The fighting genre has always been one of the harshest tests of gaming prowess; bruising tests of hand-to-eye co-ordination and memory as you try to remember all those combos and special moves. Just as that's appealing to the initiated, however, the necessary dedication can be a barrier to entry for newcomers. Capcom is hoping to improve the way it teaches basic techniques to fresh brawlers.
Responding to a topic expressing concern at the lack of effective tutorials on the Capcom Unity forums, Capcom USA senior vice-president Christian Svensson agreed that Capcom wants to improve how it approaches beginners to expand the audience and appeal of the genre.
We try to take into account non-competitive level players so that they can enjoy these games too. I'd say we have varying levels of success in making sure there's enough content and fun in the mechanics even if you don't know how to plink, FADC or DHC. Street Fighter X Tekken was intended to be a bit more casual friendly and frankly, I think with the introduction of so many new systems (gems, pandora, etc.), I think we probably overcomplicated things and it worked against that objective.
[...] I strongly agree that we have not done a good job of truly teaching new players about the basics of fighting game strategy in our current crop of titles. This has been a hot button conversation with the producers in the past and some have embraced it. In the case of Street Fighter 3: Online Edition, we tried to put in challenges and trials that would have explained a bit more of the "why" as opposed to just the "how" in traditional training modes but we probably didn't go as far as we could have.
In future titles, this is an area that I hope that our teams will take more time with as I view them as critical to the expansion of the fighting game audience. I know some competitive players will scoff, but the vitality of the scene is linked to how successful we all are (I say all because the community needs to be accepting of new players too) in these efforts. [...]
We need to provide the right tools for new players to learn enough that they're motivated to take the "next steps" in their developing love for fighting games. I'd like to think we can do better in the future.
How do you feel about this? If you were a newcomer to fighters, what sort of modes or systems would encourage and help you to embrace the genre?
[source capcom-unity.com, via siliconera.com]
Comments 48
Capcom wants to expand their audience? Go put some games on the Wii U then.
^ lol
Well Street Fighter X Tekken was a disappointment for me, so I hope they don't go for something like that again.
tatsunoko vs capcom 2 WII U
A larger fighting game audiance is probablly the only audience thats left for capcom, since theive pretty much pissed off every other fanbase.
....Figures...fighting games, put no effort into expanding the MH audience. T.T
You know what would convince me to buy Capcom fighting games? If each game didn't have so many different versions. As is, an inexperienced fighting gamer such as myself has no idea where to start! I end up avoiding them all because I'm afraid a better game will be announced, making my purchase obsolete.
The tutorial for Skullgirls on 360 taught me so many basic things that I just didn't realise from playing Capcom's games. It would be a great place for them to start. It introduces concepts and terminology that you can only learn about in Street Fighter or MvC by trawling through screeds of fan-written information.
@Retro_on_theGo
But he's right... people tell me capcom & nintendo had a relationship, well I don't see it that same relationship went sour after the gcn era. I just want to see any capcom games but at this point it's very unlikely they will support wii u after the under powered wii.
@Gamesake Seconded. Although, tbf, MH Tri was a Wii exclusive, which does show a lot of commitment to Nintendo, with MH4 on its way to 3DS.
Nintenhas what Sonasn'tanymore.
I think I pulled that off........
What a bull, first they didn't want to create Street Fighter IV because of the lacking support from fans, and If Mr. Ono didn't push their fat to create forth title, then SFIV wouldn't came out to market and would died just like Dino Crisis, Onimusha and Mega Man series. And now when they have obtained a big bag of cash thanks to 4 or 5 enhanced SFIV editions they want to expand fighting games? I think it will be the same like it's with MH series (the same is with Namco Bandai and Tales of series). Actions speaks louder than words Capcom!
well capcom can start by releasing new sequels to darkstakers, rival schools, power stone instead of countless versions of streetfighter every year.
oh and a tatsunoko vs capcom sequel please as well!
The Fighting Game Community has grown exponentially in the last few years (likely thanks to Marvel vs Capcom 3) if Capcom had some brains they'd try to capitalize on it by supporting the community, listening to the community, and trying to profit off of the tournaments like Blizzard has off off Starcraft. Instead they are trying very hard to push their DLC scam Street Fighter x Tekken in hopes they can make easy money off of on disk DLC and pay to win DLC.
I recently have been getting into Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom games. They're great fun, but I do think they aren't as welcoming as they should be to new players. The difficulty curve is incredibly steep at times, and I feel like the game is working against me, like I can't get any better at it. I have tons of video game experience, but never has learning the mechanics of a new game been so harsh. I think if Capcom can make their fighting games more appealing to new players, it would definitely have a positive impact.
@DarkKirby To be fair, Capcom does a pretty good job of supporting the FGC and a great many of its larger events and tourneys. I'm certainly no fan of their current streak of shoddy business practices elsewhere, but the FGC complains about them much less than the rest of us, and with good reason. Capcom knows it owes a huge part of its current success to SF4's resurrection of the genre, and there's a reason more and more people show up at EVO each year ready to compete in SF and Marvel. I just wish they were as enthusiastic about other areas. And yeah, let's not talk about their ridiculous DLC shenanigans.
Capcom, Monster Hunter. Thanks, that's all.
Have a mission mode to teach people basic combos for characters like in MvC3 and a tutorial for newbies that teaches them mix-ups, frame data, and all that jazz like in Skullgirls would be the best way to make it more accessible for the casual crowd. Or you know, just put in the simple mode from TvC and MvC3 to all their fighters.
Bah! I doubt there ability to make Street Fighter playable. Unless they actual make a manual that works. I got Street Fighter on the 3DS Launch, I still don't know what a z over the circle pad means to pull off a move because making a z with the circle pad does nothing and I checked the manual too many times for me to have missed about 3+ different button movements that are not explained. Also I only knew of these do to a mode that was "suppose" to teach me. If that is the effort they put into these, I had to see what the other games are like that they make for fighters.
They lost me, back to Smash Bros., at least a company I know figured out how to explain fighter controls, not that they are hard to learn. Maybe I'll try a different fighter like DOA, but Capcom has failed.
A "Z" is the common motion for a Dragon Punch, or toward, down, down-toward.
Or if thats still too hard under pressure, a double fireball motion works too.
But the Circle Pad is useless to play Street Fighter. It requires precise inputs which doesn't work well with the Circle Pad.
A new Darkstalkers please
@Rawk_Hawk There might be a new one announced this weekend!
You can start by trying to actually teach people how to play the games instead of having this ridiculous learning curve. I like fighting games, but I notoriously The combos are hard to learn for me, and often times it seems like they give you the game expecting you know what to do and then some. Street Fighter is very guilty of this. I don't want to brag but I consider myself pretty good at video games. Nevertheless, fighting games I have yet to been able to master on any level, except Smash Bros, but I am not so sure that even really counts.
I really couldn't care less what Capcom does with their Fighting series any longer. After playing Blazblue every other fighter just feels so inferior.
I would love to see Marvel vs Capcom 2 on the eShop.
@KryptoKrunch on the 3DS?!?!?!?!?! no you don't It started on console's it will STAY on console's
Well, this article is a fairly boring subject. Thank you @Mike_Mason, for making it feel somewhat interesting.
@Bass_XO - Thank you, I wish I knew that over a year ago. I'm trading mine in next chance I get.
How about expanding the Survival-Horror audience? While action games are fun, Raid mode and Mercenaries modes are enough.
I dont play fighters anymore, they all feel like the same game ive played for 23 years
"Capcom wants to expand their audience" HEY I HAVE A GREAT IDEA HOW ABOUT TAKING YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE FRIKIN GUTTER AND STOP BUTT HURTING YOUR CURRENT AUDIENCE, THEN MAYBE PEOPLE MIGHT GO "oh well if these people are happy then ill try it out " BUT IF YOU HAVE A BUTT HURT AUDIENCE THATS NOT GOING TO HELP >:V I hate capcom with a passion sorry for the rant ><
I do agree with Uel. Having "new" versions appearing not so long after each other really makes you think about getting fighting games. Still, RE5 also had a second version, but they abuse that model with their fighting games. And the DLC. If you have to pay $80 to have the complete version of SF x Tekken, that will definitely scare off new players. Tutorials are important but the price also matters to the average joe.
The price and also the fact, that a large amount of people already know that they wont stand a chance against other people online, no matter how hard they try...like myself. I can barely win an arcade round of SF IV on normal difficulty because no one really tought me how. The timing for the comboy system is so tight, i really dont know how to pull that off in the heat of battle. I prefer Arc Systems fighters in that regard (Guilty Gear, BlazBlue) There, you just need to know wich attack connects with other things, and "button mashing" through the animation works quite well. Granted, its much less "skillful" but way more acessable for "normal" players without studying framedata shananigens.
XD not much training is gonna happen if they keep making things simpler for newbs.
@mamp I know right. People might as well not bother with it if they can't learn it.
First Street Fighter game I got was Turbo on the SNES back in the day. There was no training mode with that and framerates were unheard of. I remember having a hard time with the special moves too at the start. But I kept playing, kept being beat but eventually I got the hang of it.
Fighting games aren't something people should just pick up and be good with without experience. Everybody who does become good has put hundreds of hours into becoming good.
If you change the controls to Street Fighter then you're changing the type of game it is. If you don't know how to use the special moves (which I was able to figure out after being shown once on someone else's machine as an eleven year old) then you're just not ready for them yet. Street Fighter can still be finished and played just as well with the basic attacks, which just require a button press. Get good with those first rather than just trying to launch a fireball on your first go.
Capcom Vs SNK 2 on the GameCube had an easy move mode where special moves were performed with a tap of the C stick - a completely pointless mode. Special moves are supposed to be more difficult to pull off - even an expert player can slip up on occasion with them. Assigning them to a simple button push doesn't help new players at all - they'll just stand there launching a stream of fireballs that an expert player can easily avoid anyway. A more expert player would use a fireball to trigger a reaction rather than as an attack, such as to make the player jump, then attack with a combo of standard attacks whilst the opponent is vulnerable.
What is a combo? It's just a string of attacks and these can be just simple punches and kicks. You figure these out yourself through play - recognise vulnerabilities and find an attack that works best. If you just buy a Street Fighter game and spend your time memorising special moves then you're playing it wrong.
Street Fighter is always so popular in tournaments because it's not a button masher - there's strategy to it. If you don't like that then there's plenty of 3D fighters with very basic controls. Otherwise you may as well take chess pieces and place them on a Hungry Hungry Hippos board.
Just give me Street Fighter X Tekken on 3DS already.
So they want to expand their fighting game audience? That's the only thing they've got left then, since they've pissed of every other fanbase of them. Sure, why not Capcom.
@madgear I don't think they'd change the controls. I think they would go down a more...DoA route. In DoA:D on 3DS, the story teaches you how to block, punch, kick, and even pull off a few combos. Street Fighter tosses you in like a fish out of water.
Yeah like RE6.
Get it, get it?
Capcom needs to expand their megaman audience....
Street Fighter tosses you in like a fish out of water.
Then how was Street Fighter II one of the biggest third party successes on the Super Nintendo if newcomers supposedly had a hard time learning the game and playing against the computer? What's the difference between gamers now and gamers in the early nineties that makes it hard to learn now? It doesn't play much differently today.
The obvious questions come to mind. Where are all the capcom fighters that were produced for the HD consoles that never made it to the Wii eh?
the only way i'd get a capcom fighting game is if it played like smash brothers:
no messy combos to remember
4 directions and 2 buttons for major attacks
no items
fox only
final destination :3
I was never that keen on Street Fighter IV,I prefer Dead or Alive myself.
A Capcom VS Nintendo game would be awesome nevertheless.
@Bass_X0
At the time SF 2 was released, you only had couch multiplayer. You knew who you were fighting against, maybe it was your best friend who learned to play this game at the same pace. Today, you have online multiplayer, more or less no controll over who you are fighting and (most of the time) competition out of your league. Matches against the CPU are not the "problem". Its the worldwide veteran competition that drives newbies away. SF isnt something you can master over the weekend. If youre unlucky and end up always fightinjg veteran players, its can be discouraging as hell, especially when you, as a beginner, dont know what you are doing "wrong" and what the other guy does so much better.
Gee, I wish they would try to expand the MEGA MAN AUDIENCE!
"I know some competitive players will scoff..."
Not only do I hope they scoff - but I hope they drown in a sea of their own fanboy tears. The 'hardcore' fighting game community are the whiniest, loathsome 'fans' out there.
How about linking combos that don't require ridiculous split-second timing?
@Aviator_Dragon That was what Easy Mode in Mega Man 10 was for.
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