For their upcoming fighting game, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, the developers at Tecmo Koei have created a new engine to bring their characters to life.
Called the "Yawaraka Engine" (やわらかエンジン) or "Softness Engine," it is the result of attempting to up the visual realism of character skin in order to make characters look more naturally realistic on the latest platforms. "The reason that fans would think the game must be on the latest generation is that 'the girls look cuter [on the latest consoles].'" Producer Yosuke Hayashi explained in an interview with Weekly Famitsu. "We call the technology we used to advance skin and breast physics and make that a reality, the 'Yawaraka Engine.' Once you see it on the new consoles, you won't be able to go back."
There are a lot of words I could use to describe the jiggle physics in the Dead or Alive series, but "realistic" has never been one of them. Fortunately, Last Round will include a feature in the settings that will allow players to control the boob-shaking physics affect – though in what manner and to what extent has not yet been revealed. Hopefully this will mean characters don't look like they have water balloons strapped to their chest that bounce around at the slightest provocation.
Aside from the female fighters, the Yawaraka Engine is being used on the male characters to make their muscles look more realistic. The technology itself is still in development and according to Hayashi, "Every day they get 'softer.'" Wonder if that means there is moob bounce, too...
The new game will be bringing back classic stages from the original Dead or Alive and Dead or Alive 2 as well as accessory options for characters. There will also be a streamlined free-to-play version available at launch for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms.
Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is scheduled for release on the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One in Japan on February 19th, and in the West next Spring.
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