Shooters and MMORPGs may feel at home online, but not fighters.
There sure is, say fighting game players. So when you can stay home and play in your underpants, is there really any point in venturing out to an arcade? No substitute Take Microsoft's Xbox Live: In 2003, there were 350,000 gamers subscribed to the online gaming platform - now there are 48 million. After that, online play started to become the home of multiplayer. In that time, home consoles became far more popular, with Sony's original PlayStation becoming the first console to sell over 100 million units. Guilty Gear still gets arcade updates, but has little presence outside of Japan. Similarly, Mortal Kombat 4, released in 1997, was the last game in the franchise to hit arcades. Virtua Fighter, a fixture in the scene in the early '90s, fell off due to Sega's infrequent releases - just two got arcade releases since 1996. In that time, almost all franchises other than Tekken fell by the wayside. 1999's Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike was followed in 2008 by Street Fighter IV. It was the one-two punch of infrequent releases and increasingly popular home consoles that spelled the end of the arcade scene.Īs Harada points out, Capcom didn't release a new Street Fighter game for nearly a decade. "It's hard to say we can continue this for the coming years," Harada admitted, "if we didn't have that arcade base for Tekken we could have not made it to Tekken 7." Cause of death It's a shame, because arcades help developers. With Street Fighter V not getting an arcade release, Tekken stands as the last blockbuster fighter to get arcade play. Harada added that little details, like costume overhauls and graphical changes to stages and backgrounds, were made based on player feedback. But they will notice Tekken 7's distinct style. Tekken is known and loved for its accessibility and most casual players won't understand the game enough to feel the difference between a middling B+ and a top-level S-tier character. Jin, because he stood head-and-shoulders above all other characters.īut balance is something that typically only impacts serious players. In 2002's Tekken 4, almost every tournament match up would be Jin vs. Akuma was so strong in Street Fighter II: Turbo that he was banned from all official tournaments in the US. One overpowered character can ruin a whole game. The arcade release, he said, was key to balancing out the characters. "There was a lot that was changed based on feedback from the players," Katsuhiro Harada, executive producer of Tekken 7, said to CNET. Street Fighter V was the first main game in the franchise that didn't get an arcade release. Since this is where fighting games are traditionally first released, it's unclear how much longer the franchise's arcade scene will live on for.Īrcades aren't dead, but they're dying.
Street Fighter V, released on PS4 and PC last year, became the first game in the franchise that didn't get an arcade release. Nowadays, there are two fighting games you'll find in an arcade: Tekken and Street Fighter. But others kept on, and Sydney still has a small-but-dedicated community of fighting game fans, as do many cities in the US. When my main arcade shut down, I fell off the bandwagon. I never got close, but I have fond memories of learning the intricacies of a deep game and meeting plenty of friends doing it. I'd spend countless hours each week in the arcade trying to master the craft of virtual close-quarter combat. My local arcade closed down.įor years, I was a dedicated Tekken player. Something terrible happened to me four years ago.