Skullgirls Patch Updated, Mike Z Covers Changes at Salty Cupcakes

I understand you like the game but it’s just not fun to watch for myself and obviously thousands of other players.  It wasn’t timing and it wasn’t players playing it.  I could watch the Jap greats, all the East/West coast guys go at it in SG all day and barely care.  I don’t think I’m alone in saying that.

All of your reasons are more or less justifications and not actual facts.  You’re entitled to think what you want but I think your nostalgia for MvC2 (and it’s 4 tournament viable characters) may be coloring your opinion a bit much.

Quite a few of those top guys you talk about did play SG and have played other games too and they stopped playing them because the player base did not get or stay large enough to justify tournaments.  The players playing a game do not make it popular, the game does.  If the game either isn’t that good or simply doesn’t have a lot going for it then it’s going to tank.  SG tanked despite having a LOT of hype going into it.  The FGC wanted it to be it’s darling and savior from the Capcom overlords and obviously everyone loves Mike Z. but it simply did not come to be.

The game has quite a few shortcomings that we’ve discussed and all of it adds up to the game simply not being that popular.  There isn’t any one thing that is bad about Skullgirls.  It’s actually a really good game.  But it doesn’t have the stayability because of the odd design choices that really doesn’t strike a chord with a lot of the player base.  You may love the music and I liked it but I didn’t find myself attached to it instantly like I have been in other fighting games.  I think the art style is unique and looks cool but I would have prefered to see it in a sketchbook or on deviant art and not dominating the game I’m trying to play.  The visuals could definitely use some upscaling.  You may like MVC2/SG but level 1′s and level 3′s in MVC3 are insane and you really can’t take a step back in time visually and expect people not to note it as a negative.  The sound/visuals are also on the childish side a bit which can turn off some players.

You see, I’m looking at this from a design perspective and not as a jaded gamer perspective.  Some of the things I brought up as problems I actually like but I can see how they would be a negative for a significant portion of the player base.  Do I think the art style and the retro intro’s look kick ass?  Yeah.  Do I think I would have made that design choice when making the game and expect the overall player base to be accepting of it?  Not in a million years.

I know Mike Z. had a limited budget and can’t do a lot of the things that I have mentioned (crazy looking hypers and a lot more characters) but what he did do was very niche.  He made a game by him and for him and hoped everyone else got onboard.  Sadly, that did not happen.

I own two copies of SG (one for ps3 and one for 360) but I am not unhappy about that despite very sparingly playing the game these days.  I just hope that it gets an update that adds in some more flavor and tones down the laid back 30′s/40′s style cartoon action mixed with busty women that is just on the line of being a bit creepy.

Since I can’t reply to Mike Z. I guess I’ll reply here.  I didn’t mean tank in a retail sense.  I meant in a community sense.  I know fiscally you guys did good and I hope you gain continued success.  But SG pretty much went down the “anime fighter” path in regards to longevity here in the States anyway.

I also know it’s a team effort Mike but I could only speak generally when referring to the sound effects, music and art.  I actually was under the impression that you were calling/helping to call the shots in all areas of the game and not just the gameplay.  If not, my bad.

I am also not belittling anybody…as I said, I personally like the art.  I just understand that there is a lot of people out there that aren’t going to be down with the equivalent of retro anime with 1930′s or 40′s look.  It’s damn unique and clever but it was a gamble where the odds were not going to be in your favor.

I know there are a lot of higher end players out there who had no interest in SG simply because of it’s looks.  Some didn’t really like the old school marvel gameplay.  Some simply heard from a friend that it was “ass” and didn’t give it a shot.  It’s stupid, I know.  But it all does come down to the package choices that influenced people differently from my perspective.  Of course that is easy to say now being an armchair game designer on an internet forum but most of these concerns myself and others I talked to as well.

Please take what I’ve said as constructive criticism and not as a negative opinion on you and your teams work.  What you guys tried is easily one of the most ballsy moves I’ve ever seen from a gaming company and you will always have my respect for it.  But that doesn’t mean I still want you to roll with “retro anime” for any future games though