The early 1990s were some of the best years to be a fighting game fan, and much of that is credited to one game - Street Fighter II. The 90s had some of the greatest fighting game releases - including SFII, MKII, UMKIII, MvC2, and others. American and Japanese arcades were making cash like crazy. But as the arcade seen died and online gaming became prominent, fighting games started waning in popularity.
New SSFIV/Tekken 6 recruits may not know this, but a major part of the last decade had a major drought of fighting games. There were more than a few articles and videos that mentioned 'Fighting games are dead', much like 'PC gaming is dead' articles we read nowadays.
Believe it or not, the Street Fighter brand had started to look irrelevant. To put things into perspective, in EVO2008, the US's biggest tournament, the two biggest tournaments were for SFIII:Third Strike and Capcom VS SNK 2 - two games that came out in 1999 and 2001 respectively.
Fighting games were very niche at the time - a genre for the most hardcore of gamers. Technically, there was never a total absence of fighting games between 2000-2008, its just that these fighters were either super niche, or not competitive enough to matter (3D Mortal Kombat games / Bloody Roar sequels).
Post-SFIII:TS, Capcom had dropped the ball when it came to new fighting game releases. Capcom concentrated their efforts in porting their past successes (SFII, Alpha 3, SFIII) to any platform or compilation they could. Their only new 2D fighting game release (Capcom Fighting Jam) bombed both critically and commercially. The prospect of a new, true Street Fighter game seemed impossible.
One developer that stayed dedicated to its fans was Namco, who released 6 major releases during this period, which can perhaps be credited to the relative newness of both the Tekken and Soul Calibur brands. In 2008, Capcom went back to its roots, and released Street Fighter IV. SFIII wasn't as commercially successful as SFII was, mainly due to its added complexity. Hence, Capcom decided to create SFIV around the core mechanics of SFII. In doing so, Capcom inadvertently did the impossible. Much like how SFII started the first age of fighting games, SFIV started their resurgence. And now, for the first time since the early 90s, is the best time to be a fighting gamer.
For reference, I'm posting major competitive fighting game releases by year. (Console Versions). I'm sure I'm going to miss some.
2000:
Capcom VS SNK
Marvel VS Capcom 2
Tekken Tag Tournament
2001:
Capcom VS SNK 2
Dead or Alive 3
2002:
Tekken 4
Virtua Fighter 4
Guilty Gear XX
2003:
Soul Calibur II
Guilty Gear XX #Reload
2005:
Tekken 5
Dead or Alive 4
Soul Calibur III
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core
2007:
Virtual Fighter 5
2008:
The return of Street Fighter?
Soul Calibur IV
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Street Fighter IV Turbo HD Remix
2009:
Welcome to the Resurgence!
Street Fighter IV
Blazblue: Calamity Trigger
Tekken 6
King of Fighters XII
Marvel VS Capcom 2 (PSN/XBLA)
2010:
Alive and Kickin'
SUPER Street Fighter IV
Blazblue: Continuum Shift
2011/2012
What is this I don't even ...
Street Fighter X Tekken
Tekken X Street Fighter
MvC3 Fate of Two Worlds
Mortal Kombat (W/Possible HD Collection)
3rd Strike for Matching Service
King of Fighters XIII
Arcana Heart 3
Virtua Fighter Final Showdown
DOA Dimensions
BlazeBluE Continuum Shift II
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Super Street Fighter IV 3DS
It suddenly feels like the 90s again. However, I can't help but feel that all these game companies are trying to milk whatever they can of the spotlight shining on fighting games right now thanks to Street Fighter. I'm afraid the general public will undergo fighting game fatigue and fighting games will become relatively extinct for another decade or more. Thoughts?
New SSFIV/Tekken 6 recruits may not know this, but a major part of the last decade had a major drought of fighting games. There were more than a few articles and videos that mentioned 'Fighting games are dead', much like 'PC gaming is dead' articles we read nowadays.
Believe it or not, the Street Fighter brand had started to look irrelevant. To put things into perspective, in EVO2008, the US's biggest tournament, the two biggest tournaments were for SFIII:Third Strike and Capcom VS SNK 2 - two games that came out in 1999 and 2001 respectively.
Fighting games were very niche at the time - a genre for the most hardcore of gamers. Technically, there was never a total absence of fighting games between 2000-2008, its just that these fighters were either super niche, or not competitive enough to matter (3D Mortal Kombat games / Bloody Roar sequels).
Post-SFIII:TS, Capcom had dropped the ball when it came to new fighting game releases. Capcom concentrated their efforts in porting their past successes (SFII, Alpha 3, SFIII) to any platform or compilation they could. Their only new 2D fighting game release (Capcom Fighting Jam) bombed both critically and commercially. The prospect of a new, true Street Fighter game seemed impossible.
One developer that stayed dedicated to its fans was Namco, who released 6 major releases during this period, which can perhaps be credited to the relative newness of both the Tekken and Soul Calibur brands. In 2008, Capcom went back to its roots, and released Street Fighter IV. SFIII wasn't as commercially successful as SFII was, mainly due to its added complexity. Hence, Capcom decided to create SFIV around the core mechanics of SFII. In doing so, Capcom inadvertently did the impossible. Much like how SFII started the first age of fighting games, SFIV started their resurgence. And now, for the first time since the early 90s, is the best time to be a fighting gamer.
For reference, I'm posting major competitive fighting game releases by year. (Console Versions). I'm sure I'm going to miss some.
2000:
Capcom VS SNK
Marvel VS Capcom 2
Tekken Tag Tournament
2001:
Capcom VS SNK 2
Dead or Alive 3
2002:
Tekken 4
Virtua Fighter 4
Guilty Gear XX
2003:
Soul Calibur II
Guilty Gear XX #Reload
2005:
Tekken 5
Dead or Alive 4
Soul Calibur III
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core
2007:
Virtual Fighter 5
2008:
The return of Street Fighter?
Soul Calibur IV
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Street Fighter IV Turbo HD Remix
2009:
Welcome to the Resurgence!
Street Fighter IV
Blazblue: Calamity Trigger
Tekken 6
King of Fighters XII
Marvel VS Capcom 2 (PSN/XBLA)
2010:
Alive and Kickin'
SUPER Street Fighter IV
Blazblue: Continuum Shift
2011/2012
What is this I don't even ...
Street Fighter X Tekken
Tekken X Street Fighter
MvC3 Fate of Two Worlds
Mortal Kombat (W/Possible HD Collection)
3rd Strike for Matching Service
King of Fighters XIII
Arcana Heart 3
Virtua Fighter Final Showdown
DOA Dimensions
BlazeBluE Continuum Shift II
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Super Street Fighter IV 3DS
It suddenly feels like the 90s again. However, I can't help but feel that all these game companies are trying to milk whatever they can of the spotlight shining on fighting games right now thanks to Street Fighter. I'm afraid the general public will undergo fighting game fatigue and fighting games will become relatively extinct for another decade or more. Thoughts?