Tekken 7 Coming out; Will Run on Unreal 4 Engine

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

That and the humor aspect of it.

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

08/15/2016 - Headline News from avoidingthepuddle

Ray jiii duravu

xhttps://www.twitch.tv/greentekken/v/83534094?t=2h3m14s

Josie Ver.C

Xiaoyu beating most of Gigas' options from Goliath charge with 3+4

Thanks Bob

Swimwear



Bryan Combos



Akuma Ver.C

Main Man Kazuya RD Combo

Screen froze here

Shaheen

9/4 Japanese Gaming Talk Show with Shudy, Nobi, Take, Kagemaru, Rage, Yanpan & Furumizu

TEKKEN 7 FR Ending Credits

Ozhadou Nationals 14 (August 26-28)

ANZ ;_;

Gamescom

Summer Jam X

Snapchat

Lucky Miku

Hardu Gei

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

TEKKEN 7 - Lee Chaolan / Violet Character Reveal Trailer



Announced at Gamescom this year, Lee Chaolan will be in the Tekken 7 character roster! The reveal trailer for Lee is now up and also includes Violet, his former alter ego palette swap as another outfit for Lee to use in game. Tekken 7 is slated to come out for PS4 / XB1 / PC (Steam) in Early 2017.

▌Lee Chaolan
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Description:

Lee Chaolan (and his alter ego Violet), just announced at Gamescom, joins the roster of Tekken 7! He is a bit narcissistic and always tries to act in an elegant manner. He's polite but very theatrical. He studied with Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law in the US (both playable in Tekken 7), so his martial arts fighting style is inspired by them!

Story Bio:

Lee Chaolan was adopted by Heihachi Mishima, meant to be a rival to his son Kazuya. As Kazuya’s adopted brother, Lee was given the same education and upbringing fitting of the Mishima clan. After being expelled from the Mishima Zaibatsu for reasons unknown, Lee founded Violet Systems, a tech company specializing in development on humanoid robotics, and was quite successful.

Shortly after, the world became embroiled in conflict between the Mishima Zaibatsu, headed by Heihachi Mishima, and the G Corporation, secretly controlled by Kazuya Mishima. As most of the world was cautiously watching and trying to decide which side would be most beneficial to support, Lee had his own plans, as he had nothing but extreme hatred for both Heihachi and Kazuya. One method he choose to exact his revenge on the father and son was to covertly support Lars Alexandersson, who had turned on the Mishima Zaibatsu, but this was only the beginning of what he had in store for the Mishimas.

▌Images
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Source: avoidingthepuddle + eventhubs for extra images

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

TEKKEN 7 - New Stage & Story Mode Details From Gamescom





Announced at Gamescom alongside Lee Chaolan is further news on the game's Story Mode. New batch of screenshots from Tekken 7 show off portions of the Story Mode that retells the older history from the Tekken and reveals why things went down in the series. The game's Story Mode is said to be several hours long and as you progress through it, you can unlock sub plots for the other characters in the game such as Claudio's story and his group of Exorcists. There's even specific Story Mode costumes for characters such as the new suit for Heihachi that you can use while playing through the mode. The images from the story mode including the new stage are up on the BNE Europe press site but we have them here for everyone to see below!

▌Mishima Story Mode
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▌Claudio Serafino Story Mode
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▌Story Mode Costumes (Heihachi)
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Story Bio:

TEKKEN 7’s engaging story mode is composed of several hours of gameplay (including side stories that players can unlock progressively). Not only can you play as the Mishimas in Story Mode, but there are other arcs that involve fighters outside of the Mishima clan, such as Claudio Serafino, and his group of exorcists.

The Archers of Sirius are a group of exorcists who have been banishing supernatural entities from this world since ancient times. A highly secretive organization, its existence is unknown to the public. Although it is not known how their existence was revealed, the Archers of Sirius were suddenly approached by the Mishima Zaibatsu. They were heavy-handedly requested by the Mishima Zaibatsu to join their conglomerate, but naturally refused. This did not stop the persistent pressure from Mishima Zaibatsu, however.

Eventually, the news of this approach from the Mishima Zaibatsu reached the de facto leader of the Archers of Sirius, Claudio Serafino. Determined to uncover the motives behind the Mishima Zaibatsu’s actions, Claudio begins to investigate the powerful conglomerate.

Source: avoidingthepuddle

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

Report - TEKKEN 7 Releasing in the last week of February 2017

Insider sources at Bandai Namco Entertainment has tipped us off that the console/PC versions of Tekken 7 will be releasing on the last week of February next year. Tekken 7 was officially announced to be coming out during Early 2017 back at E3 2016 but this new time frame further narrows down the release window for the long awaited upcoming fighting game. Since a release date for Tekken 7 hasn't been announced officially yet, we'll stash this bit of info down as a rumor. Early 2017 is looking to be a busy time in gaming with Resident Evil 7, For Honor, Mass Effect Andromeda, Halo Wars 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, Yakuza 0, Persona 5 and of course Tekken 7 all set to release around the same period. When a release date for Tekken 7 gets officially announced, we'll keep you posted.

Source: avoidingthepuddle

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

4K Resolution TEKKEN 7 PC Gameplay Footage



After looking at this video recently released on Nvidia's Gaming channel, it is safe to say that TEKKEN 7 is the best looking fighting game out there today in the market. It's already going to be a dream playing T7 at full 1080p running at 60fps but 4K resolution? That's going to be an incredible boost to the game's Anti-Aliasing making everything look crisp and smooth if you've got the power to get into DSR. The video PR says that 4K support for Tekken 7 is not yet confirmed at this time but here's a video showcasing the game at that resolution anyway.

▌ EXCLUSIVE Tekken 7 4K PC Gameplay!
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Click 2160p60 in the Quality settings on the cog of this video and then fullscreen it:



The development team is still working on the PC version, and while they are trying to include most features PC users can expect of PC games (such as a variety of graphical options), the game is still in development and technical features such as 4K are unconfirmed.

However, enjoy this first look at Tekken 7 in 4K from NVIDIA and and NVIDIA GeForce, demonstrating the team’s efforts and care.

▌ Tekken 7 Interview with Harada @ Gamescom
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Source: avoidingthepuddle

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

Tekken-Net - 8/31 Taiko No Tatsujin X T7FR Collaboration Campaign



The previously revealed Tekken 7 Fated Retribution collaboration with Taiko No Tatsujin Red Ver. arcade rhythm game now has Tekken-net campaign detailed on the Tekken-Official website. It's a month long period starting from the end of August and running until the end of September that allows players to purchase and unlock new in-game items for T7FR such as player panels and icons, character and life bar customizations as well as some new hit sparks. If you happen to be in Japan playing Tekken 7 Fated Retribution and keen on dressing your characters in new gear, you can look forward to getting the new additions.

▌ 1st Phase Fight Money Shop Additions
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Time & Date: August 31, 2016 (Wednesday) at 11 AM Japan time.

Player Icons:



Don-chan - Kaa-chan - Tatsu-don - Turtle - Masked Apprentice - Cat & Ladle

Player Plate:



In Game Image:



▌ 2nd Phase Fight Money Shop Additions
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Time & Date: September 7, 2016 (Wednesday) at 11 AM Japan time.

Taiko No Tatsujin character drums; Don-chan, Kaa-chan and Te-chan can be added to characters, their facial expressions will change in game such as during Rage Arts and in win/lose poses.

In Game Character Customizations:

Nina (Don-chan)





Law (Don-chan)





Paul (Kaa-chan)



Alisa (Kaa-chan)



Heihachi (Te-chan)



Akuma





Life Bar customization: (Available from September 7 to September 15)

To unlock: Complete the mission "Play 10 games within 1 day"



▌ Last Phase Mission Reward Additions
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Time & Date: September 15, 2016 (Thursday) at 11 AM Japan time until September 30th.

To unlock these items, players must complete the following during the above period:

Mission 1: "Play 5 games within 1 day"

Mission 2: "Play 10 games within 1 day"

Mission 3: "Play 15 games within 1 day"

In game character hit sparks customizations:



Don-chan - Kaachan - Cat & Ladle

▌ Taiko No Tatsujin Red Version Update
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Tekken collaboration music is coming to the next update of Taiko No Tatsujin Red ver.

Song Name: Abandoned Temple Final 2nd

Comment: From Tekken 7 Fated Retribution



Source: avoiding the puddle

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

T7FR - Wizard World Chicago 2016 Top 8 YouTube Archives



Wizard World Chicago 2016 recently wrapped up and it was the first stop of the Tekken Tour that transitioned from the vanilla version of Tekken 7 into Tekken 7 Fated Retribution. If you missed out on watching the event live, you can catch up with the YouTube archives which are now up on the Bandai Namco Entertainment Fight Channel. The next stop for the Tekken Tour is Wizard World Richmond on September 9 - 11, 2016 in Virginia. You can book tickets to that event via the WW Gaming webpage.

wizardworldgaming.com/index.php

▌ T7FR Top 8 @ Wizard World Chicago
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Source: avoiding the puddle

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

EGX 2016 to Host Tekken 7: Fated Retribution’s UK Tournament Debut

The upcoming EGX 2016 games show at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England will include Bandai Namco showcasing Tekken 7: Fated Retribution in a tournament setting for the first time in the UK–long overdue, after the game has been to Evo twice and many other venues in various forms. But Bandai Namco undoubtedly wants to keep all worldwide markets engaged and interested for the game’s impending console release.

EGX will run September 22-25, 2016. For more information, or to register to attend (though tickets appear limited at this point), head over to EGX’s event page.

www.egx.net/egx

Source: shoryuken

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

08/28/2016 - Headline News from avoiding the puddle:

Tekken 7 - Opening Akuma Heihachi



One Media Gaming





Tekken 7 PS4 Gameplay - Akuma Makes His Tekken Debut



S.T.L



The Main Man





Shudy



Lionz Den 3



Japan high ranked Jin vs Lili



Akuma - At the wall, if the opponent techs into standing block, a f+3+4 will catch them (Timing is hard however)

Steve Combos

Yoshimitsu Combos

Xiaoyu Set-Ups



King - 1+2,1



Gigas - You can combo into Rage Art from counter hit d/f+3,1+2 & normal hit ff+1+2. See vid.

Asuka - Burning Lantern (ff+1) connects in a combo after a Rage Drive for big damage. See vid.

Mikado TTT1 Tournament



Mishima♂Building (BGM)



Famitsu Gamescom Interview

Lee was brought back for 2 reasons. First, the story mode will be a big part of Tekken 7 and he plays a role as being brought up from childhood to rival Kazuya. Second, all the fanbase calls and requests to have him back in the roster.
The story mode will flesh out and reveal why they were brought up to be rivals.
There's been a lot of changes made in Tekken 7 from previous games and Lee's inclusion into the new game went smoothly as he fit the system.
Story Mode will retell older history of the Tekken series and reveal the secrets from long past. An example is the episode where Heihachi throws Kazuya off the cliff. This will be fleshed out in the story mode.
Not decided yet for young Kazuya and Heihachi being playable, maybe if there was large fan demand.
The story for the Tekken series has long been made awhile ago but it was only until Tekken 7 that it was decided to reveal more of the story.
The reason to do this now was that it was the series 20th Anniversary and as well as recognising that the audience for fighting game stories have grown and there are people who want it to develop and keep going so we hope they look forward to the story mode.
The response to Tekken 7 Fated Retribution has been mostly positive with more people new people playing it and as well as hearing high praise for the game's new systems, graphic fidelity and character roster.
Reception to Akuma has been a mixed bag but he's had a large impact with Street Fighter players being able to pick up Akuma and use him effectively. An example is Poongko getting 3rd place at EVO 2016 with the character.
As a Japanese made game, of course I'll say something there at Tokyo Game Show next month.
Tekken 7 is still under development with a lot of things yet to be shown off and we still have more characters to reveal so please look forward to it.

Kelot Cup 2 on September 17

Tekken Tej Tournament

Maximilian #unitegamers

Norcal Tekken

Sydney - EB Games Expo - www.ebexpo.com.au/Tekken7.html

jbstyle T7FR Character art panel teases

Nin

OzHadou Nationals

Katarina

Hwoarang

Akuma

Kazuya

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

Tekken 7's Harada on the thorny subject of sexy swimsuits and Western sensibilities
"There's a character called Ganryu..."

During a hands-on with Tekken 7 at Gamescom today, I spoke with Tekken's chief producer and director, Katsuhiro Harada, about a series of tweets he made recently with regards to Tekken 7's swimsuit content being released in the West.

When queried whether it would be made available in the US, Harada's now deleted reply was a short and sweet "Ask your country's SJWs. HAHAHAHAHA." He later apologised to another female fan, deleting the tweet and saying "this message is not for females," by which I think he might have meant, it was not directed exclusively at women.

I'm a big fan of Harada and Tekken in general, and have been for many years, so I asked him, does he feel genuinely constrained about what he can and can't do because of Western sensibilities? Does it really bother him?

"It is more difficult creating the game for a mass market," he replied.

"But I guess one of the things that's most frustrating is just that a lot of these criticisms are very ill-informed. The problem is that people who are Tekken fans, they say something about the game that's critical and it's not that bad because they know the content of it.

"A lot of times - the swimsuits was a good example - people who don't even play the game, they maybe just hear that there are swimsuits in it and then they say, 'Woah, you have these girls in sexy swimwear, what's wrong with you? You're such male chauvinists etc.'

"But, what they don't know is that it started off in the arcade and it's a season line, like you do for Christmas, Halloween or whatever. And it's not just the women. Robots have them, Kuma, Panda, the male characters have swimwear. It's not like we're trying to sexualise the female characters at all. But they don't go and look for that info before they criticise. So, that is pretty frustrating."

Harada says people shouldn't judge characters on their costumes before knowing their full context.

"It does affect how we announce new content," added senior game designer Michael Murray, "because we have to think, when we release this, we're not there to explain this, so people can take it as it is, or how they interpret it."

"One thing that's perhaps scary about some of these ill-informed criticisms," continued Harada, "is there's a character called Ganryu, perhaps you know him, he's a Sumo wrestler. But to someone who doesn't know Sumo, they might just say, 'There's a guy in his underwear, that's inappropriate.'

"But it's a very important part of Japanese culture. Without knowing that, to so easily make criticisms, is maybe a dangerous direction. Part of the internet, I guess you could say!"

But, in terms of swimsuits and things like that, it wouldn't stop Tekken releasing that content as DLC in the West?

"Well, I guess people forget that the game goes through very strict ratings in various countries, and the level of severity kind of changes depending on the country," Harada replied.

"But Tekken has cleared those and been released. So people who actually look into the game content have seen it and it is fine. And so, as such, as long as it passes those kind of censorship [evaluations] or whatever for that country, as judged by their government or an official organisation and not some random guy on the internet, then obviously we want to release the content so as many people can enjoy it as possible."

The subject of censorship came up one other time during our meeting. After chatting about Tekken's rich history of outlandish storylines, one of the journalists present said jokingly that perhaps there wasn't a line the series wouldn't cross when it came to robots with chainsaw arms and boxing kangaroos.

"A more serious answer to that question, though," Harada said. "Recently there are lines, I guess more than in the past. Before, it was a niche crowd, people who liked video games as a whole, but at the time when they were still largely created in Japan it was pretty much anything goes, made by the Japanese and their sensibilities.

"But now it's enjoyed by a much wider audience, it's easier for outsiders to say that game's content is not good for a particular group or ethnicity or country or religion or anything. So, in that regard there are a lot more lines that we can't cross any more, I guess you could say."

Source: eurogamer via avoidingthepuddle

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

Tekken 7 hands-on and Katsuhiro Harada interview – ‘we’ve made it very easy to recognise what is cool and different about Tekken’

GameCentral speaks to the man behind the entire Tekken series, about the latest entry and the future of fighting games.
There are a lot of games that don’t really preview very well at an event like Gamescom or E3. Sitting down for 15 minutes to play a complex strategy or story-based game doesn’t really make sense. But a few quick goes on the new Tekken? That’s the sort of hands-on demo you really look forward to.
It’s been seven years since the last mainline Tekken sequel (although there was Tekken Tag Tournament 2 in between that) and much is being made about the fact that this new game uses Unreal Engine 4. The graphics certainly look more impressive as a result, with much more destructible arenas and, in the story mode at least, extensive use of a slow motion camera and what are essentially mini-cut scenes that occur mid-battle.
Perhaps learning from the mistakes of Street Fighter V, the story campaign is being emphasised as a key feature, highlighting a host of new characters including female ninja Master Raven, Shaheen (who looks very much like Rashid from Street Fighter), Lucky Chole (a cosplaying Japanese catgirl), and Claudio (a rather foppish looking exorcist). There’s also returning characters such as Lee Chaolan/Violet and the chance to play as a young, and surprisingly cute looking, Kazuya. Supposedly Tekken 7 will be the darkest entry yet though, and an end the storyline revolving around the Mishima family feud.

In terms of gameplay, one of the big new additions is the Power Crush move – essentially a combo breaker that lets you continue your attack even while still being hit yourself. The other major addition is to Rage mode, an existing feature which makes attacks more powerful when low on damage. But now you can exchange this bonus in favour of an even more powerful, but short range, Rage Art move. Or a Rage Drive attack, which adds an extra powerful finisher to the next combo you do.
We’ll be honest that we didn’t make extensive use of any of these in our first exploratory games, but we were heartened to find that the journo we were paired up with was also a lapsed fan that hadn’t played the series in a while. And as we both started experimenting with the new characters, and working out their moves and abilities, it was great to be reminded of how instantly enjoyable and accessible Tekken, and the genre at large, can be – even when you don’t know every single move or secret.
Tekken 7’s E3 demo was introduced with a bout between Heihachi and Akuma from Street Fighter. Since his inclusion was never explained at the time this caused great confusion, and so we’re not surprised when this is the topic of the first question in the subsequent Q&A. Here producer and co-director Katsuhiro Harada, who has worked on the series since its inception, explained that it was just a cameo and that the long-promised Tekken X Street Fighter has not been cancelled.
But he also implied it wouldn’t be released for some time, with Harada apparently responding to fan demands for a new standalone Tekken that advanced the franchise’s story. As it turned out though that was the only question asked during the Q&A (we find that often happens at Gamescom, with its predominately Continental clientele). So we feigned disinterest and then when everyone had left stole Harada, and senior games designer Michael Murray, away to question in private.

GC: In your presentation you put a great deal of emphasis on the use of Unreal Engine 4, why do you feel that’s so important? I get the impression it’s not just about the better graphics?
KH: I don’t know if you’re familiar with the way Japanese develop games, but in the past they had their own propriety engine. But even more so, at least for Namco, each title developed their own code pretty much from scratch. So obviously it took a lot of time before you could actually start to develop things on-screen. So, especially for Tekken this time, it was a great benefit to have things being displayed immediately. And also the physics being handled by the engine itself, rather than our programmers having to code everything from scratch.
GC: [Unlike most Japanese translators Murray isn’t writing any of this down first, but is just translating instantly] I couldn’t remember that much in English, let alone translating it as well!
MM: [laughs] Well, I was there to see it too, so I know what he’s talking about.
GC: Just to take things a step back, how do you feel the Japanese industry in general is doing this generation? There does seem to be some sign that developers are regaining their confidence, after the disaster of the previous generation.
KH: I kind of saw that coming, from maybe the PS2 era. Because from the PS1 era the Japanese almost had a lead, as far as polygon technology and such, but then in the PS2 era you could almost see this shift in the Western developers to the PC – that’s how they started developing their games. And the Japanese were developing for specific consoles, etc. And then we saw the Western developers become very strong for the PS3 and 360 era, because of when they shifted early on to PC development.
I guess you could say that some of the Japanese caught up, using middleware and other methods, but I feel that maybe not so much. That we’ve see kind of they’ve been condensed; because you’ve seen several companies, ours being one of them, merging with other Japanese game developers. If you leave aside ideas and such like that, that some Japanese have always been strong at, if you’re just talking about technologically impressive games… there’s not that many teams that are still on par with Western developers.
Maybe the Final Fantasy team at Square Enix, maybe some teams at Capcom, and also Konami – the guys who made Metal Gear. One of the main programmers who did that was actually a former Tekken developer. So even now there’s probably only a limited number of Japanese teams that can compete in that arena.

GC: And what do you feel is the current health of the fighting game genre? You may see things slightly differently, but it seemed to me as if the success of Street Fighter IV created a renaissance for all fighters, but that, especially with the failure of Street Fighter V, that new golden era is perhaps coming to an end. Tekken 7 is now one of the few major new fighters on the horizon, and I wonder if you worry about the genre returning to just being a niche concern?
KH: I guess your assessment is accurate, and that maybe Street Fighter IV revived at least that franchise, and so maybe other fighting games gained a bit of popularity as a result. But if you look a little bit further, like at before that, you can go back to the ‘90s and right until 2000. There was a bunch of fighting games out, not just from Japan but people from around the world were making them. And then they just kind of stopped all of a sudden. And even the Street Fighter series, they stopped at III and it took 10 years until IV.
And in that time Tekken had constantly continued to produce new games, first arcade versions and then console/arcade. And there’s never been a gap that long in-between. It’s one of the only fighting games that has managed to do that, because there were some fighting games that disappeared from arcades and some that were halted altogether. So there’s always been a popularity of the genre that ebbs and flows, but Tekken’s been pretty consistent because we continually update the franchise.
You could even say that fighting game popularity affects each other. For example, Street Fighter became popular again and other 2D fighters became popular, to some extent. When Virtua Fighter was strong there was a rivalry with Tekken and that kind of boosted both of the games. But even without the benefit of those, just maintaining instalments every few years for the Tekken franchise has led to us having a healthy fanbase. So, we haven’t really had any negative effect from the wane of the genre.
GC: [looks around for interfering PRs] Am I okay to carry on?
MM: Until someone stops you! [laughs]

GC: Someone mentioned to me the other day that Resident Evil has the longest-running storyline in a major game franchise, since it’s never had a reboot. But I suspect that recognition should actually go to Tekken.
KH: [This creates considerable back and forth between the two, as Harada seems interested at the possibility] I think… Tekken was definitely before Resident Evil. I guess most people don’t think of Tekken as a story game. The fans know all about that but if you just take some casual gamer they don’t see it that way… Maybe Final Fantasy is even longer, as far as story video games go?
GC: But that’s not an ongoing storyline. There’s nothing that links any of the mainline sequels. I mean, I guess maybe Street Fighter. But I’m not sure when it started getting a proper backstory.
MM: I think I and II is kind of a different setting.
GC: Well then… there’s a new accolade for you.
MM: Yeah, we never thought of that. [laughs]
GC: The reason I mention it is I just happen to have come from seeing Overwatch, and it strikes me there are a lot of similarities between it and fighting games. Especially in terms of characters with complex backstories that are largely explained through ancillary sources.
MM: [excitedly] You spoke to the Overwatch team?
GC: Yeah, the main guy’s just downstairs.
MM: [More back and forth with Murray] He said that he did think that people will be attracted to the characters’ stories, like from outside of the Tekken universe, to come and play Tekken. But I said well, some characters look like certain real-world actors – I won’t mention who – and some people get attracted to that and decide to pick up the game. He said, that that might be the case: that they’re attracted to the character, the look of it, and that then they become interested in the story, perhaps.
GC: I do think knowing a game has a long history to it adds some interesting texture, and a sense of mystique. For some reason the comparison that comes to mind is Doctor Who, which probably means nothing to either of you. But it was interesting when that suddenly became popular in America and the 50 years of history wasn’t a detriment at all. People liked the idea of a really deep mythology, that they could dip into and research if they wanted to. I imagine Tekken has a similar appeal.
HK: That’s actually exactly what we were thinking when we designed the story mode for Tekken 7.
GC: Well, I’m glad that point made sense. I wasn’t sure.
MM: [laughs]
HK: We imagined that we were going to be attracting a new group, whether it’s from other fighters or even people that don’t play fighting games. When they pick up the game they’re gonna want to pick up on the story. Why is all this happening? So the story mode’s going to be a perfect way to introduce them to that.
GC: I’m sure the common complaint you get at events like this, is that all fighting games look and play the same and they can’t see the difference. How do you deal with that criticism, particularly in terms of Tekken 7?
HK: So, we’ve been making Tekken for quite some time and we get a lot of journalists who say, ‘Where’s the evolution?’ This time we’ve focused… if you tell them that these techniques are added or this game system was added maybe they don’t know. But we’ve made it as much as possible that you look at the game and you know what’s different about it.
So, for example, the look of the game, the texture of the characters, the different shaders and how they make the characters look different. Even Akuma from the Street Fighter series, you could tell right away. ‘This guy’s from a 2D fighting game, what’s he doing in Tekken and how’s he feel different?’ And the slow motion of the camera, when you’re trading blows and you have a little sliver of health left, makes it more impactful. That last moment of the match.
These are things that people can visually see and recognise right away, that it’s quite a different game. As you have mentioned we know that criticism comes up a lot with fighting games. Not just Tekken, but in general. But we’ve made it very easy to recognise what is cool and different about Tekken.

GC: [looks around for PR] I’ll just carry on then, but just one last question. [to Murray] I’m curious about your role. What did you say your job title was again?
MM: Senior game designer on the Tekken series.
GC: And how long you have you been working on it?
MM: From Tekken 4, so… 16 years now. [laughs]
GC: Wow.
MM: He’s been there from the start, I’ve been there from 4. I was always a fan of the series from the outside, and then when I joined the company the reason was I loved Tekken and I wanted to be a part of it. But at the time they didn’t have any foreign staff working at Namco, so it was quite a big hurdle to climb. And he gave me a lot of crap when I first joined. [laughs]
GC: What sorts of things did he do?
MM: Well, okay. This is something I don’t know if I’ve ever told anyone but… So, I’m a big fan of the Tekken series before even developing it and so I joined the company and there’s this guy who’s in the magazines who’s talking about my favourite game. And my boss says, ‘Well, why don’t you go up and ask him all the questions you have about Tekken?’ I go to him and ask, ‘My favourite character’s Nina, what happened? Why is she doing all this? Where is she from?’ And he just tells me all this stuff that’s not even related to the game… I mean… some of the things we can’t even print. It’s just really… [to Harada] I think I might get in trouble if I tell him.
GC: This is about the background of Nina?
MM: It’s just something not even related to Tekken, about how the importance of some real mundane task about office work or something might be to a Japanese mentality. And I’m like, ‘I didn’t come here to learn that! I want to learn about the background of Tekken’. He was testing me just to see if I’d just get bored and leave him alone and he could go back to work. [laughs]
But I was pretty persistent, and eventually I got to get more information about the game and be included in the discussions about the game. I at first started with localisation, because that was kind of a good way to get into the company. And then I started to see the background of how the game was developed and then for Tekken 6 finally made the jump to doing game design.
GC: That’s great. Are there more Westerners there now, or are you still kind of the only one?
MM: We have a lot more in the company as a whole, but as far as development… not so much. But more than there used to be, because now that we have tools that everyone’s used to with Unreal Engine. Before it was Tekken proprietary software, so their skills weren’t really valuable to the Tekken team. Whereas now they can take their skills that maybe even some of the Tekken developers don’t even have and be useful right away. So I think there’s been an increase in the last three or four years, maybe.
GC: Okay, well I better stop there. But it’s been a pleasure to meet you both.
MM: No problem, thanks.

Source: metro.co.uk via avoidingthepuddle

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

'Since the voices are becoming larger, it is something that we want to think about seriously,' - Harada talks expanding Tekken 7 with DLC and more

Back at Gamescom, the folks over at Gamereactor had a chance to catch up with Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada to talk about some details on the upcoming Fated Retribution title.

So far, paid DLC has been something that Harada stayed away from; he believes fighters are best made as a package, reserving things like new gameplay mechanics for a new project, rather than adding more to a finished product.

It would seem though that fan demand could be a big enough factor to change that with Tekken 7. "Recently with the digital purchases and such a lot of people, the players especially, are saying that they dont mind paying, that they still want to see some new content after release." Harada says.
The interview covers many other topics as well, such as Lee's inclusion, the motivations behind Master Raven's design, where Claudio fits in in the course of the story, and more.

You can check out the full interview for yourself in the video here:

www.eventhubs.com/news/2016/aug/29/voices-are-becoming-larger-it-something-we-want-think-about-seriously-harada-talks-expanding-tekken-7-dlc-and-more/

Source: eventhubs

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

Tekken 7’s Katsuhiro Harada talks eSports ambitions, balance and fan feedback

Tekken’s boss goes deep on balancing Akuma, becoming an eSport and dealing with fan feedback.

After a successful stint in Japanese arcades Tekken 7 is bulking up for its console outing. The big news out of E3 was the addition of a cinematic story mode in the game that seamlessly transitions from story sequence to gameplay and back again. It looked great, and my hands-on at the show was equally satisfying.

At Gamescom series boss Katsuhiro Harada and game designer Michael Murray detail a little more of this. They reveal the story mode will (of course) focus on the battle between Heihachi and Kazuya over control the Mishima Zaibatsu clan and happily show off a little of the story’s scope. There’s new stages, specific costumes for certain story events and even flashbacks to flesh out the backstory.

New characters will be woven into the story and the idea, the pair explain, is to let players actually experience some of the kinds of moments that made Tekken’s PS1 CG ending sequences famous while in control. With any luck this’ll mean we’ll get to play out a QTE of throwing somebody into a volcano.

After a presentation and hands-on time, I had a few minutes with Harada and Murray. We started with the Tekken 7 addition I’m still most excited about: the inclusion of Street Fighter mainstay Akuma, whose fireballs and spinning kicks have translated remarkably well into this 3D fighter.

“It’s actually the opposite,” Harada beams when I ask if he’s concerned about the power of Akuma in the game. There’s some crazy combo videos online and some Tekken players have struggled to counter his 2D-minded abilities, but this, he explains, is the desired result.

“That’s what we were hoping would happen – that players like Poongko who know the character well in Street Fighter could just take their Street Fighter skills that they’ve honed and easily port it over to Tekken.”

It seems to be working. Poongko is historically a Street Fighter player, but placed third in Tekken 7 at EVO 2016 using Akuma.

“There’s been collaborations in the past between fighting franchises, but we never really saw a kind of cross over like this – one where you could take so much of your existing knowledge and have it still be effective in the other game. It is a dream collaboration. People weren’t expecting it, and were so thrilled to see it happen. He really does fit well into the Tekken environment.”

There’s a catch, of course. There always is. “Ono-san, the Street Fighter producer,” Harada adds after a thoughtful pause. “He was pretty happy each time Akuma would win a match, so… that was kind of irritating.”

Murray, who is kindly translating, laughs. “Is that why we made him weaker?!” Harada can only smirk and shrug.

One major thing that has changed for fighting games is the growth of eSports. After mentioning EVO, Harada went on to talk about ambitions in the eSports space and why he feels fighting games have a natural edge over the competition.

“Well, y’know, it wasn’t called eSports at the time, but fighting games have always had their own events and tournaments that they organise themselves. It’s a natural progression for us,” he explains. “Although there’s pro players and that sort of thing popping up, the way that people enjoy fighting games probably hasn’t changed that much.

“Personally, I think that eSports and fighting games are a good match. If you look at other genres, for example shooters or MOBAs, they’re largely team-based, right? A fighting game is one on one, and I think that really draws out the player’s personality and because of that it’s more fun to watch – it can end up being kind of like a boxing match or something, where you have these strong rivalries and a lot of salt when people win or lose. I think they lend themselves well to spectating and the world of eSports as a whole.”

When asked if the explosion of popularity for eSports has been felt on the development side, Harada admits it has, but is also coy about what that’ll mean.

“We do hope to do as much as we can with the game to make it more eSports friendly so that people who enjoy that scene can enjoy our game even more,” he says. “So please look forward to more info on that.”

From balance changes to issues around the representation of Tekken’s female cast, the Tekken fanbase can be quite vocal. Harada is also one of the few Japanese developers who makes himself readily available to fans all over the world with a particularly active and responsive Twitter presence. The same is true for Murray. How, I ask, do they filter the genuine comments from the noise?

“In truth, things are decided more logically,” Harada answers. “I mean that as in… we gather data from online polls, but we also look at the game data from the arcade. Also from the console versions, when they launch – we can glean data about which characters are used the most, win/loss, those sorts of things. So… we try to finally decide on such things by looking at the raw number data rather than subjective data from twitter or places like it.

“What we do use Twitter for is… that data, it can sometimes be hard to see upcoming trends or something completely new. For example, what we already have and if people are using it or really like it is easy enough to see from the numbers. But in terms of what they’d like to see that hasn’t been done before and any other new ideas, these things are more subjective – that’s easier to find out from twitter.

“That said, we don’t even take the comments at face value – most of the time somebody’s saying something, but the truth is that what they’re saying isn’t exactly what they want. We have to look and say – what is the underlying cause that’s led to them saying that particular thing?

“We have to think about what their underlying motives are, because if we just give fans what they ask for, they’re still not going to be happy,” he concludes with a laugh. “But what is the underlying reason for these people saying what they’re saying? If we can get to that, we can properly solve their problems.”

Source: vg247 via eventhubs

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

I like Harada's troll of that SJW. Brilliant work.

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

TEKKEN 7 Famitsu Site Opens - Story Background for New Characters Revealed

Famitsu has opened a dedicated page for their coverage of TEKKEN 7 during TGS 2016 and they have the story background for the new characters in the game. It details the basic overall lore for the characters and gives you an idea why they've entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament 7. Gonna add a quick note that usually when you read character background lore they have a flavorful style of text to them but I'm going to unofficially translate these bios until they are released officially in English.

▌Lucky Chloe
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣



Fighting Style: Free-Style Dance

Country: Secret

As a child, Chloe's parents took her to a Expo and exposed her to the Japanese Idol culture and since then, she has always wanted to be an Idol. With her good looks, she set out on being the world's best Idol and named herself Lucky Chloe.

Donning her cute costume, she went out to show the world her dance moves and put other pros to shame. She quickly became world famous when her dancing became viral on internet video sites. (However, North Americans hates her)

Since then, she has collaborated with the G corporation and have signed a contract with them. She became a popular face of the company and is used in advertisements by the G corporation as the company image. Despite the current struggle between G Corporation and Mishima Zaibatsu, she always puts on a smile and happy face during these difficult times.





▌Claudio Serafino
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣



Fighting Style: Sirius-style Exorcist Sorcery

Country: Italy

Bio has already been published officially.

@aug 17, 2016 at 1:29pm, posted by NyuNozomiHyuga

The Archers of Sirius are a group of exorcists who have been banishing supernatural entities from this world since ancient times. A highly secretive organization, its existence is unknown to the public. Although it is not known how their existence was revealed, the Archers of Sirius were suddenly approached by the Mishima Zaibatsu. They were heavy-handedly requested by the Mishima Zaibatsu to join their conglomerate, but naturally refused. This did not stop the persistent pressure from Mishima Zaibatsu, however.

Eventually, the news of this approach from the Mishima Zaibatsu reached the de facto leader of the Archers of Sirius, Claudio Serafino. Determined to uncover the motives behind the Mishima Zaibatsu’s actions, Claudio begins to investigate the powerful conglomerate.





▌Gigas
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣



Fighting Style: Destructive Impulse

Country: DATA UNKNOWN

A fierce arms race between the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation has lead the G Corporation to design a new military model to use in the war.

With one development team being lead by Jane who is behind the JACK series of military units and another in G Corporation that recently had a new biotechnological weapon development breakthrough. This breakthrough has lead to the creation of Gigas by enhancing the genes of strong fighters that turns them into fierce monsters.

Determined to test out it's new fighting capabilities and armed with a dislike to Heihachi Mishima, Gigas enters the King of Iron Fist tournament.





▌Josie Rizal
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣



Fighting Style: Escrima & Kick-Boxing

Country: The Philippines

Having been a big cry baby since she was very young, her parents who were big fans of Martial Arts insisted that she train martial arts. Despite her reluctance at first, she later became accustomed to training kick-boxing to live up to her parent's expectations although it hasn't cured her from being a cry baby.

Making a living by being a kick-boxer and a model, she was on track to helping the household until a large typhoon in the country ravaged her home and creating wide spread damage.

To offer aid relief to the ravaged country, the Tekken Forces from Mishima Zaibatsu came to help out those affected and Josie was inspired to become a Tekken Force member. After that, she set out to join the Tekken Forces by taking their employment examination.





▌Katarina Alves
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣



Fighting Style: Savate

Country: Brazil

Orphaned at a young age after losing both her parents, a man later adopted her. Although the relationship was distant at first with her having bad things to say about the foster parent, day by day went and they slowly became like father and daughter.

One day, he mysteriously went missing and Katarina was slowly facing tough times with no money to go out looking for him. Having recently seen a flyer for the King of Iron Fist tournament, she set out to enter the tournament confident in her Savate skills she trained as self defense to get the money to go out and find him.





▌Kazumi Mishima
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣



Fighting Style: Hachijou Style Karate

Country: Japan

(Hachijou refers to her older name before she got married to Heihachi Mishima)

Wife of Heihachi Mishima and practitioner of Hachijou style Karate. Having been childhood friends with Heihachi Mishima, they later fell in love. After they were married, they had a baby and named him Kazuya and from there, thought they could live in peace as a family for a long time after.

Years later, Heihachi founded and formed the large-scale conglomerate Mishima Zaibatsu with intentions of conquering the world. Kazumi's feelings for Heihachi from that of love turned that to one of grave danger.

With Heihachi waging war with most of the world, Kazumi set out to stop him with the victims of the Mishima Zaibatsu in mind.





▌Shaheen
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣



Fighting Style: Military style

Country: Saudi Arabia

Bodyguard for a Private Military Company, Shaheen is tasked in protecting key figures in the world. It is said that under his guard, no one has come to be attacked.

A friend to Shaheen that is a top figure in the oil industry was however mysteriously found dead. Although it was published as an accidental death, Shaheen always had his doubts. The G Corporation later acquired the private Military Company and everyone that Shaheen was previously familiar with ended up resigning after the acquisition.

Having figured that all of this was all too much of a coincidence, Shaheen set out to investigate and find out the truth of what is really going on.





▌Master Raven
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣



Fighting Style: Ninjutsu

Country: Unknown

Attached to the United Nations' secret intelligence service, she is a code named: Master Raven. She is a high ranked official with plenty of sub-ordinates tasked in various dangerous missions.

With Heihachi Mishima reclaiming the Mishima Zaibatsu and waging war on G Corporation, the activities of this secret service have been increased to monitor and report what is happening in the world. Loyal to her duty, she will go to the ends of the earth for her role.





Source: avoiding the puddle

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

Master Raven Arrives in Arcades on September 15 in New Update Ver. D09

A new update on Tekken-Official details the upcoming update coming to Tekken 7 Fated Retribution in arcades named Ver. D09 on September 15th. It includes the recently announced Master Raven character coming to arcades in Japan and Korea for players to use as well as a new game mode which I'm not sure how to name it at the moment but seems to suggest some kind of 'Item Battle.' In addition, it lists a new wave of game balance changes arriving to the game but since this was a forward notice of the update, the full notes of the balance changes coming will be published in the near future. For now, people looking forward to the character will be pleased to know that they can start watching / playing the character on September 15th in arcades.

Source: avoidingthepuddle

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

I wonder how strong the impact of these balance changes will end up being.

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

Here are 9/05/26 highlights from avoidingthepuddle:



TEKKEN 7 FR - TEKKEN STRIKE 3on3



Akuma - Slask Kick -> Down jab into SRK re-wallsplat

So close to an infinite combo

Hwoarang Combo Memo



More combos

Even more



Bryan combos



Bob - If you connect a Rage Drive, (fff+3+4) a crouching d/b+4 is guaranteed after if you skip the mix-up.

Leo - Press 1+2 after Rage Drive (ff+2 HOLD) to enter Ki Charge state. This allows b+3,1,2 for big dmg.

King - Connect a Rage Drive (d/b+1+2) in certain KNDs or wall slumps to guarantee a u+2 after for big dmg!

RAGE (Akuma) VS Nobi (Lars)



EGX (Spetember 22-25)

Japanese Tekken player Chikurin got sponsored

Tokyo Game Show

Kelot Cup 2 on 9/17. Participate to earn Kelot in-game customization items

Hair Clipping

Xiaoyu player thinks he's Umehara

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

Tekken 7 FR Arcade Online Update 'Version D' Balance Changelist

Tekken 7 Fated Retribution is once again getting a big update tomorrow bringing T7FR up to version D09 alongside adding the new character Master Raven to the arcade title. Another wave of balance changes are included this time and they've now been published on Tekken-Official to be reviewed. Interesting thing they here is that they now list the notations and exact frame and damage value changed in the patch notes so that helps in keeping track of all the changes. It's a big change list so there's a lot to look through and review. Should be noted that although these may give us the idea on the changes made to the game, it's still best to review the changes as they are in-game.

▌Tekken 7 Fated Retribution - Update Ver.D
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣

--

【System Balancing Changes】

All character's RAGE status now activates when the life total reaches 25%. (Dropped from 33% from before)
Properties on certain Rage Drives on hit has now been changed.
Corrected Back walking speeds for characters to now be universal.
Corrected Back dashes for characters to now be universal.
Generic spring kicks (KND b+3+4) start-up frames have been made slower by 2F and recovery frames on block increased by 2F.
Certain moves Akuma could perform that aren't supposed to be in his movelist have been removed. (shout outs to back turned Akuma hopkick)
Lili's crouch dash (qcf) has been corrected to no longer allow you to do certain moves out of it by cancelling it with a jump.
Changes made to how counter hits are displayed in-game when they occur.
Various other small system bug fixes.

【Character Balancing Changes】

Paul

f+4 and standing 4 properties are now identical.
Crushing Wind (b+2,1) start-up frames on the 1st hit has been made faster by 2F. Properties on hit with a grounded opponent also changed.
Crushing Wind (b+2,1 HOLD) recovery frames for the opponent when they block it is increased by 3F.
Gengetsu (qcf+3) recovery frames decreased by 2F. Recovery frames for the opponent when hit with this move is decreased by 2F. Pushback on the move when blocked is reduced.
Rapid Fire to Lightning Bolt (qcb+3,2,3) properties on counter hit has been changed to a new hit animation.
Down Strike (KND opp d+2) properties on hit with an airborne opponent has been changed.

Law

Rage Art (Rage 1+2) tracking on the move has been reduced.
Rage Drive (d/b+4,3+4) recovery frames have been decreased by 3F.
Pressing Kick Combo (3+4,4) recovery frames decreased by 2F. Recovery frames for the opponent when they block it is increased by 4F.
Dragon Knuckle Combo (DSS 1,f+1) on block now pushes them back further.
Dragon Charge Kick (DSS 4) properties on counter hit has been changed to a new hit animation.
Dragon Cannon (DSS f+1) on block now pushes them back further.
Flash Fist (ws+1,2) recovery frames for the opponent when they block this is increased by 4F.

King

Rage Art (Rage d/f+1+2) tracking on the move has been reduced.
Rage Drive (Rage d/b+1+2) tracking on the move has been reduced. Damage decreased by 6.
Head Spinner (1+2,1) 2nd hit now comes out faster. Pushback on block has also been increased.
Elbow Sting (d/f+1,2) recovery frames increased by 1F. Damage increased by 3.
Mincer Low (d/f+4,3,d+4) properties on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation.
Jab Uppercut (d+1,2) recovery frames have been increased by 2F.
Low Drop Kick (d/b+4) on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation.
Jaguar Hook (ff+1) damage decreased by 4.

Yoshimitsu

d/f+1 pushback on hit made shorter.
New d/f+1,4 move had been added to the movelist.

Hwoarang

Rage Art (Rage Flamingo d+3+4) tracking on it has been reduced.
Rage Drive #1 (Rage d+3+4,4) frame advantage on block reduced by 5F.
Rage Drive #2 (Rage u/f+3,4,3+4) frame advantage on block reduced by 3F.
Push Hands (f+1+2) recovery frames increased by 4F. Recovery frames for the opponent when they block it is decreased by 3F.
Stealth Needle (b+1) pushback on block has been reduced.
Left Plasma Blade (b+3) properties on hit with a grounded opponent has been changed.
Peace Keeper (ff+4) frame advantage on block reduced by 2F.
Sky Rocket (cd+4 or f,n,d/f+4) damage decreased by 3.
Spinning Trip Kick (ss+4) frame advantage on hit reduced by 2F. Negative frames on block increased by 1F.
Backlash (RFF 3~4) recovery frames for the opponent when blocked decreased by 2F.

Xiaoyu

Fire Dancer (crouching 3,2,1,4) properties on hit with a grounded opponent has been changed.
Dark & Stormy (Back turned 2,1,4) attack hit box has been made bigger. Properties on hit with a grounded opponent has been changed.
Mistrust (Back turned 4) properties on hit with a grounded opponent has been changed.

Jin

Front Thrust Kick (f+4) recovery frames for the opponent when they block this is increased by 3F.
Right Low Roundhouse (d/b+4) pushback on counter hit is reduced.
Right Sweep (CDS 4) issue where the properties of this move would differ depending on when you inputted it has been fixed.

Bryan

Rage Drive (Rage b+1+2) issue where an opponent on the wall hit by the RD would shift places has been corrected.
Middle Side Kick (3+4) attack hit box has been made smaller. Tracking on the move has been reduced.
Blackout Trap (d/f+2,3) hitbox has been made smaller.
Hammer Driver Hatchet (d+1+2,3) recovery frames for the opponent after they get hit by this move is decreased by 1F.
Meteor Smash (b+1+4) damage reduced by 10.
Wedge Driver (b,d/f+4) properties on counter hit changed to a new hit animation.
KickOff (qcb+4) properties on hit with a grounded opponent has been changed. Pushback on block reduced.
Northern Cross (crouching d/f+4) recovery frames for the opponent when they block this is decreased by 1F. Properties on counter hit has been changed.

Heihachi

Rage Art (RAGE d+1+2) tracking on the move is reduced.
Hammer Beating (d+1,2) properties on counter hit has been changed.
Angekisai (d/b+1+2) Recovery frames for the opponent after they get hit by this move is increased by 3F.
Demon Uppercut (ff+2) frames where it is invincible against Akuma's Hadoukens is increased by 6F.
Dragon Uppercut (cd+1) tracking on the move is reduced. Now has jump status.
Jumping Mid Kick (cd+3) damage reduced by 5.

Kazuya

Rage Drive (Rage cd+1+4~U/F) now pushes the opponent further away on hit. Corrected an issue where players would shift positions when the Rage Drive is blocked at the wall.
Slaughter High Kick (d/f+1,4) recovery frames is increased by 2F.
Kumo Kiri (b+1+2) recovery frames is decreased by 1F. Properties on counter hit has been changed.

Steve

Rage Drive (RAGE d/f+3+4,1+2) hit box on the 5th hit has been made bigger.
Double Jab (1,1) recovery frames increased by 2F.
Gut Drill (4,2) pushback on block reduced.
Cyclone Knee Clip (3+4,d+2) damage decreased by 2.
Power Punisher (Duck f+2) properties on normal hit has been changed.
Body Bomb (b+2) pushback on block reduced.
Burst Hammer (u/f+2) recovery frames increased by 1F.
Eagle Jab (ws+1,1) recovery frames increased by 2F.

JACK-7

10 hit combo #1 (d+2,1,1,1,2,1,2,1,1+2,1+2) the 2nd and 3rd hit now have crouching status.
V-Twin (ws+2,1) Positive frames for the opponent when the move is blocked is increased by 1F. Properties on counter hit has been changed. Damage decreased by 3.
Atomic Shoulder Tackle (crouching d/f+3+4) properties on hit has been changed.

Asuka

Rage Drive (RAGE ff+1+2) start-up frames have been made faster by 2F. Pushback on the move on block is reduced.
Swallow Slice (d/b+1) tracking has been increased.
Burning Lantern (ff+1) recovery frames on hit and on block is reduced by 3F. Recovery frames for the opponent blocking the move is decreased by 2F. Pushback on the move on hit is reduced.
Shikeitai (ws+1,4) Fixed an issue where the input window for this move would change if done after certain other moves.
Rising Elbow (ws+2) start-up frames has been made faster by 1F.
Minazuki (crouching d/f+3) recovery frames decreased by 2F.

Devil Jin

Rage Drive (RAGE cd+4,3+4) pushback on the 1st hit on block has been increased. Hitbox on the 2nd hit has been made bigger. The 3rd hit of the Rage Drive recovers 2F faster on block and on whiff now.
Malicious Mace (d/b+2) recovery frames for the opponent after getting hit by this move is increased by 1F.
Twin Pistons (ws+1,2) recovery frames increased by 2F.
New ws+1,4 move has been added to the movelist.

Feng

Climbing Dragon (f+3,4) property on the 1st hit when it hits an opponent on his back has been changed.
Tiger's Claw (f+1+2) attack hit box has been made bigger.
Jin Bu Zhen (f+3+4,4) properties on counter hit changed to a new hit animation.
Fractured Diamond (b+3+4,1) properties on counter hit changed to a new hit animation.
Landslide (qcf+1) damage increased by 2.
Monkey Strike (crouching d/f+2) recovery frames decreased by 3F. Recovery frames for the opponent after blocking this move is increased by 1F. Pushback on the move when blocked has been reduced.

Lili

Rage Art (RAGE 3+4) tracking on the move is reduced.
Rage Drive (RAGE d/f+3+4,3) frame advantage on block increased by 3F.
Circle Knee (f+3) hit box has been made bigger.
Edelweiss (d/b+4) is now a homing move.
Freesia Thrust (d/b+3+4) on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation.
Root of Evil ff+4 recovery frames decreased by 1F.

Dragunov

Rage Drive (RAGE fff+1+2) frame advantage on block increased by 4F.
Razer (d+2) properties on counter hit has been changed. Damage increased by 1.
Serrated Edge (b+3) properties on normal hit has been changed. On hit with an airborne opponent will now cause a Screw!
Under Pressure (u/f+2) recovery frames for the opponent after blocking this move is increased by 4F.
Slay Ride (qcf+3) recovery frames decreased by 10F. Recovery frames for the opponent after getting hit by the move is decreased by 2F. Damage increased by 2.
Chernobog Sweep (Running 3) recovery frames decreased by 10F. Damage increased by 5.
Rolling Escape (ss+3+4) recovery frames decreased by 2F. Now has crouching status.

Leo

Heng Quan (KNK 2) start-up frames has been made faster by 2F. Hit box on the move has been made bigger.
Er Qi Jiao (KNK 3,4) attack hit box on the 1st hit has been made bigger. Recovery frames on the 2nd hit decreased by 1F. Properties on the 2nd hit with an airborne opponent has been changed.
Cuo Ti Fu Ren (KNK 4) recovery frames has been decreased by 7F.
New BOK 1+2 move added to the movelist.
Chuan Pao (d/f+3) recovery frames on both hit and on whiff decreased by 6F.
Gui Xi (d/f+2+3) on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation.
Chong Tian Zhang to Fu Bo (d/b+2,2) is now a natural combo.
Sky Vibration (u+3+4) can now also be done with u/f+3+4.
Lei Zhang (qcf+1) recovery frames has been increased by 1F. Pushback on the move on counter hit reduced.
Rising Bei Zhe Kao (ws+4,1+2) damage decreased by 4.
Da Kai (ss 1+2) properties on counter hit has been changed.

Lars

Lightning Assault Middle (2,1,3) input window has been made longer by 7 frames. Damage increased by 2.
Lightning Assault High (2,1,4) input window has been made longer by 7 frames.
Turbine Hook (SE 2) recovery frames decreased by 1F.
Power Slug (f+1+4) hit box has been made bigger. Corrected an issue where players would shift positions when hit at the wall.
Flashing Strike (d/f+2,1) damage increased by 3.
X-Ray (d/f+1+2) properties on hit has been changed.
Tactical Sword (d+2) properties on counter hit and on hit with an airborne opponent has been changed.
Avalanche Spike (u/f+3+4,1) properties on normal hit has been changed. Properties on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation.
Multiplied Force (ws+2,1) recovery frames decreased by 1F.
Shockwave (ss+2) properties on hit has been changed.

Alisa

Rage Art (RAGE b+1+2) recovery frames on block and on whiff increased by 8F.
Rage Drive (RAGE f+2+3,3+4) can now go into both BOOT and DUAL BOOT stances earlier during the Rage Drive.
Accelerator Combo (1,2,4) damage decreased by 3.
Right Jab to Accelerator (2,4) damage decreased by 3.
Gigabyte Hammer (1+2) recovery frames for the opponent when they block this is decreased by 5F.
'Down forward One' (d/f+1) start-up frames has been made slower by 1F. Attack hit box has also been made smaller.
Optimizer (d+4,1+2) attack hit box on the 1st hit has been made bigger.
Harpoon Sweep (d+3+4) properties on block has been changed.
Inbound Kick (u/f+4,4) recovery frames for the opponent after blocking this move has been decreased by 1F.
Shredding Uppercut (DES 2) recovery frames increased by 4F. Damage decreased by 9.
New DES 2:1 move has been added to the movelist.
New KND opp d/b+1+2 move has been added to the movelist.

Claudio

Rage Drive (RAGE b+4,2~ff) input window has been decreased by 3F.
Crimson Delta Edge to Starburst (1+2:1+2:f+2) damage increase on the 2nd hit by 10.
Sacred Edge (f+3) pushback on block has been reduced.
Twin Claws (d/b+2,1) the pushback on the 1st hit of this on hit has been reduced.
Spinning Skies (b+2) recovery frames for the opponent after blocking this move is increased by 3F. Will now enter Starburst earlier.
Shining Ray (b+4,2) attack hit box has been made bigger.
Judgment Claw (b+1+2) properties on hit with an airborne opponent has been changed.
Gravity Zone (STB d+2,2) pushback on block has been reduced.

Katarina

Rage Drive (RAGE HAR 1+2) frame advantage on block has been increased by 2F.
Heel Hook (f+3) recovery frames decreased by 2F.
Harrier (f+4) stance can now cancel into crouch by pushing down.
Palmate Spin (HAR 3) on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation.
Nest Crasher (d/f+2,2) pushback on block has been reduced.
Slipping Tail (d/b+4) is now a homing attack.
Inside Peck (b+1) the reach on this move has been made longer.
Kite Upper (ws+2) pushback on block has been reduced.

Lucky Chloe

Rage Art (RAGE 3+4) damage when you do the timed inputs correctly is decreased by 5.
Rage Drive (RAGE d/f+3+4:1+2) frame advantage on block has been increased by 4F.
Left Point to C Uprock Swing (1,2,1+2) properties on hit with a back turned opponent has been changed.
Right Middle Shift (3,4) is now a natural counter hit combo.
Double Swing (1+2) properties on hit with a back turned opponent has been changed.
Hopping (f+3) recovery frames decreased by 2F.
Axe Aerial (f+4) pushback on the move on hit and on hit with a backturned opponent is reduced. Damage increased by 4.
Double Axe Aerial (f+4,4) start-up frames has been made faster by 1F. Attack hit box on the move has been made bigger.
'Down Three' (d+3) attack hit box has been made bigger.
Hands Up (b+1) properties on counter hit has been changed.
'Up Forward Neutral Four' (u/f,n,4) damage decreased by 10.
C Backflip Combo (Scoot 3+4,4) recovery frames for the opponent after blocking this move is increased by 2F.
Right Cross Shift (ws+1,4) start-up frames made faster by 1F.
Spin and Roll (crouching d/f+2) recovery frames decreased by 2F. Recovery frames for your opponent after blocking this move is increased by 2F.
C Backflip (Back turned 4) recovery frames decreased by 2F. Recovery frames for your opponent after blocking this move is increased by 2F.
Cat Slide (Back turned d+3+4) on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation.

Shaheen

Silent Rigel (d+3) recovery frames increased by 2F. Recovery frames for the opponent on both hit and block on this move is increased by 2F.
Achernar (b+1) recovery frames decreased by 1F. Recovery frames for the opponent after blocking this move is decreased by 3F. Property on counter hit has also been changed.
Low Glide (Stealth Step 4) recovery frames has been decreased by 4F. Properties on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation. Pushback on the move has been reduced.
Sand Storm (crouching d/f,d,d/f+3) damage increased by 2.

Josie Rizal

Hollow Point Shot (3,2) recovery frames increased by 1. Recovery frames for the opponent after being hit or blocking this move also increased by 1F.
Spinning Scythe (3+4) recovery frames decreased by 4. Recovery frames for your opponent after blocking this move decreased by 4F.
Panquil Ring (f+2,4) damage increased by 1.
1st hit of Cyclone Sweep Combo (d/f+3,2) recovery frames increased by 4. Recovery frames for your opponent after getting hit by the move is increased by 3F. Is now also a natural combo on counter hit. Damage increased by 3.
2nd hit of Cyclone Sweep Combo (d/f+3,2) recovery frames increased by 1. Recovery frames for your opponent after blocking or getting hit by this move is increased by 1F. Damage increased by 6.
Middle Straight (d/b+2) properties on counter hit has been changed.
Tracer Kick (b+3) properties on an airborne opponent has been changed.
Streamline Combo (b+4,3,4) Recovery frames for the opponent after blocking the 2nd hit of this move is increased by 4F.
Step In Tracer (ff+4) properties on counter hit has been changed. On hit with an airborned opponent will now cause a Screw!
Slide In Tornado Combo (cd+1,3) recovery frames decreased by 4. Recovery frames for your opponent after blocking this move is decreased by 4F.
Slide In Elbow (cd+2) pushback on both hit and on block has been increased.
Slide In Low Kick (cd+3) properties on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation.
Vertical Knee (ws+3) properties on hit with an airborne opponent has been changed.

Gigas

Rage Drive (RAGE f+3+4 HOLD) tracking has been improved. Input window to input other moves in stance has been increased by 10 frames.
Hell Crusher (Goliath 2) tracking has been improved. Damage increased by 3.
Advancing Giant Press (Goliath 1+2) this move puts Gigas in a knockdowned state but the moves you do out of this state now have airborne status.
Vice Grip Hammer Rush (d/f+3,1+2,1+2) reach on the move has been made longer.
End Mill (d/b+2) properties on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation.
Blast Charge (Set-Up Golem 2) properties on hit with an airborne opponent has been changed.
Jumping Elbow (u/f+1) frames where it has jump status has been increased by 3.
Giant Press (u/f+1+2) pushback on block has been reduced.
Gorefoot Impact (ff+4,2) pushback on hit has been increased. The reach of this move has also been made shorter.
Vice Grip Hammer (ff+1+2,1+2) the reach on this move has been made longer.
Savage Knee (ws+2,3) damage increased by 4.
Ground Sweeper (Face Down Feet Away 2) properties on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation.

Kazumi

Rage Art (RAGE d+1+2) tracking on the move has been reduced.
Jab (1) the reach on the jab has been made shorter.
Thunder Punch Combo (1+2) recovery frames have been increased by 7. Recovery frames for your opponent after blocking this move is increased by 3F. Damage increased by 16. New follow-ups after this move has been added to the movelist.
Diamond Cleaver (d+1,2) the reach on the 1st hit has been made longer.
'Down Three' (d+3) the reach on this move has been made shorter. The pushback on this move on block has been reduced.
Hellfire Spiral (d/b+2,3,4) the start-up frames on the 1st hit has been made faster by 3 frames.
Rolling Thunder (d/b+4) recovery frames on whiff and on block has increased by 1. Recovery frames for your opponent after being hit by this move is decreased by 1F. Properties on normal hit has been changed. Properties on counter hit has now been changed to a new hit animation. Damage increased by 2.
Lethal Chop (u/f+2) recovery frames decreased by 2F. Now has crouching status. New follow-ups after this move has been added to the movelist. Damage increased by 15.
Diamond Tiger Strike (ff+2) the start-up to the power crush frames have been made faster by 2 frames.
Diamond Cutter (ws+1,2) recovery frames increased by 3F. Recovery frames for your opponent after blocking this move has been increased by 2F. Properties on normal hit has been changed. Damage has been increased by 3.
'While Standing Three' (ws+3) properties on counter hit with a crouching opponent has been changed.
Divine Justice (KND d+2) properties on hit with an airborned opponent has been changed.

Nina

Ray Hands (d/f+1+2) can now also be done with a d,d/f+1+2 input.
Cutthroat (d+2,3) recovery frames has been decreased by 2F.
Right Low Kick to Back Spin Chop (d+4,1) push back on hit has been reduced.
Shockwave Palm (b+1+2) attack hit box has been made bigger. Tracking on it has also been improved.
Skull Splitter (u/f+1) hitbox on the move has been made bigger.
Bad Habit (ff+3) recovery frames decreased by 1F.
Kneel Kick (ff+4) fixed the issue where the knockdowned state this move places Nina in is different from that of a regular knock down.
Fluttering Butterfly (ws+1,1+2) recovery frames has been decreased by 2F.
Jumping Flip (u/f+1+2) damage on the throw is increased by 5 when the opponent hits the wall from the throw.

Bob

Rage Art (RAGE d/f+1+2) attack hit box on the move has been made bigger.
Rage Drive (RAGE fff+3+4 HOLD~F) frame advantage on block decreased by 2F. Damage decreased by 8.
Spinning Linguine (f+4) attack hit box has been made bigger.
Giga Jacker (f+1+2) attack hit box has been made smaller.
Gaufrettes Cutter (d/f+3,1,1) damage on the 2nd hit has been decreased by 1.
Coupé Chop (d+1) recovery frames has been increased by 2F.
Flying Jambon (u/f+3) attack hit box on the move has been made smaller.
Cracker Tariata (u/f+1+2,4) attack hit box on the move has been made smaller.
Cracker Jacker (u/f+1+2,1+2) attack hit box on the move has been made smaller.
Perfect Slash (fff+3) the jump height of this move has been lowered.

Akuma

Heavy Shoryuken (SRK 2) will now lose to Rage Arts when they connect with the Shoryuken.
Hyakkigohasatsu (Demon Flip 2) damage increased by 4.
Hyakkigosen (Demon Flip 3) recovery frames for the opponent after blocking this move is decreased by 9F.
Hyakkigojin (Demon Flip 4) is now a special mid.
Heavy Tatsumaki Zankukyaku (qcb+4) damage on the 1st hit has been increased by 3.
EX Shoryuken (SRK 1+2) will now lose to Rage Arts when they connect with the Shoryuken.
Messatsu Gohado (qcf,qcf+1+2) corrected the damage received by the opponent when they absorb the move with a Power Crush.
Jab (1) attack hit box of the move has been made smaller.
Focus Attack (1+2 HOLD) properties on hit has been changed.
Ryujinkyaku (f+3) recovery frames have been increased by 1F.
Gokumonsyo (d/f+1) attack hit box of the move has been made smaller.
Dohatsu Tensho (d/f+2) attack hit box of the 1st hit of this move has been made smaller.
Yokogeri (d/f+3) attack hit box of the move has been made smaller.
Fkusenshotei (d+1,2) recovery frames have been increased by 3F.
Kurubushi Kick (d+3) attack hit box of the move has been made smaller. Tracking on the move is also reduced.
Ashibarai (d+4) tracking on the move has been reduced.
Gaikaiken (b+1) start-up frames have been made slower by 1F.
Shakunetsu Messho (ff+2:1) recovery frames have been decreased by 1F.
Tenmakuretsukyaku (fff+3) recovery frames have been increased by 6F. Recovery frames for the opponent after blocking this move has been increased by 6F.

Source: avoidingthepuddle

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

Registrations Open for Tekken Tej Tournament in Poland on October 22

Tekken Tej Tournament 2016 is the latest in the Polish Tekken tournament series that is set to take place in the city of Poznań next month. It's another last hurrah tournament for sending off TTT2 before Tekken 7 releases early next year but it'll be another showcase for European Tekken action. The event for this year is being run by a joint cooperation effort with the Polish community (TekkenPRO.pl) alongside with the Cool Kids Table and they know what they're doing when it comes to Tekken events. Registration and all kinds of useful information like how to get there, the game arena map, stream link, registration page and everything else is all detailed on the web page for the tournament so check it out if you're interested in competing. Registration for the tournament closes on the 15th of October, 2016.

TEKKEN TEJ TOURNAMENT ≫ tournament.tekkenpro.pl/

Source: avoidingthepuddle

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

Here are images of Gouki/Akuma, Heihachi, & Kazuya

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

Heiachi looks huge compared to Akuma in this image lol.

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

T7FR - Footage of Ver. D Balance Change Testing & Day 1 Master Raven

New balance changes and character are out so time to explore for players in arcades. The Net Arena in South Korea got to testing all the balance changes real quick and have already uploaded a 2 hour long video checking through things so it's a good resource to look at to make sense of how exactly things got changed in Version D09. Although I haven't seen many notable Raven mains pick up and try out Master Raven yet, there are videos of people playing around with her in online matches and they do a decent job of showing how she differs from the older Raven.

▌Tekken 7 Fated Retribution Ver. D Balance Testing
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣



▌Master Raven Gameplay
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣







Heres some Master Raven artwork:

BY JUNNY



BY TOMIO FUJISAWA



BY JBSTYLE



BY SHUNYA YAMASHITA



Source: avoidingthepuddle (info & gameplay) & fightersgeneration (artwork)

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

The artstyle for these characters is quite good.

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

Tokyo Game Show 2016 - TEKKEN 7 Special Stage Event on September 18



Bandai Namco are doing a Special Stage show tomorrow in Japan and for those keen on looking out for any Tekken related showing, this will probably be the time to watch. September 18 starting at 10:30 AM Japan time is the time slot for TEKKEN 7 and so far they've detailed that an exhibition match between Japanese players Deku (Heihachi) VS Kazunoko (Akuma) is set to take place on stage kinda like the previous Nobi VS Tokido matches. They're doing a live stream on both Twitch and YouTube so there's a variety of ways to tune in on that day. Hopefully a new trailer reveal soon? Tune in and find out.

Twitch Stream ≫ xhttps://www.twitch.tv/bandainamcoentertainment

YouTube (English Stream) ≫

Countdown:

countingdownto.com/pricing

Source: avoidingthepuddle

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

I like how they're getting these top players from other games to join into it.

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

PS4/XB1/Steam - TEKKEN 7 Tokyo Game Show 2016 Trailer

Just unveiled at Tokyo Game Show this year but unfortunately, it seems not much in terms of new reveals was shown off. It gives you a overview of the character's story lines you can come to expect in the game when it releases worldwide in Early 2017.

▌TEKKEN 7 - Tokyo Game Show 2016
￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣ ￣



Source: avoidingthepuddle

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL MURRAY, TEKKEN 7 DEVELOPER WITH BANDAI NAMCO

Author: ZEETHECEO

When you truly want to know the ins and outs of a video game, especially a new one that isn’t out yet (at least not worldwide), there is no place higher to go than to the creators themselves. When it comes to Tekken, the creme of the crop are the Batman and Robin of Tekken, Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray. They are the developers and main figure-heads of Tekken.

Tekken 7 is due for release in early 2017 and fans across the globe are hungrier than ever before for all of the glory details surrounding their favorite fighting game. Knowing this, I reached out to Michael Murray about a potential interview. I know he is bombarded with interviews all of the time, most of which you can find all across the internet, so I promised him that I would make it worth his while by asking some unique questions. He obliged and the rest is history!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First and foremost, I thank you so much for consenting to this interview. It feels like Christmas! (laughs) I’m going to jump right in, getting to know more about you to begin with. How long have you been working for Bandai Namco, and how did you begin working there?

Michael: I started working at Namco, Ltd, later merged with Bandai to become Bandai Namco Games, and now Bandai Namco Entertainment, in 2001. I graduated from university with a degree in Political Science, and had studied abroad in Japan during my third year. I really fell in love with Japan at that time. I was planning to apply to the FBI, which I couldn’t do until I was 23, so I decided to teach English in Japan for a year until I reached that age. But with martial arts, lively arcades, at the time, and some of the cutest girls around, one year turned into three.

I completely understand. (laughs)

Michael: In the meantime, I was studying Japanese on my own with the goal of passing level one, the highest level, of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Once I passed that, I had no new goals to improve my Japanese further, so I decided to try going to a Japanese corporate interview to see how I would do. At that time, Tekken Tag Tournament was out in arcades, and I would play with my friends before we went clubbing every weekend. It was at that time that I found an ad that Namco was hiring people who could speak both English and Japanese, so I decided to go to the interview, mainly to test my Japanese and also to get a free roundtrip Shinkansen ticket from Nagoya to Tokyo. I didn’t really plan on leaving my life in Nagoya and so I wasn’t really trying to get the job, which probably meant I was extremely relaxed during the interview. After two more interviews, I got a call that I had actually passed and they were offering me a job! It was a big choice for me to drop everything and move to Tokyo, so I took a night to think about it, and accepted the next day since it was a chance to work as a salaried employee of a big Japanese company.

Wow! It’s interesting that you say that, because I find that many players also perform better in tournaments when they don’t think too much about doing well. It removes the stress. Sounds like you did the same thing, though you didn’t really want the job! (laughs) What kind of job was it?

Michael: I found out that the job was for something called Localization (which wasn’t really common at that time yet). They were creating a new section to do Localization of their titles for the West, but it was a new challenge for them, and no one there really knew how to go about it yet, so it was quite a learning experience, but I got to work very closely with the development teams of Ace Combat, Ridge Racer, Tekken, Klonoa, etc. And I was one of the first non-Japanese to join the company, so they were excited to quiz me about what aspect of their games I liked, and what I would change to meet western tastes if I could. It wasn’t game design or anything, but I got to see behind the scenes of game development, and also learn about Japanese corporate culture.

Okay. I thought you had always worked on Tekken.

Michael: When I was in Localization, I worked on many titles simultaneously, but Tekken was always one of them. My first was localization of the arcade version of Tekken 4. Even after becoming more deeply involved with the franchise, I have often helped with other titles like Rise of Incarnates.

You mentioned taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I’ve always been amazed by your Japanese. It is very fluent. I wish I knew it. When and how did you pick it up, and was it easy to learn?

Michael: I studied at Nanzan University in Nagoya for a year during my third year of university. Although I wasn’t a very good student, I loved video games and manga, and just exploring Japan. I tried to take what I learned in the classroom, and apply it as much to daily life. I bought a motorcycle from a Canadian guy in the neighborhood. This was strictly against the rules, and I got in trouble later. (laughs) And I would go out to different arcades, or places I’ve never been. However, there wasn’t Google Maps or navigation back then and I would get lost, and have to ask random people for directions in order to get back home, so my Japanese improved pretty quickly. Also, a lot of the foreign students would hang out with each other, but I wasn’t really into that. I would hang out with my girlfriend and her family, or at the arcades. Especially in the arcades, I would see all this new stuff, and we didn’t have all of the info on the internet that you have today, so the only way to find out that hidden color for Ken in Street Fighter 3, or how to use Gouki (Akuma), was to ask the Japanese guys doing it in the arcade. So I guess you could say that I studied a little bit every day to pick up new vocabulary, then actually use it with people out of the classroom. I would also look up any words I didn’t yet know when reading a manga, or playing a game. A lot of karaoke with my girlfriend and her friends helped me practice my pronunciation. I guess the biggest secret is that I was doing something I loved, every day was exciting, and I studied a little bit every day.

You and Harada are a dynamic duo, and obviously very close. People hardly ever see one without the other. How did you two first meet?

Michael: When I first joined Namco, the office was pretty relaxed, and everyone loved making games. When I went to Valve a few years back, it felt like a similar atmosphere. My boss knew I loved Tekken, and I was asking him all these questions. He didn’t know the answers and suggested I just “go ask Harada.” I was like, “I can really just go and do that?!” So I went to the next floor up where the Tekken team was, and introduced myself. Keep in mind, most of the team had never worked with a non-Japanese before. I was excitedly asking him all these questions about my favorite character at the time, Nina, in my not so fluent Japanese.

That’s too funny! (laughs)

Michael: The conversation came up that I was learning jujutsu, and I loved her multi-throws. He didn’t have a very good impression (I heard many years later). He found the most boring topic not even related to games and lectured me about it for over two hours. I came to him wanting to know all the behind the scenes stories of how Tekken was developed, and that was the first thing I heard from him. I was shocked that this guy I saw in Arcadia in interviews about my favorite game was such a loser! (laughs)

Oh wow! (laughs)

Michael: I found out many years later that there was an American guy in the arcade division of our US office that had leaked stuff about Tekken in the past, and Harada’s image of foreigners was tainted by this. It took me a few years to fully earn his trust. I learned that the team usually implemented hidden things like Heihachi’s blue Raijinken without telling anyone but that certain person, and if the info got leaked on forums, or seen in the arcades, they were sure who did it. Apparently, I was trusted with info like this, and it never got leaked, which helped my standing with the team.

Completely understood. Without trust you have nothing. Do you and Harada always agree on things when it comes to Tekken? And how do you generally come to a resolution?

Michael: We don’t always agree on everything. We even fight sometimes. But we respect each other, so we are usually able to work out our differences. A lot of times, I will tell him we should take a certain direction that he doesn’t agree with. But, if when we react with the fans at tournaments or on twitter, and he sees their requests or way of thinking is similar to what I suggested, he will often change his mind. So if the logic behind the idea is solid, and that it is something that seems to resonate well with the community, he usually will adopt it.

How happy were you when it was finally announced at E3 that Tekken 7 would release early 2017?

Michael: I was excited beyond belief. Our company doesn’t usually like to announce release dates until further along in the development, but I really pushed for announcing this at E3 since I could tell the frustration from the fans was boiling over, and they might be a little more understanding if they at least had a window.

You and Harada know more about Tekken than anyone else – it’s story, the characters it will have, the meaning and purpose behind each characters. Seeing as you already know everything about the game and what’s to come, and you’ve worked on Tekken for a number of years, where do you personally draw inspiration and joy for working on this project? What motivates you?

Michael: My role in the company, and also on Tekken, has changed over the years, so my motivation also changes a bit depending on the role at the time. One thing that doesn’t change is that I still love playing the game after all these years. I have grown extremely busy the past few years, but I still try to find time to sit down with the balancing team to go over the various changes in each iteration, and then also just to play them for fun. I also love the chance to see what we can do with each installment for new game mechanics, but also when there is new hardware like the PS4 and Xbox One. I still love games, and when I hear about these new features of the hardware, as a fan, I always want to see how they would turn out when applied to Tekken. This is probably quite important as, although I am still involved with development, I am increasingly involved with the business side of the company as I get older. And Tekken needs a champion on that side of it to push for why including these things in the game make sense, to people who often only see the money side of things.

Do you enjoy working more on canon projects or non-canon projects?

Michael: I like both, but working on story-driven installments is pretty enjoyable. Being able to help shape a character’s background setting, and also discussing for hours on end with Harada and other key people about interesting ideas for the story, or new characters, is still one of the things I still enjoy most.

In an interview at EVO with New Challenger Gaming, you and Harada stated 2017 would be the “year of Tekken.” What kinds of things can Tekken fans look forward to?

Michael: Not much I can comment on yet, but we are working more than ever on getting the whole company behind the franchise; not only for development of the game, but events, community activities, and also merchandising – not to make more money per se, but to try to provide a lot of exciting things surrounding Tekken for fans who have been wishing for this for a long time.

The Tekken Tour has been successful, but I feel like there is another level to go to. Will there be even bigger tournaments and events than there has been this year?

Michael: I hope so. Anyone who has ever run a tournament will know how much is involved in the planning for such an event, let alone a series of tournaments. And our company is pretty new to this, so it is kind of a learning process, so hopefully we can use it as a springboard to bigger things. That said, we need the support of the community for what we are doing now, in order to do bigger things in the future.

Speaking of the Tekken Tour, when is the King of the Iron Fist Tournament: North America?

Michael: You mean the Finals? That is something our US office is finalizing, and we hope to announce some cool stuff soon!

Fighting games have officially entered the eSports era, especially after the success of EVO. How much of a talking point and influence, if any, has eSports been in the development of Tekken 7?

Michael: Quite a lot. Harada and I are the only ones from the team to be able to go to EVO and these other tournaments, but we always take back ideas about how to improve the game to make it more exciting at these type of events. Critical Arts, the dynamic camera work, and slo motion when trading blows, are some of the game mechanics specifically resulting from this. Tekken is extremely fun for those playing, but spectators who don’t have much knowledge about the game are often left out of the excitement. We wanted to get people interested in watching the game, so maybe they might be convinced to try it out. And I think we are starting to see results from some of these features.

The European Tekken community has expressed feeling neglected in many aspects. Is there anything in store for them? Anything you can share or allude to?

Michael: I know. I really feel bad when I see some of the YouTube videos or tweets from fans in Europe who feel left out. Harada and I try to give direction to our oversees marketing and community managers, but at the end of the day, they are the ones that decided what kind of activities they do to market the game. And the US being one country (with one person in charge for marketing, and one community) it is perhaps easier for them to make the decision to do these kind of activities. I guess all I can suggest is to try to establish a good relationship as a community, with the community manager for your particular region, so that they are pushing for these events from the ground up. That said, Harada and I are continuing to push for more events in Europe, so hopefully we can have more news coming soon.

Will there be any game modes or features that allow for easily conducting tournaments, or even online tournaments?

Michael: No comment.

We learned from the Microsoft store page that Tekken 7 will allow up to 8 players in online multiplayer. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 had up to 6. Why 8 in Tekken 7, as some have expressed this would make for long waiting times. And does this somehow tie into the eSports side of things?

Michael: Can’t comment.

Okay. (laughs) In what ways will Bandai Namco support Tekken 7 once it’s comes out, and for how long? Does your level of involvement depend on us the community, or is it a marriage of the two?

Michael: I think it depends on both side. Finally, more people in our company on the Japan side are hearing about eSports, and it’s importance for games in the Western market, so our, Harada’s and mine, is getting easier. However, if there is low attendance and not much support from the community for the events we currently are doing, management will cease to see the value in doing these events.

You can say that again! That’s very, very important. Kid Kazuya was revealed during gamescom. Will we be able to play as him during that portion of the story? We know that Heihachi ultimately throws him off of the cliff.

Michael: No comment.

Okay, let’s assume he was playable. Harada said if there was enough interest he’d consider it. But some have concerns about his hitbox being too small. How would you all potentially approach developing him? Would he been in non-ranked modes only, or is this a loaded question?

Michael: Fan feedback most always helps decide features, but like you said, there is the hitbox issue. This problem occurred with Gon, but also with Yoda in Soul Calibur 4. So rather than spending a lot of time trying to find a way to make it work, for a character who was originally only planned to be available for part of the Story Mode, it might be a better idea to focus on something more exciting.

Very true. The topic of DLC has come out a lot recently. What kind will Tekken 7 have, and would any of it increase the roster size?

Michael: DLC is something we can’t comment on right now, but we should have more info about this in the future.

Why is this the end of the Mishima saga?

Michael: It’s not necessarily the complete end. The franchise has been portraying the battle between the Mishimas for over 20 years, and we felt that it was time for some sort of conclusion to this particular story arc.

Is Jun dead or missing? And will she make a return? I mean, how can you have a story related to the Mishima saga and she not be in the mix?

Michael: She isn’t dead, just missing. Whether she returns or not, isn’t something I can say right now. Like Eddy, Julia, Lei, or other iconic characters that aren’t currently in the game, it’s always difficult to find the right balance between bringing back returning characters, while at the same time keeping the series fresh with completely new ones.

Did you happen to YellowMotion’s Tekken 7 roster prediction video? If so, was he hot, warm or cold?

Michael: Not totally cold, but not warm either. (smiles)

Master Raven has entered into the battle. Many were glad to see an African-American female character. How is ethnicity or nationality considered when developing new characters?

Michael: We don’t really focus on ethnicity. We try to come up with a roster of characters that represents a variety of martial arts and play styles, while also providing something for both novice and advance players. When adding a new character, sometimes we do take into account country or region of origin. Like with Shaheen, we try to feature somewhere that had been overlooked until then, but that had a budding or thriving Tekken community, both tournament players, but also casual ones who might just like the story and characters.

Okay, I want to ask a few questions about what we can expect with Tekken 7 as far as features and things of that nature. How will you all deal with rage quitters, illegal mods and things of that nature once Tekken 7 comes to console and PC? And will Tekken 7 also be available for Mac?

Michael: This is something we are still carefully considering, and can’t comment on just yet. Regarding Mac, unfortunately no. Only Steam for PC at this time.

Will there be a way to see the name of the person you’re potentially playing online before accepting the match? This would be very helpful for several reasons.

Michael: I will take this into consideration.

Any new game mechanics that have yet to be revealed? Or is the gameplay we’ve seen pretty much what the game will be? Any surprises?

Michael: The base gameplay is pretty much done for the most part, besides game balances. However, there may be some game mechanic twists in Story Mode. (smiles)

I’ve heard a lot about the PlayStation VR support in Tekken 7, but no details. When can we learn more about that?

Michael: PSVR is something we are still exploring, as far as game mechanics go, so nothing to comment on at this time.

The PS4 Pro was just announced. Will Tekken 7 take advantage of the new features it offers?

Michael: Our company as a whole still hasn’t decided their direction on this yet, so Tekken is still to be determined.

Will the PC and console versions of Tekken 7 differ in any way?

Michael: Maybe, but only in the way of options for the PC version that PC users might expect, not in content.

People have been asking us this repeatedly, so I must ask. What specs should a computer have for Tekken 7?

Michael: Specs aren’t locked down yet, so we will make this public closer to launch.

What made you all decide to nerf Akuma? Did you personally feel he was over-powered, or is this from user feedback?

Michael: I would like everyone to keep in mind that this is normal practice. Do you remember how many complaints Lars got when he was first released? We always try to make the new characters somewhat strong, so that people will give them a chance. And it is always better to make them strong, and then adjust once the game is released in the arcade, and we have had time to fully evaluate the character from data received. Akuma is no different. And it is even more important in his case so that people who might not even play Tekken, Street Fighter 5, for example, would be willing to give him a try.

What has been the biggest challenge so far in developing Tekken 7?

Michael: Managing community expectations. (laughs) Tekken has always been in the arcade first, so fans have always had the frustration of waiting for the game to come to consoles, but I think the level of frustration this time is higher than usual.

Interesting. Why do you think it’s higher this time around?

Michael: Probably due to the fact that many popular fighting games are unable to develop an arcade version and go straight to console, so Tekken fans feel slighted. And I think the game is shaping up pretty well. Many people have had a taste of it at events, and they are eager for more, so this perhaps is increasing their frustration.

It’s has definitely helped teach me patience. (laughs)

Michael: From a development standpoint, it is the first time the team is using Unreal Engine 4 to develop the game, so some of the middleware or development technics we used before, aren’t an option any more. It took a little bit of time for them to find their way around the engine, but once they did, I think it has gotten easier. I think it is easy to tell the leap in graphical quality from when Tekken 7 was first shown, to the latest version of T7FR.

Thought I haven’t seen it in person, I have noticed the graphic changes even online. They are significant for sure. Great job to you and the rest of the team! In the last Tekken Talk with MarkMan, you hinted that there may be some interesting news at EVO, and Bob and Master Raven ended up being announced. Tokyo Game Show is this week, and right in your backyard of Japan. What can we expect?

Michael: Honestly, we don’t have much new to show at Tokyo Game Show. Tekken sells the most in the west, and Tokyo Game Show is more overlooked by the western audience than bigger shows like E3 or Gamescom. That said, it’s the first time we are showing the PlayStation 4 build of the game, and people can play it at our booth. There is also a pretty cool trailer on the way. (winks)

Hmm. I’m no sure how to interpret that wink! (laughs) In that same interview, you said that one of the IGN editors told you that he wanted to learn more about Tekken, and when he tried to he encountered a lot of negativity. That’s one reason why we started TekkenGamer – to help build and shape the community. What kinds of things would help make the Tekken community better?

Michael: Yes, that is true. I don’t expect everyone to brownnose me or Harada, but just try to keep in mind all decisions aren’t made to screw over the community. Bandai Namco is a business, and some decisions just can’t please everyone in every country at any particular time. Try to stay positive about the game you like, and people will be drawn to the community. Telling them the game is shit, or that they’re scrubs and Tekken is for elitist players isn’t going to accomplish all of these things that the community wants for the game. Look at Markman and Tasty Steve for examples of what I think a person with a positive mentality who grows the community is.

Lastly, anything else you want to let our visitors know?

Michael: Not much to say yet, but we have some pretty cool community related news coming soon!

Good deal. Thanks Michael!

Michael: Thanks for the opportunity!

Source: tekkengamer via shoryuken

[Nyu Nozomi Hyuga]

PS4 Tekken 7 Gameplay Videos Show Graphical Downgrade

Videos of the PS4 version of Tekken 7 emerged at Tokyo Game Show and it seems to confirm that the image quality of the console port took a hit on the overall image quality. A common thing you might have seen in arcade footage of Tekken 7 is lag during certain parts of stages (usually near the wall, it was really common to have lag during wall combos) and also just during places where hitsparks would come out. Those issues still appear in the PS4 gameplay videos. The official specs of the arcade board were never detailed so we didn't know how close the arcade version specs would match the PS4s but for now we can chalk this up as just being an early version of the PS4 port. With that said, Tekken 7 is still slated for Early 2017 and things may improve in the future for a version that will eventually be the one used in tournaments.

▌PS4 Tekken 7 Gameplay
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Source: avoidingthepuddle