Pokken Tournament Is Real, Coming To Japanese Arcades In 2015
During a special NicoNico stream in Japan, Pokemon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara appeared to announce Pokken Tournament, a new fighting game made in collaboration with developers from the Tekken and Soul Calibur teams, including Tekken lead developer Katsuhiro Harada.
The brief teaser showed a large meadow with Lucario and Machamp squaring off. We got a brief glimpse of Lucario's Aura-based attacks, including a Mega Evolution, as well as Machamp's four-armed fury, including rapid punches and a spinning clothesline that Zangief would be proud of.
A Famitsu report soon followed, saying the game will be launching in 2015 in Japanese arcades, with no console announcement at the moment. That sounds disappointing, but if Harada is involved a Japanese arcade release being first makes a lot of sense. That's been his modus operandi since he's been making games, with Tekken Tag Tournament 2 being the most recent example. That game launched in Japanese arcades in September of 2011 before launching on consoles a full year later. Let's not assume the worst just yet.
As for the concept, we're racking our brain trying to figure out who the best candidates would be for Pokken. We have Lucario and Machamp, and Blaziken was in that initial tease about a year ago, so that makes sense too. We wouldn't want to overload the game with Fighting types though, even if they make the most sense. Mewtwo for final boss? That sounds like a no-brainer.
Pokken Tournament will launch in Japanese arcades in 2015, and we'll keep an eye out for any announced console plans.