Tekken 5 News Update & 24 New Shots

A whole load of new screens from Namco's Tekken 5, plus with hot new details - the arcade version will feature ALL.net online play, but the PS2 version probably won't.

Namco has released the latest wave of screens from Tekken 5, the highly anticipated 3D fighting sequel coming to arcades later this year, and to PlayStation 2 next year.

News emerging just before the weekend revealed that the coin-op version will support online play, facilitated by the recently announced ALL.net infrastructure from Sega Sammy Holdings.

ALL.net was announced last week by the newly-formed holding outfit of merged Sammy and Sega. In partnership with the other arcade giant Namco, the service enhances Sega Japan's previously pioneered arcade networking technologies for use in many future arcade games. The first such game seems like it might be Namco's Tekken 5.

However, it is unlikely to make the online transition when it lands on PlayStation 2 next year. Dead or Alive Ultimate, the Tecmo fighter that marks the first ever move online for 3D console fighters, looks set to keep that title to itself.

Although console-only DOA Ultimate now looks unlikely to see a release before this Christmas according to new reports today, it will still be the first to make the move online, and the only 3D fighter to do so for a while. As creator Tomonobu Itagaki recently explained to Kikizo, "Both Sega and Namco get a big portion of their revenue form the arcade business... if the consumer version of their games has online features, then people wouldn't have to go to the arcade any more."

Stay tuned for lots more on the mighty Tekken sequel, as Bryan Fury, King, Kazuya Mishima, Yoshimitsu, Julia Chang, Craig Marduk and Jack 5 all join the party. And don't expect the mythical Virtua Fighter 5 for some time yet.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com

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