Tekken Producer Hits Back At ‘Whining’ Fans

Fighting back against the typical fog of gamer-entitlement that surrounds far too many franchises is not often something that developers do (more’s the pity – Ed.).  However, something must have finally snapped for one producer who used Twitter to hit back at whining, demanding fans in spectacular style.  The producer of the Tekken franchise, Katsuhiro Harada, wrote an extensive tweet, hitting back at fans who repeatedly pester him with ‘requests’, in this case to bring back certain voice actors.

“I have something I want to say to the people who spam me with requests to ‘switch back to the voice actors used previously’,” he begins.  “I believe that, before whining and complaining about everything, you need practice at taking a step back and analysing things objectively. And also at being an adult.”

He continues in great detail, explaining just why it isn’t always possible to bring back certain voice actors, and how and why vocals may change, whether or not originals are used – something that is actually very interesting reading.

“Are you playing games on the same TV you used 16 years ago? What about your speakers? Headphones? They are all the same as 16 years ago? I wonder if it will sound like the same voice as 16 years ago, even with that data… Also, you are assuming the voice actors themselves can reproduce the voice the recorded 16 years ago? Many voice actors decline work because their voice has changed since the original role, some have even retired. Sometimes they won’t accept, even if we ask.  The recording studio and the equipment they use is also different. With all of this in mind, you still thing it is possible to recreate these voices?”

He concludes by saying: “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’.”

As much as we applaud the guy, who has obviously been pushed to bursting point, and think that if a few more people took this line, it may help to curb the self-entitled demands of many, we suspect that it will only temporarily dam the unstoppable tide of ‘requests’ or complaints from gamers who can’t/won’t/don’t listen or understand why things can’t always go their way.

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