Bandai Namco on why Pokken Tournament is being made for arcade first
Prior to Pokken Tournament’s announcement, many gamers assumed that the title would be confirmed for Wii U. That didn’t happen though, as it’s only for arcades at present.
In an interview with Japanese website 4Gamer, Bandai Namco’s Katsuhiro Harada explained why Pokken Tournament is hitting arcades first. When 4Gamer said that Pokemon is considered family-oriented and that this isn’t necessarily the same for arcades, Harada responded:
“That’s something that got a big reaction, for better or worse [from the development staff]. There are several reasons for this choice, one being that ‘if it were on arcades, it would be interesting to see fan reaction sooner’.”
“The other reason, which is something I always say, is that it’s important for fighting games to at least succeed in arcades once. With arcades charging 100 yen for a single play, if it’s a boring game, it will most certainly be dismissed. It’s really a harsh environment for [arcade games].”
4Gamer next mentions that, if a game becomes popular in arcades, fans can make a purchase once it releases for consoles without any concerns. That was followed by these comments from Harada:
“Pokémon definitely has a family-oriented image, but in addition to how we decided on developing [Pokkén] as a competitive game with depth, we must also be prepared to face such severe conditions.”
“Once you have a title that can make it out of the lion’s den called arcades, it’s something you know you can be proud of for being the real deal. Additionally, there aren’t too many developers that take on these kind of challenges nowadays.”
