' a little dark there, Jim... and possibly sociopathic. ;)
But naw, I know what'cha mean.
Mortal Kombat is a fast-paced, gimmicky fighter. It was never built to match SFII's (and on) style of play. Different horses for different courses. Thin gruel to cherry-pick something like Mortal Kombat and imply Western gaming is based on flashy gimmicks while Japanese gaming centers on sublime game-play. I don't ever buy this 'East vs. West' obsession, and when I see it it always seems to come from Japanese developers papering over the reality they no longer hold the dominate position they once did.
Eddie B better step his gayme up
@Darckcloud723 Yeah I read, and the same place that people are claiming that I have also read people claiming that the xbox exclusive character will be Freddy Kruger.
Also, I play Street Fighter to win. The gameplay is awesome, sure. But I'm in it to win it. Same with MK. I love the journey AND the destination. Stop making up battles that don't exist. Trollin' ass Ono.
He's right after playing Super SFIV and the MK demo I could see the polish in SF gleam right thru. Street Fighter has always been the better game and a lot of games in the genre have followed it closely except for MK. I'm still picking MK up because even though I love SF I suck at it and MK is just up my alley.
KingSoup has it right, this is a straw man argument trying to prove a point that no one cares about. Games are games. I don't give a shit who made them. I play the good ones and make fun of the bad ones just like everyone else.
In the end a game or game series is either done well or it isn't. Its either memorable or not, that's all that matters.
However there is alot to be said about the lack of innovation in Japan nowadays. I'm not saying what the West is doing is innovation, far from it, but I would have to agree in saying they are still following a formula like the rest of us and there is little or no experimentation nowadays within that formula.
I suck at Mortal Kombat but I do enjoy playing it.
It's not the fatalitites, it's not the gore, it just feels more accessible. SF Arcade mode on medium will pound me hard, I just watch my character getting whooped, then lose and it's not fun.
MK arcade mode, on Medium, i stand a fairly good chance, enjoy the fighting, don't get caught in endless combos and even if I'm getting hammered I can get a few shots in and always feel like i've got a chance.
I find the specials in MK easier than in SF - I just don't think my timing is right for SF, perhaps it's too fast for me...
Ono is also taking credit for something that is a bi product of having a popular fighting game that isn't completely a mess. People play and develop strategies that give it that moment to moment excitement.
He's to busy trying to take a swipe that he doesn't even mention the actual real difference, that eastern games listen and respond to the fans and the meta game.
Plus the game hasn't even come out yet. At least wait to play the full game before you start insulting it.
i also ADORE Super Street Fighter 4.
what does this make me?
FFXIII was brutally simple. In fact, managing gear in FF has been fairly basic since X (when I started playing).
Yeah, I need to find a chess piece that does THAT.