The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History is a book about the Tekken series that follows the history of the games and characters, as well as in-depth interviews with the Bandai Namco developers. It was released on July 23, 2019.
Description[]
Twenty-five years ago, Namco released Tekken and redefined the fighting game genre in three dimensions. Known for its deep gameplay, cutting edge graphics, and operatic lore, Tekken has become synonymous with the PlayStation brand while remaining one of the last vestiges of the arcade. The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History follows the series history through a visual feast of iconic games and characters, as well as in-depth interviews with the Bandai Namco developers who made it a reality and the players who made it a phenomenon on its way to becoming one of the best-selling fighting game series in history. It's a complete visual retrospective of one of the most indispensable parts of gaming history, over a quarter century in the making, including art from all seven games of the franchise and more.[1]
Contents[]
The book starts with an introduction that gives an overview of the history of fighting game from the 90's to modern day; How Street FIghter II created a paradigm shift in a growing industry, and how 3D graphics came into vogue in the arcades.[2]
Following the introduction, the book covers The Birth of Namco[3], The Arms Race[4], The Sony Gamble[5], and what would be known as the Rave War[6].
The book then goes on to explain the creation of the series, starting with first two games, Tekken[7] and Tekken 2[8]. It also explains the impact they had as fighting games[9], as well as the uniquely Japanese influences at the time[10]. It continues going over the success and sales of Tekken 3[11], Tekken Tag Tournament[12], and Tekken 4[13], and gives a quick rundown of the terminology that was developing amongst the community at the time[14]. Then it goes into the road leading to the release of Tekken 5[15], as well as the unique controls[16].
The next few pages give overviews of all the characters in the series so far:
- Mishima Clan: Kazuya Mishima, Heihachi Mishima, Jin Kazama, Kazumi Mishima, Lee Chaolan, Lars Alexandersson, Ling Xiaoyu*, Kuma, Panda[17]
- Japanese Fighters: Jun Kazama, Unknown, Asuka Kazama, Kunimitsu, Ganryu, Mokujin, Combot
- American Fighters: Paul Phoenix, Marshall Law, Forest Law, Bruce Irvin, Bob
- World Fighters: Steve Fox, Hwoarang, Baek Doo San, Lili, Eddy Gordo, Christie Monteiro, Feng Wei, Josie Rizal, Katarina Alves, King, Lucky Chloe, Lei Wulong, Michelle Chang, Julia Chang, Miguel Caballero Rojo, Shaheen, Wang Jinrei, Craig Marduk
- Experiments: Jack, Doctor Bosconovitch, Alisa Bosconovitch, Yoshimitsu, Bryan Fury, Roger, Gigas
- Sorcerers: Claudio Serafino, Eliza
- Assassins: Nina Williams, Anna Williams, Sergei Dragunov, Raven, Master Raven
- Crossover Fighters: Gon, Akuma
The book then resumes the game discussion with Tekken 6, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Tekken's gaming World Tour, movie adaptations, Tekken 7, and the eSports scene in Korea. There is a brief summary of the future of Tekken and the merchandise, and finally the book closes with an interview with Katsuhiro Harada and other developers.
Gallery[]
Citation[]
- Co, Franz. "A History of Tag Team Fighting Innovations." SRK. Shoryuken, 16 Mar, 2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2018.
- Cook, Dave "A history of violence: Harada on his Tekken career." VG247. VG247, 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 12 Jan. 2018.
- "Extended Play: How Tekken 3 made everybody love kung-fu fighting." PlayStation.blog. 8 Jun. 2017. Web. 1 Mar. 2018.
- Feldman, Curt. "Bandai, Namco to merge" Gamespot. CBS Interactive Inc., 13 Dec. 2005. Web. 31 Jan 2018.
- "Katsuhiro Harada's Fight To Keep Tekken Relevant." Game Informer. Game Informer, 30 May 2017. Web. 12 Jan. 2018.
- Kurokawa, Fumio. "Talking video games part 2: Mr. Seiichi Ishii's life in prototype of "Virtua Fighter" 4Gamer. Aetas, Inc, 16 Dec. 2017. Web. 31 Jan. 2018.
- Momoda, Jerry. "Tekken History: The Making of Tekken." 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2018.
- "Namco System 21." Encyclopedia Gamia. Wikia, Inc. Web. 22 Jan. 2018.
- Sheffield, Brandon. "Between a rock and a 'Harada' place: The massive Tekken interview." Gamasutra. UBM, 15 Sept. 2017. Web. 12 Jan. 2018.
- Tamburro, Paul. "Top 5 Most Popular Fighting Games Ever." Mandatory. Evolve Media LLC, 16 Jul. 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2018.
- "Tekken Jargon." Tekken Zaibatsu Wiki. 2 Jun. 2017. Web. 7 Apr. 2018.
- "The 50 Best Selling Videogames of the 1990s Worldwide." VGChartz. 3 Jul. 2009. Web. 21 Feb. 2018.
- "The Making of Tekken." Retro Gamer, no. 104, Jun. 2012, pp. 32-35
- "The Making of... Tekken." GamesRadar+, Future Publishing Ltd., 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2018.
- Van Boom, Daniel. "How Tekken became the last arcade fighter standing." cnet. CBS Interactive Inc., 23 May 2017. Web. 22 Feb. 2018.
- "Video Game Sales Wiki - Tekken." Fandom. Wikia, Inc. Web. 21 Feb. 2018.
Trivia[]
- Xiaoyu is erroneously categorized as part of the Mishima Clan.
- Armor King, Leo, and Zafina are not given entries in the fighters chapter.
References[]
- ^ Official Description.
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 6
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 10
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 12
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 14-16
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 18 - 21
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 22 - 27
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History p. 28 - 33
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 34 - 36
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 38 - 43
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 44 - 48
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History p. 50 -53
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 54 - 59
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 60 - 65
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 66 - 70
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 71 - 73
- ^ The Art of Tekken: A Complete Visual History, p. 76 - 109