Virtua Fighter Going Mainstream

The game has been given spotlight from honorable websites and legit reviewers. You got Pros from other games such as SF and Tekken that are actually going to try the game out and they are talking about it as it comes closer to coming out. And when pros start talking about playing a game, you know you got their fans only one step behind them waiting to play the game that their idol is. Lets not underestimate how much the FG community has grown in the pass decade. The game has a lot to bring to the table especially now that its clear that Tekken is falling off due to "DOING TOO MUCH" in the game (those who have played it know what I mean). You dont want to put too much emphasis on one thing like Juggling in a game, where as this game was more balanced on what you need to do to win. All I'm wondering is if this hype is what the game needs or not need, and how that will effect the future of VF games to come. Last thing I want is the creators to do what they did with VF5R and just totally forget that we exist out here and want to play it just as much as the Japanese do.

VF5R made my mouth water of a game I would never be able to touch....I wanted that sooo bad that I literally was just pissed at sega for the entire time it was out lol

 

I got a feeling FS will do well and this site will see a large amount of new faces leading up to and after the release. How long this will last, will depend entirely on us, the VF community. Like LA said we'll have the biggest impact on the popularity of the game. (EVO will help).

The game will sell better then VF5 did on both systems combine. (15 price tag will do wonders) FG's are much more popular now then at the time of VF5's release. So many/much streams, media, and money being thrown at FGs now.

FS has an "Excellent" chance at doing really well. The tuff part is, as with any Fighter keeping people playing months after release, playing after the next hottness has dropped TTT2 and DOA5, after the newest thing hype is dead. The good online will help and the player base must be ready to be welcoming, helpful, and above all have patience. That goes at gathers, tournaments, online matches, and maybe most importantly VFDC.

SRK went thru the same thing in 09, that we hopefully will be going thru on June 5th and onward (maybe not to as BIG an extent) growth. They had to ask their more elites members to put it frank "stop being dicks." We shouldn't have that problem here, we'll just have to be ready for a lot of new faces and "noobs" question. Patience.

I look forward to the new guides and wiki updates that are in the works as of now. Just don't forget about Jacky guys, he might be the second "Best" character but he still needs a FS guide and wiki. I enjoy our wiki section, we got the best guides of any fighting game, of any website hands down.

Here's to a renewed VF scene in the US, thanks SEGA!

 

I don't think it'll blow up like other titles because of the age and because of Western tastes in FGs. Moreso the 2nd. There's the dead-horse issue of aesthetics and the fact that the majority in the minority like deliberate games where X Character can do this but not that and Y character can do that but not this. It gives people that "under dog" feeling or the "safe" feeling depending on a characters tools or lack thereof.

While the more deliberate games give a feeling of variety, the unversal system games give a sense of eveyone playing the same. When you dig deeper you find out he opposite is true but the majority never get to that level in either game.

Now with that being said, I feel this game will do better than VF5 because there are people like us, looking forward to the things that other people are put off by. It works both ways. There's also the price point and the fact that both consoles are cheap, have online and are the same version.

The only place I see real negativity at, are the Sega.com forums ironically. The other ones are a general lack of interest it seems for the most part, going by the number of pages an FS thread has at other dedicated FG forums compared to other fighters.

 

!!! VIRTUA FIGHTER 5 FINAL SHOWDOWN!!!
ENOUGH SAID...

 

yesterday's gamefaqs poll of the day:

imo NOT tooo bad for a bemu.
we're at place 6 from 10.
i was about to post it here yesterday so VF5FS receive more votes, but is was impossible 'cause server time out

 

Pokemowned.

 

I am afraid that Sega, in case of any future VF, will do the same as always: will care about japanese arcades (as their income from them is just insane) and any console conversion will be just "side event" for them, as they will be afraid that releasing console conversion soon (or at all) will decrease their arcade incomes.

 

Speaking of SRK, I wanted to disagree with what Touch was saying due to the very positive feedback the thread at SRK seems to be getting for its release and how many ppl are saying they are getting it first day. I was thoroughly reading through it to make sure there wasnt any PRE-TRASH TALKING of the game and to my great surprise they are actually supporting it. Link is below

http://shoryuken.com/forum/index.php?threads/virtua-fighter-5-final-showdown-console-thread.144298/

 

For real, yo. I thought we were the mature ones, here.

As far as Final Showdown's popularity, I have noticed a great many comment that they're excited for the release of the game, and like many others, I've met an increasing number of people with renewed or first-time-in-their-lives interest in Virtua Fighter as a whole, but especially Final Showdown.

I think it'll do a lot better than day 1 purchases from us die-hards. Whether it will increase or decrease over time is more a matter of fate than it is up to us to gather tournaments and stuff (though that still is a huge part of maintaining the hype and nurturing newer players). I'm not sure if TTT2 will overshadow Final Showdown, but I think that DoA5 will only strengthen people's awareness and interest in VF.

I think it'll be a lot like KoF XIII in comparison to Street Fighter IV. Endless praise to XIII; I think it's beautiful and brilliant and most everyone seems to agree. Street Fighter IV, I'm gonna go ahead and guess, sold more. This may be the same case with the Final Showdown and Tag 2, but who are we to say until the day of reckoning comes?

 

The major difference in comparing sales numbers with other games is that final showdown is 15 dollars. That's well within the impulse by range for pretty much anyone who has enough money to buy a PS3 or Xbox360. I fully expect sales to blow the other titles in raw numbers out the water. How much money they'll make in total, I don't know.

Skullgirls did very well in terms of sales too, and it was 15$. VF also has the DLC that's 15$ each too, so that should help Sega's bottom line too. Sucker them in with the low priced game, and maybe after a while that player will want to get the DLC. It's just as if Sega just sold three games for the production costs of one.

 

This is the problem from the root, and SEGA doesn't dare to do parallel marketing. It is tough, but SEGA has to do something to make this situation toward to a bright side. Ironically, SEGA was doing the opposite way as other fighting game companies.

FS is going to be a turning point this moment, and actually if SEGA has a wider version, they should consider how to promote VF6 on current consoles. Digital or physical copy doesn't matter which one, because it's the last chance to take the advantage of number sells of Xbox360 and PS3. To rely on next generation consoles? It's like putting a dead horse to another dead end again.

 

In my opinion, this is about as mainstream as VF will get in the states. The price point is absolutely spectacular and the release date is accommodating as well because there is no current competition, considering SFxT is flopping and Skullgirls doesn't seem to have held a lot of people's attention.

I have no doubt that the game will have sales success, but the real question in the back of my mind is whether the game will have longevity (meaning will people stick with the game after a month). The other issue is that other big 3d fighting games titles are coming out this year as well (DOA5/TTT2).

Either way, I'm happy we're finally going to be playing the latest version of VF and having most of the Arcade customization intact.

Just to get this off my chest, I never quit VF. I have just been waiting for a new revision. I just didn't know it would take this long, but I always browse VFDC on a daily basis.

 

Skullgirls definition of very well was 50k. I think 50k for FS, Sega might not view that as success, unless it's 50k who buy game+ all DLC.

Then again, we don't know the exact number, all we can do is contribute 1 or 2 (for a few folks) to it.

 

I think FS will do well, in terms of sales and in terms of longevity.

I predict the game will do about 100k to begin with and continue to trickle for a long time, maybe 100 or so people a month.

I know this numbers are not amazing, but lets face it: game is not refundable/sellable, nor is DLC, people will be tempted by the price tag, maybe they will regret their purchase but maybe they will keep playing.

IMO this is not going to be a failure, unless your definition of success is one million sale. cause its not going to happen, not straight away at least. maybe exposition at EVO will help to rack up some numbers.

In terms of longevity, that is 50-50 between Sega and us, the community of VF players. Sega can organize the big events, we can keep encouraging new players. but, as we have seen with vanilla, there are plenty of VF veterans ready to shit on Sega at the slightest hint of VF6 hitting the arcades. we have seen this before: "I refuse to play a game unless its the latest interaction"...I personally find this quite annoying and hope it will not be repeated in a year time, since we KNOW that VF6 is going to hit Japan well before the West.

 

You can find it annoying if you want, that's just your take on it, but it's also up to Sega to support us as a community (aka everyone outside of Japan) if they want this series to be an international success.

It's also a matter of how severe the delay is. In my opinion, there was/is nothing wrong with people refusing to play a revision that is 3-4 years old and only wanting to play the most current one.

I understand your perspective that if people love the game they shouldn't abandon it, but I feel that it's also important for Sega to show us some of that love back.

With that said, Sega has been showing an unbelievable amount of love lately and I wouldn't be surprised if when the day VF6 comes out, we will actually get a console revision within a timely manner. Unlike what happened between Ver C. and FS.

 

FS should do pretty well at that price point, many people who might not have bothered will try it regardless. Once again as long as I can find some matches on Tuesday i'll be happy

 

Sega did give us a lot of love with this title- they did about everything right they could have.

As for VF6, I suspect it won't be on the PS3/360, it will be saved for next-gen. That may cause a delay, and I'd understand in that case. Next-gen is less than 2 years away.

The thing with DD is that with the lowered cost of production comes a lower need for sales. That said, I do think this game will need the entire FGC coming behind it to make it a success.
Hitting some of the major weeklies will help, and folks need to support it there the way KOF fans supported the Southtown Arcade series- that really helped get the game off the ground in the US.

 

I agree.

 

I agree that VF6 is going to be on next gen consoles, it fits very well within the spirit and marketing of a new, numbered revision of VF. Since the days of VF1, the game has involved cutting edge technology, programming and realism. SEGA won't make a game as big as VF6 until the hardware is there to push what's happenning on the screen way beyond what we see in FS. I think it will involve sweat, maybe blood and cuts or bruising. Whatever it takes to bring the realism definitively to the next level.

I remember when VF2 (might have been 3, I can't remember exactly) was coming out, one of the things AM2 had achieved was clothing that moved independently of the character's body. It's stuff like this that is the signature of Virtua Fighter. It's as much about realism and pushing technology as anything. That's why I think SEGA will wait for a new "console" for VF6, or whatever hardware can run the new game engine they'll develop to make it. VF and technology are tied together.