It's been a few weeks since I returned from Evolution 2010, the world's biggest fighting game tournament. Despite the fun I had over the weekend, I have a confession to make – I HATE Super Street Fighter IV. My frustration over the game was not the result of an overnight epiphany, but a gradual disdain I've noticed for quite sometime. Competing among the 1,700+ entries in the SSF4, reaffirmed my suspicions and forced my rage past its tipping point. I hate Street Fighter 4, but what can I do? Go back in time and erase its existance? Hmm…
As a fan of Nathan Summers, Marty McFly and the Doctor, time travel fascinates me. The idea of going back in time and changing an event, often resulting in a vastly different future, is an interesting exercise in answering "what if's". What if i went back and removed Street Fighter 4 from gracing the pages of EGM December 2007?
The most immediate change as a result of no SF4, would be the lack of newcomers into the genre. The day that Street Fighter 4 dropped on console, Shoryuken.com faced its first server crash since it's launch in 2000. Literally thousands of gamers descended upon the site in search of various information on the game's mechanics, combo system and other topics of interest. Meanwhile, many new Street Fighter websites opened including AllisFighter and iPlayWinner.
Without Street Fighter IV, would the next wave of fighting games find success regardless? Tekken 6 is still a fan favorite of not only American players but worldwide in Korea, Japan and Europe. BlazBlue would only continue to appealed to the cult following that Guilty Gear established. Finally, King of Fighters XII probably would of sold even less due to its lacking online support.
As for future Capcom releases like Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Street Fighter X Tekken, those would have never seen the light and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom would of stayed as a Japanese-exclusive. Simply put, without the spike in interest for these types of games, fighting game releases will continue to be too few and far between.
So what about those already in the competitive scene? Without Street Fighter IV, how would it effect tournaments and Evolution?
Evolution 2010 from the perspective of 1up's Richard Li
Just like cooking, each region had their own specialty. Northern California loved Capcom vs. SNK2, SoCal owned 3rd Strike, Texas dominated Guilty Gear, and NYC leveled up Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Also at the local/regional level, there would no longer be a tournament every weekend. With the veteran players reaching their late-20s, early-30s, many have to plan time off from a job to participate. Even when a tournament does happen, gathering over 36 players is considered a great success.
Within regions with a strong fighting game community, those 36 players are not watered down by scrubs who doesn't have a complete understanding of the game. Those who do enter these tournaments have been playing the game for years and will not make it easy on any opponent. In retrospect, I miss these sort of tournaments where everyone was good and the small tournament size made it easy to make friends.
As for the Evolution tournament, they might as well change their name to better suit the current state of fighting games. Street Fighter II, 3rd Strike and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 would of continued to be a part of the official lineup. Games such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl/Melee, Tekken, Soul Calibur and, BlazBlue may had some success at becoming an official game but the lack of new players may start a decline in yearly attendance.
Awkward as it sounds, Major League Gaming could have overtaken Evolution as the premier fighting game tournament. Just this year MLG has been hosting official tournaments for Brawl and Tekken, offering sponserships and guaranteed money as prizes. Without coorporate backing, Evolution could not compete and would of eventually met extinction.
[embed:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB1VDHY6PIo ]
Super Street Fighter IV intro track composed by RedRapper for Evolution 2010
Now that I've laid out my new reality, I can't hate on Street Fighter IV too much. Just by existing, it contributed most to the genre by opening the doors to a new generation of players. Who am I to deny young teens a shot at super combo finishes, when I first started as an arcade rat nearly 10 years ago? While I don't like waiting hours for my name to be called among 1,700 other competitors, I can respect the new life the game has brought to the community.
So what about the rest of Bitmob? I'd like to challenge anyone who actually read this giant blog to imagine a world without the most significant game you can think of. How would that effect gaming culture?