Tekken 5 Arcade Debuts, Shows Off ALL.Net Networking

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

Comments

This "All.NET" thing.

[torpor]

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

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

the draw?

[aixou]

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

Re:the draw?

[JavaLord]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Re:Nice but....

[Lynxara]

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

Re:Nice but....

[JavaLord]

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