I and a lot of people like myself have failed to realize just how much history that someone just being introduced to a fighting game has to learn. The term newcomer often times gets misused when you think of how difficult a fighting game will be for someone just getting into playing one...it's down right underestimated and often times highly overlooked.
This may be impart because we are in the age of information. Learning how to do a Hadouken is not as mysterious as it was in my time ; a time where people were often tight lipped on giving out information as it had the potential of limiting their turns at bat and their win ratio as well.
With some effort, you can pick up everything that took me months(and years in some cases) to learn in a few days, although, nothing really compares to having someone show you how to do things up close and personal, something that I feel has been lost some with playing online.
Given the amount of history I have with fighting games and the knowledge and skills that I've learned for over 20 years, it's no wonder why fighting games are not the most popular when it comes to the pick up and play mentality.
This years Evolution 2015 revealed Rising Thunder a game that is being master minded by 3 of EVO's co-creators. Seth Killian, who is heading the project, is without a doubt one of fighting games biggest ambassadors when it comes to speaking on just how much enjoyment and competition one can have from playing them.
His journey has lead him from leaving his job as a professor, joining Capcom as a community manager and combat advisor for Street Fighter IV, to now game creator for a genre that is near and dear to his heart.
As someone who deeply understands the joy of fighting games, you would think the direction that Seth is going in for this game would be that of ole but it's far from what fighting game players have come to embrace and there is no telling the effect this may have once this game comes to its' full fruition.
With the creation of this fighting game, Seth has taken on a risk of alienating the veterans, the ones he for years sided with, the ones he appreciates deeply for the time and effort spent to obtain a high level of mastery, to stop alienating the ones who he so wants to help understand what he loves most about fighting games..the new comers.
He plans to make this happen by doing away with the challenging inputs making special moves accessible by the press of a button. This move could easily break the foundation of what we have held dear about fighting games but not in a negative way, rather, it could break new ground in finally inviting more people to enjoy fighting games then they've ever done before.
I for one embrace this idea. I've explained in past posts that there is more to fighting games then execution and Seth is willing to place his bets on execution being the root of the problem when it comes to getting people to stay and reach that next level. Though I applaud Seth for going in this direction I also can't help but feel something big is going to be lost.
That Hadouken that I learned back then, recalling the moment I successfully executed the move seems far more exciting to me now. Now, I can easily pull off the move but it wasn't until lately that I've come to an epiphany.
My fingers move across the d-pad as if I'm physically charging up my characters power. From there my finger pushes the button which releases the Hadouken. Games can't often express that feeling of control over ones character so vividly and I'm afraid Rising Thunder will not be able to emulate that feeling with its use of simple inputs.
Rising Thunder may just be the future and often times what the future holds are a few relics from the past. While games like the upcoming Street Fighter V assures us that a new generation of gamer's will get to experience the euphoria of throwing that first Hadouken, there is no telling if this may change once players have a taste of what Rising Thunder and fighting games like it may have to offer...more of an engaging experience in less of the time it would normally take to enjoy what a lot of gamer's have never had the chance of experiencing.
Time will tell if executing execution will be for the greater good.
With the creation of this fighting game, Seth has taken on a risk of alienating the veterans, the ones he for years sided with, the ones he appreciates deeply for the time and effort spent to obtain a high level of mastery, to stop alienating the ones who he so wants to help understand what he loves most about fighting games..the new comers.
He plans to make this happen by doing away with the challenging inputs making special moves accessible by the press of a button. This move could easily break the foundation of what we have held dear about fighting games but not in a negative way, rather, it could break new ground in finally inviting more people to enjoy fighting games then they've ever done before.
I for one embrace this idea. I've explained in past posts that there is more to fighting games then execution and Seth is willing to place his bets on execution being the root of the problem when it comes to getting people to stay and reach that next level. Though I applaud Seth for going in this direction I also can't help but feel something big is going to be lost.
That Hadouken that I learned back then, recalling the moment I successfully executed the move seems far more exciting to me now. Now, I can easily pull off the move but it wasn't until lately that I've come to an epiphany.
My fingers move across the d-pad as if I'm physically charging up my characters power. From there my finger pushes the button which releases the Hadouken. Games can't often express that feeling of control over ones character so vividly and I'm afraid Rising Thunder will not be able to emulate that feeling with its use of simple inputs.
Rising Thunder may just be the future and often times what the future holds are a few relics from the past. While games like the upcoming Street Fighter V assures us that a new generation of gamer's will get to experience the euphoria of throwing that first Hadouken, there is no telling if this may change once players have a taste of what Rising Thunder and fighting games like it may have to offer...more of an engaging experience in less of the time it would normally take to enjoy what a lot of gamer's have never had the chance of experiencing.
Time will tell if executing execution will be for the greater good.
