Tekken 7 New Saudi Arabian Character Shaheen Revealed
"Tekken 7" director Katushiro Harada introduced the new Arabian character named Shaheen on Twitter.
The character gained positive reactions from fans since requests for a Middle Eastern player were rampant due to Tekken's popularity in the region. Harada shared his journey on how he created Shaheen on a Facebook post.
The director travelled to Dubai and Saudi Arabia to fulfill the gamers' request of a character from Middle East. The whole team is Japanese and they exerted effort into making sure that Shaheen reflects the Arabian culture. Harada even encouraged gamers to give their feedback about Shaheen.
Another Middle Eastern character named Zafina from Egypt was released on Tekken 6. The two characters rarely received complaints compared to the cosplay inspired Lucky Chloe. The character wore animal ears and paws complete with a tail and donned a black and pink sexy dress.
Gamers especially in the Western world criticized the character branding it as a "lazy" and an "abomination." Harada calmed the gamers and said that Lucky Chloe is exclusive for East Asia and Europe fans and will not be introduced in the West.
Harada was also disappointed with the response and tweeted that the critiques only wanted "muscle and skinhead with Gun or MMA style" for the characters. Lucky Chloe clearly showed the culture differences between Japanese and Western video game players.
Bandai Namco Games is only months away from releasing Tekken 7. The latest game was announced at the world's largest fighting game tournament, EVO 2014. A sneak peek was revealed at the event that featured the villain Heihachi Mishima.
Harada did not reveal the platforms for Tekken 7 but it will most probably be available for PS3, Xbox 360 and even Wii U. Japanese arcades will be the first one to enjoy "Tekken 7" when it is released on March 2015.
