Opinion Ed – Concerns over Street Fighter 6

This is an opinion piece regarding Street Fighter 6.

It’s June of 1993, at the end of watching Jurassic Park. You ask your dad for a few quarters to play a round of Street Fighter 2. Your dad gives you the change, and you begin the game as Ken (one of the characters). Another kid asks to play against you, and you accept. You’re doing good, winning each match. The other kid eventually gives up because he runs out of money.

You beat the other characters he used, and you think you beat the game. Just then, 3 more faces you have never seen before appear. Your first computer opponent is a boxer you didn’t even know existed. You get beat badly because you have no idea who he is or his fighting patterns.

On the way home, your dad is impressed with the game (Dhalsim is where he started interest), and over time when you do good for the week you’re taken to the same movie theater (or Walmart) to play a few games of Street Fighter 2. You notice the machines are then exchanged for SF2 Turbo, where you can play as the bosses. You’re the first kid at your school who successfully beat the arcade machine and got to view an ending (I beat the game as Ryu). The game has an impact where your own dad even gets involved and plays with you and your friends. He even finds ways to beat the computer and tells you about it.

It’s Xmas of 1993, and you’re gifted Street Fighter 2 Special Champion Edition for Sega Genesis. Some of your friends come over to play like you would at the arcades.

This is one situation where a video game has such an impact where your parent(s) even get involved and have fun. Can 6 produce the same results as the previous titles?

Some would answer yes because with the newer titles, there are training modes, easier inputs, and other ways to help people learn the games together. While this is true, the question remains: What did the older games provide to draw in adults back then?

There are some major concerns where the community as a whole can’t decide on a middle ground.

New content post release – this is one of the biggest concerns plaguing the fighting game community (fgc) today. So many gamers today are used to the fact of buying post game content and usually try to justify why this practice is acceptable. I, as well as others, grew up in a time when a game was sold as complete. You’re given the roster and game modes, and you make the best of things. Characters were unlocked by playing the game(s), not downloading. And before technology is brought up, there are games back in the 90s and early 2000s where 30+ characters were available, balanced (excluding cheats/exploits), and again, having fun came first.

Mechanical jargon – Back then, you learned the game through trial/error, having fun, and learning together. Now? YouTube videos, frame data, why X move is bad during Y, slang, and other nonsense. While the majority (like me) know the jargon, there’s a whole lot of other players who don’t.

Throw a meaty fireball during x. Huh?

Y move is +/- on block. What?

Do X move on wake-up. Say what?

You picked X, so I’m gonna counter pick with Y – this is one of the biggest reasons why Japanese tournaments have you pick your character(s), and you’re locked in. All characters can win/lose on any match.

Having fun comes last

Constant trash talking because someone plays different than you

Toxic (online) behaviors

Following the meta

Keep in mind that I’m not knocking SF6 at all. I’m voicing concerns between myself, older gamers, and newer gamers who want to try something different.

Down the line I do plan on owning SF6 only if someone buys the game for me, or the game is sold as complete with all the characters and modes already available.

So what’s the point of all this?

Having fun comes first

If you form a bond, keep it

Never outshine the master(s)

We are all human at the end of the day

Do what makes you, the player, happy

Everyone has a story to tell about how a game influenced them. No story means the influence isn’t as strong