Official original post by, Katsutoshi Sasaki, Soulcalibur IV director: The Soul Still Burns.

IMO, I am very worried about the commercial success of SCIV and other AAA fighting titles like MKVIII, Tekken 6, Killer Instinct 3, and a little for SF4(the least of worries here) [etc]. I think Virtua Fighter 5 is an awesome game that should have sold a lot more, among others.

Why? In an era of shooters, co-op MP, and team MP, fighting games are pretty much left in the cold because only few gamers rise to the top. Thus causing less interest for fighting games than per say, Halo or CoD games--were people can rely on teamwork as well as skill, unlike beat'em ups were in the end, it's all about skills.

I am not worried about the quality at all because we have always had great SC games, and the other fighting series are top notch as well. I just think that we need some kind of innovation that will allow people to play as much as they want without focusing too much on skills (practice makes perfect, but obsession is not helthy). For instance, I played DOA4 for a year and I got up to S-Grade (the 2nd highest), I stopped playing it for a couple of months because I started buying more and more games, and when I'd play DoA4, I would be so punished for losing, it became frustrating (when one 1 loss=10 wins). I don't have the patience to look for people to pwn, I just expect to be fairly matched more often than not.

I hope developers find better ways to equally level the playing field, and having to dumb it down is a lazy excuse, because Capcom vs. SNK2 EO proved that two control types can co-exist without hurting veterans while helping new comers.

For instance, taking advantage of each console with real technical features, instead of exclusive content (that coul only positively contribute to the overall package), like Yoda (Xbox 360) and Darth V. (PS3)—so basically, a PS3 owner can't play with Yoda just because he bought the wrong console? Is the publisher suggesting that he spends $300 more dollars just to play with Yoda? How many people are going to do that? Is it really going to make a financial difference? Don't you agree that when people don't feel left out, they are much more inclined to follow you/buy your products?

To conclude, they are other motives that may hurt fighting games console sells like 6mos-to-1yr-old Arcade pre-releases (it causes the hype and excitement to die down), lack of community integration, learning curve (but depth should never come at a cost of accessibility, it's not easy, but it is not impossible either), and things that may seam irrelevant for hardcore fighting fans, like character development and story lines. A good story can do wanders (learn from RPG's, Go to Silicon Knights website, to learn about the psychology of storytelling, lazy link).

I hope more games take DoA4's robust online options to the next level, with even more team modes and co-op features that work well, because most of the time, winning together is more rewarding than winning alone.