08th Jun2012

Tekken Tag 2 – Fight Lab Run Through – E3 2012

by Rip

As mentioned in my E3 Impressions & Recap, I got the chance to run through the Fight Lab demo for Tekken Tag 2. It seems like it will be a good tool to teach people who are totally unfamiliar with Tekken how the juggle/sidestep system works. The sidestep section that was included could definitely be expanded upon. Would be nice to see more movement tutorials in here as well – maybe a minigame where things are exploding in front of you and you have to backdash them. Then add on to it with say, avoid object exploding in front of you with a backdash, then hit a target in front of you. The super physics for B! and stuff were fun to mess around with as was the Turbo mode. Makes me wonder if TTT2:Turbo isn’t a bad idea.. The developers are very interested to see what everyone thinks, so be sure to sound off in the comments if you have any suggestions/criticism

08th Jun2012

E3 2012 – Tekken Tag Tournament 2 – Impressions and Recap

by Rip

E3 2012 is finally in the books. I’ve been going to E3 for ~10 years now and this was the first time that I really did not care to browse the show floor much. I spent most of all 3 days at the Namco booth in front of Tekken Tag Tournament 2. This year was, by FAR, the largest booth Tekken has ever had at E3. Giant 40 ft screen showing top players playing the game on a stage with a badass DJ, awesome center stage based on the TTT2 Arena stage, Ferrari and Lamborghini with Tekken skins, girls of Tekken cosplay etc. Outside of the venue, buses were covered in Tekken skins and there was even a giant Tekken Tag 2 banner on the Convention Center itself. Namco is obviously pushing Tekken harder than ever before, and with good reason. Tekken Tag 2 is shaping up to be the biggest Tekken release ever. A big thanks to FilthieRich for getting members of the Tekken community involved in the event as well. Here are my thoughts on the event and the game.

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17th Apr2012

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Console – New Batch of Screenshots

by Rip

Click the following link for a big batch of new screenshots of Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Shows some hi-resolution Fight Lab, some new CGI art, as well as the new stage and more. Thanks to Kane for pointing it out
tekken-tag-tournament-2_2012_04-17-12_001tekken-tag-tournament-2_2012_04-17-12_005tekken-tag-tournament-2_2012_04-17-12_014

17th Apr2012

Tekken Tag 2 – More Fight Lab Details + ‘We Are Tekken’ Trailer

by Rip

At Namco’s Global Gamer Day event Harada gave out more info about the new Fight Lab. VideoGamer has their full notes at their site all the highlights are after the jump after the new trailer! Looks like we can except Gon in the game?!

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16th Apr2012

Tekken Tag 2 – Fight Lab Video + Easy Input Mode?

by Rip

Gamespot has put up two new videos of Tekken Tag Tournament 2. The first shows off some of the new Fight Lab while the second shows off a bunch of the special team throws/combos in the game. Fight Lab of course is the one I’m more interested in since Tekken 6′s Practice Mode caught a lot of flack. From this trailer alone it looks like Fight Lab is designed more for beginners, giving them a sort of challenge mode to familiarize themselves with the games systems. Hopefully there’s more advanced sections of it as well as the traditional practice mode with record function.

The very first clip shows a combo where inputs are highlighted as it goes along, however the inputs appear to be super easy. Does this mean Tekken Tag 2 has adopted Capcom’s Easy Input option for beginners? I wouldn’t be surprised considering the reasons we’ve heard for solo mode being added. Easy inputs have been common in handheld versions of fighting games for awhile (Tekken 3DS, SF4 on iPhone etc) but this would be the first Tekken for home consoles to feature it. Its an interesting combo as well since it mixes moves from multiple characters so it may just be there to teach people combo structure/timing (launch, bind, ender). CANT WAIT FOR THIS GAME TO DROP

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11th Apr2012

Tekken Tag 2 Console – September 2012 – Fight Lab and 50+ Characters

by Rip

We reported almost a month ago that the console version of Tekken Tag 2 may arrive as early as September and today Namco made it official. The console version will include 50+ characters (TTT2 Unlimited has 44) and a new Fight Lab to help new players learn the game while giving old players more options for practice against a bot. Basically, it sounds like its going to be an advanced practice mode which everyone has been asking for.

…while in the all new Fight Lab mode, players can customize the moves and appearance of new training character, Combot. Players that clear the innovative Fight Lab will have mastered the complexities of TEKKEN and own their own customized Combot

There is also mention of possible new stages (Brazil has been mentioned). So far everything sounds pretty good, but they still need to focus on the netcode because we all know how Tekken 6′s netcode was. With Soul Calibur 5′s netcode being pretty well accepted the Tekken team will hopefully use that code base or deliver something equally as impressive.

Full press release after the jump:
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