If we want to go down this road, my “preferred” pattern is to release a well done title every 2-3 years. Nintendo probably polishes more than I really need and although they can be counted on to put out a wonderful Mario game and a Mario Kart game once (maybe twice) per console, I think some franchises (Metroid - StarFox) suffer greatly from a dearth of releases and I would love to see them more often. I’d also love to see Nintendo branch out a bit more and develop some innovative franchises. But that’s just me.
Capcom is doing much better outside of fighting games than within. It’s weird too. You see a game like Monster Hunter World, which is huge with tons of free content DLC and otherwise just small aesthetic paid content. Then they charge full price for a bare bones SFV and add expensive season passes. Odd
That’s a problem for you, but I suspect Nintendo views it as a strength. If you are going to release one or two games in a franchise each generation you don’t want them in the discount bin. That “devalues” the game and encourages people to wait. By never putting games on sale they disincentive anyone (like me) who might otherwise say “I’m sure Mario Odyssey is amazing but it will still be amazing and still be the only 3D Mario available two years from now but at 1/3 the price.” And the market supports them because their full priced games stay near the top of the annual charts all the time.
Sorry for the double post but I think you’re in to something here.
Nintendo always has a solid slate of first party titles. This made it possible for people to jump “back in” for the Switch even after their disappointment with WiiU because no one ever really thought the games were the issue with that console.
Sony and MS tell a different story. First, despite what people claim now, the biggest launch game for both current gen consoles was Call of Duty. This is why the stupid debates agonized mostly about framerates and pixels. People were upgrading their consoles largely for multi platform gaming so if you have to choose they chose the more powerful console. Arguably, MS’s IP is the only thing that saved them from even worse performance, and I still maintain that the $100 price difference was the biggest factor by far.
Looking at the present though, Sony doesn’t have many long running IPs that are drawing people to the console. It’s a handful like GoW (which has turned into a turkey pretty much by the end of last gen) and Uncharted / TLoU. It’s third party exclusives and one off single player games that they are riding right now.
I think Sony’s in a bit of a unique position though. For one thing, they’ve had studios putting out reliably good games for generations now, even if those games change from Ratchet & Clank to Spiderman or from Twisted Metal to God of War or from Crash to Jak & Daxter to Uncharted and TLoU. But they’ve also had a lot of Japanese studios and publishers to fall back on, which MS hasn’t had nearly as much.
So while I’d argue that many of Sony’s “core” franchises have changed over the years or may have run out of gas a bit, they still had iterations of many of those core titles from one console to the next while also kinda reloading with new franchises as well.
Sure, I do think Sony had a lull in the early third of so of the current generation, when stuff like Infamous and Killzone were their bigger exclusives, and they kinda bombed out with The Order and Knack, but they were able to come back strong with stuff like Horizon Zero Dawn (who had been developing a franchise that also kinda petered out in SOCOM), Spiderman, Bloodborne, a somewhat revamped God of War, two more Uncharted games along with a bunch of Japanese games that never came to Xbox like multiple Yakuza games, Nioh, Ni No Kuni 2, The Last Guardian and Persona 5, to name a few.
Sony has been able to strike a balance between bringing reliable franchises through multiple console generations as well as creating new franchises, which creates a level of reliability and consumer trust that MS hasn’t really been able to generate.
MS had some great original Xbox games in Crimson Skies, MechAssault, Bloodwake, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Fable, Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Forza, Phantom Dust, Amped, Chronicles of Riddick, Tao Feng, Kakuto Chojin, Blinx, Rallisport, Buffy, Quantum Redshift, Voodoo Vince, Project Gotham, NFL Fever, Conker, Halo and a whole slew of Sega games including Panzer Dragoon Orta, House of the Dead 3, Gunvalkyrie, Shenmue 2, Jet Set Radio Future, ToeJam & Earl 3, Outrun 2, Otogi, Headhunter, and Sega GT.
Then the 360 era came around and how many of those titles saw new iterations? Fable, Project Gotham, Amped and Halo. They lost exclusivity from Team Ninja, so no more DOA and Ninja Gaiden. They lost Bioware, so no more exclusive RPGs. Whatever deal or agreement or whatever they had with Sega went away, presumably because of Sega shifting their focus, but regardless, they lost about half of their exclusives from Sega alone.
While they brought in Rare for Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, Viva Pinata and Grabbed by the Ghoulies and created new franchises or secured new exclusives in the 360 era including Lost Odyssey, Crackdown, Infinite Undiscovery, Blue Dragon, Gears of War, Ninety-Nine Nights, Halo Wars, Bullet Witch, Your Shape, Alan Wake and a slew of Kinect games that, outside of Dance Central were somewhat less than memorable, they still left behind a ton of games from the prior generation that were worth bringing forward to next gen.
Five years in to Xbox One’s lifecycle, which most would agree is probably the lion’s share of the system’s life, how many of those games made the transition to next gen? Crackdown, Gears, Your Shape and Dance Central. Of those four, two of them are Kinect games and now considered dead franchises and one of them hasn’t even come out yet. So basically just Gears.
Halo and Forza are the only franchises to have appeared on all three MS generations. Sure, we have awesome new stuff like Killer Instinct, Ori and the Blind Forest, Sunset Ovedrive, two Dead Rising games, Quantum Break, Sea of Thieves, State of Decay and (I’d argue) lesser stuff like Super Lucky’s Tale, Ryse, Crimson Dragon and ReCore. But do any of us feel all that good about the prospects of any of these games getting next gen sequels? Ori, Sea of Thieves and State of Decay seem like possibilities, but again, it’s a small list, none of them are really system sellers or big AAA titles, and with the exception of Ori, they’re not really the highest quality of games.
They’re not bad, of course. But really, compared to Nintendo’s heavy hitters or Sony’s mix of steady franchises and newer franchises…
I’m really glad they’re bringing in new studios. I’ve also read the rumor that Obsidian might be next, and I’d like to see that. I’d also love to see them acquire Iron Galaxy and some other studios as well, but I’ve already gone on long enough to drift onto that tangent.
TL/DR: My point is that generation after generation, Nintendo and Sony have found ways to give players a lot in both reliable franchises and new experiences. MS, for two generations now, hasn’t really found that balance as much, and I really hope that changes going forward.
Hasn’t this always been an issue with Street Fighter ? Too many shotos. Because they’re all so similar you can just compare them all and pick the best one… Guile or Akuma.
Ryu’s going to need more than just balance changes… he’s going to need something that just makes him more unique and fun… Frame One Parry would Be a Start… Donkey Kick was a nice addition but still I feel like just one completely new thing would help. How about Shadow Ryu ?
It costs like $200 to get SFV with all the characters… no counting the costumes. Thats just straight up day light robbery.
To be fair… while Sakura can be fun… her weaknesses make her pretty bland too.
I wouldn’t argue with you about MS. But I don’t find Somy’s Track record all that great. They lost many brilliant exclusives in the PS3 era like Devil May Cry, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear and Final Fantasy. I find it hard to feel that they are in a stronger position than MS based on anything other than lingering effects of the missteps associated with the Xbox launch. They have a few great looking exclusives right now but I don’t see a stable of franchises that makes me all that impressed. (I am going to pretend you didn’t mention The Last Guardian which is an unmitigated disaster as far as I’m concerned).
As an aside, it’s worth noting that while I think Alan Wake is a great game, it’s not a franchise. You can’t really do too much more with that game. So I wouldn’t consider it a lost opportunity. I do think Rare has been criminally underused. Perfect Dark Zero was a pretty mediocre game but you could definitely do more with that character and that universe. I’d like to see them make a third person stealth action game.
Anyway - something about SF just to pretend I’m on topic.
Third-party exclusivity probably became a less practical business strategy in general with the costs of AAA game development beginning to rise up to we have today.
Though I think a lot of it also had to do with Xbox quickly being realized as a legitimate competitor at the time with Playstation overseas, while PS3 started Sony’s new generation with a very questionable $600 price tag (which sounds just as absurd today as it did back then). Altogether, even Japanese companies couldn’t ignore Xbox at that point, especially with Nintendo pretty much out of the picture doing its own thing with the Wii.
So… apparently Falke isn’t any easier on Stick either… Apparently even with two extra fingers at your Disposal… there are still some buttons you simply can’t reach because of the Shape of your hand and fingers.
Holding down Strong Punch cuts off easy access to Round House… why ? Because you have to hold down Strong Punch with your Middle Finger… you can do it with your Index Finger and that will help your thumb reach Round House without resorting to Contortionism but then you won’t be able to throw tech.
Holding Down Fierce cuts off easy Access to both Forward Kick and Roundhouse… now you can hold down Fierce with a different finger but you’l run into the Throw Tech problem again… on top of that Standing and Crouching Fierce are good buttons for Falke in neutral so theres that too.
Wow… Capcom really screwed up with this Character… what a pain…
Looks like pad is the way to go… more specifically a repgrammable pad that will allow you to have duplicate buttons like I did using Profiling software on my PC…
Yo are reprogrammable Controllers Tournament Legal ?
I bet Sony wishes they could have bought some of those franchises after the PS1 so they could have stayed money makers. God knows none of their original franchises seam to stick. Which is sad. I want to be able to have my kids play something other than Nintendo that looks clean and modern and beautiful.
At the risk of sounding of sounding like a jerk - sucks to be you then? Millions of people remember and love lots of early games that not only were hard, but some actively punishing and trying to make sure you didn’t win. In the annals of videogame history, protestations of “Mario 1-3 were too hard to be enjoyable” is going to be a pretty lonely take. I mean, feel free to take it, but don’t expect any of the rest of us to care.
Heh. Sakura would be a lot cooler if she didn’t animate like a series of rigidly constrained boxes. The actual character design is easily the best Sakura has ever looked, but holy smoke does she animate weird as hell.
I KNOW. And it really hurts too because she’s a really cool character. She’s very inconsistent too with some of her moves, but that’s for another topic.
I’ve given up on Street Fighter V.
All I ever hear is people complaining about it. And no matter what Capcom does, it’s never good enough. They can add more characters, they can add more costumes, they can add more stages, but in the end, SFV will always be the way it is, and the community will never be satisfied with it. And it’s clear that Capcom isn’t going to make SFV what people want it to be, and even if they do, there will be other people complaining about the changes.
There simply is no satisfying everyone. And that’s not an excuse… that’s a fact.
For all the complaints though, it will still be one of the most popular games amongst the competitive scene, just enough to keep Capcom afloat to continue not fixing the issues of the game. But hey! Chun Li has a new outfit! Look at this spectacular distraction instead of focusing on the things that’s wrong about the game!
Yeah, I’m done.
I’ll be playing FEXL, SCVI and hopefully MK11 soon enough.
I mean, it’s a fun game. I enjoy it. But I won’t talk bad about it. Sure, I can point out some things that I think should change in my opinion, but that’s it. The people who try to force their opinion is what people usually hear and the majority of complaints.
The negativity is usually the loudest part, even if it’s the minority. You can’t please everyone. That is a fact to remember for the rest of your life. Some people just want things a certain way, and will kick and scream until it happens.
Don’t worry about what people say about the game. If you enjoy SFV, play it. Don’t let anyone’s opinion get you down. You did it for KI, no?
Anyways, Played some today! Learning Cody. I’m having trouble playing neutral with Cody. I feel like I can’t get good pressure going, and everyone just mashes through my frame traps. Maybe I’m doing something wrong? Or am I supposed to not let them breathe and be the aggressor?
I don’t enjoy it anymore and haven’t in a long time. So I stopped playing it.
During the third season with the wave of guest characters and disappointments, including elements that simply felt half-done and these “remix” characters, I lost all passion for the game. I didn’t touch my Xbone after that. And in the end, I sold it again.
I mean, if we’re seriously considering judging character appearance on how “ready” they are for an actual fight, then we’re basically failing almost the entirety of the female cast no? Laura’s ■■■■■■■ would definitely pop out of that half-tied shirt, Ibuki’s the second brightest-attired ninja ever, Karin’s fighting in an expensive something-or-other and pumps, Menat is wearing, well, whatever the heck what she’s wearing is called, and Chun-Li is fighting in something that in spite of its iconic status looks pretty terrible to have a brawl in. Kolin rocking out in thigh-high heels, Cammy in that weird unitard thing, etc etc.
SF is known for many things. Practical fighting attire for females is not chief among them
It’s not that her costume is an appropriate for a fight, I just think it’s dumb looking. But if I just said “I don’t like Sakura’s costume, I wish it was a different one“ then people would just be like “OK that’s your opinion” and move on. If you present an opinion as if it’s an eject effect then people will debate it with you and you’ll have an actual conversation.
Pretty Much… I am better now though… I could go back and show Mario whos boss… but I don’t wana do it for revenge…
My older Brother is one of those Millions… pretty much described him perfectly
How much you wana bet those same people would rather not bother with Cuphead or Lightfall ? My brother certainly wouldn’t… he’s a big boy now…smashing one’s head against the same unfair challenge over and over again is a young man’s game.
Were they ? I’m pretty sure as far as Mario is concerned that I just suck…
I would make that Protest for Sonic though… and believe me… the lonely ones are the people saying otherwise…
Actually there is a way around that… DECEPTION !!! A good developer uses trickery to get the best of both worlds… because they understand when people complaining about something… theres alil more to it than whats on the surface. For example the complaints of Cammy being to OP can be fixed be nerfing Cammy… but thats not really the issue… the issue is everyone else is simply too weak… nerfing Cammy is going to make those other character seem more balanced but its not going to make them anymore fun to play… what it will do, however is rope the Cammy players in on the Complain Train making for a more “Unified” Complaint Force…
Cody is tricky… He’s got good buttons not as good as Karin… but he does have one thing She doesn’t… a workable Anti-Air… two of them infact… but the problem with The V-Skill one is you need to press on the knock down advantage long enough for your Grey Health to recover and thats just Something Cody can’t do… unless he has the Pipe…
Cody really Struggles against Zoners… I have no advice there… you’re just going to have to find some way to deal with Guile, Sagat and Menat…
Try Tightning your Frame Traps with light buttons… Then if you feel confident that you’ve conditioned them to stop pressing buttons then you can try stealing turns… Uhm… This rarely works online because people are crazy but against better players its text book strats.
This is something I’ve had to do with Falke… some people just don’t respect the fact that shes +2 so I can’t press the advantage with another Medium Normal… hers are really slow so to go uncontentested I have to use lights.
It might be inappropriate for a fight but its good for everything else… Half of Cammy’s Outfits aren’t appropriate for anything… well atleast not anything family friendly.
