The Future of 2 Player Mode? 1 Player Mode? for Fighting games

A lot Madden fans were disappointed at how EA Sports watered down Franchise mode for single player and two player. All of the emphasis was placed on online play. The new career mode is a shadow of what used to be. Similar moves have been made in all kinds of game franchises. For instance one of my favorites: Need for Speed had two player modes(Split/Screen) stripped from it , once it came to PS3, along with two player modes single player modes were seriously nerfed. On PS3 all of the emphasis is put into online play.

In comes Virtua Fighter VF5FS, the quintessential 3D arcade fighter. Gone is your ring name in single player, gone is your win/loss stats in single player, gone is the portable single player profile, gone is the ability to show ring names in two player mode, gone is the ability to bring up your own record or customizations at a local tourney, Gone is the ability to rank up in either single player mode or two player mode, gone is the ability to keep win/loss statistics in two player mode. Most of the emphasis in VF5FS was put into online player modes.

I think the fighting game community should speak up before its two late. Before single player and two player modes have been completely taken out of the fighting games. At first online play was just a extra benefit, now the way many games are trending, all they have is a online feature. Of course this helps the vendors, publishers, etc., track sales, devise marketing strategies, maximize profits, and minimize piracy , but in the long run it takes away from the gamers.

For example, when VF5FS was released on PSN, the online had plenty of action, sadly most of it was in ranked mode, but nevertheless plenty of action. Look at it now, a veritable ghost town in comparison to the first two weeks after the release (yes this is normal) but.... Once the online traffic dies down, what do you have left if single player and two player modes have been nerfed? How do you take advantage of the nice customizations at tournaments in two player? There are no player profile files! How do you keep win/loss stats in 2 player mode at tourney's and gatherings (paper and pencil) well I guess maybe your IPhone/IPod, Ring names gone, How do you even keep track of rank in 2 player? Once online is dead, what value does 2 player or even single player have if all of the production value focused on Online play?

In Tekken 6, I think you can only rank up offline to !rst or 2nd Dan. What happened to the player profile in Tekken6? There is no way to take advantage of the customizations and ring names etc in two player mode. There seems to be some kind of twisted assumption that Online play is a substitute for 2 player mode, (IT IS NOT! )

Look at what the fans of EA's MMA had to recently deal with:

http://www.ea.com/mma

WTF the servers are shutdown permanently? Huh! Wat? The fighting game communities should be allowed to play their games as long as there are participants, we shouldn't have to worry about whether the Vendor/Publisher/Game Producer or whoever is going to shut down the servers in 18 mos. But if we let the produces whittle our fighting games down to online play only, that's what we're in for. You'll be playing the game for 3-6 mos and then when the traffic dies down the servers go offline. Game costs about 60.00, Online traffic lasts about 6 mos, After that servers are taken offline. Ahem.... $10.00 a month for 6 months is what you're really renting the game for. THESE GREEDY BASTARDS

Instead of begging the Fight Game Producers for more online features the fight gaming community should be demanding

1) Portable player Profiles (complete with customizations, statistics, character rosters, and rank)

2) User configurable AI's (with sliders) from novice to Impossible to beat

3) Legitimate 2 Player and single Player Ranking Systems

4) A Variety of Single Survival Modes

5) Two Player Team Play Modes

6) Complete Two Player and Single Player Stats

7) Completely Developed Ghost AI modes ( alla Tekken 6)

8) More Stages/ Rings

9) Damn IT! Tournament Modes (2 player and Single Player) Complete with Brackets!!!!!


Fug Online Play, its not a replacement for Single player and Two Player.

Testimonial:

Had four friends over for the week end, they wanted to play VF with their customizations and they wanted to track their battle points. The only real choice we had was to have everyone bring their PS3 plug into my network so that we could fight online with LAG! (even though we were all in the same room) WTF! Yes, there is LAG even if you're all on the same switch. That's Fuggin Ridiculous. Why couldn't everybody just have their profile on a jump drive? And we all jump into a nice two player tournament mode?


I don't like the over emphasis on online features that many game producers are engaging in , (especially fighting games) If I had my choice I'd rather have a robust single player and two player experience and a so so online experience, than a super online experience, and shitty single player and two player modes. SEGA, NAMCO, TEAM NINJA, EA, THQ, et al REMEMBER SINGLE PLAYER AND TWO PLAYER MODES got you where you are today. You will not be able to sustain the fighting titles with Maxed Out Online features, and nerfed single player and 2 player modes.

If the fight game vendors continue with the trend towards adding Online features and dropping single player and two player features, I'm convinced we are witnessing the end of fighting games. Online alone, just aint gonna cut it .