As most Street Fighter fans are well aware of, at E3 Capcom unveiled what will be its first 2-D fighting game since Capcom Vs SNK 2 was released in 2001. The project, currently under the working title "Capcom Fighting Jam," features a shmorgasborg of Capcom fan favorites such as Ryu (of course) Chun-Li (also of course), Yun, Guy, Sakura, Guile, Demitri, Felicia, and a couple new characters from Breath of Fire and the like.
Before I even saw screenshots, the idea had me nervous. When Capcom announces a crossover fighter, you know they'll be recycling sprites. This didn't bother me so much in the days of X-Men Vs Street Fighter, or even Marvel Vs Capcom, but most Street Fighters haven't gotten any updated sprites since the Street Fighter Alpha series which started in 1995. To say nothing of the fact that Felicia has the exact same sprite she's had since the original Darkstalkers game from 1994, ten fucking years ago!!
To make matters worse, the gorgeous, high-resolution sprites from the Guilty Gear series have greatly raised the bar on visual standards in 2D fighting. Put bluntly, Capcom re-using the sprites that gamers thought were beautiful ten years ago for a "brand-new" game is NOT going to work anymore. Why in God's name would we pay to play the exact same sprites we've been seeing since the early days of the original Playstation, especially now that we can just as easily get the same characters for FREE using Mugen!
The laziness displayed by Capcom with this game is absolutely staggering, to say nothing of the arrogance displayed by thinking those old sprites would be good enough for the handfull of loyal fighting game fans Capcom still has (or should I say "had"?). For years we have begged Capcom to make a new addition to their 2D fighting franchise, and all we get is another copy-and-paste job.
"But Gilgamesh! Hand-drawn sprites are much more expensive now than 3D models!"
I'm well aware of this. I also don't care. This is inexcusable. I don't care if the President of Capcom had to take out a second morgage on his house to fund new sprites. Capcom's been using sprites that are 8-10 years old, as if no progress in technology had been made at all. You should know, guys, that just because we like old-school fighting games doesn't mean we like the new installments to LOOK like it! Even if they recycled the CVS sprites like Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Bison, I'd be fine with that if they proceeded to update the others. But they wouldn't even do that. And why the hell is Dan in the background and not fighting, you bitches?! This game needs all the "recent" sprites it can get!
I'm sorry. I can't go on. This epipheny of laziness and fan-mistreatment is just too much. I consider myself a pretty good wordsmith, but even I am having extreme difficulty taking all the outrage I'm feeling and putting them into words. This... THIS is the treatment Capcom is giving the franchise that houses my hero; all-time favorite, Chun-Li. It makes me sick to think the day would come that I would actually not be looking forward to the next Capcom fighter.
So, that's it for me, Capcom. Call me when you guys actually feel like investing a little money on your games again. Until then, you are officially on my shitlist. I'm so pissed off, for a while a part of me actually considered shutting down the Chun-Li shrine and using the Kikouken.com domain for whatever else. Congratulations, Capcom. You've finally succeeded in alienating one of your most loyal fans. Now go to hell.
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