Unlockables are outdated, says Tekken chief

All 40 characters will all be available from the start of Tekken 6.

The age-old tradition of featuring unlockable characters in fighting games is “outdated” and “no longer useful,” according to Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com via translator at a Namco Bandai Europe event this week, Harada-san explained that the unlock process was originally intended to increase the longevity of coin-op arcade machines.

“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.

“That’s kind of outdated now though, especially with online play.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.”

Street Fighter IV is among the more recent fighters that have used unlocking, requiring multiple completions to activate nine of its 25 playable characters.

The home console version of Tekken 6 will feature a whopping total of 40 fighters, all available from the get-go.

13 Comments

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User Comments

Mr_Ninjutsu

having no unlockables is stupid, i mean having unlockables to unlock gives the person a reason to play even more so. Its gives a sense of achievement, and making them unlocked from the start is just insatisfying regardless if i play the game or not.

Posted 12:35 on 05 September 2009

xboxlive

I allways liked unlocking stuff in games.as you got to play it more and with diffent poeple to unlock stuff.

Posted 12:13 on 05 September 2009

anarkzie

I unlocked all the charactors in tekken 5 in the first few days(having to endure that jin side game). I still play it to this day.

I would say learning the combo's is what kept the longevity for me and the fact that it's just, such a well made game.

Posted 10:59 on 05 September 2009

startover4

hm i think that no unlockables are sort of stupid

Posted 04:39 on 09 July 2009

guyderman @ Bloodstorm

Quote:

Wow, thumbs down for expressing valid opinion? Cold man, cold.

I wouldn't worry too much about it - I'm collecting them now - LOL!

Posted 08:57 on 06 July 2009

Bloodstorm

Indeed they do, also, i cant play as Seth since he is the bastard child of Gil.

Posted 03:03 on 04 July 2009

CheekyLee @ S0140

Seriously? I have heard some ridiculous complaints on the internet, but you just took a whole new cake.

True story ; I still can't play as Seth in Street Fighter IV, because to do so requires me to play through single player 24 times minimum. I didn't buy it to play single player, I bought it to play OTHER PEOPLE. Why, then, am I forced to endure not playing OTHER PEOPLE for so long in order to get the entirety of the experience I paid for? If you ask me, Namco have got this call exactly right.

Posted 00:07 on 04 July 2009

Posted 23:46 on 03 July 2009

S0140

I just hope he change his mind before the release date, because i'm not going to buy it with all characters unlocked.

Posted 19:38 on 03 July 2009

guyderman

If a game is good it will give longevity without having to resort to the Unlocking of characters. I think it's a good move and it shows confidence that they are sure they are delivering a good game.

Posted 17:34 on 03 July 2009

Not exactly, i play with some people here sometimes, but i really enjoyed to unlock Characters in every single Tekken game. BAD NEWS, just my opinion. Longevity is very important.

Posted 17:18 on 03 July 2009

The longevity only counts if you have no one to play it with locally. I think this is fantastic news and i welcome it with open arms.

Posted 16:33 on 03 July 2009

Bad news, now the game don't have any longevity, i was expecting a lot of things to be unlocked.

Posted 16:26 on 03 July 2009