Tekken 8 director reveals attempts to create a Waffle House stage to no avail, will “seriously reconsider” if fans are happy with a different name

Discussions around a Waffle House stage in Tekken 8 have been an ongoing gag for around a year at this point, rooted entirely around the restaraunt’s online reputation for early morning brawls and Tekken’s own impactful depictions of fisticuffs. As it turns out, attempts have been made on Tekken’s side, with director Katsuhiro Harada claiming to have tried to get the ball rolling.

Posting on Twitter early this morning, Harada first kicked off the conversation by responding to a fan asking about where the Waffle House stage was. Harada asked his followers if fans would still be happy with an alternative name, stating: “If we can’t get that ‘House’ name license, how about we call it ‘Hustle House’ stage? Doesn’t that make sense to everyone?”

He would follow up with a lengthy post elaborating on his attempts to make this dream stage a reality, writing that he had “already been thinking about it quite a while ago”.

“Over the past year or more, I’ve actually tried to make contact through several different channels. However, and this is purely my own speculation, I suspect that the lack of response may be due to the fact that the project I’m known for revolves around ‘fighting-themed video games’ (ny the way, no response = very rare case).”

Harada continues: “That said, if – like I suggested earlier – using a different name or format is acceptable as long as the core message is maintained, then I would be willing to seriously reconsider and explore this again.”

For what it’s worth, my own assumptions match Harada’s here, that it’s unlikely that Waffle House wants to further align itself with the repuation its restaraunts have for actual fights in real life. It may be funny to you and I, but you’ve got to imagine the sort of questions suits higher up at Waffle House would ask when faced with such a premise. Still, if Bandai Namco and the Tekken team somehow manage to create some kind of legal knockoff Waffle Wagon, or the Pe-King of Iron First Tournament Duck House, then maybe that appeal can be channeled somehow.

But it’s hard. It’s no shocker that much of the humour derived from the idea of a Waffle House Tekken 8 stage comes from that fact that you can watch some Georgian guy do electric wind god fists in real life in the parking lot, that Marvel vs Capcom 3 Doom style footdives onto people’s chests have happened bathed in the yellow glow of the Waffle House sign. If the Tekken team were to create a stage with a referential name, it would have to be clearly identifiable as Waffle House, rather than some vague diner. Otherwise, the joke is torn from the roots of what makes it funny in the first place.

Here’s where I’m at right now opinion-wise. Bandai Namco has lawyers just gathering dust over in Japan, so to me the team should just go make a stage that’s as close to the line of legally distinct as possible, and just send it. I ask you this: what is the point of being one of the biggest video game developers/publishers in Japan if you can’t have a bit of fun now and again?

What do you think? Would you be happy with a legally distinct Waffle House stage? Or does it have to be a Waffle House to be funny? Let us know below!