Virtua Fighter dot com

Zero-chan has written a preview article on gamesradar.com for VF5FS. Primarily directed at non-VF fans, it makes for a great little read for fans and casual FG players alike! Here's a sample to get you going:

"You have no doubt heard of Virtua Fighter as a revolutionary, genre-defining series, but odds are that, even if you’re a major fighting game fan, you’ve never really sat down to dig into why reviewers and fans of the game extol its virtues at every opportunity. Indeed, it can be very hard to jump headfirst into VF’s very distinct brand of combat when other fighting games offer immediate familiarity. But Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown is going to give you some damn good reasons to take the plunge and explore the fierce, technical combat the series has to offer."

From iplaywinner.com:

"We're very proud to announce we will be teaming up with SEGA this weekend at PAX to bring everyone a live stream of Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown! We will be streaming straight from the authentic Japanese Lindbergh arcade cabinet they are bringing to Seattle Gameworks on Friday from 6PM PST to 8PM PST.


SEGA's own Patrick Riley (Director of International Product Development) will be on the mics with us to explain some of the finer details of the game to all our viewers. Of course, I love Virtua Fighter as well so I'll do what I can to break things down too!

For all you Virtua Fighter fans out there, this is your chance to not only check out the game but ask questions and let SEGA know you're out there and hype for this new release! If you're as passionate as we are about the game, tune in and show your support!

Also, if you're in the area for PAX, remember to swing by and check out the game as it will be available to play all weekend!"

» Discuss 1st US VF5 Final Showdown Stream Friday 6pm PST

From http://www.sega-australia.com/news/?n=5290

"LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO— 23rd August 2011—SEGA® of Europe Ltd. and SEGA® of America, Inc. today announced that Virtua Fighter™ 5, the latest title in its celebrated fighting franchise, will see a grand update and expansion released as a standalone title for both Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.and PlayStation® Network. The new game, entitled Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, will contain a full overhaul of Virtua Fighter 5’s mechanics, balance and animations, along with new game modes, new dynamic fighting arenas, a massive collection of customisable character items and two all-new characters added to the roster. Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown is expected to be available in Summer 2012."

Other News

Also check out Gamespot's announcement which includes a short interview with SEGA about the home version features.

From SEGA's facebook page, along with the console announcement is news that Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown will be playable (via arcade cabinets) at PAX!

It has begun.

"Welcome Virtua Fighter fanatics to the very first and hope to be many more fan made VF news letter. I had an idea some time ago that one of the things I thought would make the VF community better is if everyone pitched in to create fun and interesting content that we could distribute amongst ourselves for starters so everyone can get to know each other better." - Rodnutz

Click here for the original thread.

PDF Newsletter

Spoiler Alert! A VFer wins the SSF4AE Championship at Evo 2011!

VF fans all over are laying claim to a moral victory in Fuudo's excellent performance during the Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition Championship as he took 1st place at EVO 2011.

When asked during interview at WCG 2009 what he thought the differences were between SF4 and VF5, he said:

SF4 and VF5 requires a different mindset to play. It is important to understand and make use of all the set ups for SF4. Also, SF4 requires a lot of techniques to play effectively. Whereas VF requires a lot of yomi and how you can find other player's bad habits.

Despite the differences, and whether or not his VFing background did help him get a read on his opponents, it's hard to deny his remarkable skill and clutch decision making during the AE finals. While many had not heard of Fuudo prior to EVO 2011, there's no doubt that they'd be taking him seriously from now on!

Here are some links to get your Fuudo fix!

» Interview with Fuudo at WCG 2009
» EVO 2011 SSF4AE Top 8: Poongko (Seth) vs Fuudo (Fei Long)
» EVO 2011 SSF4AE Grand Final: Latif (C.Viper) vs. Fuudo (Fei Long)

Original image from shoryuken.com

The VFR Bay Area Cup 2011 Vol.5 tournament was held a couple of weeks ago. For those subscribed to kamaage's channel BattleCoreJP, you may have already seen the tournament videos. But in case you missed it, then I've created a playlist for the finals below.

VFR Bay Area Cup 2011 Vol.5 Finals (1 hour 53 minutes)

I won't spoil the ending, but a couple of our favourite players duke it out in the final match!

Those in the 2D fighting game community may be familiar with the Godsgarden tournaments held in Japan. Similar to last year, they've opened a voting system where the public can vote for who they'd like to see given an automatic berth into the Godsgarden 4 SF4AE finals. What does this have to do with VF? Glad you asked!

Famous VF players, Fuudo and Itazan will be entering the tournament and are both up for your votes! These guys have shown support to our community in the past (interviews, tournaments, etc) so here's an opportunity to give something back!

Head on over to the Godsgarden 4 Voting page and click on the left button against Fuudo (No. 7) and Itazan (No. 107). You're allowed up to 5 votes per day, and FYI, the right button counts as a vote against the player, so don't hit that!

Only the top 8 voted will go through to the final round where they will meet the remainder of the tournament that has qualified via pools. Voting closes on 3rd August 2011, so get those votes in!

» Godsgarden
» Godsgarden 4 Voting page

Interested in the latest tier list for a version you can't play? Thought so! Hot off the press from the latest issue of Arcadia magazine (August, No.135) comes the latest tier list for VF5FS:

SS: Akira
S: Lion, Jacky, Taka-arashi
A: Goh, Lau, Wolf, Brad, Shun, Vanessa, Jean, Sarah, Kage, Jeffry, El Blaze
B: Pai, Aoi, Lei-Fei, Eileen

The VF5FS Ver.A Tier List discussion, led by Reno, is already underway. Read on to hear some thoughts behind the rankings, as well as an alternate (but compatible) take from famous Japanese Akira player Joseph.

Itabashi Zangief is one of the most dominant players in both the Virtua Fighter and Street Fighter scenes. He's won multiple championships in Virtua Fighter in both single and team play, with hi s most recent major victory being at SBO2008 with his partners Fuudo and Joe. While he has yet to win a major in Street Fighter, he is always in contention with his smart and patient Zangief play. Debates still rage on about who is the best Zangief player between Itabashi, Zangitan and Cantona, but there is no question that Itabashi is a player who brings out the absolute best from his characters.

Itabashi, along with players such as Fuudo, Nuki and Tokido are part of an elite group of players that excel at high levels whether they're playing 2D or 3D fighting games. How does he accomplish this? He thinks the answer is simple: he knows everything.

Being the friendly guy that he is, Itazan answered some questions that I had for him regarding both titles as well as a bunch of other random things I wanted to ask him, so if you're interested in what he has to say about his infamous encounter with Chofu KK Sara and who he thinks the best players are, keep on reading at the link below!

» Itabashi Zangief interview

Most hardcore 2D fighting game fans may be aware of the Shadowloo Showdown 2011 tournament to be held this coming weekend of 25th and 26th June 2011. Famous guests such as Gamerbee, Itazan and Tokido will be present to compete for cash prizes in various 2D fighting games.

However, on Sunday 26th June 2011, Australia's best VFers will be throwing down the gauntlet to challenge the international visitors in a VF5 Exhibition. Thanks to the good folks at Shadowloo.com, this event will be streamed live! Stay tuned for more details!

» Shadowloo Showdown Live Stream