Tekken 5 to be unveiled in May?

The next game in classic beat-'em-up series Tekken will be unveiled for the first time at the E3 games show in May, according to unconfirmed reports that are currently doing the rounds.

A coin-op version of the game will apparently be released first by Namco, with a PS2 version set to follow by the end of the year. While there are no details yet regarding how the game will improve over its predecessors, it's widely expected that online fighting will play a prominent role.

It is also hoped that the game will feature a much larger selection of characters that the streamlined Tekken 4 did, which was released for PS2 way back in September 2002. Commented PSM2 magazine at the time: "The roster's undergone a ruthless cull. Bruce, Wang and Jack have been abandoned, comedy favourites Roger and Alex are out, and most copycat characters (Anna, say) have gone from the leaner line-up.

"No fighting style's been completely ditched - there's still a whisper of Jack's no-nonsense approach in Kuma's brutality, for instance - but there's something heartbreaking about knowing you'll never humiliate an opponent with Ganryu's Kabuki Dance again."