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[Matlock]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3148615

Fighting games seem a natural fit for online play, but one series will never surrender--at least if producer Hiroshi Kataoka has his way. The source of all things Virtua Fighter puts it pretty bluntly in the April issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly: "If we ever wanted to do an online fighting game, it would have to be called something besides Virtua Fighter," Kataoka says. In the magazine's interview, Kataoka explains how the team tested the game online during its development, simulating lag and timing issues that would accompany any online experience. Says Kataoka: "It wound up feeling like a completely different game!"

Poor netcode, meet laziness.

 

[bjork]

Sega, keeping it real.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

That pretty much confirms it will be a PS3 exclusive game.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Ouch! That stung.

*sulks*

 

[Xdrive05]

In the magazine's interview, Kataoka explains how the team tested the game online during its development, simulating lag and timing issues that would accompany any online experience. Says Kataoka: "It wound up feeling like a completely different game!"

That would be like Miyamoto saying "We tested our project designs on the DS and using the stylus made them feel like completely different games! So we dropped the touch screen support for DS."

 

[Fishie flop oog]

Ah yes, the interview Heidi and I conducted.

Its in the new EGM peeps.
Enjoy the read.

That and he is damn right not to make VF5 online, and take note he isnt saying AM2 will not make an online fighter.
He is saying VF will not go online becouse it screws up the gameplay.
VF5 gameplay is impossible to maintain online, 1/60th of a second people, 1/60th of a second.

 

[krypt0nian]

No reason to buy a VF for me then. No one I know locally plays fighters anymore.

 

[Fishie flop oog]

That would be like Miyamoto saying "We tested our project designs on the DS and using the stylus made them feel like completely different games! So we dropped the touch screen support for DS."

WTF is that supposed to mean?
Seriously, its like making a game that DOES use a touchscreen and THEN converting it to a system that lacks a touchscreen.
It just doesnt work.

 

[Calidor]

"If we ever wanted to do an online fighting game, it would have to be called something besides Virtua Fighter,"

Virtua Fighter: Online Edition

:lol

 

[LakeEarth]

No reason to buy a VF for me then.

QFT.

Somehow 10ms of lag completely ruins the game, so much so that online is not worth it? Biggest load there is. I'm sorry Hiroshi, but arcades are DEAD and your AI leans more heavily on the 'artificial' rather than the 'intellegence'.

Most people don't have hardcore fighting fans for friends, online is NEEDED for fighters to be sucessful these days. If 3rd Strike for Xbox wasn't online, I wouldn't still be playing it a year after I got it.

 

[Fishie flop oog]

No reason to buy a VF for me then. No one I know locally plays fighters anymore.

Yeah no reason to play the best fighting game ever since it lacks a feature it never had in the first place and which breaks the game beyond recognition.

...

 

[TheDuce22]

Thats just sad.

Yeah no reason to play the best fighting game ever since it lacks a feature it never had in the first place and which breaks the game beyond recognition.

Yeah it doesnt work that way. VF may be great but I learned with VF4 that its impossible to convince anyone I know to play these games. The older you get the worse it gets. Online play or no sale.

 

[LakeEarth]

Yeah no reason to play the best fighting game ever since it lacks a feature it never had in the first place and which breaks the game beyond recognition.

...

No reason to play a game with no competition.

 

[Fishie flop oog]

QFT.

Somehow 10ms of lag completely ruins the game, so much so that online is not worth it? Biggest load there is. I'm sorry Hiroshi, but arcades are DEAD and your AI leans more heavily on the 'artificial' rather than the 'intellegence'.

Yes it does, again: 1/60th of a second.

 

[Shompola]

Ah yes, the interview Heidi and I conducted.

Its in the new EGM peeps.
Enjoy the read.

That and he is damn right not to make VF5 online, and take note he isnt saying AM2 will not make an online fighter.
He is saying VF will not go online becouse it screws up the gameplay.
VF5 gameplay is impossible to maintain online, 1/60th of a second people, 1/60th of a second.

If it makes you feel better believing all the bullshit they tell you more power to you.

 

[Matlock]

DOA4 runs at a clip of 60 FPS, and yet people are having fun with it online. Oh no!

The "Virtua Fighter would be ruiined by online" excuse reminds me of when they revealed Metroid Prime: Echoes had multiplayer. Sure, the game sucked, but it wasn't because there was an additional mode.

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

And that is why I'll never purchase another Virtua Fighter title.

 

[krypt0nian]

Yeah no reason to play the best fighting game ever since it lacks a feature it never had in the first place and which breaks the game beyond recognition.

...

Yes because fighting games have such remarkable single player?

If a fighter doesn't get with the times and go online, I and many other have no use for it. It would be different if I had a huge pool of local players. So stop trying so hard.

 

[joshschw]

Yeah no reason to play the best fighting game ever since it lacks a feature it never had in the first place and which breaks the game beyond recognition.

...

it wouldn't 'break the game beyond recognition' it may in some cases alter a match but that would not make the game bad if it wasn't already...

 

[Fishie flop oog]

If it makes you feel better believing all the bullshit they tell you more power to you.

Unlike most people I make my own decisions, and the lag isseu is one I sadly have to agree with Kataoka with.
It doesnt even work for a game as forgiving as DoA, let alone one that requires the most rigid and thight system ever.

 

[LakeEarth]

Yes it does, again: 1/60th of a second.

I've been playing 3rd Strike on Xbox for a year now, and yes, some games get laggy, and yes if you're a hardcore, tourney playing fighter fiend, online might not be for you either. But for us normal folk, you know, the ones that have shit for arcades in their town, and have friends who just want to play Halo 2 all the fucking time, online is the only way we'll ever face human competition that actually knows what they are doing. Without it, the game is pointless.

When you face the AI, you aren't learning how to play the game, you're learning how to poke holes in the AI routines. FUN!

 

[Xdrive05]

WTF is that supposed to mean?
Seriously, its like making a game that DOES use a touchscreen and THEN converting it to a system that lacks a touchscreen.
It just doesnt work.

No, it's like Nintendo working on game designs for upcoming projects (pre-DS era), then trying to integrate them with the DS platform, then dropping touch screen support altogether because it made the experience of playing said game entirely 'different' than with standard controls.

It was a piss poor analogy indeed, but my point still stands that they axed online support because it would make the game feel "different." Online modes are supposed to feel different because you're playing with another player at the same time, over the 'net.

I still think it was a cop-out as proper net coding eliminates lag in most all cases. Especially with so few players over broadband connection.

 

[gigamex]

I stopped understanding Sega years ago....so in way this comes as no surprise. Whatever is the logical choice they will invariably go the opposite direction.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

Virtua Fighter 5: "It is good to play with yourself."

 

[Fishie flop oog]

DOA4 runs at a clip of 60 FPS, and yet people are having fun with it online. Oh no!

The "Virtua Fighter would be ruiined by online" excuse reminds me of when they revealed Metroid Prime: Echoes had multiplayer. Sure, the game sucked, but it wasn't because there was an additional mode.

We are not talking about frame rate the game runs at but rather the frame properties of individual moves.
Having a 15 frame opportunity to counter or follow up or a one frame opportunity is a HUGE diference.
The tiniest bit of lag hurts the game.

 

[Shompola]

Unlike most people I make my own decisions, and the lag isseu is one I sadly have to agree with Kataoka with.
It doesnt even work for a game as forgiving as DoA, let alone one that requires the most rigid and thight system ever.

I want online play for sheer entertainment and not tournaments... If people are very sensitive about their reputation then simple dont play it online and save yourself for the tourneys... A bit lag will definitely not ruin it for me personally.. therefore I think the lack of online play is pure bullshit.

 

[PhatSaqs]

Sales - 1

 

[Fishie flop oog]

Yes because fighting games have such remarkable single player?

If a fighter doesn't get with the times and go online, I and many other have no use for it. It would be different if I had a huge pool of local players. So stop trying so hard.

No Tekken, Soul Calibur, Guilty Gear etcetera for you then either?

 

[PC Gaijin]

Yeah no reason to play the best fighting game ever since it lacks a feature it never had in the first place and which breaks the game beyond recognition.

Wasn't there an Xband version of Virtua Fighter for Saturn? I remember seeing a boxshot of it once, not sure if it ever came out.

 

[TheDuce22]

Unlike most people I make my own decisions, and the lag isseu is one I sadly have to agree with Kataoka with.
It doesnt even work for a game as forgiving as DoA, let alone one that requires the most rigid and thight system ever.

Its perfect in DOA 4.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

No Tekken, Soul Calibur, Guilty Gear etcetera for you then either?

Fight Night 3 online (hey Musashi!!!) kicks the holy shit out of playing yet another fighting game by yourself at home.

 

[Fishie flop oog]

it wouldn't 'break the game beyond recognition' it may in some cases alter a match but that would not make the game bad if it wasn't already...

It DOES break the game beyond recognition.

And VF home versions have had training and exploration modes that DID make ou a better player overal insted of just teaching you how to poke holes in the AI.

 

[Jim]

This is why we need Fighters Megamix Online! (yes, I still have my hopes up)
It could have VF-esque play and characters but without the strict timing required for VF play.

Of course it wouldn't really be VF then, but I won't complain.

And dropping your reaction window by 1 frame *occasionally*, absolutely would screw with your timing and more or less break the gameplay. Especially for those who are VF proficient.

 

[Borys]

Why am I not surprised to see you-know-which camp defending this decision and you-know-which camp damnig it?

 

[Fishie flop oog]

Its perfect in DOA 4.

Urm, no its not

 

[EviLore]

Having a 15 frame opportunity to counter or follow up or a one frame opportunity is a HUGE diference

I'm assuming you mean "follow up on" here.

If so, why are you talking about >200 latency scenarios?

 

[Matlock]

This is why we need Fighters Megamix Online! (yes, I still have my hopes up)
It could have VF-esque play and characters but without the strict timing required for VF play.

Of course it wouldn't really be VF then, but I won't complain.

I call dibs on the Daytona car.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

Why am I not surprised to see you-know-which camp defending this decision and you-know-which camp damnig it?

How is the fighting game genre on the PC, Borys?

 

[mr_sockochris]

No Tekken, Soul Calibur, Guilty Gear etcetera for you then either?

Guilty Gear XX Reload was online.

 

[op_ivy]

That and he is damn right not to make VF5 online, and take note he isnt saying AM2 will not make an online fighter.
He is saying VF will not go online becouse it screws up the gameplay.
VF5 gameplay is impossible to maintain online, 1/60th of a second people, 1/60th of a second.

major fucking roll eyes.

yeah, its true, online wouldnt work for virtua fighter. but only the pros would notice, and they'd be playing in arcades anyways. fuck em. to the rest of the gaming community, we'd sure love some vf online. even with some lag.

 

[Shompola]

Why am I not surprised to see you-know-which camp defending this decision and you-know-which camp damnig it?

Either you contribute to this thread with something constructive or you dont.. Dont post some meaningless trollish shit. Dont start a retarded fanboy war in here.

 

[Fishie flop oog]

This is why we need Fighters Megamix Online! (yes, I still have my hopes up)
It could have VF-esque play and characters but without the strict timing required for VF play.

Of course it wouldn't really be VF then, but I won't complain.

Aaaargh, we have some really really fun quotes from Kataoka (it was not FMM but hey) for something like that but since they havent even decided internally yet we sadly cant publish it right now.

Regardles, go get he new EGM and enjoy the interview.
It was one of the more enjoyable ones we did(and not only because it lasted for houres and included playing a couple of as yet unreleased arcade titles).

 

[Beer Monkey]

Another game, eh?

No Pepsiman, no sale.

 

[GeoramA]

Why am I not surprised to see you-know-which camp defending this decision and you-know-which camp damnig it?

:lol

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Tain]

Yeah no reason to play the best fighting game ever since it lacks a feature it never had in the first place and which breaks the game beyond recognition.

I'd much, much rather play something like Soul Calibur 2 with some competition than VF without.

It's just the way it works. Locally, friends of mine will play SC2. They won't play VF. This is why I'd love an online VF, even if I can't fucking do an SPOD.

Lag would be an issue, much like any other fighting game. Exactly how many actions in VF have a single-frame timing window? Not that I don't see where the developers are coming from, but I'd take a broken VF online over nothing at all.

I figured an online VF wouldn't be happening for a long, long time anyway, though, so I'm not exactly dissapointed.

And VF home versions have had training and exploration modes that DID make ou a better player overal insted of just teaching you how to poke holes in the AI.

The two most recent ones do, and that's great, but the game is still useless to me without competition.

 

[Beatbox]

Personally I like that Kataoka kept high standards and doesn't want to sacfrifice gameplay. Anyone else with me? He did make an attempt and realized it wouldn't work.

 

[The Faceless Master]

actually, the lag DOES change the game in DOA4... that's why there are terms like "online safe moves" and "lag tactics"... it's just that people accept that online isn't 100% perfect (like offline) and make the best of it and try to have fun...

everyone (who is serious about fighters anyway) knows that online isnt gonna be the same, but yet, not supporting online makes the game look outdated, even if that's far from the truth... but hey, maybe they can add an RTS minigame...

 

[Ronin]

Guilty Gear XX Reload was online.

It wasn't very good though. :-/

 

[Teknopathetic]

I don't see why people here are bitching. You people play a game online for 1 week, then move on to the next release, never to come back again.

 

[TheDuce22]

Urm, no its not

If your playing another person with 3 green bars its impossible to tell the difference.