I <3333 SF:IV.
I really do Have you ever played a game to the point that you cant stop thinking about it?
Well I will have you know that SF:IV is that game for me right now. After release and all during spring break,which is over for me now as of Sunday, I was only thinking of Ken, his moves and how can I use them to my advantage against each character respectively. My social life has suffered. Neglecting friends and family was hard, at least my girl made it hard. But I have logged in almost 200 hours in SF:IV, and I see myself continuing that for a very long time. The game is my life source at the moment.
But the problem here, and my rant, is that some of the hardcore players have shown disdain to SF:IV.
And in some of the
SRK and
CAPCOM-MUNITY forums this is playing out like a broken record to me. Hell, I have seen some of the complaints even be called 'constructive critism'.
QUE POCA MADRE!!!
This gets a sour taste in my mouth, the bitching... constructive criticism is not the same as bitching.
I remember a time where SF:IV was never gonna happen, and people bitched.
When we got it at last, people bitched.
And before that, people bitched during SF3 when the returning characters were only like 4. And now people are bitching when there is mostly returning characters.
People bitched at the still picture endings in the arcade version, and bitched a lot more when we got animated prologues and endings on the consoles...
You see the pattern? It's depressing. In my eyes SF:IV was marketed and designed like a new IP would, with very little risk. And Capcom as a business made the right choice IMO and it left them in a really good position, and an even better position for us, the fans. Assuming Capcom are pleased with SF:IV, they will allow SF:V and let the team get more creative, allowing Ono (hopefully, I liked his decisions for the most part) to have more liberty with the character designs, story, gameplay and of course most likely in game cutscenes since the budget of a supposed SF:V after this successful SF:IV will be steeper.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, this bitching. Because people expected more from SFIV, and who wouldn't expect more from a sequel to one of the biggest franchises in the gaming industry? Especially after a 10 year hiatus. But we need to realize SF:IV on most levels DELIVERED but above all it achieved the most important goal some fighter fans have forgotten, it has re-ignited the series, I would go as far as to say maybe even the genre.
SF:IV set the stage for a revival and hopefully a new line of equally successful sequels.
And this leaves a resounding FUCK YEAH! in my mind. What about you?
/rant