That's the first I've heard of a patent being in the way of using mvc2/3 style controls. Do you have a link or something? My google-fu is failing me. Even if there is a patent, there must be some way to functionally ape the mvc2/3 control scheme without infringing.
If IPS was a legit major reason for having 6 buttons, I'd say that's a terrible design decision. I mean, you come up with a wacky combo length limiter and then add entire extra buttons to your game just to accommodate it? That sounds crazy to me.
What irks me with ratio stuff when implemented in a tag fighter is either the game is actually built around using characters together synergistically and the ratio option isn't an actual option when playing the game properly, or the ratio system IS a real option because character synergy doesn't actually matter, in which case, I don't care because it's not really a tag fighter at that point.
