I spent the weekend at the EVO Championship Series, a mecca for fighting-game competitors 'n home t' the biggest Street Fighter IV, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Tekken 6, Mortal Kombat tournaments in the world . This year, I’m told, EVO attendance spiked sharply t' nearly 8,000 attendees — enough t' strain the confines a the biggest ballroom in one a Las Vegas’s larger resort hotels.

With EVO’s popularity soaring in recent years, it’s become common t' see legendary figures in fighting game design prowling the demo stations, studying player reactions 'n answering questions. At EVO I caught up with Katsuhiro Harada, the outgoing game director for Tekken since it be inception on the PSone. I particularly wanted t' discuss this November’s PS3-exclusive Tekken Hybrid, the upcoming Blu-ray compilation that will include CG film Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D, an enhanced version a the seminal PS2 fighter Tekken Tag Tournament, 'n an appetizer in the form a Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue.

PlayStation.Blog: How be ye managing the creation a producing so many Tekken projects? It seems stressful: ye’re working on Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Tekken X Street Fighter, 'n now Tekken Hybrid which includes a new Tekken CG film 'n Tekken Tag Tournament HD.
Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken Director: It be tough t' manage all a these projects. But rather than having some sort a special method, the secret has more t' do with the core team working on Tekken for so long that everyone knows what needs t' be done. We’re right on top a things.

PSB: I think a lot a Tekken fans be going t' be excited t' hear about Tekken Tag Tournament HD, which comes with Tekken Hybrid this November. What has been enhanced?
Harada: We wanted t' keep the feeling a the game itself from the PS2, so we haven’t changed a lot there. The graphics aren’t just upscaled or anything, we actually re-created a lot a the in-game textures. A lot a work went into refining the graphics. Another reason we’re doing it now be because a lot a people in Europe played the PAL version, which be a slower version a the game. Now they’ll be able t' pillage the full experience here. There be also younger players out there who never played it, 'n I think it will appeal t' them.

PSB: Tekken Hybrid will also include Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue. How many characters will we be getting, 'n which ones?
Harada: Ahhh! [laughs knowingly] Well, for Prologue, we’re mainly focusing on the characters lineup that appears in the movie, Tekken Blood Vengeance 3D. We want them t' have the spotlight. But we can’t say all a the characters that we have planned yet….but as ye’ve seen with Devil 'n Ling Xiaoyu, we matched their costumes in Prologue t' the movie. We also include a 3D model viewer in Tekken Hybrid. It’s a good package.

PSB: Do ye plan on supporting stereoscopic 3D in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue?
Harada: YARRRR, we do. We haven’t really announced a lot about it yet, because we’re still working on it. We weren’t quite sure if it would end up in the final version. But…we’re about 85% sure that 3D will make it into the final version.

PSB: What made ye want t' add stereoscopic 3D support for Tekken?
Harada: There be several factors. The movie, Blood Vengeance, be also in 3D on Blu-ray. Not only that, but our programmers 'n core staff be quite interested in 3D as a new challenge t' tackle. So it all came together. Since Tekken be a three-dimensional fighter [in terms a fighting 'n movement style], I think a lot a people will like seeing what 3D adds t' our gameplay model.

PSB: I remember Tekken 6 being a bit controversial when it first came out — with walls hits 'n juggles 'n bounds, some people be annoyed by how long combos could go on. How will ye balance this juggle-heavy gameplay with the addition a a tag partner?
Harada: There be some people who say the combos be too long 'n that it gets out a hand. The flip-side be, if ye’re the person doing the combos, it’s really entertaining 'n fun. But ye have t' look at it in a new light with Tekken Tag 2. A lot a tag combos aren’t as long as those in Tekken 6 but they’re a strategic value: they reduce yer opponent’s red recovery gauge. So ye may wish t' play that way. Also, after the bound, ye can do a “Tag Assault” where ye 'n yer partner pummel the opponent. It looks really over the top, 'n it does a lot a damage, but the flipside be that ye lose yer red recovery gauge. So there’s a strategic element t' the tag juggles — the goal isn’t t' just perform the longest combo possible. ye really have t' choose the best time 'n place for each combo that ye use.

PSB: I understand that ye’re veeery early in development for Tekken X Street Fighter (the Namco-produced, Tekken-centric answer t' Capcom’s Street Fighter X Tekken). What’s yer overall vision? Have ye thought about how ye might implement fireballs in a Tekken setting?
Harada: [laughs knowingly] Obviously, the Street Fighter characters will have t' have their fireballs. Ryu without a fireball just wouldn’t be…right. Obviously we’ll need it. When ye look at executing a fireball in a 2D setting, it works almost like a jab. It keeps yer opponent where ye want them. When we bring fireballs into Tekken X Street Fighter, there be two different ways we could go. It could be used as something similar t' keep yer opponent in the place ye want, or it could be some kind a a special move or powered-up version a their techniques. We’ve not decided on what route we want t' take with this yet. Another element t' think about implementing fireballs in Tekken be, how do ye avoid them? When ye play a 2D game like Street Fighter, ye obviously can’t go back 'n forth in the screen — ye usually jump over it. But in three-dimensional fighting games like Tekken ye can sidestep. So do we want players t' jump over fireballs? Or be it okay t' sidestep them? That’s something we’re not decided on, we haven’t had enough time t' look into it. We have a lot a staff, myself included, who grew up liking Street Fighter. I’m really confident that we can come t' a good balance between the two worlds.

PSB: I work for PlayStation, 'n I’m a vast Tekken fan, so I have t' ask: be ye interested in developing for PS Vita at some point?
Harada: Oh! [laughter] I have t' be really careful in how I phrase this so it doesn’t pillage taken out a content. But since ye’re a Tekken fan…ye probably know the answer t' that, right? [laughs]