by Jin Lovelace, HSM team writer & filmmaker

The vitriol that Capcom receives is just astounding. You’d swear they can never catch a break, judging solely from the sheer hate-boner hyperbole they face — all due to some of the business decisions they’ve made with some of their products.

Every so often, though — and it’s far more rare than populist sentiment would lead you to believe — such outcry is warranted. And this time, I wish to voice my opinion.

In the summer of 2013, Capcom announced yet another Street Fighter IV iteration: Ultra Street Fighter IV. The game promised a bevy of gameplay tweaks, balances, and updates on the system direction, while adding a few new modes and elements — two notable details being the addition of another Ultra option and a revamped Team mode, a la King of Fighters Ultra Edition. We’ll get to that a bit later.

The main draw was the addition of five new characters, one being shrouded in mystery for eight months until now. Capcom staples Hugo, Elena, Poison, and Rolento were immediately announced, given that these characters were seen in the Street Fighter X Tekken (one being purchasable). While there were mixed reactions to this lineup, the fifth mystery character was already receiving considerable hype, though many already speculated it to be one of Dolls (Juni and/or Juli from the popular Street Fighter Alpha 3).

Rainbow Mika, among the few characters players would surmise, was the popular pick in the wishlist of characters to be added in the roster. This would’ve made more sense, in a way: adding a diverse element to the game, especially when you have other characters that were from the past title releases, is a logical move. She’s been one of the more top-tier characters in the Alpha 3 installment, and with her incredible move list, she would’ve been a perfect fit to compliment other grapplers like Zangief and Hakan. Other honorable mentions were Karin from Alpha 3, Ingrid, and Mike Haggar from the Final Fight series; all were plausible choices to please fans.

On Sunday, March 16, 2014, after so much hype and anticipation on this mystery fighter, it was revealed to be – indeed – another Doll from the Alpha series, by the name of Decapre.

If you look at the channel statistics, that is something I haven’t seen since Rebecca Black’s “Friday”. Even for video game standards, this outcry from fans that has supported the company for too long to receive this monumental betrayal feels like a major Hundred-Hand Slap in the face.

I didn’t want to jump on the slamwagon with DmC because I desired to keep an open mind on the direction it headed – which was much needed, in my opinion. Growing up on such fighters like Jo Jo’s Bizarre Adventures, Fatal Fury II, Samurai Showdown, and even the Alpha series, fighting games have always been a part of my gaming passion. It was one of the social elements that gave you reason to walk to your local arcades, battle it out with your mates, and bring competition to others around the area.

There is no denying that the fighting game genre has been taken to the next level, with popular competition events such as EVO and Final Round contributing to the growth of the genre. This isn’t totally new, however, but something that most should be aware of. With that being said: I’m not impressed one bit. There are several different reasons and theories to back up how this decision to release an uninspired character like this was reached — and not build a new model with the money they’ve accrued — but it still leaves me baffled.

A few comments that inspired this article:

“It’s natural to feel resentful and disappointed. USF4 is basically an engine tweak with some recycled assets thrown in (and a long-overdue fix for unblockables). But it makes sense, and really the best reaction is gratitude.

Capcom has done a lot of work for the FGC. Ono begged Capcom for *a decade* to make SFIV, and they finally let him. Since 2008, we got SSF2T:HDR, SFIV, TVC, MVC3, and SFxT… re-releases of MVC2, SFIII:OE, Darkstalkers III, MVC1 with MSH, and even CVS2 if you count the Japanese PSN.

USF4 is a bit of a miracle. The FGC is a shrinking market for Capcom, but Ono still got approval to make something for us on company time.”

I can agree on a few statements made, but overall I disagree. The FGC market isn’t shrinking, as much as what the FGC has done to itself. There are many fighting games that are available on the marke,t and they have so much potential to bring together a unique experience. No doubt, Capcom has definitely left a mark in the FGC with their titles, but in my humble opinion these games are the exact reason why the sales have declined: there’s no risk in them whatsoever.

To its merit, yes, Capcom has delivered to the fans on what they wanted. But the big question now is, what’s needed? Right now, Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate and Tekken Revolution have crossed over to the F2P models and it’s picking up steam with some parts of the FGC. While Marvel and SF are still the popular titles to hype up and big money makers in tournaments, interests are waning due to the implementation of a character with little to no emotional connection in the community.

If anything, I’m curious as to why no one in the community has pointed out the Team Battle mode update. It’s formatted in a direction similar to King of Fighters’ team match system. I never understood this at all. To add, while I laud the inclusion of an online training option, I believe this was way too late in the game.

Should Capcom have listened to the fans that really know what would pull interest and made R. Mika, Karin, and/or Retsu playable characters in the next Street Fighter IV installment? What do you think Capcom should improve on when it comes to gamer’s interest and quality overall?

Perhaps there is still something else planned for down the road. We can but hope.

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2 Responses to “Capcom’s Ultra Announcement”

1. Chris_k_42 says:

   March 31, 2014 at 4:04 am

   I would not have been surprised if they had taken Dan and made him a truly serious character for once…

   Reply
   • Jin Lovelace says:

     March 31, 2014 at 10:29 am

     Sadly, they won’t. The main reason for this is due to Dan’s actual character model: it’s literally a joke character towards SNK/Playmore. Dan Hibiki is Robert Garcia, Ryo Sakazaki, and Takuma all in one from the hair right down to his move set.

     Even his story is based on the stories that of Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting rolled into one. From the death of his father by the hands of Sagat to him now creating a Dojo based on his “Awesome” (Saikyo) art style complete with taunts that mocked and mimicked every system direction that Capcom felt SNK/Playmore has “borrowed” from them. The difference was everyone was playing those games more than Capcom’s at the time.

     SNK even created a male character based on Sakura by the name of Shingo, who wishes to be just like Kyo Kusanagi.

     Dan--in the right hands--can win matches and even tournaments but his overwhelming shortcomings (health, random priorities, and overall defense stature) puts players off from ever taking him that serious.

     In essence, Dan is nothing short but a ploy towards SNK/Playmore and the players bought into him.

     Reply