Resurgence of the Fighting Genre in Video Games

What the status of fighting games?

  • The fighting genre has been and is just fine.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Fighting games are on the downside.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    13

mkray41

Well-known member
I'm sure I'm probably not the only person to notice, but there is alot to look forward to in the future regarding the fighting genre. Maybe its just me, but didn't there seem to be a time when sometimes you'd see a new fighting game and just go, meh, I'll buy it just for the name. You know, not really excited to actually play it but just buying it on name alone? Maybe it's just me idk. Recently however, the fighting genre seems to have been revived, thanks to games like Street Fighter IV, Tekken 6, BlazBlue, and Marvel vs Capcom 3 (maybe even throw in MVC2 on the consoles). Now, looking forward to the future (Mortal Kombat, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Tekken x Street Fighter, Street Fighter x Tekken, BlazBlue Continuum Shift II) I can honestly say that for the first time in a while that I'm really looking forward to the future of fighting games. What do you guys think? Is the genre making a comeback? Or am I just delusional and the fighting genre has always been great?
 
Ive been noticing that many of my friends have lately been getting into fighting games, asking me for help and what not. However i dont know what sparked this huge fighting game craze, all i know is its awesome.
 
I wouldn't call it a comeback since sales are really nowhere near what they used to be during the genre's emergence or peak. But Capcom and others aside from Namco, realized that there is demand and we've seen a lot of games since 2008. To think that for 7+ years, Namco was really the only company putting out new *legit* fighters, so the genre certainly died down considerably from 2001 up to 2009. But the development of the online community helped keep the competitive scene alive.

Hopefully Capcom won't overkill things and hit a brick wall, because there's clearly potential in the genre. I think that as long as game has noob friendly traits, decent online, and good extras, it'll find an audience.
 
I wouldn't call it a comeback since sales are really nowhere near what they used to be during the genre's emergence or peak. But Capcom and others aside from Namco, realized that there is demand and we've seen a lot of games since 2008. To think that for 7+ years, Namco was really the only company putting out new *legit* fighters, so the genre certainly died down considerably from 2001 up to 2009. But the development of the online community helped keep the competitive scene alive.

Hopefully Capcom won't overkill things and hit a brick wall, because there's clearly potential in the genre. I think that as long as game has noob friendly traits, decent online, and good extras, it'll find an audience.

I definitely agree with what you said about the online community. It's also interesting how the games with history (examples being Street Fighter IV, MK, MVC2) seem to be the main games striving for the arcade feel online. I've heard Ed Boon and Hector Sanchez repeatedly refer to wanting the online segment of Mortal Kombat to have an arcade-like feel; like watching people fight, judging them, then jumping in and fighting the champion. Of course, theres also the downside of an increase in DLC for the fighters, but thats something I can deal with. Another thing I think draws people to fighting games are the gimmicks; I didn't play alot of SC3 (file got corrupted and I couldn't delete it) but the one thing I always did was create a fighter; customization is a key component in most fighting games now I've notice, and it helps give a sense of accomplishment that I think the older games may not have provided.

Sorry if my points seem kinda scattered, Im typing as I'm thinking haha
 
IMO the fighting genre is definetly making a comeback. For many years Tekken 5 and the later 3D MK games were probably the only well known titles that could be considered "mainstream."
Now with the return of the Street Fighter series, the genre is definetly climbing up again.
Just take a look at al the great fighting games that were recently released, or that we can look forward to.
(Super) Street Fighter IV, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Tekken 6, The King of Fighters XII, BlazBlue and of course, the upcoming Mortal Kombat !

Who knows what the future will bring ?
With other titles like Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and the rumoured-to-be-in-development Soul Calibur V, maybe we finally get to see a new Guilty Gear ?
Oh and before I forget, we've got both Street Fighter X Tekken and Tekken X Street Fighter to look forward to as well.
 
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