Tekken 5 Arcade Debuts, Shows Off ALL.Net Networking

Thanks to 1UP for its pair of articles discussing initial details and new character listings for Namco's arcade fighting game Tekken 5, listed as "Arcades in 2004, Console in 2005." In the burgeoning Japanese arcade market: "Namco plans to initially market Tekken 5 to Japanese arcades as a package of two linked cabinets and an attached 42-inch plasma TV monitor. All told, the set will run operators 3,129,000 yen (about $28,500)." It's also noted: "Each cabinet will also be equipped with a card reader to let players take advantage of the [recently announced, Sega-Sammy partnered fiber-optic network] ALL.Net online rankings, character customization, and ghost character system."

Nice but....

[MMaestro]

Does this mean we'll ever see the game outside of Japan besides from a console port or a warezed version of the game online for MAME?

Re:Nice but....

[yerktoader]

I didn't even hear/see any publicity until this...I guess I have my head in the sand, but usally Tekken gets all kinds of press when a new one comes out.

They'd better bring it here to the states in the arcade, cause it don't matter that no one plays coin op anymore. That they don't play coin op is just lame. Arcades are the best, and it'll be a sad day when they really go the way of the dodo bird.

Re:Nice but....

[Lynxara]

The console version of Tekken 5 will probably get a lot of hype and coverage, but it's not unusual for major Japanese releases to slide under the American game media's radar. Especially ones like this, where a lot of the best features are meant to cater to a Japanese gaming culture that really has no American equivalent at the moment. Even at the coasts, the American arcade scene is dying, and the people still around probably wouldn't use the online content or ghost characters very often. The customization

Re:Nice but....

[JavaLord]

Does this mean we'll ever see the game outside of Japan

No, they announced a US release earlier. I would expect a US Arcade release within 3-4 months of the Japanese arcade release, possibly sooner. The US still has a bit of a tekken scene, at least here in the NY/NJ area. Tekken 4 really blew chunks though, hopefully tekken 5 will set everything right.

Re:Nice but....

[JavaLord]

Just a quick update: Tekken Zaibatsu has late October/early November [tekkenzaibatsu.com] as the scheuled US arcade release date.

This "All.NET" thing.

[torpor]

So glad someone else is taking the initiative and polluting the public spheres' perception of the ".NET" thing. I intentionaly did -not- read this article at first since I saw the ".NET" bit and figured "bah ... some boring shit about some more boring shit I don't want to know anything about from those Microsoft shits" ...

Cool. Hope we all get ".NET"-deprogrammed/-programmed eventually. I would hate to have seen that word piracy actually result in yet another 'product from Microsoft' world view.

the draw?

[aixou]

Can any Tekken fans enlighten me on what exactly the draw is with this game? I've played and enjoyed the game in the past, but I'm at a loss as to why there are so many sequels. Is it just the fact that there are new characters in each one? Do the fighting styles change often? What would you consider the major selling point of the franchise? (i.e. what keeps you putting the quarters/100yen in)

Re:the draw?

[h0mer]

Each version builds on top of the previous one. I've yet to spend any time with the newest game so I can't say whether it should've been called Tekken 4.5 or not. 6 games in a fighting series (5 Tekkens and Tekken Tag) really isn't that many games, especially since the series started in '95.

I've never paid much attention to it but the Tekken characters have quite a backstory to them, I believe the Tekken anime is fairly popular.

Pretty much any genre of game has sequelitis. People like what they know and d

Re:the draw?

[kiddygrinder]

A friend of mine bought tag and everyone i know got into it (like 15 people, including 5 girls) we used to sit around and play while we had a few beers on a saturday night before we went out. I picked up tag because I'm pretty competitive and the person who owned it was pretty good, got bored of it. Also picked up tekken 4 on it's merits and played that a bit. couldn't really say i'm interested in 5, simply because it's just an iteration. I think that's where the sales come from. The game stands the te

Re:the draw?

[Lynxara]

That's not how it's really worked with the Tekken fans I've known. Most fans seem to look forward to each iteration not as a totally new game experience in itself, but as the newest "upgrade" to Tekken, with improved graphics, more characters, more moves, more options, etc. Most big fighting-game franchises seem to work on that logic.

Re:the draw?

[JavaLord]

Can any Tekken fans enlighten me on what exactly the draw is with this game?

Being a tekken fan, and having played in (and won) quite a few tournaments for tekken 2 and 3 I can tell you the draw for most of the tournament going players is that gameplay basically stays the same with minor enhancments, all of the old characters get new moves, along with new characters being added for each sequel, and tekken gameplay is pretty solid. "Scrubbing it" with eddie gordo won't cut it at high level play.

I've played and enjoyed the game in the past, but I'm at a loss as to why there are so many sequels.

Tekken 1 was ok, Tekken 2 was a big improvement, and tekken 3 was a large improvement in depth over 2. Tekken tag is seen by some as an improvment over 3, but Many players hated Tekken 4 because they made large changes in the combo system. Tekken 5 will play more like the older tekken games.

In general, Tekken Sequels are a lot like the old Street Fighter Sequels where they add some characters and features but gameplay stays the same. It's not like Mortal Kombat where they change the way the game plays with each sequel (not a good idea),

What would you consider the major selling point of the franchise?

For me it was always competitve, deep gameplay and a nice juggle combo system. There are always graphical upgrades, but I don't really care about that.

Re:the draw?

[88NoSoup4U88]

Damn, i am looking for the +1 "Streetfighter" mod , but i can't find it ! ;-)

Re:the draw?

[vehn23]

The draw is just like any other long running video game series - the same general gameplay with more toys. In specific, the draw for Tekken is, unlike Virtua Fighter, its a relatively easy to learn, flashy, fast-paced, storyline-driven 3d fighter.

Re:oh goody another sequal

[Enrico Pulatzo]

as original as your spelling of "sequel"

Chryogenic Heroes

[Aggrazel]

I gotta wonder how many times they are gonna freeze these guys to bring them back in the next game. Jun's gonna end up fighting her great great great great great great grandson in Tekken 12.

Missing Characters

[superpulpsicle]

Screw namco. They have got to figure out how to put all the Tekken characters in every sequel without losing a few and gaining a few.

Imagine buying a sports game, for every team you put in you lose a team. Fuck it. If the characters are not worthy enough to keep coming back, there must be something wrong with the character development.

Re:Missing Characters

[vehn23]

What are you talking about? Tekken 3 had every character represented other than Kazuya who was mostly replaced by a much cooler Jin. Tekken Tag had virtually every character ever in the series, plus some. Tekken 4 (which brought back Kazuya in addition to Jin) was missing only a Jack/Ganryu - aka the most unused characters ever. And even they're back in 5.