FGO Year End Review!!
As we say goodbye to 2015, we wanted to take a look back by compiling different stories during the year.
Capcom Makes A Bigger Commitment To Online Gaming With Street Fighter V
The importance of having a good online experience was not lost on Capcom who, before the year began, announced their new roll back netcode code named Kagemusha that would allow for better inputs online.
Capcom Fighters Network Feature
That would have been enough for most fans of the series but Capcom decided to take it a step further and create an online beta program! For the first time, fans of the lauded Street Fighter series would not only have the opportunity to get their hands on an early build of the game, they would also get to test out the online experience and give feed back during the development process.
While some might not have agreed with how they went about doing the beta(required a pre-order in some regions), the fact that Capcom got out in front of what looked to be a tremendous undertaking with cross-play on both the PC and PS4 is something to be applauded. We can only hope other companies consider taking this route in the future.
Related Post:
Street Fighter V Will Have An Online Beta!!!
Arc System Works Publishes Titles On Steam
Coming into the beginning of 2015, fighting game aficionados Arc System Works did not quite seem like they would have much of a presence when it came to having more titles on PC but later on during the year that notion began to change.
Battle Fantasia Revised Edition
After the announcement of Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R, an ASW developer on steam became very vocal about what they had planned going forward and almost every two months after, we began to see an active Arc System Works publishing titles that no one would have ever expected to see make an appearance on the PC client of all places!!
Despite this new development, fans were still a bit skeptical given the titles that they released were mainly last gen and not the popular games that ASW was known for.
It would seem all hope was lost for ASW really taking the PC serious until they dropped a huge announcement on the night of December 9th. Their latest flagship title Guilty Gear Xrd: Sign would be releasing not in a couple weeks but in the next day!!
In addition, ASW announced three more incoming titles that included the latest BlazBlue fighting game in the series and the very unexpected surprise of Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code, a game that originally released in Japan for PC(As a part of a bewildered Blu-Ray release)and had been impossible to get!!
Needless to say our minds were blown and the “out of our imagination” statement made by ASW Steam developer Shiki was as he described it would be. We are hoping that going into next year ASW will continue to publish titles on PC that we won’t see coming and wow us like they’ve successfully managed to do this year!
Related Posts:
Arc System Works May Be Coming To Steam In A Big Way
Arc System Works Drops A Giant Bomb Of Steam Releases
Competing On The Cloud
It would seem like all the signs this year pointed in the direction of more online competitions. Despite their being a fairly good presence for online when it came to tournaments,the start of 2015 looked to be an even bigger year for competing on the cloud.
The Level|Up production team brought their popular Wednesday Night Fights to the online platform giving players around the country an opportunity to get their name out there and compete at major tournaments happening throughout the year.
Wednesday Night Fights Online Edition Poster
ESL Pro League would introduce the new Mortal Kombat X to their E-Sports brand of competitive gaming giving players far and wide the opportunity to earn prize money at weekly online events. The online competitions ultimately culminated in a final offline tournament for the season that would give the top ranking players from around the globe a chance at earning a piece of an $100,000 prize pool!!
Even community created online tournaments like 8 bit Beat Down received some support from Microsoft for its feature Killer Instinct tournament giving their competitors a chance to earn prizes that totaled around $7,000 for the remaining year.
While on the surface it seemed like competing online was a step in the right direction, there was still a great deal of controversy surrounding these events. As the netplay for certain games like Ultra Street Fighter IV and Mortal Kombat X were not well received, many of the big names from the community were reluctant to participate.
Even those that tried at first would ultimately concede sighting that they could not play at their full potential with the online environment being so horrendous.
By the end the year, things drastically changed. Level|Up productions would go back to their original offline format immediately following their next season of Wednesday Night Fights. ESL Pro League would return with Mortal Kombat X and although many big names made an effort to compete this time around, their performance has yet to reflect what many of us know they can achieve at offline tournaments.
While we are seeing some improvements to online gaming when it comes to certain current gen fighting games, online competition being a “thing” is still very far from what we might have imaged it could be.
We can only hope that moving forward developers are starting to see the light and do more to make sure that online tournaments can gain some real support so they are not just something to scoff at.
Related Posts:
Prizes And More Announced For 8bit Beat Down!!
New Info For WNF Online Edition!!
Mortal Kombat X Online Pro League Preseason Apr. 19th!!
Late Entry: Daigo Umehara Donates His Capcom Cup Winnings To The EVO NYU Scholarship fund
“The Beast” Has A Big Heart!!
We could not miss the chance to bring up this amazing story of “The Beast” Daigo Umehara who donated his entire $60,000 winnings from Capcom 2015 to the Evo Scholarship. The Scholarship was created back in 2012 to help members of the fighting game community pursue education in game development at the New York University Game Center!
In an open letter which we’ve added below, Daigo expresses his reasons for this wonderful act of generosity which encapsulates what is so amazing about the community as a whole.
“I would like to donate all my prize winnings from the Capcom Pro-Tour Finals to the community. It’s simply because I would not have existed without community and I owe you. My “professional” gamer life has given me such invaluable experiences. I get to give all myself to fight against top players around the world and meet and engage with fans across the globe. I can express myself through my gameplay to the audience, the community. Just as you need an opponent in fighting game, the community is equally important to me.
My pro-gaming life started with SFIV. The CPT Finals were to conclude one chapter of my life. I worked hard everyday. I grew a lot. I had so much fun in the process over the year. I felt fulfilled. Being content, I came to the finals. I was thinking that if I had had won any prizes, I would want to give it back to the community, which has supported me all these times. Not only was I able to win the prize, I was able to play my game and express myself. I had great matches, and I had a great fun.
I sincerely hope the money I donate will help the community thrive further. The stronger the community grows, the further my career expands, doesn’t it? That is not so bad. At least, it would be a much wiser and prudent investment than an Ume-Shoryu?!
I cannot express my gratitude to the community. But I would like to say that I’m looking forward to seeing you next year again. Hope you all have happy holidays.”
-Daigo Umehara
We hope that Daigo’s success increases as he transitions into Street Fighter V and continues to wow us with his amazing ume-shoryuken(aka psychic dragon punch)!!!
Going Into 2016
While 2015 seemed like a pretty good year for fighting games, we think it is safe to say that 2016 will be an even bigger year for the genre. We can expect to see a big surge of indie and new IP titles with games like Them’s Fightin’ Herds, Rising Thunder,Rivals Of Aether, and Pocket Rumble in development.
Pocket Rumble
Despite having a few new big name titles on the horizon, we believe that some much awaited classic titles are going to be pretty big this year especially with current gen consoles now looking to bring back games like Last Blade 2 with cross platform online support.
It also looks like the catalog for Fighting Games will finally have a much deserved presence on the PC with upcoming titles like Killer Instinct and Under Night In-Birth joining the master race adding to a much needed variety that we would have never thought possible at one point.
Though there is really no telling what will happen going into 2016, you can be sure that Fighting Games Online will be doing our best to keep you updated and in the know about the latest news, new releases, game development, and the fighting game community at large so stay tuned!!
About the Author
thec0re3 Founder of Fighting Games Online and self proclaimed "entertainment techie", thec0re3 takes immense enjoyment out of merging his love for video games and technology to educate, create, and participate in something he has enjoyed for more years than he would ever admit to.
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