One of the strangest things that gamers love to discuss among themselves on message boards and blogs consist of analyzing the story of a fighting game. They spend some time trying to examine everything to see how it fits into the series' cannon. The reason why it's strange is that, in all honesty, a storyline really doesn't matter in a fighting game. These games are all about tests of skill in a competition to find who's the winner in a specific match, with a player siding with a character whom they resonate with the most. I find it pretty silly, really, like a lot of things on the internet.
But even I get a little puzzled about a few decisions in fighting games in terms of canon. Sakura was revealed to be a selectable character in the home edition of Street Fighter IV, which releases in February 2009 for PS3 and 360. In terms of canon, the fourth game in the franchise takes place a little after Street Fighter II, and well after Street Fighter Alpha. Sakura originally appeared in the Alpha series as a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl. Now she's appearing in this game...as a schoolgirl.
Given that IV takes place at least four years after Alpha, shouldn't she have, you know, ditched the schoolgirl outfit by now? I couldn't care less about the all important "storyline," but I figured that since the series' director Yoshinori Ono intends to keep it canon, he would have had her look modified to look like some that dresses like she's at least 20. It's ostensibly mystifying, but not really surprising. Sakura was seriously introduced in Alpha to pander to fans who had a little schoolgirl fetish. In order to keep those fans happy, they introduced her here as still being a schoolgirl. Yeah, it's sick and demented, but it should have been expected.
Though I'd just love to hear the developer's excuse as to why she's still a schoolgirl. He won't freely admit that they're pandering to the sick and perverted individuals of the fanbase out there, but what would he say when asked that question? My money is on that she ended up getting so enveloped in street fighting that she flunked around four years of school, and as a result, she's still in high school.
Of course, we always have those alternate outfits...
But even I get a little puzzled about a few decisions in fighting games in terms of canon. Sakura was revealed to be a selectable character in the home edition of Street Fighter IV, which releases in February 2009 for PS3 and 360. In terms of canon, the fourth game in the franchise takes place a little after Street Fighter II, and well after Street Fighter Alpha. Sakura originally appeared in the Alpha series as a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl. Now she's appearing in this game...as a schoolgirl. Given that IV takes place at least four years after Alpha, shouldn't she have, you know, ditched the schoolgirl outfit by now? I couldn't care less about the all important "storyline," but I figured that since the series' director Yoshinori Ono intends to keep it canon, he would have had her look modified to look like some that dresses like she's at least 20. It's ostensibly mystifying, but not really surprising. Sakura was seriously introduced in Alpha to pander to fans who had a little schoolgirl fetish. In order to keep those fans happy, they introduced her here as still being a schoolgirl. Yeah, it's sick and demented, but it should have been expected.
Though I'd just love to hear the developer's excuse as to why she's still a schoolgirl. He won't freely admit that they're pandering to the sick and perverted individuals of the fanbase out there, but what would he say when asked that question? My money is on that she ended up getting so enveloped in street fighting that she flunked around four years of school, and as a result, she's still in high school.
Of course, we always have those alternate outfits...
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