Don't fret, Namco - those masters of arcade battery - haven't opted to make Tekken 5 into a Super Smash Bros style fury free-for-all. Instead these latest screens from the upcoming coin-op reveal a piratical version of Jack and a cartoon King complete with cutesy eyes and fluffy ears.
The reason for the change is a brand new system of interchangeable cards that will let you customise one of the 20 characters and take them in your iron fist from arcade bout to coin-op battle. So the more wins that you tuck under your belt, the more colour and shapes of sunglasses and cloaks you can hang from them.
Bought from the cabinets themselves, these credit card-sized slabs of plastic will also carry info on the number of battles won, how you played and even allow you to leave a ghost version of yourself to challenge other equally skilled players. Which makes for a far more lasting memorial to your victory than just bashing a three-letter version of your name into a high-score table.
Tekken 5 will be the in arcades later this year and on PS2 in 2005
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