Why isn't VF big in America?

As in: why are there so damn few american vf players when in Japan it's the biggest thing since sliced bread? One factor is certainly that arcades in general are a much bigger deal in Japan, but that doesn't explain VF's relative popularity compared to Capcom fighters and Tekken here in the US. Nowadays, even Tekken barely gets played over here, but there are always lines to play 2D Capcom fighters

Any theories?

 

Economy I think is part of it. Japan can not afford as many consoles. America, consoles are everywhere, why goto the arcades.
Culture..this is the big one. In america, the social aspects of the arcade just died about 5 years ago...and you KNOW its bad when capcom withdrew from the very industry they saved with street fighter II. In Japan, their are MANY more hosted contests - professonal ones. People goto the arcades and make lasting friendships...tha really, at least in my area, has not happened in years....there is so much more..but..I'm bored! lol

 

Yeah, but like I said above, that only explains the general popularity of arcades. It doesn't explain why VF suffers so much in America in comparison to Streetfighter, MvC, etc...

 

Just chalk it up to the fact that American gamers are morons and have no taste.

 

LOL....always leave it up to you to give the heartwarming explination?
lol even when your right

 

I chalk it up to drought of good players in the US. VF is a game you need to see someone good play to realize how great it is. There are not many oppurtunities to see this in the US. You could also chalk it up to the fact that it takes several months to start to really start to understand the system even with all the sytstem FAQ's and articles that's just too much work for a game nobody plays in the mind of your average gamer. Then their is the game media's refusal to give VF any time in their respective magazines etc. How about the death of the fighting genre in the US although as of late their seems to be a small resurgance. There are about a million reason's why it is not popular here so just pick your favorite and move on.

 

I think you've raised some good points. Sure, there are all the usual excuses about VF's status in America, but the meat and potatoes of it is that most gamers haven't seen Suzuki's masterpiece in action.

I personally think VF has great potential to grow in popularity in this country. Today's crop of 3-D fighters are hugely influenced by VF; a Soul Calibur/DOA 3/ Tekken 4 fan will have an easier grasp of the game than in years' past.

And don't forget the Virtua Fighter Archive. That baby is a terrific source of all things Virtua-related. Make as many copies as possible and fan them out. You'll build a solid community from the bottom up.

 

Just some thoughts and not necessarily every factor in my mind:

-It's easier to accidentally block an attack by holding back as you try to retreat. As opposed to purposefully blocking with a block button. MK using a block button was sort of an exception since people were drawn in by fatalities and also how screwed someone was when they jumped.

-Combo system has been very fast, to the point, but less focused upon with less flash and fast results. To the casual player, there's a worship of "# of hits" in a combo. It's probably the easiest thing to understand of "time put into playing the game"

-Combine the block button with every character having (arguably) a good repertoire of 4 levels of attacks (high/mid/low/throw) and the typical scrub is less likely to save himself in a game that doesn't completely require spacial advantages (VF is a game that should be learned close up and later work on spacial/footsie game). Soul Calibur has a strong spacial game that appeals to beginners, VF's spacial game is hard to implement if you have no clue what you are doing. Lion and Shun are minor exceptions (though they pay for it at high levels of play) and because of this, newbies tend to love these two characters.

-VF's buffer system is excellent when you know what you want to do and how to do it. Not all that many players in the US can handle this/versus/images/icons/smile.gif When learning something, we like to be spoon-fed by accident, as opposed to research and what not.

Just some thoughts....

-Chanchai

 

You know, the weird thing is that even though the U.S. has tons of SF players, outside of a few famous arcades, not very many are all that good. Just look at CVS2 (OK, admittedly not typical SF-fare, but most SF players play the game)...I don't think I'm all that good in the game and I don't play it very much, much less competitively, but I've managed to do very well. Got a few 4-5 win streaks in that NYC arcade...my first time playing against human competition! Today while I was shopping for groceries in the local mall, went to the arcade and played some CVS2...the sticks were big and clunky, but again, same result, multiple 4-5 win streaks against the regulars there. (I couldn't help but feel that those 4-5 streaks could have been 40-50 wins if I had my good Agetec sticks).

Most of the SF players that play don't really use their brain when they play. They rely on pokes, crossovers to confuse, and roll around in the hopes of getting a free hit. Yeah, of course, there are some very, very good players who know what they're doing, but most don't really use their brain to play. You simply can't play that way in VF3; it wasn't built to be that much of a poking game (PETE/CDP style aside). But that is why many like Tekken and VF2/4...because the shorter recovery times allow for a brainless, semi-random poking style to be satisfying and successful.

 

Also add the to the list the fact that most people are content to stay in their own microcosm of mediocrity instead of trying new things.

 

NYC arcade

I take it the arcade in NYC in mention was Chinatown Fair. If so, I applaud
you. What day and time did you show. The NYC streetfighter elite show up on
Friday night to test their skill. I'm bit upset now I didn't gwt to meet you
sooner at your stay at NYC.

If not, then there were probably scrubs. Which characters did you use?

By the way, Ice. You are totally right. Your avarage streetfighter player are
dimwits, relying on old borrowed technique. About half the people at CF still
ONLY use shotos.(Ryu, Ken and Akuma). Or they play top tier characters they
know are just better than the remaining cast. Example in MVC2: Cable, Storm,
Sentinel.
VF is a thinking man's game + one needs great hand skills to pull out the
advance combos in that game. A person can't afford to make a big mistake in
high level play in VF. This is not true in recent versions of Streetfighter
where characters can pull a big combo with a super meter at hand.

 

Re: NYC arcade

Yup, that's the arcade. The first time I was there it was Friday around 5 PM...I think I left around 7 PM for dinner, not too sure. I use Iori, Yuri, Yamazaki, Sagat, Guile, Raiden, Kim and GEESE.

 

A: Tekken is on the PSX, everyone in america owns one. Things might change with VF4 coming out on PS2.

 

Re: NYC arcade

I couldn't have said it better myself trev. Most SF players that I have asked say they don't like Vf cause it's to slow, requires to much time to learn, you can't
jump very high and there are no projectiles.
I think that the game being so balanced is also what keeps many people away.
Any character can dominate depending on the player. Most capcom games are
not quite as fair, the same 6-7 characters are chosen because of there overwhelming(CHEESY) ability to get the win, period. SSOOOOOOO SAD!

 

Re: NYC arcade

"much time to learn"
These players forgot you don't have to learn all moves but think skilly.

"you can't jump"
Why doing a high risk attack. Most jump attack are punished in VF.

"no projectile"
Hahahaha, so they expect VF to be SF. Why don't they play SF EX instead?

 

Re: NYC arcade

Not just the SF players. Even the VF players. Each new incarnation of VF required the VF players to re-adapt to the new gameplay. Sad to say, some VF players got pissed with this and didn't play anymore.

Not just brains but also the the ability to re-learn VF.

 

Re: NYC arcade

Yeah, you're right. It's especially the case with VF3. Although VF4 has new gameplay elements, I hardly hide my disappointment of the backward step it takes and the difficulty to retain Taka as playable character(it was the first VF3 character I often use).

 

Re: NYC arcade

Explain, why it is a bacward step?

 

Re: NYC arcade

I mean in term of ring layout(no more undulated terrain as well), VF4 took a step backward comparing to VF3.

 

Re: NYC arcade

Yet in terms of playability and fun it took a big step forward. I think that more than balances it out in 4's favor.