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Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter - The Time is Right

Because the vast, vast majority of players who play fighting games aren't competitive and don't care about esports.

So everyone is playing MKX and Injustice, just not online or at tournaments. They're players like me. I haven't even gone online in Injustice 2 yet once, yet I've sunk dozens of hours into the Multiverse.

Right, then why do games like MK bother to be competitive at all? Why the focus on 60 frames per second gameplay, extensive combos, a high learning curve? etc. If most people looking for games of this genre don't care about esports at all, then why do Netherrealm even try to design their games with competitive audiences in mind?

Looking at these games competitively does not just mean spectating tournaments, going to EVO, etc. but can include just wanting them to feel fair when playing with friends.

I do not deny the appeal of a good story mode, but I would much rather a game whose gameplay had greater, lasting appeal. In the end I will come back and play games like USFIV in several years time, because of the value inherent to its gameplay design, but I am unlikely to do the same for MKX or Injustice 2.

I'm not saying that the way Netherealm build games is wrong, but we were getting a Street Fighter x game then I would want that focus on gameplay value, competitive appeal, not cinematic and single player functor. It's just more important to me in the long term.
 

PSqueak

Banned
Nah, MK v. Darkstalkers is the one that works. MK v. Street Fighter would be awful.

To quote myself from here:



To add to that, NRS already has a game that uses a lifebar system similar to DS.

I have been saying this for years, and yes, Darkstalkers characters have fatalities, just not in the way of Mortal Kombat, but finishing your opponent with certain moves will kill them, slice them in a half (both vertically and horizontally!), splatter them, explode them, etc
 

wildfire

Banned
Then why isn't everyone playing MKX and Injustice this gen? Why are Netherrealms' fighters drawing comparably miniscule numbers of spectators and competitive players?

Injustice will pick up in size eventually. Netherrealm games haven't been lacking in drawing crowds since Mortal Kombat IX.

Besides, Netherrelm has been crushing it in sales for fighting games. They have the largest playerbases. The tourney scene is played by a minority in any game though I would say the exception for current active users is Smash Melee because of how old it is.
 

Garlador

Member
Right, then why do games like MK bother to be competitive at all? Why the focus on 60 frames per second gameplay, extensive combos, a high learning curve? etc. If most people looking for games of this genre don't care about esports at all, then why do Netherrealm even try to design their games with competitive audiences in mind?

Looking at these games competitively does not just mean spectating tournaments, going to EVO, etc. but can include just wanting them to feel fair when playing with friends.

I do not deny the appeal of a good story mode, but I would much rather a game whose gameplay had greater, lasting appeal. In the end I will come back and play games like USFIV in several years time, because of the value inherent to its gameplay design, but I am unlikely to do the same for MKX or Injustice 2.

I'm not saying that the way Netherealm build games is wrong, but we were getting a Street Fighter x game then I would want that focus on gameplay value, competitive appeal, not cinematic and single player functor. It's just more important to me in the long term.
Have your cake and eat it too. NRS casts a wide net and their games are growing longer and longer legs.

I mean, yeah. I still easily find players in MKX. It's still popular. But even any fighter outside of Street Fighter (and Smash Melee) is lucky to have longevity beyond a few years at the tournament scene, no matter how good.

No one is going to argue Tekken 5, or Soul Calibur V, or Dead or Alive 5, or Guilty Gear Xrd are bad fighting games, but they tend to last as long as many NRS games do on the competitive level.

But there are PLENTY of great tournament MK players. I follow a lot of them, and they can make magic with the games.

I would love SF style gameplay though married to NRS presentation, story, and content.
 

Pompadour

Member
It's partially because the competitive scene is pretty much trained to think Capcom fighters are the definitive fighters.

I think it's more likely that the people who buy and play NRS games are much less likely to enjoy them as eSports or whatever. That's more logical than Capcom brainwashing people.
 

Sephzilla

Member
I think it's more likely that the people who buy and play NRS games are much less likely to enjoy them as eSports or whatever. That's more logical than Capcom brainwashing people.

It's that too. NetherRealm games appeal to a more casual audience. But I've met enough people who will only swear by Capcom fighters to make me think there's a bit of a bias toward Capcom though in the competitive world. Not that isn't necessarily unearned, mind you.
 

Baleoce

Member
KI vs MK would be more thematically in line. K-k-k-k-***** Breaker

(wait, why does this board censor k.o.m.b.o?)
 
I still want this. LOL at everyone in denial saying NOPE, you know everyone ITT that has interest in both series would day 1 this game.

I would be down for either a MvC aesthetic or have a situation like SFXTK where you have both companies making two different games.
 

The Adder

Banned
This isn't true?

We're talking about a community that claims there was a fighting game drought in the 2000s when almost every fighting game company except Capcom was still regularly putting out games. Only proclaiming it was over when SFIV was released.

You have to admit there is absolutely a degree of bias there.
 

RSTEIN

Comics, serious business!
The issue is that NRS, as a developer, runs circles around Capcom. People here seem to want SVF-like gameplay but NRS has the talent, the right people, and the marketing chops. Capcom just isn't at their level.
 

RSTEIN

Comics, serious business!
Is Mortal Kombat even a thing in Japan?



That's cute. Capcom is a publisher, they do very little in-house development nowadays. SFIV and SFV were developed by Dimps.

You know what I meant. SVF was developed by Capcom/Dimps. Dimps is full of Capcom people.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
Is Mortal Kombat even a thing in Japan?



That's cute. Capcom is a publisher, they do very little in-house development nowadays. SFIV and SFV were developed by Dimps.
Most of SFV was in-house, & MvCI is being made entirely in-house.
 

Eidan

Member
The issue is that NRS, as a developer, runs circles around Capcom. People here seem to want SVF-like gameplay but NRS has the talent, the right people, and the marketing chops. Capcom just isn't at their level.

This is the truth.

SF needs MK. MK doesn't need SF.
 
Lmao mk always makes so many nerds on here salty for whatever reason

The success of NRS fighting games are a reminder that the genre will never be genuinely popular. For people who treat fighting games like a lifestyle instead of a simple hobby, it's difficult to admit.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
The issue is that NRS, as a developer, runs circles around Capcom. People here seem to want SFV-like gameplay but NRS has the talent, the right people, and the marketing chops. Capcom just isn't at their level.
Maybe not the animation talent outside of cutscenes, but they definitely know how to polish a game in every other regard.

But yeah, let Capcom handle the gameplay & in-game animations, while NRS does everything else.
 

Wild Card

Member
Only in different ways. The main thing Capcom has an issue with is content updates and balancing. Their character animations and tight gameplay has always been their strong suit. NRS is good with content updates and balancing, but their animations are still janky looking to this day and their gameplay has an acquired feel. Capcom has the slight edge here.

Did you actually just say NRS does balance well? Lol. People may complain about capcoms balancing lately, but there still one of the better ones.
 
Have your cake and eat it too. NRS casts a wide net and their games are growing longer and longer legs.

I mean, yeah. I still easily find players in MKX. It's still popular. But even any fighter outside of Street Fighter (and Smash Melee) is lucky to have longevity beyond a few years at the tournament scene, no matter how good.

No one is going to argue Tekken 5, or Soul Calibur V, or Dead or Alive 5, or Guilty Gear Xrd are bad fighting games, but they tend to last as long as many NRS games do on the competitive level.

But there are PLENTY of great tournament MK players. I follow a lot of them, and they can make magic with the games.


I would love SF style gameplay though married to NRS presentation, story, and content.

I think many would argue that these are bad fighting games. Dead or Alive is incredibly dull and generally unpopular for a myriad of reasons, and they're frequently argued. The MT model that drives the success of that series only requires a small, dedicated userbase to sustain profitability.

Guilty Gear Xrd is fine, but the artstyle lacks appeal for a lot of people, so a lot of people will argue against that, it's a fair reason not to like a game. I mean, I wouldn't play a game I didn't like the look of (I don't play KOFXIV because I think it's ugly). Personally I think it looks great, but I can also see how for new players it appears more inaccessible because it's harder for them to see and understand what's happening due to all of the effects and whatnot.

Tekken is at least popular in Asia, where Tekken tournaments still bring in good numbers, and the game still has prominence both competitively, and in arcades for many years. Tekken survives considerably longer than Netherrealm games do.

Anyway... I feel that there are two core reasons that MK lacks competitive support, and those largely come down to the game lacking depth. Matches are often underpinned by the simplest of strategies, either projectile zoning or high-execution combos initiated by 50/50s, and there's little nuance in-between. There's very little of interest to its neutral game, which is often tedious to watch as players repeat the same cycle of projectiles over and over, or a rock paper scissors style affair.

The second reason is balance, the Injustice characters are just so far apart from each other in their functionality that some matchups can be incredibly painful to watch. Not everyone has all of the options built into their kit that they require. That doesn't mean that the matches lack diversity, at high levels of play there's usually a number of different characters at the upper echelons, but the ones at the bottom are incredibly far down. Characters like The Joker in Injustice 1 are outright useless and none of the balance updates meaningfully addressed that.
 

Garlador

Member
I think many would argue that these are bad fighting games. Dead or Alive is incredibly dull and generally unpopular for a myriad of reasons, and they're frequently argued. The MT model that drives the success of that series only requires a small, dedicated userbase to sustain profitability.

Guilty Gear Xrd is fine, but the artstyle lacks appeal for a lot of people, so a lot of people will argue against that, it's a fair reason not to like a game. I mean, I wouldn't play a game I didn't like the look of (I don't play KOFXIV because I think it's ugly). Personally I think it looks great, but I can also see how for new players it appears more inaccessible because it's harder for them to see and understand what's happening due to all of the effects and whatnot.

Tekken is at least popular in Asia, where Tekken tournaments still bring in good numbers, and the game still has prominence both competitively, and in arcades for many years. Tekken survives considerably longer than Netherrealm games do.

Anyway... I feel that there are two core reasons that MK lacks competitive support, and those largely come down to the game lacking depth. Matches are often underpinned by the simplest of strategies, either projectile zoning or high-execution combos initiated by 50/50s, and there's little nuance in-between. There's very little of interest to its neutral game, which is often tedious to watch as players repeat the same cycle of projectiles over and over, or a rock paper scissors style affair.

The second reason is balance, the Injustice characters are just so far apart from each other in their functionality that some matchups can be incredibly painful to watch. Not everyone has all of the options built into their kit that they require. That doesn't mean that the matches lack diversity, at high levels of play there's usually a number of different characters at the upper echelons, but the ones at the bottom are incredibly far down. Characters like The Joker in Injustice 1 are outright useless and none of the balance updates meaningfully addressed that.
I think all of those are "mileage may vary" things. Like, I haven't met anyone who wasn't impressed by Guilty Gear Xrd's anime-style 3D models.

Same with tiers lists of any kind. There's always someone at the top and someone at the bottom. Inversely, I've seen really good Injustice 1 Joker players at tournaments, so he can't be entirely useless, just as Superman isn't entirely unbeatable either.

I think it's a weird situation where Mortal Kombat currently has higher global success as a brand outside of Japan (I don't think a single tournament contender for MKX was from Japan), while Street Fighter thrives in its home turf first and foremost.

I think that's the benefit to both parties. MK has little Asian presence (despite half the roster being Asian characters), while Street Fighter, while recognizable, has cooled in popularity compared to other games and needs the boost. There IS a benefit to a union of the two.
 

@MUWANdo

Banned
Mortal Kombat hasn't been released in Japan in twenty years and WB is content to keep it that way.

They made an effort to push the first Injustice in Japan but it mustn't have worked because they didn't bother this time.
 

Garlador

Member
Mortal Kombat hasn't been released in Japan in twenty years and WB is content to keep it that way.

They made an effort to push the first Injustice in Japan but it mustn't have worked because they didn't bother this time.

Injustice 2 is coming to Japan by the end of the year. Not sure where you heard otherwise.
 

Glowsquid

Member
I'm one of the few nuts who doesn't want MK vs Street Fighter, but rather Capcom vs Midway. So that it also includes characters from things like Ready 2 Rumble and primal rage
 

btrboyev

Member
Nope. The latest MK may be better fighting games than past ones, but Street Fighter does not belong with it.

It may be snobbish to say, but Street Fighter has too much pedigree.
 

Metalmarc

Member
Nah, during the time of Mortal Kombat 9 and Street Fighter 4, i'd have said yes


Now nope

Horror Fighters Offical non fangame though yes please
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
Only in different ways. The main thing Capcom has an issue with is content updates and balancing. Their character animations and tight gameplay has always been their strong suit. NRS is good with content updates and balancing, but their animations are still janky looking to this day and their gameplay has an acquired feel. Capcom has the slight edge here.
Actually, one of NRS's issues is that they typically patch too quickly before people get to adapt. That said, they've improved a bit in this regard in recent years.
 

@MUWANdo

Banned
Injustice 2 is coming to Japan by the end of the year. Not sure where you heard otherwise.

I didn't hear a single thing about it and even the articles I've seen that listed it as TBA 2017 in Japan seemed like they were making assumptions that weren't definite but if it was announced anywhere credible, let me know.
 
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