That is some fake beef. And for what? One IP's fanbase suffering exponentially more than the other over the years? The downtrodden BS I had to go through with the Tekken fans all those years ago simply for preferring DOA was all based on a sham?You can ask Harada on Twitter or Itagaki on FB, they'll respond. They even went to the same school together.
The information of their beef was just an advertisement tactic to bolster their own products, Itagaki himself chose to be the heel while Harada went with the baby face. Harada specifically respects DOA, Itagaki's version was more of a way to challenge and develop spark so that people can be interested in the 3D fighting genre. It's similar to wrestling storylines, it's scripted but made it look very real as closely as possible without telling anyone that it was for pure fun. Just ask them:
Tomonobu Itagaki
Tomonobu Itagaki is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Tomonobu Itagaki and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.www.facebook.comKatsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) | Twitter
The latest Tweets from Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN). Game Director/Chief Producer of the Action/Fighting games, I've worked on Tekken for the past 25 years. General Manager of the BNE Original IP games projects. Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. Tokyo Japantwitter.com
A lot of people thought the beef was genuine, but it's just friendly competition. The communities from both sides simply made it look worse than what it was is all.
Why would they even let it escalate to the fanbases genuinely hating each other in the first place? All this time I grew up to have genuine contempt for the Tekken fanbase as an exchange for their contempt for me, and now they expect us to start singing Kumbayah?
Goddamn it all. I feel so used. I'm riddled with mixed emotions. I don't know what's real anymore.