The following info and comments come from Namco Bandai's Katsuhiro Harada...

On working with a Nintendo audience...

"We still weren't sure what the Nintendo audience was going to be like. At first, we were aiming towards a simplified version of Tekken — taking a lot of elements from the arcade version and streamlining them for a casual fan base. Nintendo's reaction was that it wanted us to keep the hardcore elements that make Tekken what it is. We were quite surprised."

On limiting the amount of Nintendo-related items...

"Originally we had planned for many different items, like the variety of things you see in Mario Kart. But Nintendo said that's a bit too much to have all of those items in there."

On working with Nintendo...

"We really strengthened our working relationship with Nintendo, and we became really close at that point. It's not like [Yoshinori] Ono-san from Capcom where he just kind of comes and goes as he pleases, and makes his own desk. It's mainly a relationship where we deal with them over email frequently, but the important points we need to discuss regarding game features and such are always done in meetings with them directly.

With Nintendo, as with other franchises besides Mario, [one] person has the creative control and the final say, and for Mario that's Miyamoto. So indirectly we had some interaction there, but because on both sides we have pretty busy schedules, it was more convenient and efficient at the time to go through their person in charge, and he was the one who checked [everything] with Miyamoto."

On character costumes...

"We came up with the idea of, 'Well, if we could take the Tekken characters and dress them up more like Nintendo characters, that would make it even more funny and comical.'"

On new vs. advanced players, controls...

"...for more advanced players who are used to the game, it might take some time to get used to it, because whether you're playing with a stick or a normal controller like on 360 or PS3, your hands are closer. Some advanced fighting game players also often have a variety of different ways they hold the controller.

For example, you might know that the 3DS version of Street Fighter 4 has that touch option, but when you touch the button you're able to perform the move regardless of what position your character's in, regardless of how long it would take to input that command normally. However, in Tekken that's not the case ... you can only perform that technique if the circumstances would allow you to perform it normally.

There are actually some moves where it's better for advanced players to input the commands themselves because it might be quicker or it might be a better version of the move, so it's not like the hardcore's going to shun it saying it's cheap, I don't think." He further cites players using triggers and bumper buttons on controllers to assist in pulling off moves more consistently, much in same way that touch screen commands are used."

On similarities between core fighting game groups...

"It seems that the motivation behind the players in those core groups is not as different as I initially thought. I came to this conclusion after seeing them in tournaments, and also after playing Smash Bros. more myself and also looking at YouTube videos — I began to see a lot of similarities. So I think if each community surrounding Tekken, Street Fighter and Smash Bros. could look more open-mindedly at each other's games, you might find that there's a lot more similarities and a lot that you'd enjoy about the game, and that can be said for all sides."

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