Mortal Kombat creator says complexity of fighting games hurts sales
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The Mortal Kombat reboot had to have been one of the more interesting surprises around E3. We certainly enjoyed what we saw at the show, which seemed to depict a game very much back to its roots -- you can't get more "MK" than splitting a guy in two with a metal hat, after all. And in speaking with Gamasutra, Ed Boon confirms that he's really gunning for the hardcore players with this latest installment.
"Oddly enough, this [new Mortal Kombat] is the first one in a while that we've really made a conscious effort that we are going to focus hard on the hardcore player," he said. While Boon concedes that there are far more casual players out there than hardcore, he values the "opinionated" fans who go online and make their voices heard.
Despite the existence of those passionate individuals, Boon thinks it's tough to sell a fighting game nowadays. "While I certainly think there is an audience for that, there's not a very huge audience for the really complex [fighting] games. Unfortunately, the sales numbers kind of demonstrate that," he added. While we certainly understand what he's saying, we'd be hard-pressed to agree.
What about games like Street Fighter IV and Tekken 6? How about newcomers like BlazBlue? And that's not even taking into account the success of digitally distributed titles like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 -- so while we'd concede that fighting games can sometimes have a steep learning curve, we'd say now is a wonderful time of resurgence for the genre. Embrace the love, Boon!
"Oddly enough, this [new Mortal Kombat] is the first one in a while that we've really made a conscious effort that we are going to focus hard on the hardcore player," he said. While Boon concedes that there are far more casual players out there than hardcore, he values the "opinionated" fans who go online and make their voices heard.
Despite the existence of those passionate individuals, Boon thinks it's tough to sell a fighting game nowadays. "While I certainly think there is an audience for that, there's not a very huge audience for the really complex [fighting] games. Unfortunately, the sales numbers kind of demonstrate that," he added. While we certainly understand what he's saying, we'd be hard-pressed to agree.
What about games like Street Fighter IV and Tekken 6? How about newcomers like BlazBlue? And that's not even taking into account the success of digitally distributed titles like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 -- so while we'd concede that fighting games can sometimes have a steep learning curve, we'd say now is a wonderful time of resurgence for the genre. Embrace the love, Boon!
Reader Comments (56)
Posted: Jul 7th 2010 9:54AM Mister Kay said
@doctorrobert
I still say the best fighting game to date was Bushido Blade. It was a total cat and mouse fighting game. The controls could have been more intuitive at times though.
Reply
I still say the best fighting game to date was Bushido Blade. It was a total cat and mouse fighting game. The controls could have been more intuitive at times though.
Posted: Jul 7th 2010 2:41AM (Unverified) said
We're long overdue for a fresh approach to the fight game interface.
Posted: Jul 7th 2010 7:27AM jocaju said
I love fighting games specially MK, but the biggest problem for me is the video game control. I grew up playing arcades and when I first got a game console the fighting genre died for me because I can't make any special moves with the gaming pad. I know there's those fight sticks out there, but they can't replace the full arcade stick for me. :(
Posted: Jul 7th 2010 8:33AM MaxShrek said
Yeah, and it's not like the Mortal Kombat Fatalities, Brutalities, Kombos, and other finishing moves were all easy to pull off.
// filthy skimmer
// filthy skimmer
Posted: Jul 7th 2010 12:05PM gatotsu911 said
I can personally verify what he's saying. I like the IDEA of fighting games - picking a character and having a no-holds-barred one-on-one martial arts showdown with an opponent - but I've never been able to crack the formidable barrier of entry required to actually get GOOD at most of them. Maybe it's just because I'm not a very competitive gamer, but I don't want to spend hours practicing against a CPU and learning abstract button combinations just to be able to play a decent game with my friends. More fighters need to tap into the "accessible/deep" balance found in Smash Bros.
Posted: Aug 25th 2010 5:31AM rocksbenton said
These aren’t as dangerous as they look at all. Many people can get right up and start walking. That being said, proper instruction can help people avoid many of the common beginner mistakes. Especially people who buy the wrong equipment thinking that a stiff spring is always going to be “better”. Also I want to put in a word for coming to the Capital Bocking USA meetup, as it’s an excellent way to work on your skills.
jumping stilts
jumping stilts
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