Fighter's Fan Service

Some news on the upcoming Tekken 6. With already three new faces revealed (first were cross-dressing tomboy Leo and Voldo-esque Zafina, then revenge-seeking matador Miguel), it has been mentioned in an update over at SD Tekken that there will be four more all-new competitors revealed soon. The game is testing in Japan, so there will be probably a lot of news about the game shortly.
Right now though, here are a few tidbits.

The game's graphic, powered by Next-Gen technology, makes the characters more beautiful and realistic (a given). The game will feature 12 new stages, some of which will have multiple areas and breakaway parts (think DOA's multi-section stages). Once again reiterrated is the fact that this will be the biggest Tekken with the largest roster of characters. The game will feature new moves as well as redone old moves, with overall game balance overhaul. A new 'medal system' will be making its debut.

There will be a new feature in the game called the Rage System. The lower your life bar goes, the higher your attack power gets. I'm not too sure about this- I can only hope it doesn't imbalance the game.

Tekken 6 will feature character customization beyond simple color/palette swaps or items/accessories, making for drastic changes in appearance (Yay). 'Concept' items will give the customization a 'rapid evolution'. There will also be 'move items' which provide new moves to the characters once equipped- we assume this are the special items like Anna's throwable high heels. It has been mentioned that Marduk will hit opponents with an iron bar, while Bruce Irvin will 'breed chickens'... what the HELL?

Tekken 6 looks to be a BIG step to shaking up the franchise, which frankly has gotten stale in it's later years (thankfully Tekken 5 and DR were fairly good games). Again, it's due for release in arcades in late 2007, while a PS3 conversion is expected in 2008. I think there's a fairly good chance I'll be seeing this locally.

On a side note, a full-body image of the Ivy CG model from the upcoming Soul Calibur IV has popped up online, and really- Miss Valentine is positively POPPING out of her barely-there costume. The showy ensemble is a much skimpier version of Ivy's default P1 outfit, with little more than cords of cloth covering her body, including her big BIG bumpers up front. All I can say is WHOA. Hopefully more about SCIV (and more Ivy) will be REVEALED soon as well. The Namco slasher is set for release on home consoles in 2008 as well. Next year's going to be awesome for the fighting game fan.

Now... where the heck is DOA5?