It looks like ONO is really pushing the PS4.
Some highlights:
What is your message to Street Fighter fans on Xbox One?
O: [Laughs] There’s plenty of time to save $300 before the game comes out. The PlayStation 4 is at a very attractive price point at the moment. [Laughs]
You’ve held multiple betas and each of them encountered significant issues. What has the takeaway from that been for you, and should fans be worried about the launch of the full game?
O: As you said, since we started we’ve obviously had an initial rough patch in getting people connected and fighting. That’s very much the purpose of the betas, to get these things worked out before the game hits shelves and people are asked to pay for it.
We’re very pleased and grateful that fans have stayed with us for the whole time. It’s the first in the series’ history to hit the consumers hands without any kind of arcade version. We don’t have the chance to put it in arcades in a limited test and get feedback in the way we would have done in the past, so we’re getting very valuable feedback from seeing all the different players and play styles they’re using [in the beta].
I think we’ve seen, as each beta phase has continued, we’ve been able to identify the rough patches--whether it’s our net code or the way we’re connecting to PSN. It’s really helped shine a blacklight on those issues for us, so we can focus on them. By the time we’ve hit the weekend on each phase, I think it’s reached the point where people are matching and enjoying the game.
[The feedback from players] has been positive, because people initially had doubts when the game was announced. We’re pleased to see that has been washed away, so it’s been reassuring. It’s going to be a great experience.
I really like how the fight Money is shaping up:
Could you explain a little more how Fight Money works and address discussions that you’ll inevitably introduce microtransactions for cosmetics?
O: We’ve revealed new details on how players can earn Fight Money. The first is by completing daily goals, which can be something like getting five wins in ranked mode, or executing 30 special moves. It should be something that’s fairly easy to accomplish to get the bonus, and it also rewards players that are continuously engaging with the game. Rather than build a system that requires players to grind for hours on hours, we’d rather just have them come in on a regular basis and complete a daily goal.
The other philosophy we have with the system is we want to encourage players to experiment with the variety of characters. So another way to get Fight Money is to level up individual characters in the game. Levelling up won’t affect gameplay balance, just lets players know how much time has been spent perfecting a specific character. But with those two combined you can get a sense of where we’re going with the system.
It’s a system that is supposed to create long-term engagement with fans and allow them to really work towards getting content for free in the future. We’d like it to be an achievable task for just about anyone.
Do you plan to introduce paid cosmetic items?
O: For cosmetics, the game will have a mixture of paid and earnable content. There will be cosmetic DLC, some of it will be earnable with Fight Money, some will be earnable with just Zenny.
So there will be content available exclusively through paid transactions?
O: Yes there will be. [Note: Dahlgreen later clarified that none of this content will impact gameplay, it will be purely cosmetic.]
Interview Source: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/street-fighter-5-interview-yoshinori-ono-on-dlc-pl/1100-6432352/
My hype is increasing. This is my most anticipated game of 2016, and it's shaping up nicely.
"And everyone's Kickstarter has merit." - Malory Archer
