Line #28 Trivia/StreetFighterIII


1	* AcclaimedFlop: The game had incredible hype given its lineage. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why it flopped:
2	##Most likely it was a strong case of [[ToughActToFollow unrealistic expectations]].
3	##Some say years of updates/prequels to ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' resulted in [[CapcomSequelStagnation franchise fatigue]].
4	##The [[ReplacementScrappy unfamiliar cast]] were less-memorable, and most of them failed to generate a large following, let alone leave a mark on pop culture like the others. Creator/{{Capcom}} is doggedly trying to fix this in the sequels (with some success).
5	##The learning curve of the game had also increased exponentially, in part because series veterans had become too good, and partly to throw off newcomers who knew what to expect from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' given its outsized footprint on the genre.
6	##This series also had the misfortune of launching [[CapcomSequelStagnation almost concurrently]] with the ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Alpha]]'' series, which was a prequel to ''SFII'' and actually ''did'' contain many of the series mainstays that ''SFIII'' lacked. Players turned off by the gameplay changes and lack of familiar faces likely turned to the ''Alpha'' games instead, which were ultimately the more successful series.
7	##The lack of a console port at the time of release killed a lot of exposure when compared to both ''SFII'' and the ''Alpha'' series, all of which were {{Killer App}}s in their day. When it finally received a console port, it was exclusive to the struggling Platform/SegaDreamcast. ''SFIII'' has never really recovered from that.
8	## Despite its gorgeous [=2D=] sprites, it originally came out around the time [=3D=] fighters like ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'', ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' and ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'' were dominating the market, making ''SFIII'' look archaic by comparison to the average player.
9	##The game was made on Capcom's CPS-3 hardware, which was more expensive than previous arcade cabinets. This, coupled with declining public interest in American arcades due to the rising popularity of consoles, led to the game performing poorly at launch. Former Capcom Coin-Op sales manager Drew Maniscalco estimates that only 300 or so ''SFIII'' cabinets were sold in the U.S., as opposed to the 3000 units sold by ''[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes Marvel vs. Capcom]]''.
10	* ActingForTwo:
11	** Creator/WataruTakagi provided the voices of Ryu and Yang in ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact''. He also provided the voice of Hugo in ''2nd Impact''.
12	** Koji Tobe provided the voices of Ken and Yun in ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact''.
13	** Michael X. Sommers provided the voices of Alex and Necro in ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact''.
14	** Bruce Robertson provided the voices of Dudley, Gill, and the announcer in ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact''.
15	** Kaoru Fujino provided the voices of Elena, Effie, and Poison in ''2nd Impact''.
16	** Creator/AtsukoTanaka provided the voices of Chun-Li and Poison in ''3rd Strike''.
17	** Creator/YuriAmano provided the voices of Ibuki and Effie in ''3rd Strike''.
18	** Creator/LawrenceBayne provided the voices of Necro, Gill, Urien, and Twelve in ''3rd Strike''.
19	** Creator/LenCarlson provided the voices of Hugo and Q in ''3rd Strike''.
20	* CreatorBacklash: Longtime Capcom artist Akira "Akiman" Yasuda has said if he could rewrite history, he would've never worked on the game.
21	* CreatorKiller: Not to Capcom as a whole but the commercial failure not only killed the CPS-III hardware dead in its tracks, thus forcing Capcom to abandon the platform in favor of continued CPS-II development, it also led to Capcom to stop making their own arcade boards by the end of the decade in favor of off-the-shelf systems like the Sega NAOMI then the Namco System 246 and then the Taito X2+ series.
22	* CrossRegionalVoiceActing: For ''3rd Strike'', several of the characters, both new and [[TheOtherDarrin Darrined]], were voiced by actors situated in Toronto, incorporating a mix of Japanese and Canadian actors not unlike the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series at the time.
23	* TheDanza: Makoto is voiced by Makoto Tsumura.
24	* FranchiseKiller: The failure of this game ensured that ''Street Fighter'' wouldn't get [[VideoGame/StreetFighterIV a new installment]] outside of ports and re-releases for more than a decade until 2008.
25	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Until the release of ''30th Anniversary Collection'' in 2018, the only way to officially play the first two installments of ''SFIII'' (''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact'') were either the arcade versions or the ''Street Fighter III: Double Impact'' compilation for the Dreamcast.
26	* TheOtherDarrin: All the returning characters, sans Ibuki and Akuma, got new voice actors in ''3rd Strike'':
27	** Wataru Takagi voiced Ryu in ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact'', while Toru Okawa voiced him in ''3rd Strike''.
28	** Koji Tobe voiced Ken in ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact'', while Creator/YujiKishi voiced him in ''3rd Strike''.
29	** Michael X. Sommers voiced Alex in the first two games, while Patrick Gallagan voiced him in ''3rd Strike''.[[note]]Complete with a noticeable Brooklyn accent.[[/note]]
30	** The personality shift Dudley experiences through the series is reflected in his changing [[VoiceActors voice acting]]. In ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact'', Bruce Robertson lends him a brisk, deep, [[BritishStuffiness stuffy]] voice. Then in ''3rd Strike'', Francis Diakowsky gives him a less brisk, slower-paced, more mannered tone. Finally, by ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterIV Super Street Fighter IV]]'', Stuart [=McLean=] voices him with a ''considerably'' softer, gentler, higher-pitched tone in a manner completely opposite to how he was originally voiced.
31	** Yun was voiced by Koji Tobe in ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact''. Creator/KentaroIto took over in ''3rd Strike'' and all subsequent appearances.
32	** Wataru Takagi voiced Yang in the first two games, while Masakazu Suzuki assumed the role in ''3rd Strike''.
33	** Michael X. Sommers voiced Necro in the first two titles, while Lawrence Bayne voiced him in ''3rd Strike''.
34	** Creator/IsshinChiba voiced Sean in ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact''. Creator/MitsuoIwata took over in ''3rd Strike''.
35	** Kaoru Fujino voiced Elena in ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact''. Mie Midori voiced her in ''3rd Strike''.
36	** Kan Tokumaru voiced Oro in ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact'', while Takashi Matsuyama voiced him in ''3rd Strike''.
37	** Creator/YujiUeda voiced Urien in ''2nd Impact'', while Lawrence Bayne voiced him in ''3rd Strike''.
38	** Wataru Takagi voiced Hugo in ''2nd Impact'', while Len Carlson voiced him in ''3rd Strike''.
39	** Effie and Poison were voiced by Kaoru Fujino in ''2nd Impact''. In ''3rd Strike'', Yuri Amano voiced Effie, while Atsuko Tanaka voiced Poison.
40	** The announcer was voiced by Bruce Robertson in ''New Generation'' and ''2nd Impact''. In ''3rd Strike'', the announcer was voiced by Infinite.
41	* PromotedFanboy: In ''Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition'', the last of the ten parrying trials is "EVO Moment #37", a.k.a. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzS96auqau0 "The Daigo Parry"]].
42	* TroubledProduction: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvFUkk-3sCI This video]] from WebVideo/MattMcMuscles shows that the game suffered numerous setbacks that ultimately played a part in it flopping:
43	** ''SFIII'' was originally going to be an all-new IP titled ''New Generation'' before Capcom shorehorned the ''Street Fighter'' name into the title.
44	** The game was developed by a wholly-new inexperienced team that had no idea on what mechanics should be implemented into the game.
45	* UrbanLegendOfZelda:
46	** It's a common misconception that the game was meant to have only entirely new characters and Ryu and Ken only got added after Capcom faced backlash. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20200531171306/https://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/column/132046 Ryu was always planned to be in the game, while Ken got added to round out the character roster after the developers realized the roster was too small.]]
47	** A rumor circulated that the reason Makoto resembles Ryu was because she was originally going to be his sister. The alleged reason why that was changed was because ''Anime/StreetFighterAlphaTheAnimation'', which had a plot point of Ryu meeting a long-lost sibling, was in production at the time and Capcom wanted to avoid confusion. However, none of that was officially confirmed.
48	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
49	** Ryu was originally going to be the only returning character in ''New Generation'', with Ken only getting added at the last minute to fill out the roster. Had Ken never been added, this means Sean would've likely been developed as a true ShotoClone rather than a Dan Hibiki-esque JokeCharacter.
50	** Gill's original design was to have him manipulate light and darkness. However, Capcom, for many reasons, decided to use the fire/ice alignment to showcase their spiffy new hardware. His secondary color is a reference to the original direction.[[note]]He still retains fire and ice control, however.[[/note]]
51	** The development team planned to include Hugo in ''New Generation'', but he had to be DummiedOut due to time constraints.
52	*** For similar reasons, Makoto was DummiedOut in ''2nd Impact'' (according to an interview).
53	** Shin Akuma might have possibly been planned to appear in ''3rd Strike'', as he has nearly complete DummiedOut code in the game and can be completely playable with a hack.
54	** Remy's place in the roster could have been taken up by a character that used poisonous attacks, predating [[VideoGame/StreetFighterV F.A.N.G.]]
55	** While ''New Generation'' received a Dreamcast port, ports to the three systems in the previous console generation had in fact been considered. In the end, a Platform/Nintendo64 port proved a complete non-starter due to its lack of storage capacity. Capcom reportedly looked at a [=64DD=] version, but quickly and correctly concluded the add-on had no commercial potential. A Platform/PlayStation port quickly ran into insurmountable technical difficulties that Sony had no interest in helping Capcom resolve due to their preference for fully-3D titles, while a Platform/SegaSaturn port got furthest into development but was eventually scrapped and MovedToTheNextConsole after Sega pulled the plug on the Saturn.
56	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc-S5Un_geU According to Infinite]], before he was brought on board to do the raps and announcer lines for ''3rd Strike'', he had to audition in front of Capcom staff members. The audition featured a who's who of Canadian hip-hop legends at the time, including Maestro Fresh Wes, Choclair, Michie Mee, Kardinal Offishal, and even his former group Ghetto Concept.
57	** [[https://twitter.com/CAPCOM_AWT/status/1588372965728473088 This piece of concept art]] showcases several scrapped characters designed for the game. These include a giant robot, a mad scientist, a genie, a breakdancer, a man resembling an ancient greek statue, and a Velociraptor. [[note]] It's possible that not all of the characters shown were planned as fighters, instead being considered as background characters in stages. [[/note]]
58	* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: The day Infinite got the confirmation that he was picked to do the rap tracks for ''3rd Strike'', Capcom told him he had studio time the very next day, and he had absolutely nothing prepared; so he spent 24 hours writing rough versions of all three tracks, so he'd at least have something to work with when he got to the studio.

Context Trivia / StreetFighterIII