Pokkén Tournament has been out for a short while now, and a fun fact is that it's called Pokémon Tekken in Germany; next time someone tells you the comparison to Tekken is entirely erroneous, point them to Amazon Germany.
In any case, beyond that irrelevant factoid there are some new videos that have been shared by Nintendo UK. The subsidiary helped setup the game at the recent Hypespotting event in Glasgow, Scotland - though the event drew criticism for issues streaming its Street Fighter V tournament online, it's nevertheless a big part of the competitive gaming calendar in the country.
There are two videos - first up is a series of impressions from attendees, naturally positive about the game's merits.
Next up is a longer watch of over 70 minutes, which is the Pokkén Tournament Invitational from the event.
The game has a big year ahead of it as it'll try to break through in the competitive scene; do you think it'll succeed?
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Comments (16)
I think Pokken can really make a place in competitive gaming. It's definately seeming to fit in. I'd love to see it played at a professional level.
Yo! I was at hypespotting filming and playing smash there! Even entered that very tournament
it's called Pokemon Tekken here because pox are Pocken in German
Guys, you seems to have misunderstood why people criticize to why it's called "Pokemon Tekken".
We don't criticize it because of the name, we criticize it because in terms of gameplay, it's very different to Tekken.
Sure the dual-phase is somewhat reminiscent to Tekken but even then, it feels quite different and that's coming from someone that's played ever main series Tekken game.
I like Pokken a lot, I haven't been to a tournament yet, but I am planning to soon.
nice to see loads of faces from smash tournaments i know, Hawx and G~P ayyy
I wonder if this game will survive for over a year......
@NCChris They did a duel phase like this before?
I'm conflicted with this game as competitive. Not because of the gameplay, but because of how you play. Smash requires one TV set, one copy of the game, and one wii U for one match. Pokken requires 2 copies of the game, 2 TV sets and 2 Wii U consoles! Since the Pokemon Company is being way cooler than Nintendo and actually supporting the competitive play of their competitive fighting game, events put on by them will probably be well-stocked. This will most likely extend to big national and regional events like EVO, CEO, APEX etc.
But what about locals? Let's say 20 people enter a tournament. If everyone entering brings a TV, their Wii U and their copy of the game, that leaves the TO to get 20 more TV sets, 20 more copies of Pokken and 20 more Wii U consoles! Because of this restriction, a whole lot less local events will be put on, and thus the competitive community suffers.
For example, if you're pretty good at Smash but nowhere near the level of going to a regional event, then just go to one of the many locals at high schools, community centers, game stores, etc. But with Pokken, I can see a lot of these smaller events disappearing because of a lack of supplies to put it on. This means the few locals that are big enough to support Pokken will be overrun by the best members of the local scene, kind of like a funnel. With few tournaments to go to, all the top players flock to one or two, leaving no room for the little guy to improve against other little guys.
Competitive games need to be more like a colander and less like a funnel: instead of one big hole where all the water comes out, but at a really slow rate, it needs to have a bunch of little holes where all the water can come out at a fast pace. That's what keeps competitive games alive.
@happylittlepigs If 20 people enter a tournament and everyone brings a TV and console then that's enough setups for a tournament of 20 people, surely? They'd all have a console to play on at all times You wouldn't need 40 consoles for 20 players.
Wonderful analogy at the end there, though. UK StreetPass communities are trying their hardest to create a more colander-like situation!
No chance I am hopeless lol but the game is very fun tho.
@StreetPassUK Yeah I realized my math was off after I posted it, but my point is that Pokken needs twice as many consoles lol. Good luck trying to make Pokken more accessible to a wider audience in the UK. Hope someone can do the same for America.
@happylittlepigs in a local, you only need 1/4 setups as people
EDIT: having gone to many smash (melee and WiiU) and MvC3 (marvel) tournaments, its rare that there are 1/3 as many setups as people and 1/4 is the norm.
my worry is that the game doesnt feel competetive enough to me, but i guess it might just feel to slow for me.
@Wonky_Kong How would that work? Would people just have to wait a long time to play?
@Captain_Toad Nope, Phase Shifting is brand new, hence why people criticize it for claiming to be a Tekken game.
@happylittlepigs Yeah, there might be some friendly setups but otherwise you normally talk and wait for your next game during pools (pools is where everyone is playing tournament games) then after that setups can be used for friendlies. Usually 4 or 3 people will chat and play rotation at a friendly setup.
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