This past weekend’s PlayStation Experience keynote address in Las Vegas has revealed the first official trailer for Street Fighter V, a PlayStation 4 and Windows PC exclusive. The trailer comes after a year of speculation of a Capcom and Sony collaboration that has now resulted in the classic fighting game series coming to PC and the PS4.
Despite the initial backlash against the console exclusivity, fervor for the newest iteration of the Street Fighter franchise has been loud across the internet. This reaction has to be in part to the fact that Capcom is channeling the love of the series on part of their dedicated community in way that celebrates the Fighting Game Community, as well as the Street Fighter zeitgeist.
Many people tend to forget that Street Fighter IV‘s initial release was in 2008. Despite the multiple expansions and iterations, that is a long time for a company known for fighting games to go without a new entry into a series.
In that time, the series was the flag-bearer for the new age of the fighting game revolution, with the genre exploding in popularity and diversity. The Fighting Game Community as a whole has pushed this excitement further than ever, an attribute Capcom embraces in the trailer reveal from the PlayStation Experience keynote on Saturday.
The trailer shares a resemblance to hype videos and “best moments” videos for the Evolution Tournament Series and other well-known fighting game tournaments across the country, celebrating the community as a driving force for the genre. While companies like Nintendo seek to control the way fans present the companies titles at events like tournaments, Capcom has put its faith into the scene.
This has resulted in official tournaments such as the Capcom Cup, a reality series in the form of Cross Assault, and more. Capcom has even gone as far as hiring from within the community, such as the case of Peter “ComboFiend” Rosas becoming the company’s Community Relations Manager.
Capcom is smart to make the hype around the newest Street Fighter about its passionate community of fans, but I am curious about the decision to make Street Fighter V exclusive to PS4 and PC. Rumor of this has been floating around since Ryu made an appearance in a trailer celebrating the Sony console at this year’s E3. While an intelligent move on Sony’s part to lock down a celebrated franchise in the cage of exclusivity, I worry about backlash against Capcom.
The Xbox 360 was the console of choice in regards to Street Fighter IV and the FGC. The most–and most well known–players all play on the Microsoft console, in addition to the 360 being the chosen hardware of tournament organizers for the likes of EVO and Community Effort Orlando. While some may see the move as a poor choice, Capcom may have had no other option in order to seek the “AAA” funding it feels the game deserves.
Casual observers may assume that placing the title exclusively on one console would splinter the fan base. However, I believe that fighting game fans as a whole will go where the game is, especially this early in the life of the current generation on hardware. Despite this, many fans may see the move as an insult or Capcom taking Sony’s money in a The Godfather-esque “they made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.”
I will save such squabbling for those that care about “the console wars.” I won’t blame Capcom for going where the money–or potentially the most players–is going to be. For now, I’ll allow the hype of a new Street Fighter to settle into my cranium, controlling my every free thought as I dissect each piece of information until release, much like the rest of the community.
Street Fighter returns to the ring. All hail the king.
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