Over the weekend, attendees of Evolution 2004 Fighting Game Championships at Cal Poly Pamona were lucky to have been graced with First US Debut of Namco's Tekken 5! VGO was there to speak with Jason Arney of Namco Chicago to get an inside look on this upcoming arcade fighter.
VG What can you tell us about the story in Tekken 5?
Jason Arney: There's not much else than what is already known. Namco will continue to leak more storyline info over the web. But right now it's nothing more we can say than what's already been seen in the trailers. It takes place immediately after Tekken 4, Heihachi dies in an explosion, etc.
VG Around how many characters can fans expect to see? Any familiar faces that have not been mentioned as of yet?
JA: There will be 20 characters by default and a fairly high number of time release characters. There will be around or above the number of characters that were in Tekken 3.
VG In addition to time release characters, will there be any other time release content?
JA: Likely stages, but I can't really comment on anything. Well, actually there's the card system. You can earn, win, and buy items. It's more like unlockable earned content instead of just regular time release content. You can add colors, ranks, and titles to your character.
VG What other features will the card system offer?
JA: Ranking and getting ranked has always been a big issue for us. People like to see how good they are compared to other players. Ranking is earned through beating your opponent. It can't however move up quickly by beating down on some scrubs. In order to move up in ranking, you need to beat an opponent that is of equal or higher ranking. By beating other people, you can earn stronger and higher ranks, titles (like Champion and Challenger), new items, and more. Winners can also earn custom titles by winning national high level tournaments sponsored by Namco themselves. They'll be the only ones in the world with a particular name by winning Namco official events.
VG How many characters can you have on one card?
JA: One card per character.
VG Will the card system be implemented in all arcades?
JA: Every PCB [arcade board] will come with the card system. The one we have here is only a one-week build, but that's what we intend to do. We can't gaurantee that it'll be in every arcade since it goes from manufacturer to distributor to retailer to reseller to consumer, but that's how we want to ship it: Board and card system together.
VG How can one get their hands on a card for the card system?
JA: Cards will be vended from the machine itself. Cost is unknown at the moment. You can expect somewhere around $5. They are IC cards; they have RAM in them. This is different from the Initial D cards as theyre magnetnic, thin, and flimsy while the Tekken 5 cards will be slightly thicker and stiff like credit cards. Data loads instantly whenever you use them. The difference in this card is also because of the large amount of data that can be stored on them which can be accessed through the game menu: at least 40-60 items per character, edit team name, titles, see your win/lose ratio, gameplay time, etc.
VG Can you tell us anything about the Tekken 5 board?
JA: The board is different this time around. It's using the 256 board. Tekken 4 was on the 246 board. If you notice, the game is much faster. To give you an idea, think of it as an overclocked PS2 by 33%.
VG Any firm dates on when Tekken 5 will hit arcades in the US?
JA: I can't comment on that, but look for an October or November release. There's no regional distribution. It depends on whoever buys it from us first. In September we plan to ship a "pre-kit," which is just the cabinet itself, and then we'll ship the board later.
VG How complete is the game?
JA: Right now it's about 50% complete on software development.
VG What can you tell us about the fighting engine? Is it closer to Tekken Tag or Tekken 4?
JA: I would say it's actually closer to Tekken 3. Technically, this is the 10th Anniversary Tekken. We took the best elements of all the Tekkens to create a version that we believe everyone can enjoy.
VG Finally, will there be a Tekken 5 Nationals?
JA: Nationals is aimed for about February of next year.
VGO Network would like to thank Jason Arney for taking his time in answering these questions for us and all the Tekken fans out there. A big shout out to Namco Ltd America and Evolution staff for making this US debut a reality.
"SPECIAL THANKS to Jason Arney for making this possible. Major thanks to shoryuken.com staff, Tekken Zaibatsu's Castel, and everyone else that has been helping out with this pre-Tekken 5 era. Special thanks as well to SD TEKKEN and all the help they put through from day 1." - MarkMan
