Street Fighter producer says fighting genre will avoid repeating 1990s 'burst'

Isn't Capcom afraid of over-saturating the fighting genre? "I don’t think we will see the bubble burst like the way did in the ’90s," Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono said, while teasing some upcoming projects.

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With Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Marvel vs Capcom 3, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, and DLC for Ultimate Marvel Capcom 3... isn't Capcom afraid of over-saturating the genre? "I don’t think we will see the bubble burst like the way did in the ’90s," Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono said.

Oh really?

Capcom produced nearly a dozen Street Fighter games in the 90s, only to put the series on hiatus, eight years after the release of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Today, the company has greatly expanded its fighting portfolio and faces competition from Soulcalibur, The King of Fighters, and Mortal Kombat, just to name a few. Comparisons between the 90s and now can easily be drawn, so why does Ono feel so confident the bubble won't burst like it did back then? Siliconera asked about over-saturation and Ono responded:

Yeah, you can say that about a lot of genres too. For first person shooters, you have Call of Duty, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, and other games. It would be awesome to get fighting games that big. I don’t think it will ever get quite that far, but I think it is possible for fighting games to thrive, you can see how long the FPS genre sustained itself without collapsing, and I think we can do the same this time.

Ironically, in light of recent controversial decisions, the Capcom head said that "the key is not just attracting new fans, but keeping current fans satisfied... As long as we treat the fans right and cater to them, I think they will stick with us for the long haul."

Mega Man is kicking in his grave.

There are a number of high-profile fighting games still in the works, with Street Fighter x Tekken the next big thing from Capcom. However, Ono hopes to resurrect a few more niche fighters, such as Darkstalkers (teased at Comic-Con, pictured above). "I’d love to do Darkstalkers next. Rival Schools is a possibility. Power Stone​ is a possibility, we get a lot of requests for that. Right now, we’re still in the process of making sure the ground work is laid, then we can begin on bringing the lesser known fighting game titles back."

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 29, 2011 3:30 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Street Fighter producer says fighting genre will avoid repeating 1990s 'burst'.

    Isn't Capcom afraid of over-saturating the fighting genre? "I don’t think we will see the bubble burst like the way did in the ’90s," Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono said, while teasing some upcoming projects.

    • reply
      July 29, 2011 3:42 PM

      I tend to agree with Capcom on this one. There have been several fighters as of late, but they've all been fairly good, be it the new Mortal Kombat, the various Street Fighter IV iterations, or BlazBlue.

      Probably the worst in recent memory are King of Fighters XII and Mortal Kombat vs DCU, and even they were reasonably decent. This generation really hasn't had a War Gods, Justice League Task Force, or Fighter's History.

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        July 29, 2011 4:05 PM

        if theres any "over-saturation" to worry about in the fighting games, it's probably DLC

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      July 29, 2011 4:15 PM

      Didn't the last game only sell like 300,000 copies? Seems like the market is saturated?

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        July 30, 2011 7:27 PM

        Blazblue's numbers are not reflective of over saturation, it just happens to be a very niche fighter.

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      July 29, 2011 4:20 PM

      [deleted]

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      July 29, 2011 4:21 PM

      [deleted]

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      July 29, 2011 4:27 PM

      Rival Schools? Sure I could go for another one. The Dreamcast one was great.

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      July 31, 2011 3:52 PM

      I disagree. I think the market IS becoming oversaturated. I'm a fighting game fanatic and I play at least 30mins of SF4 every day, and I think there's way too many fighting games being released. I only stick with 1 because I want to keep my skills current. I can't be bothered learning fifty million other combos. It's just getting too much.

      The difference between fighting games and FPS is that traditionally, most FPS are just pick up and play. It takes months to years to become competitive at a fighting game like street fighter, with all the competition around.

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      August 1, 2011 7:39 AM

      Capcom releasing two versions of SF4 and now MVC3 call bs on your headline!!

      That has already put me off buying any more.

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        August 7, 2011 3:29 PM

        Likewise.

        Back in the day, I only ever had Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter II.

        It's easy to get fed up with the better editions, and then the better, better editions.

        With the new technology, and the advent of DLC, each subsequent game should also be available as DLC for those who bought the former version. (Surely this is at least somewhat doable...)

        Just give us a "Game of the Year" or "Ultimate" version at the end of it all, and stop trying to confuse the customer into buying six versions of the same game.

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