Fighter news: Tekken 6 gets a world championship; new Melty Blood Actress goes to Ringwide

Here are a couple of tidbits regarding some fighters out of Japan. First is Tekken 6, which is getting it’s own global championship. While the poster for it shows the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game, the article at Game Watch talks about the arcade version of the game being used at the competition.Thanks to Fubarduck int he comments for clarifying: “The Tekken “Global Championship” tournament is being held on PS3/360, but the participants can get special items and costumes for their card for use on the arcade version. There were also be arcade cabinets with the game on free play at the event.” Registrations end on Feb. 21st and the event takes place on March 7th in Tokyo.More details here at Game Watch.

In other fighter news, the Japanese fighter series Melty Blood Actress is getting a new version which is to be seen at AOU2010 and one of the interesting things about this is it will use Sega’s Ringwide hardware, making this the secondthird game we know of to use that after Sega Racing Classic and Tetris Grandmaster 4. The title is called MELTY BLOOD Actress Again Current Code (always a fun name with these) and the page for the game shows that the game has an impressive roster of characters but not much else so far. The site also mentions something about NAOMI but I can’t translate it so I’m not sure if that means if there will be a NAOMI version as well or if they are just talking about the series moving from that hardware over to Sega’s newer Ringwide system. (thanks fubarduck) You can see the MBAACC website here.

UPDATE: Just to clarify again, they have not changed the name of Ringwide to “Naomi Ringwide” it’s still just Ringwide.

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Tekken 6 clone cabinet emerges from China

Have you ever played Tekken 6 in an arcade? I have, and my experience taught me two things: firstly my friend is better with the capoeira characters than me, and secondly the cabinet is quite a lovely piece of work. The problem is, there are just too few of them in the world. What are we to do? The answer, possibly, is to get one of these clone cabinets from Guangzhou’s Unique Top Electronic. They’re designed to look quite close to the real thing, though they’re definitely not quite indistinguishable – details such as the red panels underneath the monitor give things away pretty quickly. Still, perhaps not a bad alternative if you’re in the market for such an item – and hey, it’s certainly easy to imagine that the demand is out there.

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Tekken chief says unlockable characters are outdated

Some interesting news related to the Tekken franchise – the guy in charge of Tekken stated in a recent interview that “unlockables are outdated”, primarily due to the nature of online play. Unlockable content was added into arcade fighters as a way to keep players coming back for more and the idea even made sense where console games were concerned but apparently Mr. Harada feels that the time for such content has passed and as such, the home version of Tekken 6 will have all playable characters available from the get-go. I wonder if the same idea will be used in future Tekken arcade releases or not, I have to imagine that unlockable content is still completely valid in arcades but what do you think about it?

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Pre-ATEI buzz – Tekken 6 rumors and BlazBlue tested in Europe

In a build up to ATEI within the next few weeks, Europe has seen a location test of the new fighting game BlazBlue (pictured above), with a big turn-out of players only hampered by the fact that the cabinet used was a hatchet job of a CRT and other parts that gave up the ghost after hordes of players came down to check the game out. It’s good news for Europe that the game is coming to the UK and it should be seen at ATEI but if the effort put into the testing is going to use a converted cabinet instead of a Vewlix or something more official then it is certainly not going to help increase enthusiasm for the game. As Kevin Williams pointed out when he sent us this story: “when a successful opportunity exists for the amusement sector to save at least some credibility – it drops the ball at the last moment.” Location testing could be used to build the hype for the game in addition to seeing how a game will handle in the marketplace but we constantly see opportunities for such a thing passed by, with DJ Max Technicka being a notable exception.For Kevin’s review of the BlazBlue Europe debacle, hit the post break below.

In other fighter news for Europe, rumor has it that Bandai Namco will debut Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion at ATEI. This would be the second time T6 has shown up at ATEI and hopefully this time we won’t see another scene where players are arguing with execs over the game. Stay tuned for more info and discuss it on the forum.

NY Arcade with SFIV and Tekken 6

While arcades in the US with some of the most desired fighters in one place might be rare, they are out there. Kevin Williams of The Stinger Report stopped by an arcade in New York that has Street Fighter IV and Tekken 6 along with a number of other games.  Called the Chinatown Fair (thanks for fubarduck in the comments for clearing that up), they have four SFIV cabinets on location, all of which appear to be homebrew cabinets although they don’t look bad. It looks like they did the same thing with Tekken 6 and we are also told that they have a BlazBlue cabinet there to boot.  Click on the thumbnails below to get a full view

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Some Tekken 6 talk

There’s been a lot of talk about fighters lately and as it turns out – here’s some more. Namco Japan sat down and talked about the arcade and console versions of Tekken 6 with Gamepro Magazine (I remember them – a long time ago they used to review arcades and pinball machines when it was OK to do so). They talk a bit about the online features for the game and how it will differ on the consoles from TEKKEN.NET (aka lag on the consoles for a variety of reasons) but they also talk some about extra goodies that the consoles will get in the end. They also acknowledge how bad of an idea it was for them to release Tekken 5 only two months after the arcade release, which soured some relations with operators who essentially got shafted by such a move. It’s all at the link below.

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News on Tekken 6 – looks like arcade version is superior

The Tokyo Game Show is in full swing right now and there is some arcade-related news to come out of it. Direct from the Stinger Report comes some interesting news about Namco’s Tekken 6 – a delay in the console release along with the consoles being inferior to the arcade version is certainly something to make arcade operators who have T6 already happy (console version pictures to the right):

Just as the report was going to the wire confirmation from the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) revealed that the home version of ‘Tekken 6’ will not be launched in 2008, but in 2009 in September (fall) in Japan, with expectations of a Christmas launch for the rest of the world. This is considerably longer than any consumer web site or magazine speculated – makes questionable amusement executive decisions in the States and UK not to buy and operate T6 as they would not have enough time to recoup the greater

expense of the game. The Stinger questioned when first stated at ATEI’08 the futility of this move – now we see that a major opportunity has been squandered, especially as the game had major player appeal as seen by the crowds that caused the ‘Tekken incident’ at the London show.

Another issue that was revealed at the TGS launch of the first images of the game was that rather than being a Sony Playstation 3 exclusive, Namco Bandai Games would also be launching a Microsoft Xbox 360 version of the game at the same time – the home version would also include the characters and features from the AM-Show’08 launched update. This marks the first time that Namco has allowed the brawler series to be launched on another platform. The success of the Xbox LIVE network – and the failure for Sony to achieve momentum of their broadband network fuelling this move; however sources revealed that though the latest version of ‘Tekken 6’ would be launched on the next-generation consoles – the actual functionality of the games will only be 85 per cent exact to the arcade version! The performance of the arcade System 357 Hardware and ALL.Net functionality seeming to surpass that achievable on the home platforms; this fact has been downplayed on many blogs and consumer news sites, but has fuelled heated debate on a number of forums towards the reality of getting an arcade ‘exact’ version of the game for home players.

With the launch of the new arcade ‘Tekken 6’ update at AM-Show’08, the question will once again be raised that now there will be a definite 14 months till the consumer game release, would it not be wise to build on the player clamber for the ‘exact’ arcade version of the game, by reversing the decision not to import the title?

Interesting news for sure, especially in lue of some talk about how much better the console version of SFIV will be to it’s arcade counterpart.

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Stinger Report Article: Very Large Arcade Show Shakes Consoles Confidence

Here is a new article from our friend Kevin Williams at The Stinger Report, this time discussing the impact of the 46th AM show in Japan and the subsequent flurry of interest that has sprouted up over arcades because of it.I have seen a lot of news floating around discussing the AM Show, even GameSpot had a few hands-on articles from games at the show.

Here it is:

Very Large Arcade Show Shakes Consoles Confidence

The build up to the Tokyo Game show for the consumer publishing industry took a major body blow with the incredibly large crowds that filled the few days of the Amusement Machine Show (AM-S) in Japan a few days before.

The concern for the console sector is that the consumer scene may not be supplying the home players what they want. They are developing 30-hour play mega games that seem to be the only products in development of the Xbox 360, and Playstation 3, while the popular Nintendo Wii offers simple mini-games using a simplistic interface. While popular, the console sector is concerned by the support of a market they had written off.

The problem is that the player base in the core heartland wants something different, and the phenomenal interest and coin-drop into Capcom’s ‘Street Fighter IV’ has not faded away, but actually fired a new momentum (sources speak of a update to the game in coming weeks).

Capcom has been pressured by the consumer game media to announce the March 2009 proposed release date for the console (and PC) version of the arcade brawler – but has also had to admit that many of the elements of the arcade game will have to be ‘modified’ to suit the console environment. At the same time, Capcom have ad to source arcade controllers for the consoles all showing the issues in representing an identical version of the arcade for the home gamers.

But rather than being just a one-off fad, SFIV has been followed at AM-S this year with vast interest in other new releases. Again Capcom rocked the show with the appearance of ‘Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes’, the fighting homage to both the classic characters from anime and arcade.

Another big interest title was the SNK-Playmore appearance of ‘The King of Fighter XII’, this sequel to the popular series was supported by great 2D action and enhanced fighting features that talked directly to the hardcore players A lively argument now fuelling the internet regarding the merits of the 3D representation of SFIX against the traditional presentation of KoFXII.

The players are extremely keen to get their hands on the games, and the Japanese amusement scene is bracing to see a major influx of players when the game is launched.

These three games run on the licensed Taito Type-X hardware, offering a flexible architecture for the independent studios to play on. Another eagerly anticipated brawler on this hardware at AM-S was ‘BlazBlue’ from ARC Works Systems.

Keeping in the fight, Namco Bandai Games has updated their hugely successful ‘Tekken 6’ title with a new technical version, brining new characters and locations to the game and boosting the character customisation element along with the online tournament features.

Shown for the first time at AM-S, the consumer division was left in an uncomfortable position when players started to question if these updated features would be in the expected PS3 release of the game expected. The disappointment voiced that console versions of these brawlers never fulfils the promise claimed.

SEGA also brought to the AM-Show the latest update to their brawler; the new ‘Virtua Fighter 5’ version, like Tekken, hope to keep the games current and popular against stiff competition from the new releases; both these games on high-priced arcade architecture (one powered by the PlayStation 3 in arcade guise).

The competition is considerable, as new low cost hardware architectures allows independent arcade studios place their games in a means to hit directly their core players without the restrictions of going through the larger arcade distributor / manufacturer circles.

The eX-Board from EXAMU is on such platform and is gaining great momentum with the studios, the system launching ‘Arcana Heart 2’ that has started a major buzz in the player scene. The game has started to attract a major following, and the availability on the eX-Board has increased that momentum.

One aspect of the eX-Board that surprised many at the AM-Show was the announcement of a home version – literally selling the box directly into the home market. Emulating the good old days of the SNK Neo-Geo, the actual arcade hardware is able to be plugged into a VGA screen and USB controller for home gaming action.

The hope that all this player interest in arcade would just be a Japanese situation was debunked with the growing player clamber to play ‘Grey Imports’ of games like Street Fighter IV and Tekken 6 in America, estimates that tens of systems have been shipped into the States – a market that numerous consumer game websites and magazines have tried to call dead!

Now more official routes to ship these new arcade releases into the international scene have been established. Sources have confirmed that ‘BlazBlue’ and ‘Arcana Heart 2’ will be officially shipped into American arcades, while negotiation has started towards shipping Tekken 6 and Street Fighter IV into the US market.

All these moves means that the console market will have to change the way it supports its core player base, or be faced with further erosion of their player-base to a market that they are trying to write off!
*Thanks to Japhei Game Blog, and DGames for images and information

END

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Tekken 6 on US location via The Stinger Report

(Click on the thumbnails to enlarge)

I had mentioned in my ASI reports that I had the opportunity to meet up with Kevin Williams of The Stinger Report during the show and after discussing the show and the industry in general he mentioned that after the show he would be heading down to California to check out one of the few Tekken 6 machines that have been imported into the US from Hong Kong. Now thanks to The Stinger Report we have a look at that machine as well as the popularity surrounding the machine at this particular location called the Super Arcade, which caters to hardcore players and features several games on-site that weren’t released in the US. All photos courtesy of The Stinger Report and are used with permission.

Even though Kevin visited the site on a Monday when people were heading back to school after Spring Break, four players were sitting around the new sit-down Tekken 6 machine, hoarding what they could for themselves. The cabinet is called the A89, or International English cabinet and is incapable of connecting to the internet, thus forgoing the online player rankings and updates because the IC card systems are different. Yet the operator of the site acknowledged that the game was a “phenomenal player magnet” which was further indicated by the fact that players were lining up tokens to denote who was next in line to play (which is a practice that I’ve heard of being done in the early 80’s but not since).

In addition to the HD cabinet on-site the arcade was also selling T6 IC cards for $6 a unit(pictured), such cards being used for saving your own personal data. Super Arcade runs using tokens and charges 2 tokens per play and as a testament to how much the game is being played the coin-mechs had to be cleared of an overflow jam as Kevin sat down to play the game. Again, this was on a Monday during the day – traditionally not a busy time for arcades anywhere.

So there you have it, for an arcade that can afford the game Tekken 6 is repeating the same success that the game is seeing in other parts of the world. Whether more arcades in the US will go through the trouble of importing the game remains to be seen but for those that do this is one game that has proven itself to draw in the players.

(Thanks to MarkMan for a few corrections)

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Namco’s Tekken 6 Debaucle

There is no question that 2008 is the year of the fighter for arcades. Japan is seeing a large number of developers creating new fighters and other markets expect to see some of these titles, which includes Namco’s Tekken 6 and Capcom’s Street Fighter IV. Even in the US there is at least one company creating a new fighter for release this year, called Dark Presence (which we will be covering with exclusive info here shortly). So when players heard that one of the most anticipated fighters of the bunch, Tekken 6 would not be coming to the US or the UK, they had good reason to be angry. The Stinger Report has looked into the issue and full details will be revealed in next week’s Stinger Report (which is a free online newsletter). Here is a preview of what to expect.

Namco continues to give reasons for why they are seemingly uninterested in releasing the game in the US and UK. The game is expensive and it will be released on the PS3 in November 2008, thus undermining the arcade version. But players want the arcade version of the game and in some cases the operators do as well.

The arcade version of the game is coming to the US but not through official channels. At least two companies (one is not even an arcade operator but runs a manga shop) have gone through these unofficial channels to pick the game up, despite it’s hefty price tag. But even then Namco is looking at blocking imports of the game, dedicated or as a kit to the US. Of course these actions will not appease players in the least – the fact of the matter is that the game is earning very well in Japan and in London when the game was a huge success when it showed up at the Trocadero for a short time. The game has been released in several other territories including Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea and everywhere it has been released it has broke records earnings. But as Namco lost money on Tekken 5  and they understand that most operator’s aren’t going to foot the $15,000 bill for the game (no matter how popular the game is, that is difficult to get a decent ROI) that will be the PS3 within mere months of the arcade release.

So will we get a straight answer from Namco anytime soon? It looks like ASI will tell us for sure, so stay tuned to Arcade Heroes or sign up for The Stinger Report newsletter.

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