Would KoF be more popular in the states if it was a 1v1 game?

[Cibernetico]

Out of all my friends, I have only one that likes KoF while the others mainly stick to games like Tekken, SF series and VF. Their main complaint is that trying to master with three completely different characters is too much and the many different matchups that would happen in between matches depending on which characters you loose would be too much info overkill for them.

Now I don't know if it's a good or bad thing, but they actually prefer to play the game(on consoles anyway) with the 1v1 mode according to them, they can pick one character and find out the good and bad things about them instead of having to do it with three characters. 

so I was wondering about this. Would KoF be more popular if it was strictly a 1v1 game? Or do you guys think it would still pose a problem for its popularity here in the states?

[Eripio69]

KOF would be more known if it had a company that can actually release it and promote it properly. KOF 13 is a piece of art. Too bad that SNKp is a small company and targets only the market in Asia.

KOF 2002 UM is the best 2d fighting game up to date. It kicks SF4 in so many ways. Capcom is targeting the casuals while SNKp the veteran fighting gamers. That's why you see an ultra that takes away 60% of your life while in KOF you actually have to learn to combo to achieve that damage.

I don't hate other fighters. But is it kind of silly to loose 1 round because ryu was spamming fireballs and the only escape is to jump over and sit on a metsu sshoryuken.

Now to answer your question
From the OP I can tell that your friends are more into the 3d fighting gaming since you didn't mention blazblue or MVC. SNKp tried using 1 vs 1 in KOF MI. That did well on the casuals but the fans of the game didn't like it at all. Having 3 different characters in your team will balance their advantages and disadvantages.
FOR example: Can you please tell me how a Makoto can win a Sagat or Vega in SSF4? the disadvantages of her are too many against those 2. Now if it was Ryu/Makoto/Bison VS Vega/Sagat/Ken for example one's disadvantage against cartain characters will be minimized. Unfortunately in SSFIV their is a character that cancels others (fireball>grapping, grapping>combo characters, combo characters>fireball) . If you are up against that character no matter how good you are you still have a disadvantage. That's why 80% of the online matches are VS Ryu. People tend to take the safe road.

Sorry my english are bad I hope you got my point

[JeremyH]

What crawley said

[JT_Chill]

It sounds like your friends can't multi-task very well. I get the same thing from some of my friends. But, with them its, I can't do the super because of the motion. I told them, "If you can pull of Zangief Final Atomic Buster, you can pull off the Orochinagi or the Power Geyser." Also, there is a training mode.

For me I started with Darkstalkers and then went to SF. I found that SF lacked something in it, that KOF had. To me KOF had more options than SF with the run, jumps and in earlier KOF the assist feature. I also found the combos to be better. They were harder to perform, but they were more rewarding to pull off and damage. I also found myself being a better SF player. I knew what to expect from them. It takes more strategy to win, something I developed playing KOF.

Now to answer your question, NO. Why? Because of being a fan of that particular game/company. Many feel a sense of loyalty. To prove a point, the Marvel vs Series were/are very popular, and you use more than one character and people swear by those games. Tournaments are held for them. 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3 does not matter. Its loyalty to the game and company.

So all in all, what he said.

[Diavle]

I don't hate other fighters. But is it kind of silly to loose 1 round because ryu was spamming fireballs and the only escape is to jump over and sit on a metsu sshoryuken.

You don't sound like you're very good at fighters...

I guess you hate Neomaxes as well then.

In high level play you rarely land an Ultra clean, its usually part of a combo and SF4 has severe damage scaling in this regard (unlike KOF).

[TYRANNICAL]

People think K' is too strong in XIII. In a 1v1 KOF he would dominate even harder.  KOF works better as a team format game.  It grants it's uniqueness. That's why battery/middleman/anchor.  Also KOF isn't matchup intensive enough imo. 

Also your friends are a bit lazy. Most characters in KOF aren't that hard to pick up. 

[solidshark]

Also your friends are a bit lazy. Most characters in KOF aren't that hard to pick up. 

Very much this. Other than that, like everyone else, I'm answering no. Having the option of 1v1 battles in the game hasn't helped it much; it's better to it's own identity that it's team-based, and certainly adds variety to it (strikers, quick shifts, saving shifts, etc.) More valid arguments might be what's more popluar or what's easier. Probably the most technical SF (part 3) gets a lot of cold shoulder from casuals; being so technical is the 2nd biggest reason next to characters they weren't familiar with. KOF's trouble isn't the playable format; it'd be praised more if it was more well known in the US. It's other things that plague it; hopefully people can get used to KOF more with XIII, or 2k2UM on XBLA if it picks up somewhat.

[Chowdizzle]

I don't understand how this game (KoF in general but mostly Xiii) doesn't appeal to someone that takes a fighter seriously. I'm sure many of us that played SF stopped playing as characters because their match ups were bad, and to me a 3 man team makes that obsolete. The fact that you have to learn 3 characters shouldn't scare anyone it should excite them. First off you get a whole lot more variety not only in fighting but with style also (which SNKp definitely knows how to put in their games). I'd say KoF would probably be more popular if it was 1v1 but I'd also say that it'd be more popular if Americans weren't such casual gamers that play easy ass games like MW2 then think they are good. When they play games that easy then try out a game that requires actual thought like KoF it gets dismissed.

I could rant about this all day, I've never seen a fighter that looks as good and as balanced as 13 does and the system it runs on with the 2 separate meters is genius. Again though if your friends are into SF but not this I'd question how seriously they take fighting games.

Edit: Last thing, after playing SFIV since launch and picking up SSFIV I can play as about 8-9 characters competently. So you're friends saying 3 is too much makes less sense to me still. Even in a 1v1 fighting game I have always been compelled to understand as many characters as possible.

[Eripio69]

People think K' is too strong in XIII. In a 1v1 KOF he would dominate even harder.  KOF works better as a team format game.  It grants it's uniqueness. That's why battery/middleman/anchor.  Also KOF isn't matchup intensive enough imo. 

Also your friends are a bit lazy. Most characters in KOF aren't that hard to pick up. 

My point exactly.

I played XII online and people were playing with every single member of the cast. I play SFIV and SSFIV and 80% of my matches are VS Ryu and his variations.

@ Diavle
I am not taking SF seriously and maybe I suck. But I am pretty damn good at KOF. Been playing that since 1994.
I am glad that SNKp went back to where they started. They tried to attract casuals in XII like SFIV and I didn't like that.

[Nagare_Ryouma]

I agree with JohnCrawley's first reply.
Cibernetico, your friends can try to play KOF 1v1 since there is an option in console ports to do so. All the games that you mentioned that they play are 3D (unless they play an older SF) so I don´t think KOF is their thing anyway. Even if they try 1 on 1, I don´t think it will appeal to them.
"True Warriors play 2D."

[Judge Fudge]

SF4 has 3D graphics, but on a 2D plane, making it a 2D fighter.  The only Street Fighter games that aren't 2D are the EX games.

[JT_Chill]

SF4 has 3D graphics, but on a 2D plane, making it a 2D fighter.  The only Street Fighter games that aren't 2D are the EX games.

I have to disagree with this.  Street Fighter EX still played on a 2D plane. The only thing about this game being 3D were the backgrounds. Other than that, nothing. Rival Schools is more 3D than EX. KOF MI is more 3D. Those two games you could evade by changing planes/rotating around you opponent. This is similar to Tekken and Virtua Fighter.

[Nagare_Ryouma]

SF4 has 3D graphics, but on a 2D plane, making it a 2D fighter.  The only Street Fighter games that aren't 2D are the EX games.

Nope, it is not a 2D fighter.
Many times I heard something like "It has 3D graphics but the mecanics and gameplay is 2D, JUST LIKE THE OLD ONES".
Bullshit. The game is 3D, just by using 3D graphics, the physics in the game are tooooootally diferent.
The way the characters react to being hit, the way the blocking system works, not to mention how the jumps work....just because it looks kind of similar to earlier incarnations doesn´t mean it is. It can have the same basic system (on paper at least), you can performed everyone's classic normal and special attacks....it is still 3D, as I said earlier, it doesn´t work the same way.
Even if you don´t play in a 3D plane like Tekken or Soulcalibur, it is still a 3D game.

[MUSOLINI]

quite simply put, no. most of the market consists ofb scrubs, noobs and casuals. the reason for tekken popularuty is that people can button mash and know a few tricks and still be able to play it and have fun with it.

sf was never a big selling in the US after the 2 series. mainly cause people didnt play fighters that often (unless it was tekken). now fighters are making a comeback, sf4 is like the go to game and its gotten pretty noob friendly at the same time. biggest selling point is probably the 3d graphics. i doubt it would have sold half of what it did if it had been real 2d.

now to kof, when tekken is the go to game, sf is like the only other game most people that casually understand fighters will play. they can learn a character and play. having casuals play more fighters is asking for too much. especially a game like kof where you have a team of 3 characters to learn. add the fac that kof never been that known in the US and even most fighting fans never played it, i doubt most people would take the risk and learn a new game and get their asses kicked.

[Judge Fudge]

Nope, it is not a 2D fighter.
Many times I heard something like "It has 3D graphics but the mecanics and gameplay is 2D, JUST LIKE THE OLD ONES".
Bullshit. The game is 3D, just by using 3D graphics, the physics in the game are tooooootally diferent.
The way the characters react to being hit, the way the blocking system works, not to mention how the jumps work....just because it looks kind of similar to earlier incarnations doesn´t mean it is. It can have the same basic system (on paper at least), you can performed everyone's classic normal and special attacks....it is still 3D, as I said earlier, it doesn´t work the same way.
Even if you don´t play in a 3D plane like Tekken or Soulcalibur, it is still a 3D game.

When did I say it was similar to the old ones?  Also, just because it has a different feel from SF 2 and 3 doesn't make it a 3D fighter.  The only 3D aspect of the game is its graphics.  Your movement is restricted to a flat, linear plane, which is the definition of 2-dimensional.

And JT_Chill, I take it back.  I never played the EX games and just assumed that you could sidestep ala Tekken.  My bad haha.