Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition - What's CAPCOM doing?

So this game launched on Feb 16, 2016. It launched with many missing modes and outraged gamers alike. Now we have the most recent update, which pretty much has what should have been there in the first place. It's a solid fighting game and YAY for that.

My Issue? Was going to finally buy this game, and I have learned that there are microtransactions in this game. Earning in-game currency takes too long from what I have heard and this is a step backward.

"Fight Money, in addition to real money, can be used to purchase stages and costumes, but everything still feels unreasonably expensive. Although completing challenges and grinding out online battles are consistent ways of adding to your balance, you earn tiny amounts and not everyone wants to venture into the cutthroat world of online Street Fighter. As a result, the economy feels geared towards pushing players into spending real money, which is a shame." Gamespot review

CAPCOM pull your head out. Just release completed quality games and we will buy it. Sheesh! If you want us to spend in-game money than the game needs to be free.

New to fighting games huh?

They aren't "complete" until they're done with the game and they move onto the next one. Go look at any major current FG right now. SFV, Tekken 7, Injustice 2, MVCI, GGXrd, KoF14, etc. They all have season passes or extra individual purchases.

That's how this genre works. Big fighting games grow over the span of years. You used to just buy a new version of the game straight up. Then they moved on to expansion pack style version upgrades as DLC. Now you can buy some things bundled or some things individually.

Look at the SF series in particular. How many SF2 games where there before you finally got Super Turbo. Three different SF3 games before it was final. SF4, then buy Super, then upgrade to AE, then upgrade to Ultra. And costumes were still sold on the side.

Or look at another current gen game, GGXrd. Buy Sign. Then buy Revelator. Then pay an upgrade fee for Rev2.

Being able to buy newly released characters with in-game currency is a step in the right direction. When have you been able to do that before? Every other game just gives you a cash option and that's that.

SFV has 3+ years of growth ahead of it. Did you really expect them to give it all away like a charity?

Really, the alternative to this decades old "issue" would be to just put out the game and let that be it. Nobody who plays these games wants that.

@ConanTheStoner: Didn't they say they weren't going to do multiple versions this time? Or was that more referring to exclusivity and for people saying "SF V is exclusive, but I'll just wait for Super SF V which will be on everything."?

They need to come up with something other than "season passes with characters" for fighting games. I'll accept costumes, shaders, stages, etc, but why characters? I damn near laughed when I downloaded the Arcade edition update and realized I was missing more than half of the roster I started with. Then I have to pay 20 to 30 plus another 10 or 20 for more characters???!?!?... I just don't understand this with FGs this gen or why the FG community "accepts" this and I stayed with this game early through the trials and tribulations. Its one of the reasons I haven't jumped on DB Fighter Z yet and I'm the biggest fan. Gaining FM is also a joke in SF V call it what you want. Its a ****in joke

@asylumni:

They did, though this is a free version upgrade.

They're just not doing charged versions like previous SF titles. So if you bought SFV on day 1 and haven't spent a cent since then, you still got Arcade Edition as a free update. Everyone stays in the same player pool, gets all the modes, features, balance updates, bug fixes, etc.

I expect we'll get a Super upgrade in a couple of years, though again, free for existing owners.

All things considered, this is a pretty great model for the series.

@hayato_:

FM is certainly skewed against the player (actually it was great up until AE, could easily earn all characters before), but still. I don't understand the hate. What other fighting games are giving us this option? It's like people are ripping into Capcom for offering a non-cash alternative.

Because it's the reality of the genre man, characters are by far the most expensive assets to design/develop. I'd love it all fighting games made them free too, but there's a reason why it's not like that and NEVER has been lol.

If you really want to get technical about it, arcade devs location test early builds their games while they are developing by bringing these builds to select arcades worldwide. This way, they get feedback while showing their appreciation for the community.

Tekken 7 had plenty of these beginning in 2014. The final build wasn't actually finished until mid-2015. Fast forward a year or so later, Namco added even more content to the game and released T7: fated retribution, which ultimately became the console versions.

Capcom is pursuing a similar strategy just without the arcades. They finished their early builds (after exclusive location tests) as fast as they could, then released the core game that most long-term players would absolutely appreciate: a ghost-battle/survival mode for offline practice catered to veterans, and all of the things hardcore SF players need like online modes and semi-complete roster. They then moved to improve "versions" of the game by distributing the updates to early adopters as sort of a gift.

In short, Capcom (and Sony) are emphasizing pleasing long term players here. It's not a bad model at all imo.

Nope, not new. Been playing fighting games since the original street fighter. I just won't accept dodgy practices as a norm. That's what they want and why it exists today because people give in.

@aki2017: wait the original street fighter? Street fighter 1 was kinda funny to play... not very memorable. Do you mean street fighter II world warrior?

EXACTLY!! Also - wait, this is going on in Dragon Ball FighterZ??

Ah, OK. Thanks, I was having a hard time remembering, exactly. That makes sense, though. It allows the game to continue evolving, and the rebranding helps differentiate, not what you'll get, but more what's on disk and what needs downloaded, and keeps the player base together.

Man, SF1 was my first SF as well, played it at Skaggs in Dallas when I was a kid. Even back then, knew it was horrible lol.

So let me ask. Did you either

1. Want Arcade Edition to be the end, and for them to stop adding to the game over the next few years? Or...

2. For them to give away everything for free for the next few years?

I just don't understand why you'd expect them to spend years and millions of dollars creating content for free.

Yes it's in every FG that grows past its initial release. Has been since the early 90s.

Yeah everything that Conan said +1. I really hated the direction Capcom took after almost turning into Konami last gen; they've really redeemed themselves with this. I have the PC version; I will buy the arcade edition on PS4 just for the extra support.

I fully understand the widespread distaste for the initial launch, right. SF should never release like that again, hope it's a lesson learned for Capcom as it did hit their bottom line. Can't just concentrate on the core fanbase, and even a lot of those guys were understandably displeased.

But now? Really can't understand the hate lol.

Ah, I started with WW.

I remember when my cousin told me that there is a 2 button version of SF1 where fierce/roundhouse were executed by hitting the punch/kick button harder. I did not believe it until I saw the machine. God damn that is hilarious.

EDIT: I guess I can't assume everyone else was just wow'd by SF2 like I was back in the day.

@X_CAPCOM_X: They had that version of SF1 at my local arcade back in the day, it was horrible, I mean SF1 is pretty horrible but that version sucks balls.

I'm glad SF1 is in the 30th Anniversary collection. Just so everyone can experience the horror. Should've made it online for the lulz

Fundamentally, even their focus on the core fanbase wasn't actually that bad. I mean, these are the people who are going to be playing the game longer than a few weeks.

Arcade edition is great. I really gotta applaud them.

@X_CAPCOM_X:

Do you think MVCI might get a boost like AE?

Apparently it's not doing so well, would be nice to see it get a makeover.

Even though the Arcade edition update is free for current owners, you still have to pay out the ass for the characters. I think they give you a $10 dollar discount on the previous seasons and then you funny enough have to buy the next round in season 3. They can retool and re balance it all they want. What good is it if half the roster isn't available??? Its almost to the point you might have just threw your hands in the air and said **** it i'll buy the Arcade edition separately like in the past with other versions It hasn't changed one bit alas an update, but I guess its just "normal" now and yes DBZ FIghter Z has a season pass for 8 characters not confirmed yet.

The only thing that gripes me about the season pass is that you only get the characters, not the stages. Which they release alongside the characters, to be sold separately. That's shit-heady.

The costumes they make on the side are fine, and some of them very good. Although completely scewed towards the woman with tits. They are going down the Dead Or Alive route. I'd actually welcome more fang costumes.

@uninspiredcup: Is fang popular enough to warrant new costumes? I honestly don't think I've ran into somebody playing him online.

lol @ the Capcom apologists in this thread. Street Fighter V is a great fighting game in itself, but the business model is horrendous. You can't really excuse it. Even with the "arcade edition", you still have to buy the stages.. I refuse to believe that this is the only thing they can do to make money. Also, it is true that the game is grindy if you want to make fight money. Again, I like the game, but they can do better than this.

It was very funky, the first one, lol. Street Fighter II was the one I actually enjoyed and got me into the series :)

My gripe is not so much that they release content later on that costs money (like DLC can be good). My issue is with game developers having an in-game currency of some kind, that's hard to get enough of within a reasonable amount of time and pushes the player to crack it and fork out real money.

My preference in regards to your question? Actually a middle ground. I'll use Nintendo's ARMS just an example. They are continuously releasing new content and even characters free of charge. This makes players happy, as their money feels really well spent and the news of new free content always coming means that even after the initial launch - sales will keep going strong. If players knew CAPCOM would give a free player or 2 here and there, imagine the sales? There would be no reason NOT to go buy it.

Thats a shame about Dragon Ball fighterZ, although I don't know the details. Your statement about the early 90's is very mistaken though. Early 90's the SNES was still a thing hahaha. DLC for fighting games to get extra characters didn't even exist. Paid DLC first started in about 2005-2006 (Oblivion the famous example for the Golden horse). Fighting games started even later than that.

Us gamers are loyal. Treat us well and we throw money at companies. Sorry if my response was text heavy ^_^

Expense is an excuse for extra profit. They act like if they don't get extra paid DLC on the regular, that they won't turn a profit. Rubbish. Have free updates to the game and see how much more people buy the game. take a leaf from Nintendo and their approach with ARMS and Splatoon. Free content DLC that includes modes, stages, and characters. Sales keep going strong as gamers keep hearing of new free content. If CAPCOM said there next Street Fighter game would have free DLC updates, I would preorder it right now.

Yea, he's not popular. But making a costume would surely still make than lose profit.

They do.

What's capcom doing? only bringing the FGC the most balanced, mechanically sound, and online stable fighting platform of all time... while supporting it for 2 years since release with content and balance patches.

Anyone who bought this game at launch feels like they got a good deal without having to spend a dime on new characters with all the free fm they got over time.

Now we got a free update to a AAA rated game... and capcom is still taking heat for some stuff they did a decade ago.

Unfortunately I wouldn't know, although I am a Street Fighter fan, Capcom decided to completely cut off the entire Xbox audience this gen by having SF5 a permanent PS4/PC exclusive, they do not want my money for SF5. I will be getting the upcoming SF collection though, hopefully we get the full package on day 1 for that one, at least I can get my Street Fighter fix from that when I want.

I do agree that it is a tad tilted when the disbursements are so small and while I would raise the cosmetics defense to justify the model, fight money could previously be used to unlock characters and I’m under the impression you can continue to do that moving forward. So it’s not just cosmetics but content as well.

I really hope so. I would like a proper release of the latest mvc game. That series deserves a lot of respect.

The game wouldn't even have been made had Sony not funded it. If you want to play it, you should get a gaming pc or PS4.

Better than how it launch..still need to pick it up...mostlikely will now. :)

Sooo your issue is that they offer a non-cash option that's grindy. Got it. So would you rather them just get rid of the option? Do you want them to just remove that and make everything cash only like other fighting games?

That's what I'm not wrapping my head around here.

Maybe best if I show you instead.

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^

And trust me, I could dig up so much worse lol. Just went with mostly current games that are more popular/loved.

But yeah man. Every growing FG charges. It's always been that way. So I don't get why you're bent out of shape over SFV offering a way to earn some things in game, when the alternative is all cash.

Man, almost everything you're saying was covered in my first reply.

Growing fighting games have always cost, this has been a thing since the early 90s. You used to buy a new version of the game every time they updated. Then we started getting expansion pack downloads via DLC in recent years. Now it's a mix of that and/or individual items. This is on top of the fact that most of these games are packing far more content/features/modes than they used to.

The point is, you've always paid for it somewhere and unless fighting game companies become a charity, we always will.

Hey, that's very cool man. Didn't know that.

I'll also point to Nintendo with their Smash Bros DLC. Typically a new character is very expensive to design and develop, so I understand. Maybe ARMS characters aren't quite as in depth? Cool on Nintendo either way, though it's certainly not something they do consistently.

As opposed to what? The characters come at the same price or less than other games. And they actually give you a means to unlock them by playing, unlike other games.

Are we saying the business model for all FGs is horrendous, or just SFV?

I think one thing that really gets lost in these discussions is just how much content is being made in these modern FGs. These aren't your grandpas fighting games. The only reason why so much extra content exists is because there is a means to sell it.

SFV already has more stages than any SF game before it. It's not like the game launched starved for stages, they've just added that many more.

Actually, you recently made that thread about Injustice 2 being content packed right? But the game only has 12 stages, correct? Two more than SFV had to start. Now SFV has 24 unique stages, count variants (seasonal and time of day stuff) and you have 30 stages right now lol. So yes, they're making far more extra stuff than they've made before and they're charging for it.

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Question. Would you just prefer SF go back to the old model?

It's pretty lame when you get about 6-7 base maps and every other map is either: payed or bought with FM which you'll never earn fast enough.

So yeah prepare to grind or to pay up, it's really not a great system.

That's not actually true, but eh, read above.

I've played about 20hrs of Street Fighter V and I liked what I played but there's do denying the base content that was offered was pathetic and everything else on top of the base content was either paid or earned through very low FM drop rates.

You are acting like Capcom offering a choice besides paying real money makes them the 'nice guy', that's actually what isn't true.

Sorry man, just can't defend their policies. Even yesterday I tried buying an alt costume and it wouldn't let me use fight money. I don't have a problem paying for extra content, but the content in Street Fighter does not come off as extra content. It just comes off as forcing you to either pay or grind for hours. Have you played Injustice 2? It's just a more complete game. I also bought the ultimate edition. I felt like I got my money's worth there.

The game feels pretty content rich without buying any micrograms actions. Would be a lot better if the extra stages were cheaper or easier to get with in game money, but that doesn't really effect the quality of the stuff that comes with the game.

@SolidGame_basic: It's like you aren't reading a thing Conan is saying lol. So you paid what, $90 for the ultimate edition and feel like you got your money's worth, when you could pay $40 for SFV:AE have more content like, MUCH better gameplay and fight mechanics, and have the ability to use fight money for the remaining 6 characters in season 3 (which just playing all the modes in the game you'd earn more then enough). What's your argument here?

Arcade Edition is awesome, content packed, and its pricing for upcoming content is as good if not better than the competition. What's not to like?

And why aren't we talking about how awesome it plays?

SW ya bunch of crazy asses.

Are you really comparing SFV AE, a game that took two years for Capcom to finally have some decent content, to a game that got it right from the beginning? You guys are defending a company that released a half ass'd product, and then took 2 years to finally have something closer to what should have launched. And then when everything is all set and done, you still don't get a complete game. You get a download code for the additional characters, which expires once used. You don't get all the stages, and if you want additional things like colors or costumes, you still have to grind or pay up. My argument has been pretty easy to comprehend. Not sure what's so hard to understand. Don't get me started on Marvel vs Capcom either. Another one they eff'd up.

Yo I'm not asking for you to apologize or defend anything lol.

I'm simply responding to what you said. Same with this R4gn4r0k dude, same with OP. And you guys just side step my responses with something else.

Anyways, is what it is, not gonna keep wasting my time on this. You guys are displeased for whatever reason. Me? I only wish some of the other FGs I play had this kind of model.

Seems most of your gripes come down to how the game was launched which is fair. Why you're groaning on about it now, I just don't understand.

Still, would be cool if you actually responded to my previous points and questions instead of side stepping everything.

Don't try to turn that one on me bro, you straight up lied in your previous post lol.

Get real man, you don't even know what's in the game. Last time we discussed it, you got upset about something "not being there" that you would have found within 30 seconds of simply looking through the main menu. You don't even play these games, why are you in here debating them?

But yeah you're right man. Giving an in-game option for something that is cash-only in every other game, what a bunch of assholes. Seems to be the theme of this thread at least.

As opposed to?

I'm done lmao.

You dudes are too much. Next you guys are going to complain that the disc is biodegradable.

I can't remember that, but perhaps you can enlighten me ?

Your tone also sounds pissed off so yeah, calling someone a liar and writing in an irate tone always makes for great discussion :)

LOL, and who are you to tell me I can give my opinion about a game or not ?

@ConanTheStoner: What about my point is it that you're not getting? The company released the product two years later as an "arcade edition". And what are we getting? A mode/modes that was missing from the original game... two years later (btw, the modes themselves still aren't that great). It seems like you've neglected a huge part of the gaming populace that grew up with having certain modes or things like characters and stages as part of the game. Now we're being fed piece meal. And yes, there are people who expect this content to be part of the disc, not downloadable. Capcom is trying to change our perception of how we think about content for their games, but the thing is, there are games out there (more successful games by the way), that do it better. And I applaud those companies for at least justifying their base price before asking for additional money. I love playing SFV, but it's very clear what they're trying to do. There's a reason why Marvel vs Capcom has dropped in price so quickly. People are catching on and calling them out on their BS.

Not sure how you can hear me, but I can assure you I'm laid back and baked right now.

And yes, you lied. It's still up there and quoted. It's not personal. You told a lie to make a point. I called it out. Simple.

Not about to go full tormentos here to dig up an old post right now. Though if you really want me to I will later. But yes, you got pissy when the game didn't have a tutorial/trials/demos... when the game in fact had them all and you simply didn't look at the menu lol.

You were specifically upset that the game didn't show you how the meters work. Even though it shows you that on first time start up and has it in the main menu.

True enough man, you're right. It's just an ill informed opinion is all. You don't know how the genre works. And you've demonstrated in this thread and in a previous thread that you're not up to speed on whats in the game.

So sure, you can have an opinion, it just doesn't mean much in this case.

Right, so you're applying your distaste of the base game.... to the current game? That makes sense how?

And no, that wasn't your point to begin with, that's just where your final goalpost landed after ignoring my responses.

We're getting updated SF the way we've always gotten updated SF, just with far more content and far more options to do so.

Like you're still glossing over what I said about stages earlier man, why?

And I'll ask again, do you want the old model back?

You do understand the content follows your profile forever correct? Is every expansion and DLC you've ever bought magically burnt into a disc? Aren't you on the PC version anyways???

Yes, in this game they're offering more of it than ever, with more diverse purchase options than ever, and actually giving us the ability to buy a lot of it just by playing. Crazy!

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Honestly man, you're grasping big time here and I don't know why lol.

@SolidGame_basic: It's very clear what they're trying to do...ok what are they trying to do?