...if only OpenSource was profitable...

I was chatting on MSN today with a friend of mine who's a big Tekken fan too. He started talking about what he wished would happen for Namco's next fighting game. The details aren't important, but during our conversation I shot out the joke that "considering Namco's recent track record with fighting games, such a game would be so full of bugs and glitches that it would be unplayable". He then responded by saying "Namco should OpenSource that shit". That comment got me thinking so much I just had to rant about it (thanks again, HNIC).

Recently, Namco's earned itself the reputation of being "lazy" and half-assing the fighting games they develop. I'll be the first to admit that, even though they deserve a fair portion of the heat they're getting, another good portion comes from whining crybabies that don't really know what they're talking about. An educated opinion is still an educated opinion, however. "Step-guard never should've happened" is an ignorant way to express an educated opinion. It's true that in SoulCalibur 2, allowing a defense mechanic that lets you move AND block is just wrong. Thing is, correcting that "feature" would probably have demanded a huge overhaul of the entire fighting engine, which is the most likely reason Namco never fixed it. Opensourcing SC2 would fix the problem though. I'm sure there are some SC2 fans who just happen to be coders and who are hardcore enough to invest time and energy in taking step-guard out. Too bad OpenSource isn't profitable...

Tekken 4 is another game that would've benefited greatly from Opensourcing. So many things were wrong with that game I don't even know where to begin. Of course, these things have more to do with personal preference than the actual fighting engine. It would still have been pretty cool to change all those STUPID character models. Heihachi's diaper is the worst costume-design decision in the history of Tekken (although he doesn't look that much better in a bikini, at least it makes sense in context). Of course, I myself couldn't possibly change a character model without replacing it with a bunch of spheres and cylinders. That doesn't mean that nobody else could. Too bad OpenSource isn't profitable...

The beauty with Namco's fighters it that they attract a large group of fans. These fans have a wide variety of skills (I'm talking about the skills that don't relate to fighting games). Could you imagine how great things would be if Tekken and SoulCalibur games were OpenSource? The very community that helps discover bugs and glitches would have the resources to FIX them and Namco wouldn't have to lift a finger! The big controversy that arose when Steve's infinite was discovered in Tekken 5 would've been a total non-issue. Too bad OpenSource isn't profitable...

The only major drawback is that the tournament scene would become much more complicated. I don't think the community as a whole could ever agree on one "tournament build", and how would we choose which build(s) to use? I don't think this would be an insurmountable problem, however. The Tekken community (I'm using Tekken because it's the most recent game) might have its fair share of whining crybabies, but I strongly believe that it has enough valid opinions to have "collective common sense". It's REALLY too bad that OpenSource isn't profitable...

Was this article complete garbage, or was it awe-inspiring? Either way, SPEAK UP.