Put in 995,000 More Requests, Get New Darkstalkers

[Tom Goldman]

Put in 995,000 More Requests, Get New Darkstalkers

Capcom wants to make another Darkstalkers title, but it needs fans to put a few hundred thousand more requests.

Capcom's Darkstalkers came out at the height of the 2D fighting game craze of the mid-1990s, but a brand new title in the series hasn't been seen in a decade (despite a recent PSP port of a previous game). With the reinvigoration of the fighting genre in recent times thanks to Street Fighter IV and Tekken, Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono has a "dream" to bring back Darkstalkers as well, but it's going to take around one million requests from fans.

Speaking to Eurogamer about the upcoming Street Fighter x Tekken [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102342-Namco-Capcom-Crossover-Confirmed-at-Comic-Con], Ono said that if the Namco/Capcom crossover can do well, the sky's the limit for future fighting titles. However, he said: "If this doesn't do well, then my ultimate dream, Darkstalkers, will also flop."

Darkstalkers's cast of characters, which features fictional monsters like werewolves, mummies, zombies, and Little Red Riding Hood, makes it more lovable than other fighting franchises. It's not totally dead though, as characters such as Morrigan and Felicia fortunately still live on through multiple Capcom crossover titles like Marvel vs. Capcom 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Marvel-Capcom-Online-Game-Code/dp/B002YGS4EM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1286127953&sr=8-4].

Ono says that before Capcom will say yes to a new Darkstalkers, it'll have to get "one million" requests. Unfortunately, only 5000 have been received, he reveals.

To see a new ultimate monster battling game fans will need to "make noise," according to Ono. He says: "Anything about Darkstalkers - they can write about it, or whenever there is a random blog ranking of what you want the most - if we see Darkstalkers that would help." He's not kidding either, as Ono adds that the reason Street Fighter IV [http://www.amazon.com/Super-Street-Fighter-IV-Playstation-3/dp/B002TDIEEK/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1286128205&sr=1-2] was made was thanks to fans making noise about wanting a Street Fighter revival.

If a new Darkstalkers does come out of Capcom, it's unfortunately still going to take a while. Street Fighter X Tekken isn't expected for years, and Darkstalkers reportedly wouldn't come out until the crossover is finished and available on shelves.

Source: Joystiq [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-09-29-capcom-talks-street-fighter-x-tekken-interview?page=2]

Permalink

 

[gmacarthur81]

Darkstalkers was always my favorite fighting game. I have the art books and everything.

I would LOVE to see a new Darkstalkers!

 

[Lullabye]

I'm going to paint the a DarkStalkers Character on my local Gamestop. Think that'll count as "making noise"?
Seriously, If I can get another Darkstalkers, then I'd be freakin ecstatic.
Fighting games FTW!

 

[Jamiemitsu]

Hello, Capcom? This is me requesting!

 

[Nedoras]

I've always wondered what happened to this series. I hope that he does get the requests he needs, I'd love to see a new Darkstalkers game. The last one to come out was in 98' I think, not counting that PSP port. Although it doesn't seem too likely this will happen, I still have hope.

 

[Ghengis John]

Darkstalkers characters have to meet with the characters from Arc System Works. This is a thing that MUST happen. The matchups we would have. Taokaka vs Felicia. Slayer vs Dimitri. Valkenhym vs Talbain. Go go Darkstalkers 3.

And there have been a lot more high profile fighting games in the last couple years than Street Fighter and Tekken ya know.

 

[Tharwen]

I can't honestly say I've ever heard of this game. It's not surprising, considering that I'm 16 and I've never really liked 2D fighting games.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Rikuo fan right here.

 

[Therumancer]

Maybe I'm missing it, but how do you make a request?

To be honest, Dark Stalkers is not a bad fighting game franchise and it would be interesting to see them try it again, but I think one of the reasons why it fell by the wayside was that the characters actually seem to work better in various crossovers than they do in trying to hold down their own universe and storylines.

To put things into perspective, the stories for the characters in Street Fighter, and even Tekken, caught on in a major way with fans even in the time between games. While the Darkstalkers cast definatly has it's own world and backstories, I don't think the writing ever really impressed anyone, and oddly enough I think that has an impact here as well as the gameplay.

The Escapist did a think on someone making an 8-bit fighting game with iconic characters (or something like that) a while back if I remember, and in talking about it Lord Raptor was referred to as "that zombie guy from Darkstalkers". I'm sure everyone here would recognize Chun-Li, Blanka, Guile and company and be able to tell you all about their various storylines and how they changed and had differant backrounds at differant times in differant games. However less people could tell you about Lord Raptor, what motivates him, and what his central storylines are through the franchise. I know, and doubtlessly a lot of people do, but far less people were ever all that impressed. Of the Dark Stalkers cast there are only a few characters that I think have any kind of wide scale appeal or recognition anywhere close to what some of the more successful series have.

That said, I've actually been thinking that the future of Dark Stalkers might lie in RPGs. As odd as it might sound I realy enjoyed their prescence in the game "Cross Edge" and the attack animations for characters like Morrigan worked very well with the gameplay style in
my opinion.

As a property I want to see more from the universe, but I'm not sure if fighting games where it started is the right path. Irregardless of where it goes I think they need to do a lot to promote the world and the character storylines and such because while most people rave about the gameplay, it was the characters, the writing, and the sheer personality which made the big franchises what they are. You need to make people think Lord Raptor is awesome because he's Lord Raptor and has an unforgettable storyline, "the zombie guy with the guitar that turns into a chain saw" is cool when your sitting right there, but in the long term he's forgettable. It's not like in playing the games your re-visiting old friends.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Any game made by Capcom is a game worth looking at.

 

[Infernoshadow211]

So if I send 1 million e-mails to Capcom, will than count?

 

[Paragon Fury]

How many different variations of "Paragon Fury" do you'll think they'll accept?

 

[BobisOnlyBob]

Maybe I'm missing it, but how do you make a request?

Blogosphere Noise and Google Hits. If you have influence - say, as a journalist, blogger, gaming site type person - make noise about it! Run a webcomic? Do something about Darkstalkers!
The more attention, the more Capcom will hear it.

 

[Nurb]

I wouldn't jump through hoops like a trained animal just because someone demanded it while dangling a game in front of me. There's clearly a dedicated fanbase that would enjoy th game, but this guy is being a dick.

I'd think it's time to say "fuck you" to this dude and the franchise and make a different game.

 

[KaosuHamoni]

GOD! Yes.
The world needs more good 2D fighting games. There are more than enough bad ones...
Now all we need is another Guilty Gear... I hope your reading Arc.

P.S. Guilty Gear AND BlazBlue please.

 

[Baralak]

I'd play a new Darkstalkers! Make it, Capcom!

 

[Andronicus]

Here's my request: "Forget sequels. Make something new."

Apologies to anybody really hoping for a new installment; I'll admit I haven't even played Darkstalkers before. But if a company is given the choice, and they want the public to choose, I'd say make a new IP any day of the week.

 

[Optimystic]

I miss Darkstalkers. Anakaris and Jedah ftw!

Well, that's what MUGEN is for.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

Someone get 4chan to give them over 9000 requests a couple hundred times. that oughtta do it.
Seriously though, they honestly expect over 1,000,000 people to write in requests? That's a bit ridiculous.

 

[Paragon Fury]

I wouldn't jump through hoops like a trained animal just because someone demanded it while dangling a game in front of me. There's clearly a dedicated fanbase that would enjoy th game, but this guy is being a dick.

I'd think it's time to say "fuck you" to this dude and the franchise and make a different game.

Someone silence him! He'll ruin us!

We will not be denied Morrigan with modern day jiggle physics! We will not be denied the chance to make Lilith's boobies explode in glorious HD!