I know I’m going to get some flack for this, but hear me out. You all know I am one of the biggest fighting game fans out there. 2D is my main passion, but I have dabbled into the 3D realm on a few occasions. I really enjoyed Tekken 6, and Soul Calibur remains one of my favorite 3D fighters of all time. But is it too much?
I am of course referring to the onslaught of fighters we’ve been getting and will continue getting throughout the year. Street Fighter X Tekken was just released today(get ready for tons of content on that), and we’re still looking forward to Skullgirls and Persona 4, not to mention the just announced re-release of Guilty Gear on Xbox Live and PSN. In the last five months alone we got Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, King of Fighters 13, an update to Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition, Soul Calibur 5, and Blazblue Continuum Shift Extend 3. That’s a ton of fighters! All of them vying for our attention. Can you have too much of a good thing?
In the case of fighting games, maybe. A fighting game’s longevity is largely decided by community support. If no one else is playing your game, you have no opponents, so the game dies. I am concerned now that we may be spreading ourselves too thin. I purchased King of Fighters 13 out of love for the game, but I haven’t had the time to dedicate the right amount of attention to it. Marvel and SF4 got the bulk of it. I used to support Blazblue but I didn’t pick up the latest version, and I probably won’t.
So what is the point of this? I suggest that if you are going to get into fighters, including the upcoming Dead or Alive 5, that you heavily support the community that embraces it. Whether something local like The Box Arena in San Diego, or the Street Fighter Online Xbox League, put in the time and you will get dividends out of it, and your community will grow. That being said though, here is the latest trailer for Dead or Alive 5. My honest opinion? Looks the same as Dead or Alive 4, just prettier. I hope they really hype this up until it comes out this fall, because it will need it with the steep competition that will be out. I did geek out seeing Akira in there though…Come on Team Ninja, show us you still got it!