This is an excellent post and I agree completely. Very tiny changes like that will improve character viability, and I think those changes are all within the realm of possibility. There are so many people whining about any balance changes being made, and then whine about no one playing 3S and wondering why. This would definitely get more people interested in the game. If you want to play 3S without any balance changes and still have online GGPO is a pretty adequate solution, because Capcom knows about GGPO, and know you are basically pirating 3S and whatever other games you want to play there and allowing you to do it because it offers online play when currently that's the only way to do it. To reach out to people who don't use GGPO, some slight tweaks would definitely be a smart move.

i look forward to reading more of these. i'm still kind of on the fence about making changes to the game, but i understand where your coming from. regardless of what happens i'm still picking up the game because i am a fan of 3s. so any speculation or ideas within reason are very entertaining to me. i do want to hear more from 3s veterans on what they think should be done or shouldn't be done to the game because i feel that it isn't my place to say much of anything since i barely have any experience in the game. a more condensed version of the game that brings the tier list on par with ssf4 would be nice. i feel that a good majority of the chars in that game if given time with can be good. unlike 3s where it seems the general consensus is that there are 3 dominating characters. from an outside perspective it seems that there are 6 god like chars the former being chun, yun and ken while the latter being urien, makoto and dudley. even then that is 6 out of the full cast. so when i do think about it, a small alteration could be good for the game as a whole. it could be good transition for new people who got into the fighting game genre because of sf4. but that is just my opinion on it so far.

I'm totally fine with them tweaking a lot to balance it. My reason is that if people don't like it, they'll just play the other Third Strike.

Also, the option to select between classic and remix should probably be in place just in case the changes are dramatic.

If we have learned one thing from Super, it is that subtil changes are what is needed when rebalancing a fighting game. I don't want another HDR where the game is just differently balanced, but not better.

Oh and: good article. I like all the original stuff ipw throws out there. Keep doing that.

Also: where is the CvS2 intro from NorCal regionals?

I agree wit the changes to youn and Chun. But for the 100% combos required at least 2 super meters to pull off. so makoto whiffing st mp all day may give akuma nightmares Akuma taunts make up for increasing his strength
So character normals like Alex can be rework as a Alex mainer I think his pokes can be easier to do and to pull off with his supers Bommerang raid work with st.lk and was a hard link but may add stun to it so i would help

lemme juss say that iv never played 3rd strike ): (cos i only ever played sports games until ps3 lolz but have becom a world worior on sf4:) but the post abov sound prty resonble nd i think adding characters isnt what fans rly whant if u rly want balance to stay the same nd the game to have the same feel but i think you could add stages and other kinds of content along these lines. also i obviously dnt no what the multiplayer modes for 3rd strike r but i think tornument mode would fit in well nd an adaptation of endless battle could b cool with the 3rd strike charm. and you could add chalene mode. what about challenges where you parry 1st then counter with the sugested combo. i dnt think titles and icons would work in 3rd strike as well as super but i think a clan system could b cool... iv always wanted to gather my psn friends under one clan and play on team battle maybe against other groups. oh and plz giv dudly bak hi car nd butler nd the coat grab animation in ssf4, i try to play ssf4 dudly but feel like thede parts of his personality have been left behing nd i cnt get into him ): overall good work on super tho *thums up* nd do ur best on 3rd =D

lmao fucking Cheeses

3s should not be changed. Period.

I never played much third strike to know what the game itself needs, but any finished game today, including third strike, could use a little of the "Sirlin treatment" in the interface department (think usability).

Super's interface is such a disappoint to me... all the saving/loading (which could be done in the background), the total lack of an efficient workflow to get into the game, the replay channel that only offers completely random replays (on-demand much?), the rigid online modes that you can't alter once you've created a lobby, etc, etc.

I really hope they don't screw up third strike and it's online offering with a glaring lack of options and a clunky interface.

Hey yall. Dont diss someone's grammar. Not everyone has english as first language. weez all cool here.

I would be happy if Capcom just put the game up on live or Psn with just GGPO haha. If they actually tried some balancing measures i'd be pleased.

i disagree with your article. the game should not be changed.

it also worries me that many of the posts agreeing with you are also admitting to never having played 3s very much in the first place.

we should be playing the same version on xbox live that is also being played in arcades all over the world. US, JP, EU

HD remix was fun for a couple years, but only tourneys in the US are playing it and its already dieing off. its not a worldwide classic like ST, still being played, will still be played

@n0thingman I completely agree. There should be no initial changes to 3S when it's released. If in some way the game can be improved and balanced, it should be patched at a later time when the issues become significant enough to warrant.

@Mr Jared Retouched Giant Attack backgrounds and BGM would be awesome, particularly the Hot Spring and Cave stages.

HD SPRITES!

Good article but I think capcom is waisting there money. This game was and never will be as mainstream as the sf2 series and mvc2 or hell even ssfiv! I'm not hating in anyway before I get bashed because I honestly like 3rd strike (although I prefer ibuki from 2nd impact). I own the games on dreamcast and ps2. But it's too late capcom this will only be bought by the hardcore audience and let's be honest with the money they lost this year(even though they made some from ssfvi) do they really want to take the risk?! Look at Lost Planet 2!
Then again I could also be wrong and if it's price at say $9.99 with online play it might sell. I wonder if it'll be played at evo again though.
Oh and prepare to see nothing but yun, chun and Ken players online (just like mvc2 storm,sent,storm/cable,storm,iron man etc)

Makoto is kind of easy to fix. Just make sure that super jump cancels are meant to be super jump cancels and don't allow them to be canceled into dash (which is then canceled into the uppercut).

Ken, well make his "favorite super" slower. (So that removes some of his hit confirm power.) Also his air or ground tatsu should not cross up too easily.

OH. Make all of the super arts a little more usable. All Chun-Lis, Yuns, Uriens, and Kens use the same super art. It's almost as bad as everyone using Chun-Li, Yun, and Ken.

I'd be curious to see what the Japanese fanbase says about any of the changes.

As far as the look of the game, I hope they don't call in Udon to redesign the sprites like HD remix. However I hope more pixels are added to the original sprites. You know that way the art looks more clear and awesome.

Also for online and local play, I always wondered why fighting games never used a lounge mode, a la FIFA 10. You can keep track of certain players, and all that, and it would open up for some 3v3.

As far as the game mechanics/proporties itself, this is tough. I don't think a few tweaks would hurt. As far as damage scaling is concerned. I think Capcom did really well with that in SFIV, the tier list is way more close than in vanilla. But for the most part don't touch it too much.

I mean capcom tried to balance ST and I don't think it gained too many more serious fans. Some would say the game was useless, as the Japanese market doesn't even play it. And then opposite of that situation, there was MvC2 which aside from some infinities taken out, the game was left as is, and again the community doesn't have any new fans competitively.

Maybe it's just better to leave as is for the most part, I don't see the community growing too significantly, and at this point, there is no need to punish people who are still faithful to the serious by changing their favorite characters.

Keep it old type.

There should be no game play changes.

The only change I'd like to see is a variety of character colors. (something like Blazblue)

If you want game play changes, then wait and download 4th Strike when its available.

I'm not sure if someone posted these suggestions, but if they have, let me be the one other guy who supports the ideas.

1) sharper graphics (too late to make HD sprites)
2) totally new backgrounds (not too late to change bgs) and remix to all sound tracks is also welcome
3) keep the top 6 as top 6 but improve all the rest (this is a very open suggestion)
4) add 2 new characters (probably won't happen)
5) add a comprehensive training mode
6) add a trial mode like sf4, but with explanations and demos that show timing (add a trial mode for parry training also)
7) make parries/red parries easier (it would be better for mainstream players but may mess up pros)

I'm in the conservative wing of the 3s changes.

buuut the only changes I wouldnt mind seeing is:
*reducing Chun's SA2 damage (keep bar length)
*make Ken's SA2 2 bars max (instead of 3)
*increase damage scaling on Yun's Ginei Jin
*hd filter, or atleast widescreen.

keep everything else...maybe a tiny bit more ibuki life.

I honestly believe they should not touch anything with 3rd Strike. I mean its called Online Edition that means there putting it online and that is it. IMO alot people never learned how to play 3rd Strike properly and this where all this confusion is coming from. Capcom should give Trophys and Acheivements for parrying certain things in training mode or hit confirmin. That will get people in the right direction to understanding the system more for what 3rd strike really is. 3rd Strike loves.

Everyone who says the game shouldn't be changed has never been or seen a tournament for this game. The finals at ANY 3rd Strike tournament were always the same. Chun Li, Ken and Yun. When a game has such a giant gap between the top tier and mid tier characters, something is wrong. It's about as bad as MVC 2's sentinel, storm and magneto. Chun Li can wipe out half your life from ONE c.mk. Yun can get a genei jin bar in a few seconds. Etc. Back when this was in the arcades it was a blast to play but when the Yun Genei jin and Chun li bs began to take over everything, nobody played it anymore. Anyone who says that doesn't need to be fixed needs to get there head out of their ass. Fighting games need tweaks like any other type of game. Look at SSF4 or Blazblue.

Yeah just some meter size changes would be great. I'm sure Capcom didn't intend for Chun and Yun to abuse their supers so much. Even with 1 max super, they'll still be great characters, but wont be such a dominant force.

It's not like were trying to balance SSFIV, this game has been out for around 10 years, we know the tiers, we know the game. We know the small changes that will balance it, and not ruin it.

But lets be honest what game do any of you play besides SSF4. Its not balance for the games that is the problem its the learning curve that no one wants to climb which is the problem. Changing the game wont help that at all.

The only thing wrong with Third Strike is the world class nerfing Sean got, otherwise the game is perfect. Now, as far as the tourney scene and how the top tiers always seem to be in the finals--the big three can be beaten. A challenge? Sure. Impossible? Heck no and a quick search of YouTube will show that certain players rape the top tier using characters like Hugo, Elena, Urien and Oro. But you're gonig to have to be on your game.

Gamerbee showed during Evo that tiers don't mean too much.

Top tier whoring is an imbalance in the player's attitude toward the game.

I hope Chun changes a little bit man it was a bad taste in my mouth after beating her down and one low forward kills me. As a Alex mainer her hit box was two small for some of my attacks or just to slow to connect

I think keep it as it is. The games survived fine for 10 years without a single change. The game was already balanced after it's two previous games.

As far as tiers go this isn't Street Fighter 4 and I think a lot of Street Fighter 4 players are going to get a shock when they play it. Skilled 3S players totally annihilate scrubs whether playing a high or low tier character.

We don't need to make this game newbie friendly. As everyone knows the game is 10 years old. They should feel privileged to play a now classic fighting game in it's authentic state. Rather than watering the gameplay/controls down to cater for people who don't care about the game enough to put the hard yards in.

@ chessus yes u sound like a dick but its my bad cos i never try 4 grammar in internet stuff, its a kind of MSN mentality i have and really i should have tried harder in a pretty much serious discussion. ill try harder in future and ill even try to edit that post but ma spellings bad some times so forgive that. i mean its the internet, didn't think anyone cared lol. But if it helps my point get across ill edit it. Ill do my part, but u gotta read it :P

First of all let me just say that I’ve never played 3rd strike (because I’ve only ever played sports games until ps3 lol but I’ve become a world warrior on sf4) but the post above sound pretty reasonable and I think adding characters isn’t what fans really want if u really want balance to stay the same and the game to have the same feel, but I think you could add stages and other kinds of content along these lines.
I obviously don’t know what the multiplayer modes for 3rd strike r but I think tournament mode would fit in well and an adaptation of endless battle could b cool with the 3rd strike charm. I also think an improved version of the challenge mode would be cool. Imagine challenges where you parry 1st then counter with the suggested combo.
I do not think titles and icons would work in 3rd strike as well as super but I think a clan system could b cool. I have always wanted to gather my psn friends under one clan and play on team battle maybe against other groups.
Lastly, if anyone at Capcom’s reading this, please give Dudley back his car, butler and the coat grab animation at the end of a round in ssf4, I try to play ssf4 Dudley but I feel like there are parts of his personality that have been left behind and I can’t get into him. ): I know its a long shot but I had 2 ask. Overall good work on super *thumbs up* and do your best on 3rd =D

@ cheeses ok i admit i massacred the english language in my original post 2 much but don't be so ignorant man. loads of people use shortcuts like rly and cbb.... ect. i no i went overboard and even typed whant which is somehow misspelling 2 words at once but again my bad it was 4 in the morning and i had allot of thoughts i didn't want to forget but for u to think I am trolling and doing it because i think its cool seriously kind of ignorant and negative. i say ignorant because i can not believe your on the internet and do not know people sometimes type like this and negative because u read 3 lines assumed the worse and started cussing. So in review who's really been 'trolling' lol jk

"A straight rerelease won't do that because while it sold (and continues to sell) like gangbusters, Marvel vs Capcom 2 proved already that a port is simply not enough to reestablish a community."

And if 3S is tweaked or rebalanced, then it will just prove that a modified port isn't enough to re-establish a community... As much as some of us love these games, (and I'm honestly not triyng to be intentionally negative), these games pretty much are what they are, and they have their communities, saw their high points etc. None of these remakes are going to bring back or exceed the popularity at the game's peak or compete with something like SF4 as far as pulling the casual masses that aren't all about tournament play out of the woodwork. A straight port wont' do it, and a tweaked port won't do it either. I'm not saying they won't see success (just like MvC2 is still seeing- but like you pointed out- it's not reestablishing the community the way it once was).

Part of the popularity for that, and 3S online will be the droves of people new to the tourney scene that were exposed to it when sfIV came out and SRK was flooded. they all saw the evo, sbo and other tourney hype and thought "oh yeah, marvel was cool, I can't wait for the xbl port" even though they barely ever played it when it was out. Then they got their hands on it and were like "oh...this is really hard and everyone else already knows how to play it".... and never touch it again. It's great that more people are getting exposed, but I don't think many people who aren't already competative at these games feel like putting the time in on an 'old' game where the top players have been established forever... I'd imagine that's kind of discouraging, haha. I'm not saying it's not done at all, we saw some new faces for HDR, but... again, not enough to fully reinvigorate the community. At least that's my take on it.

I loved the article though, thought it was very well written and thought out. I personally have to disagree with wanting any changes in 3SO though... I'm hoping it's as straight of an arcade port as possible, in looks and gameplay.

Quotin Meh:

"Part of the popularity for that, and 3S online will be the droves of people new to the tourney scene that were exposed to it when sfIV came out and SRK was flooded. they all saw the evo, sbo and other tourney hype and thought "oh yeah, marvel was cool, I can't wait for the xbl port" even though they barely ever played it when it was out. Then they got their hands on it and were like "oh...this is really hard and everyone else already knows how to play it".... and never touch it again. It's great that more people are getting exposed, but I don't think many people who aren't already competative (sic) at these games feel like putting the time in on an 'old' game where the top players have been established forever... I'd imagine that's kind of discouraging, haha. I'm not saying it's not done at all, we saw some new faces for HDR, but... again, not enough to fully reinvigorate the community. At least that's my take on it."

Interesting post. If you take everything in there on its face value as true (which I do for the most part), then the main value of these remakes is for existing fans who can use their current gen consoles and sticks to play their preferred games more often. Which means Capcom would be best-advised to cater to this market and make the game as arcade-perfect as possible, hopefully even better than the ps2 port. There is no gameplay or rebalancing silver bullet that would make 3s surpass sf4 in popularity - I firmly believe that ssf4 would keep its spot because of graphics alone. That's just how the casual scrub rolls. And bear in mind also that MvC2 as a straight port was a huge success sales-wise - isn't it Capcom's biggest success as a d/l game, far outperforming HDR?