Tekken 6 online patch is live – now with impressions!
Tekken fans rejoice, the Tekken 6 online patch is finally here!
But does it fix the problems that plague online? For the most part, yes. We’ve played more than a dozen matches and we have some initial impressions to share.
If you have been playing Tekken 6 then you definitely don’t need to be told that there is something wrong with the online mode. Promised back in the beginning of November, Namco claimed that they would save the day ASAP. It’s been nearly a month and the patch just now went live. It’s only 15MBs, so it’s a pretty small update. Here are the features of the patch:
* Improved input response: improvement of the game’s responsiveness to button / command inputs
* Selectable search priorities for ranked matches: players will be able to set search priorities for opponents in ranked matches based on comparable rank or connection quality as well as location
* Optimized data transmission between fighters and spectators: fight data will be optimized in order to reduce the bandwidth load on the host’s console
* Signal strength bars: the signal strength bar will reflect connection quality more accurately
* Chance to cancel match: players will be able to cancel the match before it begins once the opponent’s signal strength has been displayed on ranked matches.
[Impressions]
So how does the online mode hold up now?
Having played over 15 matches since the patch has gone live, there is definitely a huge improvement to the netcode. We’re not sure what Namco did, but whatever it was, it worked.
There are a total of five bars for online to signify the netcode. A 1 bar (red) connection is the worst, while a 5 bar (teal) connection is the best. The majority of the matches played so far seemed to have bumped up a bar in comparison to the game pre-patch. A 3 bar (yellow) connection occurred 12 times out of the 15 matches played, and that’s a huge improvement from the orange and red bar matches that were a norm before the patch.
A yellow connection wasn’t an experience worth talking about before (unless it was a negative one), but now it’s actually very playable. Oddly enough, even a 2 bar (orange) connection was more playable than most green connections pre-patch. While it may sound like an overdramatization, it is just undeniable that the improvement is very impressive. It’s great that the input delay has been reduced so doing juggles should be a lot easier than before. In fact, you may need to re-time your juggles if you have gotten used to the delay from before.
One of the coolest features of the patch is how you can see the connection of your opponent right before the match. For 10 seconds you get to decide whether or not you want to accept or decline a match with someone due to their connection. You don’t actually get to see their names, so it isn’t a cheap way to avoid high level players. This ability is available for ranked and unranked matches.
Namco has done a great job fixing the online in Tekken 6. The delay is not too noticeable anymore, especially if you aren’t an extremely hardcore player. You may not be able to punish whiffs all the time, but the large guessing game of online has been reduced tremendously. You can stop cursing at your TV now and just accept a loss due to genuinely being whooped.
hxxp://www.ps3attitude.com/new/2009/11/tekken-6-online-patch-live/
