Should Akira be the main charater of VF?

Tekken 6 console did all this cool stuff, but still didn't sell that well. Right?

 

T6 didn't sell because they did so much for a mode that no one cared about, and added absolutely nothing to the main game... Ever since Tekken Force Mode came out, Namco slowly wanted to integrate that into a fighting game, so much so that Urban Reign came out and the game was promoted by having Paul and Law in the game... If they were to make a fighting diverson from Tekken, they should just bring back Tekken Ball Mode and Tekken Bowl... Integrate the story in Arcade mode, but call it story mode (kinda like Soul Calibur)...

There was no record function in training mode (which tons of people cried about), offline ghost battle ranks locked at 1 dan, when in T5DR you could rank all the way up in both offline and online modes and they were separate. You could only save rank matches and offline vs matches, not player matches, which most of the best matches come out of imo... Not only that, there were certain characters that didn't get beefed up or nerfed the way they should have... I believe Bob's df+2 got nerfed, but it wasn't even that bad of a nerf tbh... He was still one of the most whored characters in a tourney other than Steve Fox. Lili (who I sometimes main) had lows and mids that crushed everything. Sometimes even a d+1 could not stop that particular move, so you would have to study which side she was weak in and sidestep or sidewalk in that direction; and then sidestep was nothing like it was in T5DR or even TTT for that matter... I personally would like to see some characters that have consistently been low tier get beefed up more often...

But anyway, Sega is still consistent with making a balanced system (I still beef with the hitboxes though)... They need to be just as consistent with every other aspect of the game...

 

I don't think all of those things had such a large overall impact on why it didn't sell so well.

SF4's story stuff is totally lackluster in comparison to what Namco always brings to the table. So Tekken's story stuff had more to offer.

 

The story was more, but Scenario Campaign wasn't... Tons of people were mad about that mode and how Namco put more time and effort into that mode alone.

SF4 has less in terms of story (yet they still have a story that people can follow), but they have more in terms of gameplay and training modes... The next step would be an entry point into learning the game's system from scratch (a la VF4Evo)...

 

Now that I think about it, the whole training mode stuff, could probably be a turn off to your casual fighting game player, and to your casual gamer, anyway.

So, I honestly don't think that was a big selling point for the latest 2 SF games.

It seems like you're speaking more on the mindset of players already playing fighting games. Sega's goal should be to get players from other genres, and people that don't usually play games, too.

If you think about something like Halo, or even SF4, people that don't even play games probably play these and atleast know about them too, and the same for people that don't usually play the genre these games come from either. It's even socially acceptable and appears to be less nerdy to play these too.

 

I seem to see lots of casual players grinding through SFIV's combo training mode just for the achievements and trophies and icons and whatnot. Or even just because it's something to do. The focus for them ironically ends up not being learning the actual combos or mechanics but simply grinding through the trials enough times to get that one single completion which unlocks a trophy. Then they never return to it. It seems like many casual players will do just about anything for trophies or achievements, or at least make an attempt at getting each trophy once. There are lots of YouTube instructional videos specifically outlining the ways to pass SFIV's trials.

Maybe if Sega did a VF4:EVO tutorial mode for 5FS but loaded it with trophies and achievements casuals would use that mode instead of bypassing it or shying away from it. It's not like loading VF5FS with trophies would really bother any of the hardcore VF players anyways as we'll play the tutorial modes and the rest of the game regardless. Trophies would probably be enough of an incentive to get casuals to at least play the easier or introductory trials. Then Sega could just make the harder trials sans trophies so that casuals who cannot complete the advanced tutorials are not denied the platinum trophy or whatever.

 

If they did this right, I think VF would become a monster! Imagine KOF style story elements, with the game design of VF. Instant classic.

Sega has told us so little about the characters that they really could reboot (while keeping the personality of a character intact) and nobody would really care, other than a few really hardcore fans.

 

VF DOES have some rivalries but because of how bare bones (flash wise not gameplay wise) the games are you'd never notice it. For example...

Akira vs Jean, Wolf, Aoi
Brad vs Aoi
Jacky vs Sarah, Goh, Jean anybody of the J6 characters
Kage vs Dural, Any of the J6 characters
Lau vs Pai, Lei Fei
Lei Fei vs Pai, Lau
Jeffry vs Devil Shark (lol)
Goh vs Jean, Vanessa, Jacky
Eileen vs Pai
Wolf vs El Blaze

I mean there are alot of potential rivalries and relationships that can be built but I don't think AM2 knows how to do it.

Good Guys story-wise
---------
Jacky
Kage
Pai
Shun Di
Vanessa

Neutrals (could go either way or don't have any real bearing on story)
---------
Akira
Lau
Brad
Lion
Jeffry
Aoi
Eileen
El blaze
Taka
Wolf

Bad Guys storywise
---------
Jean
Goh
Sarah (VF2 Brainwashed days)
Lei Fei

edit: I'd expand on my reasonings for the character pairings and alignments but I'm in class at the moment and I need to be studying.

 

Yeah I forgot about Lei-Fei being a bad guy, but most people just pick him up because of and the many styles he can get into from just mashing...

I am well rounded in the VF rivalry department, but most of these rivalries don't really seem to matter, because they don't stand out... They're not as definitive as say, Ken and Ryu, Guile and Bison, Mishimas, Jin and Hwoarang, Glacius and Cinder, Subzero and Scorpion, Kyo and Iori, etc... Most of VF rivalries aren't really exciting... I mean it would be nice if Sega decided one day to connect the dots so people don't have to read the only one to two sentences in the bio and then figure the rest out with speculation... Capcom covers their ground with anime, in-game story, booklet story, actual hardcover books, and a bunch of other forms of media (not movies) to make the dots connect, so that people can relate and see that "oh, I see why Guile is looking for Nash" and "I never wondered how Sagat got his scar, it all makes sense now..."

Tekken has one of the most drama-infested storylines that could crush both telenovelas and k-dramas single-handedly... They, too, connect the dots and make it so that people want to know more about their character... I mean I bet some people didn't even know why Hwoarang was rocking a haircut and some fatigues in T4 until they read or saw the story or video. Some people relate to his story, which in turn makes them want to pick him up and learn him.

 

I know I am veering off a little from the current subject in discussion but to further illustrate WHY AKIRA SHOULD NOT BE THE POSTER BOY OF VF WHILE RYU IS OKAY: here is a little info that should be of interest.








Wonder where Akira would be in this kind of totem pole compared to Ryu?


See, the SF series has two of the most effective poster-boys/rivalries in the history of fighting games, and the chart shows, gameplay wise, they are extremely effective in attracting players. Sure, visually they are kinda bland by the modern standard but they were archetypes/prototypes.


Akira combines the worst part of Ryu (bland visual design) with the most effective ways to turn the new players off (hard to use moves, boring playing mechanics and moves, and no interesting storyline or character development whatsoever.)

 

You make an interesting point.

 

You mean should or is?

 

Depends who you ask, Namco seems to think it sold well...

http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/action/tekken6/news.html?sid=6272655

These internet folk not so much.

 

Looks good to me.

 

typical namco to leave out the details.

like how they cut the price of tekken 6 in half mere months after it's release, and how you can now get it for less than $20 new.

 

More like retailers did and don't publishers always do that?

You could get the collectors edition of SF4 for £7 here just a few months after release the regular copies for even cheaper, that also sold a similar amount to T6 as far as I remember.

EDIT: £7 for you US folk is http://tinyurl.com/352qahz

 

We're veering off subject. Who cares about Tekken's pricing or Street Fighter IV's training mode? What does any of that have to do with Akira either not being a very accessable character or choosing a different character to represent Virtua Fighter?

 

Welcome to VFDC. What's your favorite icecream? I got a serious thing for mint.

 

Mint is for fags. Vanilla is best. Also it's white, racism abound.

 

Vanilla is for fags, looks like iced nut.