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NEWS: Shaheen Character Added to Tekken 7 Game's Roster


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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4371
Location: New York
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:22 am Reply with quote
He was trolling about Chole. At least I hope so.

As for this guy, I want to like the Lawrence of Arabia look but question if there's anything I'm missing that might offend others.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6253
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:56 am Reply with quote
Beatdigga wrote:
He was trolling about Chole. At least I hope so.

As for this guy, I want to like the Lawrence of Arabia look but question if there's anything I'm missing that might offend others.


I think about the same about Lucky Chloe. About Shaheen, it doesn't look stereotypical or anything about that. He looks just about right for international gamers appeal.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 10:48 am Reply with quote
While I can see why those of Middle Eastern background would take offense to this, he is wearing a common image of Middle Eastern male clothing.

I can see it causing more controversy if he was a terrorist but Middle Eastern terrorists themselves aren't really helping their Middle Eastern image so many are doing this radical acts that are news material.

On the flip side, there are those of Middle Eastern background that are happy that their kind are getting representation.
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Spoofer



Joined: 03 Aug 2003
Posts: 356
Location: NY
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 11:05 am Reply with quote
Why would he be a terrorist...? I think your own biases are at work there with that assumption.

Tekken's always been good about being respectful to its characters and their heritage/nationalities. There was an unintentional issue in TTT2 where the symbol for Allah was placed on the floor of the Saudi Arabia stage, which is apparently considered to be disrespectful to Muslims. Harada and the team quickly amended the stage to resolve the problem, showing how considerate they are of all their international players. Harada specifically stated that he was looking to include a character that Arabs could identify with, so I'm sure the team will do everything they can to make him appealing for their culture.

He's actually the first new T7 character whose design appeals to me.

Also, it's been confirmed that Harada was merely joking about the whole Lucky Chloe being excluded from NA fiasco. He's always been a sarcastic grump.


Last edited by Spoofer on Thu Jan 01, 2015 11:07 am; edited 1 time in total
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#814635



Joined: 11 May 2014
Posts: 17
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 11:07 am Reply with quote
he looks like Omar Borkan Al Gala the guy who got kicked out of Saudi Arabia due to his good looks.

I wonder if it was intentional
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Spoofer



Joined: 03 Aug 2003
Posts: 356
Location: NY
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 11:11 am Reply with quote
^ Heh, you're right. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/00/5e/c9/005ec9a59b1cbc723b98a80476a9d069.jpg

Tekken's also pretty well-known for appropriating well-known elements from other franchises and/or real life and adapting it to suit Tekken's needs. Anime smile;;
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 11:13 am Reply with quote
Spoofer, a reason for saying that is that it can be common for companies to make characters incorporating stereotypes/cliches that correspond to that type of character.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 11:17 am Reply with quote
Kadmos1 wrote:
Spoofer, a reason for saying that is that it can be common for companies to make characters incorporating stereotypes/cliches that correspond to that type of character.


Well I never seen Tekken got any controversy for any racial stereotype on the character. So it looks like Tekken developer are really careful not to offend international fans of any race.
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Spoofer



Joined: 03 Aug 2003
Posts: 356
Location: NY
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 11:25 am Reply with quote
mdo7 wrote:
Kadmos1 wrote:
Spoofer, a reason for saying that is that it can be common for companies to make characters incorporating stereotypes/cliches that correspond to that type of character.


Well I never seen Tekken got any controversy for any racial stereotype on the character. So it looks like Tekken developer are really careful not to offend international fans of any race.


More than that, they've always genuinely seemed interested in making the characters something that their respective cultures could take pride in. For quite a long time they've specifically taken the effort to record all character dialogue in the characters' native (or preferred) language, for example.
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Lupica



Joined: 19 Apr 2010
Posts: 88
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 11:29 am Reply with quote
There was actually a consultation a few months back where they showed some concept art for this character and specifically asked Arab fans to comment with feedback. A lot of the feedback they gave was really good, like telling the team which parts of the outfit weren't consistent and making suggestions about iconography use, so I'm guessing this guy will be well received. I think he looks cool.

(Also why the 'sic' in the quote? The English makes perfect sense!)
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GalicianNightmare



Joined: 16 Dec 2014
Posts: 124
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 12:18 pm Reply with quote
@Spoofer How is censoring "symbol of Allah?" a good thing? Just because a few Muslims complained? Seriously? That's not a good thing. It just means that Muslims are oversensitive about a religion that may or may not be true. When Evangelion came out, what did the Jews and Christians think? They didn't care. When Trigun came out, what the the Christians think about that guy with the gun cross? Didn't care. When Type Moon games/media come out, with Nasu's infantile understanding of Catholicism, what did the Catholics think? Didn't care. The last time we cared was Month Pyton, which was like 3 decades ago.

Hell, how do atheists feel when something about atheism is challenged? Do they complain? No. They debate openly, like mature adults.

If we DID care, the Japanese would rightfully laugh at us, because we're being fools. If we can't handle our own religion being criticized, then we wouldn't have any right to ridicule/criticize others for faults that we have.

When OOT came out, a few Muslims cried, the Mirror Shield got "fixed" even in Japan, where there are no Muslims. When DIO was reading the Quran, the Muslims cried, they forced Hiraki to redraw the scene without the Quran. Why is this? Why do people give into Muslim offence? It doesn't help the "Islam is peace" that many Muslims try to portray. Or maybe it's not Islam. It's Muslims.

*Did I also mention that Arab TV continuously insults the beliefs and culturess of atheists, Christians and Jews without reconstructions?
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MrTerrorist



Joined: 20 Oct 2010
Posts: 1348
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 12:27 pm Reply with quote
Spoofer wrote:
^ Heh, you're right. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/00/5e/c9/005ec9a59b1cbc723b98a80476a9d069.jpg

Tekken's also pretty well-known for appropriating well-known elements from other franchises and/or real life and adapting it to suit Tekken's needs. Anime smile;;


Now fangirls will go swooned! Laughing
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Ownsin



Joined: 14 Mar 2013
Posts: 27
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 12:34 pm Reply with quote
Kadmos1 wrote:
While I can see why those of Middle Eastern background would take offense to this, he is wearing a common image of Middle Eastern male clothing.

I can see it causing more controversy if he was a terrorist but Middle Eastern terrorists themselves aren't really helping their Middle Eastern image so many are doing this radical acts that are news material.

On the flip side, there are those of Middle Eastern background that are happy that their kind are getting representation.


That's not what middle eastern males wear in the middle east... Having been there and lived there. People only wear that in the gulf region, but the rest of the middle east doesn't wear anything like that, they just wear normal jeans and t-shirts just like you're average day joe... I think this clothing is stereotypical and should be changed, unless the character himself is actually from the gulf region.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6253
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 12:39 pm Reply with quote
Ownsin wrote:

That's not what middle eastern males wear in the middle east... Having been there and lived there. People only wear that in the gulf region, but the rest of the middle east doesn't wear anything like that, they just wear normal jeans and t-shirts just like you're average day joe... I think this clothing is stereotypical and should be changed, unless the character himself is actually from the gulf region.


As another person mentioned, the producers asked Middle Eastern/Arab fans of Tekken to give feedback on it a few months back before releasing the final design which you see here.

So far, I don't hear any controversy over this character yet.
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Sam Murai



Joined: 01 Dec 2006
Posts: 1051
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 1:26 pm Reply with quote
Since everyone overreacted to the Lucky Chloe character spoiler[(A little freaky-looking, yes, but "lewd" and "perverted"? Come on… There are far more egregious depictions of females in video games, plus she was pretty well-covered and small-chested. And in the end, she still felt like a Tekken character that belonged in there.)], I wonder if people will cry out over this one (probably non-gaming, extreme right-wingers), or will throw excessive amounts of PC praise at it…

Personally, I really like seeing that they are being (very) bold with his main costume, as I'm sure people (somewhat similar with Lucky Chloe) will draw immediate conclusions and become displeased or wary about him without ever playing or knowing any more about him. He looks good though, and for a game that prides itself with a heavily multi-ethnic roster and like collection of fighting styles, I would expect that such a character would exist in it.

However, I'm more concerned about how Tekken will advance itself as a fighting game. I've been a long-time fan of the franchise, but ever since trying Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate, it has been hard picking up Tekken (even its most recent one in TT2) and not feel how stiff and antiquated it looks and feels in comparison (and this is after long admiring the franchise's graphics and controls). The gameplay in the T7 trailers are reminiscent of DOA's type of fluidity and movement, and feels fresher than other installments, so I have my fingers crossed that they are on the right path.
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