IGN: What's up everyone? Stella Chung here. I'm outside of the Tekken 8 area and I'm so excited, because we're going to be talking to the developers, Katsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray. Let's go inside and see what they can tell us. So, with there now being unique intro dialogue between specific characters before a match begins, do you have any specific favorite pairings or quips between two characters?
Katsuhiro Harada/Michael Murray: It's something we've done in past entries, like Tag or sometimes Tekken 5. So it depends on the character pairing and what they say. So if they have some special relationship, whether good or bad, then it changes. And Harada said his favorite is Jun and Kazuya.
How will the new special control type help bring new characters and new players, not only to Tekken, but to fighting games as a whole?
KH/MM: The system that you mentioned is brand new for Tekken 8. We had something similar as a predecessor in Tekken 7, where you push a button and you can do certain commands simply. But this is even more evolved this time around. But one of the interesting things is, obviously, like you said, it's good for bringing in new players, which you've noticed they like. But also, even if you're a veteran player, if you're trying to pick up a new character you're not used to, it's much easier if you're using the special control systems. So, it's actually beneficial for a large variety of different players. And so far, it's been a great response to it.
What feedback have you been getting on the game over the last month since we talked during Summer of Gaming?
KH/MM: First off, we've had many different people playing the game. We have it hands on here and other places as well. We've announced it and then people have seen it and had time to play it for a bit now. So we were expecting, at some point, people to get used to it and then give us a variety of feedback. Some of it may be not positive. That's how it works. And then we fix it and everything's good. For us, it makes us a bit nervous that the reaction is so overwhelmingly positive. And last time that we talked to IGN, we were just showing the game at an earlier stage, but right now we have the closed network test going on in the background and we were able to get even more feedback from people. Obviously they're loving the new gameplay mechanics, but also the net code and the online experience so far is the first time they're trying that.
You have 16 playable characters here at San Diego Comic Con.
KH/MM: Yay, right?
For us, it makes us a bit nervous that the reaction is so overwhelmingly positive.
