Does VF need a new name?

The name "Virtua Fighter" garners several misconceptions. The first, and perhaps most famous being that "it's a hardcore only fighter". I.e. Not newb-friendly. The second being that "it has no personality". I could go on, but I believe you have all heard these misconceptions before, so I'll save you the trouble of listing them.

Another (minor) problem is the name itself. Many people seem to make the silly mistake of calling it "Virtual Fighter". This shows that the name itself may not be the best thing to attract new players. It's not exciting...doesn't stick in your head and it doesn't have that punch to go along with it (i.e. it's a boring name).

Should they change the name, they could also change their general philosophy that's normally associated with VF. From "deep and realistic gameplay" to "easy to pick and play, fun gameplay". This would resonate better with the casuals (who eventually become the hardcore).

Of course, getting a new name would do nothing without proper marketing. After the name change, they would need to go all out with marketing (their VF5 marketing was crap to say the least). Adrenaline-pumping ads while discussing their new philosophy of "easy to pick up and play" gameplay would definitely attract many players to the game. Of course, it brings up the question of "why change the name when you can just do the marketing with the old name?" Well, I believe the aforementioned misconceptions associated with the VF name would prevent many from picking up the game despite a better marketing campaign.

A new name would essentially equate to a fresh start.

Of course, why stop there? Why not get new character designs, add in an FMV heavy story mode, and all that other extra flash and aesthetic changes? Well...sure, but that's beyond the scope of the argument I'm presenting here. We'll stick to the topic of "would a new name help attract new players?"

Now, I'm hoping not to get flamed for this idea and that perhaps we can have an intelligent debate as to whether or not this could work. It's not like I'll be making a petition to Sega to change the VF name. This is simply an idea that came to me, and I figured I would throw it out into the community to get your impressions on it. Sales for VF have been abysmal lately, and I don't believe that the community should/can do the job of Sega's marketing department. There are only so many people we can reach at any given time. However, VF has been around so long that it's come to the point (especially with regards to the fighting game genre) that if you're not playing VF already, you'll probably never play VF. In other words, there's only so much Sega's marketing can do to abolish the aforementioned misconceptions to get new players interested.

So...discuss? Could this work? Would you guys be upset if they changed the name and were successful/unsuccessful in attracting a (much) larger user base? If you like the idea, well, why do you like it? Do you happen to have a name to suggest?

What about instead of calling the next VF "Virtua Fighter 6", you simply call it "VF". No acronym, no nothing, simply "VF". /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif

P.S. Again, I want to point out that I'm simply throwing the idea out there and I have no expectations for anyone to actually agree with it.

I feel that we, as a community, must simply exhaust every possibility of expanding the user base. This, indeed, is a possibility that must be considered and thus discussed.

 

I don't think any fighting game genre has ever changed there title, with the exception of Soul Edge to Soul Calibur. I don't like the idea of masking the titles name to blind the consumer I don't think it would work. I think more people are turned off by the SEGA namesake than by the Virtua Fighter name sake. Just for joking sakes here is my idea for a new title: Battle Against J6.

 

I know it is a rare occurence, if a non-existant occurrence, but perhaps it is indeed worth a shot? I understand your hesitation in "masking the name to blind the consumer", but let me ask you this: Do the misconceptions about the series not blind the consumer to the true nature of VF? If changing the name erases these misconceptions...perhaps it is indeed for the better?

If you can though, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could go into greater detail as to why people may be turned off of the Sega name more than the Virtua Fighter name.

Also, does anyone know the history as to why Namco changed the name of Soul Edge to Soul Calibur?

 

They have actually even changed the newest one to Soulcalibur from Soul Calibur.

 

Well, for me it's simple. I don't really think the change of name would attract so many players as you think. Sega would have to go all out with the marketing (just like you said), and would probably loose quite an amount of money for that, without even being sure if it's going to be succesful.
Sure, there are ways to attract new player, however I don't think that's the way.

Virtua Fighter isn't hard to pick up, neither was it ever advertised as such. It's the fact that it's harder to pick up than let's say Tekken or DOA.
Actually I think that with the VF4Evo's training mode (too bad it's not in VF5... yet /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif ), many good character/combo/movelist guides, a very friendly community, and now even multiplatform release (well... 2 platforms, and arcade /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif ) it's a LOT easier to pick up than other 3d fighters.
After the release of VF5 on X360, there was a noticable increase in people playing Virtua Fighter, mainly due to adding online play. The community has been slowly growing since.

As to the name, I don't think other fighters suffered from adding 5,6 (or whatever number) to their name.
Whatever we want and think, doesn't change the fact, that VF is an arcade game and Japan is where it's the most popular. If SEGA change the name it might be confusing to all the ppl playing it since let's say VF2 or even VF1.

Also, I think that the reason some people refuse to try playing VF is certainly NOT "misconceptions associated with the VF name".
My friends playing Tekken told me of only two reasons for not playing VF.
1) It's nice and fun, but there are no kick-ass lazers, robots and bears...it's just boring fighting, booooring.
2) It's a great fighter, top notch!.... Just no one to play with.

Never heard of anything else... just like you see, It's like with Mario and Sonic, ppl just prefer something else. The want flashiness instead of accuracy and a bit more realism. Simply...not their kinda game. As to ppl to play with... well... with online play this has already been fixed /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

I feel like if virtua fighter were called Shit Sandwich it would still have exactly the same fan base it does now. Sega can call it whatever they want and I will still love it and all my friends will probably still hate it. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Also I kind of like the name Virtua Fighter. It's like the game is so good, they had to invent a new word for it.

 

I heard a rumor that some small company already had a videogame titled "Soul Edge" when Namco was bringing it to consoles and threatened to sue Namco for rights of the name. Namco then changed the original game to "Soul Blade" for the home ports.

The sequel was named Soul Calibur after the righteous sword introduced in that game. The evil sword within the game series always kept the name "Soul Edge"

 

The name is about as generic and boring as you can get. It doesn't need to be changed though, and it's not going to change.

 

How bout virtua BS, the hit detection in this game sucks. Aint nothing like flying through the air with a blaze body press, only to be hit by a low sweeping roundhouse from jacky. Exactly how does that work? I could go on and on but the game just sucks.

 

I wonder if Pit Fighter would have done better if it had a different name?

 

"filthy, dirty whore: pussy fighting game 69"

that would sell /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbs_up.gif

 

Indeed...very true, although teaching on Live and the guides would do more for those that have already given VF a chance (i.e. teaching current players to, I suppose, stick with it) then it would to attract new players. I was actually fairly impressed with the media leading up to VF5's release. IIRC, many reviews noted the "simple control scheme" and such for an easy to pick and play experience. One such review was the 1up one:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"While it's true that VF is a game of finesse, it's also now a game of pick-up-and-play, since every character has more than enough moves that are flashy, fun, and simple enough to bust out. But they still offer more powerful and complicated moves for those that have the dexterity and desire to discover them."</div></div>

So hopefully this will continue to appear in reviews for future instalments until it's drilled into the psyche of all gamers. It's just frustrating when people give you all this BS about why they don't play VF (boring, hard, etc etc) when it's totally untrue. As Myke said, chances are good that they simply haven't even given the game a chance. The only excuse that holds any water tends to be the "got no one to play with" one which, as was mentioned, is quickly becoming moot with the introduction of online play.

It'll take time to abolish these misconceptions though, and I hope sales remain strong enough to support the game outside of Japan until that happens. I suppose I was presenting a quick-fix solution. It'd be interesting to see how many more people would pick up this "new" game without realizing it's actually VF (BTW, that name I suggested was just something I pulled out of my ass since I couldn't think of anything else). I'm talking more the casual players here, since I'm sure the hardcore aren't that ignorant (though I could be wrong >.>). I wonder how many casual players have even heard of VF? Maybe all we actually need is a good marketing campaign or just for the community to "spread the word". But haven't we've been doing that? I hope so. lol

I just felt as though we've run out of options. Sega won't go all out with marketing unless there's a chance of attracting new players (just good business sense) and changing the name may offer them that chance. The community can only reach a certain amount of people; unless we start a pyramid of sorts, where each member has a goal of getting 1 person into VF a month, and then those people have the same goal, etc etc...maybe we can offer up a points system for getting a certain number of peeps and after a year, a prize is awarded to the top 3 guys (cheating may be a problem though >.<). =/

But maybe that crazy idea is better for another topic.

 

Does VF need a new name?

Like what? 'Master Skill & Tactics Brawl: The Connoisseur Saga'?

 

...if VF was DOA without clothes.

You make it sound like a fighting game with wine tasters in suits...

 

I have to say, the logic in this thread is pretty strange...

What's in a name? Almost nothing. You tell me if McDonalds or Star Wars or Friends or Super Mario need new names.

Tekken. That's a name you may not have put money on succeeding in the west. But it did. It's more well-known than titles that are self-explanatory (Street Fighter). It doesn't matter what the name is, the only important thing is its make-up/content/selling points.

Changing a name has never happened in history with any established title. The only time it happens is when it's forced on them (MSR to PGR, Soul Edge to Soul Calibur (which wasn't a name change anyway, it was only the same concept as Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy - it's just that that particular version (Calibur) gained a huge reception so they stuck with it - rightly so, it's all about building the brand) You spend all your time trying to build any kind of recognition - you don't purposely throw that away for the sake of a weird gambit.

What you're suggesting is changing the name to fool people who aren't interested in it, to start playing it?

If 'Stuntman: Ignition' was named 'Assassin's Creed' maybe more people would have bought it...?

 

According to VGchartz.com. VF5 did very well on each respected console. The PS3 version sold around 211K in the US and 90k in Japan. 360 version, 118k in the US and 26k in Japan(360 hate countinues over there, lol) And that's not including the Europe numbers(It doesn't show on the site). And with VF5 still sucking up money in Japanese arcades over there, I could fairly say, a name change is not necessary. It might not make GTA money, but the franchise is holding it's own. And besides, the fighting genre is not meant for the casual's anyway. I would KILL myself if I ever see this "Waggle Fighter 5: Soccer Mom Edition" Only on Wii....

 

Why change the title? It's all about the game. The video game that is.