Mechanized
Member
Game sales?
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Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter, why is MK more popular in the US?
- Thread starter Doosi
- Start date
Game sales?
petran79
Banned
I remember watching some guy in the arcades playing MK3 with Kabal against CPU
This was the standard combo back then, except Motaro. Seems accessible
spin dash, LK, LK, HP, HP, D+HP, hop kick, fireball
As opposed to SF2 were you needed precise inputs for charge and shoryuken moves. Another guy in the arcades had finished WW with Ryu and he had to deploy much more caution and strategy
CrispyBoar
Banned
Game sales =/= Quality &/or Popularity.
Game sales. That's already been covered.
Box office.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Fighter_(1994_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Kombat_(film)
In terms of general popularity Mortal Kombat easily towers over SF.
Mechanized
Member
The question was in regard to popularity.
I understand "sales =/= quality", but wtf mean " sales =/= popularity"???
If a game sells more than another game, usually is more populare... Easy.
That sounds fairly ridiculous, do you have a source? The only reason I know that the crossover won't happen are producers/creators of SF don't want someone like Chun-Li getting her head ripped off.
By who? Tournament players? Because tournament players are dedicated (and small) but to say older MK isn't being played when there's a UMK3 focused tournament in the works with a $1,000 pot bonus is incorrect. If you mean by casuals then it's hard to gauge how much people play those games.
Agree and disagree. They're only hard if you're just getting into it and aren't used to the juggle mechanic/strings. To someone that has played a recent NRS game before it's fairly easy to get combos down in a couple hours. I just picked up D'vorah, who has run cancel combos, and I was doing her tougher ones after 30 minutes or so.
Edit:
Then how would you gauge popularity?
What's so ridiculous about that? As has been stated many times, MK was never any more than a curiosity in Japan and hasn't had a release over there in 20 years.
Look at it this way, MK has massive American appeal and SF has massive overseas appeal: why wouldn't you do a crossover that allows you to capture every bit of that massive appeal if that's what's holding you back? Another reason I find it strange is why do any of those weird crossovers (Tatsunoko vs. Capcom) or any crossovers with any brand that doesn't perform well outside Japan/US/Europe and then release it in those weak/non-existent regions?
Weltall Zero
Member
Hopefully you never get hired as any important diplomat, WW3 would immediately follow.
KingHenrik30
Member
It is? News to me. Haven't heard anyone talk about MKX in months.
A Pretty Panda
fuckin' called it, man
GootecksShimmy
Banned
Both have their perks. I find SF a way better franchise.
Why?
Characters
Fight mechanics in each iteration
Art Style
Net code in the recent iterations
Longevity (both for me online against opponents, and tournament scene watching)
I got burnt out pretty quick on MKX to be honest, and all their DLC characters were/are meh to me. Plus it became quite unfun to watch. :/
Why?
Characters
Fight mechanics in each iteration
Art Style
Net code in the recent iterations
Longevity (both for me online against opponents, and tournament scene watching)
I got burnt out pretty quick on MKX to be honest, and all their DLC characters were/are meh to me. Plus it became quite unfun to watch. :/
I kan't give solid numbers, but Mortal Kombat always seemed like more of a pop kulture phenomenon than Street Fighter here in the US. The modern MK games definitely have a wider reach, between much more fleshed-out single-player kontent and certain gameplay systems that are much easier to grasp for people who aren't into fighters. People who regularly play 2D fighters take holding back to block as second nature, but to people who are new it doesn't really make any sense compared to just having a button for guarding. The game also has simpler *****s thanks to the way repeated button presses kreate strings of attacks.
It's also worth remembering that, despite PS2-era MK games being of questionable quality, at least they existed, which can't really be said about Street Fighter games.
Finally, the kontroversy about the violence back when the first games were released really boosted the series into the American kollective konciousness. The general public has some idea about Mortal Kombat being "those games where Scorpion and Sub-Zero rip people's hearts out," and that never really stopped.
Of kourse, this is all just general observations about how things seem to me, a single layman.
It's also worth remembering that, despite PS2-era MK games being of questionable quality, at least they existed, which can't really be said about Street Fighter games.
Finally, the kontroversy about the violence back when the first games were released really boosted the series into the American kollective konciousness. The general public has some idea about Mortal Kombat being "those games where Scorpion and Sub-Zero rip people's hearts out," and that never really stopped.
Of kourse, this is all just general observations about how things seem to me, a single layman.
How does a block button make it easy to understand for casuals? The franchise with the greatest depth is Virtua Fighter, and that has a block button and only two attack buttons.
Deadpool_X
Banned
It isn't, is it? I don't know a single person who prefers MK over SF. SF is the cream of the crop, and while people may enoy MK, KI, GG, or any of the SNK fighters, they still go back to SF for the definitive fighting experience.
Because a dedicated button is easier to grasp than "away" or "back".
Nice to meet you, my name is Albert aka Compbros, I prefer MK over SF. "People I know" is largely anecdotal when compared to the mainstream as a whole.
Askherserenity
Member
It just appeals to the mass market here, obviously. The over the top violence helps.
And yes, it's a game the more casual crowd would purchase instead of SF. Not sure how that is surprising or a knock against the game.
And yes, it's a game the more casual crowd would purchase instead of SF. Not sure how that is surprising or a knock against the game.
CrispyBoar
Banned
I understand what the two of you are saying, but I figured that if a certain fighting game or a FPS is truly popular, that it would still be played throughout everyone everywhere, like with Halo 2 & Halo 3.
Popularity of games should be measured by more than just having huge sales when it comes to these genres.
Still be played by who though? I've made this post already but if you mean tournament players then they're a small, dedicated people. If you mean by casuals then how do you judge that?
It is the gore and violence and just craziness that draws to MK.
Story? Fuck no. MK had a good story going for a few games and then went off of the rails and blew it all to hell and then it because a clusterfuck.
The singler player and modes are nice, but with my friends personal and feed and people in the local community it is the craziness of it.
But Street Fighter is THE game, will always be THE game.
I love SNK, I love Virtua Fighter, I love Tekken, I love Soul Calibur.
But Street Fighter is THE fighting game at the end of the day.
Story? Fuck no. MK had a good story going for a few games and then went off of the rails and blew it all to hell and then it because a clusterfuck.
The singler player and modes are nice, but with my friends personal and feed and people in the local community it is the craziness of it.
But Street Fighter is THE game, will always be THE game.
I love SNK, I love Virtua Fighter, I love Tekken, I love Soul Calibur.
But Street Fighter is THE fighting game at the end of the day.
In my region, "people I know" prefered KoFXIII and TT2 as the definitive fighting experience last gen. I don't know a single person who didn't drop SFIV when those games launched.
You see how that works ?
Yes, that's part of it. Also the characters, atmosphere, and low barrier of entry in terms of pulling off combos and special moves.
The story has become more streamlined than ever, doing away with the true clusterfuck of Armagedden, getting back to basics, and now expanding/reimagining itself.
People that don't care for multiplayer appreciate the single player modes.
No, you can't say it will ALWAYS be the game because it's not impossible for it to be dethroned in the FGC, even if it takes 20 years it can happen. As far as sales it's not even the best selling fighter.
And VF was very popular when it first came out. It remained popular until around the 3rd or 4th game.
I vaguely remember speaking to some Capcom reps, S-kill and another dude and one guy said something about a lack of Eastern appeal despite Midway at the time being very keen. I doubt it's the primary reason and other sources say the violence is the main problem. Other sources primarily say stuff about the rating :
http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2011/oct/24/game-rating-stands-way-crossover-mortal-kombat/
We live in a world where there was a teen rated mk ( mk vs dc)
There's been crossovers with games that are not remotely alike (tekken vs sf)
It's just money being left on the table.
Ah, so it was older discussion since MK does well enough in Europe now being the 9th best selling title of the first half of last year and #26 overall (physical only).
People hated MK vs. DC. In part because it was simply a bad game and in part to how lame the "Fatalities" and Heroic Brutalities were. Plus Boon wants SF vs. MK/MK vs. SF to be M rated.
http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2014/...tial-and-new-finishing-moves-mortal-kombat-x/
That said it'd be very easy to do a TxSF/SFxT thing where each developer makes their own game but then it comes down to the violence again.
It seems stupid to care do much about fatalities. I'd gladly replace fatalities with win quotes to ensure the game was made.
Well fatalities are a part of MK so I'd think there'd be some form of them in. As it stands Capcom won't budge on having their characters mutilated and Boon won't budge on an M rated crossover.
Cuz MK is 2edgy4me.
I was actually surprised by how well MK9 played and do think MKX is a solid fighter. But while it's the "badass" image that sells these games it's the same dark aesthetic that puts me off from them. I'll admit that some of the humor gives me a chuckle (ex. Cassie's selfie fatality) and if it struck that comedy/gore balance more often I would give the series another look.
I was actually surprised by how well MK9 played and do think MKX is a solid fighter. But while it's the "badass" image that sells these games it's the same dark aesthetic that puts me off from them. I'll admit that some of the humor gives me a chuckle (ex. Cassie's selfie fatality) and if it struck that comedy/gore balance more often I would give the series another look.
It is konfusing, to be sure.
Gunslinger
Member
But MK have bad player retention rate. Within a month the online becomes barren wasteland. They do sell more than SF though here in US. Smash on the other hand is casual friendly like MK but can also retain players. Didn't smash sell very well too?
might wanna try a little harder next time.
I can hop on right now and find matches in lobbies, ranked, and player for PS4 Injustice let alone MKX. I was on MKX last week and it had 3 full lobbies. It's not gonna have the same amount of people it had when it started, it sold a million its first month so that's a lot of players, but it still is very much alive.
Only kof98 and kof02, kofxiii is dead. Street fighter wasn't popular until SFVI, at least in South America.
Pretty much and the presentation is eons better
HF2014
Member
Well people who bought vanilla SFIV are probably the same who bought the other versions. Saying it sell better is right but bogus at the same time. If MKX sold 5m, it need to be comparge to SFIV which sold 3.4m.
Cant wait to see the numbers on PS4 only for SFV.
Capcom Japan makes all the decisions, so that's why you get games like TvC that have limited western appeal but will never get SFxMK because no-one in Japan gives a damn about MK beyond recognising that it's popular.
Anyway, SFxTK just goes to show that you can't just take two popular properties, mash 'em together and get a slam dunk--and those were properties that make way more sense as a crossover game than SF and MK.
AstroNut325
Member
I'm in the US and I can't stand excessive gore. Hence, I choose Street Fighter.
fluffydelusions
Member
EDIT: woops