A Few Questions With Yoshinori Ono

Between Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, there have been plenty of fighting games from Capcom in the last few years. Street Fighter X Tekken will join that lineup later this year, a game Brad and Jeff were happily surprised by. Too much, too soon?

Our latest look at the game had the always-energetic producer Yoshinori Ono nearby, and as the demo wrapped up, I had a chance to ask a few questions. There wasn’t enough material to produce a full story, and I’m not interested in running four tiny stories, so I figured you should just go ahead and read everything.

Giant Bomb: With the gem system, why not allow users to filter out players, based on whether or not they are using gems?

Yoshinori Ono: When we were putting together all the concepts, we realized this would be the most ambitious fighting game that we’ve ever put together. Definitely, the gem system was part of that. If we made it so players could filter out players without gems and things like that, I mean, it’d be one way to play the game, but when we put together our initial vision of how it played, that was a very important part. Yeah, you can go into battle without gems--you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to--but we really think it’s a shame because we really think it makes the game better. As a whole, it’s a very important part of the game.

Giant Bomb: Fighting games were a massive hit in the 90s...until they weren’t. With several games now under your belt, how do you avoid falling into the same complexity pit that alienated so many players all over again?

Ono: As you mentioned, once fighting games had that boom in the 90s, basically the market was flooded with all sorts of different fighting games. Like we mentioned, they were kind of made for the arcade setting, so while there was a lot of them, they were actually really simple at heart. Some of them got kind of complicated--Third Strike had parries and stuff. For Street Fighter X Tekken, what we wanted to do, it all comes down to balance. You wanted to be able to appeal to the casual audience, while having enough stuff in there for hardcore fans to play, research and do their thing in the training mode. What we tried to do with Street Fighter X Tekken was to put in aspects that would appeal to all users, things like cross rush, the tag battles--these are the things that the casual user can really enjoy really easily, while it also has some merit for the hardcore players. It’s definitely really hard, but we tried our best with Street Fighter X Tekken to keep everyone in mind and make something that everyone can enjoy.

One more thing that wasn’t available in the 90s was online play, and that’s something that we put a huge focus on this game. All the modes in this game can be played online, and you can do online, offline, [and a] mix of human/CPU. We wanted to give players as many options as possible. The great thing about fighting games is that it’s like one-versus-one, and you’re trying to compete against the other guy in that kind of arcade setting. With online, we’ve been able to do is bring that kind of arcade setting onto the Internet, so you can do it, even though arcades don’t really do well these days, it’s still the kind of experience you can get if you’re playing the game online. We want players to foster that human network, human interaction--going back-and-forth with ideas and strategies. We think that Street Fighter X Tekken, [with] the new net code and things like that, will help them really enjoy the online.

Giant Bomb: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from working with another developer’s set of characters?

Ono: We thought King was a tiger. He’s not! He’s a lion. [laughs] He has spots...he looks like a tiger, but, actually, he’s not a tiger.

Through this collaboration with Namco Bandai, we’ve been able to see, basically, what their philosophies were when they were making fighting games, and we learn. Although every developer has a different way of expressing it, it all comes back to having tournaments and supporting the community--the tournament scene. Namco Bandai are also big players in the community of fighting games, and through our collaboration with them, it’s [clear it's] really important to help foster the community. So for future titles as well, we want to keep putting our support with the community, helping them out in any way that we can, so that they can continue to have big tournaments and really grow the genre.

Giant Bomb: When you think about fighting games in 10, 20 years, what do they look like?

Ono: For me, the key word is customization. With Street Fighter X Tekken, this was a big challenge. It was the first time we’ve done anything like this with the gem system, but I think fighting games would really benefit from having a little bit more of that personal touch. How am I, as a player, approaching that particular character? In 10, 20 years, if fighting games can get to that point where everyone has their own little personality within their own character, I think that would really benefit the genre. It’s something that I’m really working hard towards.

If we come up with Street Fighter 5, Street Fighter 6 or Street Fighter 7, I’d like to have players be able to say “Oh, you know, Jason’s Ryu in Street Fighter 6 was so good!” That guy’s character, not that character, not “Oh, Yun and Yang are so broken!” If I’m still working for Capcom in the next 20 years and they haven’t fired me yet [laughs], that’s the goal that I’d want to work towards.

Glad thats out the way, SF X Tekken is totally the next game to get me back into fighting games tho on a note, i havent been back to one since SC4, Tekken in this style is just awesome so i like his stuff.

king a tiger? wow

Ying and Yang?

I thought King wore a jaguar mask.

Nice lil read though I can't help but think u missed a opportunity to ask him what he thinks of mk and the direction they took the story and whatnot Because this gem and the future character creation ideas he has sound really promising But I can't help but think if Ono and Ed boon teamed up they would create the fighting game to end all fighting games

In case anyone hasn't seen this:

The link to King is the wrong one. The one in the article is to the chump from the KoF games, but Ono is referring to this King.

I'm no Tekken or SF fan but I believe that the wrong King is linked in the article.

also, I personally think he seems to look more like a cheetah than a lion or tiger.

King's A LION!?

That's not King.

This is King..!

Capcom, famous for releasing 60% of a game and then costing owners 20 to 30$ more to get it all. then releasing a 'super' version that still isn't 100%.

@Babylonian: god damm you i was just going to post that XD

ill still get this in though XD

• I very much doubt Ono said "Ying" and Yang instead of Yun and Yang.
• Ono still has it wrong, King isn't a tiger or a lion, he wears a jaguar mask.

I'm very curious to see how SFxT pans out in the FGC, especially since it's been announced as a EVO 2012 main tournament game before it's release. I'm sure it'll do well commercially.

I think he said Yun and Yang Patrick, not Ying...

It's funny that he mentions how the fighting game genre was flooded in the nineties, because Capcom is really close to single-handedly flooding it this time.

@leejunfan83: Well, he's based on the wrestler Tiger Mask.

Lots of comments about King and rightfully so; he's a man wearing a Jaguar Mask, the same goes for Armor King.

It is all covered in Tekken 3 (the greatest of the Tekken games). The original King dies and another man dons his mask, Armor King also appears in the game and at one point he takes off his mask.

Not sure if its a translation issue, a communication problem between Namco and Capcom or whether Namco has just forgotten it's own fiction.

@Babylonian: Oh man, thank you for that. Always with his damn Blanka action figure--I hate Blanka so much.

@MasterRain: Maybe, but Ono's twitter account is also full of wrong grammar, so maybe Ono meant Yun but said Yin.

ONO DAT TROLL.

@Napalm said:

It's funny that he mentions how the fighting game genre was flooded in the nineties, because Capcom is really close to single-handedly flooding it this time.

There's only 2 games out by Capcom (3 when SF x T hits), past versions of the games (such as vanilla SFIV) become irrelevant when newer versions come out. If people really want to moan about a developer releasing too many fighting games you're probably better off looking at Blaz Blue, they must be at 6+ games if you include the handheld/arcade versions and that's just in the last 3-4 years.

Edit: Oops I forgot about the re-release of Third Strike and HD Remix being released, still don't see it as an issue tbh, it's just choice.

I like the idea of customization in fighting games (like setting up a load-out of moves), but I think that all fighting game developers need to take a long look at what Mortal Kombat just did with it's single player campaign. Add on some proper story, some customization and light rpg leveling elements with the robust fighting game systems they have already developed and suddenly we are talking about a fighting game that could be the G.O.A.T.

@Napalm said:

It's funny that he mentions how the fighting game genre was flooded in the nineties, because Capcom is really close to single-handedly flooding it this time.

In reality, Capcom is doing what they did in the 90s but to a lesser extent. You are only seeing 1 or 2 upgrades to their games while before we experienced that and experimentation such as Street Fighter EX. What really oversaturated fighting games in the 90s was the cash-ins thanks to the successes of the MK and Street Fighter II games (Shoutouts to Way of the Warrior). It's much less occurring now since other fighting games are more made with a niche audience in mind (BlazBlue, Melty Blood, Arcana Heart, Persona 4, etc.) and are actual legit games.

I am gonna respond like Sooty.

@StitchJones said:

Capcom, famous for releasing 60% of a game and then costing owners 20 to 30$ more to get it all. then releasing a 'super' version that still isn't 100%.

I guess you don't play fighting games seriously. Developers don't make fighting game upgrades by first making it incomplete in the vanilla build. They only think about making it better and better. Price becomes ultimately irrelevant especially if you are a serious player. I will say this, Capcom didn't make Level 3 X-Factor Dark Phoenix broken so she can be nerfed in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, the players after release did.

Also Capcom is not the only developer that does this. Arc System Works and many other developers have upgrades to their games.

The customisation thing is gimmicky as hell, and there will be optimal builds for each character that essentially negate the point. Kind of sad to think that Ono feels the future is a glorified Create-a-Fighter mode.

I still hate that there will be pre-order bonus gems, paid DLC costumes and colors, and the "Super/Ultimate" version to come out later. Capcom keeps bumming me out.

I love you, Trollono

I like the idea of having more customisation in fighting games. Problem with a lot of fighting games is you see the same top tier characters get used, at least with some customisation options players will be able to make their characters more unique.

I feel like he completely dodged question number 2, which is typical for these interviews but whatever. An actual answer to that would have been interesting.

This is a really suprising read. It reads like he doesn't get fighting games at all.

Sure the gem system (whatever that is) might be what the developers want, but no developer should ever force a system onto gamers just because they wish they would play it that way. That's hwat leads to games that make players think "gosh, this game would be really great if it wasn't for the lack of this one stupid option. As a result, I'll play it for a rental instead of a buying it. All that work down the drain."

Also, making fighting games for the tournament scene is WHY THEY DIED IN THE FIRST PLACE. Yes, tournament fighters want more modes, more isms, more characters and more customization options, but newcomers want a simple fighting game they can easily learn and play. Fighting games got big off of Street Fighter 2. A game with 8 fighters and a few moves per character. If you want to get popular again, go back to that, because any fighting game fan knows that the joy in the genre comes from not only knowing your character and moves, but your opponets character and moves as well. That great EVO video didn't come about becaus ethe guy knew his Chun Li characters' moves, it came about because he knew his opponents KEN moves. That kind of knowledge is hard if not impossible to get when a game has 100 characters with a 100 moves each.

@Bobby_The_Great: actually the colors will be free, they have said as much. I agree, the pre-order gems is bullshit, I hate that too.

Costumes will probably cost though, but a lot of companies release skins for money, not just capcom.

They have said that updates will be digital, i.e. DLC. Sure, some updates will cost money, but people don't complain when COD releases a new map pack for 15 dollars so why should people complain if capcom decides to release new characters and maybe some new stages/features for 15 dollars?.

As long as they don't release a new disc-based update that brakes compatability with the previous game, (like they did with SFIV -> SSFIV and MVC3 -> UMVC3) then the whining is unwarranted I think.

@Babylonian said:

In case anyone hasn't seen this:

Am I the only one the read the Ono responses as if he was wearing this and pacing back and forth while maintaing this face?

@mrfluke said:

@Babylonian:

Ono may not want to make the same mistakes, but Capcom only knows one speed. I hope they listen.

alright im done XD

Aw man, he must have been pissed when Capcom turned around a newer version of that Street Fighter poster just a few months after he got that one.

@JazGalaxy said:

This is a really suprising read. It reads like he doesn't get fighting games at all.

Sure the gem system (whatever that is) might be what the developers want, but no developer should ever force a system onto gamers just because they wish they would play it that way. That's hwat leads to games that make players think "gosh, this game would be really great if it wasn't for the lack of this one stupid option. As a result, I'll play it for a rental instead of a buying it. All that work down the drain."

Also, making fighting games for the tournament scene is WHY THEY DIED IN THE FIRST PLACE. Yes, tournament fighters want more modes, more isms, more characters and more customization options, but newcomers want a simple fighting game they can easily learn and play. Fighting games got big off of Street Fighter 2. A game with 8 fighters and a few moves per character. If you want to get popular again, go back to that, because any fighting game fan knows that the joy in the genre comes from not only knowing your character and moves, but your opponets character and moves as well. That great EVO video didn't come about becaus ethe guy knew his Chun Li characters' moves, it came about because he knew his opponents KEN moves. That kind of knowledge is hard if not impossible to get when a game has 100 characters with a 100 moves each.

The tournament scene didn't kill it, it was the many half-assed games that were made to cash-in on the success of Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat.

Actually players within the scene felt Street Fighter IV was easier thanks to the Ultra mechanic being very used as a comeback mechanic. People found it unfair since they think it artificially shifts momentum especially if the ultras were high damaging. Players also complained how easy you can even input moves now; a shoryuken motion is still forwards - down - down forward - punch but can be down forward - down forward - punch. The closest thing to what you are saying as simple is Marvel vs. Capcom 3's simple mode. Everyone has preset commands of sorts but it's broken even for beginners. Street Fighter X Tekken is making it easier with their combo system and button shortcuts.

When you were referring to Daigo Umehara parrying Justin Wong's attempt to hail mary the match, I am ultimately confused of what you mean. Umehara-san who played was expecting the Chun-Li super art so he was slightly moving forward as parrying practice in case something happens.

It's understandable to have new players learning the game with basics but it should be used as a bridge to the point of whether to take it seriously or not. If you want to dedicate it, there are many tutorials and resources that will help. What you typed makes me think that taking time to familiarize moves in training mode is a bad thing.

Nobody has 100 moves, that's a bit of unnecessary hyperbole. Example: Ken still has the same normal moves and special moves. There is no real addition to his moves except his super/ultras. What else that can be in his arsenal are general mechanics that every character uses.

When you refer to familiarization with moves, what I am interpreting is that people are not smart enough to remember a couple of moves beyond a "few." That's where necessary repetition comes in through online, offline casual practice, or even tournament play. Don't underestimate a gamer's (especially to actual fighting gamers) memory and thought process.

Tournament players nowadays don't want what you suggest. They just want a playable game that ain't broken.

Capcom you dont need stupid gimmicks you just need solid mechanics and a better tutorial to get the new people up to speed. Also stop with the fucking comeback mechanics they ruin the flow of the match. If the person is getting there ass beat then they deserve to lose.

I actually met Ono briefly at last year's TGS after I had given Street Fighter X Tekken a spin and thought he was as nice and lively as he's often portrayed as being. A lot of people seem to be giving him flack over the implications some aspects of the gameplay might have and while I don't think even he would necessarily argue that stuff like the gem system is perfect, I at least appreciate that he's trying to think of a way to tinker with how people approach and view the fighting game genre down the line. The idea of a fighting game where you still have distinct characters but are still flexible enough such that the way one guy plays a given character is no more or less potentially viable than the way another guy does. It's not simply a glorified create-a-fighter sort of thing that he seems to be advocating for so much as just equipping players with the means to better express themselves and strategize with a giving character on their own terms within the confines of the overall fighting mechanics instead of just "this move works best when combined with this other move when used in that situation."

I know it's more nuanced than that in practice and whatnot, but as somebody who rarely wants to make such a serious time investment, that's what it feels like at times watching other people play it. Maybe it all appeals to me because I'm by no means a die hard fighting game fan who doesn't even attempt to keep up with competitive developments, but I at least like the ideas that are driving his vision. I don't think Street Fighter X Tekken is going to be the philosophical renaissance that he hopes to create in fighting games, but I nonetheless think that he's at least a guy worth looking out for just to see how far he can take his ideas and make them work.

5, 6 and 7? ...

It's Yun and Yang. My bad.

I respect his work but what a damn troll.

@patrickklepek said:

It's Yun and Yang. My bad.

It's all good.

@mrfluke said:

@Babylonian: god damm you i was just going to post that XD

ill still get this in though XD

quoting to make sure this is on every page... <3 trollono and miniblanka

@Napalm said:

@Sooty said:

@Napalm said:

It's funny that he mentions how the fighting game genre was flooded in the nineties, because Capcom is really close to single-handedly flooding it this time.

There's only 2 games out by Capcom (3 when SF x T hits), past versions of the games (such as vanilla SFIV) become irrelevant when newer versions come out. If people really want to moan about a developer releasing too many fighting games you're probably better off looking at Blaz Blue, they must be at 6+ games if you include the handheld/arcade versions and that's just in the last 3-4 years.

Edit: Oops I forgot about the re-release of Third Strike and HD Remix being released, still don't see it as an issue tbh, it's just choice.

You obviously misjudged my comment since you went off on a paragraph-long tirade. Also, I don't think striking down everybody in this topic so harshly helps your cause.

Not really, just responding to your claim which I found quite hyperbole, a lot of people seem to enjoy slating Capcom with their fighting game releases and it's getting so old. It's not even remotely comparable to the 90s. (yet?)

@JazGalaxy said:

This is a really suprising read. It reads like he doesn't get fighting games at all.

Sure the gem system (whatever that is) might be what the developers want, but no developer should ever force a system onto gamers just because they wish they would play it that way. That's hwat leads to games that make players think "gosh, this game would be really great if it wasn't for the lack of this one stupid option. As a result, I'll play it for a rental instead of a buying it. All that work down the drain."

Also, making fighting games for the tournament scene is WHY THEY DIED IN THE FIRST PLACE. Yes, tournament fighters want more modes, more isms, more characters and more customization options, but newcomers want a simple fighting game they can easily learn and play. Fighting games got big off of Street Fighter 2. A game with 8 fighters and a few moves per character. If you want to get popular again, go back to that, because any fighting game fan knows that the joy in the genre comes from not only knowing your character and moves, but your opponets character and moves as well. That great EVO video didn't come about because the guy knew his Chun-Li characters' moves, it came about because he knew his opponents KEN moves. That kind of knowledge is hard if not impossible to get when a game has 100 characters with a 100 moves each.

They died because of douchebags at tournaments and arcades too. But overally complex games without the right familiar characteristics is a factor too.

Eh, the gem system is a happy medium between the complexity of grooves. I LOVE CvS2, it's probably the best fighting game Capcom has ever done, and gems are basically a lighter, more customizable version of that. This game has about 50 characters, which enough for everyone to find the playstyle that fits them without feeling super overwhelmed. The gems seem fine too. Seriously, they're SUCH a baby step compared to grooves. And with all fighting games, people learn each character over time. It's just how it works. UMvC3 is great because of all of the options and characters that are viable, and there is so much to discover. Hell, they still didn't discover everything with the original MvC3 or the original SF4 (there was an EVO 2011 combo video of vanilla SF4).

I understand that you think gems are ruining high level stuff, but honestly the difference between attack gem Ryu & speed gem Ryu is much less than C-groove Ryu and N groove Ryu. Like speed gems just make your walk speed & jumps faster. That's it. This game takes the ideas of CvS2 and Tekken Tag into a happy medium and I think it will be a lot of fun, as good as those games ultimately? Maybe not, but still interesting, fun, and probably not as complicated as people think.

Also, making fighting games for the tournament scene is WHY THEY DIED IN THE FIRST PLACE. Yes, tournament fighters want more modes, more isms, more characters and more customization options, but newcomers want a simple fighting game they can easily learn and play. Fighting games got big off of Street Fighter 2. A game with 8 fighters and a few moves per character. If you want to get popular again, go back to that, because any fighting game fan knows that the joy in the genre comes from not only knowing your character and moves, but your opponets character and moves as well. That great EVO video didn't come about becaus ethe guy knew his Chun Li characters' moves, it came about because he knew his opponents KEN moves. That kind of knowledge is hard if not impossible to get when a game has 100 characters with a 100 moves each.

Pre-order exclusive gems? Excellent job supporting the tournament community Ono...

Still, he's such a magnificent troll.

Damn it, Patrick, I hope you asked him about "Street Fighter X Mortal Kombat" and he replied with, "Hell yeah that's happening, but we can't talk about that yet" which is why it's not in this news post...

King isn't a tiger?!

@patrickklepek You linked to the wrong King in your article.