Capcom’s Christian Svensson Comments on Their Efforts to Help Newer Players

by d3v on August 1st, 2012 at 6:58 am

In one of his usual responses in Capcom-Unity’s Ask Capcom forum, Capcom Senior VP Christian Svensson candidly talked about their efforts to make their fighting games accessible to newer players. In his post, he acknowledges that they’ve had mixed results in trying to make games fun for everyone, even those who aren’t able to play competitively.

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.

He also admits that adding too many sub-systems to Street Fighter X Tekken may have been a misstep.

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.

In addition to this, he says that he is aware that the current training and tutorial modes in their games are quite lacking.

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 SF3: 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.

Addressing this issue is, according to him, critical to helping the genre and the community grow.

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.

Source: Capcom-Unity

http://twitter.com/FREEJ4Y The College Dropout

inb4 next scrubby capcom game
Michael Scofield

This guy needs to play the skull girls tutorial or even the VF5FS tutorial which is pretty boss.
http://www.facebook.com/Syxx573 Daniel Jones

just come out and say sfxt wasn’t that good and we rushed it out
- ReoAyanami
  
  They can probably say the same thing about all their games including the popular ones. #notkappa
  - pootnannies
    
    even sf4 seemed rushed but at least it’s presentable and good enough. can’t say that about sfxt but they do have a chance to fix it with that big patch they said they’re working on. here’s hoping that will be enough to make me interested in playing sfxt again. for those that don’t need anything more and enjoy the game as is, more power to you.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=671093328 Yahya Osama Yahya

Dude is kinda late to the party, they released 8 games(4 of them are updates of the same game) with the same problems, and now he admits/acknowledges them?

Looool@ how Capcom employees this gen can say anything, absolutely anything and all “we” need to do is post this at the endhttp://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m81555zpYM1r4y150o2_1280.png
- pootnannies
  
  i agree with them not addressing the real problems in their games (do they even know what they are?) but at least Sven isn’t lying so hard through his teeth this time and is giving us some insight that capcom does care enough to make more changes in the future. any little bit counts.
  what i hate was when they didn’t admit there were timer issues and shit like that and how useless pandora is so far. now they admit it and it would seem they will actually address it down the road.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Gethoff-Mahfacebuk/558552166 Gethoff Mahfacebuk
  
  This has been an issue for more than just Capcom. Namco consistently has the same issues as well. Back in Soul Calibur 3 they had a tutorial that attempted to explain some strategies necessary to playing the game well, it was promptly dropped from 4 and 5 for no real reason at all.
  
  Until FG developers understand that the ONLY way this genre will survive is if they themselves teach their consumers properly, we’re doomed to another fighting game recession within a few years.
Stephen Weimer

Challenge and trial modes aren’t good ideas for making people better at the game imo. They just need to get some pro players to put in some strategies for each character and some BnB combos that are easy to perform. The brady games strategy guides do a pretty good job of that stuff, I would pay extra to have all that implemented in game.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YV2437XOBMNL5UI3GR3PWIDHWY Rong
  
  Be very careful what you wish, incoming on disc expert training mode dlc.
http://twitter.com/srslygtfo Mr. X

VF4EVO was 9 years ago, why hasn’t even half of that been put into these other big titles?
- http://twitter.com/TwitHatman TwitHatman
  
  Because no one wants to admit SEGA did something right.
GhostofOno

Capcom needs to play Hyper Fighting. They cracked the “easy to learn, but difficult to master” nut a long time ago. Those games sold way better, to boot.
- http://handsomefatman.com/ Carlos Alexandre
  
  You are on point, good sir.
- Kevin Wark
  
  If they ever do remake SF1, I hope they go back to a simpler system like HF.
  Maybe add a stun gauge, dash, and throw softening, but that’s about it.
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Edacero-Pedazo/100002009120666 Edacero Pedazo
    
    In Alpha series Capcom included a nice “mode for begginers” which some moves are easier, like autoguard, but sacrificing options like limit power bar.Fighting games has been complex to play, but very motivating with these options.
http://handsomefatman.com/ Carlos Alexandre

FADC, gems, and arbitrarily forcing links to be competitive aren’t elements of sound game design. That’s a bunch of bullshit. Solid gameplay with thoughtful depth is attractive to both beginners and experts.
- pootnannies
  
  that’s already been done on their part. if they want to keep making the same game over and over it will get old fast and i’m sure the creators will be bored. unless they start over with a whole new fighting ip (not a mishmash like sfxt) then where’s the fun? i agree with hyper fighting though. best sf2 game imo.
http://twitter.com/Kimosabae Kimosabae Grant

When players and developers alike realize its not necessarily system mechanics and variety that makes a game difficult to play – and interesting to play – as much as the standard of play set by the game’s enthusiastic player’s – it opens up the possibilities for fighting games, imo.

When it comes to appealing to the masses – tutorial modes are not the answer. In fact, I’ll argue the opposite – highlighting complexity and depth in your games is what scares the masses away and hurts FGC growth. Tell me – what fighting game with an expansive tutorial has set the world on fire? Not one. VF4 was the first to accomplish this and for all of AM2′s efforts and acclaim; the game sold peanuts.

Fighting games are an intrinsically intuitive genre at the base level: using your competitive instincts, press the attack buttons until your opponent’s life bar has completely whittled. Everyone knows how to play a fighting game at a fundamental level – its one of the console space’s oldest genres. Present someone with a fighting game and you don’t even have to explain the objective to them. The Smash games are more fundamentally unintuitive.

Advertising depth in a game, I believe, creates a double consciousness in many casual players/outside observers that weighs on their ability to enjoy the games. The sentiment “I’m just bad at fighting games.” is a reflection of the intuitive understanding these people have that they will not be getting as much out of a fighting game’s gameplay as they potentially could, without putting in work to understanding how it ticks.

But aren’t other genres with competitive multiplayer modes as potentially intimidating?

Yes. The difference, however, lies in other genres (i.e. FPS, third person games) not putting all their gameplay eggs in a single basket. Having robust single player/co-op modes as the main marketing attraction gives players more incentives other than competitive multiplayer to not only play the game and derive VALUE from it, but to also give the competitive multiplayer a chance – because they seek more VALUE from the title.

“Value” is the a key word, here. I’ll let those implications linger as to not make this post TOO long, but let’s just say that Halo 4 will be launching at the same MSRP as many current fighting games.

It just seems like fighting game publishers don’t have the resources or ideas compelling enough to make a fighting game interesting to people outside those with competitive multiplayer dispositions. Shoving the nuances of your game into the faces of those people doesn’t help.
- http://twitter.com/oBLACKSTARo oBLACKSTARo
  
  VF4 and VF4 EVO sold 2.5 million units together. VF4 selling so well was the entire reason VF4 EVO came out on console. How is that ‘selling peanuts’?
  - http://twitter.com/Kimosabae Kimosabae Grant
    
    Please provide a link to those numbers. I’ve heard for years those games sold poorly – at least in the states and EVO in particular. I could have been misinformed.
    - pootnannies
      
      vf4EVO was everywhere for used in gamestores so i’m guessing it did well for a fighting game at the time.
      - http://www.facebook.com/AL.x.and.her Alexander ‘Al King’ Clay
        
        VF5 and VF5:online did solid numbers as well. Of course less numbers over here than everywhere else, but that’s not my problem. SEGA has my money.
- StunningBiceps
  
  Ah, yes. Don’t attempt to make a competitor. Make the sale first.
  
  I have always played fighting games for fun. It took losing consitantly to a friend for me to pursue the steep learning curve. Give them a reason to want to learn.
toomuchbutter

If they want to help the newer players develop their love for fighting games, they need to implement a tutorial system that teaches them fundamentals. Not just combos, etc. But teach them what an OTG is, wall bounce, ground bounce, all the states your character can be in, overheads, frame traps, etc. I would have killed to have had that when I picked up my first fighting game. I know the guide does this, and so does this website, but if they’re trying to appeal to the new players, they need to make that info as easy as possible to get.
http://twitter.com/Kimosabae Kimosabae Grant

Also, I believe fighting game developers could consider releasing smaller games (less characters, less bloated with mechanics) that are cheaper to develop, but tighter in terms in of gameplay balance, allowing them to release newer games without the base feeling overwhelmed by the variety of releases. The games could be digested by consumers more quickly, allowing them to feel more comfortable in moving on to something new. UMvC3 is simply too large a game to even consider a sequel for another few years, at least.

This may be hard for a publisher like Capcom to accomplish however, since they’ve scaled expectations with (imo) bloated releases. Smaller games with smaller budgets could also help justify DLC models in the minds of the consumers, I think, if done intelligently. 1 new character in a tightly balanced game with only 8-10 fully- fleshed out characters would be seen as more valuable than 2 new characters in a game already brimming with 50+ characters, I’d think.
- SalomeHarras
  
  This is contradictory to what you’ve said above. Consumers associate “more” with “value”, and by reducing the number of characters, you’re reducing the perception of “value” in comparison to its peers. Whether or not this is true is irrelevant, it’s all about perception, since the majority of consumers do not have the time or desire to research products thoroughly enough on their own accord before making a judgment.
  
  The problem is that a standard has been established (too many characters), which consumers have accepted and associate with “value”. The only recent game to be released with a smaller cast that has seen any kind of financial success (remember that success is dictated by the operating income it provides, not necessarily volume in sales) has been Skullgirls, but while financially successful (or so the developers seem to claim), it hasn’t reached the wider audience that it may/may not want.
  
  It is also not a good idea to generalize the entire industry because of certain developers’ approach. Arc System Works has tried to give players a “compelling” single player experience that mostly stands on its with a story mode in their BlazBlue series. I have personally met people that have purchased and played BlazBlue PURELY for its single player experiences, and haven’t touched multiplayer at all. They, along with Atlus, will be continuing this in Persona 4 Arena, which comes out in less than a week now.
  - http://twitter.com/Kimosabae Kimosabae Grant
    
    It’s not contradictory. It’s an alternative. I’m starting to believe FGs as a genre, as they currently stand, should be relegated to the digital space.
    - SalomeHarras
      
      Err, no, it is contradictory. You dedicate an entire paragraph and a half explaining how significant the perception of “value” is to the consumer. Your entire argument hinges on this singular point, since without it, counter-points could be easily established that completely rips up everything you’ve said.
      
      You then go on to provide an “alternative” that contradicts on a fundamental level, everything you’ve stated in your first post. Whether or not additional characters actually create a situation of reduced value is irrelevant, it has been established as a standard and is what consumers expect. There is absolutely no reason for a game like Tekken Tag Tournament 2 to have 50+ characters, and if anything, you can argue that this is actually detrimental, yet, the additional characters announced have only been met with praise by the public.
      
      Read the 2nd to last sentence in your first post. It’s a blatant generalization that is simply not true.
      - mozart danno
        
        Thank you.
      - http://twitter.com/Kimosabae Kimosabae Grant
        
        As you said, “value” is a perception issue and the point I was trying to make – which admittedly I did not make explicit in the second post – is that the consumer needs to be reconditioned in regards to HOW they perceive value.
        
        One way to do this, is to move FGs into the digital space, where consumers are already conditioned to perceive value differently because the games are smaller and cheaper.
        
        That’s an alternative to making 50 character roster games and selling them in the retail space. Nothing contradictory.
        
        I did generalize the industry of fighting game publishers and developers, sure. Not the video game industry in general. It’s a clearly opined generalization.
      - Kudjo Thomas
        
        Its a little to late for that this genre has been around for more than ten years+ how can you all of a sudden limit what many know to be “value” and expect to have good results its just not possible.
        
        More characters means more options. As some one who teeter totters on the casual and competitive mind state, its important that I find a character I like to play. Balance really comes second to the value of having a select amount of characters. Only competitive players care about “balance”.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=778664017 David Dickerson

The problem is that they don’t teach new players HOW to play just implement systems for them once they start playing. I’m talking something in the style of the VesperArcade videos but actually made by Capcom and implemented into the game itself.

Things like StreetFighter Theory. Teaching why you shouldn’t jump at Ryu who is just standing there. What a Blockstring is and why you want to develop one. Hell it could even help people like me caught in the middle who aren’t new to FG’s but at the same time can’t seem to advance past the intermediate level of play.
- Kudjo Thomas
  
  That is the funny thing, the theory of Street Fighter and many games like it have been created by the players and not Capcom. So how can Capcom teach something they themselves never knew about…at least up until this point. They can only show the in game mechanics or the rules for how to play the game anything past that is beyond their knowledge or..even better creation. Unlike chess, fighting games have evolved and developers have implemented what the players have discovered combos just being one example.
  
  It wouldn’t hurt for them to show some of these fundamentally sound theories but then it takes away from the players over all discovery. If a player truly seeks to go beyond the scope of what he has learned within the rules and mechanics of the game than there are things like guides and tutorials available for them to find.
  
  Granted there are some things that Capcom implements in which they fail to teach like links and chains its still up for the player to discover their own style of play and the way the character works.
  - kn3ll
    
    When Street Fighter II came out, we would not expect Capcom to explain the game systems because they did not exist. Now, fighting games have been in a state of development longer than 20 years. The strategies, systems, and theories created by players is immense. Take, for example, Frame Data, or rather what is “Safe” and “Unsafe”. How Frame Data works is unknown to most casual fighting game players and those who are new to the genre. It doesn’t take a whole lot of explanation to show that you can punish something like a Shoryuken on block, but not a low forward. I don’t expect them to give me a comprehensive list of what to punish and how to punish it, players can find that out themselves. But players need to know what to look for.
    
    Skullgirls’ tutorial and Soul Calibur V’s Bread-and-Butter character tutorials are a great example of how to introduce new players to a competitive scene. If a combination of those two systems premiered in a future title, it would the most beginner-friendly fighter I have ever seen.
    - Kudjo Thomas
      
      There was a keyword that you used that immediately got my attention “competitive scene”. As you know games aren’t meant to be thought of in that nature unless your designing a game specifically for that intention, street fighter is not designed to be a competitive game, it can be competitive but that is not was not the main objective of its creation is.
      
      I can’t say that it won’t change but as of right now its still considered a game and in a game your taught how to play the game. Anything outside the realm of the system in which capcom created is a theory and therefore is there for the discovery of the player.
      
      Players learn what to look for if they continue to play. Knowing what is safe and unsafe is as simple as memory and experience with characters. The addition of frame data only hampers the fun of discovery, it hampers the fun factor of the game in general.
      
      There is a different between the competitive nature of the game and the fun of the game which can be had but it is through discovery. Will showing players how to block mix ups convince more people to stay, possibly, but there is no guessing what the secret recipe is.
      - kn3ll
        
        Frame Data exists whether players are aware of it or not. It does not hamper the fun factor of the game. It creates the game. Frame Data’s most important use is seeing if a move can or can not be punished. At the moment, Street Fighter does not explain this. Street Fighter does not explain what a “punish” is. I’m not asking for a comprehensive list, as I said. I just want something that will explain to players that there are things they can do that their opponents can not punish, and there are things their opponents can do that they can punish. It’s not adversely affecting the discovery, it’s adding to it. Players are now given something to discover. There could be a hidden list of unsafe moves and you could get achievements for punishing every one. The point is, yes, it’s a game, but you aren’t effectively taught how to play it. Capcom needs to change that.
      - Kudjo Thomas
        
        I guess it wouldn’t hurt to teach them what a “punish” is but I just believe that capcom may feel that is taking away from the players own discovery of the game.
        
        It made sense to me to teach the complete mechanics of the game but when you start teaching strategy your basically saying the players will never understand how to play effectively and this isn’t true for everyone but I get that it can help those who are “slow” like myself to understand or pick up on this.
        
        I don’t argue that it won’t take away from the overall fun of the game ; I just think it will take away from the fun of discovery which some will experience or get frustrated by and quit. So its basically sacrificing one thing for another.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Murray/611100197 Mike Murray

Capcom is not the only one to blame, but at least they’re acknowledging that they need to do better. All they have to do is look at what Sega did with VF4 Evo and their problem is solved.

Challenge/trial modes are all right, but I think it would be more interesting if trials involved specific situations, like getting Zangief to grab an opponent who keeps using jumping roundhouse.
- Terry Barcelona
  
  It’s bizarre, but the original iPhone ‘Street Fighter IV’ had the best tutorial/ mission mose I’ve seen in a Capcom game.
  
  One of the sections each character had was dealing with other characters special moves…
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Murray/611100197 Mike Murray
    
    Really? I’ll see if Youtube has them.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YV2437XOBMNL5UI3GR3PWIDHWY Rong

A smart system would be for the game to automatically record a situation where you get bodied. For example, you play online and you get destroyed by Ibuki vortex and you say to yourself “Damn, I wish I could do something different during that match!”. Ding ding ding! The game recorded that match and you can replay that situation over and over again while trying something different.

It’s like active real time replay, but instead of watching yourself get destroyed over and over again, you can do something about it.

I know this sort of thing can be set up in training mode already, but how many have the knowledge or motivation to set it up correctly? It would be much easier for the game to detect when you get absolutely bodied and record that situation or match for real time playback.
Terry P

I think they also need to take another look at their approach. I feel like all the newer gen games starting with SF4 have been drastically simplified in some areas in order to appeal to beginners which I don’t think is the answer. it’s like turning Gran Turismo into mario kart in order to draw in more players.

I think what the people above me said is right on. New players want to know why to press this button here and not that one and why to use this one on wake up and this one to anti air etc etc. There should be demo match vids on the disc that showcase key game elements like anti airs, punishes, footsies, mixups, and strategy.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Murray/611100197 Mike Murray
  
  VF4 Evo has on-disc matches too. Seriously, Evo is the gold standard that all FG devs should be paying attention to. It has everything they need to make their own games better.
  - Onegai_James
    
    Watching top level play means nothing to newcomers if there isn’t some sort of commentary to explain what is happening during the match.
    - kn3ll
      
      viral marketing for UltraChen in SF5
Steven Duong

I think more time should be spent in balancing a game and making it more appealing than rather making it convenient. If you wanna play for fun then go find the right crowd for that, same if you want to play competitively. “the right tools” are accessible from the get go, you have arcade mode, 2p, and training. Any advance tech to level up then go do some outside research. Talk to pros or look at SRK, Eventhubs, or Gamefaqs. They exist for a reason. # mattaku
- d3v
  
  GameFAQs? Right…
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Bob-Rad/100002370870363 Bob Rad
    
    Didn’t James Chen used to post stuff to Gamefaqs?
    
    I’ve found some useful stuff on there back in the day..It’s not always been a cesspool of 13 year olds calling each other faggots.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Bob-Rad/100002370870363 Bob Rad
  
  The players that really want to know how to play will find the information they need online or through some other source like a strategy guide, like they have for the past 20+ years.
  
  The players that just want to jump around, press buttons & see pretty colors are just never going to get it, & dumbing games down to accommodate them is like making a basketball/soccer pitch/football field shorter & goals wider so that fat lazy uncoordinated people can compete with professional athletes.
  It just cheapens the game for everyone & making games more accessible to filthy scrubs is not how they should be looking at it.
  - Steven Duong
    
    Yeah definitely. I’m cool with help like showing a hitstun deterioration bar or inputs is fine, but tutorials that shows what a character’s BnB should be is just lazy.
http://www.facebook.com/Syxx573 Daniel Jones

99.5% of people who bought this game have 0 interest in playing at this game at even a mid level.
Disco-lemonade

Walls of text, walls of text everywhere.
http://twitter.com/novriltataki Fighting Game News

effort to help new players my ass. is that why even GG versatile enough that you can be competitive without hard combos, but SF4 isn’t?
http://www.facebook.com/kurt.horsting Kurt W. Horsting

All they need is an actual tutorial mode that teaches the mechanics in a intuitive way (like a bigger version of the Skullgirls tutorial) instead of pretending that playing Simon says will magically teach you fighting games. There are a lot of fundamental basics that new players simply cannot understand without it being explained outside of the game.

There’s also a lot of needless arbitrary complications tacked on that have no explanation and have no reasonable explanation (why is ryu’s mp dragon punch arbitrarily more invincible then his other dragon punches?) Not only that, this information is hidden from the player unless you buy a guide or do nothing but play in the lab all day. I think they have no idea how to accomplish this and have shown no signs of doing things that are actually helpful to new players.
http://profile.yahoo.com/TGIDZZVL24YPLDA54UUDQBBABY RisingStar

People want everything handed to them now. If you want to learn, have some drive and go online. I got SF4 in 2009 and I didn’t even know how to do a QCF or (236 for international players). Instead of crying about how the game isn’t teaching me how to do it, I went online and used Eventhubs awesome SF4 guide and learned all the moves. Now, I love the game and I sign up for every tournament I can go to. With the age of the internet, ignorance is not an excuse anymore.

Also, you can only help new players so much. Capcom thinks that execution is the problem with new players when it is really mind games that cause most new players problems. Thats why you see kids who can do 100 hit combos in UMVC3 get torn up by a guy does ABCS and 50/50 mixups. Fighting games are more mental than physical, anybody can FADC Ultra with Ryu, only the best know when and how to use it efficiently. Until the mental aspect of Fighting games changes, there really isn’t anything you can do other than dumb down the game and nobody wants that. Casuals will drop the game in order to play the next new thing and the hardcore ( if you post on SRK, you are hardcore) will hate it.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Edacero-Pedazo/100002009120666 Edacero Pedazo
  
  Execution always was the wall in previous SF. World Warrior ages, if you could do an hadoken you was a master, I do not talk if you could dominate Zangief 360°
  
  Now, anybody can do any move with simplified moves and lot scrubs feel masters, the game itself loses reputation.
ReoAyanami

Even the best tutorial in the world won’t teach anyone anything if nobody uses it. How many people actually read the user manual first?

Both Ono and Harada agreed on this but are trying to solve it differently. Ono tried to make the game play easier for beginners while Harada is disgusing the tutorials as mini games.
Zonder88

You cant teach people who dont want to learn. If players truly wanted to get better they have access to all the information they need on the internet. But if they arent gona bother since the “game” itself dont teach their advanced techniques and terminologies, they probably has no intention to get good in the first place.
- kn3ll
  
  If the deepest pool water you had ever seen was three feet deep, you would not take diving lessons.
  - Zonder88
    
    Terrible analogy.
    
    You’re comparing fighting games, which already teach you the basics, to outright killing yourself by diving into a 3 feet pool that anyone with a brain would understand.
    
    Ok. Cool.
    - kn3ll
      
      Please direct me to where it explains what an “overhead” is in Street Fighter 4.
      
      But that wasn’t the point. People don’t know that there ARE advanced techniques or terminologies. Why would they go online to find something they don’t know exists?
Amer1ka

SHADOW BOXING – CAPCOM/OTHER COMPANIES PLEASE DO IT (my second paragraph).

A tutorial that actually tells you what is going on would be wonderful. For example, using an FADC mid-combo in SF4. I had no clue about FADC’s or how to do them when I first started playing. There wasn’t an explanation in the game about them. However, if Capcom created a quick tutorial with either the game engine or a video showing me how to implement them and then allowed me to try and replicate it I would have been way less intimidated.

I believe that a tutorial should not only include how to do something but why and even include a shadow boxing mode where you do the combo and you can see the shadow boxer behind you doing it which allows you to see the correct timing. If you’re slow or fast on something you can see it instantly and make adjustments. If there was a shadow boxing tutorial in SF4 that showed me how to FADC certain things I would have gotten to a much higher level quicker and not felt like quitting at times.

It doesn’t have to be much. Just bread and butters, a video/in-game combo and then allow the player to replicate with shadow boxer. Hell, they can even turn the trials into this and if you’re an expert you can get trophies/achievements for turning the shadow boxer off. It would be awesome and eliminate a ton of very very basic questions new players have.
http://twitter.com/just6822 just6822

Capcom is not “helping newer players”, they are hindering them.

Giant stages

Braindead execution

Buffing jumps

Slowing down walk speeds

You’re putting them in a bouncy castle and letting them go nuts. TTT2 is making modes and things that teach you the game, you are just making a derpy environment for kids to have fun in. I don’t really have a problem with Cashcom games, and SF4 wasn’t completely useless, but I’m not buying their games any longer if the continue with the path they’ve chosen with SFxT.
- http://www.facebook.com/victoly Matthew Taylor
  
  SF4 was completely useless in my opinion.
  
  Anything with the name SF4 could’ve sold millions and brought in a huge crowd.
  
  What they did it with was a gigantic mess, and they should be ashamed of themselves for it.
  - http://profile.yahoo.com/TGIDZZVL24YPLDA54UUDQBBABY RisingStar
    
    But SF4 did sell millions and it did bring in a huge crowd. Notice how its the USA’s most popular fighting game and 5th most popular arcade game in Japan.
    - kn3ll
      
      What he’s saying is that the only reason it sold millions is because it is Street Fighter 4. If Street Fighter 4 was called Blazblue and had Blazblue characters, no one would play it and it would have awful sales.
John E.

In after 50 bitches who have nothing better to do than complain. In before another 50.

SRK, this isn’t news. News would be Svensson (or whoever) telling us how “Darkstalkers 4″ will correct the problem.
http://www.facebook.com/victoly Matthew Taylor

Absolutely nothing they did in any of the fighting games they’ve put out this gen has done anything to help this problem whatsoever.
martin rush

strongely agree they did not do a good job in general.
http://twitter.com/Almostawakened Lmajor

Why is the advanced training mode on Soul Calibur 3 never mentioned? That training mode is the best I have ever seen on any game. No training mode can truly “teach/learn” someone to play a game but the Soul Calibur 3 advanced training mode made sure you understood the mechanics of the game in an easy to digest format and even offers fundamental strategies to reinforce what they are trying to explain. Capcom check that training mode out.
EzequielAlvarez

What if, like, they make a game with absolutely NO extra shit. No focus stuff, no ex attacks, maybe not even a super bar or dashes. I think the original SF2 formula can still be improved in many ways, and I’d love to see that happen.
- Zonder88
  
  And nobody save a few old school fans will play it because it will be boring as fuck.
  - Lionxie
    
    Dude, i don’t even play SFII:CE back in the arcade haydays(i was like 5 at the time), and my main is CvS2, but the second i play an OG in CE…game is fucking fun and deep as SHIT. Even though i lost 30 straight games and won only 3 matches at most…it was some of the most fun I EVER had in an arcade. You just don’t know man…
- kn3ll
  
  I really don’t think that’s the way to go. The most basic game I could enjoy is probably something like 3s without parry and EX.
http://twitter.com/Kcxiv Coco G

Hell, before SFIV came out, the last time i played was back in 95 i think, If an old ass like me can come back and play anyone can and im in my mid 30′s now. This is all PR speak bullshit.
http://twitter.com/TwitHatman TwitHatman

Reading this, I’m just chuckling at Svensson, thinking that it really doesn’t matter what he says at this point because the damage has been done.

That is, of course, unless they plan on releasing something that will actually address this problem. Otherwise he’s really just blowing hot air.
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http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Zaimont/732839308 Michael Zaimont

SFEX Plus Alpha already had an excellent training mode, Expert Practice, that went from special moves to 2-in-1s to links to using them all together, and even had situations like someone described above, where you must grab a jumping character with an SPD or slide under a fireball and punish Ryu. The only thing they missed was teaching how to do special moves properly besides writing out D,DF,F+P. Unfortunately, that was Arika, not Capcom. :^)
- d3v
  
  On a somewhat related note. Thank you for the tutorial mode of Skullgirls. I still use it for when I feel that my fundamentals need polishing, in and out of SG.
http://www.facebook.com/AL.x.and.her Alexander ‘Al King’ Clay

And the award for most intuitive innovative tutorials goes to Mortal Kombat’s Challenge Tower and Tekken Tag 2 Fight Lab. Split decision.

No one at Capcom cared about this before because they relied on their lucrative history and repetitive nature to do everything for them. We are entering yet another generation where gamers haven’t even played Third Strike until it’s re-release just a couple of months ago. No fighting game is difficult per se, but that’s only if you’ve been playing 15+ years and have gained a universal understanding for fighting game mechanics. I was taught how to properly play Tekken around Tekken Tag 1 so I have little interest in Fight Lab other than creating a custom Combot, but i praise Namco for creating a tutorial akin MK’s Challenge and Smash Bros mini games that actually taught me and others the mechanics of their respective games in a hidden fun way. Bumping up the difficulty helps as well, getting your ass handed to you by the AI in KOF, Skullgirls and VF enough times will make you want to learn.
dub bud

Pffft. If you’re selling DLC that will do the combos for you, that tells me you’re quite happy to flabbergast new players with combos they’ll have trouble with in hopes of selling them the magic key that’ll do that combo in a button press without them having to learn or put in the time.
- http://www.facebook.com/AL.x.and.her Alexander ‘Al King’ Clay
  
  They were warned months ahead of release about gems, pandora, quick combos….Play testing is very important. If SFxTK were given an arcade run for at least a year it would have been perfected
AtoD Frost

I’ve always thought that if tutorial modes included what is really necessary to be a high level player (how to have a strong neutral game, frame data and how it works, proper defense, just to name a few) that it would scare so many people away as they’d be instantly bogged down with too much. I guess what I’m trying to say is no matter how you put it, you can’t make certain aspects of a fighting game “easier” (like the one i just mentioned), they just take a lot of time and practice to learn. And by extension, it takes a certain kind of person to become a high level player.
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http://profile.yahoo.com/K3NRILNUSH77LMF6FRMHPZKX44 Tavious

Funny thing Sega put the tutorial back in VF5: Final Showdown and made it much easier to play. People still can’t understand the game so I guess there are to many retards out there.
Hyroll

If it wasn’t for Vesper Arcade’s SSF4 guide, I’d be soooo lost right now. Something like that should be put into games. All my friends play FPS’s. The only fighting games they MIGHT touch are Tekken and DOA.
http://www.facebook.com/people/ProfessorLester-Kex/100002985229657 ProfessorLester Kex

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4R9b2DVM4o
http://www.facebook.com/people/Wes-Barron/1579837314 Wes Barron

The problem is their approach. They think they should mainly focus on making the games themselves easier, with light instructional modes (trials, etc). What they SHOULD be doing is the opposite; only slightly decrease the game’s difficulty, but focus heavily on teaching newcomers to play correctly.

Arc System Works did this with Blazblue, and overall I’d say it was a resounding success–the average BB players I’ve played tend to have a much better understanding of the game compared to players I come across in other fighters. For BBCT’s first printing, they included a tutorial DVD which went over the mechanics and some character specific strategy. This was a good start, but not quite there yet.

For BBCS1 and onward though, they knocked it out of the park by implementing a full interactive tutorial right in the game. The flow of it is excellent: first up are system mechanics and basics; the simple necessities. Next, IMO the most important part: an intermediate section that actually discusses popular fighting game concepts such as mixups, pokes, anti-airs, etc. Guiding players through the intermediate stages is one of the most overlooked areas of players’ developments, but the most often ignored. For almost every game, there are a ton of beginner guides that go over the absolute basics (button layout, “holding back makes you block,” system mechanics, etc) or advanced guides for hardcore players (ok, so here’s how you do ROM infinite). No beginner turns into a pro overnight. Where are the tutorials to help people who aren’t completely new, but not at high level yet? In BB, it’s right in the Intermediate tutorial. Last is an Advanced section and character specific guides (which go over each character’s gameplan, good moves, bad moves, etc), along with a separate Challenge mode which teaches somewhat practical combos instead of useless flashy garbage *cough*SF4TRIALS*cough*. The training mode is also worth noting for its incredible flexibility compared to most games.

To recap: Fighting games are an inherently hard genre. Don’t dumb them down or make them less challenging, as that will turn off seasoned players. Instead, teach new players how to play at that high level of difficulty properly, by equipping them with the learning tools they need to level up right there in the game.
webweaver13s

There is nothing over complicated about sfxt. The game is based on rules and the systems just work on those rules. Nothing more.
http://www.facebook.com/victoly Matthew Taylor

PS, they need to start making a game good first, approachable second.

SF2 did wonders
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