Game of frames
Capcom has announced on twitter that, some two years and eight months after launch, they are going to work on removing input lag from their flagship fighting title, Street Fighter V.
A constant thorn in the sides of pro-players since launch, Street Fighter V released with around eight frames of input delay, that is, eight frames between a button being activated, and said move coming out on-screen. Though that might sound petty to most, in high-level play, where so much relies on predicting and countering animation frames, you can make a sandwich in eight frames.
After complaints from the start, Capcom were able to reduce the input lag somewhat on the PC edition to six, but console users were out of luck. Until now, it seems, as October 23 will bring about a new update addressing the situation, although no specific details were mentioned.
This could really shake up the competitive scene, as many a muscle memory may have to be adjusted to fit in with the new input speed. It also could spell the death of some of the games most frustratingly difficult-to-counter moves, such as Birdie’s Bastard Dolphin Dive (I may have added a word there) which is tricky to anti-air without a perfect read.
Better late than never, I guess…
Capcom to address input lag in new Street Fighter V update [Twitter]