"TEKKEN 3D PRIME EDITION" Special Interview

In this article, we talked to

Mr. Kouhei Ikeda (Nakatsu) (BANDAI NAMCO GAMES TEKKEN PROJECT Game Diretor)
Mr. Katsuhiro Harada (BANDAI NAMCO GAMES Chief Producer / Project Director)
Mr. Shyouichi Takano (ARIKA CO.,LTD. Chief Planner, R&D Division)
Mr. Ichiro Mihara (ARIKA CO., LTD. NINTENDO 3DS Project Manager)

about the game's development in celebration of TEKKEN 3D PRIME EDITION, which is scheduled for release on February 16, 2012.

*Interviewer: Yu Matsui from groovesync,inc

Each Role in TEKKEN 3D PRIME EDITION

－: What were you in charge of in this game?
Ikeda: I was appointed as a producer in the middle of the project, and was mainly in charge of project management.
I also supervised the game design. I'm a producer and game designer.
Harada: I am the director and supervisor of BANDAI NAMCO's fighting games as a whole so I'm a series producer.
Takano: I'm the on-site director of game production.
Mihara: I'm a producer of ARIKA side and in charge of 3DS development.

The Story of Deciding to Release TEKKEN on NINTENDO 3DS

－: How did you decide to release TEKKEN on the 3DS hardware?
Harada: As you know, the TEKKEN series was originally released on PlayStation all along and with the "TEKKEN 6", we released on Xbox 360 for the first time. We also released the portable versions of "TEKKEN DARK RESURRECTION" and "TEKKEN 6" on PlayStation Portable but surprisingly, the clientele was about the same.

We knew that the 3DS platform was actually a different customer base than the one we had been dealing with, so we thought it would be interesting to throw TEKKEN into that audience. Also, we were doing a 3D movie (TEKKEN: Blood Vengeance) at the time, so I thought it would be interesting to put a film on top of it.

So as a matter of fact, I wanted to have SOULCALIBUR too but in terms of using the full functionality of the console, TEKKEN has interesting content that allows for both "game" and "3D image", so we thought this would be a good platform and timing to reach a new audience with TEKKEN.
－: How did you and ARIKA come to the idea of doing this together?
Harada: BANDAI NAMCO GAMES has been developing several 3DS titles, but we didn't even know what the specs were for the TEKKEN project. First of all, the main premise was to run it at 60 frames, and the keywords were ahead of us, so I thought I'd ask someone for their know-how.
I asked people both inside and outside a company including Mr. Mihara and he said, "If you made it properly, it will work in 60 frames." so that was the catalyst.
Mihara: I was asked, "Is it possible to make TEKKEN in 60 frames?", so I showed the demo program I made with joy to Mr. Harada. From that, he moved forward with the project.
－: When did you talk about that?
Harada: I think it was May or June.
Mihara: We showed the footage at E3, so I think it was a little before that.
Harada: Yes, so then it was April or May.
*Untold Story No.1: Garuda appears in the background of the footage released at E3.
－: The release is February 2012, less than a year, so that was relatively early.
Ikeda: I think so too.
Harada: Because the truth is that we were saying, "Let's finish it before the end of the year."
Mihara: In the beginning, we started with the idea that we wanted to release about 20 characters by the end of the year, but when we heard that there was a 3D movie coming up, we thought that would be great and interesting, so the schedule was pushed back a little.
Harada: The keyword for the game was to see if we could originally create a system that could run at 60 frames. And they showed us that they can, so thought if we asked ARIKA to do all the technical work for us, then maybe it would work, so we started working on it together.
－: I'm sure you take pride in the fact that TEKKEN is a title that you grew, but have you ever hesitated about outsourcing it?
Harada: It's true that this was the first time we had outsourced the core content of a game, so we were hesitant to do so.
But before that, there weren't many companies other than ARIKA who had done a lot of research on 3DS and were ahead of the curve. So the information we can get from them was so great. Which is to say, we saw the benefit of already having the know-how to take advantage of the 3DS features.
We are the ones who made the animation data and the CG data for the movies, so we didn't have to worry about the taste of the data changing.
－: What is the biggest reason you put both game and movie content?
The movie was also included in the "TEKKEN HYBRID" (PlayStation 3), but what was your aim in including on the NINTENDO 3DS?
Harada: In the U.S., it's common for people to see 3D images in theaters. In Japan, about a third of theaters have a 3D screen, but there are no 3D monitors at home.

TEKKEN: Blood Vengeance was deliberately rendered from a different angle because it's CG. I'd love for people to be able to enjoy what I've been working on in 3D, but it's hard to find such an environment.

As I mentioned earlier, the concept of TEKKEN 3D PRIME EDITION is to appeal to a wide range of people who don't know that much about fighting games.
It's quite interesting that the NINTENDO 3DS is able for us to see the stereoscopic vision at a reasonable price. Also, we would like to include it because it fits with what we are trying to do and our customer base.
－: The movie came out in early fall last year, about the same time as the Tokyo Game Show. By that time, had you already decided to record the footage for this?
Ikeda: Yes.
－: So does that mean it was decided soon after the development for TEKKEN 3D PRIME EDITION started?
Harada: But I think we didn't tell ARIKA until a little later.
Ikeda: Right, I took over this project from Harada and started in July, so I think the timing we talked about the movie was around the end of July or August.
－: How was ARIKA side's reaction when they heard about that?
Harada: Well, I didn't know this, but I think it's a problem to say this without knowing it, but I thought there is a player in the 3DS that could play videos. So I was trying to pass a 3D-data sized video file because I thought we and ARIKA wouldn't have to develop the application part of the player. But then Mr. Mihara said, "There is no player to play the subtitles."
I was surprised. LOL
Mihara: I said, "Putting in a movie is a nice idea! ... but what are you going to do with the subtitles?"
Ikeda: I was contacted immediately.
Mihara: The idea of including a film is naturally interesting. However, from the standpoint of doing actual work, the issues of capacity and subtitles came to mind. Aside from the capacity, I knew this product was going to sell worldwide, so I thought subtitles were a must.
Ikeda: As for the subtitles, we had the data for TEKKEN: Blood Vengeance's Blu-rays and DVDs, so we were going to give those right away and let them handle it.
Mihara: So we had to produce the subtitle player under in the circumstances.
Takano: It was very hard.
Harada: Also, since the capacity of ROM cartridges for portable is limited, it's not possible to make them too large, so we did a lot of capacity testing.
Ikeda: Yes, that's right. We wanted to have a good picture quality.
－: It's a trade-off.
Ikeda: Yes, and when we tried to make it the best quality we could, the capacity was a bit tight.
We had a person in charge of encoding in our company, and after a lot of trial and error with him, we were able to achieve a satisfactory image quality. That alone, oddly enough, took about a month.
Harada: About a month or a month and a half.
Mihara: However, this time we had a problem with the processing for playback not being able to keep up.
It took us a month or two to process the compressed data, and only the most intense scenes would stop, so we had to find a way to clip and re-encode that part.
Harada: The general public may think that you can easily play if you put in movie data, but in reality, we have these struggles.
－: Isn't a lot of work from the management of the material?
Mihara: The number of files was huge.
Harada: I guess this means that the longer the video is, the more difficult it will be.
－: How long is the movie?
Harada: About 94 to 95 minutes. Audio is available in both English and Japanese.
Ikeda: Subtitles are different for each region, but they can have up to 5 languages.
Harada: It takes a lot of time to check those too.
Ikeda: In that sense, Mr. Mihara was watching TEKKEN: Blood Vengeance the most. LOL
Mihara: I was watching every day. LOL
Ikeda: Oh yes, you called me every day to say you saw it again today. LOL
－: So it took a lot of hard work and trial and error, and the one everyone will get is...
Ikeda: When you pick up and look at it, I think you'll be amazed at how beautiful you can watch a 3D movie.
Harada: The 3D depth itself isn't too deep or too protruding, as you might worry. Also, it's an action movie, so it's not that difficult to watch.
Mihara: The original film itself was made at a good depth and rendered for the 3DS. So all I had to do was keep the frame, so it's been a good finish.
－: It costs 5,800 yen, but does this mean it's a bit expensive because of the movie?
Harada: Basically, like any other game, I wanted to make sure that both the TEKKEN movie and the game could be enjoyed casually.

You can watch lying on the bed before you sleep, you can show your friend saying, "Hey look, this is a 3D movie", and also the cost is casual, so we were thinking all of the things casual but it was not.

At first, we thought it's not that hard just playing a movie, but it was so much hard.
－: As for watching "TEKKEN: Blood Vengeance" in TELLEN 3D PRIME EDITION, what watching style do you recommend?
Mihara: I thought that most people would be watching by using a headphone, so I used headphones to watch too.
Ikeda: Our sound team tuned it for the 3DS so that it is easy to hear even with the sound coming out of the main unit, and even with earphones and headphones, so I can guarantee the quality.
－: Finally, let's talk about the game. The catchphrase for the game is "The largest number of characters in the history of portable".
Harada: I really didn't notice this. I realized after I was told.
But it's true, it's hard to find a game with so many characters on a portable, isn't it? Well, that's another reason we are squeezing the capacity, though.
－: And as for the multiple game modes, did you get into trouble with which ones you put in and which ones you don't?
Takano: We discussed several times.
Harada: Many things have become a phantom.
Takano: First, there was an idea called Iron Tower Mode attacking Heihachi's tower. Other than this, there was Oretetsu Mode (*2) which you can attach a picture you took to the character's face by using the camera on 3DS.
But then we heard that a movie will be in it, and there would be 41 characters instead of 20.
※Untold Story No.2：
There was a mode you can play as Kazuya wearing Mr. Iwata's mask and Heihachi wearing Mr. Harada's mask in the E3 version.
－: So it was 20 at first?
Mihara: We were working on it with 20 popular characters and the movie.
－: And it became 41...
Takano: I even didn't know about the movie first. But after I heard about it, we calculated but the capacity was so huge.
－: The movie was first, then you heard about the increase to 41?
Takano: Yes. I was told they want to give it all out. LOL
But then we had to chip away the mode because of the capacity, but wanted to put in something different and that was the "TEKKEN CARD".

TEKKEN series has a long history, so we asked them if we could have some nostalgic images from the past and then we made those images shown in a 3D stereoscopic view. We put in a mode that you can collect these 3D stereoscopic views that are from the previous TEKKEN series.
－: This year was the 17th year of the TEKKEN series, wasn't it? It's amazing that Heihachi's first CG has been preserved.
Ikeda: We talked to people within the company and asked them to look for all kinds of data.
Harada: Originally, it was all in my MO disc. LOL All the data up to TEKKEN 3 is either in DAT tape or MO. When I'm asked, "Where is the data?" I answered, "Um, it's in my desk somewhere." LOL
－: I guess that means that the library of the TEKKEN series was unintentionally enriched. As a fan of the series, you can get nostalgic by collecting the cards.
Harada: I think that's how the core fans will be enjoyed, but the majority of people who buy it this time would say, "This is awful." LOL
Ikeda: I think so too. LOL
Harada: There was a time when everything sold well with polygons, wasn't there? So it's interesting to be able to see the CG level of the time.
－: You mean, this is how far technology has come in 17 years, right?
Harada: Yes, so it's very interesting. It looks like a different person.
－: How many are the TEKKEN cards in total?
Ikeda: 765 cards.
Harada: Surprisingly, you'll want to collect them when you see them in person.
Ikeda: When it comes to 3D, it looks interesting than watching on a magazine or the internet.
－: For people who use the 3DS hardware and playing TEKKEN, including existing users, the biggest concern is about a sense of operation.
Harada: I've taken the necessary measures.
Ikeda: We were very careful about that.
Takano: I think it's nearly perfect.
Ikeda: At a very early stage, we received a proposal from ARIKA and then we TEKKEN project discussed what we want to do, and we put as much effort into it as we could.
Harada: Rather than trying to get people to use the combination of the four-way controller and the buttons at an amazing speed, we wanted to approach it differently from the beginning.
－: Is that about the element of being able to register combos on the touchscreen, and then perform the moves at the touch of a button?
Harada: Well, other companies are also making a lot of effort to "touch", so we were discussing, "Isn't it a hassle to go and touch in a fighting game?"
Ikeda: We exchanged many things with each other, and ARIKA suggested a shift function.
Mihara: I came up with a nice idea in the middle of midnight. LOL
Takano: It was hard but we did our best.
－: When I first heard the verbal explanation, I thought it was a bit cumbersome, but when I tried it out, I realized that this is what it was all about.
Takano: I think there are a lot of different ways for users to hold it when they play. For example, who holds like this can use shift, but who holds like this can't use it.
Harada: So we wanted to have the same function left and right.
Takano: It was through trial and error that we came up with the shape we have now.
－: Even the people at BANDAI NAMCO GAMES who have been playing the TEKKEN series for a long time got impressed?
Ikeda: Yes. We wanted to make it as close to the feel of normal operation as possible, and we wanted people to be able to experience aerial combos just by pressing the buttons in order with the shift function, so we took responsibility for that as a project.
Harada: I'd like to make this a basic feature for future TEKKEN series (home consoles).

You can put all your favorite moves in the shortcut. If you are not good at getting a rush combo in, after you cornered the opponent against a wall, you only have to do is to use the shift key and press 1, 2, and 3 in order and attack!

So it's more a matter of thought than a match advantage or disadvantage due to familiarity or unfamiliarity with the operation. If the level of strategy making is the same, the system side covering as much of the operation as possible, which has not been done much in this series, so I thought maybe it's nice doing that in the future console or the other series.
－: Next, I would like to ask about the unique elements of the 3DS.
Takano: There are a variety of commands, such as simultaneous, diagonal, and vertical presses that are unique to the TEKKEN, so I'd definitely recommend using the touchscreen to people who find it a little difficult to do so on a portable.
－: Is it possible to register the touchscreen key for each character?
Ikeda: Yes, you can register your favorite moves for each character from the command list.
Takano: You can set up all 41 characters on the touchscreen in four individual parts.
Harada: Each character comes with a recommended set of touchscreens by default. To begin with, choosing a combo from a command is a possible hurdle in itself. So, we decided to include a recommended set.
Mihara: They gave me all the standard defaults to put in order of 1, 2, and 3.
Harada: And then like throw in 4.
Ikeda: There's an aerial combo start move called floating move in 1, a bounce move in 2, and a tightening move in 3, so basically anyone can experience the aerial combo when the user presses 1, 2, and 3 at the right time.
Harada: When you cornered the opponent against a wall, or when you want to do a move but your hands can't keep up with it, you can do it with one touch! And it's quite exhilarating, so I want you to try it.
－: Is the switchover from the 1P side to the 2P side automatic?
Ikeda: Yes, of course.
Mihara: Each character has a combo that goes in and not, so I think they took a lot of work to get to the end.
Harada: Different opponents have different body types, so it would be a problem if you couldn't get in, but we made it possible for any player to play any combination.
Ikeda: Also, we focused on looking good and feeling good.
Harada: The people who are core can do it themselves, but for the people who have been wanting to try it for a while, we've tried to be very careful about what's interesting in TEKKEN and make them think, "Oh, I see. This is fun."
－: Let me ask about the network. Can Wi-Fi and local network matchups do basically the same thing?
Ikeda: Basically the same but the Rank Match are Wi-Fi only.
－: Is the feeling of playing the same in network matches?
Ikeda: Yes, the online play retains the same feeling as usual.
－: The fighting game is so severe that isn't there a tendency to say, "We can't play a fighting game without a wired LAN"?
Mihara: First, the concept was to put the TEKKEN on the 3DS so that people who didn't know about the TEKKEN could see that this is how to play it and to expand the light user base.

Another proposition is that we wanted to do the TEKKEN in 60 (1/60th) frames. And yet it's a 3DS, so it's stereoscopic. 60 frames in stereoscopic view.
The project's top priority was to run at 60 frames, so we had a lot of work to do, but we've also achieved 60-frame rendering and operability in competitive games.

The line between BANDAI NAMCO and ARIKA was fast, so we were able to play against Wi-Fi as well as the local. If the Wi-Fi connection is unfortunately very slow, the game will be slow, but we adjusted it so that the game will be established by pressing the buttons properly with the feeling of seeing the screen.
－: If there is a lag, sometimes the command and the game screen do not match but we don't have to worry about that?
Ikeda: I think you can play as usual.
Harada: It's quite nice to be able to do it while lying down at home. I think it's a little appealing to be able to do it right away without having to turn on the TV or make any preparations.
－: Next, I would like to ask about the unique elements of 3DS, "StreetPass".
Mihara: Because of the movie and the fact that we increased the number of characters, the plan of StreetPass was temporarily abandoned, but NAMCO side listened to our ARIKA side's ego of wanting to do "communication" by all means.

We wanted to give everyone the motivation to play the game, not just StreetPass, so we decided to create a new card mode.

You can use the CP (card points) you earn during gameplay to get cards from who you pass, by placing the cards you've collected during normal play in the slot.
The point is, you don't just get it when you StreetPass, you play the game when you find the one you want to have, and if you accumulate points, you can fill it with what you want. It would be nice to be able to loop in a good way while also StreetPassing and playing the game.

Initially, we were going to exceed 1,000 cards, but when we ran into capacity problems, Mr. Ikeda said let's make 765 cards because of "NAMCO".

NAMCO
NA = 7 nana (in Japanese)
M= 6 mu/roku (in Japanese)
CO = 5 go(ko) (in Japanese)
－: What are Mr. Ikeda's favorite cards?
Ikeda: I like "Lili" wearing swimwear which was used as a cover of the foreign magazine. It looks good, but when you see it in 3D, it's different and interesting. I use "Baek" and "Hwoarang" so I like them too.
Harada: I want to show the old characters like "Nina" and "Xiaoyu" evolve from being ugly in three cards. LOL
I'd like to express how this character changed a lot, or she became a completely different character, especially with the female characters.
Takano: I'd like to put illustrations that are not CG but 3D illustrations of the original drawings that became the image.
－: I would like to ask about the spread of the "TEKKEN World" to the future.

Since last year, TEKKEN has been in the loop of starting with arcade and moving on to the home console, but now there are a full CG movie and slot machine, it seems to be spreading.
Are those Mr. Harada's intentions?
Harada: Umm, to begin with, I think a lot of people view fighting games with a special image. People may think that it's a pretty geeky game, players are only who likes to play the category of a fighting game, but that's not really true. It's rare to get together at a tournament and get excited by saying who's stronger.

About 70% of fans in the world play against each other with their friends or with their siblings. I found that people view the game with a wide variety of values: liking the characters, liking the world view, or finding it interesting to be able to operate it as an action game.

We've been going at it with the hope that the people who play against in tournaments will somehow recognize this as a fun fighting game. As a result, TEKKEN has sold an inordinate number of 40 million units throughout the series. It means that this data is No. 1 in the fighting game category.

However, as I mentioned earlier, we realized that not all of the 70% of people who enjoy TEKKEN was interested in the tournament, but it took us some time to realize that.

TEKKEN does silly things in the opening and ending movies, so it's not necessarily just about the "fighting".
I've come to think that we should be able to enjoy movies, character goods, and other things in a variety of ways and a variety of places, so I'm increasing the number of entrances and making the TEKKEN world more widely available.
－: Some core fans might say, "This is not TEKKEN" but you want to face people who think "I've been waiting for these".
Harada: Core fans are important because they are always been an opinion leader and the layer who are building the era of TEKKEN.

I know how they feel, so we can make a game with specifications that meet their wishes, but who don't think like that can be 50 people instead of 1 or 2 out of 100. So we thought that the only way to respond to both voices was to offer different ways to play the game on different platforms.
－: This is the last question. How was this collaboration?
Ikeda: It was a lot of work, but we had a dense time. We've packed in a lot of what we wanted to do with ARIKA, and we've put something that will give players a variety of experiences, so I hope them to play a once.

I want them to immerse themselves in the world of TEKKEN as they play and watch the movie. Id' be very happy if this game helps you get hooked on the charm of TEKKEN and even participate in an arcade tournament.

If we have another chance, want to do something together.
Harada: This 3DS version is made from a different perspective than the previous ones, and we wanted to satisfy the core audience, but also let the people on the outside know how fun TEKKEN can be.

Initially, we were supposed to make it casually, but in the end, it took a lot of work to develop it. But we wanted to make it casual for customers, and I think we were able to do that, so the satisfaction level is quite high.
I would like to encourage people who know TEKKEN but don't know much about it to pick it up.
Takano: I have been playing TEKKEN for a long time, so it was a great experience for me to be in charge of BANDAI NAMCO GAMES's important title.

I think we've done something that doesn't leave out the concept of Mr. Harada mentioned, including the fighting part. Since it's a fighting game, we tried our best not to have any problems with network functions, so I'd like users to pick this game up, play against it and feel how good it is.
Mihara: It took a lot of trial and error, but to my surprise, Mr. Harada disclosed many information about the TEKKEN to us. I think that is the reason why I'm so confident in the finish.

If you've never played TEKKEN before but are interested in it, I hope you will use the touch function to learn the combos and experience the exhilaration that is the biggest charm of TEKKEN.
－: Thank you so much for your answers.