No unlockable characters in Tekken 6

by Richard Mitchell { Jul 2nd 2009 at 5:15PM }

That is to say: All forty characters in the game will be available from the first moment Tekken 6 graces your disc drive. Speaking to VideoGamer, Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada stated -- through a translator -- that unlockables in games are "outdated."

Harada says that unlockables were originally implemented in order to extend the life of arcade games. As characters are unlocked, players would have more reason to come back to the machine. We definitely wasted a few quarters just for the chance to play as Kuma, so we'd say the plan worked. Harada said that unlockable characters were added to the home version for the same reason, implying that it would discourage gamers from renting the game instead of buying it.

Fast-forward to Tekken 6, and Harada says that unlockables are "outdated now ... especially with online play." He notes that today's gamers would be irritated by competing online against characters that they have yet to unlock. Thus, you won't find any unlockable characters in Tekken 6.

Of course, history tells us we still might see some characters for sale.

Tags: namco, namco-bandai, tekken-6

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

gjr123x @ Jul 2nd 2009 5:21PM

This is dumb, i think it makes the game last longer. i enjoyed unlocking every character in Tekken 5

chimaera9 @ Jul 2nd 2009 5:31PM

I totally agree with you, gjr123x, I also enjoyed unlocking the characters, plus, because I had to go through their stories to do it, I was forced to learn the techniques of characters I might not normally play. This made them easier to beat, and I expanded the number of characters I enjoyed using. Plus, the unlockable at the end made the story more enjoyable somehow. I think this is a poor decision, and I REALLY hope that other fighting games don't follow this approach. I had a lot of fun racing to unlock all the characters so they were available when my friends came to play, and by then, I was also ready to beat them with each character.

And hasn't the trophy system proven that gamers LOVE incentives? Unlockables are great! Plus, you get bragging rights if you unlock the hardest to earn characters. Harada has lost touch with gamers!

Devin @ Jul 2nd 2009 5:32PM

ditto

Being forced to play every character was always a good thing, as well as wondering what the next character to be unlocked would be was always something I enjoyed. Kind of sad that they're giving in some gamers' impulsiveness.

GPX2 @ Jul 2nd 2009 5:43PM

I think you missed the point. He was saying it is done to preserve fairness in online play. A good example was how Gouken and Seth were banned from all SF4 tournaments for a while after the games release, because nobody had a chance to play with them yet. The second reason was to preserve life and keep it from just being a rental. However, with online play and achievements people are more likely to buy a fighter rather then rent it. Achievements could be great way to add some life to the game, and they could simply make one for beating the game with all the characters, or have a few for beating it with a group of characters. I personally HATED unlocking characters, but I still like getting something for beating the game with a new character (colors/art are always my favorites). In the end I think it is a good decision, and even MvC2 went that way and I'm glad for it.

j.howlett @ Jul 2nd 2009 5:25PM

that was always part of the fun for me playing the other tekken games and i had to learn to be somewhat competent with other characters.

Bodachi @ Jul 2nd 2009 5:37PM

This is a smart idea, I think its stupid forcing players to play as everyone. This is great for multiplayer, now I don't have to grind just to get everyone.

ascian @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:02PM

Outdated. Give me a break. What he means is, "Now there is DLC and we can charge you money!"

As for unlockables in the game, they suck. Why can't I play with anyone when I want to? I only own the game. The amount of time it takes for something like say Street Fighter 4 to get Seth is ridiculous. You can't even back up or use custom saves. I lost all my unlocked characters. Start adding up games like that, not to mention the time to reinstall downloaded content, reinstall, unlock. No thank you.

Of course EA has solved even that by letting you pay for the unlockables themselves!

Oh the humanity!

Roto13 @ Jul 2nd 2009 5:40PM

Namco's new motto: Unlockables are only ok if you're paying for them.

Tim @ Jul 2nd 2009 5:50PM

I call dibs on just that, happening on Kunimitsu and a preview character for 7.

Sayed @ Jul 2nd 2009 5:42PM

Where is the picture of the dead space lady :P

Jacksons @ Jul 2nd 2009 6:21PM

I don't mind that at all. Hell, by the time I finished the excruciatingly boring Smash Bros Brawl campaign to unlock all the characters, I didn't want to play it anymore.

ryanpaulmcgowan @ Jul 2nd 2009 6:30PM

Quick question: Why does this link the the 360 site and not the neutral site generally used for multi-platform games?

Ashitaka @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:55PM

Yeah, almost seems like this an exclusive.

Neo Asuma @ Jul 2nd 2009 6:36PM

Would any of you guys call Street Fighter IV outdated in terms of unlocking characters? I know I wouldn't. Sure, I'll be able to play with whoever I want to, but like others here, I liked unlocking characters as well.

Oh well...I'm not going to immediately play online anyway. Need to practice, and play Tekken Force (or the Scenario Mode) while I'm at it.

HDpurist @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:05PM

I like unlockables too. Like RE5, the games was totally average, but I've put in so much time in the game now just to unlock all the stuff. It's made me play RE5 more so i've definitely got good value for my money.

plastik @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:26PM

I totally agree. I played RE5 for a good 50-60 hours, mostly just unlocking things. I played local coop in the campaign and mercenaries, but I stayed away from online mulitplayer. I think that Uncharted is a much, much better game, yet I haven't even spent half that time with it. Unlockables give a sense of progression to a game, and they give me a reason to continue playing it, even if it isn't necessarily the greatest game.

Hell, Call of Duty 4 added unlockables to the multiplayer, and it was revered for that. Unlockables are hardly a thing of the past, and I think it's incredibly lame that Tekken 6 will be without it.

cafecito @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:38PM

Unlockables are outdated? In what planet does this guy live? Unlockables are great. I don't mind the whole character roster being available from the let-go, but they need to add some unlockable stuff there... namely outfits, extra videos, featurettes... whatever. Something that keeps you coming back, besides online play.

BTW: In-game shops are even better. Win tournaments, get gold, buy stuff.

K1LLER HORNET @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:13PM

anyone think they'll be selling 108kb DLC characters?

Voshempa @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:25PM

Why does it have to be black or white? Why not gray? Why can't we have the choice to play and unlock the characters or to just go and buy them?

Hynad @ Jul 2nd 2009 9:59PM

Can't you guys read an article passed its title?

The guy doesn't say that all unlockables are outdated, morons. He's only talking about characters.

That article's title is completely misleading. And of course, the illiterate 'tards will fall for it.

PS3fan420 @ Jul 3rd 2009 4:56AM

I'm no Tekken fan (however I did unlock every character in the first one), but the idea of having nothing to unlock is completely absurd to me. One of the main aspects to a game is the reward system, you would know this if you have taken a game development class. When he stated that it is irritating to play against characters that he has yet to unlock, that is very much from a casual gamers perspective. I am quite the opposite, in an online game if there is nothing for me to earn by playing well and playing for a long time, then I will not stick to it and won't find it worth buying.

Walo @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:23AM

I agree online content should be available right from the start, but offline content should be left as is now to be unlocked by the user. A better system would be to filter matches to be against opponents who use the same characters that you have unlocked or give the option to the user to play against users with still locked characters.

ojste @ Jul 3rd 2009 1:29PM

this is good news, unlocking chars in beat em ups has always been a dull tedious grind. how many people just blast through the game on 1 round, 30 secs etc. over and over to unlock stuff? BORING. if it was an actual challenge then it might make sense but more often than not, its a grind.

beat em ups is all about vs. mode, simple as that.

Jake @ Jul 3rd 2009 1:23PM

They should also think about this when they want the lifespan on the game to be long

First provide 10 characters, and use thoes characters to unlock another 10 characters. After unlock the new 10 characters and used that to unlock another 10 that is hidden away.

Also they can set the difficulty to "hard" level, and made cannot changing the setting.

They can set the characters to be unlock in the online mode. The higher the rank you are the more characters you can unlock.