• Posted July 3rd, 2009 at 16:51 EDT by Mike Harradence
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Katsuhiro Harada, director of upcoming Namco Bandai brawler Tekken 6, has expressed his delight over the success of Capcom’s Street Fighter IV, having previously been disappointed over the decline of the venerable franchise in the arcades.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com, Harada commented, “I’ve been a fan of Street Fighter in general, and I was kind of sad to see it die out in the arcades,” adding, “So I was very happy to see it make a comeback – especially with that new look it returned with while staying true to the original formula. I believe a lot of fans were very happy with that.”

He went on to highlight the success of the game in North America alongside veteran beat ‘em ups Mortal Kombat and Soul Calibur, which lead to somewhat of a global resurgence in popularity of the genre.

“Although it wasn’t a huge success in Japanese arcades, it was kind of good to see that come on top in several continents, doing particularly well in America. And also Soul Calibur IV and Mortal Kombat did really well in the US, so there was an overall effect of several successful fighting games coming together.”

Tekken 6 will be hitting stores shelves across North America on October 27. A European release date has yet to be announced.