Community There are many thousands of fans of Street Fighter and Capcom games in general. Many of these are active members and contributors to web sites, tournaments and various fan pages dedicated to fighting games. The best of these people should be tapped to help bring in their expertise during the production of the War, and test the control and online features. A focus group or a test market could never provide specifics to game execution, only a general sense of direction. The information and feedback pulled from the selected community members would be invaluable in the development and production of the War. Use of a community is rare in game development, many times information requested from fans ends up being vague or not-executable. The most requested elements would be included in the sequel or series, however other suggestions usually go by the wayside. Very specific information regarding the title and the games evolution is not provided in most general feedback. Community experts have been used to great success in the Tony Hawk's game series published by Activision. At the request of developer Neversoft, skaters and non-skaters alike contributed thousands of ideas to the development of the game, both online in hosted forums and via e-mail. Through careful selection the designers at Neversoft were able to get a feel as to what the community wanted to see in sequels and added those elements accordingly. The top players from online contests and world tournaments were also hired to test the game and provide feedback. These advanced players allowed Neversoft to test and impliment new control features faster than if they had used "traditional" game testers. The breakthrough turnaround on the franchise has been nothing short of phenominal with Neversoft releasing six consecutive Tony Hawk titles in six consecutive years, grossing Activision more than $800 million. Capcom could adopt a similar strategy and incoporate the global community for the development of Street Fighter. Community experts have followed Street Fighter, as well as other genres for decades, they know what works and what appeals to game players. These are the voices that can provide the "outside the box" thinking required to make evolutionary steps in game design. Some of these members also happen to be experts on martial arts, fighting culture, graphic design, animé or art. They should be given a voice and be allowed to add input in the design of the Street Fighter games, not just the War. Players like Daigo Umehara or Alex Valle can find bugs in the control, combinations and balance faster than average game testers or lead testers, their input would be invaluable when working on the control scheme for the War. There is a community hoping that Capcom can and will make the next Street Fighter, the greatest one ever. This community also hopes to have a hand in the production of that game.

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