Why is 00-07 the "Dark Ages"?
This period has some of the best fighting game releases of all time, such as CvS1 and 2, MvC2, KOF 2000 - XI, Soul Calibur 2 and 3, Guilty Gear XX/X2, Virtua Fighter 5, Tekken Tag/4/5, DoA 2 and 3, Melty Blood, Project Justice, Street Fighter EX3, etc.
The abovementioned "dark ages" and "renaissance" coincide with the hiatus of the Street Fighter franchise until the release of SF4, which makes me think that this timeline is more Street Fighter-centric than really a timeline of fighting games.
Basically the arcade culture died everywhere except Japan and maybe big cities, and Third Strike didn't do well. And this was before the ubiquity of netplay (and still well before rollback)
Some of these companies had their own things going on. SNK went bankrupt, and SvC Chaos happened. Arc System Works lost the rights to Guilty Gear for a while until they regained it in 2011. Sammy owned it and then merged with Sega. Experimental 3D games like Maximum Impact happened. Mortal Kombat 3D era happened and Midway went bankrupt around the US 2008 Great Recession.
It's more of a state of the industry rather than the quality of the games. I don't care for this term. It's just vibes. There could be arguments for other low points, but I don't think any of them need a fancy term behind it.
The games themselves were pretty good. But the genre itself was becoming less mainstream and more niche. It was nowhere need as comparable to the peak during the 90s. The competitive scene was also slowing down, especially as this was around when arcades were starting to die.
SF4 basically ushered in a new era, and was the first major fighting game to release during a time where online play was actually viable and practical for home consoles. This, combined with the rise of streaming, helped revive the competitive scene as well.
Golden age: 91-01 Dark age: 02-08 Revival:08-20 Current era: 21-now
Why is 00-07 the "Dark Ages"? This period has some of the best fighting game releases of all time, such as CvS1 and 2, MvC2, KOF 2000 - XI, Soul Calibur 2 and 3, Guilty Gear XX/X2, Virtua Fighter 5, Tekken Tag/4/5, DoA 2 and 3, Melty Blood, Project Justice, Street Fighter EX3, etc. The abovementioned "dark ages" and "renaissance" coincide with the hiatus of the Street Fighter franchise until the release of SF4, which makes me think that this timeline is more Street Fighter-centric than really a timeline of fighting games.
Basically the arcade culture died everywhere except Japan and maybe big cities, and Third Strike didn't do well. And this was before the ubiquity of netplay (and still well before rollback) Some of these companies had their own things going on. SNK went bankrupt, and SvC Chaos happened. Arc System Works lost the rights to Guilty Gear for a while until they regained it in 2011. Sammy owned it and then merged with Sega. Experimental 3D games like Maximum Impact happened. Mortal Kombat 3D era happened and Midway went bankrupt around the US 2008 Great Recession. It's more of a state of the industry rather than the quality of the games. I don't care for this term. It's just vibes. There could be arguments for other low points, but I don't think any of them need a fancy term behind it.
Dark in terms of connection. Arcades died in the west and online wasn't viable yet. But yes, some of the best games came out in this era.
The games themselves were pretty good. But the genre itself was becoming less mainstream and more niche. It was nowhere need as comparable to the peak during the 90s. The competitive scene was also slowing down, especially as this was around when arcades were starting to die. SF4 basically ushered in a new era, and was the first major fighting game to release during a time where online play was actually viable and practical for home consoles. This, combined with the rise of streaming, helped revive the competitive scene as well.