Our review of Tekken 8 describes the latest episode of the famous series Bandai Namco as one of the best ever made, but in the past there has been no shortage of other exponents capable of winning the hearts of critics and audiences. Tekken 5 it's just one of them.
Exactly on February 25, 2005 Tekken 5 made its debut on PlayStation 2 in the United States, and then landed in Japan and Europe in the following months: 19 years have passed since then, although the original Arcade version of the acclaimed fighting game arrived all over the world already at the end of 2004. Tekken 5 is therefore about to turn 20, but Harada takes advantage of the anniversary of the debut on PS2 to tell several anecdotes and background stories on the development of this specific version.
“At the time we developed games saying that we would put on disc whatever came into our heads. We didn't have a plan from the beginning but we worked on the game little by little as new ideas came to mind. For example, from the beginning we decided to include Starblade as an extra, but the Devil Within mode and the emulated arcade versions of the first three Tekken were developed on the fly on the spot. At the time, no one blamed us for this way of working, also because we were still immature” , says Harada.
The producer of the series Tekken also highlights how much the way of developing has changed today compared to those times, also launching some digs at today's industry executives: “Porting and general development happened at a much faster pace and with much lower costs than now, both for us and for others. Now it's totally different : Everything has become huge, all costs have skyrocketed and it takes a lot more time. And with the gaming sector becoming an even bigger industry, many more interested parties have emerged. More and more people say they belong to the industry games with executives who are not creators, have no experience as developers and do not listen directly to the voice of the community.”
“When I think about it – continues Harada – every year it seems there are more and more people who, when I try to create something, tell me not to do it just out of passion or because I have an idea. I've done a lot of things with an idea in lies and that's why we have the foundation today, but evidently people who don't have experience as developers don't understand it. That's how this industry has matured. However, no matter how smart or well-prepared you may be, no one can guarantee that a game will be a success until the end. That's the only thing that hasn't changed.”
Returning to the present, Tekken 8 is doing better than expected from a commercial perspective, exceeding Bandai Namco's initial expectations.