Fighting Games the dead genre

[dimensional]

Ok Guys (and Gals) first of all I will apologise for any mistakes in the text but it is my birthday and I have had a few and secondly I am posting this because I have not had access to a comp for a while and wont again for a while come 48 hours.

I was doing some research the other day and I heard Fighting games referred to as the dead genre which I found weird particularly as they seem to be undergoing a sort of underground renaissance at the moment. Personally I am really looking forward to KOF XIII, SCV, Persona4 the ultimate in mayonaka arena, Blazblue Continuum Shift Extend and Doa 5 to name a few (also Darkstalkers 4 pls).

In general however it seems an area ignored by the majority perhaps because of being overshadowed by flashier instant gratification genres or the perception of a non evolving form.

Over the years I have played many good and poor examples of the genre (SF2 being my kick up the proverbial backside) but these days it does not seem to garner much response, the few threads I have seen on the escapist have sunk without a trace after a few comments.

So I am asking you all do you think it is a dead/dying genre?
Do you actually play these games 2D/3D or at all?
What do you like/dislike about them?
Lastly and un-relatedly why do you think most (almost all) are Japanese creation?, at least to be considered serious fighting games (and no I dont consider Mortal kombat a serious or even decent fighting game).

 

[TokenRupee]

I wouldn't say it's dead, but it's not the most popular. It's just more of a niche genre because it requires more time and dedication to mastering them.

 

[krazykidd]

Super smach brother brawl.When I be brawlin' , you be bawlin'.

/thread

Now seriously, honestly i haven't touched a fighting game in ages, just doesn't interest me anymore. I did like it when i was a kid , i grew up with mortal kombat , killer instinct and street fighter. Personally it's the lack of popularity that killed the genre for me , i don't have many ( read any ) friends, and Playing Against the computer gets boring real fast. Even if i had more ( read a) friends , it would still be annoyif because at least one of us would become "that" guy. You know the guy that practices a lot and blows everyone else out of the water? Yeah him. I guess now a days theres online play , but meh , still come downs to , practice main character till finger bleeds and use him all the time , with little variation. Also maybe if there was a sort of club for these things in my hometown ( montreal ) i would prolly get into it , but even them meh.

Doesn't stop me from appreciating the guilde theme though.

 

[dimensional]

I wouldn't say it's dead, but it's not the most popular. It's just more of a niche genre because it requires more time and dedication to mastering them.

I agree it takes more time and dedication but that certainly doesnt mean it lacks satisfation when you completely obliterate someone with youre awesome custom combo of linked chains blocks dodges and spacing which you have honed from countless hours of practice, I do agree however it is diheartening to lose 100 times in a row because you arent good enough but at least that would show skill beats luck in that case.

Super smach brother brawl.When I be brawlin' , you be bawlin'.

/thread

Now seriously, honestly i haven't touched a fighting game in ages, just doesn't interest me anymore. I did like it when i was a kid , i grew up with mortal kombat , killer instinct and street fighter. Personally it's the lack of popularity that killed the genre for me , i don't have many ( read any ) friends, and Playing Against the computer gets boring real fast. Even if i had more ( read a) friends , it would still be annoyif because at least one of us would become "that" guy. You know the guy that practices a lot and blows everyone else out of the water? Yeah him. I guess now a days theres online play , but meh , still come downs to , practice main character till finger bleeds and use him all the time , with little variation. Also maybe if there was a sort of club for these things in my hometown ( montreal ) i would prolly get into it , but even them meh.

Doesn't stop me from appreciating the guilde theme though.

Yes I know about becoming that guy it happened to me on SF2 and my friend on SC but on a good beat em up at least I can accept (sometimes grudgingly) that I lost because I was worse very few wins are down to luck which I totally agree with as for facing the comp well I like doing that a lot, arcade mode is my bread and butter on fighting game that is how I learn my moves at least initially but for a one on one match with a friend beside you nothing beats a fighting game for competitive play.

But as for excessive practice I would expect that in any genre the most practiced and therefore usually best player would win otherwise what is the point in playing if you cant improve in the game?

 

[John Farrell]

God, I miss Bloody Roar.

 

[Ragnarok185]

Fighting games are more popular in asian countries because thats where most of them come from. also didn't Tekken get it's own CGI movie a few months back?

 

[Wuffykins]

Speaking mainly as a Shoot 'em Up fan who does enjoy to partake in a fighting game here and there, I'm thinking the reason it's becoming a 'dead' genre stateside is mainly because arcades are few and far between nowadays, where in Japan arcades and game centers are still a popular thing. Hell, it's even possible that many people buy a console port of an coin-op game simply to practice their technique at home to improve their matches in the arcade (basing that theory off my knowledge of the Shmups, a genre even more dead in the US than fighting games). As you have to admit that beating someone standing next to you (or across the machine depending on the cabinet type) is simply more gratifying than some voice across the internet. I would imagine the learning curve involved beyond button mashing is a bit too steep for many as well though, but that's one of the reasons I enjoy the genre as well.

That all said, I'm definitely a fan of Tekken as a current choice of fighter, but I will take any chance I can to hook my my Dreamcast and get some 2 player action of Capcom vs. SNK 2. I'm still hoping for a sequel to that. That game still feels like magic even after all this time.

 

[Swifty714]

Excuse my lack of fighter game knowledge, the only fighting game iv'e ever really played was SC 4.

I'll bag on that game then.

I found the problems with the game, as stated above, fighting games are incredibly hard to become 'good' at. While playing SC4, I noticed that to learn a move meant you had to not only put in a eight-button combo within .3 seconds, but that you also had to decipher it from 'Arcade controls". Meaning instead of just listing high kick as: X,Y,Down,X, it was: Z,B,Down,
B. B actually being Y and Z being X. Why did they do this? I have no idea. It really just seems that fighting games aren't very inviting to new-comers anymore.

 

[2733]

I miss soul caliber 3, I'm hoping 5 saves what 4 almost killed. Also stop putting block on the d-pad. if I press left it is because I want to go left not because I want to block and get crushed by a throw. a controller has 8 buttons 2 sticks and a d-pad, no button needs to multitask.

 

[mitchell271]

They aren't the most popular genre at the moment, but they definitely aren't dying. It's a great time to be a fighting game fan right now. Look at this from the past 2 years:

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom
UMvC3
Super Street Fighter 4
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
Street Fighter 3 HD
Dead or Alive: Dimensions
Mortal Kombat 9

And these are just AAA good ones

 

[mrm5561]

well lets see mortal kombat 9 sold millions, people are still buying ultamate marvel vs capcom even though its only got what 12 more people than the game that came out last year, soul caliber 5 looks good (on a side note ezio woooooo) and that street fighter x tecken is coming out soon..... yea sounds dead to me

 

[Squilookle]

In general however it seems an area ignored by the majority perhaps because of being overshadowed by flashier instant gratification genres

Really? I thought fighting games were the very definition of an 'instant gratification' genre?

 

[Fishyash]

In general however it seems an area ignored by the majority perhaps because of being overshadowed by flashier instant gratification genres

Really? I thought fighting games were the very definition of an 'instant gratification' genre?

Only if you play honda on street fighter 2 like I do

In all seriousness, fighting games aren't really just about doing special moves if it was then it would be a pretty crap fighter.

The reason I don't think that fighters are very popular anymore is because they were made for arcades, and there is virtually no arcade culture in the US (even worse in europe) compared to japan where most fighters are made. The only fighters people play now are basically the capcom fighters or mortal kombat. Doujin fighters are being played though, I wish they were more popular.

 

[Caliostro]

Dead? The fighting game genre is more alive than ever. Coming out soon: SSFIV: AE2012 (free balance patch for AE, that came out this year), KoF XIII, UMvC3, DoA5, Skullgirls, Blaz Blue:Continuum Shift 2 Extend, SCV....

On top of that look at games that came out this year: SSFIV:AE, UMvC3, BB:CS2, SFIII:3S OE, MK9...

There are now more active people in the FGC (Fighting Game Community) now than ever. There are more stars. More and bigger tournaments. More streams. More shows, apparel, advertisement, prizes... etc.

Dead? It's never been more alive.

I suppose you could consider it dead when compared to, say, the First Person Shooter genre... Then again, remember that fighting games went through a coma phase of sorts. This is about the time the internet started being spread around and arcades stopped being the common hanging place, and safe haven, for the younger crowd. At this point fighting games were taking their time, refusing to adapt, and FPSs filled the gap. Local multiplayer lost emphasis to online multiplayer, and for the most part there weren't any online fighting games... While FPSs and other genres had online multiplayer since the late 90s, the first "historically relevant" fighting game I can trace to online multiplayer is Street Fighter IV... Yes, that is 2009!

On top of that good fighting games are generally hard for newcomers to understand. It's a more complex/refined genre if you will. It's a genre that, in good games, balances entirely on player skill, and the more I look at games these days the more I'm convinced that skill is something to avoid. Most people playing games are terrible, and they tend to prefer games with mechanics that either mask that, or limit the effective "gap" between a good and a bad player (e.g: cod).

In a good fighting game? Good luck with that... A good player won't just beat a bad player bad, they'll annihilate them.

There's a lot more to it, but let's put it this way: Fighting Games are growing from a rather niche community into the mainstream. They're far from dead, they're more alive than ever. It's just that this causes them to be noticed all of a sudden... By people who thought them long forgotten.

 

[Total LOLige]

Fighting games are more popular in asian countries because thats where most of them come from. also didn't Tekken get it's own CGI movie a few months back?

They made a live action movie, I thought it was quite good. It had that carny from heroes, the fast one with the knives, he played bryan I think it was him might not have been.

OT: I like fighting games can't say if there dead. My only dislike is that it's so cheap online full of spammers.

 

[elcamino41383]

I want more fighters like King of Fighters 2006 that was on PS3. Honestly of all the fighting games I've played in the last few years, BlazBlue aside, that was one of the most solid fighters I've had the pleasure of playing.

OT: I wouldn't say it's dead, per say, but I think it's getting there. I prefer 2D fighters, generally speaking.

 

[crono738]

well lets see mortal kombat 9 sold millions, people are still buying ultamate marvel vs capcom even though its only got what 12 more people than the game that came out last year, soul caliber 5 looks good (on a side note ezio woooooo) and that street fighter x tecken is coming out soon..... yea sounds dead to me

12 new characters, 8 new stages, better netcode, Galactus mode, an actual spectator mode online...seems like its more than worth $40, especially considering how little the new Blazblue is adding, as someone already said.


OT: I'm still playing SSF4:AE, MvC3, and Third Strike online. Tried Mortal Kombat but it just didn't do it for me.

 

[Ragnarok185]

I think it's becoming a genre more and more separated from the mainstream. People think of <insert generic, uninspired FPS franchise's 4th+ sequel>, Mario, and Final Fantasy when they mention "video games". A game that calls for split-second reactions and becoming completely immersed in a given character's moveset is becoming more of a distinct subculture separated from gaming itself. It's not like Mario, or <insert generic, uninspired FPS franchise's 4th+ sequel>, where everybody buys a copy. It's a kind of game where people have special interest in the genre.

Also, dying American arcade culture that was its backbone. That, too.

Yes, I do: KoF Orochi Saga, BlazBlue Calamaty Trigger/Continuum Shift Portable, Capcom vs SNK 2. Oh, and <url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW6OaeHzDcw&feature=channel_video_title>this demo played by me that's as challenging as eating a marshmallow.

Like: doing the same cheap combo or one move just to see how suck the AI is.
Dislike: The AI doing the same fucking move that takes off a fraction of my health to win the round.

You better believe they're a Japanese thing. Look at the arcade industries in Japan, and look at America. Huge ass fucking difference.

There are probably THOUSANDS of people in Japan playing Tekken Tag 2 right now in Japan. and I wish I could be one of them.