White Man

Depends on how strict the input system is. If it lets you fudge the inputs a little bit, okay. But a [1]318 input requires you to hit three different points on the pad/stick that are at opposite ends of each other, meaning it's really easy to hit an extra direction at some point. The added difficulty of properly timing the charge makes it even trickier. I don't think it necessarily hurts a game to simplify inputs to a certain extent. I actually dislike Smash Bros. style commands for traditional 1-on-1 fighters, but some inputs that show up in this genre serve no logical purpose besides adding a completely arbitrary execution barrier to certain characters. For example, I remember when I was playing Justice a lot in a series of attempts to beat Survival mode. The input for Imperial Ray was the bane on my existence. I got it down to where I could pull it off about fourteen out of every fifteen attempts, but despite doing that damn motion upwards of a million bajillion times, I would still occasionally input something like 6741236 or 64126 and eat a counter combo that ended my run. I have no idea why the input for that move couldn't have been a double QCF. 641236 is utterly random and unintuitive, especially on a d-pad. Personally, I think BlazBlue did it best by making most of the inputs reasonably simple and saving the complicated motions for Astrals. Since those are really only in the game to make someone's pride swell up for landing them, they may as well go a step further in satisfying someone's ego by requiring them to pull off pretzel motions and 1080s and stuff like that. For anyone who thinks really complex inputs make for a deeper game, look at Marvel 2. There are virtually no command inputs in that game more complex than a half circle motion, yet the skill cap for tournament play is extremely high due to the difficulty of the combos, managing assists, etc. Marvel 2 has its problems and I wouldn't point to it as the pinnacle of FG engine design, but if you want a competitively viable fighter that's easy to pick up and tough to master, there you go.

So, what, all the dead characters are alive again? Or are we seeing clips of a flashback?

ASW, why are you making it so difficult for me to love you?

I know online comment boxes and forum posts aren't necessarily a good indication of what the masses are thinking, but it's worth mentioning that the reaction to KI on most Capcom-centric sites I've been on has ranged from "F*ck Micro$oft!" to oldschool fans being cautiously optimistic, while people were practically standing in puddles of their own pee when the trailer for Xrd dropped. Maybe KI has a bigger following than I thought, but the folks in the UMvC3/SF4 communities are at least aware of GG.

Not sure what you're basing this on. KI never had a significant presence in tournaments even back when it was current (which was well over a decade ago). Furthermore, the new KI is being designed and marketed in such a way that it would be an absolute nightmare to set up for tournament play. There will probably be buzz for the game solely due to the nostalgia factor, but I'd imagine the average Evo attendee would be far more interested in GG since that series has always been viable in the competitive scene. I don't think we'll see or hear anything new related to Xrd at Evo, for the record. But if there's one upcoming fighter folks are going to be talking about, I personally can't imagine it being KI.

Sssssssttt. Haaaahhh. Man, what if, like, difficulty doesn't even exist? I mean, what if, like—bear with me here—Guilty Gear is reality, okay, and we're in the game? Y'know? Oh man, I'm getting a little freaked out here.

Source? Last I heard, ASW hadn't confirmed whether the Plus R update would be free or a paid download.

It's entirely possible ASW consulted Aksys about the viability of porting the game to the 360 in the US and somebody's knee-jerk reaction was that it wasn't worth it. I like the folks at Aksys, but I can totally picture them doing that.

I see the inclusion of the Wii Fit Trainer as Sakurai walking up behind everyone playing Smash at EVO, grabbing their hair, and repeatedly bashing their face into a desk while shouting "STOP! TAKING! THIS! GAME! SO! DAMN! SERIOUSLY!" Looks fun!

One of the many possibilities... of the Continuum Shift. Awesome post, though. Ditto Narroo's contributions. The only thing I have to add is a reminder of the ugly-yet-unavoidable fact that at least some of this "keep the game as difficult as possible to play" mentality comes from that which has been (I believe) a cancerous tumor on the fighting game fandom since its inception: pride. Not that giddy little ego boost you get from winning a match or the sense of purpose that drives you to perfect your skill at any hobby, but that filthy emotional toxin that whispers into the ear of every asshole who's ever used the word "scrub" unironically and tells them they can achieve respect and adoration if the world knows they're really good at a video game. I'm not talking about playing for pride, where your desire to overcome your own limitations fuels you on a continual journey of self-improvement—I'm talking about playing for pride, where the hours and days and weeks spent in training mode are all for the purpose of making sure everyone knows you are the Alpha Male at simulated martial arts. The game NEEDS to be hard for the player motivated by pride, not because it's more enjoyable or more satisfying, but because a harder game demands greater street cred.

On the downside, this is being made by a developer that has no experience with the genre and has a track record of utterly botching new installments in beloved gaming franchises, we're finding out there will be multiple DLC characters on the same day the game is announcement, and it's only being released for what could very possibly end up being one of the most widely hated consoles ever made. On the upside, a whole new generation of imageboard posters will finally get the reference behind those "COMBO BREAKER" jokes.

It IS work. And that's okay as long as you get a sufficient return on that work in the form of satisfaction and fun. Here's what I think a lot of "hardcore" FG players are quick to forget: Their perception of how much time and effort is worth putting into a game is different than the large majority of the people who buy and play these games. I'm right there with y'all in thinking it's a bad idea to make everything in a fighter stupidly easy to make Johnny Casual happy. An investment of some time and effort should be required to play a game like GG proficiently, since it comes with the territory. But when I see hordes of people on GameFAQs and TVTropes complaining about how insanely hard Smash Bros is, then I come here and people are acting like the concept of a ten-frame FRC window is the most fucking absurd thing they've ever heard, suddenly I realize that being a game designer is the perfect job for people who hate themselves and want an excuse to die.

But... the game is free. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say the higher-ups at Namco got interested in the free-to-play game model and wanted to put out an experimental title to test the waters. They most likely went with Tekken with because A) most of the content is already there, and B) the franchise has some serious selling power thanks to its name alone. Or maybe they were hoping this would generate some extra sales for Tag 2 and get more people hyped for Tekken X SF. I have no idea why game companies do most of the things they do.

DR:Online is still the best game in the series IMO. Too bad the community for that one is virtually nonexistent these days... On Revolution, some sources are reporting the game with initially come with eight playable characters: Kazuya, Paul, Asuka, Marshall Law, King, Jack-6, Lars, and Lili. Bit of a step back from the 50+ we had in Tag 2... More characters will likely be added later, but no word on whether or not they'll be free. I guess this is a bit of an experiment for Namco to see how people like the free-to-play model.

Hadn't heard about this. Could you please elaborate? Full trailer for Tekken Revolution is here: Looks interesting, but I'm not making any judgments about it until they announce more details (or until it comes out I guess, since it hits in like three days). It looks like it's just a free version of Tag 2 with only 1v1 fights(?) and customizable stat increases for online play. Hardly revolutionary, if you ask me. But hey, a free game is a free game.

Simply playing the game well enough to outsmart and/or outmaneuver your opponent takes effort, man. I don't see anybody talking about making the game effortless to play, only possible ways they might simplify ONE single gameplay mechanic that is (arguably) needlessly difficult to execute and presents a gigantic roadblock to new players that could potentially turn them away from the game. But yeah, Necron, giving canceled moves their own inputs is basically the same thing as taking FRCs out of the game and replacing them with command moves ala FBs. In either case you're simply removing the timing aspect by automatically cutting off a move's recovery frames for the cost of a certain amount of meter.

Is there any real basis for the storylines in AC+ NOT being canon besides Ishiwatari not penning the scripts and some people not liking the quality of the presentation? Because if it's true that Ishiwatari so much as muttered "yeah whatever" when the scripts were dropped on his desk then it shouldn't matter who actually wrote what. And if people just don't like the way some characters' stories were resolved, well, maybe they can go write some self-insertion fanfiction where Baiken becomes their waifu if it makes them feel better.

The game is up on both platforms, all the Plus R content has been finalized, this isn't the company's first time patching a console title... The only thing that can possibly be holding them up at this point is the online functionality (which, God willing, they decided to rebuild from scratch for this game). Even so, I can't fathom the task being so difficult it should have taken them even this long to work out. The ASW staff is obviously spread incredibly thin right now, and finishing a patch for a game they've already made most of their money on can't be a priority for them. At this point, I wouldn't imagine getting the patch until after they've completed work on something else. So expect it maybe a month before CP console version hits, I guess. Shrug.

I thought people were hounding them via Twitter for info. I don't think ASW owes anyone anything in terms of any product or service, but I also think they're being a little remiss in regards to how poor their communication has been with their customers. As far as I know, it doesn't sound like they've even confirmed the patch is still scheduled for a "spring" release since the initial announcement.

Just a shot in the dark here, but are you a fan of games made by Blizzard and/or Valve?

I've noticed GG tends to be really strict with diagonal inputs, especially with half-circle motions. Get used to the feeling of drawing that full half-circle with your thumb, making sure you go all the way back before moving the pad straight across so you don't input 63216 or miss a diagonal and wind up with 62146 or something. The timing on the button press can be a little tricky as well. Trying holding 6 while you press S, or hitting S a tiny bit early so the command looks like 63214S6.

People must really like male characters that look like girls and vice versa.

More like Bang, Tager, and Azrael are walking around wondering what's up with all the angry lesbians attacking each other.

That'd be great. I like a lot of the characters in this game and I think the basic system mechanics are interesting, but I can't even consider getting into it the way it is now. One of the very first match videos I watched for UNiB had a Carmine pulling off a single combo that went on for over 30 seconds, then he caught the guy on a counter hit right afterward and started another combo. I immediately went LOL NOPE and closed the window.

But Tsubaki isn't flat-chested or jailbait or dressed like a stripper or a furry! How can she possibly be the most popular female character in BB!? Shenanigans, I'm telling ya. Have they posted the results of the GG character poll yet?