Fighting games dominated the 90's. They were -it-. Arcades revolved around what lightgun games and fighters they had. Console wars devolved frequently into which system had ports of which fighters and how they compared in terms of authenticity to the arcade.
I'm sorry, you're looking through rose-colored glasses with all this, to a point that teeters on fanboyism and really nothing more. And trust me, I rarely throw that phrase around.
Dominated the 90s? Hardly. The 90's saw so many game-related "dominations." The evolution of the platformer from arcade port to something unique. The evolution and mainstreaming of the RPG. The domination of Square Enix who, at the time, had innovation after innovation and could do absolutely no wrong. Were fighters popular? Yes, of course. But the number of people who ran out to buy a console because of Street Fighter were peanuts compared to those who ran out to buy one for Mario World, Zelda, Sonic, Final Fantasy... The evolution of the console from being a home arcade to a home entertainment system that played games you'd otherwise pump quarters into. Graphics, gameplay, story, character development, all of it was pushed to the absolute limit.
Street Fighter was a big game. Huge. But the defining game of the 90s? Goodness no. And certainly not the defining game of now. In fact, if you remember, in MANY, MANY, MANY situations, especially amongst thouse tourney players you mention, Street Fighter was held up as the first failure in porting and first example of a de-evolution of a game from arcade to console. The lack of a joystick that was appropriate for the needs of a serious player, the layout of the controller, the responsiveness of the system were listed as failures in capturing the spirit and point of fighting games. And as fun as they were, fighting games, Street Fighter included, brought really none of those evolutions that people were salavating for at the time in terms of graphics or gameplay or storyline... That's not to say that they were bombs. If I remember right, it was Capcom's biggest SNES seller, but it wasn't this innovation monster you make it out to be, then or now.
Donkey Kong may be considered a huge milestone, but in all truth, it applied mainly to the growth of video games as they related to arcades. SF2 did that -and- grew the console market.
Um... I guess that'd be right, if you totally ignore Donkey Kong Country and the innovations that brought to the table, as well as the innovations it still brings, along with the massive sales...
There wasn't just poor arcade imitations. Consoles, arcades, every system was flooded with SF2 clones. The success of the game is hard to understand unless you actually remember the era.
What is this assumption that I don't remember the era that everybody is making? I remember the era quite well, actually... Truth be told, my favorite games are all from that era and my favorite system is from that generation of consoles. My son is named after a character from that console generation. I'm not some 14 year old who picked up a controller yesterday who is simply screaming "CoD iz awesomez!." I don't even really like CoD.
If you remember, the whole era was flooded with a ton of clones of a ton of games. Even now, clones are everywhere. Dante's Inferno cloned God of War. Singularity cloned Bioshock (except the multiplayer, which is a clone of L4D). I won't even address the numerous, numerous clones of games like CoD, GoW, or GTA. Though it seems you liken every fighting game ever made to be a clone of Street Fighter, which simply isn't true. Just because it's a fighting game doesn't mean it's a clone. Mortal Kombat, a console and arcade-defining game of the time as well, is certainly not a clone.
To put it simply: Donkey Kong created a video game craze. Street Fighter innovated a genre, bridged the gap between terrible arcade->console ports, and created the first competitive game that could be taken seriously by two players simultaneously.
A "craze" that predates Street Fighter, that still spawns new games, that defined arcades in the 80s, innovated platformers and side scrollers in the 90s, that introduced a character who's now more recognizable around the world than Mickey Mouse...
And as you said, if I remembered the era, I'd remember that those arcade gamers hate, hate, HATED the Street Fighter that was on the console. I'd remember that it was one of the few games that was considered a porting failure by those who played the game competatively. I'd remember the console version was ineligible for consideration for world record scores, major competition, and that it was one of the first games that saw the real gamer vs casual gamer debate.
Again, would I say it was an innovative game? Yes. The most innovative? No. A celebrated game? Sure, in some circles. The most celebrated game at the moment (the question of the thread)? No. The most celebrated game of ALL time? Absolutely not.
Ask yourself, what game had hundreds of people lining up at midnight across the country spread out over multiple vendors so they could be the first to play it? The latest Street Fighter? Or CoD? Which one has 3 of the top 10 most played games on XBL while which one isn't even in top 20?
Street Fighter has its place, but that place isn't current or all time most celebrated game.
It did create the 90's arcade. The reason you went to the arcade in the early 90's was to play SF2.
Or Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Bubble Bobble, Daytona USA, House of the Dead, NBA Jam, Crazy Taxi, Bust-a-Move, Cruisn USA, Golden Axe, Smash TV, Star Wars (which was HUGE), Time Crisis, Virtua Cop...
It was literally one of the biggest titles to revitalize the industry after the 8-bit consoles and slow growth of the late 80's had made a big impact on game developer focus and attention.
Now you're just rewriting gaming history and ignoring other far more prominent titles that have a far bigger impact, even now. Like Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, anything by Square honestly, puzzle games... Even the little titles that were a draw that have a cult following now, like Earthbound.
Burger Time doesn't get tournament attention.
Which I'm sure will come as a surprise to people who do classic gaming tournaments, the largest of which in the world which occurs about an hour from where I live.
COD got some with the release of MW, but interest in pro matches has waned and most of the tournaments for the -series- (note the distinction... whatever flavor of the month of COD is popular gets played, SF2 is still considered for every serious pro-tournament) typically is held in some sort of game store co-sponsored event. SF2 on the other hand, makes appearances at high-level tournaments multiple times a year at different parts of the country. That are organized and run by Fighting game players. Not game store co-sponsored events.
The question isn't what is the most played tournament game. In that, I'm sure Street Fighter would trump it. The question is what the most celebrated game at the moment is. \If we get into the tournament debate, that is one that's heavily played, but so are numerous fighting, racing, and yes, even shooting games.
The whole claim that interest has waned in CoD tournaments is, however, very much untrue. Untrue to the point that I won't even dive into it because anybody with even a basic knowledge in gaming or tournament-style gaming knows that's just a silly statement. One of the largest, most press-covered tournaments of the year is one where the cornerstone is CoD. CoD also has the largest pot, both currently and the record for largest pot winnings.
And for the record, even in Street Fighter tournaments I know of, and I know of a number of them as I have a friend who competes in them professionally, while Street Fighter 2 is played, it's not the centerpiece Street Fighter in the tournament. That crown was passed to the latest one.
FPS gamers have QuakeCon. Strategy Players have Blizzcon. Fighting game fans have several majors. NEC, Hadocon, Final Round, Showdown, MWC, EVO, etc. Does COD feature prominently at all FPS tourneys? SF2 may not be the game with the big pot or highest stakes at those tournaments, but it gets the most attention. It is still considered the truest test of skills in overall fighters
So it's not the big pot, or the highest stake by your own admission. Then obviously it can't be the most celebrated game of the moment. It's not even the most celebrated game in that circle.
And yes, CoD and Halo both feature insanely promimently on those FPS contests.
It still gets dissected and studied. 20 years later. You think a single COD game will ever achieve that?
CoD is dissected and studied to a disgusting degree now. And it's done more often by more people in more places across the world than Street Fighter is currently or has any hopes to ever be. The fact that you don't even acknowledge that simple fact, which honestly I've never even heard debated by anybody, anywhere, at any time ever shows a startling lack of knowledge of both past and present trends in gaming. I'm sorry, but your posts reek of "I like it, it's my favorite, therefore it's the best." It sounds like fanboyism of Street Fighter, paired with an irrational distaste of the CoD series. Granted, is CoD my favorite? No, but I can acknowledge the astronomical impact it has.
Some corrections:
-Wolf3d popularized FPS, Doom, and then Quake, popularized online play.
Created it, yes. Popularized it, not so much. Wolf3D is a birthplace of the FPS, but what made it what it was, what introduced it as a concept and a lasting gaming style and franchise for online play was, without much question, CoD. Just like Driver introduced the sandbox concept, but what launched it to the level it is today is, undoubtably, GTA.
-Just because a franchise has high sales doesn't mean it has longevitiy or lasting impact.
Perhaps in your mind as I see you've discounted everything from Mario to Donkey Kong as a blip, a fad, while SF is the definition of all things gaming, but a franchise that has 85 mill and counting under its belt won't go away anytime soon. A franchise that is the most played in the world for the last several years is not going to die out. A franchise that has the highest selling game launch of all time less than a month ago, and already has fans salavating for more in a year is not a franchise that's flirting with obscurity.
People literally went crazy over SF2. It was a national craze; they made a movie for it. Did Donkey Kong get Jean-Claude Van Damme?
Dear God in heaven... If we are determining success of all time by what Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in, we're all doomed.
SF2 wasn't the first, last, or only national craze, nor was it the most recent. That would be, again, CoD. And yes, there are not 1 but 3 CoD movies in the works, so if that is our judge by success... Though it's a bizzare one for a Street Fighter fan to launch onto since by even the most hardcore fanboy standard, that movie was cinematic vomit. The absolute flagship in pointless, stupid, bloody awful video game to move adapatations. Right up there with Mario Brothers. Even Mortal Kombat was more liked than that one, and that is a joke of a movie too.
I mean really, I love Silent Hill as a series and I adore Silent Hill the movie, but I realize that's all my fan service and, honestly, the Silent Hill movie was an absolute travesty of a movie by all rational and popular standards. Same with the running joke that has become the Resident Evil franchise.