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We’ve all played a fighting game. Maybe you love them… maybe you just filled in for someone answering the phone. Either way, we all know what they’re like. What I want to talk about is why they’re so popular. Sure the modern ones have good graphics; and the button mashing technique, that so many of them utilise, means that any person of any age can play them. They appeal to almost everyone.
One reason for the popularity of fighting games might be because we’re a violent race. Sure there are the harmless people who wouldn’t hurt a fly, but if, say, your in a fight, you don’t really use technique – because karate doesn’t really help you... Prancing round in a leotard revising the first 6 exercises of Bruce Lee’s “High Pitched Squeals To Make Your Karate Sound Cool” book won’t help you win!! Like I said, not everyone is violent, but look at our history as a species. We’ve tortured each other, fought each other, blow each other up, stabbed, shot and maimed each other. I mean look at all the torture methods they used in Guy Fawkes’ days – that was seriously messed up stuff!
History tells us that we’re violent – maybe not up front, but it’s inside us – if it weren’t the case, none of the ugly events of the past would have happened, except maybe that Ruby Wax photo shoot for the cover of Horse and Hound Magazine. Also, the whole ‘America Strikes Back’ thing (of the back of the September 11th attacks) wouldn’t have happened in the manor it did. Afghanistan is a very poor and under-developed country. America could have resolved the situation through more negotiation and peace – instead of killing civilians and their OWN troops! But you know why they did the latter? – Hate. Maybe it was an excuse to lash-out, but I think it was instinct.
Still, back to the topic. I’m not so sure that our fondness for fighting games was conceived through our hate. Because most of the fighting games we have don’t involve real-life situations. They’re almost all fictional, except the WWF *cough* and the UFC games. I think the main reason for our love of Fighting Games is that they can derive many emotions. The main one is probably fear; well not fear as such, but the result of a mad adrenaline rush, which can be likened to the feeling of fear. If both characters will die after one more hit, the intensity levels will skyrocket with each person wanting to win – so you can see how the game is so exciting, and why people have an adrenaline rush.
Another thing about fighting games is they kind of resemble a game of ‘Tig’ (or ‘Tag’ if you’re on of those people!) If someone ‘Hadokens’ you with a 15-move ultra kick-ass super fireball combo, you don’t want to just stand there crying, with a bit of life bar left. You want to go and Hadoken them back with a 10-move hi-yah mega combo with 6 fireballs and maybe a metal bar! It’s like competition. Now you might say, “Well football games are competition too, and so are all ‘Versus’ multi-player games!” And you’re right, but many of them take quite a while to get through, where as the lightening-quick action of a fighting game, which is not that dissimilar to that found in an FPS, means that the game is a lot more frantic and action packed.
Another point to fighting games is that there is never a match/fight/bout/round the same. Now while this is also true to football games and strategy games, among others; there is a certain cycle to fighting games, which means that there is a way out of, or round, everything. Take Killer Instinct Gold (N64). The tutorial mode showed you how to counter any type of move, meaning that in the game, like many other modern fighters, you could get out of any situation by using the respective counter-move! You understand, yes?
So, hey! Fighting Games. They are very cool. They have that something that appeals to so many. When taken as a joke and a bit of fun, they can provide the entertainment for a whole night not to mention a few laughs. When taken seriously, they can do you head in. But either way, they can last for quite a while, and with the near-future fighters like TEKKEN 4, SC2 and VF4 all having bonus modes, they could last even longer and even appeal to more people!
To conclude, I’d have to say that I personally believe that fighting games are popular because of their ‘pick-up and play’ approach, and even more so because many of them have a 1-player story/career mode that attracts the hardcore fans. They let you win extra characters, extra costumes and in some of the more unorthodox fighters you can create characters, trade characters and even edit them! Like Nintendo, they offer something for everyone. They’re like the icing on the cake to any gaming collection. Make Sure You Have One!
Hadoken.
Game
One reason for the popularity of fighting games might be because we’re a violent race. Sure there are the harmless people who wouldn’t hurt a fly, but if, say, your in a fight, you don’t really use technique – because karate doesn’t really help you... Prancing round in a leotard revising the first 6 exercises of Bruce Lee’s “High Pitched Squeals To Make Your Karate Sound Cool” book won’t help you win!! Like I said, not everyone is violent, but look at our history as a species. We’ve tortured each other, fought each other, blow each other up, stabbed, shot and maimed each other. I mean look at all the torture methods they used in Guy Fawkes’ days – that was seriously messed up stuff!
History tells us that we’re violent – maybe not up front, but it’s inside us – if it weren’t the case, none of the ugly events of the past would have happened, except maybe that Ruby Wax photo shoot for the cover of Horse and Hound Magazine. Also, the whole ‘America Strikes Back’ thing (of the back of the September 11th attacks) wouldn’t have happened in the manor it did. Afghanistan is a very poor and under-developed country. America could have resolved the situation through more negotiation and peace – instead of killing civilians and their OWN troops! But you know why they did the latter? – Hate. Maybe it was an excuse to lash-out, but I think it was instinct.
Still, back to the topic. I’m not so sure that our fondness for fighting games was conceived through our hate. Because most of the fighting games we have don’t involve real-life situations. They’re almost all fictional, except the WWF *cough* and the UFC games. I think the main reason for our love of Fighting Games is that they can derive many emotions. The main one is probably fear; well not fear as such, but the result of a mad adrenaline rush, which can be likened to the feeling of fear. If both characters will die after one more hit, the intensity levels will skyrocket with each person wanting to win – so you can see how the game is so exciting, and why people have an adrenaline rush.
Another thing about fighting games is they kind of resemble a game of ‘Tig’ (or ‘Tag’ if you’re on of those people!) If someone ‘Hadokens’ you with a 15-move ultra kick-ass super fireball combo, you don’t want to just stand there crying, with a bit of life bar left. You want to go and Hadoken them back with a 10-move hi-yah mega combo with 6 fireballs and maybe a metal bar! It’s like competition. Now you might say, “Well football games are competition too, and so are all ‘Versus’ multi-player games!” And you’re right, but many of them take quite a while to get through, where as the lightening-quick action of a fighting game, which is not that dissimilar to that found in an FPS, means that the game is a lot more frantic and action packed.
Another point to fighting games is that there is never a match/fight/bout/round the same. Now while this is also true to football games and strategy games, among others; there is a certain cycle to fighting games, which means that there is a way out of, or round, everything. Take Killer Instinct Gold (N64). The tutorial mode showed you how to counter any type of move, meaning that in the game, like many other modern fighters, you could get out of any situation by using the respective counter-move! You understand, yes?
So, hey! Fighting Games. They are very cool. They have that something that appeals to so many. When taken as a joke and a bit of fun, they can provide the entertainment for a whole night not to mention a few laughs. When taken seriously, they can do you head in. But either way, they can last for quite a while, and with the near-future fighters like TEKKEN 4, SC2 and VF4 all having bonus modes, they could last even longer and even appeal to more people!
To conclude, I’d have to say that I personally believe that fighting games are popular because of their ‘pick-up and play’ approach, and even more so because many of them have a 1-player story/career mode that attracts the hardcore fans. They let you win extra characters, extra costumes and in some of the more unorthodox fighters you can create characters, trade characters and even edit them! Like Nintendo, they offer something for everyone. They’re like the icing on the cake to any gaming collection. Make Sure You Have One!
Hadoken.
Game
Fighting games are great because your objective is instantly obvious and the controls are simple to get into, but there's one hell of a lot of depth to master.
One thing that does annoy me about most fighters is they they are oftem semi-simulator based which can make them a little slow and restricting.
Also, once you go into an attack animation, there's no getting out.
Wouldn't it be great if there was a fast paced fighter that meant you could start a kick, but change your mind half way through the animation and change to something else.
Your opponent would see your character initiate a kick and try to counter that, but then you pull back and change to a punch perhaps. Then they'd have to be quick enough to change their defense plan etc...
Much better than the "learn button pressing combo and master pressing it with good timing" styles of most current "fight simulator" beat 'em ups.
One thing that does annoy me about most fighters is they they are oftem semi-simulator based which can make them a little slow and restricting.
Also, once you go into an attack animation, there's no getting out.
Wouldn't it be great if there was a fast paced fighter that meant you could start a kick, but change your mind half way through the animation and change to something else.
Your opponent would see your character initiate a kick and try to counter that, but then you pull back and change to a punch perhaps. Then they'd have to be quick enough to change their defense plan etc...
Much better than the "learn button pressing combo and master pressing it with good timing" styles of most current "fight simulator" beat 'em ups.
You could say that the world is too violent, but you could say it isn't violent enough, as there is nothing to compare it to....
We’ve all played a fighting game. Maybe you love them… maybe you just filled in for someone answering the phone. Either way, we all know what they’re like. What I want to talk about is why they’re so popular. Sure the modern ones have good graphics; and the button mashing technique, that so many of them utilise, means that any person of any age can play them. They appeal to almost everyone.
One reason for the popularity of fighting games might be because we’re a violent race. Sure there are the harmless people who wouldn’t hurt a fly, but if, say, your in a fight, you don’t really use technique – because karate doesn’t really help you... Prancing round in a leotard revising the first 6 exercises of Bruce Lee’s “High Pitched Squeals To Make Your Karate Sound Cool” book won’t help you win!! Like I said, not everyone is violent, but look at our history as a species. We’ve tortured each other, fought each other, blow each other up, stabbed, shot and maimed each other. I mean look at all the torture methods they used in Guy Fawkes’ days – that was seriously messed up stuff!
History tells us that we’re violent – maybe not up front, but it’s inside us – if it weren’t the case, none of the ugly events of the past would have happened, except maybe that Ruby Wax photo shoot for the cover of Horse and Hound Magazine. Also, the whole ‘America Strikes Back’ thing (of the back of the September 11th attacks) wouldn’t have happened in the manor it did. Afghanistan is a very poor and under-developed country. America could have resolved the situation through more negotiation and peace – instead of killing civilians and their OWN troops! But you know why they did the latter? – Hate. Maybe it was an excuse to lash-out, but I think it was instinct.
Still, back to the topic. I’m not so sure that our fondness for fighting games was conceived through our hate. Because most of the fighting games we have don’t involve real-life situations. They’re almost all fictional, except the WWF *cough* and the UFC games. I think the main reason for our love of Fighting Games is that they can derive many emotions. The main one is probably fear; well not fear as such, but the result of a mad adrenaline rush, which can be likened to the feeling of fear. If both characters will die after one more hit, the intensity levels will skyrocket with each person wanting to win – so you can see how the game is so exciting, and why people have an adrenaline rush.
Another thing about fighting games is they kind of resemble a game of ‘Tig’ (or ‘Tag’ if you’re on of those people!) If someone ‘Hadokens’ you with a 15-move ultra kick-ass super fireball combo, you don’t want to just stand there crying, with a bit of life bar left. You want to go and Hadoken them back with a 10-move hi-yah mega combo with 6 fireballs and maybe a metal bar! It’s like competition. Now you might say, “Well football games are competition too, and so are all ‘Versus’ multi-player games!” And you’re right, but many of them take quite a while to get through, where as the lightening-quick action of a fighting game, which is not that dissimilar to that found in an FPS, means that the game is a lot more frantic and action packed.
Another point to fighting games is that there is never a match/fight/bout/round the same. Now while this is also true to football games and strategy games, among others; there is a certain cycle to fighting games, which means that there is a way out of, or round, everything. Take Killer Instinct Gold (N64). The tutorial mode showed you how to counter any type of move, meaning that in the game, like many other modern fighters, you could get out of any situation by using the respective counter-move! You understand, yes?
So, hey! Fighting Games. They are very cool. They have that something that appeals to so many. When taken as a joke and a bit of fun, they can provide the entertainment for a whole night not to mention a few laughs. When taken seriously, they can do you head in. But either way, they can last for quite a while, and with the near-future fighters like TEKKEN 4, SC2 and VF4 all having bonus modes, they could last even longer and even appeal to more people!
To conclude, I’d have to say that I personally believe that fighting games are popular because of their ‘pick-up and play’ approach, and even more so because many of them have a 1-player story/career mode that attracts the hardcore fans. They let you win extra characters, extra costumes and in some of the more unorthodox fighters you can create characters, trade characters and even edit them! Like Nintendo, they offer something for everyone. They’re like the icing on the cake to any gaming collection. Make Sure You Have One!
Hadoken.
Game
One reason for the popularity of fighting games might be because we’re a violent race. Sure there are the harmless people who wouldn’t hurt a fly, but if, say, your in a fight, you don’t really use technique – because karate doesn’t really help you... Prancing round in a leotard revising the first 6 exercises of Bruce Lee’s “High Pitched Squeals To Make Your Karate Sound Cool” book won’t help you win!! Like I said, not everyone is violent, but look at our history as a species. We’ve tortured each other, fought each other, blow each other up, stabbed, shot and maimed each other. I mean look at all the torture methods they used in Guy Fawkes’ days – that was seriously messed up stuff!
History tells us that we’re violent – maybe not up front, but it’s inside us – if it weren’t the case, none of the ugly events of the past would have happened, except maybe that Ruby Wax photo shoot for the cover of Horse and Hound Magazine. Also, the whole ‘America Strikes Back’ thing (of the back of the September 11th attacks) wouldn’t have happened in the manor it did. Afghanistan is a very poor and under-developed country. America could have resolved the situation through more negotiation and peace – instead of killing civilians and their OWN troops! But you know why they did the latter? – Hate. Maybe it was an excuse to lash-out, but I think it was instinct.
Still, back to the topic. I’m not so sure that our fondness for fighting games was conceived through our hate. Because most of the fighting games we have don’t involve real-life situations. They’re almost all fictional, except the WWF *cough* and the UFC games. I think the main reason for our love of Fighting Games is that they can derive many emotions. The main one is probably fear; well not fear as such, but the result of a mad adrenaline rush, which can be likened to the feeling of fear. If both characters will die after one more hit, the intensity levels will skyrocket with each person wanting to win – so you can see how the game is so exciting, and why people have an adrenaline rush.
Another thing about fighting games is they kind of resemble a game of ‘Tig’ (or ‘Tag’ if you’re on of those people!) If someone ‘Hadokens’ you with a 15-move ultra kick-ass super fireball combo, you don’t want to just stand there crying, with a bit of life bar left. You want to go and Hadoken them back with a 10-move hi-yah mega combo with 6 fireballs and maybe a metal bar! It’s like competition. Now you might say, “Well football games are competition too, and so are all ‘Versus’ multi-player games!” And you’re right, but many of them take quite a while to get through, where as the lightening-quick action of a fighting game, which is not that dissimilar to that found in an FPS, means that the game is a lot more frantic and action packed.
Another point to fighting games is that there is never a match/fight/bout/round the same. Now while this is also true to football games and strategy games, among others; there is a certain cycle to fighting games, which means that there is a way out of, or round, everything. Take Killer Instinct Gold (N64). The tutorial mode showed you how to counter any type of move, meaning that in the game, like many other modern fighters, you could get out of any situation by using the respective counter-move! You understand, yes?
So, hey! Fighting Games. They are very cool. They have that something that appeals to so many. When taken as a joke and a bit of fun, they can provide the entertainment for a whole night not to mention a few laughs. When taken seriously, they can do you head in. But either way, they can last for quite a while, and with the near-future fighters like TEKKEN 4, SC2 and VF4 all having bonus modes, they could last even longer and even appeal to more people!
To conclude, I’d have to say that I personally believe that fighting games are popular because of their ‘pick-up and play’ approach, and even more so because many of them have a 1-player story/career mode that attracts the hardcore fans. They let you win extra characters, extra costumes and in some of the more unorthodox fighters you can create characters, trade characters and even edit them! Like Nintendo, they offer something for everyone. They’re like the icing on the cake to any gaming collection. Make Sure You Have One!
Hadoken.
Game