Long interview: Harada looks back at the 5 years of Tekken 7

It's been a long time hasn't it? Tekken 7 saw it's initial gameplay debut back in the location tests of October 2014, but would eventually 'pre-launch' in February 2015 with an official launch a month later. In commemoration of Tekken 7's 5th anniversary, Dengeki Online talks to Katsuhiro Harada in this enormous single page interview on a wide range of topics. Subjects to expect; Post-launch support for the title, arcade adoption with the online network, collaborations, balancing characters, Tekken's low points, on spreading Tekken globally etc etc. He even explains why a Wing Chun character has finally arrived after all this time. This interview is huge so this page will run a machine translation on the entire thing so don't expect everything to be ad-verbatim, but I say this mostly came out decent so it's worth posting. In case of any inaccuracies, the original source in Japanese is here and prevails:

Dengeki Online Source ≫ https://dengekionline.com/articles/28096/

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SoulCalibur VI - EVO Japan Feature & Season 2 Q&A Broadcast

Early into the new year, the SoulCalibur VI development team is still as ever, working hard to add more to and continue improving the game. The game's producer Motohiro Okubo, game director Masteru and Battle Director Oosaka sat down with the Japanese Dengeki Online gaming publication to bring everyone up to speed on current developments and what's upcoming. The broadcast starts off with an introduction to Season 2 for the game, then proceeds to a rundown of the Evo Japan event taking place next weekend which is expected to show off the incoming guest character Haohmaru in Season Pass 2. Then an overview of the SoulCalibur VI World Tour tournament structure followed up with a Q&A session where they answer some of the more common questions they've received from fans. The broadcast has now concluded so the archive is now available for viewing in the follow link:

Dengeki Online Broadcast ≫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIF-cOvA5qs

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The early days of Tekken with Masanori Yamada

While it was no secret that the early years of Tekken development were a turbulent storm, no one could predict the impact that came with the rise of the very first PlayStation. Masanori Yamada was the main programmer for Tekken 1 through to Tekken 3 and found himself on the forefront of emerging new technology. Talking with Polygon, Yamada-san reminisces on his older and more hectic days of developing Tekken games while under corporate deadlines and the advancement of 3D graphics. "We were all told not to go home without authorization, even on weekends,” he explains during a dinner session with former Sony developers and businessmen. Yamada goes on to conclude that he misses the early days when it came to video game development considering the level of challenge and innovation needed at the time and compares them to the level today where he voices concerns that the games themselves aren't changing much. There's a broad range of topics covered in this conversation with Archipel/Polygon so you can find some snippets posted down below but check out the full documentary style interview for the bulk of the history behind gaming development during the times:

[Polygon] The early days of Tekken ≫ https://www.polygon.com/features/2019/12/2/20992483/staying-up-all-night-and-riding-in-a-car-trunk-the-early-days-of-tekken

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A day in the life of a Japanese Game Programmer at Bandai Namco Studios

Ever wondered what it's like to work at the studio behind the Tekken or SoulCalibur series? The latest video from Paolo fromTOKYO follows the daily routine of 23-year-old video game programmer, Masa, as he commutes to work at one of the largest video game studios in Japan. As you might expect, it's not the most glamorous job in the world but free access to drinks while working with your shoes off is pretty darn sweet. This unescorted look inside the company office is insightful for those who are following or wish to get into the world of Japanese video game development. There's even a brief exchange on Tekken 7 Season 3 DLC with the Tekken 7 game director Nakatsu so free to check it out now on the YouTube channel:

Paolo fromTOKYO ≫ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCixD9UbKvDxzGNiPC_fgHyA

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SoulCalibur VI dev team talk game balance and future updates

Update: The official English translation of the topics discussed on this stream are now up on the Bandai Namco EU website.

When it comes to transparency and being receptive to fan feedback, the team behind SoulCalibur VI have been pretty on the ball to all the comments they read on social media and in the player surveys. The entire balancing act between creating a Fighting game with a vision in mind and catering to the player communities is a difficult undertaking in itself which is what they were here to discuss on stream. Appearing live on the Dengeki YouTube channel this past evening was SoulCalibur VI's Producer Motohiro Okubo, the Director Masteru and the Battle Director Oosaka as they sit down and outline their current balancing philosophy and answer questions from the community. The stream was entirely done in Japanese but here are some quick notes from the presentation.

SOULCALIBUR 6 Dev Team Talk Broadcast ≫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT6oDehpJj4

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