Tekken 3 Sold 8.3 Million Worldwide
Wonkey ON Tuesday, February 18, 2014 at 7:15AM 
Just a random, little bit of sales info on Tekken 3 that the series director: Katsuhiro Harada dropped on Twitter that I thought that some might be interested in. In the tweet, Harada mentions that the home ports (PS1 versions) of Tekken 3 sold 8,360,000 worldwide and that 1,400,000 of which is from Japan alone. I think this puts Tekken 3 as the second most best selling fighting game title of all time which is just underneath Super Smash Bros. Brawl. (iirc SSBB > Tekken 3 > SSBM > SF2:WW > Tekken 2)
「3」からの人は多いですね。家庭用「3」は全世界で836万本(日本では140万本)なので最大 RT@bassyoi 俺が初めてやったのは鉄拳3だったなぁ RT RT History of - Tekken (1994-2014): http://t.co/mNgT3FLoTA
— Harada_TEKKEN (@Harada_TEKKEN) February 18, 2014
'There were a lot of people around during Tekken 3. Home ports (PS1 version) of Tekken 3's worldwide sales are at 8,360,000 and 1,400,000 of which are from Japan.'
Reader Comments (19)
maybe Harada should stop looking at the so-called glory in the past. Tekken 4
was a, meh, pretty good start, and perhaps it's a bit too early to deny it.
Perhaps its time for Tekken to return to its roots, which is what made the game fun unlike this combo bore fest we have now in TTT2!
Tekken 3 is without a doubt a flagship for the Tekken series. A classic in every sense of the word. I started with Tekken 2,which was huge. But when T3 dropped, it took the world by storm. For the time, it was just simply remarkable and had a certain feel to it which was unique. you could sidestep for the very first time. incredible soundtrack and memorable times iv'e had with this game. The arcade was crowded and the cabinet was littered with quarters.
Different game, different time. The market had real power back then. Nowadays it's totally different; the deeper the game is, the less people want to bother.
I think its not about depth but a lot of fighting games have a lot of baggage that prevents new players ever reaching a okay level at the game, this is so true in Tekken Tag 2, bounds, tags combos, 60 plus characters, and don't forget players have to worry about family, work, etc, etc. This is why I've stopped playing TTT2, nothing to do with depth, just not enough time in the day to waste on what is in the end a game. Times have indeed changed, tekken doesn't need to be dumbed down, but it does need to lose some of the weight and become more streamed lined, plus a street fighter 3 cut of the tekken characters with new ones may help keep it fresh.
I agree with both yes and chef above. Different time and market is a huge factor THE INTERNET AND FPS WERE GARBAGE BACK THEN. But their is too much to know on what is ultimately a game. If we only could have one fighting game ever TTT2 might be a good choice given the insane depth and knowledge required. But those of us with a job cannot put in the time. I hate to say it but a smaller slimed down sf3 esque roster/title is a great idea.
I could help out Harada, and I'm being serious, Tekken needs to go back to it's key elements that made it phenomenal in both T3 and TTT1, atmosphere, soundtrack, theme setting, and gameplay, they also must have Heihachi as the second to last final boss, head of the Mishima Zaibatsu once again (now that Jin is apparently "dead") and get rid of the Jin X Xiaoyu love story bullshit and give Jin a better love interest than Xiaoyu's stupid-ass, Shin would have been good for her and I do hope Harada and others bring him back, it would be interesting to see him in the roster and storyline possibly with Heihachi trying to merge his DNA with some of Shin's Partial Devil Gene, Tekken is not a cutsie love-story anime however, it is a game that is focused on various fighters and martial arts coming together to prove their worth to be "King of Iron Fist".
All in all, Tekken 7 would be great, but I truly hope they don't fuck up and pull a Soul Calibur V and start off the story almost 20 or 40 Years in the future with Jin and Xiaoyu having a kid like Kazuya and Jun completely ruining the story and contradicting Jin's goal to destroy the Mishima Bloodline (which also includes HIMSELF) suddenly starting the series over again with new characters.
Super Smash Bros Brawl and Tekken 3 has sold more than Super Streetfighter IV? Really?? That's hard to believe!
Also, LOL at people saying 'it's not the game that's too deep, but we have friends and family and jobs and cannot bother putting in the time to master this huge game".
It's EXACTLY like saying the game is too deep. It's the other side of the same coin! Just fucking say it! What are you afraid of? Of people saying 'man up, don't be a pussy and learn the game'. well, then they are wrong, because this game isn't being played. Nobody gives two shits about a game that's too deep and complex!
I'm not afraid of saying that it's completely bullshit and insane to have 60+ characters with 200+ moves each and you have to remember the fucking frames and where to sidestep and flashduck plus all the gimmicky shit of 60 characters, just to enjoy the game at even mediocre level. Then you need to put in the time to practice BDC and throwbreaking and all that other obvious stuff, and still be a scrub for many years to come!
(Like it's not enough to know which move you can sidestep, you have to know exactly whether you can sidestep it left, or right or not sidestep left, but sidewalk left.. etc etc)
The fact is that the game is indeed too deep! And that not a good thing! We all know the deepest and most balanced game is Virtua Fighter. And how is that series doing? How many is playing that game? Nobody bothers to learn a game which has a million factors to consider! Tekken is going the same way. A perfect balanced game that's just way too deep and complex and thus people dropping it. It's only the game's fault. It need to find the perfect balance, which it had in T6.
Tekken 6 was actually perfect. I gave up TTT2 about an year ago and last week I got to play Tekken 6 and man, I forgot how much I enjoyed that game, which seemed more than deep and complex enough.
I think it's more than enough for a game to have like 35 characters with about 100 moves each. Then it's possible to learn it and start becoming good at it and actually enjoy your hobby rather than it becoming a fucking chore. It's all Harada and Namcos fault that Tekken is almost dead! No activity on TZ, noone plays this game in my country anymore. I bet it's like this all over the place besides a few asian countries where they have professional players. And that's what you need to be to put in the amount of time and to actually fully grasp TTT2. And that's the reason for it's failure.
Everybody agrees on this besides a few blind fanboys which you'll always have. Even Rip and Aris and other big names agrees on this fact. Fuck TTT2. I'm so done!
PS! Tekken Revolution is a complete joke!
Why is Super Street Fighter IV being outsold by Tekken 3 and Super Smash Bros hard to believe?
Capcom said it themselves that they sold 1.9 million with SSF4:
http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/business/million.html
Oh and Super Smash Bros are no joke, that shit is raking in the millions lol.
Super Smash Bros Melee: (7.09 Million)
http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/1u0FthaPxTSSeJelWm4Jt8TI0VJlTt5j
Super Smash Bros Brawl: (11.49 Million)
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/software/wii.html
The "school and job" argument against depth is really interesting. What I get from that is that the only people playing this game are old and should probably be doing something better with their time than playing TTT2 seriously anyways. The game should be attracting new blood, but it's not. But that's not really TTT2's fault....but rather the culture. TTT2 is a huge game, but it's not a deeper game than, say, TTT1. To be top level in TTT1 took just as much work, perhaps even more. It's just that people were excited about it and wanted to investigate it for all it's worth. The market had power then.
People who are complaining now are putting in even less work than people did back in the day. It's just that the culture has become lazy, and perceive deep fighting games as work rather than enjoyment. That's why the games are getting more and more gimmicky...the creators now just want to make the quick sale and move on. That's why TTT2 was dropped so quickly and milked by a free to play scheme like TR in order to squeeze a few more bucks for their efforts.
Don't think it's a question of laziness why people aren't playing Tekken Tag 2, the arcade is dead, online sucks bad, netcode isn't good and the online community is horrid, win or lose I always get negative comments and with a game that has so much stuff and the depth of the other tekkens, it's no wonder its not pulling in numbers. Totally agree with Ano Nymus, I've stopped playing tekken tag 2 after I started playing tekken 6 on a psp to train for a second character, and you know what Tekken 6 was fun, more fun than TTT2 has ever been. Don't get me wrong TTT2 is the better game, but it is simply not fun, the depth, the baggage, the community. And that is why people aren't playing TTT2. Not sure about tekken plots, does anyone even follow the plot of the game! Personally it also a sad case of how long can you keep playing the same type of game for for so many years, a good friend of mine stopped playing because he was well bored of playing tekken, and i can related to that. Personally Tekken should be put to rest for a while and the team focus on a new, exciting IP for a new generation.
I'd once again second yes and chef comments. It must be hard to balance depth vs time people practically have to invest in a game. Namco needs to make up who they are making games for old guys like me in their 30s - 40s or school aged children. One group has put in lots of time on various tekkens and the other is probably not willing to spend that much time and wants instant gratification a la COD. One advantage SF has over Tekken is that you don't need to memorize as much. How do you get better? By playing more. Same thing with FPS. You get better and experience the depth of the game by playing more, not memorizing move lists. The set of skills you have from COD modern warfare transfers very nicely to COD black ops. Anonymous is right when he talks about how ridiculous it is that you have to know small details like SSL vs SSR. I wish they would have a "generations game" like SF 20th anniversary edition, where you have characters from Tekken 1 all the way to Tekken 6 movelists so T3 Jin could fight a T6 Jin (Yes, I know many problems with that).
I'll admit, I guess its maybe just nostalgia and wanting to have the work I put in before on all the old tekkens count for something. This, however, probably does not translate into sales. Just to be clear TTT2 is a great game, I, and probably many other people who love tekken, just do not have the time to fully enjoy it.
I'm really glad to know that people feel the same way I do.
Best comment here that sums it up is by Anonymous
"Then it's possible to learn it and start becoming good at it and actually enjoy your hobby rather than it becoming a fucking chore."
I thought that this post would have been light with fan boys burning me at the stake, but wow a lot of the comments reflect the same problems facing people wanting to get better at a game that is in effect dying, from flying wonky post we would be better off training for Super mash bothers. But ultimately perhaps the real problem with tekken is that there is so many issues facing it at this very moment for which a lot of people on this post have commented on, and yes I totally agree with Anonymous and nunyabusiness with TTT2 being too long to get a grips with, let alone master. I remember being super sucky at first person shooters, worse than Tekken, and my Tekken sucked. But after a few genrations of the game I'm alright at it, getting 20 kills where before I'd be lucky to get 2. Plus it doesn't help that every new tekken kills off the previous version of the game and make redundant the skills you spend mastering in the previous game. I was surprised at just how different Dragonvos combos are in TR from T6 and TTT2 and from T5. So my bind is this: spend time mastering tekken, or play some COD/Street fighter and do some running or wieghts training? Sadly getting better at tekken pales when getting better at running and going for 10 km runs or going to streetfighter matches or playing COD online.
@ Ohyes
Seriously?! You think TTT1 was as deep and complex as TTT2?? Come on, dude! You know that's not true!
I have TTT1 and back then the characters only had like 50 moves each. The fighting system wasn't near as complex as it is now. The time I spend learning one character in TTT2 I could learn about 4 in TTT1.
In TTT2 there are 24 different ways of getting up after getting knocked down. You didn't have 24 different ways of getting up back in TTT1. Also, the crush system didn't exist back in TTT1 so you could never get high- og lowcrushed back then. In TTT2 even if you have plusframes you never know when they're gonna do a random highcrush move and launch you for 70% damage and just ruin your christmas. Totally bullshit!
So it's totally wrong to say that TTT1 was as complex and deep as TTT2 and it's just that we're not willing to put in the time. The level of details and random stuff you just have to know in TTT2 is skyhigh! I have played both games very much, and these two games aren't even close to each other when it comes to depth, complexity and gimmicks. They aren't even from the same planet!
Yes, TTT2 is a far better and balanced game, but balanced doesn't mean good nor fun! They need to cut down the characters to about 30 - 35. We don't need 3 Eddys, 2 bears, 2 Laws, 2 Lilis, 2 Julias, 2 Jacks, 3-4 Mishimas, 2 Lings and so on and on... We don't need Baek AND Hwoarang. One of them is enough- We don't need Lee AND Law. Only one will do. Nobody gives a shit about the story of fighting games. Just have ONE character with a certain playstyle and there is no need for 4 characters with slight different movessets, like Mishimas. We don't need Nina AND Anna. One is enough!
They need to remove throws that give full bound combos. They need to remove lows that give full combos. They seriously need to reduce the number of moves each character have. The crush system need to be seriously tweaked so it doesn't reward desperation and lead to randomness. These changes will make the game easier, more understandable and much more accessable! It will actually be possible to finish learning it.
If they implement these changes I'll fucking bet 6 months salary that millions of people would start playing Tekken and enjoying it, instead of getting frustrated and just finding it to hard to play!
But I'm in my mid-30s so my Tekkendays are probably over. The new generation will never put up with a game that demands serious studying of frames and hours and hours of practice and memorization of random factors you just have to know (like gimmicky stuff) to enjoy the game at even mediocre level. Tekken as a series is pretty much over in a couple of years!
I think the financial success of Tekken 3 is the result of the games universal appeal. It was marketed as the best 3d Fighting game that the PS1 could offer, while it's system was just generally more accessible than what we have currently with TTT2. The casual appeal was just as present as the hardcore appeal. The system wasn't as complex as it is today, but it still had a enough depth to be legitimately competitive. Now I think Tekken's casual appeal is more aesthetically focused than it is gameplay focused. I love TTT2 to death, but II can see why casuals will stop playing the game after unlocking endings or whatever, because learning the game further than that level is pretty unforgiving. Having been playing the series for over 10 years, I haven't had much trouble jumping into TTT2, but that is precisely because I have that history with the series. Despite being able to play the game at a decent-ish level, it can become hugely stressful since there is so much to think about.
Even so, people do need to understand that TTT1 was also a very difficult game to play beyond casual level but in a different sense that with TTT2. While TTT1 offered the biggest roster of the series at the time, the most competitive viable characters were, if i'm not mistaken, Mishimas, Jin, Ogres, Changs and Bruce. Perhaps this small pool of decent characters can be credited to the game having the longest running competitive run of the entire series? The mixed reception of T4 can also be credited to the long-standing success of TTT1 but I digress.
Balance makes TTT2 a great game, but it a bit of a paradox since it's level of balance has proven detrimental in the long run for the game in the US it seems. Unfortunately, too much depth doesn't sell in this day and age.... Namco taking a T3 approach to T7 would be the best move that Namco can take if Tekken is to come close to late 90s-early 2000s peak imo.
Officially maybe it was 8.3 millions, but remember that Playstation 1 was heavily pirated in '3rd world countries'.
Here's the cover of pirated T3, which from the start had all characters unlocked:
http://emuroms.vdelo.ru/partners/emuroms/images//tekken10.jpg
At that time, it was masher-friendly game. I doubt that T3 remake would gain the same success.
So we can all agree that Tekken's future is pretty much fucked at it's present course, perhaps it's time to take up Smash Brothers on the WII U while watching "flowers".
Anonymous, I disagree and here's why. Yes, TTT2 has a lot of "stuff" in it, but it's still a much scrubbier game than TTT1 and easier to get wins. Crush system is not depth...actually in my opinion it makes the game easier to play. Half of the crush moves in this game double as launchers. It strengthens the random guessing game, which strongly benefits new players and not veterans. This game is heavily dependent on combos rather than movement and spacing. Aside from the crush and bound system (including Tag Assault), I don't see much difference between TTT1 and TTT2...it's still Tekken at its core and the basic principles still apply. You can learn the crush and bound system fairly easily...it's not going to take you months to learn a proper TA combo and know which of your moves crush. Crush lets you turn off your brain because it's not situation dependent most of the time...most moves will crush 100% no brainer. It makes the game much easier to play in my opinion.
The movelists are longer perhaps, but you really only end up using about 30% of anyone's movelist anyways. Again, this game is more about learning the proper combo rather than setting up your opponent. It's way more random and you get punished for a wrong guess way more harshly. All you need to do is learn your combos, which I agree are much more difficult to execute because there are more elements involved...but not necessarily "hard". A proper combo can turn the game around in a second, which makes the game scrubbier because flukes happen much more easily.
In TTT1, it is waaaay harder to get a win against a player who is better than you. You will get much more frustrated playing a TTT1 master than a TTT2 master, because TTT2 gives you more random opportunities to win. You can't completely shut a guy down with perfect spacing the way you can in TTT1. TTT2 on the other hand is an incredibly stressful game to play competitively because the random factor plays such a big role. To me a deeper game is one where your practice level will allow you to minimize risks...it's just not possible in TTT2 which is why veterans get frustrated.
Anyways, I've been playing Tekken since T2, and I believe people way overestimate the difficulty of this game. If you know how to play T6, the transition is really smooth. There are a lot more characters, I'll give you that, but number of characters is not necessarily an indicator of "depth" or difficulty. It does create the "illusion" of difficulty I agree, but I wouldn't say it's the same thing.