The Tekken team and I have been making Tekken games for the Sony platforms for ten-some years now. As a result, myself and the team do have special feelings for the PlayStation platforms.

However, when the Xbox 360 came out ahead of the Wii and PS3, there were a lot of fans who wanted to see a Tekken title for the system. Actually, there were requests from a long time ago asking for a Tekken game on other platforms, but as the 360 spread throughout the US and Europe, there were more and more requests from fans and also from inside our company to come through with a title on the system.

We are always trying to accommodate the Tekken fan base, and our decision to release on the 360 is one example. Tekken is one series that has always sold most in the US and Europe. Considering the percentage of consumer game users in those regions with a 360, and the huge number of fighting game fans that they represent, we feel it is an obvious choice to make.

360G: The Xbox 360 is already home to many fighting games, what does the team think of its beat-’em-up rivals? What have they done to ensure that Tekken 6 will be the leading example of the genre?
KH: It’s not the Tekken team’s style to pick out one other title and name them as our rival. We typically try to show respect to all titles of competing companies. As well as being our rivals, they are also our comrades in arms in this market. In terms of 3D fighting games released for the Xbox 360 in the past two years, there are Virtua Fighter 5, Mortal Kombat (DC Universe), and Soul Calibur 4.

We feel that Tekken’s strong point in the home market lies in our commitment to providing an overwhelming amount of new content and modes for console versions. Of course there are other sales points. For instance, as a Co-Director for the Soul Calibur 4 project, I pursued a high level of visual quality for each scene. However, for Tekken 6, rather than focusing on each scene, i.e. frame by frame, we focused on the most important part of any fighting game, the character’s movement. Our energy went toward developing shaders and drawing engines for making that movement appear natural and pleasing to the eye.

We succeeded in introducing a ‘fulltime adjustable animation blur,’ a process generally considered extremely difficult for a 60 FPS fighting game like Tekken. This effect was abandoned for the Soul Calibur 4 project. This is a technology for showing dynamic, smooth, speedy, and powerful movement. Fulltime and involving changing shapes, Tekken is the first fighting game to use a true animation blur effect like this.

The full effect can’t be experienced via screenshots or short movie files. The feedback was universal inside and outside of the company that after playing this Tekken with our fulltime adjustable animation blur for 10 minutes, older versions of Tekken and those using an older drawing engine or other 3D fighting games look as if they were missing frames. For fighting games, character animation is the most important factor. We put in the most effort where it should be applied. This new Tekken is really designed for fighting game fans.

360G: The key weakness of all but Street Fighter IV has been online playability. How confident are the team of being able to deliver a fast, fluid and lag free gaming experience?
KH: We will do our best. We also want to put a lot into the matching functions.

Street Fighter 4’s online play is rated high in Japan. I agree that it is impressive from a technical standpoint. Japan is a small country, which provides for shorter transfer distances compared to other countries. Also, as Japan has the highest rate of distribution of fibre optics, that may enter into the equation as well.

There is actually an important difference between Tekken and other 2D and 3D fighting games. The control system is designed foremost to be intuitive and responsive. After a player inputs a command, the technique is executed the next frame. In one frame after the input, you see the results displayed on screen.

This is something that is not widely known, but this is unique to Tekken. Other fighting games have a buffer of several frames after a command input. Even offline, there is a delay in the response time as a result of this. Tekken executes this in one frame, making it very responsive for a fighting game. This is something maybe even a lot of hardcore players don’t know, but it is well known among other developers. I’ve talked a lot about this before with other directors of fighting franchises from other companies.

So, taking such a responsive fighting game online in itself is a huge challenge. Everyday, we are working hard to make the game as responsive as possible.

It will be better than Tekken 5 DR.

360G: How easy is it to port games from a PS3 arcade board to the 360? Does Namco have any plans to do more of that in future?
KH: As we have a large volume of PS3 SPU distributed processing programming code, it is really a matter of how to bring all this to the 360. But that is proceeding without trouble. Also, as the arcade uses a huge amount of data on HDD, we need to be inventive when it comes to fitting this on DVD and shortening load times.

Really, it’s hard to imagine bringing a PS3 game to the XBOX360. That’s because normally companies develop for both platforms at the same time. If there are enough fans out there who want a 360 version of a PS3 game, I think there’s a good chance it will be ported.

360G: Will the console version of Tekken 6 feature characters that weren't in the arcade game? Will any of them be format-exclusive?
KH: I can’t say right now.

360G: Which characters (new or old) are the team’s favourites?
KH: That’s a difficult question. I have been a part of development for the series for a long time. I think they are all very intriguing characters. I even did the voice samples for Marshall Law and Forest Law. I bet not many people know that.

I really like Jin Kazama and Bryan, but I use Heihachi the most. But really, I like all the characters. They’re like my children (although I’m not married).

360G: What does Namco think of the 360 controller? Have the developers had to make sacrifices to the game in order to make Tekken 6 work?
KH: The Xbox 360 controller’s analogue stick and LT and RT buttons are well designed and I like them. I actually use it at home for racing games on my PC too.

I have tested it with Tekken 6, and I think it will work fine. As controller preferences vary from player to player, I’d recommend a fighting stick as one alternative. Don’t worry; we plan to support simultaneous button press assignments in the key config.

360G: Will there be additional gaming modes over those found in the arcade version?
KH: Of course there will! We have always been known for including many new modes for home versions of Tekken, and made them fun to play over and over alone or with friends. You can expect the same from Tekken 6.

360G: Tekken is now some 14-years-old. What does the team think has been the secret of its success?
KH: First, I think there’s the point that we have always been able to utilize feedback from the arcade market, which improves the quality. Furthermore, in the home market, cumulative series sales are over 33 million copies (Sept., 2008), which gives us the number one category share. We get feedback and messages from Tekken fans from around the globe. I think that putting a lot of value in their views is the secret to the long life of the series.

Besides that, I think it may be important that the Tekken project staff is comprised of hardcore gamers. Even within the company, they are definitely the group playing the most games.

360G: How will the franchise continue to evolve? Has Namco Bandai any plans to create spin-off games, such as it did with Death By Degrees?
KH: Actually, Death by Degrees and other spin off games have not been developed by the Tekken team. If there’s a possibility of spin offs, I would be interested in making them here with the TEKKEN team. If there’s time for that, I think the possibility exists.

360G: What aspects of Tekken 6 are the team most proud of?
KH: This game involves many new elements, like a new battle system, new characters, new moves, new visual customizations, a hair customization system by which the player may freely create hair styles, and original consumer game modes. Seeing as other groups gave up on it, the ‘fulltime adjustable animation blur’ in a fighting game running at 60 frames tends to stand out in my mind.

360G: The fighting genre is still pretty similar across the board in terms of gameplay. What are the team planning to bring to Tekken 6 that we haven't seen before? If not in 6, then what would they like to see feature in Tekken 7 or 8…?
KH: Tekken 6 is the only game with exhilarating game play which gives you the ability to pull off amazing combinations like chaining an aerial juggle to knocking your opponent through the floor, picking them up when they bound, and then carrying them to the wall for a devastating finish.

360G: The release of the game will also coincide with another silver screen version of Tekken. Has the team seen or had any involvement with the movie? What do they think of it?
KH: I haven’t seen it.

The Tekken team did not supervise for that film, nor do we have the right to as per the contract. I have been the game director for ten-some years. In a way, a Tekken film which does not reflect my or the team’s ideas may be very interesting to see.

At any rate, as the movie is being developed separately from the ideas of the Tekken team, it has nothing to do with us.

360G: It has been suggested that both Namco Bandai and Sega were keen to develop a Tekken vs. Virtua Fighter game. What’s happened to this? Will it ever see a release?
KH: The truth is that I have been working to fulfil this dream from over ten years ago. There were several occasions on which it came close to realization. Opinions may vary, but I have wanted to do this for a long time. Therefore, the chance is not zero. It is possible.

However, there would be many difficulties during actual development. First off, which team would develop it? I have some ideas for the controls and fighting system. Some parts have even been tested. It’s really up to the fans and whether they want it. If you have opinions about this, please send them to me!

For more on Tekken 6, check out issue 58 of 360 Gamer magazine, on sale now.