Any stubborn anti-fighting game players out there?

[ImBigBob]

I'm trying to get my friends interested in playing Mortal Kombat, but they insist that all fighting games (except for Smash Bros) sucks. To be fair, I think there are a ton of problems with the genre, but if anything, MK does away with most of them. I try to tell them that the game's controls are a hell of a lot easier to learn than Street Fighter or Blazblue or whatever, and that there's a ton of personality in the game that makes it enjoyable long before we have the control scheme down. And the story mode is supposedly really good, but their response is "I don't play fighting games for the story, durrrr". You don't play fighting games, period! And we play single-player games together all the time, so what's the problem? Argh.

Fighting games have been so inaccessible for so long that when a game like Mortal Kombat comes out, people STILL don't want to play it. What's up with that?

 

[DJDarque]

Because I am no good at them whatsoever.

 

[rekabdarb]

If you want an easy to play one, go wit mvc3

Looks much easier than MK:9? so i've been told

However in the long run, it's whoever plays it more will probably be the best. Like my friends who have finished MvC:3 on very hard w/o dying with all characters.

I will never beat and don't care if i don't beat em

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Marvel vs Capcom 3 and the Super Smash Bros series are up there in the list of fighters that are really easy to play effectively, but have so many levels of depth that anyone can feel like they're actually doing something, instead of button bashing.

 

[voetballeeuw]

I've never been much of a fighting game fan, but I bought MK9 a few days ago and love it. It's incredibly satisfying to put the game on an easier difficulty and tear the AI to shreds. Play team ladder with your friends, you can 2v2 against the AI. Put it on beginner or easy and just have some mindless entertainment. It's how I got my brother to join me.

 

[Harlemura]

I guess it's because you have to take the time to learn fighting games. They aren't all that popular and most games play completely different, and each character within each game has a different set of moves and playstyle you have to learn.
Compare that to, for the sake of argument, shooters. Stay in cover to not get shot, shoot back to kill enemy. Can apply that to most shooters, so people can get into them easier.

I'm aware this is all guesswork and generalization, just using it as an example. I quite like fighting games myself, so I find it harder to understand the relentless hatred some people have for the genre.

 

[omega 616]

Show them a few cool fatalities (sub zero's is good) and a few x-rays, they should be hookered.

Showing them the pretty ladies and the damage on the people may hook them aswell.

Also for a fighter the controls are good to me and the special moves are easy to do and quite forgiving.

 

[Zeraki]

Fighting games have always had this stigma against them because how much time someone has to dedicate to actually becoming good. But modern fighting games have been getting more accessible, which I'm not complaining about.

I love fighting games, but I suck horribly at them. Mortal Kombat 9 is pretty easy to pick up and learn though, I got pretty deadly with Scorpion after a couple of days to the dismay of my friends. And the story is surprisingly very good for a fighting game, until I got up to using Nightwolf... I can't use him worth a damn, it was pretty embarrassing.

Now Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a button masher's wet dream, just about anyone can play that and be decent. So if you want a gateway fighting game, it's that.

 

[justnotcricket]

I enjoyed Mortal Kombat as a kid, actually, and my sister likes Tekken, so I've played a fair bit of that. I'm not actually really into the genre myself - memorizing combos isn't really my thing, and since you can win by button mashing in about 80% of cases (in *my* experience), I feel it renders the former moot.

The only real case where I'm a stubborn anti-fighting game person is that I WILL NOT play fighting games seriously against my partner =P Guys get too competitive and either end up pissed off that you beat them (bless them), or get really aggressive and gloaty when they win. I'm happy to play co-op games (just finished the Portal 2 co-op together - so fun!), but not competitive ones.

 

[SilverHammerMan]

I've just never been a hugely competitive guy, so playing against friends isn't all that fun for me, also, I just don't really like the gameplay. I like to be able to mess around and wander and hunt for easter eggs, so just fighting doesn't appeal to me, it feels like it should be a part of a bigger gamer, not something that's just on it's own.. I also kind of hate that these games always have really fun characters and backstories, but (to me at least) they never really do anything with them. Like Sub-Zero, I would kill to play as Sub-Zero just doing ninja stuff. I dunno, I just don't play 'em cuz I've never been interested in them, though when I have given them a whirl they seem fun.

 

[Rusty pumpkin]

It's not my cup of tea, i prefer rpgs, good fps, or horror.

 

[KeyMaster45]

I grew up with the big name fighting games as arcade machines, so I have a hard time thinking of them as legit console games. They still have many of the same trappings from their days as arcade machines, so for me to look at them as serious games just doesn't work.

Does that mean I don't like them? No, of course not. They're great games to play with friends and have given me some fun Friday nights. Would I ever play them in a dedicated fashion, probably not. Since I still view them as simple arcade diversions I enjoy them best in small doses in a setting of friends and copious amounts of pizza.

 

[Sixcess]

Way too many button combos to remember, especially when button mashing will get you through most things, and then in story mode there's always a boss who comes along and trounces you with cheap unblockable attacks anyway. Haven't there been a couple of threads about MK doing exactly this?

The only fighting game I've ever really enjoyed was Bushido Blade on the PS1 - quite probably because it totally departed from most of the standard mechanics of fighting games.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I'm trying to get my friends interested in playing Mortal Kombat, but they insist that all fighting games (except for Smash Bros) sucks. You don't play fighting games, period! And we play single-player games together all the time, so what's the problem? Argh.

Fighting games have been so inaccessible for so long that when a game like Mortal Kombat comes out, people STILL don't want to play it. What's up with that?

Um... I don't particularly care for fighting games, especially Smash Bros.

The only one I'm any good at is Soul Caliber. And even then, only with one character. And only then because a former boyfriend used to spank my ass with Mitsurugi until I learned how to beat him.

They can be sort of entertaining at a party, or something like that, but honestly I'd rather play Rock Band.

 

[trooper6]

I do like to fight in games, but I don't like fighting games.

Basically, once the combos get to be chains of more than 3 buttons, I get uninterested. X? XY? XXY? All of that is fine. But once we get into a space were XXXX is happening...I'm not going to be interested in the game anymore.

I find Fighters a bit boring. I'd rather play an action-adventure or RPG that has really good combat than just a plain fighting game. And...I don't really feel like fighting against my buddies.

ETA: On the topic of your problem "how do I get my friends who don't like fighting games to like fighting games." -- You can't. If they know their taste and don't like fighter games, they don't like fighters games. You can always ask them to try one out and see if they like this particular one. I try out things for my friends. But if I don't like it...I don't like it. You may just have to accept that you and your buddies can't share this particular genre.

 

[ArcWinter]

I never play fighting games, and I rarely enjoy third person games.

Fighting games are you versus another character, either player or NPC, on the same screen, on the same arena. My favorite game genre is open-world games. Thus, fighting games always feel cramped and boring. I'm not exploring, I'm just hitting (or getting hit). It isn't any inaccessible controls: I don't even get to the controls because I am just not interested in the genre.

I don't like third person games because I can never get immersed in them while I can see my character. Fighting games show you your entire character. I have not heard of a first-person fighter game, and even if there was one, would a fight last long enough for me to get immersed?

I find numerous problems with the entire fighting genre. It's just that I have a different taste than you. No matter how accessible the controls, how varied the fighters, or how tasty-looking the combos or special moves are, I will not bother buying or playing a fighting game.

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

Everyone is saying MvC3 is one of the most accessible fighting games. While that is true, everyone is leaving out the fact that it is also one of the most competitive fighting games out there (the series as a whole, I'm talking about), so sure, you'll find the people who are playing for fun. But if you play online, you'll find the people who exploit infinite loops and all that jazz. Its fun, but it can be soul-crushing at times to.

I'd say play some Smash, and if you want to move on from that, go with my personal favorite fighting game, Blazblue. It can be complex, but I wouldn't say anymore so than Street Fighter. Plus, with a roster of only fifteen characters (plus DLc characters), you have more time to devote to less people. They all play drastically different, so you will really have to practice with them, but after you get the hang of someone, I find its difficult to forget how to play them.

The only fighting game I've ever really enjoyed was Bushido Blade on the PS1 - quite probably because it totally departed from most of the standard mechanics of fighting games.

I fucking LOVED Bushido Blade. I think it was probably the game that got me into the fighting game genre. I'd kill for a remake of that, preferably multi-platform as I don't have a PS3.

 

[Littaly]

I think a big part of it is that a lot of the fun in playing a fighting games with your friends is lost if you aren't evenly matched. And they probably don't feel like putting down effort to become as good as you are just to see if they can get into the game.

 

[Denariax]

MVC3 has delved into the world of the 'Casual Fighter'. It's no longer about who's better, but who can spam the most and get away with it.

I strongly suggest BlazBlue Continuum Shift; Specificially the newer one that they're releasing with all DLC already on the disc, as well as the new Mortal Kombat which has struck my attention more than usual by not just being a gorefest, but having the audacity to balance literally every character on the roster. You can get past anything with any character.

Mind: Fighting games and sidescrollers are my forte. I'm looking to get to CEO 2011 this year.