author: Hank
House party icon. Interview with Katsuhiro Harada
Table of Contents
In some countries, Tekken has become an iconic game. There’s many reasons for that, one of the main ones being the game was perfect for parties. For some, in fact, it was as important as chips and booze. I remember during one of the housewarming parties, upon finding out that we were going to be playing Tekken, a friend shouted willingly: "But I'm playing as the dude who can spin-kick while standing on his arms!” Of course, she meant Eddie, but it's not about educating the friend. I just want to prove that almost everyone has heard about Tekken.
During the interview, Mr. Harada admitted that he did not realize the popularity of his games in Poland, where the meeting took place, and even expressed regret that he had not known about it before. However, the popularity of casual gaming in Europe came to his ears, resulting in the addition of a beach ball to Tekken 3. What's more, it could be the foundation for gameplay expansion in the next installment of the series. However, whether by the term "player" we mean a person similar to my friend described above, or a professional e-sports player, Katsuhiro Harada feels a similar connection with each of them through his games.
Mostly because it's a cross-generational game. Tekken, as one of the few series in the market, has been around for more than 25 years – as long as one generation lasts. Yes, new games and series are popping up, but there are few that are still alive despite the time gone by. I personally like the Call of Duty series very much, there are a lot of them, but the series itself is not yet 25 years old. Resident Evil and Final Fantasy are further examples of the intergenerational series. And it is the contact with players who deal with series like this that gives us a sense of satisfaction and creates that bond that drives us to create new games.
Being in Poland, I had to ask about the country’s greatest pride when it comes to gaming: CD Projekt RED, The Witcher, and Cyberpunk 2077. Harada said:
I played The Witcher and of course I'm going to play Cyberpunk. After all, Wild Hunt was released in Japan and several European countries by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment. On many occasions I had the chance to see what my Polish colleagues are preparing for us, e.g. at E3 I saw a Cyberpunk show behind closed doors.
Katsuhiro Harada also assured me that he and NAMCO have been closely watching the Polish gaming market for the past eight years. IEM 2020 was the first opportunity for him to visit Poland. The plans have been almost completely thwarted by a raging virus but what goes up... Now, after learning the characteristics of the market and realizing how popular his games are, he plans to add another accent to his productions that will please players from Eastern Europe. He doesn't yet know exactly what or when it will be. But it will happen.
During our conversation, the landscape hasn't changed much. The emptiness around the Spodek Arena and the dark clouds above created a rather gloomy impression. Finally, we saw the dank in our cups of warm drinks, heralding the end of our meeting. Just one short question more. Which one should I choose? When's the next Tekken?! No... Will more characters from other franchises appear in Tekken, as was the case with Negan from The Walking Dead? No, not this one. Okay, I got it.
“Mr. Harada, thank you so much for our conversation. But I would like to ask you one last thing. In your opinion, who would win – Jin without Devil Gene or Hwoarang?”
Hmmm. Tough question. Looking purely at the melee combat skills, I think Hwoarang is a little bit better, he's got a little bit more skill. So maybe him.
K. O.