Kotaku: Hayashi and Shimbori comment about competitive play

In a recent article on Kotaku, Evan Narcisse asked Yohei Shimbori and Yosuke Hayashi about their thoughts of fighting games and competitive play. The responses were interesting. I've included the full article since honestly the article is so short that it really is just two quotes:

When I asked Team Ninja lead Yosuke Hayashi and Dead or Alive 5 director Yohei if they'd implemented any changes to the game specifically in anticipation of its reception by the fighting game community, they answered that that's not how they approach design. "We want to appeal to all levels of skill," said Shimbori. Right now, the dev team is working on game balance, he elaborated, to make DOA5 a fun game first. Shimbori mused that any adoption by the tournament scene comes later and emerges as a happy corollary to the enjoyment average players get.

I also asked the Team Ninja developers what they think separates the competitive tournament player from someone who just plays titles like DOA just for laughs. "In a way, the pro player is there to show off," Yosuke replied. "His skill comes from a lot of practice and dedication and the best platform to demonstrate that is in competition. A casual player just wants to have fun, but the pro wants to win against other players like himself to prove his devotion. Sometimes, it's ego involved, too, because you want everyone to know how good you are."

Source: Kotaku

 

those are free, they have to be

 

Yeah, it has me worried about how this game is gonna look completed when hayashi is saying that it wasn't their intention with the current design to appeal towards competition. I feel that this may turn out to be like DOA4 was when it was being shown off in its early stages, cold at first then sucky when it hits the stores; I reaaaallly hope it doesn't thought cause I wan't this game to be good.

 

Balance patches or hotfixes don't count as DLC.

I don't recall for PSN, but for XBL, developers only get one free patch. They have to pay for any others, so I wouldn't expect many patches, since I doubt they have a large post release budget.

 

It depends on how they do their patch system.