So, when most kids were playing in the Sandbox I was on my cousins lap playing Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat. To put it in simply I've been a gamer ever since I was a little kid. Though I don't have much time for them these days videogames will always hold a heavy place in my heart. Anyways, Street Fighter II, which was the first one to really get all around critical acclaim and sell millions of copies, it was released in 1991. I was 2 years old (Wow!)
18 years later Capcom released the fourth installment for Street Fighter IV. To be honest I thought I could just walk into the store and purchase the game. However, I was unfortunately informed that the game was SOLD OUT. Not just at my local Electronics Boutique but at Best Buy and about a thousand other places. Seriously, I thought I was one of the only dorks that would rush in opening day to get the game.
Capcom's marketing strategy must have been pretty damn good for such an old franchise to sell so well to a whole new crowd. I know they did alot of things to reach out to a whole bunch of crowds. For example, breakbeat.co.uk gave out street fighter samples and told people to remix them into tracks as a promotion for the game. I heard 7-11 of all places were one of the stores distrubiting the game, so when old timers went to get their hot dogs they would see that a new Street Fighter game was out. I hear the new movie that was released about a week after the game released was pretty terrible, however, I guess it gave more exposure to the game.
I guess I really underestimated Capcom's marketing team when it came to this game but it's nice to know that the old school has not been forgotten. SHORYUUKEN!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC-QBh8TH-4
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Hey there!
ReplyDeleteI have to confess that I have been playing Street Fighters and other Capcom games non-stop even when they lost their popularity. However, Capcom has never really stopped as you may think. There has been Role Playing Games it has been producing and there are some websites that CAPCOM allows people to play the company's games in multiplayer formats. You can check http://ggpo.net . These kind of websites make people keep on playing these games. Also there are official tournaments around the world for Street Fighters and Darkstalkers players. I grew up playing these games, so I always keep myself informed about them :)
But I understand how you were surprised because I also wouldn't expect a fighting game to be sold out. Even Tekken cannot make it that well, although it is a more comtemporary game.
I also wanted to buy Street Fighter IV, but I have to wait till the third quarter of 2009 to get the PC version. I can't wait.