New Character Revealed For ‘Tekken 7′

Tekken 7 is mere months away. The latest sequel for the massively popular fighting series was revealed with a trailer at EVO 2014, the world’s largest fighting game tournament and now Tekken 7 is set to release in arcades in Japan in March of this year, with a release for home consoles expected at some point soon after.

Of course, the Tekken series would not be complete without a cast of vibrant characters. Namco Bandai has built a roster of unique combatants, and Tekken has the honor of being the only game series where you can see a grizzly bear face off against a wooden training dummy brought to life. That’s before we even mention the boxing kangaroos and velociraptors.

So who has been chosen as the next fighter to enter the Iron Fist Tournament? Katsushiro Harada, the director of Tekken 7, has revealed that the latest playable character is Shaheen. Shaheen, the series’ first character from Saudi Arabia, was announced by Harada via a post on Twitter, complete with a full-body character design. He joins other new fighters Claudio Serafino, Katarina Alves and Lucky Chloe.

 

 

The reveal of the Shaheen has so far had a positive reaction from fans of the series. In fact, Tekken’s creators have been looking to include a Middle Eastern character for some time. The series is extremely popular in the region, and the development team apparently took time to learn about the Middle East after player feedback asked for a character from the region. After all, players from the Middle East only had the Egyptian Zafina, who was a new character for Tekken 6.

It makes a change from the controversy surrounding Tekken 7′s other new character. Although some have raised concerns that the keffiyeh-wearing Shaheen fits a number of stereotypes, the complaints have been a drop in the ocean in comparison to those surrounding fellow newcomer Lucky Chloe. The animal ear-wearing fighter faced a wave of criticism from American and Western fans, with Harada stating that the character may well end up omitted from the North American release of the game.

So far, 2015 has been a great year for fighting game reveals. We’ve also faced the news that Kung Lao is being brought back for Mortal Kombat X.  Let’s hope the characters translate well into interesting and fun characters to play. At the moment, there are no more details about Shaheen. For now, be sure to check out this concept art of the character. We’ll have more details as they come.

Tekken 7 is set for release in Japanese arcades in March 2015. There are no confirmed details of a home console release.

New Character Revealed For ‘Tekken 7′

Nintendo: No More Balance Patches for ‘Super Smash Bros. for Wii U’

Although plenty of gamers enjoy Super Smash Bros. competitions within the comfort of their homes, the title has slowly begun to branch out into eSports. Over the past two years, for example, popular fighting game tournament EVO has included the Nintendo published and developed title in its line-up.

However, if a recent message from Nintendo holds true, then the most recent Super Smash Bros. for Wii U might not have as much eSports appeal. According to Nintendo, the most recent balance patch for the game was the last they plan to release, leaving the game’s current roster as is in terms of viability.

This isn’t just some PR message from Nintendo either, but comes straight from series director Masahiro Sakurai. As Sakurai explains, continuously balance patching Super Smash Bros. would result in an endless cycle of patches. So, rather than tweaking characters throughout the life of Super Smash Bros., Sakurai and his team have decided to draw the line here.

“If we were to do something like tweak characters’ customized special moves, then there’d be no end to it.”

Obviously, this isn’t the kiss of death for Super Smash Bros. in the eSports scene, but it will make the game less viable. Most fighting games receive regular balance patches throughout the year, in an effort to make as many characters worth using as possible. Sure, there will be favorites, but every EVO event usually features the resurgence of a new character either in Street Fighter, Injustice, or Super Smash Bros. The Ice Climbers from Brawl, for example, made an impressive showing at a recent EVO event.

That isn’t to say Super Smash Bros. is the type of franchise that sees those types of patches, but some thought Nintendo might make a more concerted effort towards giving the game eSports viability. Then again, up until a few years ago they were against EVO streaming Super Smash Bros. at all.

But while Nintendo is done with balance patches, they are by no means done with Super Smash Bros for Wii U. Rather, as Sakurai explains, the focus now turns to online play, and making that experience as smooth as possible. Good net code is another key to a great fighting game experience, arguably more than balance patches even.

Should issues with balance arise, like a single character becoming too overpowered, Nintendo is not against stepping in with a hot fix. However, those issues would need to be, in their words, “glaring.”

How do you feel about Nintendo calling it quits on Super Smash Bros. balance patches? Are there any characters that you currently consider overpowered?

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Source: Event Hubs

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Nintendo: No More Balance Patches for ‘Super Smash Bros. for Wii U’