Virtual Fighter 5 in February 2007

Please GOD, don’t let Sega be completely insane and not launch this on the 360! I loved VF4 Evo, and was bummed when they announced that Final Tuned wouldn’t see state-side. But as much as I love this fighting series, I can’t see myself pulling out 600+ bucks for, possibly, the only great game Sony will have on their “dream machine”, in the next year or so….

Please GOD, don�t let Sega be completely insane and not launch this on the 360! I loved VF4 Evo, and was bummed when they announced that Final Tuned wouldn�t see state-side. But as much as I love this fighting series, I can�t see myself pulling out 600+ bucks for, possibly, the only great game Sony will have on their �dream machine�, in the next year or so�.

Sony forked over a lot to SEGA to have VF exclusive for the PS2. That being said, if the PS3 sales aren’t as high as expected in the upcoming year, we should see a lot of 3rd parties shift to other systems.

Instead of Virtua Fighter: 10th Anniversary Sega should have really went with a port of Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned as a pre-order bonus. That already was given to those who had pre-ordered Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution in the past, it looks lazy offering the same game as a bonus twice.

I can definitely see Virtua Fighter 5 as a system seller for Japan, considering how much bigger the VF series is in its native country compared to the US (which has only begun to pick up a bigger fanbase thanks to the release of VF 4). VF 5 has been a big success in Japanese arcades ever since its release, and the PS3 will definitely benefit from this. The USB arcade stick that’s being released a week after VF 5’s launch should also give Japanese gamers the chance to practice the game at home, so their skills will be sharp enough when they go out to the arcades to challenge skilled experts at the game.

In the end, it will be pretty pricey, but if those same gamers are willing to shell out $600 for a game console alone, they might as well bite the bullet and purchase VF 5 along with the arcade stick.