Nothing like fanboy disgust.

----- fanboy

xbox get your own games. i feel so dirty, knowing that my favorite fighting game has been soiled by the POS 360.

----- me

Know you know how Virtua Fighter fans felt when VF4 was released on the PS2. To say nothing about how disgusted we were when all the "VFSUX" fanboys suddenly became long-time VF "fans" and talked about how the series they had been dissing since the PS1 days was suddenly this amazing, highly-respected series. Nothing quite like seeing that 180 turn-around when VF came to the PS2...

-----

I firmly expect something similar to happen with XB/DOA fanboys suddenly liking Tekken, mind you, and I'll find them equally contemptable.

At anyrate, I can't say I'm horribly surprised by this move. Fighting games are a niche genre to be sure; their glory days and mass-market appeal are long behind them, replaced with longtime fans, the truly hardcore and tournament players. So, from an economic standpoint? Makes total sense - neither the PS3 or 360 have utter dominance over the other, so this maximizes their potential market and gives them the greatest return on their total investment.

And to be honest? All that in mind? I don't think, sales wise, this is that big a loss for Sony. Loss of prestige, perhaps, but that's about it. I sincerely doubt that Tekken (or VF, or SF, etc) was THE reason for very many people at all to buy a PS3. It might sway some fence sitters (or keep them on the fence longer), but meh.

How will the two versions fare? To me? Don't care. Harada has some legitimate concerns about storage, but to be honest? While I would not be surprised if the 360 had lesser graphics than the PS3 version, it doesn't matter to me. I'm a VF fan. No home console has ever exceeded the arcade versions, so I don't worry about that. I'm a Neo Geo fan. It took 10 years for home hardware to produce accurate conversions of SNK fighters. And when it comes down to it, anyone who's more worried about graphics than gameplay when it comes to fighters isn't what I'd call a fighter fan. Is the gameplay spot on? Is the engine right?

Plain and simple - if Tekken 6 looked like a PS1 game, would you still play it? I would. The longevity of a fighter is entirely based around the engine, the gameplay, and not the graphics. One look at the national (and international) tournament scene will readily confirm this. Games that can't hold it together gameplay wise fade away, no matter how nice they look. And to be honest, if Tekken 6 looked just like Tekken 5 on the PS2? It would still be a gorgeous game.

Anyhow - enough ranting.