Begin rant:
Saw a few interesting articles tonight. Probably random at first sight, but I'll try to make the connection. This first link:
http://orochinagi.com/2010/09/fans-risks-and-fighting-video-gamesis an article I can easily agree with for the most part. SNK and KOF has consistently been some of the biggest risk-takers in fighting game, especially with XII. Going above and beyond practical budget constraints to update sprites in hi-def in an age of 3D modeling, gutsy decision. As much as I like Capcom for their fighting games, I do wish they'd take more risks, even though their business model was set as "some changes, very little evolving, more profit." When they did take a radical turn with their main flagship fighter (SFIII) the reception seemed hardly welcome, maybe except to those who've waited for a long time for Street Fighter to mature from SFII.
Growing up with both SNK and Capcom fighters together, favor constantly shifted toward SNK. Putting a lot of their fighters side-by-side, from sequel to sequel I saw more differences and new attributes that made each game very discenable from the next, and made each game relevant somehow, even if it was older. I could go back to '94/'95 or '96/'97 and enjoy them as their own games, versus playing SFA1 when SFA2 was available, or any previous SFII if I had the latest one. Capcom had great fighters under their belt besides Street Fighter or the Versus games (Darkstalkers, Rival Schools/Project Justice, Power Stone, Jojo's Bizzare Adventure, etc); it pained me to see them not getting anywhere near the consideration SF got. Even now, as the fighting game genre is growing again, articles like this make me quesiton how it's growing
http://shoryuken.com/content/1-million-signatures-need-make-next-gen-darkstalkers-2000/1 million signatures for consideration in producing Darkstalkers. Wow Capcom. As if you didn't have the money, man-power, or couldn't make it great enough to where it would be an unforgettable title (it'd look perfect it the cartoony look of SF4 I think anyway). Capcom is probably thinking solely on the basis that a name will make a great sell, when it should be a great game will make a great sell, and make the name worth something. Thank you in advance if you prove me wrong Capcom.
I believe that's where XIII is headed; getting there will be a bitch in America, but it's still possible. They've already fulfilled so much of what the fans wanted XII to be, plus lots of extra stuff to make this the deepest KOF yet. I won't even get into how much the effing costumes cost in DLC for SSF4 while XIII has an array of color palettes that make almost brand new costumes for free - scratch that, I just went into it.
Since I'm about at the end, I'll just say thank you SNK for thinking more about quality, and balancing it with fan demand, complaints, and other stuff equally when it comes to this one.
End rant.