According to its executive producer, Tekken 6's graphics approach the limit of what the Xbox 360 is capable of, and the beat em up's technology may affect development of the console's successor
"It is a challenge to fit this game onto one DVD and to make sure the data is read at a fast rate," Katsuhiro Harada told X360. "It is essential to utilize the 360’s functions and strengths to the fullest in order to accomplish the same goal. I believe that the data and experience gained during development may affect development of the next iteration of the console."
As Tekken 6 was developed on an arcade board based on the PS3's architecture, replicating the its high graphical fidelity on the 360 - at 60fps - has been very challenging according to Harada.
"Tekken 6’s graphics engine was developed for a high frame rate to create fluid motion rather than focusing purely on extravagant still shots," he said. "Using a ‘fulltime adjustable animation blur’ which adjusts to each character’s movement and speed, these games show a new level of smooth and dynamic movement. This technology has proved very difficult to realise with fighting games running at 60fps.
Even here at NBGI, the Soul Calibur Team gave up on it for Soul Calibur 4. In order to accomplish this effect, we had to write a lot of code optimized to make full use of the PS3’s SPU. Ultimately, we implement the same motion blur on the 360 so this will be a great challenge."
You can read the full interview with Harada in issue 44 of X360, out later this month.