Tekken boss Harada tells complaining fans to 'practice being an adult' and 'whatever'

Someone's being Mr Grumpy Pants

Words: Justin Towell on June 26, 2012

Tekken's head honcho Katsuhiro Harada sounds like a very exasperated man. Fed up with whining fans continually criticising and demanding things that simply aren't possible to change, he's written 754 words laced with frustration and posted them on Twitter, having to use TwitLonger to do it.

He makes things very clear early on, sounding very much like a parent chastising a naughty child: "I believe that, before whining and complaining about everything, you need practice at taking a step back and analyzing things objectively. And also at being an adult."

The problem stems primarily from fans continually asking him to reuse old voice talent from previous games. Harada does his best to explain that recording technology has changed, voice actors retire and (after 16 years), not even he can voice Marshal and Forest any more. But the post has the air of a man who knows there's futility in any explanation.

Above: We hope you're happy, Jacob Drew Cameron (@I_Love_Hyoyeon)

"Do you know that all of the voice work for a character is not always done by just one voice actor? Using Brian as an example, the laugh you guys love so much uses the original data from Tekken 3, but the short kiai voice uses a different voice actor, and the "come on!" voice also uses a different voice actor. A lot of other characters also use different voice actors for the spoken lines and for the shouts."

However, after the lengthy explanation of the dialogue complications, the post takes a downward turn as he decides to get everything off his chest:

"I have even complied to the requests of you all spamming me to "bring back characters" from previous instalments. You often say, "Let's show the dev team how sincere we are by buying 2 copies if they bring back character X", but did you really go through with it? Expecting you to at least pre-order the game, I was met with more spam, after you apparently didn't notice that Jun and Michelle actually return."

Above: This is my Harada States of Whatever...

The post ends with Harada pointing out he still has some characters left to be revealed that comply with some fan requests, even 'bringing back' several others.

"Even so, none of them are paid DLC. I will continue to sincerely comply with fan requests. However, I can't continue to engage the negative ones that, without knowing what you are talking about, or even thinking about what you are saying, blindly repeat "bring back, bring back, bring back..."

"After this lengthy explanation, I will be quite surprised if there are still people who still don't get it. Thanks for understanding or not understanding. Whatever."

Platforms:

PSP, PS3, Xbox 360

Topics:

Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken

26 comments

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vincent-wolf - June 28, 2012 12:09 a.m.

I've still to see P.Jack as returning character. Bring him back nau. Also bring it to PC.
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lewis123 - June 26, 2012 8:23 p.m.

For those of you out there who seem to have forgotten what an opinion is, i'll give you the definition; "A view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.". This is what most of us gamers give you. Our opinion. We do not all feel "a sense of entitlement" when we feel a game is bad. Simply, we dislike it and have just as much right to criticize it as you do to praise it. It seems nobody is allowed to do this anymore however. If someone has a positive opinion about something these days, they're "Fanboys" - or for reviewers, "They're in the companies pocket". Have a negative view, and we're "entitled, whingy and immature". I think it's you guys who need to learn to have respect for everyones views and do a little growing up yourselves.
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minimaxi - June 26, 2012 7:45 p.m.

sometimes I wonder if listening too much to your fans is a bad thing. Tekken's bloated roster of 1million characters can probably attributed to this kind of fear of fan backlash. that's one thing I don't like about Tekken, along with constant juggle-fishing.
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Viron - June 26, 2012 7:11 p.m.

I wish more developers would do this, then I might lose my sense of entitlement.
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ultimatepunchrod - June 26, 2012 2:18 p.m.

I'm glad some devs have the nerve to say this kind of stuff. It needs to be said to more than Tekken fans.
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MetroidPrimeRib - June 26, 2012 12:14 p.m.

Entitled to what? He's just mad a few of his fans won't stop bitching about things. I wish Kojima would go off on a shitfit on his fans because dear God MGS4 and by extent MGS5 were/are not needed. He just wants to make games he wants to make (ZoE 3 and Revengeance) but he can't because his fans bitch. Look at the Zelda series. How long have people been flip-flopping around on "This Zelda sucks, the last one was better." Since Zelda II, released in 1987 and every subsequent Zelda has been a Catch-22 because the last one was better. Link to the Past was better then OoT, OoT was better then MM, MM was better then WW, WW was better then TP, TP was better then SS. SS was better then the Future. You've heard that since forever, that's just how people are. But not everything can just be played off as entitled. If you pay for something you gain the right to complain about it to whatever amount, but the creator has an even greater right to tell you off. Only in the Video Game industry could you buy a product that did not work (Diablo III, TOR) or fulfill expectations (Mass Effect 3) and the consumer would be the one that would get the blame. Because you're entitled by default.
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Scoob - June 26, 2012 10:38 a.m.

I wish this guy could work PR for Blizzard. If you ever wanted to see a group of gamers who feel entitled to everything they ask...
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ninjaemperor - June 26, 2012 8:44 a.m.

http://www.moviespad.com/photos/citizen-kane-clapping-600f1.jpg YES I hate to say it, but entitled really is the best word to describe how gamers have gotten this generation. Good for him.
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BladedFalcon - June 26, 2012 5:23 a.m.

Wow, first the statement about DLC characters, and now this! Mr. Harada is really earning my respect, and I might just give Tekken Tag Tournament 2 a chance just because of him. I just feel a little bad for him that he has reached the cynical realization that no matter how much rational and mature YOU are, the people you are talking to most likely won't grow up and raise to your level. Sadly, that's the internet for you.
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Edias - June 26, 2012 1:18 p.m.

It's not just the internet, it's just that most people outside of the internet have learned to disguise their immaturity with false smiles and psuedo-friendly behavior. It's a disheartening realization when you come to realize that many(most?) people will never grow up, but it's a part of life. That said, I am glad to see that most people seem to be taking his comment rather maturely; and, personally, I'm looking forward to playing some more Tekken.
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Evanesco - June 26, 2012 4:45 a.m.

I don't know anything about this, but what I do know is that picture is awesome.
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soma9999 - June 26, 2012 4:30 a.m.

I'm honestly glad he came out and said what he said. So many entitled gamers are so quick to go to action over anything they consider wrong with "their" games. Hell, back in the NES days, do you remember how many games had terrible endings? Even up to the 32-bit generation, sometimes your favorite series just kind of shafted you. Were there letter writing campaigns and protests? Nope. The whole Mass Effect 3 ending war was the most pathetic, self-entitled filth I've ever seen my community roll around in, and it makes me sad to be a gamer sometimes. So, yeah, I get it when developers just want to scream "grow the hell up!" because I think there a lot of very vocal gamers right now who need to do just that. Kudos to Harada-san, and hopefully somebody listens.
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SiPod - June 26, 2012 4:36 a.m.

Well said mate.
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wesser22 - June 26, 2012 4:42 a.m.

+1
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jamie5lpm - June 26, 2012 7:19 a.m.

Yeah the whole Mass Effect 3 ending saga was horrific, practically forcing someone to re-write the ending they had probally laboured great time into and believed was just for the series. I feel sorry for Bioware in that case as they made a great series of games that many loved. Sometimes us gamers need to remember what we are playing is just games. Maybe when we remember that the fun will come back into it....
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ParagonT - June 26, 2012 7:57 a.m.

I think personally the word "entitled" is the new slang for those that think that if you don't bend over backwards for companies, your wrong. Or if your cynical about any part of a game, your just "entitled". I think it's personally immature to even use the word, since no one uses it in the right meaning. I'm actually more proud of the cynical crowd of gamers, because they are the ones raising the bar in game quality. Others that think they should just sit back, and take whatever is pushed out are only promoting the mindset of "compliance and content". I think there is a clear difference in saying "gamers are entitled when endings are crap" and saying "some gamers do not voice their concern and displeasure in a rational matter". Believe it or not, not all developers are there for the fans. Frankly, if fans didn't voice anything, developers would be just as happy to push out a game with less content knowing that gamers would still buy it. It's a money making industry, and as much as developers wish to make their fans and consumers happy, they will do things they would not have ever dreamed of to make their games sell. Unless of course, they're independent, but is Tekken Indie? Nope. I'll agree and say that many gamers act like cocks many a times, but saying their "entitled" is a bit misleading and what I think is wrong. They do good and bad for the industry.
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ParagonT - June 26, 2012 8:03 a.m.

Your right when you say it's just games, and some needs to go back to it's roots, but when these games cost as much as they do, I think it's a bit of a different story. I think it's weird to say that Bioware "labored", in a certain sense that's hard to explain, because they are getting paid to do it in decent (not exemplary) amounts.
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SiPod - June 26, 2012 9:12 a.m.

I don't think that it's quite as black and white as that. Cynicism is certainly healthy, as is constructive criticism. But entitlement in this context is referring to the 'more, more, more' crowd; the people who feel like they're actually owed more, be it through personal investment in a product or out of loyalty to a series. And I don't think that people who speak up against that practice should be labelled as compliant or have their views discounted because of some assumed corporate fanaticism. It's just cynicism on the other side of the same coin.
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ParagonT - June 26, 2012 9:41 a.m.

I think that if your going to pay for something, it gives you the right to complain about its creation and content. Yes, I agree with them being healthy, but if the product was free, I would see "entitlement" being an issue, but it's not in this context. Developers needs to listen to their fans and consumers in order to make the best possible game that will sell, but there will always be those that are being brats about it; not at the fact that they are complaining, but how they are going about it. As for being labeled as compliant, what would you label those that sit back, and takes whatever is pushed out? That sounds like compliance to me, but perhaps you have a different view.
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larkan - June 26, 2012 9:55 a.m.

I agree to a point, but some of the people protesting about ME3 have legitimate arguments. Games are a product, and there were a few articles in which Bioware representatives had made declarations on what would be in the game, specifically on how your decisions throughout all three games would provide a large number of possible endings. As consumers, people have the right to contact a company if they feel they did not get what they were promised, and what they paid for. While it is sad that the majority of the complaints were thrown into the spotlight because of their immature appearance, there were some that simply felt their investment of nearly $200 across three games was not satisfactory. The answer to all these problems is simple, yet people will never get the message: Stop buying games. It's that simple. Move onto another hobby. We are at a point right now where companies are doing everything they possibly can to take our money and give us little in return. I for one, will never buy a new version of a Bioware, Blizzard, or id game after their last few releases. I would much rather take the time to play older, better quality games for a year, wait for their prices to drop in a Steam deal, and be happy I didn't spend $60 on something worth no more than $20. If we want better quality, less buggy games, we need to speak with our wallets, not our keyboards. Think about it....Bioware KNEW the ending sucked, put it out the way it was to garner as much attention as possible for people to pay attention....they've had this DLC done for quite some time, they just held back part of the ending to build up as much hype as possible to increase sales.
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