Learning multiple games: Better or Worse?

KGershkoff

I've been a Street Fighter player for years, and I only played Street Fighter seriously. But nowadays, I see all these pro players play multiple games ( Marvel, KOF, Persona 4, even Tekken Tag 2), and they seem to do great in all of them.

I live near a community that plays mostly Marvel. Problem is I am terrible at Marvel, and some of the players there are light years ahead of me in experience, so I'm afraid to pick that game up.

Should I just swallow my pride and pick up Marvel anyway? And how does playing multiple games make your gameplay better?

eltrouble

A multitude of games caters to different types of skills. Some games favor high strategy over execution, some favor advanced execution over strategy, some are extremely mix-up intensive, some cater to highly defensive play, etc etc.

That being said, if you want to learn a multitude of games, prepare to spend more time and effort than you already have been. You can play them at a casual level and have fun. But if you want to be competitively viable in these games, you'll have to ramp up your dedication and time commitment to these games. If you already play one game an hour or two a day, prepare to tack on another 1-2 hours for each game you want to learn. As you can see, this can take up ALL of your time if you're not careful.

Raas

yeah, as above.

You can practice the foundation of a game at lower levels and most FGs promote similar ideals if weighted differently. But the devil is in the details at higher level play and juggling multiple concepts at once is intrusive. Many pro players have started multiple games, but you have to remember its their JOB to be good at it and even still have QUITE high, but not top results kinda hammering home the point of the difficulty of Bo Jackson'in FGs. If no one's footing the bill I usually venture to say that 2 'serious' games is the upper limit.

Also people being better than you shouldn't be an impediment to learning a game. That should be all the more reason!

helhelhelhelo

If you're afraid to play the game then your not gonna reach anything, go and try play marvel, and keep playing, and you'll get better.

Playing multiple games isn't that bad, as long as you can dedicate a moderate time for each game, so you can maintain your ability to play

petran79

it is often the case that while you can play great in one game, when you try to play a different game you may perform much worse.
each and every game has completely different timing and speed. at casual level this makes your mind even more tired.

I played some Vampire Savior matches, then tried to play Last Blade. Completely messed up in the latter since I was used to the timing and speed of VS. Had I played LB first I may have fared better (plus the opponent was using some Moriya EX infinites :P)

Even the pros can not be good at all games out of nowhere without any practice or prior experience.

It is more the case that one can be good at most Capcom games and a few SNK games, or good at most SNK games and few Capcom games.
Combinations may vary.

Usually people prefer the games they have more chances of winning, instead of playing a game they dont know much or are not interested in and getting pummeled.


Even if you play multiple fighters, I'd suggest 1 different fighter per day.

David Ryan

Play what you want. Fighting games all have one thing that translates over well. Blocking, Timing Attacks and Punishing Failed Attempts by your opponent. Everything after that is simply icing on the cake.

BuLLeTedFuRy

The more you Learn or experience the more your mind expands For example,

Marvel game speed will help you see thing much faster, help you to be evasive and that will transfer over to other games.

Street fighter will help you with timing, blocking, crossup, wake ups.

And It not just fighting game, playing RTS will help you form strategy, micro managing,

Shooters with reflexs.

It will also help with adaptation I think because, you have to adapt to the different game styles and what not.

With that being said, You will possess alot of knowledge from match ups, people playing style, or just personality, Take all that and mis and match all the things you learn.

CaptainGinyu

It helps you but not in ways to might expect. You will most likely only learn from playing multiple games if you actually enjoy the new game you are learning.

I used to play only SF but then I picked up MVC3 last year. I disliked the game and I didn't really grow as a player by playing. But later, after playing VF5FS(I like that game a lot), I found my SF spacing and positioning became so much better because spacing and positioning are integral to becoming a competent player in both SF and VF.

I also picked up and learned from MVC2. I am terrible at the game but I love messing around in it and playing random teams. The game helped my reactions and forward planning skills for SF4. The game also greatly helped my execution.

All in all, like the game and you learn from it.

Bakuhakubasugasu

Instead of seeing it as learning multiple games... See it as you wanting to learn how to play the games YOU like. Who cares what anyone else says. Whatever is fun for you, just go with it.

paqman3d

It all depends on how much time you have, IMO. Working full-time, I just can't juggle other games and put my effort 100% into AE if I'm training for a tournament. If there's a lapse in my scene, I go back to other games like SFxT or Tag 2. It all depends on what your personal goals are with tournament play and your free time.

If I *do* play multiple games, they're similar series. Like I can go back and forth between 3rd Strike and AE all day and notice similarities between the two, but I can't jump into SFxT after AE. Forget Marvel lol.

Kikuichimonji

http://www.eventhubs.com/columns/2012/apr/14/step-your-game-chapter-5-juggling-multiple-games/

XthAtGAm3RGuYX

Take it from me, unless you are a stream monster, don't pick up a game unless you WANT to play it. The reason being that when you become demoralized after too many losses and failures there will be no drive or personal motivation to get you back on the horse. That happened to me with UMvC3 because my friends pressured me into buying it and I got so tired of being so terrible after so much time invested that it broke my resolve and I ended up selling it. Then I went to Seasons Beatings this year. How exciting the gameplay up on the main screen was and how fun and energetic the atmosphere was, made me associate the game in general with the feeling of fun. So in my head the game became fun and I WANTED to play it. I got home from the event and I ran to the store and picked it up again and I've been loving it since, because I'm playing it for myself. Not to impress my friends. Just remember that Marvel is a completely different monster than Street Fighter.

Kikuichimonji

KGershkoff, post: 7645452, member: 7231 wrote:

Should I just swallow my pride and pick up Marvel anyway?

If you enjoy the game or see value in the game, play it. If you don't, don't. Never play a game just because it has competition, if you hate the game itself you're going to hate playing it no matter what.

KGershkoff, post: 7645452, member: 7231 wrote:

And how does playing multiple games make your gameplay better?

You get better at thinking about games in abstract terms and you challenge preconceptions you might have about the games you already play.

For example, you'll notice that a lot of the first people to start ground throwing people out blockstrings in Marvel 3 were people who played other games with one button throws, like Marvel 2, Guilty Gear, or Super Turbo.

It's really not a requirement to play multiple games at all. I really recommend you only pick up 1 game at a time.