Think back, if you will, to a fighting game generated tons of hype for fans of multiple franchises when it was announced. Then, the first set of trailers come out and people start having negative opinions of the game - and some saying it would be dead on arrival. Some suspected business practices further damaged relationships between the developer and the game’s community to the point where the game was called “dead” once it released. Then, it was up to the community to band together to prove the game wasn’t dead.
Were you thinking of Street Fighter X Tekken or Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite? Either way, I don’t think you’re wrong. I think Infinite is the new SFxT, and it’s up to us to keep it from dying.
I loved Street Fighter X Tekken to a point where I played it almost as much, if not more for a period, than Street Fighter IV. It was fun and rewarding in a way no other fighting game was for me since Capcom vs. SNK 2. It was also my first experience playing a game that my friends didn’t enjoy while I did.
My group of friends throughout college were mostly Marvel players, but with some sprinklings of Street Fighter and Tekken. When SFxT came out, I figured this would be a perfect opportunity to play a game we all could enjoy, especially since we could play two versus two. On the contrary, they all hated it. To make things worse, the local scene for the game was also non-existent as most players stuck with Street Fighter, Marvel, and Super Smash Bros., meaning I was stuck playing online against randoms. It was hard to grow as a player since there weren’t many players streaming the game via Twitch and Discord didn’t exist yet.
Even with all that going against me, I still loved SFxT and played it until the Xbox One and Playstation 4 came out, where then I didn’t have a system to play it on anymore. When I bought my Vita, the second game I bought for the system was SFxT. One of my biggest wishes is for a PS4 re-release of SFxT to expose a whole new generation of players, who might be more receptive to it this time around. The people that loved SFxT really loved it, and played and supported the game until they simply couldn’t any longer.
I don’t think Infinite will meet the same end, mostly because of the passion and the money behind the franchise, but I think the game needs the support of its fans now more than ever. Seeing the number of Twitch viewers as high as they are for a game that’s supposedly “dead” is reassuring, but it can’t stop there. The only way to keep Infinite from suffering the same fate as SFxT is for the scene to stay active with weekly tournaments and streaming, alongside entry into major tournaments. One of the best destinations for Marvel content is the Marvel Live! which has a presence on Twitter, often posts interesting combo videos, and is the home of the Marvel Live! livestream. The Team Sp00ky channel on YouTube is another good place to go, which hosts the Marvel Live! recordings after they go off the air.
I asked members of the fighting game community what their thoughts were on the matter via Facebook, Twitter, and Twitch, and while everyone seemed to agree with me for the most part, nobody offered any opinions on how exactly to prevent Marvel from dying like SFxT did. It’s a sad truth, unfortunately, that people in the community will declare games, “dead” but few have consider a situation that can become better on. A few players in the fighting game community who wished to remain anonymous echoed a pessimistic outlook of many players in and outside the Infinite Scene.
“If Capcom isn’t going to support it and if Evo and other major tournaments aren’t going to support it, then what hope does the community have?”
That said, it’s not dead in the water by any means. There are a lot of players out there putting in the effort and keeping the scene alive when they have the time. Players like Dominique “SonicFox” McLean of the EchoFox team, considered to be one of the best MVC:I players in the world, still put in regular time with the game when not rolling players in Skullgirls or Injustice 2. Even when he’s not playing, you can find occasionally find some other great players that have caught his eye through his Twitter.
I wasn’t the biggest MVC3 player, but I’m drawn to Inifnite because of the SFxT parallel. The negativity and bad voice acting is a shame, because underneath those things it’s a fun game. If you ditched it in the first run of issues or you haven’t tried it out yet, you might consider giving Infinite another chance. It might just surprise you in ways that SFxT surprised me back in the day.
