14 DAY TRIAL // Just recently, more Tekken 6 news have emerged. Sadly, they're not the kind of news fans hoped for (as in PS3 version launch date), but good news nonetheless. According to Dig Info, responsible for the news bulletin we've embedded below, Tekken 6 (arcade version) will be using this new Octave Engine, set to be released by Prometech Software in mid December.
Prometech describes their technology as follows: Octave Engine applies hydrodynamic theories to simulate water movements, colors of the sky, and other small particle systems like sand. This physics simulation engine can immediately recognize character positions and movements that affect various elements in the environment.
A Prometech representative's comments sound a little something like this: "Sand, water and the sky can be combined into one simulation, the sand can be raised and lowered and interact with the water and other objects in real-time."
You have to admit that it's a pretty interesting video, but I'm just going to make a tiny observation here. It seems that every time they show a great engine upon which a game is being built (not Namco Bandai in particular), the gameplay is almost never the aspect that changes, mostly graphics do. We can all agree that visuals represent one of the most important aspects when it comes to any video game of any genre? but doesn't it feel like they're tricking us sometimes?
Don't get the wrong idea now, the whole gameplay experience is improved by those nice ripples of water moving away from the impact zone when a character falls heavy to the ground, as well as the stuff it does with the sand and sky, but is that enough to say the series is evolving? It doesn't matter anyway, the Tekken series has been, is, and probably always will be one of the best fighting games ever developed.
Hopefully, Namco comes up with a launch date for the title's PS3 installment soon.