Tech Evolution: Tekken - 9 Games, 23 Years, 4 Console Generations!

[@metfan4l]

Those hand gestures are out of control.

[@benjaminpadillaaa]

metfan4l I was thinking the same thing. Maybe he’s nervous?

[@afropovic]

Cant watch

[@morbid1.]

I remember that jump from PSX to PS2... it was insane

[@deepblue8143]

It was overhyped. They overpromised and under delivered. The only thing that was insane about it was was the hype surrounding it.

[@SalveASMR]

@@deepblue8143 what

[@TheShocker650]

I don't remember the jump from PSX to PS2, but I do remember the jump from PS1 to PS2.

[@PCTASTIC]

All members of DF can become successful hand models.

[@landonkilleen]

I hear that is the main requirement for joining them.

[@pulseofme4949]

HE-MAN i will fap tonight and will look at my hand as if its daves hand doing the fapping.

[@DarkHalmut]

HE-MAN I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY HANDS!

[@Jigsaw2383]

sounds like you are motionless, cause of laziness

[@solidsnakegaming3756]

R.I.P. Dave 2017-2017 Digital Foundry... Yours Epic Hands Gestures do not be forgotten!

[@VarietyGamerChannel]

Dave is conducting a Symphony with his hands. Awesome video indeed!

[@ZiggyStardust85]

Tekken: Dark Resurrection for PSP was a technical miracle.

[@APE029]

also the DS tekken ran perfect

[@Kairosdex]

The PS2 releases are really impressive, especially that stage with polygonally modelled rocks! Tekken 7 is nice, but not as impressive technically as the Ps2 ones for me.

[@mehrad1983]

Herb Roy Tekken 5 was amazing on PS2

[@mainsmain]

Tekken 5 looked and still looks stunning to this day

[@samarthkapil6579]

Since tag 2 was a failure, the team didn't have budget to push the tech too far.

[@RokkieSparrow]

@@samarthkapil6579 poor tag 2

[@MrBluGruv]

Running Tekken Tag Tournament in a PS2 emulator at very high internal resolution vs. something like Tekken 4 can really show just how over-the-top Namco went with polygon count in that game. It may not qualify as something like "low-quality PS3", but it certainly appears to be very much higher quality than the overwhelming majority of PS2 games.

[@Ryuhza]

I think 6 still has my favorite look with the lighting, bump maps, and motion blur. I'd love to see it get a full HD re-release some day.

[@chaoscontroller316]

The closest we got was how the Xbox One version of Tekken 7 had a deluxe release that somehow included Tekken 6.

[@GeekdomCentral]

Tekken 3... Oh, how so many of my childhood fights with my brother came from that game. Good times.

[@JimmyFoxhound]

Man seeing those old tekken games just brought me back to such simpler times. I had so much fun playing those old games on the PS1. Tekken 3 was amazing. Great memories!! I've not played Tekken in ages, now I'll probably go buy Tekken 7 out of pure nostalgia.

[@msab4883]

Tekken 3 looks and plays as awesome today as the day it was released

[@1stPersonTutor]

Mone Sabri Thhank u for saying this

[@StigDesign]

Tekken 3 FTW :D

[@techfreak243]

I remember playing Tekken on the PS2 and that having the best hidden game ever. a bowling game in a fighting game that's genius

[@gc3k]

A DF on the Virtua Fighter series would be nice

[@ahok1937]

A DF on VF

[@mcninsane]

TTT on PS2 was the most impressive game at the time. At the time it really was almost like offline CGI. I dont think any other game gave mebsuch impression since then

[@BlockABoots]

Tekken 3 on the PSX looks almost arcade perfect to me just without the 3d backgrounds, not sure why his saying that it couldn't be match for home systems

[@OnYourSquare]

BlockABoots There was definitely a noticeable visual downgrade going from the arcade to the PSX version of Tekken 3. But it played arcade perfect, even better even! At home I could configure my controller so I'd be able to pull off King's chain-combo-grabs with relative ease. In the arcade, I looked like a button mashing idiot! I was also amazed that you could quit out with no load screens! The home port rocked!

[@gabrieleriva651]

The characters use less polygons, especially in the legs. And the resolution is a bit lower. INCREDIBLE port, nonetheless.

[@SendThemNoobs]

What a great episode Dave. I don't play fighting games, but I watched the whole episode and enjoyed the history of Tekken. Please let Tech Evolution be a regular thing..

[@ZeroTorySeats]

Some of these environment designs look great. I’d love to see a greatest hits game that remade levels from previous instalments.

[@peruprofundodance]

an amazing showcase of tech and software working together. human ingenuity!

[@gex581990]

I remember playing Tag Tournament in the arcade and waiting for what felt like forever for a home port and when it finally came out for PS2 I was shocked that it looked better than I remember. This all makes sense now

[@dr.proton1580]

*hand gestures*

[@iconoclasttastic9258]

yeah please stop.

[@flowerthencrranger3854]

No, I like them

[@Rationalific]

This is a fantastic video! It really goes over pretty much everything, and ties it into a real story. It also covers things that I remember from the past (such as the major changes in Tekken 4). I could really watch stuff like this forever! From the video, it also seems like Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection was the first to go wide-screen. I like seeing these games in action and hearing about the changes from one to another. I like all of the information you throw at us, such as polygon count, clock speeds, resolution, and more. Digital Foundry is my favorite channel about video games and technology.

[@princedizzy3506]

Can't beat a relaxing Sunday watching an excellent DF Retro Console focused video.

[@Chaobreaker]

this isn't a DF Retro video. John does them.

[@19HajimeSaitou91]

Dazai Osamu 太宰治 calm ur ass down dummy weeb + pc "gamer" ew.. the worst

[@princedizzy3506]

Danzai Osamu you don't get it kid, those are multiple fake copycat accounts created by an angry PC "gamer" called Pesant Destroyer.

[@19HajimeSaitou91]

Dazai Osamu 太宰治 seriously? I mean since when we are so serious here in DF videos? let's just troll and be racist

[@princedizzy9328]

+Prince Dizzy You seem so obsessed with him, are you gay by any chance?

[@Astfgl]

Take a good look at Tekken 1 again. It doesn't use gouraud shading or any form of real-time lighting for that matter. All of the shading is painted onto the characters' textures, and the game itself is rendered full-bright. Tekken 2 was the game that introduced real-time lighting, but had to resort to flat shading to keep the performance up.

[@EposVox]

Very interesting video! Great work.

[@crimson-foxtwitch2581]

Honestly, Tekken 5 was THE game that pushed the PS2 to the absolute limit. Even though other games might have had more polygons, Tekken 5 had really good lighting usage and there were few games on any piece of hardware that had this good of texture quality and still pushing this many polygons.(compare this to Swiss Alps on Gran Turismo 4 and it shows the importance of texture quality) When you consider that Tekken 5 looks better than many Xbox titles, it shows how well NAMCO knew the hardware.

[@S1lverArr0w]

Question: The way that Tekken Tag Tournament plays in this video, is that normal? I have it on Ps2 and it runs noticeably slower on the console but on the video it looks as if it is being sped up?

[@IronFistLaw75]

Are you in a PAL territory? Up until T4 (which included a 60hz option) the PAL Tekken ports were horrible in terms of speed, leaving PAL gamers with inferior gameplay. I'm thankful for the TTT HD title for PS3, which was part of Tekken Hybrid, & runs at the intended speed/framerate. The PAL problem persisted with other games throughout the PS2 era, with some games still being poorly ported to PAL markets.

[@Dex99SS]

Is that sign language, or are you juggling some invisible balls or something?

[@talonpop]

Brett Prior He's trying to tell us he's being held hostage and needs help.

[@ahmz1404]

Tekken 2 was my first Tekken and my 2nd game for the PS1 (first was Riiiidge Racerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) and I absolutely fell in love with it. Long live The King of Iron Fist!

[@PrimiusLovin]

Almost the same for me, but it was Tekken 2, Ridge Racer Revolution and Wipeout 2097... sometime around October 1996 in Europe!

[@ErnestSheptalo]

Somehow, I stumbled into this video in 2020... and I'm not disappointed!

[@superspecky4eyes]

I always preferred the stylised look in Tekken 1 over the more natural proportions and lighting in Tekken 2. I remember being a little disappointed seeing screenshots in magazines at the time. The characters really popped in T1 in my opinion. Tekken 2 was the much better game overall though.

[@Kwotzi]

Everybody is complaining about the hand movements. It would be much weirder if he didn't move his hands at all. You talk with your hands to give sentences more weight. Moving your hands while talking makes everything much more natural and meaningful.

[@b20vteg]

i think the complaint is that he's overdoing it, which in turn, makes it far less natural looking and forced. it's just awkward.

[@Kwotzi]

Sounds fair. I guess I don't mind it that much.

[@carpetfluff35]

At least it helps distract from the fact that Dave does have a habit of making almost every point twice with slightly different wording.

[@b20vteg]

carpetfluff35 lol

[@paulolameiras861]

Great video. Tekken was never my favourite fighting series, but i played and enjoyed every single one of them.

[@dreammfyre]

Tekken 6 still holds up. Fucking hell, it's also 10 years(!) old now.

[@claire6452]

I'd argue every tekken past 3 still holds up today. With 3 still being a great play for retro-ish gaming. Bit less true for 1 & 2 tho.

[@koilkondaraviteja9945]

i used to play tekken in the arcade...those were the days....paul was my favourite character then...

[@ToTheNines87368]

Man that Tekken 2 intro music is so goooood.

[@Silikone]

60 FPS has always mattered.

[@kalkampanaros]

First time i agree with you

[@2drealms196]

Solitaire just isn't the same without 60fps.

[@phreakinpher]

How many of these have you watched? Tons of old games were sub 60, even sub 30. Goldeneye is my favorite example; it being held up as a paragon of classic gaming when it ran at like 14 fps.

[@Parental92]

extreme cinematic framerate if you ask me . i watched the whole Inception film through microsoft power point , took me 2 weeks but the 2 fps framerate is worth the wait.

[@MalphasMikaelson]

That moment when through the history of gaming the best games ever has been games that aren't 60 fps though.

[@madfinntech]

What a brilliant video! Good job! This just proves that one thing consoles don't have anymore is the wow factor when they first come out like back then. I miss this golden era (from mid 1990's to early 2000s) of gaming so much. PS2 sure was a beast back in 2000.

[@TheOttomatic91]

Nice to see a fellow Tekken fan that's a DF member. Excellent video keep up the good work Dave

[@JustAnotherGamerUS]

this video is Dave's best work!! cheers man, you were great!!

[@Cae_the_Kitsune]

This kind of thing is part of the reason I like playing older games and whole game series. It's really fascinating seeing the technology evolve from game to game. Incidentally, Tekken 1 came out the same year I was born, so this video's showing graphical evolution across my entire life so far. Neat stuff.

[@TheChestnutBowl]

I've been playing the Tekken series for my entire gaming life. My first time playing Tekken in the arcade is still something I vividly remember. This was a great video not just for nostalgia purposes, but also for viewing each title in the series from a technical point of view. I hope you guys do a similar video for the Virtua Fighter and Dead or Alive series.

[@bartekowca666]

Holy moly Dave, I've heard your voice in so many videos but it's my first time seeing you on camera.

[@alexanderbattaglia6048]

Great video Dave, happy you got around to having your own passion piece. It would have been nice to see the PC version at teh end of the piece instead of PS4/PS4pro for tekken 7 to show it in its nicest light.

[@TheLWebb100]

Those Tekken 1 graphics look creepy.

[@SolarMoth]

So much work went into this, I love it.

[@crunkplaya6929]

You guys played the best soundtrack from Tekken 5 during the assessment of it. Too awesome.

[@OldsXCool]

To those making comments about Dave's hand movements; Let's see you do it. It is not easy for alot of people to talk comfortably in front of a camera that is going to be seen by thousands of people. Richard, Tom, and John all have had time to evolve their presentation skills, but this is Dave's first really big presentation and he did an exceptional job. I remember when we all saw Richard for the first time. He was pretty stiff an looked uncomfortable. It's hard to go back and remember that Digital Foundry started out being just game footage and music with no intentions of becoming the channel they are today.

[@GameplayandTalk]

It's insane to see how far the series has come, yet realize how much it has stayed the same since its inception.

[@scottcollins5240]

I love these videos, Digital Foundry is becoming the best part of my evenings.

[@batmangovno]

While DF Retro is away, we bring you - DAVE RETRO!!! *heavy 80s synth starts playing*

[@aribig8187]

That was amazing! Please make an Evolution video about Gran Turismo. Please! Please!!

[@OnYourSquare]

The 'wall splat' mechanic from Tekken 4 drove me crazy! But the graphical leap from 3 to 4, was at the time, was jaw dropping!!

[@n64slash64]

Tekken 4 is my favorite! It was so inovative and unique! but for Tekken 3 I have so mutch nostagia only if I hear the music im back in 1998. Tekken Tag Tournament 1 was also incredible and was my first PS2 game and what a graphics it had! I just cudn't believe how beautiful it looked. Tekken 5 I played the most and I think its gameplay wise the best of the serie. 6 and Tag 2 I didn't play mutch - didnt realy care for I don't know why maybe because to mutch juggling. Now playing Tekken 7 :)

[@detonator620]

He is playing Tekken with his hand. Interesting what Dave is doing now? Great video.

[@este4955]

Greatest Tekken tech video I've ever seen. Good stuff.

[@FenderUsa]

Dave went to the same hand gesture school as Richard.

[@LilJOVs]

The Tekken Tag Tournment games have always been my favorite in the series. Tekken Tag 1 is the pinnacle of the evolution found in Tekken 1-3, while Tekken Tag 2 does the same for Tekken 4-6. I'm really excited to see what TTT3 ends up looking like in the future.

[@thedeeperdungeons]

So much quality contect from DF lately. I think i'm getting spoiled.

[@Derl30]

Man Tekken Tag 1 still looks fantastic. Holds up so well.

[@Chimarkgames]

I love this game evolution videos. You should do more!

[@waffenbot8966]

Dave doing a DFRetro episode? This is awesome!

[@giovannibenedetto9937]

It bring back memories of the cold winter saturday nights spent at a smoke filled arcade playing tekken 1 on a flickering CRT monitor.

[@guilhermesena1283]

Very very cool. I would love to see an extra episode that talked a bit about the portable versions. Tekken 6 was probably the game I played the most on my PSP, it was THE game to play with friends through local wireless conection, I loved how the game was so beautiful for a handheld game and still ran smoothly at 60fps, something that Tekken 5 unfortunately didn't achieve on the same hardware a few years back. Anyway, on the top my head I can remember they made at least 4 portable games: -Tekken Advance (GBA) -Tekken 5: Dark Ressurection (PSP) -Tekken 6 (PSP) -Tekken 3D (3DS) Maybe there are, I don't doubt that some weird mobile version may exist out there for example. Would be cool to know a bit more about those games too.

[@fcukugimmeausername]

Damn, Richard looked really different in 2017.

[@sherekhanmusicuk]

hey guys. hope you read this. i love these videos. after watching for almost 12 months ive learnt so much from you all! the access of knowledge you guys have is beyond me. i would love to see a digital foundry series on how you guys learnt all you know. i think it would be very interesting. appreciate what you guys do. one of the best channels on youtube!

[@stephenhall2980]

Dave should be a Tekken character,his hand movements alone would destroy all!

[@bjedo3]

many thanks for making these videos. I love the depth these games are explored from peeps that clearly have a passion for gaming!

[@khalilsulaiman8451]

just watching this bring back so many fond memories of playing these early games in the arcade.

[@gelonolasco]

Thanks DF! just a lil' bit distracted with his hand movements...

[@kimlima2113]

I must agree (see above).

[@Jambobist]

He's not a natural public speaker, but he's trying at least. Doing a piece to camera like that when you're a bit on the socially anxious side must be tough.

[@kimlima2113]

I agree to that as well. Surprising, how agreeable I am today, haha.

[@SteelSkin667]

Richard and Dave would make fantastic orchestra conductors.

[@abc123a5]

Who cares

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

Great video Dave. Really appreciated showing much love for a great series but I kinda wish you'd have given some attention to the PSP port of Tekken 6 since it's one of the best incarnations of the game and on PSP as a whole.

[@Mentis-de]

Tekken Tag Tournament was mindblowing back then. Technically waaaaay ahead it's time.

[@Demonskunk]

The floor in tekken tag PS2 is unnerving

[@3rodox]

Another great video DF

[@monkeymaster6489]

excellent video super detailed analysis really like these videos that show the progression of game tech

[@scottwalsh6999]

Great video on the history of this series.. More of these please!

[@gildiss8681]

Correction, t3 and ttt pcb is namco system 12 not 22, and u can choose between interlaced and progressive scan in the options, although it works only on 15khz monitors. You're welcome :)

[@Bry4nfury]

amazing video! expertly described every nuance in the series evolution. thanks!

[@VaJohn]

Best fighting game ever period.

[@unverifiedbiotic]

VaJohn that would be vf2

[@Archvile1]

Mortal kombat > Tekken

[@viktorivanov5941]

Tekken > SF > MK > Tekken

[@alikjr5999]

logilogilogi or maybe you are too lazy to figure out the game mechanics blocking in tekken is hard sure but that gives it more depth than other fighters not only attacking is hard to master but also blocking

[@alikjr5999]

logilogilogi aren't all fighting games like that

[@clockworkrazor]

Excellent video ! More like this please. Tekken 5 and Tekken Tag tournament 2 are still the best Tekken games !

[@madfinntech]

My all time favorite is the original Tekken Tag Tournament, it was something else when it came out.

[@philscomputerlab]

Brilliant video!

[@Yungbeck]

These titles are like a time capsule! Tekken 3, young Playstation maniac, Tekken 4, serious gamer in high school, Tekken 5 & 6, uni, moving to Spain, switching to Soul Calibur lol

[@ronaldorodriguesdasilva253]

Ah the soundtrack in Tekken 2. It's like, being in another world. Take for example, Devil/Angel stage theme "Mirror Darkness" and you will be feeling like in a different dimension. I've never felt this way with a game ever, kind melancholic but still pump me to fight. How amazing it was playing Tekken since then...

[@maximilianorth2154]

Never played any Tekken game before then i saw this video and now i thinking about buying Tekken 7 Great Video and keep it up guys 👌

[@ghost085]

Great video Dave, and I hope to see more of this. But you have to work on those hands, it's like talking to an NPC in Deus Ex Human Revolution.

[@dhid88]

I would love to see more videos like this one, thanks DF!

[@Taladrane]

Love seeing these type of videos.

[@kimlima2113]

Thanks for the vid, Dave. Love it and your unagitated style. In my humble opinion, I'd recommend not to let somebody talk you into using too much gesticulation. "It's 2017, lad, we need action and movement on screen to keep the audience's attention" - please leave that to hyperactive let's-play-entertainers and the like. If gestures don't come naturally, they tend to be a fraction of a second late and look like sign language. But maybe that's just me.

[@MikeStringfellow]

I'm hypnotised by his hand movements. Alluring.....

[@serbinator8529]

This was very interesting! excellent work!!!!

[@DanteLegacyGaming]

Awesome Video, brings back a lot of memories😃👍Been playing Tekken since the very first one on the Arcades. Tekke 7 is just amazing 👊🏻👊🏻👍

[@EVEmasta]

damn digital foundry has their own reporter's now. good shit

[@jaymzx2587]

Thanks for this great in depth vid. Great stuff

[@mcrazza]

Impressive work, Dave!

[@garrycasey4081]

Fantastic video. I'd love to see more of these for other series. Maybe ridge racer?

[@TheIshikawaRin]

It's amazing how much technology has advanced in just 20 years.

[@SanderSander88]

Played so much tekken tag tournament, have some great memory's of that game.

[@antonshidlovsky5579]

Awesome material, thanks a tone!

[@PerilsofPokey]

This was excellent, I would love to see another presentation like this. Perhaps Resident Evil, or some such.

[@Bryan-T]

Tie this guy's hands behind his back and I think he loses the ability to speak.

[@totty2524]

Wichard also does that a little bit. I find it cute. :3 Also, what happened with Dave's hair?

[@MrVolksbeetle]

I’m a bit perplexed why the step up to skinned polygon character models for Tekken3 isn’t noted here. The vid appears to be analyzing the graphical evolution of the series. Perhaps I am mistaken.