Namco Bandai Games have revealed the first images for the upcoming Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition S+ from Mad Catz.

Not to be confused with Hori’s Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Arcade Stick, the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition S+ is made by Mad Catz. The product will feature a "Femme Fatale" Art Panel, featuring the various female characters in the fighting game.

The Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition S+ will be released for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 systems in North America later this year. Namco Bandai Games will be launching Tekken Tag Tournament 2 for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms on September 11th as well as the Nintendo Wii U sometime after.

Mad Catz this morning announced that they are teaming up with Namco Bandai once again, this time to produce an officially licensed Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Arcade Fightstick. Sure, by itself, that’s not a bad announcement.

The real exciting part though is that Mad Catz has confirmed that they will be bringing the TTT2 Arcade Fightstick to the Wii U along with the PS3 and Xbox 360. So, as of now, this will be the first Wii U fight stick announced for the console.

A release date or pricing has yet to be revealed.

Read on for the announcement.

"Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. announced today its agreement with Namco Bandai Games Inc, to produce the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Arcade FightStick, a Tournament Edition fighting game controller for use with the upcoming Tekken Tag Tournament 2 videogame.

The agreement gives Mad Catz worldwide rights to ship products for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system from Sony and the forthcoming Wii U console from Nintendo."

Excellent news for that one guy making a Street Fighter X Tekken stop-motion animation film based on the one fanfic he wrote, as well as regular people with cubicles that need decorating: Namco Bandai will be releasing two new series of SFxT Minimates figures, with the first wave arriving in November.

Regardless of which wave they're in, characters come in fixed packs of two: Ken vs. Steve, Cammy vs. Nina, Poison vs. Lili and Sagat vs. King (above) make up November's offering. Wave two, said to release sometime in February, pits Chun-Li vs. Hwoarang, Abel vs. Kazuya, Ryu vs. Yoshimitsu and Rufus vs. Julia, all of whom can be seen after the break. No word on pricing, but we do know that some pairs will be more rare than others.

Lee Abrahams over at Xbox 360 Achievements wrote up a great Tekken Tag Tournament 2 preview from Gamescom 2012. In this article Abrahams recaps a presentation given by Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada at the event and provides details on such topics as the Tekken Tunes feature, World Tekken Federation, Fight Lab and more.

Below is a bit from the article.


Each time you clear certain stages in the Fight Lab you will be assigned a ranking, which in turn will unlock new moves to purchase and also mean that you have a bevy of points to spend on said moves. The idea being that players can constantly challenge themselves and always have a new goal, or series of unlocks, to strive for. “So it’s not like you can just play through once and be done with it,” Harada states, “As there is a lot on offer here so you can continue to play through this mode to unlock all of the content.” It’s clear that the focus is on creating an array of modes and content to keep hardcore players happy while also appealing to relative newcomers.

He also mentioned the new Tekken Tunes feature which lets players chop and change the in-game music as they see fit, or even introduce their own music to play over the menus, stages and so on. He immediately brandished a Red Hot Chili Peppers CD with a grin and popped it into the console to import 'Give it Away' over the action. It’s a neat feature and an example of the level of interaction Harada hopes players will come to enjoy. “You can also put your own music and soundtracks in there,” Harada continues, with a glint in his eye, “Or as a parent, you can leave messages to your kids to tell them to stop playing games and do their homework instead. So that when they clear the final stage they get yelled at for playing the game.” A novel approach to selling your game to be sure, but it shows the sense of humour on offer and that Harada is prepared to embrace a variety of ideas to make the game as unique as possible.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board has revealed their rating summary for the upcoming multiplatform title, Tekken Tag Tournament 2. The Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the fighting game got tagged with a T (for Teen) rating due to contents relating to alcohol reference, crude humor, mild blood, partial nudity, sexual themes and violence. Furthermore, the user-generated content will be unrated while the DLC music tracks may also be inconsistent with the rating. You can check out the full summary from the ESRB below:

"Includes online features that may expose players to unrated user-generated content (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

Features downloadable music content that may be inconsistent with the ESRB rating (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
Rating summary: This is an arcade-style fighting game in which players engage in hand-to-hand combat with a large cast of human, animal, and supernatural characters. Players use martial arts punches, kicks, and throws to drain opponents' health meters. Some fighters also use melee weapons or laser blasts to knock characters across the screen or to the ground. Some attacks reference alcohol (e.g., Wine Opener, Tequila Sunrise), and one character uses “drunken” fighting moves. Matches are accompanied by cries of pain, punching sounds, and impact effects. Cutscenes depict additional acts of violence/blood: a man getting shot from a rooftop by a sniper; droplets of blood falling from a wounded fighter. During the course of the game, there some references to sexual material: a fighter arrested for “voyeurism” after spying on a woman; a red-light district (neon signs that read Sexy Cats, Sexy Rouge, and Girls Paradise appear nearby); a fight stage with women pole-dancing in the background. During one cutscene, a woman appears partially nude as her ink-like costume dissolves underwater; in another, a character is shown covering her breasts after a shower. In one comedic scene, two fighters eat pizza that has been laced with laxatives; gurgling/flatulence sounds can be heard as they race to the bathroom."

A new Street Fighter X Tekken developer blog has been posted on Capcom-Unity today. Ayano mainly focuses on the PS Vita version packaging, giving detailed descriptions and showing images of the proofs.

Ayano also gives a small update about the iPhone version of Street Fighter X Tekken, telling everyone to expect big tings.

"I got word from the mobile development team that the iPhone version of SFXTK is “almost ready to go” -and come to think of it, the mobile team was cheering about something; they must have finished their master submission! Definitely expect big things from SFXTK mobile!"

Fans of the King Of Iron Fist Tournament are looking forward to next month, when the long-awaited console release of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 makes its way to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3!  

The game was originally released in arcades last September 2011, and it’s been a year-long wait for the second installment of this tag team series —and now it’s finally upon us, with more material and updates to please long-time followers. 
 
Based on the engine of the updated arcade port Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Unlimited, the console version of TTT2 will be packed with more extras and additional characters. Among the extras included are new stages and items for customization, as well as returning characters from the Tekkenverse not seen for a while, such as Tiger Jackson, Kunimitsu, Ogre, and Angel. A new Practice Mode called “Fighting Lab” will also be added to satiate the hunger of those looking to test their might and combo skills. 
 
To give players a taste of things to come, Namco Bandai has released the official cinematic intro to Tekken Tag Tournament 2 online: 
 
LINK TO VIDEO

The opening CG sequence shows a regular cab driver listening in to the announcement of the new King Of Iron Fist tag team tournament, while a silent and powerful Jinpachi Mishima broods behind in the passenger’s seat. Later, the action shifts into the tournament arena, where fighters old and new converge to take part in the greatest battle of them all. The ninjitsu tag team duo of Raven and Kunimitsu enter the ring, while sibling rivals Anna and Nina Williams reluctantly join forces to face them. 
 
In the midst of the battle, True Ogre suddenly appears, and to combat the menacing threat is none other than Angel. The opening mixes up the excellent electronic intro music with fantastic visual highlights, setting the stage for the big tag battle to come!
 
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 smashes its way into Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles this September 11. — TJD, GMA News

For  Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and possibly subsequent Tekken games in the franchise. The service is launching for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and will be like a social community for players of the Tekken series.

Players who utilise the service will be able to track their personal statistics, create teams with friends, compete in events and discuss the game and it’s strategies. On the service Namco Bandai had this to say -

“World Tekken Federation is a premium service that aims to connect players to the TEKKEN worldwide community in a way never before seen with a fighting game,” said Carlson Choi, Vice President of Marketing for NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.  “Being able to unite the entire TEKKEN global community is an incredibly exciting initiative that will help extend the competitive nature of the series well past TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2’s launch date.”

The World Tekken Federation is able to keep players connected to the world of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 as it can be accessed through any online connected device. This means that Tekken players will be able to communicate and look up stats for fighters and other services wherever they are.

The service launches alongside Tekken Tag Tournament 2 on the 9/11/12 – US Date. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 will retail for $59.99USD.

This article is about 3 days old, I know, it's old. I missed this article, so I might as well post it on a slow news day like today.

THE designer of Tekken, one of the world's most popular video game blockbusters, says that console makers can no longer control the way people game


Harada San, game director and chief producer of fighting game franchise, Tekken, told news.com.au that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo should use their powers for good instead of evil, by joining forces.

“For a long time, the game industry has been able to control the way people play games,” Mr San said, speaking through a translator.

“There was a platform that people used solely for their gaming needs, and the industry had control of the trends and such that occurred.”

However the video game designer said that with the development of mobile hone and internet gaming, games are now just a part of the basic package.

“People are able to not be tied down by consoles,” he said. “And it doesn’t stop with phones, we have browser gaming and all these different platforms.”

Mr San said Sony put itself ahead of the curve compared to its competitors by doing away with region locking on the PS3, making it easier for fans to access foreign games.
But the video game designer said that the opportunities for innovation would be endless if the three competitors joined forces.

“I think it would be interesting if Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo got together just to make one console,” he said. “It makes me very happy to think about all the possibilities that could occur because of that.”

So what about the new instalment of Tekken, Tekken Tag Tournament 2? Mr San said he tried to make it the most comprehensive incarnation of the game to date.

Mr San said he was influenced by many things, including his own martial arts training as well as Hollywood and Hong Kong action cinema, but that his most important inspiration comes from the feedback he receives from his fans.

“The game changes quite a bit depending on what everyone’s saying about the game.”

“Obviously when we made the first Tekken we didn’t have much to go on, but then throughout the series, we continually got different feedback from the fans,” says Mr San, “I analyse that and from there decide on the direction to take the game.”

Tekken is one of the oldest and longest running franchises in video game history. The fighting game series has legions of fans worldwide and its instalments are regularly used for competitive e-sports

The latest game in the series, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, was released in Japanese arcades in late 2011, and is set to land on consoles worldwide later this year. 

Perhaps the biggest reason to own a PS2 at launch? Tekken Tag Tournament. It was quite the phenomenon when it hit Sony’s new console back in 2000; the combination of the already-gigantic Tekken following and the arrival of a new PlayStation made TTT an instant classic. And now, the sequel is finally slated to drop nearly 12 years later, much to the delight of hardcore franchise fans everywhere. And with over 50 characters, one-on-one combat, and the patented tag-team battles, it’s destined to deliver.

You’ve got Pair Play mode, which lets four players into the action; each will control one character and it’s bound to be a hot option for parties. And it’s great to get more people involved because TTT2 is all about personalizing your approach; it’s not about locating the combos that everyone can do, or the cheesy attacks that let even the worst button-mashers win a bunch of matches. This is going to be about engaging in a flexible, continually evolving mechanic that is begging to be explored and experimented with. So what’s your style?

One of the biggest additions is the Fight Lab, which is great for the newbies. This time around, Namco’s goal is to allow for more accessibility, and that will require some training in the Lab. You will control the Combot and Violet will instruct you in the ways of battle; you’ll learn everything from the basics like simple attacks and guarding, to longer chains, juggling, and the intricacies of timing and execution. They’re gonna make this fun, too, as the first enemy you face is a golden knight who drops coins as you land blows, and a successful bound smackdown destroys his armor.