Feature | Tekken Fighting to a New Level

Sad but true, hopefully this Nintendo version will turn things around!

Interesting article!

Is the state of the fighting scene really so bad that only Nintendo style gimmicks are the chance to revive it? Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great way to cater for the mainstream, but should it really be necessary?

You know, it is indeed very interesting because what do you deem as 'successful' nowadays? For instance, everyone presumed Dead or Alive: Dimensions was a disaster, but it shipped 400,000 units worldwide, despite being a mix of previous games. Tekken 3D was disappointing, though, especially here in the UK as GAME (pre-crash) decided not to stock it, and Nintendo's support didn't help the game improve in the following weeks.

I love the look of TTT2: Wii U Edition and really hope it manages to at least match the sales of the PS3/Xbox 360 versions. I certainly think that in Japan the Wii U version will sell the most because of the Nintendo ties.

Are there many fighting fans floating around Cubed3 at the moment?

Adam Riley said:
You know, it is indeed very interesting because what do you deem as 'successful' nowadays? For instance, everyone presumed Dead or Alive: Dimensions was a disaster, but it shipped 400,000 units worldwide, despite being a mix of previous games. Tekken 3D was disappointing, though, especially here in the UK as GAME (pre-crash) decided not to stock it, and Nintendo's support didn't help the game improve in the following weeks.

I love the look of TTT2: Wii U Edition and really hope it manages to at least match the sales of the PS3/Xbox 360 versions. I certainly think that in Japan the Wii U version will sell the most because of the Nintendo ties.

Are there many fighting fans floating around Cubed3 at the moment?

I have to say, I'm actually really excited for TTT2, not only because of the Nintendo costumes and modes, but because it brings back the classic Tekken Ball mode from the 3rd game. Not only that, but it has a substantial amount of fighters and content. Plus it's currently cheaper than the 360 and PS3 editions on Zavvi.

Can't wait!

The last Tekken I really enjoyed was probably Tekken 2 - crazy, huh? However, with SSFIV 3D getting me back into the genre, and Dead of Alive 5 sat waiting to be tried, I'm definitely intrigued about TTT2. Normally I wouldn't, but I have to admit the gimmick has worked for me. I loved Link in SoulCalibur II and think this is going to work even better.

I'm not so sure about the Mushroom Mode, though. As for Tekken Ball, it look fun, so can't wait to try

Az might be able to chip in here, as I always wondered what people's thoughts were on why BlazBlue never broke through into the mainstream.

I'm not well up in this area, unfortunately, but I can safely say if you aren't an otaku or don't follow the games world to the extent we do then you are unlikely to have even heard of BlazBlue. Most gamers just simply don't know about it. Anime only appeals to so many people, too. For another thing, it has had stiff competition in the form of the Marvel vs Capcom games, and frankly, with those two company names in the title, BlazBlue is always going to have a hard time gaining fans.

That said, the series has done reasonably well; 1.7 million copies sold worldwide as of August 2012, and, considering the Street Fighters, the Mortal Kombats, the Marvels etc that it has had to compete with, this isn't too bad. It's no lie that it's a niche series, though, and the fact that only a PS3 version of the upcoming BB3 has been announced (no Xbox etc, but who knows if that'll change?) could be further proof that it hasn't done quite so well (PS3 versions of BB are said to be much more popular).

I think the biggest problem in the fighting genre are the overly serious players who fell an absolute NEED to win every match, even if it's against an obviously inexperienced opponent. Case in point; say someone hears about a new fighting series & wants to give it a try but this person hasn't played a fighter before. So he plays arcade mode a few times to try & get the hang of it then jumps online, well when he's online he gets severely beaten by pros constantly with only about 5-8% if his fights won against people of his same skill level.

This mind of overly competitive mind set will turn away new commers who want to have fun but ALSO enjoy a win & playing against someone with OCD winning streak tendencies is a big reason for the decline. I've lost several matches on purpose (without making it too obvios) when fighting against someone who I can tell hasn't played a fighter yet because I just wanted to have fun & let them enjoy a win.

Vorash Kadan said:
I think the biggest problem in the fighting genre are the overly serious players who fell an absolute NEED to win every match, even if it's against an obviously inexperienced opponent. Case in point; say someone hears about a new fighting series & wants to give it a try but this person hasn't played a fighter before. So he plays arcade mode a few times to try & get the hang of it then jumps online, well when he's online he gets severely beaten by pros constantly with only about 5-8% if his fights won against people of his same skill level.

This mind of overly competitive mind set will turn away new commers who want to have fun but ALSO enjoy a win & playing against someone with OCD winning streak tendencies is a big reason for the decline. I've lost several matches on purpose (without making it too obvios) when fighting against someone who I can tell hasn't played a fighter yet because I just wanted to have fun & let them enjoy a win.

For me personally, I don't see much point in fighting games nowadays because there's no 'goal' as such. With adventures etc there is a story to complete - a goal to strive for. With fighters, the thought of just fighting people one after the other isn't a compelling one to me any more. I think an in-depth storyline helps things, which is why I probably enjoyed SoulCalibur 2's Weapon Master a lot, but I just don't find too much fun with them now, and they certainly aren't worth the price asked for.

I'll always enjoy DOA, SC and such if I can grab them on the cheap for a quick blast, but I think I just find fighters in general a bit boring now. As much as I love Smash Bros, that also grows tiresome quickly. If you aren't a hardcore fighting game player then I guess many people could feel this way, which might be a reason for decline in sales? Although I believe DOA5 has sold pretty well - maybe its hiatus contributed to many people buying the new one. Who knows?

( Edited 30.10.2012 15:30 by Azuardo )

Koei Tecmo earnings: http://www.koeitecmo.co.jp/php/pdf/ird1_20121029.pdf

Dead or Alive 5 - 580k shipped worldwide.

That's actually poor if you think that DoA: D on 3DS did 400,000+

It's only been out a month. I expect a boost with the holiday periods coming up. I don't think these are particularly bad numbers, and it's definitely making them a profit.

Apart from new characters / stages / story, what difference does a new entry in a fighting series do? (granted you could argue that with most genres).

Once you've beaten the story mode, unlocked new characters and gotten pummeled online, it becomes just another fighting game. I like the extras in TTT2 - seems to be a lot of thought and good level of fan service with the Wii U version in particular, but I think aside from the costumes it really isn't for me - Tekken was great on the Playstation, but as the series grew I myself grew bored.

I prefer DoA over Tekken and Street Fighter these days, not just because of the - yeah - but because of the depth in counters, tonnes of combos - it's just so fast paced, and just more exciting imo. The story is a cheesefest though lol.

I like Smash because of its less conventional nature - up to four players, layered levels and items keeps the action fresh. Likewise with Soul Calibur, I like the weapon collecting and the differences each character's tools make within a battle, it has that bit more depth (though SCV is pretty shite).

Soul Edge/Blade (PS1) has the single best Weapon Master/story element imo - was stupidly hard but incredibly rewarding. SCII is not a patch on it!

Brawl's story mode could be likened to that "streets" mode from Tekken 3 - I think bringing back that extra element, add in character customisation, possible level creator (not sure how that'd work) would help reinvigorate the genre imo - plus more intelligent ranked battles online that maybe analysed the types of moves you use etc, rather than just  win/loss ratio.

( Edited 30.10.2012 21:28 by jb )

Az, you're perfectly right, and the DoA5 sales are likely to keep going up over the coming months. Thanks for the incite into the BlazBlue series, by the way. Definitely quite the niche title, but seems to have carved out a decent corner for itself.

Jorge, I never realised you were into fighting games so much! I agree that most of them are rinse-and-repeat efforts, throwing in mere gimmicks to try and keep punters engaged, which is why I fell out of love with them after the days of the SNES, to be honest. I really wish they had more of a story element (BlazBlue on 3DS seemed good in this respect) and perhaps even some sort of levelling-up aspect to make the endless fighting more interesting.