Pokkén Tournament is headed to arcades first, with producer Katsuhiro Harada reasoning that if it proved to be popular there then it will be considered for consoles.
“That’s something that got a big reaction, for better or worse [from the development staff],” Harada discussed with 4Gamer. “There are several reasons for this choice, one being that ‘if it were on arcades, it would be interesting to see fan reaction sooner.’
“The other reason, which is something I always say, is that it’s important for fighting games to at least succeed in arcades once. With arcades charging 100 yen for a single play, if it’s a boring game, it will most certainly be dismissed. It’s really a harsh environment for [arcade games].”
Fan reaction is important, but if it can see success in arcades then Harada believes that it will help assure consumers that, if it did ever come to console, that it would be a worthy purchase.
“Pokémon definitely has a family-oriented image, but in addition to how we decided on developing [Pokkén] as a competitive game with depth, we must also be prepared to face such severe conditions,” Harada added.
“Once you have a title that can make it out of the lion’s den called arcades, it’s something you know you can be proud of for being the real deal. Additionally, there aren’t too many developers that take on these kind of challenges nowadays.”
Pokkén Tournament will see an arcade release across Japan in 2015.
[Thanks Siliconera]
Why Pokkén Tournament is releasing in arcades first
