Negative edge

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"Negative Edge - button presses in Street Fighter register on release as well as the initial press. Negative Edge refers to using the release to activate actions. Can be both a help and a hindrance for complicated actions." ^[1]

Negative Edge was a technique created by Capcom to help players launch special moves in their 2D fighting games. The term was introduced to the world by the first iteration of Street Fighter II and has appeared in numerous, if not all, fighters made by Capcom since then. The Guilty Gear fighting game series is also known to have this feature. When you perform a special move, normally you just do the motion with the joystick/directional pad and then press the appropriate button(s). Negative Edge allows you to hold the desired button(s), perform the motion swiftly, then release the button to launch the attack. It's become a prominent term for any 2D fighting game enthusiast to know and utilize to win (or to try and avoid having it mess up their combos).

"As a further measure to add leniency to move execution, almost all Capcom fighting games moves can be performed with both button press AND button release. Using the function of releasing buttons to complete moves is referred to as Negative Edge canceling. Let's look at the Ken combo from Street Fighter 2 listed above one last time--all moves in that particular combo use HP. It is possible to perform the entire combo successfully with only two button presses--hitting HP once during jump-in, then hitting it again when performing Dwn+HP--only this time, if you choose to hold it and release it when the Hado Ken motion is completed, the game recocnizes this as another HP input, and the move comes out successfully.
Oddly, this feature, added to increase leniency, can sometimes be a BAD thing during difficult combos or complicated inputs." ^[2]

[edit] Etymology of "negative edge"

Negative edge likely comes from the description of what happens at the hardware level when the technique is performed. When a button is pressed, and for the duration it is held, a positive charge is associated with the button. A positive edge, or when the button input registers a change from 0 charge to a positive charge, marks the first instance in time that a button has been pressed. A negative edge would then be detection of the release of a button, or when the button input changes from a positive charge to a 0 charge.

[edit] Pros and cons of usage or implementation

It is slightly advantageous to use this technique since a combo can be performed in slightly less time than without negative edge. The example of a fierce punch (to be abbreviated as FP) then Hadoken, executed with FP, will be used. FP is pressed then, down, down-forward, forward, are pressed in succession on the arcade stick, and lastly, FP is pressed again. Now with negative edge. FP is pressed and held, the directional commands are correctly input and the FP is released. This results in a decrease of one whole key press.

On the other hand, negative edge is sometimes viewed as an annoyance. Keys may be inadvertently held, a directional command that would correspond to a special move is input and situations change quickly enough that move isn't desired to be performed, and is executed when the button held is inadvertently released. This can easily make buffering into super moves a pain for many games, especially during more frantic matches. None of the previously mentioned games have a switch to turn on or off such a feature, so players who'd want to play without it, do not have the option.

Something to note: while this does apply to nearly every move in the games, some, like attacks that utilize 'unorthodox' input (i.e. LP, LP, Forward, LK, HP) do not utilize this, for somewhat obvious reasons.

[edit] References

1. ^ Adam Deats and Joe Epstein. "Street Fighter Alpha Anthology Strategy Guide", BradyGames, p. 7.
2. ^ Adam Deats and Joe Epstein. "Street Fighter Alpha Anthology Strategy Guide", BradyGames, p. 15.