A VP at Capcom agrees with a fan who wants casual-friendly fighters.
The world of fighting games can be a harsh place sometimes. Between a fierce competitive scene, constant updates and re-releases of full-priced games, and the occasional bout of sexist trash-talk, the intense, chaotic, and engaging world of fighters is not the easiest genre for a newbie. In fact, even just learning the ropes can be tough, as one Capcom fan pointed out on the official forums recently. No less than a Capcom vice president replied to his concerns, though, agreeing that Capcom needs to draw in more casual fighting fans, and expressing hope that future Capcom games will provide the right tools to ease new players in.
The thread’s initial post by “SamusTheHedgehog” expressed a lot of enthusiasm for recent Capcom hits like Street Fighter IV and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but lamented the fact that playing the game to its fullest requires the use of many moves that lack any kind of in-game training beyond a free-form Practice mode. Christian Svensson, a senior vice president, jumped into the thread one page later. Instead of defending this lack of tutorial mode in the games, however, Svensson took SamusTheHedgehog’s side more or less unequivocally.
“I’d say we have varying levels of success in making sure there’s enough content and fun in the mechanics even if you don’t know how to plink, FADC or DHC,” Svensson wrote. “[Street Fighter X Tekken] was intended to be a bit more casual friendly and frankly, I think with the introduction of so many new systems … we probably overcomplicated things and it worked against that objective.” Svensson explained that while Capcom has had good intentions in trying to implement tutorial modes, the company has yet to go far enough in welcoming new players and showing them the ropes. “I know some competitive players will scoff,” he admitted, “but the vitality of the scene is linked to how successful we all are (I say all because the community needs to be accepting of new players too) in these efforts.”
If Svensson has his way, Capcom’s next big fighting game title might be as friendly to new players as it is rewarding for veteran fighting champs. With his humble attitude and forthright dialogue, Svensson may just set a precedent for the company in which honesty, innovation, and profit go hand-in-hand. “I’d like to think we can do better in the future,” he concluded.
Source: Capcom-Unity
