Yohei Shimbori Now Works on Tekken 8

There was no intention of me writing this as a professional news article because I really am in distinct shock, and I'm sure there will be more articles pertaining to Yohei Shimbori in the near future that will go that route but for now let's just take it in as the holy shit moment that it is.

At first, I will admit that I had to check multiple sources to believe this was real, but Yohei Shimbori is now a Producer/Director Assistant for Tekken 8. Now I think while that it is indeed a surprise; it should not be of a surprise to most of us because of all of the signs Dead or Alive players have seen throughout the development cycle of Tekken 8. This brand jump to say the least has made things interesting as there are going to be a lot of former doubters or even advocates of Shimbori at Koei Tecmo thinking "well maybe it's time we show the world we don't need Shimbori" or "this might be a way to open up business and make some real fucking money."

While I was scrolling through the responses on X I saw a lot of mixed emotions from the Dead or Alive community, but perhaps the smartest response was from FSD Nichol (give this guy a follow) that stated:

The DOA players had it right the whole time. Crazy new environmental interactions, unbreakable throws on counter, stuff we have been trained to deal with for quite some time. Happy to see where Shimbori ended up after that fiasco with KT! Looking forward to Tekken 8.

The genius behind Katsuhiro Harada was to theoretically state that if you don't see the value in Shimbori and if you don't want him; I'll take him. That being said this opens an entirely new level of business if Koei Tecmo and Bandai Namco can come to some terms. It would mean opening the Tekken roster to Dead or Alive characters; and now that they have Shimbori even the most purist of the DOA fandom would jump to the opportunity to play.

Even if Dead or Alive 6 was met with a mixed reaction, it doesn't mean that Yohei Shimbori can't recover his career in a different way and despite my personal feelings (and many others) I hope that he succeeds, and I hope the people upstairs are open to making good business decisions that would satisfy both fanbases.

 

Good for him, hyped for tekken 8 maaan i remember younger me writing one of my cringey fanfics, and i said "this chapter has taken a while because tekken 7 exists" will be fun to play tekken 8... will need to find a new main though as i don't think bob is coming back (

 

Well I knew that something felt too DOAish about Tekken 8 explosions, the close up zoom in angle, the way they stuck to the wall felt exactly like in DOA6, now it makes perfect sense since Shimbori is behind the development.


Hopefully someone will take over in DOA7 cause I am desperately waiting for DOA to recover and drop a new DOA game

 

The genius behind Katsuhiro Harada was to theoretically state that if you don't see the value in Shimbori and if you don't want him, he'll take him.

Well, that explains the radio silence, at least.

Japanese men don't simply quit their job, cuz you're supposed to work at one company till you die. if you got fired, you've really upset the CEO. Taking a job in a competitor company is traitorous/treason.

Seems a bit partisan, no? I mean, Activision are pissed that the guys who worked on COD 4 are working at Respawn (an EA studio), and the Titanfall games are amazing. So, I should at least show some respect to Shimbori for having the balls to take the offer.

 

After how dirty KT did Shimbori behind the scenes, you can’t blame him for giving KT the middle finger by jumping to Tekken 8.

 

After how dirty KT did Shimbori behind the scenes, you can’t blame him for giving KT the middle finger by jumping to Tekken 8.

Oh, I love that pessimism. It makes me smile.

All he did is paint a bigger target on his back, is all. Look what happened with Cliff Blezinski and Itagaki, how they became undeserving of their former glory.

 

So Shimbori has a new producer role that isn't a DOA game, good for him. What role he serves in Tekken 8 will only be judged based on what previous Tekken games has to offer. Shimbori jumping to another franchise doesn't concern Me, dare I say he was better off with being a producer of Tekken than him being producer & director of DOA games.

The genius behind Katsuhiro Harada was to theoretically state that if you don't see the value in Shimbori and if you don't want him; I'll take him.

After DOA6, I don't see any value about Shimbori have at this point once he had thoughts about "tone down the sexuality" whether it began in DOA5 to be "realistic", "to show something that's more high class", "We were getting feedback from the overseas offices"

To DOA6 "this time I am planning to draw a character for "coolness".", "It is embarrassing that girls are too sexy and play.", "the fans gave me the opinion that "I want you to make it a bit cooler game."", “It’s more of a world trend.", "One of the major aims was to tone down the features of the women which caused some trouble in the past.", “To be honest, we did a bit too much with some costumes in the past.", "it is a real desire on our part to stick to the social criteria to respect to be accepted at present. And unfortunately, too sexy games are no longer accepted today.", "We were just guided by a certain moral sense”, “There have been a lot of changes in the world in recent years, and I decided that we should reflect those changes by resetting our approach to sexual imagery, after Dead or Alive 5,”, and the most famous line of them all is this line: “We wanted to make a more cool and mature Dead or Alive this time, and to that end we made a conscious decision to make the characters less sexualized,”

What Interviews I've found in Jun 26, 2019 #4:

Team Ninja is their own worst enemy.

Hey guys. A lot of you know me already. I am the Zack super fan MasterHavik. I'll cut to the chase and explain why I am making this thread. I want to, not only share my opinion, but finally get something off my chest the community needs to hear. I also feel we need to have this talk. What is the...

www.freestepdodge.com

I treat Shimbori along side KT (US/EU Branches) as the reason DOA6 was below DOA5 standards, and the ones ruined DOA. The only value I see in Shimbori is him leaving Team Ninja/Koei Tecmo, and if Katsuhiro Harada wants to take Shimbori, he can. I hope for Shimbori to have a better career in other games, and not part of DOA anymore.

PS. I see more value in Yosuke Hayashi & Yasunori Sakuda than I see Yohei Shimbori when it comes to DOA, Shimbori was nothing but bad memories during DOA6 Production and what I wound up getting once DOA6 released & DLC Content they had to offer.

Whoever takes over DOA now is going to have a LOT of shoes to fill for sure!

More like a glass slipper that can only be filled if they copy whatever DOAXVV Team had to offer in their game that had its 6th Anniversary and its still going, Since DOAXVV is more of what DOA6 should've been especially Trendy SSR Outfits along side Star Gacha Outfit & Birthday Gacha Outfit.

 

“We wanted to make a more cool and mature Dead or Alive this time, and to that end we made a conscious decision to make the characters less sexualized,”

I don't see anything wrong with this statement. Cool is good. My only gripe with Shimbori was that he tried to walk it back in the worst way possible with that embarrassing EVO presentation.

Still, I'm glad that he was able to find a new place in the production of Tekken 8. I like the elements he helped introduce to DOA and he didn't deserve to be scapegoated by KT and the fans.

 

@Matt Ponton living 4 parallel universes ahead of us all as usual, this needs to be framed

Ponton — 15/05/2023
honestly the closer we get to T8's release the more I expect to see Shimbori's name in the credits.

no evidence was posted btw here it is for the non-believers at 14:24 youtube.com/watch?v=mUEM-91wEUE&t=864s
...the 3rd name in the credits as "Producer / Assistant Director" gaddayum

 

I treat Shimbori along side KT (US/EU Branches) as the reason DOA6 was below DOA5 standards, and the ones ruined DOA. The only value I see in Shimbori is him leaving Team Ninja/Koei Tecmo, and if Katsuhiro Harada wants to take Shimbori, he can. I hope for Shimbori to have a better career in other games, and not part of DOA anymore.

Singling out a person for a game's successes or failures is idiotic. Everyone involved in DOA6's development deserves blame, but mostly on KT as they were the one's who put TN in an environment where that game's success was rendered impossible from day 1. Everything that could possibly go wrong, did.

All this is just pointless speculative gossip.

My hope is the next people in charge will have a vision for a new DOA game that's less eatsports focused. All esports does is rob a game of its soul.

 

If there wasn't retirement in 2021, Shimbori should try to promote DOA once again in that Bayman costume in 2022 , I mean like no one could say something bad about or insult DOA or Shimbori everyone would be scared jk

 

If there wasn't retirement in 2021, Shimbori should try to promote DOA once again in that Bayman costume in 2022 , I mean like no one could say something bad about or insult DOA or Shimbori everyone would be scared jk

Why would he promote a game he's not working for tho? Even now there's still a stigma DOA has so i think he should focus on tekken, people are also still seeming kinda mixed that he's working on Tekken since it's seen as him "jumping ship" so I think he's fine as is. People are still gonna insult DOA regardless if he is working with Tekken too

 

I don't see anything wrong with this statement. Cool is good. My only gripe with Shimbori was that he tried to walk it back in the worst way possible with that embarrassing EVO presentation.

Still, I'm glad that he was able to find a new place in the production of Tekken 8. I like the elements he helped introduce to DOA and he didn't deserve to be scapegoated by KT and the fans.

Let Me explain to you what is wrong with this statement, that statement comes off as the people involve didn't like DOA as it was so in a desperate attempt at trying to be "Cool" they would wind up making changes that paying customers such as Myself wouldn't like that at all (plus these people would've never been capable at making an original IP for their Cool & Mature approach), plus they're taking away content that people like from the the DOA games which justifies backlash, and feels like they're trying to cater to everyone who didn't care about DOA at the expenses of the fans who enjoy games as they were which is just going to make DOA into a bland game that lost its appeal aka the reasons DOA was ever popular/profitable to begin. Cool doesn't equal good, anyone who tries to be cool especially with specific directions like what DOA6 went through are only going to look lame and someone who trying too hard to impress others.

That EVO presentation (which took place in Japan) was the Marketing Team's idea to have the girls on stage, and shows off photo mode including one involving Bass doing throw on Nyotengu. Which eventually got shutdown by EVO due to "Core Values." Which dare I say the Marketing Team had better ways getting people interested in DOA, than Shimbori ever could in his interviews.

All I can say is Shimbori can enjoy his new role in Tekken 8.

Singling out a person for a game's successes or failures is idiotic. Everyone involved in DOA6's development deserves blame, but mostly on KT as they were the one's who put TN in an environment where that game's success was rendered impossible from day 1. Everything that could possibly go wrong, did.

All this is just pointless speculative gossip.

My hope is the next people in charge will have a vision for a new DOA game that's less eatsports focused. All esports does is rob a game of its soul.

Even if everyone involved from KT & TN were to be blamed, it still doesn't stop the fact that Shimbori was not only credit as Director & Producers for DOA6 (which is part of DOA6 development), but he took the interviews. Unless someone has insider knowledge of KT or TN Staff as whos idea was it to tone games sexual content down, & whos idea to have focus on eSports instead of sticking to what fans want which I bet no one would want to take blame for their decisions.

My hope is either for new development team to just make the DOA game for the fanbase that made DOAXVV successful and copy every costumes/features that was in DOAXVV but include some new outfits along with ones previous seen in DOA5, or DOAXVV Staff will be the ones handling DOA Fighting Game.

 

Let Me explain to you what is wrong with this statement, that statement comes off as the people involve didn't like DOA as it was so in a desperate attempt at trying to be "Cool" they would wind up making changes that paying customers such as Myself wouldn't like that at all (plus these people would've never been capable at making an original IP for their Cool & Mature approach), plus they're taking away content that people like from the the DOA games which justifies backlash, and feels like they're trying to cater to everyone who didn't care about DOA at the expenses of the fans who enjoy games as they were which is just going to make DOA into a bland game that lost its appeal aka the reasons DOA was ever popular/profitable to begin. Cool doesn't equal good, anyone who tries to be cool especially with specific directions like what DOA6 went through are only going to look lame and someone who trying too hard to impress others.

That EVO presentation (which took place in Japan) was the Marketing Team's idea to have the girls on stage, and shows off photo mode including one involving Bass doing throw on Nyotengu. Which eventually got shutdown by EVO due to "Core Values." Which dare I say the Marketing Team had better ways getting people interested in DOA, than Shimbori ever could in his interviews.

All I can say is Shimbori can enjoy his new role in Tekken 8.



Even if everyone involved from KT & TN were to be blamed, it still doesn't stop the fact that Shimbori was not only credit as Director & Producers for DOA6 (which is part of DOA6 development), but he took the interviews. Unless someone has insider knowledge of KT or TN Staff as whos idea was it to tone games sexual content down, & whos idea to have focus on eSports instead of sticking to what fans want which I bet no one would want to take blame for their decisions.

My hope is either for new development team to just make the DOA game for the fanbase that made DOAXVV successful and copy every costumes/features that was in DOAXVV but include some new outfits along with ones previous seen in DOA5, or DOAXVV Staff will be the ones handling DOA Fighting Game.

This isn’t exactly Shimbori’s fault. Like I’ve said before he was hired to do beyond his job description. Shimbori should not be talking or doing PR because he sucks at it. That one was on KT.

He’s at his best when his responsibilities entail great game design and that’s what he will be known for long after he retires.

 

Even if everyone involved from KT & TN were to be blamed, it still doesn't stop the fact that Shimbori was not only credit as Director & Producers for DOA6 (which is part of DOA6 development), but he took the interviews. Unless someone has insider knowledge of KT or TN Staff as whos idea was it to tone games sexual content down, & whos idea to have focus on eSports instead of sticking to what fans want which I bet no one would want to take blame for their decisions.

My hope is either for new development team to just make the DOA game for the fanbase that made DOAXVV successful and copy every costumes/features that was in DOAXVV but include some new outfits along with ones previous seen in DOA5, or DOAXVV Staff will be the ones handling DOA Fighting Game.

Shimbori was all about the esports from the very beginning. Esports just makes everything so safe and boring and palatable for the masses. Wish these lesser fighters would stop placing importance on EVO.

DOA6 could have been esports, you just destroy DOA's identity in the process. You might as well just make a whole new fighting game IP if that's your goal.

What do you think carried DOA5? Punishere told me a story once where KT had a roundtable dinner so the community could give them ideas. But they already made up their mind that they were gonna milk that game for DLC costumes for the most part. They even threatened fewer balance adjustments unless more fetishwear was sold. FSD peeps were trying to convince KT that going "more serious" was gonna save DOA. It didn't and won't.

KT didnt have any faith in DOA5/6, that's why the budget was so low for both.

 

i don't get the saying that DOA6 is low budget, like any blockbuster movie the highest portion of budget goes to marketing.

DOA6 got the road tour, beta test , and japanese celebrities' in tv shows play the game. you don't get that attention with DOA5

The design is always trap as many people as they can to buy the game and milk the DLC money

only KT underestimate the social media backlash and because of that KT CEO said westerners don't like to pay much more for a game they bought

 

Singling out a person for a game's successes or failures is idiotic. Everyone involved in DOA6's development deserves blame, but mostly on KT as they were the one's who put TN in an environment where that game's success was rendered impossible from day 1. Everything that could possibly go wrong, did.

All this is just pointless speculative gossip.

My hope is the next people in charge will have a vision for a new DOA game that's less eatsports focused. All esports does is rob a game of its soul.

ya know what, doa7 should just go the opposite direction, make it the fighting game equivalent senran kagura. everyone becomes a hoe, no exceptions. then we bring back the infamous preferred breast jiggle thread.(for legal reasons this is a joke please dont actually do this team ninja).

Spoiler: everyone's reaction to what i wrote just there

In all seriousness, I predict there'll be some sort of reboot in 2029 or something, then it'll do even worse than DOA6 and the game is in the grave after that

 

i don't get the saying that DOA6 is low budget, like any blockbuster movie the highest portion of budget goes to marketing.

Part of DOA6's budget went to the official DOA6 WC pot and most of its development was outsourced to KT Vietnam. TN had like a skeleton crew working on the game, with the rest working on Nioh 2 (thanks, Kou Shibusawa). They had new employees working on the animations, which is evident in how looney tunes Diego animates. The game just looks low budget because it is. It needed another year in development. DOA5 barely got greenlit and when it did saw its budget slashed in half too. KT just does not care about DOA as a property.

 

I just think we can see Ninja Gaiden in early 2025, and DOA in early 2026 lol

 

> Shimbori had nothing to do with DOA6

Really interested in knowing how much of the system he's involved with. It appears he likes basketball dribbling combos over toning things down.

 

i don't get the saying that DOA6 is low budget

- The game released without a online lobby as a start. From there on it became rather apparent and suspicious of what DOA6 was going through. Online lobby is standard to a finalized release build.

- Apparently the game was outsourced as most of the team members went to go do Nioh. KT from here on didn't really value DOA highly (the FG versions that is), and one of the other main reasons is that action games started booming again after Dark Souls III (2016), and Nioh (2017) was a success because the action game genre generally sells more than a fighting game (which is usually true. Nier, DMC, Dark Souls etc.)

- KT's master plan was that they wanted to do as little as possible with the least budget+support and then expect it to sell like hotcakes in return. Hair color prices etc. to make up for the losses but they were called out on it while social media spread the news like wildfire. KT from there on jumped ship and gave up/dropped support because of the feedback which basically destroyed their chance to not only make a comeback for the vanilla build, but potentially an upgrade to an edition (DOA6U etc.) and the losses wouldn't be able to cover for all of them. The project was low budget and was doomed to fail even if the product was good or bad. While an upgrade wasn't really confirmed, the loss was pretty heavy that it could also damage a potential one or a sequel. I mean, who's to say they can't make a DOA6U, but there is not much convincing for KT to even make one now that Shimbori left who was the dev that pushed the hardest for DOA to succeed.

- Another bit was that it was stated by KT of westerners hated paying which is true, but this is mostly a cultural clash of integrity. Problem with that trick is that it doesn't work on every game. Sure it can work in DOAVV, but fighting games usually don't do so hot with that concept. Not every series can pull a Genshin Impact either.