Tekken 3D Prime Edtition Doesn’t Support 3D During Multiplayer

By Ishaan . February 9, 2012 . 11:30am

While other Nintendo 3DS fighters like Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition and Dead or Alive: Dimensions run at a higher framerate in 2D mode and a lower framerate in 3D mode, Tekken 3D Prime Edition runs at a smooth 60 frames-per-second in both 2D and 3D.

That said, there’s a catch.

It would appear this combination of 3D and 60 frames-per-second only applies to the game’s singleplayer mode. An Iwata Asks interview with Tekken series producer, Katsuhiro Harada, notes the following, with regard to stereoscopic 3D display:

“In Tekken 3D: Prime Edition, the game supports 60 frames per second during wireless play, but stereoscopic 3D display is not supported.”

That sounds like you can’t play the game’s multiplayer modes in 3D at all, which is something we weren’t aware of earlier. A good catch on the part of Siliconera reader, Peace Legacy, who pointed it out in our comments section!

Tekken 3D Prime Edition will be released on February 14th in North America.

Food for thought:

I’m rather curious as to what people think of this. One the one hand, while having the choice to fight multiplayer matches in 3D at a lower framerate would have been nice, I always wrestled with the prospect of turning 3D off in Dead or Alive: Dimensions because it looked so good. It always came at the cost of a smooth experience, but despite that, even today, I have trouble turning 3D off because it feels like I’m missing out on part of the experience.

From a design standpoint, is forcing 2D mode perhaps the best course of action?

Read more stories about Nintendo 3DS & Tekken 3D Prime Edition on Siliconera.

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/members/55321.html FinalArcadia
That’s reasonable enough. 3D isn’t “make or break” for a fighting game like this anyway, so I don’t see any reason this should bother anyone.
Besides, in multiplayer, I don’t want to focus on the cool 3D effects… I want to focus on crushing my opponent. :D
http://twitter.com/DanijoEX DanijoEX
That’s better than nothing really.
Although I’m not much of an online person…
http://twitter.com/ZEROthe1st ZEROthefirst
Doesn’t bother me, honestly I usually have the 3d slider off on my 3ds when I’m playing, to save some battery life as well as to keep from straining my eyes a bit.
aoihana
Honestly, although I do wish they implemented 3D, even if it had to be at a lower frame rate, I don’t mind it’s absence. I mean, it would have been nice to have it, but with a game like this, or rather, with competitive games in general, I think it’s best without the distracting 3D effect. ┐(‘～`；)┌
When I play a real competitive game like Mario Kart, for example, I pretty much always turn off 3D when I play online multiplayer. When I play single player, it’s a lot less hectic, so I can appreciate the 3D effect. Obviously, this isn’t the case when you’re playing with such tough opponents online! ლ(´ڡ`ლ)
I also tend to get really engaged when I play competitively! I shake around my 3DS, and do some awkward movements. Often, I neutralize the 3D effect anyway, so that’s part of the reason why I turn it off. （*＾ワ＾*）
At least the 3D effect is on during single player, I appreciate that, and honestly, I’m content with it, too. (◕‿◕✿)
Speaking of multiplayer, does Tekken 3D Prime Edition support online multiplayer, or has this not been confirmed? (✿｀_´)ゞ

http://twitter.com/nikochanr3 niko
I read your posts, you strike me as far far too logical and reasonable to be a gamer in this day and age.
That is all.
http://twitter.com/DanijoEX DanijoEX
I’m not sure but I think it does have online multiplayer…or so I’ve heard.
I could be wrong.

James Beatty
….what?
Go2hell66
it really depends on the game, 3D looks great on some games and horrible on others, most games i just keep it off anyways
Kris
60 FPS 2D sounds better to me than a fluctuating framerate with 3D, so I’d personally be pleased with this decision. That said, I don’t really like Tekken all that much, so perhaps I’m not qualified to say…

aoihana
Well, I’m not an avid Tekken fan myself, but I think our opinions are as valid as anyone else’s! (◕‿◕✿)
http://myfigurecollection.net/collection/DrakosAmatras DrakosAmatras
I heard that 3D mode requires rendering a frame twice. If that’s true, aesthetic/visual benefits aside, it really would mean a significant workload for the machine. My guess is that it was turned off for multi-player because if the machine has to handle double rendering on top of network signals while trying to maintain the synchronization… that might have been a bit too much.
So regarding Ishaan’s question in the article, I’d say “yes”; it’s perhaps the best course of action to opt for a higher quality experience of a standard feature, rather than forcing a novelty and have it hold back the quality.

http://twitter.com/Dudechileno Keycross
Most fighters focus on the multiplayer side rather than the single player experience. When promoting the game you say “3D with 60FPS” I normally asume it´s also on multiplayer what you offer, not only on single player. Good observation!
Ono must be laughing right now…
Suicunesol
Ahah, I knew there was a catch. I am going to miss s3D as it’s something that I think suits fighting games well. It too is something I wrestled with when playing DoA, especially in online matches. Usually I play with 3D on, but when I begin to lose online matches, I switch back…
It does make sense when you understand how they’re achieving 60 fps with 3D on. To my understanding, Nintendo 3DS has two CPUs: one for running the game, and the other for handling wireless capabilities. Nintendo recently released a development kit update which allowed developers to utilize the second core to render games (disabling wireless play/streetpass in doing so), resulting in increased performance, which explains why Street Fighter and DoA weren’t able to use this method.

xxbrothawizxx
I’m pretty sure that the second CPU core being available to devs was just enabled recently. Considering the fact that preview models already had the game running at 60fps (from back at E3), I’m not totally sure this is the case though it is very possible that it is. We’ll have to see whether or not Tekken 3D signs you out of the friends list to see if they are indeed using the second core. Regardless, I really feel like this may have just been a result of the dev work. MK has 8 characters on screen and their cars (most likely with enough polys to make up two of Tekken 3D’s fighters) and generally basic, but appealing environments. In contrast, Tekken has two high poly characters on screen and generally basic environments though still visually pleasing. If MK can retain 60fps with up to 8 players with download player and online I really think Tekken should have been able to do the same with only two.

Suicunesol
Yes, MK does throw a wrench in my hypothesis doesn’t it? The only explanation I have is that Mario Kart’s graphics are simply not as detailed as Tekken’s graphics, which allows it to retain 60 fps.

xxbrothawizxx
When its parts are looked at separately, MK7 may look unimpressive, but let’s consider a few things:
- there are 8 character basic models and their karts on the track
- there are varying physics for each racer as well as further variations due to hanglider and underwater sections as well as different track materials
- lighting effects need to be rendered for each character and the environment (though the game’s LOD system does alleviate some of this strain)
- 8 player multiplayer online and offline
In comparison Tekken has
- 2 character complex, high poly models
- complex physics, but only for 2 characters
- Lighting effects for full scene (No LOD due to small playing field size)
I really don’t think Tekken is really much of a more hardware intensive game, if not less so.

http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan
I think one of the contributing factors is probably the rigs on the character models in Tekken. I would imagine that MK7′s karts/characters have very simple rigs, but the number of bones for each Tekken character model is presumably pretty high.
Calculating all of that data is probably part of the reason. On top of that, you have more advanced collision meshes/hit boxes in Tekken, too, so that adds to the load as well. They’re just two models, but the amount of data that needs to be processed is higher, since this is a fighting game.
Perhaps the real difference is that in Mario Kart, data can be streamed seamlessly as you go across the track, but in Tekken, all the data needs to be loaded in memory right then and there, ready to be used at a moment’s notice.

http://twitter.com/#!/Leafy_Cam Leafhopper
That makes logical sense to me.
http://www.facebook.com/shawn.dickenson1 Shawn SomethingOtaku Dickenson
thats good I wasnt going to use the 3D anyway
xxbrothawizxx
You know what? I really wanted to go out and support Namco and the devs for the effort with the game, but this is inexcusable.
Not the fact that this is the case, but the fact that Namco wouldn’t come out and state this fact in any of their press releases or media. They just lost my money (they really should have allowed 3D anyway at a variable frame rate or locked to 30fps).
http://www.youtube.com/Tyeforce Tyeforce
That’s ridiculous! I mean, I understand that they have to make sacrifices in order to run the game at 60fps in multiplayer, but at least give us a choice! I’d much rather play the game at 30fps in 3D than at 60fps in 2D. Dead or Alive: Dimensions gave us that choice, why can’t they do the same here?
kylehyde
Personally I don’t mind having to play at 30 FPS on 3D during on-line, I know that the game still will let to play at 60FPS with 3D in off-line, but this, along with the fact that is not going to have an arcade mode at all, is a dissapointing for me, I still want the title, but from “first day purchase” has moved to “some time later because there are other sutff that have priority in my list”.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Kamek20xxExtra?feature=mhee Michael Stevens
That is perfectly fine. With the exception of platform games like Mutant Mudds or VVVVVV, I rarely use 3D on anything.
punkchobit
Id rather sacrifice the framerate to play in 3d.
Proper devs leave it up to the user instead of forcing what they want on us
Yesshua
You ask an interesting question. My answer: I think it was smart to just disable the 3D function entirely.
If you allow the 3D to run during multiplayer and framerate takes a hit, then you have two options. Either let different people have different framerates (which isn’t very fair) or have people choose 3D or not 3D playmodes to make sure things are fair (which isn’t very user friendly and is potentially confusing).
Then there’s the third option, take 3D out of multiplayer entirely. Then you keep things simple and you keep things fair. Good attributes for a multiplayer game!
takopako
while i think it was a smart choice for them to make, but as a consumer i like to be able to have a choice on how i enjoy my products and this kind of seems to take that choice away. i rather enjoy the 3d effect, and in playing dead or alive dimensions, i always chose to keep it on. online mode or not.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002395146276 Peace Legacy
As a serious Tekken player, I don’t really see this as a big problem IMO
Since while playing offline, I would not play seriously and spent time looking at graphic and such
but when I play online, stuff get reals, there is no time to waste looking at pretty graphic, aliasing or texture as my serious competitive mode got turned on
The only thing in my mind when playing online, as oppose to offline, is “Win”, so really, can’t afford to be distracted by stuff like 3d from more important stuff like your opponent, etc…
neetyneety
Honestly, I barely use the 3D at all, so I’m fine with this. (yeah, pretty weird considering one of the whole selling features of the 3DS is such)
Some1onearth
I almost always use the 3D…except for maybe Tales of the Abyss.
I’m a bit disappointed, but it never affected my decision to get this as I’ve been wrestling with that for a while now. If it had Jun Kazama I might’ve had more incentive. Hopefully the game has a good download play (such as actually allowing more than ONE character >_>).
http://twitter.com/DurrDevil eo
Online will be rubbish anyway.
They have not 4 super casual game ruining macros buttons but 12.
12 OF THEM.
Online will be absolutely boring and cheap. So who cares if its not in 3D
PrinceHeir
neat info ^^
wahyudil
so a revision of 3DS will be made for this?

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