Staring at closeted queers
Before I go off on a rant here, keep in mind this is an image from MS Paint using a screenshot from a camcorder, not a direct screenshot from the game. Please do not blame me for the quality, it's the best I have to work with. That said, Capcom has made a some questionable choices on their presentation. For the purpose of this article, I'm talking about the main menu. You know, that thing you will always have to look at when you start the game, unless you actually take the time to make someone else go through the menu for you every time.
Really? I'm sure I don't even have to check to know that there's slash out there of Ken x Ryu (shotoshipping sounds awfully wrong in this context), but this is just disturbing. I can read so much into this, it's scary. You've got Ken on top, staring down in a way that looks anything but fierce. That establishes him as the seme. Ryu's face and body positioning is done to look like he's begging for Ken's heart, clearly an uke. Seriously, if I stare at this thing too long, I'm actually getting images in my mind of these two kissing each other! I know that this was done to represent two fighters getting face-to-face in combat, but looking at this image for more than 5 seconds is guaranteed to make you notice just how close their lips are to each other.
I don't say this because I have any problem with homosexuality. I am an openly bisexual man. However, I am very familiar with the fighter community. I have no reason to believe this was something special for Italy (the menu is Italian), meaning this is most likely what Japan will receive, and just as likely to be what America receives. In a game about fighting where all the female characters appeal to some kind of fetish, a very flamboyant character is made to be terrible (Dan), and he even makes a subtle gay joke about Claw (Vega/Balrog), Americans are not going to take this very kindly. Sure, people will buy it, but that screen will be the reason why some people will feel like playing another game sometimes. Why couldn't they simply keep to a single character image like they did before and still do for the other menus? If Capcom employees didn't face-palm themselves, I can think of only one good reason: fangirls. Oh, gotta get those girls playing, so let's introduce some subtle homoerotic imagery.
Moving beyond simply that menu, the overall theme behind its design seems to be similar to what I've seen in the Dragon Ball Z fighting games. You can find a video with translations at Event Hubs. There's a background image behind a character image that drops onto it for the basic menu screens. I actually like this better than the old menu design. Not much, but it's better. Unfortunately, the theme continues into the intros (and probably the endings) with mere screenshots and narration on par with what you'd find in your average downloadble game. Considering the effort that has been put into this game elsewhere as well as the trailer for a Super Street Fighter 4 movie (as was down with SF4), you'd think they'd be able to make true anime intros & endings. Many of the movies in SF4 were actually entertaining to watch. Now I doubt any of these little slideshows will make me feel anything like that. It's times like these that I'm glad I care more about the actual gameplay, and I'm still grateful Capcom went as far as they did.
This single image is going to be what sticks in everyone's minds, though. Simply put, Street Fighter fans are not ready to have a slash pairing effectively made reality.
Really? I'm sure I don't even have to check to know that there's slash out there of Ken x Ryu (shotoshipping sounds awfully wrong in this context), but this is just disturbing. I can read so much into this, it's scary. You've got Ken on top, staring down in a way that looks anything but fierce. That establishes him as the seme. Ryu's face and body positioning is done to look like he's begging for Ken's heart, clearly an uke. Seriously, if I stare at this thing too long, I'm actually getting images in my mind of these two kissing each other! I know that this was done to represent two fighters getting face-to-face in combat, but looking at this image for more than 5 seconds is guaranteed to make you notice just how close their lips are to each other.
I don't say this because I have any problem with homosexuality. I am an openly bisexual man. However, I am very familiar with the fighter community. I have no reason to believe this was something special for Italy (the menu is Italian), meaning this is most likely what Japan will receive, and just as likely to be what America receives. In a game about fighting where all the female characters appeal to some kind of fetish, a very flamboyant character is made to be terrible (Dan), and he even makes a subtle gay joke about Claw (Vega/Balrog), Americans are not going to take this very kindly. Sure, people will buy it, but that screen will be the reason why some people will feel like playing another game sometimes. Why couldn't they simply keep to a single character image like they did before and still do for the other menus? If Capcom employees didn't face-palm themselves, I can think of only one good reason: fangirls. Oh, gotta get those girls playing, so let's introduce some subtle homoerotic imagery.
Moving beyond simply that menu, the overall theme behind its design seems to be similar to what I've seen in the Dragon Ball Z fighting games. You can find a video with translations at Event Hubs. There's a background image behind a character image that drops onto it for the basic menu screens. I actually like this better than the old menu design. Not much, but it's better. Unfortunately, the theme continues into the intros (and probably the endings) with mere screenshots and narration on par with what you'd find in your average downloadble game. Considering the effort that has been put into this game elsewhere as well as the trailer for a Super Street Fighter 4 movie (as was down with SF4), you'd think they'd be able to make true anime intros & endings. Many of the movies in SF4 were actually entertaining to watch. Now I doubt any of these little slideshows will make me feel anything like that. It's times like these that I'm glad I care more about the actual gameplay, and I'm still grateful Capcom went as far as they did.
This single image is going to be what sticks in everyone's minds, though. Simply put, Street Fighter fans are not ready to have a slash pairing effectively made reality.
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