Because: The Tekken series has been around for 20 YEARS now and Namco acts like Asia = Japan+China+Korea while Africa doesn't even exist in the Tekken universe. The Asian nations Tekken ignores have more than a fifth of the planets population and ancient martial arts heritage. So why does Namco exclude them from a game about "the world's best fighters" coming together?

Digital Apartheid?
After 20 years of Tekken the makers have totally ignored the most populous nations and created characters only from a small part of the world.  Are certain people not welcome to the party? Are some ethnicities being censored on purpose?

Amazingly Namco Games has published a MARTIAL ARTS game that has NO CHARACTERS  from  several countries that are globally recognised if not famous for their martial arts.

Not 1 character from Thailand. Not 1 character from Indonesia or Malaysia. Not 1 character from the Philippines.  Tekken has not featured a single South-East Asian character, not ever.

Muay....Thai?
Although Tekken has a Muay Thai character, this Muay Thai fighter is not Thai. Of course, that’s not a problem since Muay Thai is extremely popular all over the world. Both the entertainment and self defence industries of many countries have profited largely from Thailand’s national (royal) martial art.

However, for 19 years Bruce Irvin has been the only Muay Thai character in the game and Namco hasn’t found place for a Thai to ehm…represent Muay Thai....
Even after the Ong Bak films Tekken has no place for Thais.

Imagine a game where Japanese or Chinese arts are exclusively represented by non-Japanese or non-Chinese characters? Imagine the same game not featuring any Japanese or Chinese at all.  For 20 years. Picture an Italian cooking show without Italians. For 20 years.

Bruce Lee's hardest fight
Ironically, Tekken has two characters that are clearly based on Bruce Lee. Mr Lee suffered from racism and discrimination both personally and in business. Yes, he was denied a job because of his Chinese ethnicity and the role of a Chinese monk was given to….an actor that wasn’t Chinese.  Bruce Lee succeeded in spite of it all and opened doors for many people of Asian origin.

Sadly, 40 years after his death it seems some things still have not changed.  Because similar to the Hollywood studio that denied Bruce Lee a Chinese role because he was….Chinese,  some game publishers would have us believe...

Read full article at http://tekken.me/?p=3

What can you do?
You can help by contacting Mr Katsuhiro Harada and telling your friends on Twitter and other social media. Signing this petition also helps. Spread the word because Tekken7 is coming! #HelpHarada

How to contact Mr Harada:
www.twitter.com/Harada_TEKKEN ; and www.facebook.com/tekken

WHAT DO WE WANT?
If Namco can't budget new characters in time for Tekken 7, they can at least add pallete skins so players can choose more diverse identities. Minimum effort to show some respect to the "rest of the people" of the world!! If they can't even do this it would seem Namco Bandai has a bias or policy against certain peoples.

Namco has added palette skins like Miharu, Tiger, Violet and Panda(!). There is NO REASON they can not include more diversity in Tekken. The issue is if Thais, Indians, Pakistani, Filipinos, Indonesians, Africans (from the African continent) etcetera are welcome in Tekken. (Panda was)

Don't be brave only on the screen, all you have to do is speak up.
We love Tekken, but it's hard to support a publisher that ignores your existence.
In Namco's defence; why should they respect the community if we accept every game they present? Don't complain after they make the game if you're too lazy or afraid to talk now! I've written all major games magazines and websites and NOT ONE has replied. (why am i surprised after Gamergate?)

Street Fighter community
Look at the Street Fighter community and their interaction with Capcom. Now look at the Tekken community's relation with Namco. Notice anything?
Diversity in the game is just one of several issues i could raise.

It might be time for us to look at ourselves. We can't blame Namco for everything.

twitter.com/TekkenvsRacism  www.tekken.me