Tekken 6 Interview
- Posted February 9th, 2009 at 22:27 EDT by Steven Williamson
- 28 Comments
The Tekken series is back in 2009, bigger and better than ever, according to Project Director Katsuhiro Harada. Harada took time out his busy schedule for an exclusive interview with Playstation Universe where he gives us the lowdown on the new gameplay modes, features, and environments.
For the first time ever, the Tekken series is also going multi-platform for Tekken 6, but Harada also tells us why we, Playstation 3 owners, can look forward to a game that is built specifically to take advantage of the PS3 architecture.
PSU: One of big news stories involving the TEKKEN franchise during 2008 was that the series is going multiplatform. What factors influenced the decision to branch out from a series that has long been associated with the Sony brand?
The TEKKEN team, and I personally, have been developing for Sony platforms for more than 10 years. So, naturally we are fonder than anyone of the platforms and have a lot of great memories.
Back when the X360 was the first next gen console to hit the market, we had a lot of requests from fans to bring the series to the X360.
During the years, we have had many requests to bring the series to various platforms. As the X360 began to establish itself in the U.S. and Europe, the number of requests from fans to bring the series to that platform increased greatly. In reaction to the great demand from the fans, there were some within the company who began to think we should take the title multi-platform.
We are always listening to our fans, and this was perhaps the greatest factor in this decision as well.
PSU: TEKKEN was the first Playstation game to sell a million copies. Why do think it was and still is such a successful series?
A key factor in the success was of course the superior capabilities of the PlayStation hardware. It’s hard to imagine the series being as successful without the hardware.
The PlayStation was a machine that had great 3D graphic rendering capabilities at a relatively low cost that could also be used as an arcade board. It was also a result of being fine-tuned in the arcades that the TEKKEN series evolved into the heavy impact series that it is.
Perhaps the main reason the series continues to be successful is that we listen to fans from not only Japan, but around the world. We are able to incorporate this data in our games to great effect. The fans’ opinions differ greatly from country to country and one area this is easily seen is how we’ve incorporated this feedback in the line-up of characters.
Regarding gameplay, our main challenge is whether it is exhilarating or not. There’s always a sense of tension during battle; even a veteran player can be knocked out by a novice if he/she is not careful. I can’t go into details, but there are many aspects of the game that are tweaked to help bring out this tension during battle.
I believe these elements have contributed to the ongoing success of the series.
PSU: What has the response to TEKKEN 6 been like from the arcade community?
The feedback from the fans was that they really enjoyed the over-the-top and exhilarating game play. Another thing we were pleased with was the increase in new fans.
In Japan, the machines are connected to the TEKKEN-NET, which you can access on your cell phone for a monthly fee. TEKKEN 6 recorded the highest number of registered players to date. Not only do the numbers include the core base and players who have returned after an absence, but they also show an increase in first time players.
PSU: The roster has been substantially upgraded to approximately 42 characters*. Can you tell us about some of the new additions and what strengths these fighters will bring to the tournament?
*There are 40 playable characters and two CPU characters.
The last console release was TEKKEN 5 or TEKKEN Dark Resurrection Online. So since then, there are six new characters for TEKKEN ... (continued on next page)
Comments
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Traveler1990 |
NightHawk17- 10:37pm GMT - February 9th, 2009
- 2
If it's about requests Then were the heck is my and the Playstation community's Tales of game AND Ace Combat?
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r_e_f_l_e_x |
r_e_f_l_e_x- 11:36pm GMT - February 9th, 2009
- 5
hmmm interesting, melty blood actress again looks cooler, i might wait for that.. 40 characters is insanity, no blocking , and u start to get ur a@! kicked when you kick ur opponents a$#? weird.
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jinxk
- 12:16am GMT - February 10th, 2009
- 7
at ladyx
erm...no block system? come again? tekken has a block system AND a parry system, so i don't know what you're talking about. starting with 5, the crush system was also introduced. so i really don't know what you're talking about.
also, novice players have no chance against an expert. an expert will not let a novice player get a hit in. i'm much better than a novice player, but my friend (who is much better than i, local tournament winner level), destroys me. with him at 50% hp and me at 100%, we go 20 games without me winning once.
unbalanced? yea, there are different character tiers. 2 players of same skill playing each other, the match will be decided by luck/mistake and what tier characters they are using.
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ladyx
- 12:37am GMT - February 10th, 2009
- 8
@jinxk
thanks u :-) but well yes, i am in my words. tekken block system is bad. It got 2 ways to block:
1. dont press anything
2. i guess when u press left if the opponent attacking from right for example! u know same street fighter way, but in SF its a 2D fighter, charecters move left and right only, its fit more.
in 3D fighter u should create a button block, same as VIRTUA FIGHTER way.
i love tekken anyway, but if they only can make option on config to controler which make us choose block button??!!
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HARDCOREPS3
- 12:59am GMT - February 10th, 2009
- 9
i can see that 360 fanboys were begging Namco to make Tekken 6 for 360. meh, what a crybaby. get a ps3 for real! im glad 360 controller d-pad sucks! whoo! well im not gonna buy this game. sorry, i have to focus Uncharted 2, new Ratchet & Clank and Heavy Rain first this fall. i ll probably buy Tekken 6 in 2012. :-)
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InfiniteRetro
- 12:59am GMT - February 10th, 2009
- 10
it was a great interview up to the point where they mentioned each console would have its own exclusive content. dont they know it pisses ppl off when they do that?
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supamariobrotha |
supamariobrotha- 3:18am GMT - February 10th, 2009
- 13
i like my exclusives dammit if the 360 fans requested this game then tell to get a ps3 they have dead or alive series we have tekken (had tekken).
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MasterCB |
Total_Turbo- 5:34am GMT - February 10th, 2009
- 14
"We don’t believe in slicing off part of the game that players expect should be included and selling it separately.."
Tekken 5 for PS3 is "sliced", I expected a full game, and I recieved about half /(2/3) of what I expected.. :(
Had to buy (and wait) for the Online addon to come to the PSS also, then it was all better. :)
Love Tekken though, and I really look forward to get my hands on Tekken 6: BR.
I assume we can't play vs other consoles on T6, like I can't play T6 online on my PS3 versus a T6 player who's online on a X360?
That would be great if they managed to do that though. -
ps34lifesukaz
- 5:37am GMT - February 10th, 2009
- 15
sellouts that was low i dont care what they say i garantee there will be some massive install and the graphics will be slightly better then 360
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tadpole3159 |
faulkner8991- 6:52am GMT - February 10th, 2009
- 16
@no.4
wrong. im a medium to advanced tekken user and because of that i oftern win. combo's and power moves always beat button bashing.
to beat a button basher move away from the basher, 1-2 steps. they will have to stop bashing to get close to you then you go for your quick combo into a power move. easy win from there.
also try lower moves, no one ever seems to block the lower half. lower kick to uppercut and combo in the air. easy as pie
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dominyanno |
llproxyll- 11:24am GMT - February 10th, 2009
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@18
Clearly you havent gone up against a real expert or tournament player. Its not their own characters attacks they know but also what anyone elses attack looks like and how to block it. The best players ive seen know where the next attack is going to target (lower, mid, high) and where to block/parry it. Probably why they put in those extra variants to each combo so you can change it mid combo.
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jinxk
- 2:29pm GMT - February 10th, 2009
- 21
at ladyx: then your complaint was a lack of a block button, not a block system, which is completely valid. i for on don't really care much for a block button, as back and down+back suffice completely. the only other reason for a block button would be for block button specific moves, but those are usually throws (accomplished differently in tekken) and parries (character specific moves in tekken) and game specific moves like guard impact in soul calibur.
at oatmeal: obviously you have not read my post in it's entirety, only seeing that one line of 20 rounds without a win against my pro friend. you also obviously have not played any halfway decent tekken player. they will run circles around you, i guarantee this. and i actually do mean run circles, have you seen pro-level character movement? it's insanity. also, i have no problem beating fuujin and raijin level ghosts of top-tier characters in arcade, so i'm no novice. it's just that the difference in ability between a pro and anyone not pro is so great, that the not pro will never win.
thank you dominyano for putting him in his place before i got to respond. at least there are a few people here who know tekken.
the one thing i'm worried about is the level breaking. i'm thinking that characters with high damaging combos will be able to string a juggle to a ground level break to a juggle to a wall combo and defeat an opponent in one go. i'm sure they put the rage system in to balance that, but i'm still thinking pro level games will be won based off of one counter hit.
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Dangerzone
- 6:05pm GMT - February 10th, 2009
- 22
Tekken best fighting game ever played everyone of then loved them all can't wait for this one
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edward_moffet |
edd- 12:04am GMT - February 11th, 2009
- 24
awesome the graphics look great and it sounds like they've innovated a little bit for good measure, im eager to hear more about the online modes they're refering to, im wayyyy more excited for this game now than i was before, it just looks more polished as a whole
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stik
- 2:57am GMT - February 11th, 2009
- 25
@21 i wouldn't really worry about the ground breaking because they have balanced out the damage of combos i think. Most of these death combos you would have to have rage on and be in a good position also most would probably only work on a large character such as Jack or Kuma. But i don't think they work no more
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Demon_Dog
- 3:48pm GMT - February 11th, 2009
- 26
".....the number of requests from fans to bring the series to that platform increased greatly." Oh c'mon! What would happen if PS3 users started to nag the crap out of a 360 Exclusive Dev for a well known franchise to go multi plat?...I think we all know what the answer to that question is...
@2: Exactly!! I swear i nearly cried when i first watched the trailer for AC6 and the PS3 logo wasn't present at the end of the clip....Damn 360 Logo was there instead...mocking us AC fans! Damn M$ to the ends f the earth! (Apart from fable 2...such a magical game)
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A-HAAA
- 9:56pm GMT - February 12th, 2009
- 28
i hate these company's now they cant admit the real reason of why they went multiplat it not about request ora ny thing elese like that they got paid. I would actually respect these companies if they just came out and said oh microsft gave us 50 million dollars so we could make this game for their system. I still going to buy these game but this is starting to get annoying
M$ IS THE DEVIL
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