Why do you think so few people enjoy fighting games?

[Palademon]

The only fighting games I can play is the SoulCalibur seires since most combos involve a certain direction + button, instead of a melee of direction and multiple buttons.

That Z shape some MvC3 combos want you to do; I don't know how the fuck you do it.

Most fighting games only offer a multiplayer component, and the only single player being training or some unsatisfactory series of battles with no reward.

I tried BlazBlue once. A fighting game trying to have a story, and it threw too many gameplay concepts at me, without a tutorial (which was only available on disc if you bought it special edition), and after a few easy fights, got fucked up by Hakumen too many times to bother anymore.

 

[ElPatron]

1. Not everyone likes "fantasy style" fighting (Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat)
2. Let's face it, most of the people who just tried them and never bought a fighting game just button mash. They would need some time to adapt to the combos and everything, and they already spend a lot of time with their favorite genre.
3. Our technology limits the fighting animations. No fighting game will look like a Hong Kong action sequence in the next couple of years, and until that I'm not going to be compelled into fighting games.
4.

I just kind of came to the conclusion that this game was made for the elitists.

There is just no way to make your standard fighting game look so good in my eyes.


As a matter of fact, I did enjoy the SmackDown! vs RAW games. But because of the sheer ammount of moves you could pull off, the animations were quite sucky and had nothing to do with I would like to see in a fighting game.

1. Where's my plot?
2. Where's my character development?

Anyone actually cares about that in a fighting game? I could love fighting games if they were made with this in mind: if they have to be hard, the animations will have a realism directly proportional to said difficulty.


And I mean that there are certain rules of physics that have to be taken into account. I should block an attack because I can, not because the game "allows me to" in that window of specific frames.

 

[TheDooD]

Its the community overall. People that play fighting games are really good people and are willing to help you get better. Most likely there's other players in your area you just have to reach out.

Also fighting games take dedication and you kinda have to be blessed with pure talent. It's something you won't really get over night. Practicing isn't really a hassle really once you meet up with fellow players. Since the best practice mode is playing others over and over. Just plain o' enjoying yourself.

I myself use to be garbage at fighting games I couldn't even us charge types nor grapplers properly. It basically took me a lot of losing before I could truly enjoy and understand what I was playing. If one wants to get into fighting games my advice is, for one is to stop focusing on winning and just play a game to not lose easily.

basically I mean even if you're outclassed give the person you're playing the hardest time to get the win as possible. If you're trying hard to win when you lose your ego gets kicked in the teeth and you'll think it's not fun. Yet you have to change your mental perspective into one that's seeking a more then just a simple win.

Edit

A few major points that I forgot to add.

Find a control setup you conformable with. Find a controller layout you enjoy or get an arcade stick if you think it'll help you get the hang of the game better. After that make sure you get something very solid and won't burn out on you after some months down the road after the serious playing. Then kinda learn how it controller and or Arcade Stick works so you'll be able to do any maintenance when it's needed.

Never, Ever use the simple modes provided. Companies say they're for newer players to get into the game. Yet they'll fuck up your whole mentality when it comes to said games you're playing because you may get wins easy, do cool shit versus friends and family. When playing versus those online and or serious players you will lose badly. Then you most likely will give up because you didn't want to play properly in the first place. So when picking up a fighting game for e first time just play on the story / practice modes until you get the hang of what you're trying to do.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

The biggest appeal of fighting games is always multiplayer and having the chance to beat the crap out of your friends or some guy online. Since it requires a bit more dedication to become good enough at the game, most people just move on without putting time into being better at the game.

It's just not worth the investment for a lot of people. $60 and the fact that you may have to dedicate a substantial amount of time to looking up combos/strategies online is kind of a turn-off sometimes, especially if you don't understand fighting game terminology.

As for me, I got into fighting games about 2 years ago with the first BlazBlue, and I've only been getting better as a player.

 

[krazykidd]

Its the community overall. People that play fighting games are really good people and are willing to help you get better. Most likely there's other players in your area you just have to reach out.

Also fighting games take dedication and you kinda have to be blessed with pure talent. It's something you won't really get over night. Practicing isn't really a hassle really once you meet up with fellow players. Since the best practice mode is playing others over and over. Just plain o' enjoying yourself.

I myself use to be garbage at fighting games I couldn't even us charge types nor grapplers properly. It basically took me a lot of losing before I could truly enjoy and understand what I was playing. If one wants to get into fighting games my advice is, for one is to stop focusing on winning and just play a game to not lose easily.

basically I mean even if you're outclassed give the person you're playing the hardest time to get the win as possible. If you're trying hard to win when you lose your ego gets kicked in the teeth and you'll think it's not fun. Yet you have to change your mental perspective into one that's seeking a more then just a simple win.

Very wise words . This was actually my main problem when i started playing UMvC3 a month ago. I used to get mad when i lost ( thank you modern warfare 2) , but my friend kept me on the ball and encouragin me . Then i learned to learn from my loses. I can't win every fight , but i'll be damned if i make it easy on my opponent. Although i wouldn't count myself as good ( or even average ) i am getting better because of this . Plus i got the achievement for wining an online match without blocking , thats when i learned i had to block xD.

 

[GeorgW]

They're too hard. The difficulty curve is a wall and the only help most games give is a list of names of moves and a bunch of symbols. There's a market for it, and I've tried to get into them, but there's a reason the SSB series is the best selling, they're the simplest.

That and Super Smash Bros. has all the most famous Nintendo characters in the same title. I'm sure that has SOMETHING to do with it

Sure it matters, but I honestly don't think it makes that much of a difference. The games have always been good, and I often hear it mentioned as the only fighting game someone likes. I doubt that's just the characters' effort.

 

[ElPatron]

$60 and the fact that you may have to dedicate a substantial amount of time to looking up combos/strategies online is kind of a turn-off sometimes

That's kind of the turn off itself. In a strategy game, you kind of need to understand everything that is going on in the battlefield. Not only the weaknesses and strengths of each unit, but also what strategies do the opponents use against your faction, the strategies specific to a determined map, etc. Then there is only guess work, and finally adapting to what he is doing.

Now, in a fighting game, just because player 1 chose Fighter X does not mean I should know what are his likely opening moves and his strategy. There should be no "guesswork", just reacting to the opponent's moves (which actually happens, from the initial frames of the animations in Street Figher you can predict the move and what's the best timing to respond).

Just like a real fight. Fights are not predictable.

 

[Fappy]

They're too hard. The difficulty curve is a wall and the only help most games give is a list of names of moves and a bunch of symbols. There's a market for it, and I've tried to get into them, but there's a reason the SSB series is the best selling, they're the simplest.

That and Super Smash Bros. has all the most famous Nintendo characters in the same title. I'm sure that has SOMETHING to do with it

Sure it matters, but I honestly don't think it makes that much of a difference. The games have always been good, and I often hear it mentioned as the only fighting game someone likes. I doubt that's just the characters' effort.

Okay yeah, I see what you mean. I think its safe to say that its popularity is generated by its cast, but its notoriety is created by its accessibility and fun-factor. I always considered it more of a party game than a proper fight, but then again I sometimes use overly rigid genre labels. What matters is that the game is fun and people like it. I'm not big into tournament scenes anyway, and while I would rather play a game of BlazBlue I would always boot up SSB before any other fighter when there's a big group of friends around. Smashing forward-A and B to win is a lot easier to grasp than quarter-circle punch.

 

[ChocoFace]

i think it's the type of genre that requires the most hours put into it to become any good.
It's not like most shooters where if you're good in one, you're good in all others. Fighting games have different characters with different metagames, different movesets, etc.

 

[omglazorspewpew]

I still play quite a few fighting games of all types. As a kid I would pump quarters into Street Fighter 2 and Samurai Showdown.

I think the main reason that it is a niche title is because since it's inception it was a multiplayer title. These games were never really meant to be played alone and only alone. That is part of why they were so popular in the arcades, and when arcades died out in the US and our consoles didn't have strong online capabilities the fighting game started to fall off by the wayside. Fighting games are by definition competitive games that usually require some effort in specializing in characters, which isn't an itch that many people have.

The other view is that "they are all the same". Being that I am a fan of the genre, I don't feel that at all. I can definitely feel the differences between different games, obvious example being Virtua Fighter series and Street Fighter series but even games that appear very similar have small tweaks that change how the game is to be played (like Guilty gear and Blazblue). There really isn't anything I can say that will change peoples mind about that, much like how I view many FPS as "too similar".

I will echo a previous posters' sentiments in saying the depth in fighting games is in the mechanics not the story. Once you dig deep into a fighting games mechanics (especially ones like BlazBlue)you will see how complex they really are. Kind of like live fighting, to those who aren't into it it's just punches and kicks but if you are a fan of live fights and follow it then it becomes more exciting

 

[Twilight_guy]

I don't know I assume the same reason raceing games aren't very big, i.e. they're just not in favor. In fact most type of games are not in favor. There is lots of love for FPS games but less for other generas. I'm in the fighting games club at my school so I know there are still plenty of fans and they still make a ridiculous number of the games. Oh and your comment on skill in fighting games is a load of horseshit. Any good game is built around the idea of easy to play, difficult to master and its true in many, many types of games.

 

[MoNKeyYy]

I don't like them because there's a shitload of repetition, there's an annoying learning curve, I find lots of other players to be pretty annoying, there is very little depth of any kind, not usually a lot of story, and no real reason to stick around even if it's fun and well put together. That's just me though, if it helps.

 

[Soviet Steve]

The only thing fighting games have is "Push buttons to attack." I feel no more inclined to pay ?60 for that than I would a "Press I to open your inventory" game.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

I don't dislike them, I just suck at them. I mean I can beat the Arcade/Story modes against the computer, but that's only on normal or easy. I lack the patience to memorise all the super long combos and most of the time on fighting games the block button is something that I completely ignore. My playstyle on fighting games is kind of just "charge in and mash buttons until the dude I'm fighting is KO'd" so if I put it on too high a difficulty or go online I get my ass kicked.

 

[SteewpidZombie]

Character Customization: Unless I can make a huge 900lbs man wearing spandex and using the most girly female move-set, I will get bored with the normal characters. I just enjoy making random and wacky characters to fight with.

 

[Ipsen]

The learning curve can be a big turn-off.

But if we're talking about the contrast to 'so few people', I would say most people who play video games just don't want to play a different genre. Yea, I believe we're at the point where casual game players outnumber not only the fighting genre, but most other established game genres.

As much as I love fighting games, there are so many complaints that have been levied against them, which are still valid today, and continue to dim the experience.

The established fighting games, such as MvC, Tekken, Street Fighter, KoF, and now BlazBlue all take time in monotonous combo practice to learn the mechanics well; and that's just the basics. From there, you have to get creative to be good.

In previous iterations, you could get away with button mashing; a casual's preferred method, and probably the only way they'd get a win/have fun. Doesn't happen today. At least for my preferred fighter, UMvC3, it seems there's so many ways to punish mistakes AND string hitstun for ridiculous combos, there also seems little room for defensive tactics (or maybe I'm just not seeing it).

All of this wouldn't be so much of an issue if fighting games had a method for better character development. There's only building your own personal skill with particular fighters in fighting games; nothing develops for them within the game. I'm sure we've all grown attached to fighters we've grown skilled with; all the more if something could grow with their use in-game. Pretty much impossible without breaking the balance of the game, but it still feels like it leaves a huge gap without in-game progress (on the topic of character though, Marvel characters have plenty of history through comics, which I love, so there's a bit of an alternative).

 

[Dandark]

Untill I few monthes ago I had never played a fighting game before, then since my friend enjoyed it a lot I bought Blazblue CS.

I have been really enjoying it and it's a lot of fun. I can usaully enjoy a match even if my opponent is better than me and wins, however there is one thing that is really throwing me off.

I don't know about other fighting games but in Blazblue, I have had trouble with people who have learnt all of the combos. They will hit me once and then launch into a huge combo that takes of 3/4 of my health that I can't do anything about. What annoy's me is that from the moment they hit me I was removed from the game, it all depended on them being able to to the combo, I was completely cut out from the game and forced to not play but watch.

This has really thrown me off playing blazblue right now, im not sure if it's the same in other fighting games but if it is then that may be the reason a lot of players new to the genre like me stop playing.

 

[GlorySeeker]

I like fighting games. Ok at em myself. But what really turns me off from playing them, is going online, and just getting raped. maybe people are just like me, and prefer the "Pass the controller around the room" kinda style.

 

[azurine]

for most of 'em, it's the confusing controls and lack of depth that keep me away.

 

[Batou667]

My guess is that it's not very newbie friendly outside the cpu fights. They are games that require a lot of time and effort just to become okay at the game and a great amount of dedication to become good . Time effore And dedication that a lot of people can't affort to put into a game .

Exactly this.

I was always a casual fighter fan, from the 16-bit days of SFII and Eternal Champions, then Virtua Fighter on the Saturn, and then the Dead Or Alive series on Dreamcast and Xbox. But since then, I'm pretty much done with fighting games.

I only played Guilty Gear a dozen times because it's too damn complex. The core fighting system is difficult enough, and then each character has a number of additions or exceptions to these rules. The entire screen is a mess of status bars and flashing meters.

Street Fighter 4: Unless you somehow master moves and tactics that are never mentioned, let alone required, to complete the single-player mode then you'll get your ass whooped six ways to sunday online. I go online and the other player ruthlessly exploits my lack of uderstanding of the game system. Or hangs back and throws an infinite stream of fireballs :/

I want a game that's easy to pick up but difficult to master. Is that so unreasonable? You shouldn't need a Rain Man rating on the Aspie-o-meter just to be able to clear the practice stages. If I ever pick up online fighting again it'd probably be Mortal Kombat.