Chapter 860: A Love Letter to All Gamers

Although it was an older game, 'Wrath of the Lich King' generated immense popularity. Both players and countless gaming media outlets in the industry were focused on this brand-new expansion for World of Warcraft.

Professional guilds both domestically and internationally were fully geared up, striving to achieve the world's first clear in the new expansion's dungeons. Meanwhile, inside Nebula Games, a meeting was currently underway.

“A game encompassing major IP titles from Nebula Games and other developers?”

“Like DOTA?”

“Sounds promising, but wouldn't that be competing with ourselves?”

Inside Nebula Games' conference room, the core development team was whispering amongst themselves. The people in the conference room were mostly Nebula Games' core employees, and they were naturally aware of the company's recent activities.

Nebula Games had acquired licensing rights for many famous IPs from various developers. Prior to this, the company had also issued a very peculiar work assignment: to play through these classic game series, completing them with 100% collection and story progression.

Considering the direction of the meeting, it was clear this was a game incorporating numerous major IPs. This was quite significant.

“None of the above.”

Chen Xu, sitting at the head of the table, listened to everyone's quiet conversations and smiled faintly. Then, a concise design proposal appeared on the large screen behind him.

Looking at the words on the screen, Qin Yi, Yang Xin, and other core development team members showed expressions of surprise and bewilderment. Because the title displayed on the large screen was very simple.

FTG (Fighting Game), or as players more simply and clearly call it: a Fighting Game.

Everyone looked at Chen Xu, a little bewildered.

The reason, of course, was the game genre itself. If horror games were a niche, then fighting games could be said to have been forgotten in some dusty corner.

It had been years since they had heard of this game genre. Fighting games were truly like meteors, leaving a brilliant trail in gaming history before fading into obscurity.

Apart from a few so-called major fighting game developers and once-glorious IPs that could still live off past successes, virtually no new game studios ventured into this genre. Even counting indie game designers, the number of fighting games released in a year wouldn't exceed double digits.

Meng Zuo, especially, who was responsible for negotiating with various developers earlier, was completely dumbfounded at this moment. When acquiring these IP licenses, he had considered many possibilities, including major IP games, but never imagined this IP game would be a fighting game!

“Mr. Chen, is this new game a fighting game?”

Even though the title of this meeting was already displayed on the large screen, Qin Yi and the others couldn't help but confirm with Chen Xu again.

“That’s right.”

Watching everyone's bewildered expressions, Chen Xu nodded with a faint smile. Chen Xu wasn't actually surprised by the bewilderment of those present.

Because fighting games were truly too niche. If you were to name a game that best showcases a player's skill, fighting games would definitely rank first.

In FPS games, marksmanship accounts for 50% of victory, tactics for 30%, with the remaining 20% split between team coordination (10%) and luck (10%). Things like gambling on positions or timing, it could be said that these all involve some element of luck.

DOTA-like games need no further explanation; most heroes even have luck-based elements. A player with bad luck playing Phantom Assassin might as well have one less skill, while a lucky one effectively gains a major item.

The same goes for RTS games; skill accounts for a larger portion compared to DOTA and FPS, but there can still be elements of luck.

For instance, scouting the enemy's base at the start: scouting it immediately due to good luck versus only finding it at the end due to bad luck yields completely different outcomes.

Only fighting games could be said to be the purest skill-based games. If you can win, you win. If you can't, you can't.

But it was precisely this excessive fairness that gave fighting games a fatal flaw: their difficulty for newcomers.

In his previous life, there was Street Fighter, which sparked the fighting game craze; Samurai Shodown, which redefined the genre with new innovations; and the unforgettable Fatal Fury and its spin-off The King of Fighters, indelible in the history of 2D fighting games.

And Virtua Fighter, which truly ushered in 3D fighting games, followed by Tekken. These fighting games were all excellent.

But these games also shared a fatal flaw: they were difficult to pick up. This directly led to the decline of fighting games like Street Fighter, Tekken, and The King of Fighters.

Of course, this was also related to the times, as these types of games shared a common characteristic: they rose during the arcade era.

The primary revenue source for arcade games wasn't actually the players, but the arcade owners. Therefore, early arcade games shared a common trait: they were difficult! If they weren't difficult, how could they eat players' coins?

This development philosophy also extended into the home console era. Early home console games, such as platformers like Super Mario, side-scrolling action games like Ghosts 'n Goblins, Adventure Island, and Contra, could absolutely be considered overpowered in terms of player lives, game length, and difficulty.

This excessive difficulty was partly due to the cartridge capacity and game length at the time, but primarily because of the arcade era's influence. After all, early home console games were ports from arcades, and playing arcade games at home was a key selling point for early home consoles.

Thus, early fighting games all shared a common characteristic: they were difficult to get into.

As fighting games progressed, Mortal Kombat emerged, using blood and gore as a selling point while also pioneering hidden characters, stage transitions, team battles, and aerial combos.

And Dead or Alive, which featured a rock-paper-scissors system where strikes beat throws, throws beat counters, and counters beat strikes.

These all attempted to usher in new eras for the fighting genre, but unfortunately, as time passed, apart from Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, The King of Fighters, Tekken, and others could only barely survive on their series' fanbase.

Dead or Alive, initially also aiming to carve out a niche with hardcore unarmed combat and jiggle physics, ultimately only retained the latter and its character designs, transforming from a fighting game into a game that sold outfits. Characters like Kasumi, Ayane, Hitomi, and Marie Rose became prominent in various 3D communities and in their own Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball series.

Among the three major action games, Kratos hacked his way from Greece to Norse lands, while the strongest ninja, Ryu Hayabusa, was still busy cuddling with girls in the arena.

Fighting games seemed to have hit a dead end. Until the emergence of one game completely changed the fighting game genre.

That was 'Super Smash Bros.' from his previous life. The first generation sold over 5 million units, and the fifth generation's special deluxe edition sold 12.08 million units in 24 days, and that was just for a single platform.

This was almost a miracle. This was an extremely unique game.

Even the producer and the official promotions would not call it a fighting game, but rather emphasize that it was a multiplayer action game.

Yet, it managed to cater to two extreme groups: hardcore fighting game enthusiasts and casual players who rarely touched fighting games.

Moreover, as an IP-driven game, it was by no means simply borrowing an IP's skin, unlike other IP-based games.

Its game design philosophy influenced many subsequent fighting games. For example, Jump, Soulcalibur, and the Naruto series were all influenced by it.

Similarly, some domestic players' youthful memories from his previous life, such as Grand Chase and Kung Fu Kids, were also deeply influenced by it.

And a more crucial point was that 'Super Smash Bros.' wasn't just about throwing IPs into the game and calling it a day.

Any player who has played Smash Bros. would understand that this game is not just a fighting game, but a historical record of a gaming era, a love letter to all gamers.

Especially as the fifth-generation special edition, it was hailed by countless people as potentially the last Smash Bros. title. Its very existence was a miracle.

(End of Chapter) <>