Despite My Better Judgement, I'll Be Buying Super Street Fighter 4

Generally speaking I am a very frugal person. Once a week I sit down and plan out my meals, the goal being to spend roughly $25 a week on food. When my friends and I go to bars I carry cash and keep my debit card far away. Basically as a senior in college I don’t have much by way of disposable income. When I do spend money on games, or other entertainment, I want to know that it’s worth my while (and my cash).

Unfortunately there is something about games that turns off the rational part of my brain. And that’s what’s driving me crazy about Super Street Fighter 4.

In a previous post I explained how I purchased Street Fighter 4. Long story short, I used part of savings bonds purchased for me as a child to buy the game. While standing in line at Best Buy I felt like a terrible person and kept picturing Busia (Polish for grandmother, although actually she’s my great-grandmother) glaring at me from above. But if nothing else I absolutely adore Street Fighter 4 and play it constantly, making my guilt a little less acute.

And then along comes Super Street Fighter 4. My initial reaction to hearing about the game was, “Yeah right Capcom, like hell I’m buying that. I don’t care if it’s only $40, I already gave you $60 for the last one and there’s no way I’m spending $100.” But then the irrational part of my brain kicks in, and more and more comes out about the game and I can feel myself wanting to play it badly.

One of the things that I love about fighting games is that they tend to have more longevity than the rest of my collection. Two Christmases ago I bought Assassins Creed and Virtua Fighter 5; I’ll bet you can guess which one I’m still playing. With Street Fighter 4 I really feel that there is still more I can get out of the game. It hasn’t even been a full year since I’ve been playing it, and already I’m being asked to play (and buy) the sequel. I realize that Capcom has been saying that this is more substantial than just a simple reboot and I tend to believe them. But I can’t help but feel that when I inevitably buy Super Street Fighter 4 in the spring, I will be giving up Street Fighter 4 (and $60) far more quickly than I should have.

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Comments (9)

Gaming just isn't a practical hobby for the low income college-types like us, is it? Especially since companies are becoming more fond of releasing DLC as stand-alone products (yes, I'm looking at you Bungie). Capcom could get away with releasing 17 versions of Street Fighter II back in the SNES days because buying a new cartridge was the only way to get the new content. Now that we can download extra content for our games just like them fancy PC gamers, I think companies throwing some random stuff onto a disc and justifying a $40-$60 price tag by saying, "It's a lot more than just downloadable content" is a crime.

Nick Nordstrom, November 17, 2009 20:28

@ Nick I'm constantly bummed by the fact that I have plenty of free time now that I'm a college senior, but absolutely no money to spend on games. I feel pathetic for thinking this way, but I look forward to working in order to afford more games.

Rachel Jagielski, November 17, 2009 20:54

@Nick I don't mind paying for extra content, and I don't mind paying for expansions. But I hate to think that a company can sell essentially multiple versions of a game for new stuff that should simply be patched into an existing game.

Jason Wilson, November 17, 2009 21:23

How many times have you re-bought Street Fighter Games?

Rich McGrath, November 17, 2009 22:03

@ Rich Now that I think about it I've never actually re-bought any Street Fighter games. Growing up I had a Genesis with Mortal Kombat and my best friend had an NES with Street Fighter II so I just played her copy. I didn't really start to appreciate Street Fighter until I got to college and started playing the various Street Fighter 2 iterations my friends own.

Rachel Jagielski, November 17, 2009 22:12

I have bought Street Fighter 2 at least 5 times. And I will buy Super SF2 as well. But to make you feel better, I am sure that your Busia would like that the money she left you is making you happy!!! ;D

Lance Darnell, November 18, 2009 01:55

Thanks Lance! :)

Rachel Jagielski, November 18, 2009 02:11

Hey rachel, i find what helps me keep up with the new releases and saves me money is gamefly, its sure coming in handy this holiday! As for SSF4, i look at it this way, at first i was like WTF! but then i remembered that SF games are like fine wines, they only get better with age and they are a different breed of fighting game because each main SF game is a foundation to build on. A SF game comes out and then the flood of feedback from the hardcore tournament players comes in and capcom adjusts accordingly. this is how we ended up with SSF2T and SF3:TS those games could have never come out first because those games were a result of years of testing, feedback and adjustments. Plus by now we should all be used to this upgrading. One of the great things about SF is its never finished. there is always something to tweak or add and unlike the SNES and Genesis days, we dont have to pay $80 bucks for the upgrade like i did when i went from SNES SF2 Turbo to SSF2. one other thing that kinda numbs the pinch is that Capcom has said this game was requested and made by fans and thier feedback so that makes it feel less like a milking and more of a thank you. thats my take on it anyway. :)

Matt Swain, November 18, 2009 17:36

@ Matt I'm becoming increasingly convinced that Gamefly is the way to go, if for no other reason I will stop driving my friends crazy complaining that I have none of the new games ;D.

Rachel Jagielski, November 18, 2009 18:30

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