Tecmo’s Itagaki-san Rubbishes Tekken. Again!
Outspoken perv-em-up godfather attacks Namco brawler.
Rude not to...
Team Ninja boss Tomonobu Itagaki is a colourful character and no mistake. From his camera shyness to his strange urinating style, his mildly unhealthy obsession with the female form and the unequalled brilliance of Ninja Gaiden, you know you’ve got a live one on your hands.
In a recent interview, Itagaki-san has again mounted his favourite soapbox to complain about Tekken 5, Namco’s latest and arguably greatest update to its beloved market-leading 3D fighting series.
"First they put in all of these half-finished 'features', then they take them right out again," blasted Itagaki-san. "Tag fights, elevation differences, walls. I don't know if it's because they're impatient, or because they lack the ability, but no matter the reason those guys are a pretty weird bunch. Any of those things would have become a bonafide feature if they took the time to do it right."
Ouch! As SPOnG readers will know, this isn’t the first time the Team Ninja head has had a pop at the Tekken team. Way back in 2001 when he said, “Tekken 4 is a piece of shit. One of the worst things about Tekken 4 is the concept planning. It's really half-assed. Tekken 4 attempts 3D environments, like I did in DOA 2, but they failed miserably. They should've stayed in a 2D world. To be quite honest, I don't think they have the technique to go to 3D from 2D. The graphics look very cheap. The people who made the platform will be angry as to the end result of Tekken 4. And the gameplay? The gameplay is very slow, very incomplete-feeling while playing. The game balance is also way off. I really hope when they start to work on the home console version of Tekken 4, they will fix these problems and make a better game. With the game in its present state, right now I don't see them as my competition.”
As every Englishman knows only too well, this is fighting talk. If Itagaki-san was down the Crown and Anchor on quiz night, surrounded by Team Ninja, answering questions about celebrity happenings and football, and Team Tekken was over by the pool table, we reckon it’d kick off for sure. It amazes SPOnG why - in a collaborative PR stunt - Namco and Tecmo don’t organise real fighting, preferably at E3, on the beach, erm, using female stand-ins… ooh…
It would appear that this news story has come to its natural conclusion. We’ll bring you updates on any further Tomonobu Itagaki outbursts when they inevitably happen.
In a recent interview, Itagaki-san has again mounted his favourite soapbox to complain about Tekken 5, Namco’s latest and arguably greatest update to its beloved market-leading 3D fighting series.
"First they put in all of these half-finished 'features', then they take them right out again," blasted Itagaki-san. "Tag fights, elevation differences, walls. I don't know if it's because they're impatient, or because they lack the ability, but no matter the reason those guys are a pretty weird bunch. Any of those things would have become a bonafide feature if they took the time to do it right."
Ouch! As SPOnG readers will know, this isn’t the first time the Team Ninja head has had a pop at the Tekken team. Way back in 2001 when he said, “Tekken 4 is a piece of shit. One of the worst things about Tekken 4 is the concept planning. It's really half-assed. Tekken 4 attempts 3D environments, like I did in DOA 2, but they failed miserably. They should've stayed in a 2D world. To be quite honest, I don't think they have the technique to go to 3D from 2D. The graphics look very cheap. The people who made the platform will be angry as to the end result of Tekken 4. And the gameplay? The gameplay is very slow, very incomplete-feeling while playing. The game balance is also way off. I really hope when they start to work on the home console version of Tekken 4, they will fix these problems and make a better game. With the game in its present state, right now I don't see them as my competition.”
As every Englishman knows only too well, this is fighting talk. If Itagaki-san was down the Crown and Anchor on quiz night, surrounded by Team Ninja, answering questions about celebrity happenings and football, and Team Tekken was over by the pool table, we reckon it’d kick off for sure. It amazes SPOnG why - in a collaborative PR stunt - Namco and Tecmo don’t organise real fighting, preferably at E3, on the beach, erm, using female stand-ins… ooh…
It would appear that this news story has come to its natural conclusion. We’ll bring you updates on any further Tomonobu Itagaki outbursts when they inevitably happen.
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Comments
Joji 28 Feb 2005 13:09
1/12
Just sounds like a case of green eyes to me. If Tekken is that bad the only way you should bettering it is by making your game better than theirs. But how will you do that without adding extra breast jiggles?
Tekken 5 arrives on PS2 and it if has no on-line option it's already behind in a way anyway.
Tekken 5 arrives on PS2 and it if has no on-line option it's already behind in a way anyway.
ohms 28 Feb 2005 13:20
2/12
Joji wrote:
Tekken 5 arrives on PS2 and it if has no on-line option it's already behind in a way anyway.
True. It did get a pretty decent review on gamespot despite that (9.2 I think). As I recall lack of online play was the only flaw they could really think of that the game had.
I have to say Tekken 2 + 3 were the only 3D fighters I gave much time to (and maybe Soul Calibur), the DoA games are just button-bashing eye candy.
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LUPOS 28 Feb 2005 14:40
3/12
the man makes perfectly good points... averythign the tried to make new and different from what they have been doing... they failed at... 3d arenas? crap! couldnt do it... infact no one has done it anywhere near as succesfully as Team ninja... virtua fighter tried it and realized they coudlnt pull it off and soul calibur hasn't attempted it yet.
IMHO soul calibur is the best of the best these days for all aroudn good game... virtua fighter is still the king of insane detail... if you cant play it... you arent goign to pick it up and love it... its rough... and doa is kind of nice because you start of easily enough but there are alot more moves than you initially realize... tekken on the other hand has nothing over any of the competition at this point... it does feel sluggish..even compared to the more methodical virtua fight games. it also has the least three dimesional game play... Soul calibur had much more dimensional attacks especaiiyl sine the weapons ad so much range... virtua fighter employees more dodging to the sides and DOA basically requires side stepping, especially manuvering aroudn the 3d arenas in order to use the danger zones to your advantage.
There is nothing inherently wrong with tekken... but there doesnt seem to be any one area where it excels either... except perhaps style and charcter design... the charcters are definitly better than an any of the competition... which is why i think ti does so well... the nancy from soul calibur with the rapier is no where near as cool as eddie G. and his hip jamaican fighting style! (and lets not even talk about the hulk hogan lookign bass... uggh)
____________
IMHO soul calibur is the best of the best these days for all aroudn good game... virtua fighter is still the king of insane detail... if you cant play it... you arent goign to pick it up and love it... its rough... and doa is kind of nice because you start of easily enough but there are alot more moves than you initially realize... tekken on the other hand has nothing over any of the competition at this point... it does feel sluggish..even compared to the more methodical virtua fight games. it also has the least three dimesional game play... Soul calibur had much more dimensional attacks especaiiyl sine the weapons ad so much range... virtua fighter employees more dodging to the sides and DOA basically requires side stepping, especially manuvering aroudn the 3d arenas in order to use the danger zones to your advantage.
There is nothing inherently wrong with tekken... but there doesnt seem to be any one area where it excels either... except perhaps style and charcter design... the charcters are definitly better than an any of the competition... which is why i think ti does so well... the nancy from soul calibur with the rapier is no where near as cool as eddie G. and his hip jamaican fighting style! (and lets not even talk about the hulk hogan lookign bass... uggh)
____________
Coxy 28 Feb 2005 16:00
4/12
The D.O.A. series is no where near as good as the Tekken series im my opinion, i played DOA 2 and found it to be a rip-off at tekken and found it to be slightly over the top.
Joji 28 Feb 2005 16:52
5/12
I agree some of the Tekken series has flaws but I feel Namco have improved in many areas we take for granted now.
Soul Calibur series is top class stuff but I notice Itagaki-san didn't mention it due to the differences between Tekken and SC most likely.
Perhaps Temco, as sweet as the DOA series is should actually stop moaning and produce some other product that doesn't focus on giggling female breasts. Tecmo are clearly talented but when they act like this it belittles them and their achievements. Fair enough Itagaki-san, point taken but you should then back that up with something better from you pocket.
I'm waiting to see Tecmo try something new since Namco have recently given us PSP Ridge Racer and GC Tales of Symphonia and with Mario Kart GP soon in the arcades they are clearly not a one trick pony.
Put your games up instead of your verbal fists.
Soul Calibur series is top class stuff but I notice Itagaki-san didn't mention it due to the differences between Tekken and SC most likely.
Perhaps Temco, as sweet as the DOA series is should actually stop moaning and produce some other product that doesn't focus on giggling female breasts. Tecmo are clearly talented but when they act like this it belittles them and their achievements. Fair enough Itagaki-san, point taken but you should then back that up with something better from you pocket.
I'm waiting to see Tecmo try something new since Namco have recently given us PSP Ridge Racer and GC Tales of Symphonia and with Mario Kart GP soon in the arcades they are clearly not a one trick pony.
Put your games up instead of your verbal fists.
vault 13 28 Feb 2005 18:17
6/12
Man..., your posts sometimes baffle me. Virtua Fighter 4 had walls and implemented them very well. Yes DOA 2 had walls you could knock people into and combo off. F**k off itagotsomecumonyourfacefromsuckingso- -muchdick! I believe Fighting Vipers, Fighters Megamix, Powerstone, and countless others did it waayyy before your button masher/jiggle fest extrodinaire. If I may add Tekken was one of the first games to jump into the 3D world, along with Virtua Fighter and Battle Arena Toshinden. Tekken also had the first and best CG cutscenes, original character designs (save Ganryu *shudder) which are still today the best. They added parrying, combo throws, ground combos, charge cancels, and other innovations to the fighting game genre. Sure it may not be a favorite among fighting game pundits, but hell at least it's deep. DOA goes as deep as Kasumi's navel, then what? I get to unlock even more slutty outfits for my already uninteresting and bland fighters? Oh f**kin' joy! Sign me up for the Code Cronus and 4 which are apparently going to blow the doors off the competition. My pants are already soiled from the orgasm inducing poly counts. I may just buy a copy and keep it in my "secret stash" where I'll only use it when it's late and I'm lonely. Thanks itsaboy, for making the best porn simulator ever!
Joji 28 Feb 2005 22:21
7/12
Don't see anything baffling about my posts if you mean me.
All I'm saying is in reference to Tekken and DOA because those games are what the post is about.
We could sit here for ages going deep into the whole beat em up genre, I'm no stranger to games so I know my stuff but that would be boring. I know Tekken wasn't the first 3D beat em up etc etc, but it's currently the cutting edge of beat em ups now, like it or not.
That's all I got to say for now.
All I'm saying is in reference to Tekken and DOA because those games are what the post is about.
We could sit here for ages going deep into the whole beat em up genre, I'm no stranger to games so I know my stuff but that would be boring. I know Tekken wasn't the first 3D beat em up etc etc, but it's currently the cutting edge of beat em ups now, like it or not.
That's all I got to say for now.
LUPOS 28 Feb 2005 22:40
8/12
i think vault was reffering to me, as he usually
is
also i dont think itagaki speaks for all of tecmo nor does he speak to all of namco... i think it is a direct assault on the tekken team... whatever they may be. I dont kno if there is a specific group fo peopel who do all the tekken games but the jab was definitly aimd squarely at tekken because he probbaly doesnt reall yhave any wise ass things to say about soul calibur as it is a trully fantastic game all around. (nor do you see him bad mouthing virtua fighter, at least not recently)
is
also i dont think itagaki speaks for all of tecmo nor does he speak to all of namco... i think it is a direct assault on the tekken team... whatever they may be. I dont kno if there is a specific group fo peopel who do all the tekken games but the jab was definitly aimd squarely at tekken because he probbaly doesnt reall yhave any wise ass things to say about soul calibur as it is a trully fantastic game all around. (nor do you see him bad mouthing virtua fighter, at least not recently)
ku16610 1 Mar 2005 10:09
9/12
Doa Uses the Xbox , Sorry does he expect namco to perform Miracles on A machine with a lot less ram and power , Still tekken 5 is by far better than dead or alive rehash the old crap games edition ULtimate idiot edition.
Doa stole the counters from tekken and pretty much all its attempt at gameplay.
Tekken outsells DOA 5 to 1 each time its released so surely something must be goign right for them.
Doa stole the counters from tekken and pretty much all its attempt at gameplay.
Tekken outsells DOA 5 to 1 each time its released so surely something must be goign right for them.
NiktheGreek 1 Mar 2005 14:36
10/12
ku16610 wrote:
Tekken outsells DOA 5 to 1 each time its released so surely something must be goign right for them.
Well, the PS2 has outsold the Xbox by about 4:1 so far. That might go someway towards explaining things.
As far as 3D fighters go, Itagaki can bash Tekken for taking features from other games, and he'd be correct in doing so. However, he's not acknowledging the fact that Virtua Fighter was blazing the trail every single time. First into 3D, first onto those lovely uneven surfaces, first to do the character customisation beyond simply selecting a costume (which Tekken 5 on the Playstation 2 has just nabbed). Dead or Alive has done two things seperately from the 3D pack: multi-level fighting arenas (something we've had as far back as Mortal Kombat 3) and online play.
I can't wait for Virtua Fighter 5. It should be awesome.
vault 13 1 Mar 2005 16:57
11/12
Actually, Capcom vs. SNK: EO for X-Box was online. So was Guilty Gear XX. Maybe he was the first in 3D to do it. But that's not really the point. The point is that he's calling Tekken crap for no reason. Is he jealous? Probably. With good reason? Probably not. Then he goes and calls the stale DOA series amazing. If there weren't so much skin and slutty costumes, no one would play it. No one's gonna say, "Oooooh, look at all the polys on Bass' armbands. And he's got soooo many moves (67 in DOA 2), only three of which I need to beat the game. He is such a fun and interesting character with a good back story.". Nope, no one, ever, not even the retarded kid with the helmet.
My personal top 5 fighting games of all time:
1)Virtua Fighter 4
2)Tekken 3
3)Soul Calibur 2
4)Guilty Gear XX #Reload
5)Marvel Vs. Capcom
My personal top 5 fighting games of all time:
1)Virtua Fighter 4
2)Tekken 3
3)Soul Calibur 2
4)Guilty Gear XX #Reload
5)Marvel Vs. Capcom
schnide 1 Mar 2005 22:00
12/12
..his strange urinating style..
Er, pardon?