Ono: Online play the successor to arcade scene
The arcade scene is sadly diminished, but a new challenger has appeared to take up the fighter mantle, according to Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono.
Speaking to GiantBomb, Ono said the fighter boom of the 1990's was centred on the arcade scene, and online play in current fighters like Street Fighter x Tekken is the successor to that.
"One thing that wasn’t available in the 90s was online play, and that’s something that we put a huge focus on this game," he said.
"All the modes in this game can be played online. The great thing about fighting games is that it’s like one-versus-one, and you’re trying to compete against the other guy in that kind of arcade setting. With online, we’ve been able to do is bring that kind of arcade setting onto the Internet, so you can do it, even though arcades don’t really do well these days, it’s still the kind of experience you can get if you’re playing the game online."
The producer seems certain that community engagement and competition are the secrets to the current revival in fighter popularity.
"Although every developer has a different way of expressing it, it all comes back to having tournaments and supporting the community - the tournament scene," he said.
"It’s really important to help foster the community. So for future titles as well, we want to keep putting our support with the community, helping them out in any way that we can, so that they can continue to have big tournaments and really grow the genre."
Ono's latest effort, Street Fighter X Tekken, is due in early March on PC, PlayStation 3, Vita, and Xbox 360.