The Curious Case Of The Edition Addiction

It's been said that Street Fighter II single-handedly saved the arcades from an early demise ; it can also be said that it increased the quarter count to.  Any way you slice it, Street Fighter II not only ushered in a new genre of gaming, it birthed a new kind of competition, one that gave an individual instant gratification and legendary status amongst their gaming peers.

After the stunning success of Street Fighter II, many games like it started to flood the arcades and brought with them new favorites like Mortal Kombat and Fatal Fury. Through it all Street Fighter II, however, remained the favorite and it also managed to do something that a lot of the other fighting games did not and that was edition, and edition, and edition some more.  

It all started with Championship Edition which allowed for mirror matches, playable bosses, and character balances. Not very long after, it brought an edition that increased the speed and added new character move sets. While arcade owners quickly jumped at these updates, young kids jumped at every new game cartridge that came to market. What at the time seemed like a superior milking job was actually a renaissance of sorts as no other game spent so much time refining not only the way the game looked but the way that it played.

Once the new generation of video games began, Street Fighter was there to introduce us to the Alpha series. What was really interesting about the new series is that it never saw an edition per se as they continued to revise and add additional characters and mechanics to each new game.

Not very soon after, Street Fighter III was released but the landscaped of fighting games and arcade culture as we know it started to change. Despite these changes, Street Fighter III trudged through returning to its' old formula of bringing out new editions for the latest game in the series.

Fast forward and Street Fighter IV has created a bursting resurgence in the genre that the series itself gave birth to. Like many, I'm happy to see its' return but am somewhat bummed at the fact that a great deal of the old guard is missing. At this time DLC was the new way to add extra content to games and many anticipated that Street Fighter IV would do the same, boy were we wrong.

A year later, Super Street Fighter IV is released and I'm getting that feeling of  deja vu. While some are excited about this new edition, I'm a little perturbed. I am no longer that little kid who sees something shiny and new and wants it instantly..I'm now an adult that sees something shiny and new and wants it instantly but doesn't quite like the price. 

"You're practically getting a whole new game" they said but I wasn't sold. To me, it was the milking process all over again and it was almost like we were doomed for all eternity...ok maybe not doomed but I definitely felt gloom. For the rest of the consoles life cycle, I would be tempted with each new edition that reared its' ugly head and be forced to be patient or pay the price.

Now, I could have lived with Street Fighter doing this because it is the grand daddy after all but unfortunately almost every other fighting game began to pick up the same edition addiction. Unlike Consoles, adding a new edition to the Arcade comes at the cost of doing business and can just as easily be loved or shunned, either way the brunt of the cost is on the owner not the individual enjoying it.

The arcades in some ways tease us like the kid on the block who gets the first of everything and the instant you see his new toy, you want one. Publishers bank on this and so the edition addiction is in full play. For the individual who spends their every waking moment on said fighting game of choice, a new addition is as good as it gets for them. For the rest of us who look for new games and experiences, this becomes a little bit expensive.

Now the new age of gaming is upon us ,and while some developers seem to be asking for patience while they continue to create more content and changes, others seem to be betting on the same premise - that you're going to want more. It's hard to tell at the moment if the edition addiction will be in full effect for this generation. All I can do for now is try my best not to look less I end up glamored...it is so hard not to look.

The wait is sooo over!!

As someone who has slowly but surely migrated over to playing games on the PC(I shall return console. This, I promise), I'm starting to find things that are just a bit redundant when it comes to playing online..especially with certain games. I have been quite revved up about increasing the number of fighting game reviews before I approach the first year of my website.

Unfortunately, I'm only up to one review..yes..one review. Now, I could go into greater detail as to why my review count is pretty much non-existent but I'm going to save the sad songs for another day and get to the issue in question. There has been a great deal of moving, shutdowns, and even false alarms when it has come to online multiplayer fighting games.

Despite these changes, I've taking advantage of some great sales in hopes that I would get to review some of these amazing fighting game titles but I've come across some very hard obstacles during this journey. Most of these issues seem to stem from bugs but more importantly these bugs seem to have gone unchecked and honestly..I've about had enough of it.

Now, I'm not one to fly off the handle when a game has problems that need fixing. I believe myself to be somewhat of a patient man but I'm tired. I'm tired of spending all this time in preparation to review these games only to come up short near the finish line because the online netcode is having major issues.

I'm at an impasse at this point and it's time to make some tough decisions despite the future relationships these decisions may crush.  I want these companies to win ; I want to see more fighting game titles come to PC but if these companies are unwilling to take some time out of their, what I can understand to be hectic, schedule, I'm going to have to let people know what is going on.

It was not that I wanted to put a pretty dressing on something that does not look very presentable, I just wanted to give these companies sometime to look...presentable and I honestly believed that things would be fixed in a timely manner..call me gullible..I promise no offense taken.  In the end, these companies have let me down and I can no longer wait. What I'm saying is, it is time to get this show on the road and if you are not ready, then that is just too bad.

I intend to be truthful and give as much of an unbiased opinion as humanely possible. So, with said it's time to get some more reviews done for the site. I wish things could just work but sadly life can throw you some unexpected curve balls and you just have to roll with the punches despite how hard of a blow they may give.

Fighting games from the far east.

Previously, I talked about the lack of new IP's when it came to fighting games and the fact that the next generation has the possibility of continuing this trend and maybe, just maybe I got a little ahead of myself.  How you ask? Honestly, I felt like I saw the glass half empty and this was partly due to my focus on the major fighting game companies and their blockbuster titles.

Though we've come to the end of the road when it comes to the current gen systems, I'm astonished to find there are a great deal of potential fighting games that are galloping on the horizon..even if their primarily exclusive to one system.  The long awaited announcement of Under Night In-Birth was like a heavy burden lifting off my chest.

I was so convinced that this game would never touch a console and that I'd only be able to gaze upon it's magnificent sprite based animation if, I chose to fly half way around the world to find it in one of  the last few standing arcades on the planet. No worries!! The game is making its' way to Northern shores by next year but more importantly, if you can't wait, you can grab it now!

 For sometime now, imports have always been a very infectious option for curing the ailment of your anticipated impatience. As a young man, I spent a great deal of money during Playstation One's golden era to experience my first import Street Fighter Vs X-Men. Whether the impulse was premature didn't matter. For that moment in time, I was elated at the fact I had my hands on the home version of the next era of fighting game goodness.

Imports are even more accessible now then they used to be. Now a days, you can download them and their region free. Patience is taking an ass whopping of epic proportions from technology and you honestly can't help but love the happiness it brings to those who no longer have to wait from across the pond to get their hands on an amazing fighting game title.

While our Northern American brethren have not quite embraced this idea of creating more fighting game IPs(NRS being the only company holding fort), Japan has been quite the opposite. Sega, a company whose been pretty quiet on the fighting front, has Denki Bunko Fighting Climax slated to release in japan on November 13 and they've already gotten another title Blade Arcus in development soon to be released in Arcades!!

Add a few japan only titles in the mix, and I would have to say that this current gen had a pretty good representation. Unfortunately, a few titles didn't make the play it online roster like cult favorite Chaos Code but I really have to admit that we've gotten more then enough when it comes to fighting games this generation. 

So I'm saying that I was totally wrong. Expecting the power houses that stand a top fighting game god mountain to create more original titles was maybe just a little too much of an expectation but I know at least one company that has done this in past..you know who you are. The possibilities for next-gen are getting just a little bit brighter each day and I know I can at least count on one continent to bring the fighting games full force. If import is the only way to play, so be it, I'm just glad we can get our hands on it.