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From Nick Branstator, Research Engineer:

About six months ago now, Tripod got large enough that we were able to split a portion of our technical staff off into a separate Research and Development department, forming a group whose task it was to anticipate incipient technologies, prototype new products, and crunch some numbers while we were at it. At least, that was the intention — what we've really 'developed' is a crack squad of Tekken 3 players.

For some reason, Tekken 3 and R&D go well together — chocolate and peanut butter, if you will. Perhaps it's the endless possibilities for discovering new moves and combinations with the characters; maybe we are fascinated by the finely rendered cut-scenes and brilliantly realistic movements of the characters. In the end, though, one must conclude that we are all still 14 year olds at heart, that Tekken 3 is our continuing homage to the cathode ray god, and that our propensity for research is little different from that of younger siblings taking grasshoppers apart, leg by leg, to see what makes them tick.

Our (well, okay, my) fascination with 16-year-old martial artist Ling Xiaoyu and her schoolgirl outfit does little to refute this theory. I like to think that this is just a reflection of my fascination with camp — there's some beautiful irony in little Xiaoyu taking down the big boys, and the demons to boot, while wearing that little flippy skirt. But you have to wonder if it's just my inner teenager.

We've been playing Tekken 3 with regularity ever since it came out, meaning for about a month now, and there's no signs of letting up. If anything, the plague has spread. At some offices, people socialize by the water cooler; at Tripod, the Playstation has become something of a nexus. And now, R&D intern Jon Melesky is contemplating the organization of an internal Tripod Tekken Tournament. The mind boggles.

P.S. — Send me your tips and tricks for Xiaoyu. The tournament is coming soon!

Nick Branstator,
Research Engineer (6/12/98)