More people who used to play multiple games are playing only SF4. It's a positive feedback loop (I use that term loosely). More people quit for SF4 because more people only play SF4, so more scenes diminish so more people play SF4. I's not healthy for US FGC and something has to change.
Back in the old days, it was way less hard for someone to win your locals in multiple games because there were fewer people playing and the average level of talent/practice was way lower. If you're a serious competitor and you want to prove you're the best of the best, you're probably going to be playing SF4, but we're not all serious competitors forever. Heck, I'd enter 3-4 games in my weeklies just because I played them all enough to do okay and have fun. Daigo could enter every tournament at Evo and place top 8 in pretty much all of them.
These days, it takes way more work to get good at one game, so if you're in it for results, you're probably going to stick to whichever one you like and can reliably find competition for. Eventually, people get older, realize they're never going to win Evo, stop caring so much about whether they placed 32nd or 33rd, and they'll stick to playing the games they like -- SF or otherwise.
Also, "not healthy for US FGC"? SF4 has been like human growth hormone for the US FGC. I went back to the Evo 2004 venue for Moment 37 and it looked small for a _regional_. Things are better than they've ever been, and even the niche scenes are healthier than they were ten years ago. It's generally easier to find comp for your favorite game than ever before. Your favorite game might not have the spotlight that SF4 has, but that shouldn't affect your ability to enjoy the game itself, just the spectacle.
These days, it takes way more work to get good at one game, so if you're in it for results, you're probably going to stick to whichever one you like and can reliably find competition for. Eventually, people get older, realize they're never going to win Evo, stop caring so much about whether they placed 32nd or 33rd, and they'll stick to playing the games they like -- SF or otherwise.
Also, "not healthy for US FGC"? SF4 has been like human growth hormone for the US FGC. I went back to the Evo 2004 venue for Moment 37 and it looked small for a _regional_. Things are better than they've ever been, and even the niche scenes are healthier than they were ten years ago. It's generally easier to find comp for your favorite game than ever before. Your favorite game might not have the spotlight that SF4 has, but that shouldn't affect your ability to enjoy the game itself, just the spectacle.