Tekken 6 Director Says Unlockables Are KO’d
The director of [Tekken 6, Katsuhiro Harada, recently discussed the practice of locked characters in fighters such as BlazBlu and Steet Fighter, and had a few choice words to say about the practice, calling the idea "outdated".
"That’s kind of outdated now though, especially with online play. If we were to have locked characters it would irritate a lot of people, to be playing against others online and to not have all the characters available. So I think it’s no longer useful."
His reasoning for such claims simply lies in the growing popularity of console fighters over arcade fighters.
"Why we locked the characters originally was that in the arcades, it was kind of to extend the life of the game by gradually unlocking characters. And also with the home versions as well, because you can rent games or whatever, it was to protect us against that."
While having unlockable characters does force consumers to buy the game and take their time, Harada does have a point about the growing popularity of console fighters. It doesn't make sense anymore to not allow access to all the characters upfront due to online multiplayer. When the opponent has a character that the other hasn't unlocked yet, the playing field becomes very one-sided.
Tekken 6, along with its collector's edition, will release later this year with every character unlocked straight out of the box.
[Source]
5 Responses to “Tekken 6 Director Says Unlockables Are KO’d”
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July 2nd, 2009 at 9:01 PM
I would have to say I don’t agree with him…if one player has unlocked a certain character already that’s what he has earned for investing that much more time in the game. I’m definitely not complaining that they will all be available right away, but I wonder how this will hurt the longevity of the game. For someone like me, who enjoys fighters but would rather play something else, I liked having locked fighters to give me a goal to work towards so I would get more play time out of the game. But as far as giving someone an unfair advantage, I think if they have played long enough to unlock a certain character then they deserve the advantage.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:20 PM
hes just talking out of his ass because there are other fighters taking the light ie SC4, Blazblue, SNK king of the fighters, Sf4 etc.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:44 PM
I don’t find it unfair at all, either. Being forced to play longer to unlock characters gives u more time to practice and get used to the game. Let’s face it: online play is brutal since the competition is horrendous. Street Fighter 4 was the first SF I had ever played. I jumped on and died like nothing. Even if people had the characters to begin with, it’s no good without the skills. Like giese095 says, it’s good to have a goal to work towards. U’ll gain a lot more long term. That aside, I don’t know if I’m gonna get this game since I already have a fighting game.
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:32 AM
Katsuhiro just figured this out?
August 6th, 2009 at 4:07 AM
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