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Harada makes a statement about the lack/choice of classic characters in Tekken 7
- Thread starter Eolz
- Start date
People forgetting that Tekken has been online in arcades in Japan for a very very long time.
The console ports come LAST, once the game is basically old in arcades. So right off the bat people in here talking about their usage at home on their console isn't relevant, because they are basing it on their JP arcade data.
They look at T6 arcade data when making TTT2. They look at TTT2 data when they were making T7. I highly doubt they care about who late-to-the-game western console players are using.
People in this thread who don't play in arcade acting like they are statistically important when they are the group Namco cares about the LEAST when trying to come up with rosters for a new game that won't see western release until several years later.
Our views on who is popular in Asian arcades is also skewed, because all we see here are streams of top level players in Japan and Korea. People also forget that there are TONS of casuals in arcades, who pick characters very different from those of top players. We will never know who they are using. Only Namco does.
King has some of Armor King's moves now.
Your entire post is based off of the western community, which is your mistake right there. As mentioned above, your 3000 hours in the home port (unless you played in arcade) are meaningless. Zaibatsu is a western forum. The amount of youtube vids of T6/TTT2 is insignificant compared to the amount of games/players played in arcades in Japan throughout the entire games' lifespans. Everything you are basing your metrics on isn't really that important because it's focusing on western fandom, who get everything LAST once everything is said and done.
Namco likes western money, but all their creative decisions are gonna be based on their eastern arcade business.
The console ports come LAST, once the game is basically old in arcades. So right off the bat people in here talking about their usage at home on their console isn't relevant, because they are basing it on their JP arcade data.
They look at T6 arcade data when making TTT2. They look at TTT2 data when they were making T7. I highly doubt they care about who late-to-the-game western console players are using.
People in this thread who don't play in arcade acting like they are statistically important when they are the group Namco cares about the LEAST when trying to come up with rosters for a new game that won't see western release until several years later.
Our views on who is popular in Asian arcades is also skewed, because all we see here are streams of top level players in Japan and Korea. People also forget that there are TONS of casuals in arcades, who pick characters very different from those of top players. We will never know who they are using. Only Namco does.
King has some of Armor King's moves now.
Your entire post is based off of the western community, which is your mistake right there. As mentioned above, your 3000 hours in the home port (unless you played in arcade) are meaningless. Zaibatsu is a western forum. The amount of youtube vids of T6/TTT2 is insignificant compared to the amount of games/players played in arcades in Japan throughout the entire games' lifespans. Everything you are basing your metrics on isn't really that important because it's focusing on western fandom, who get everything LAST once everything is said and done.
Namco likes western money, but all their creative decisions are gonna be based on their eastern arcade business.
Salty Rice
Member
Just give us Lei and Anna and all is forgiven Harada san.
SkylineRKR
Member
TTT2 was too bloated for me. I dropped it fairly quickly. Considering TTT1 is actually my fave Tekken game. But TTT1 had the perfect roster, Everything T3 sorely missed. It was essentially a perfected Tekken 3. The mechanics weren't bloated either, T3 movesets and Tag, Tag juggle, and Tag throw. That was it sort of.
TTT2 had so many things going on, and so many characters that I just couldn't enjoy it fully. This is also my own fault, I noticed the same with 2D fighters. Too many bars and i'm out. Which is why I loved SCV, VF5 and T7 right now. Its been trimmed.
Nah. He wasn't in 3, 4, 5. He came back in the 5 update, Dark Resurrection. Was axed from 7 yet again. He was, like all others, in the dream match Tag games.
AK was my main in TTT1 and T6. I love him. He's a more streetwise version of King, less command grabs and more brawling.
TTT2 had so many things going on, and so many characters that I just couldn't enjoy it fully. This is also my own fault, I noticed the same with 2D fighters. Too many bars and i'm out. Which is why I loved SCV, VF5 and T7 right now. Its been trimmed.
Nah. He wasn't in 3, 4, 5. He came back in the 5 update, Dark Resurrection. Was axed from 7 yet again. He was, like all others, in the dream match Tag games.
AK was my main in TTT1 and T6. I love him. He's a more streetwise version of King, less command grabs and more brawling.
Show me these Japanese & Korean arcades which have Bears so much higher than Lei and Julia. We have footage from Namco Sugamo, Leisureland Arcade, Green Arcade, JoyBox, Geesendou youtube channel with 1000's of T6 Vanilla and BR arcade footage. There are various youtube channels dedicated to those Japanese arcades. I can link you to all of them and I challenge you to find me footage of Bears overwhelming Lei, Anna, and Julia.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
"Why is Lei in his drunken stance? WTF? He's turned his back? WTF? Why am I stuck in the crane position? WTF? Fuck this! I'm playing Law."
The Omega Man
Member
Lei, one of the most interesting and unique characters with an amazing arsenal is not in Tekken 7, let that sink in for a moment.
Bill R Boggess
Member
Data or no data, having Kuma AND Panda in the game each taking up a character slot respectively and not including Lei, whos been a mainstay of the franchise since Tekken 2, strikes me as nonsensical.
Also, Marduk was a very unique fighter among the roster and I miss having him to play as.
Also, Marduk was a very unique fighter among the roster and I miss having him to play as.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
It's understandable. Eddy is far more unique.
Sumio Mondo
Member
So wait there isn't going to be additional playable character DLC then? Very disappointing if so.
The Omega Man
Member
You prefer Eddy and Law over the greatest Hong Kong police ever? Predictabo!
You really don't understand how many people play the game in arcades. 1000s of hours is nothing. What about the kids who are playing in the arcade next to Sanrio puroland at 4pm after school? Or the guys who are playing at Club Sega in Akihabara at 7pm? How about the people who play Tekken at the arcade in Tsuen Wan in Hong Kong? These are all locations that I have been to personally, and none of them are ever going to stream anything. You named 5 famous arcades posting vids of Tekken 7, when there are tons of arcades that will never stream and have many casuals playing.
If you have an arcade that is streaming footage it's already in the minority. And even then, the footage they are posting isn't even close to all the games being played there. You're looking at a small subset of games played in a small subset of arcades and trying to extrapolate stats? The focus is way too narrow to come up with a proper assessment. Footage you come across, being provided by and for the FGC is not going to give you a good picture.
You're online looking for footage when the reality is most games played will never be seen anywhere but in the actual arcade. You don't get to see most of top players' matches online, and they stream. How can you expect to be able to see the games of casuals in their local arcades who will never touch a competition? These are the biggest money makers/most numerous group and unless you are there playing with them you have no idea what they are doing.
TheTylerRob
Member
Harada talks too much. I don't think they should have said old characters will be free either.
Of coarse there are 1000's of other arcades accross Japan and Korea, but why is it so far fetched that the demographic of character usage in one arcade will be so radically different in others? Maybe it is indeed possible but could you provide some proof on that? Is there some radically different cultural phenoma in different regions which makes Bears rarely ever played in the few arcades I listed vs the others? I'm open to hearing that. If you want to look at other Asian-centric places look at Korea's tekkencentral forums and compare how popular Kuma/Panda are vs the grayed out characters. Do the same for inaTekken's boards and see the results. You can look at compiled fan art of Tekken posted on reddit from sources in pixiv and weibo and the popularity of multiple missing T7 characters tower over Bears. Again, I'm presenting tangible places you can see, I'm waiting for you to show me something otherwise that proves Bears are more popular than the others.
Also to correct you, the other youtube channels I provided for you like Geesendou and Joybox are actually long closed arcades that only have Tekken 6 and TTT2 matches so they provide a fair metric to judge Bears' popularity compared to Anna, Lei, and Julia.
I'm not trying to tell you "Bears are popular than others". What I'm trying to tell you is that you, me, or other people roaming around the internet trying to figure out what we think 'true' usage statistics are is pointless. The ONLY one with a full picture is always going to be Namco, whether you believe them or not. Your examples are all flawed not because they are somehow incorrect but because they paint a very limited picture compared to total population of arcade players.
Character usage actually CAN change based on arcade. Back in SF4 days, an arcade I visited a lot in Hong Kong was extremely heavy in Bison and Blanka players. It was radically different from other arcades, some of which were only 15 minutes away. The other thing I'm trying to point out is a matter of demographics. The characters a 13 year old finds appealing may not be appealing to someone who is 30. The character someone who is a casual finds appealing might not be appealing to a more competitive player. By being limited to a few sources online, you are not only limiting exposure by the numbers, but also by demographics as well.
A Tekken fan forum is not a good source for casual statistics unfortunately. Much like SRK or Zaibatsu, fan forums are indicative of a very small subset of players. It's like trying to judge the general gaming population based on what you see on GAF.
Fanart is based on character popularity, but also on aesthetics. Girl characters are more commonly drawn than male ones, etc. Not a good indicator of in-game playing habits.
Whether you believe Namco or not is one thing, but it is literally impossible for you to get a good picture unless you somehow visit every arcade in Asia and do an empirical study. I don't have a horse in the race in terms of what chars should be in the game, but it is very very difficult to make any sort of conclusion based on the limited data available to us vs. the amount of data Namco has.
Bardiche
Member
Been a Chang main since the first Tekken, and this Tekken just felt so empty without Julia/Michelle.
I don't understand how Kuma and Panda can have two separate slots but we can't get Lei or Julia/Michelle. I might skip out on future installments if they continue to omit the Changs since none of the characters really click with me..
Eolz
Member
Wasn't that the mentality behind Soul Calibur 5? And Street Fighter 3?
Forgot about Shaheen probably because his playstyle looks so boring and generic.
deadscreensky
Member
I remember right before 7's launch you had a fair number of fans suggesting we'd be getting some of these missing classic characters as free DLC. 
I'm personally okay with fighting game sequels changing up their casts (Garou and Third Strike are amazing sequels, and Soulcalibur 5 was at least on the right path before Namco killed its budget), but I think a problem with Tekken 7 is that the cast we got feels a little too homogeneous. For my tastes Tekken has always had this issue to some extent, but it feels particularly prominent this time. We lost some weirder playstyles and in their place mostly got attractive obvious fanbait characters. It's not an especially interesting cast.
I'm personally okay with fighting game sequels changing up their casts (Garou and Third Strike are amazing sequels, and Soulcalibur 5 was at least on the right path before Namco killed its budget), but I think a problem with Tekken 7 is that the cast we got feels a little too homogeneous. For my tastes Tekken has always had this issue to some extent, but it feels particularly prominent this time. We lost some weirder playstyles and in their place mostly got attractive obvious fanbait characters. It's not an especially interesting cast.
The Faceless Master
Member
thanks Harada.
guess your boss won't get that money from me since no Anna.
guess your boss won't get that money from me since no Anna.