What Happened to Tekken 6?

What's happened to Tekken 6? Several months ago, Namco officials were promising to release it for arcades, having everything worked out. They even mentioned that Tekken 6 arcade machines in Japan were going to be the first to benefit from the PS3's Cell Processor. They released screens and a very impressive trailer. What happened to all that?

Probably the answer lies in the PS3's lagging behind its competition, the Wii and Xbox 360. Why would Namco hurry into rolling out the sixth installment of the popular fighting series, when the PS3 still sleeps like a baby on retailers' shelves?

But let's look at this from a different point of view. How would you feel about a multiplatform Tekken 6? If you're a dedicated fan of the PlayStation consoles, you probably don't like that idea, but the same thing happened with Metal Gear solid and there was nothing that fans could do, although fanboys threatened to boycott the company (they didn't really think they'd actually do it, did they...?).

The thing is, during this console war, the only thing that could save the PS3 is a good title. I know what you're going to say: "Tekken isn't that savior of a title." Yes, but with no good titles at all, it doesn't stand a chance. It's not like the PS3's Tekken series could compete with the Xbox 360's first-person shooter series from Bungie, Halo, but at least the difference wouldn't be so huge.

Tekken 6 is the first next generation installment of the series, making full use of the PS3's tremendous processing power. Visual effects that can be seen in the trailer will also be present during gameplay, such as the sweat droplets pouring down on Jin's face and body.

Whatever happens to the title, whether it's going multiplatform, or whether development has reached some bump in the road, Tekken 6 has to be released as soon as possible, if Sony wants to make it through this generation of gaming systems.