Virtua Fighter 5 Preview

By Suki Published 30 January, 2006

I don't make allowances for old men.

The hardest thing about being a Virtua Fighter player in the UK is the wait. The cycle is fairly consistent and runs like this:

A new Virtua Fighter game is released. The community goes crazy for around six to nine months, followed by another six months during which only the hardcore remain. This means travelling for maybe two hours to get to someone's house (who you barely know) just so you can get a few hours of fighting in before it's time to go home. You probably don't even really like that person very much, but you've no choice but to go through it just to get those few hours. At these Virtua Fighter meets everyone is very polite, because you're hanging on to the last of your kind and if you fall out with these people, there's nowhere left to turn.

Then it's over and you're waiting for the next Virtua Fighter. If you're lucky, they'll release an update to the current version. New moves, tweaked recovery times and changes to the throws make the accessible-yet-complex system feel new again. The rankings change as players adapt to the new way their character fights and people who dominated last season become also-rans this season. Then it's back to the hardcore part of the cycle. If there's no update then you wait, hoping that the next version will attract more players than the last. You hope that the player base will grow and make the next season a success. You secretly hope that somehow, arcades will be reborn and the world will be the way it was when Street Fighter II first came out. Well, ok, maybe that last one's just me.

'Virtua Fighter 5' Screenshot 1

So why go through all of that? Why go to all that effort? Why do people develop a passion for the game that borders on fanaticism? Quite simply because, by a near-incomprehensible margin, Virtua Fighter is the best 3D fighting game series ever made. Every single aspect of the game's design has been engineered to provide the most precise, intuitive, accessible fighting game ever made. The input-complexity that drove 2D fighting games into the realm of the hardcore only has been replaced with an enormous roster of moves that can be executed with only one or two pushes on the stick (though Akira still caters for players with insane skills). An overall vision of how fighting games should work underpins a system that revolves around the supremely logical way in which characters are assigned moves. Animation exists almost solely to convey, to the frame, whether a move is starting, hitting or recovering. A near subliminal flash of yellow let's the player know a hit has registered a counter, allowing him to employ a different combo. Throw commands follow a simple logic, making throw-escaping instinctive when trying to avoid being rung out. Evading is consistent and accurate. And each character is exquisitely well balanced through excessive play testing in arcades in Tokyo. Japan's finest fighters are employed by Sega as consultants to ensure that everything is exactly as it should be.

Which means, for fighting game fans at least, the world revolves around Virtua Fighter.

It's hard to explain to someone who doesn't talk the language why the new changes to the system in Virtua Fighter 5 are so exciting. To the outsider all that can be seen are prettier graphics, new characters, new backgrounds and new moves. So what? Every fighting game has these in abundance. Hell, some fighting games even throw in things like character creation and different game modes that don't even involve one-on-one fighting. Puzzle modes! Yeah, that's value for money.

'Virtua Fighter 5' Screenshot 2

But these new changes are exciting. They will fundamentally alter the flow and pace of the game and bring new strategic options to those who understand how the game works. They will provide a fresh take on the solid and reliable system that has given us so much joy already. They will give us reasons to revisit a game that doesn't need to change too much anyway. The diversity of experience comes not from the system but from the players.

A side-slip to attack different sides of the body brings positioning into play, making better use of lateral movement without succumbing to the clumsiness and inaccuracy of Soulcalibur's 8-way step or the muggy pointlessness of Tekken's evade. A new wrestling character appears to bring new ways to continue the fight when his opponent is knocked down, an area that few fighting games have touched on. A vastly elaborated character customisation system allows players to decorate one of their fighter's four default costumes at ten different locations on the body. And VF.net, the now-standard ranking system for Japanese arcades, expands into fully blown televised spectating, feeding content to screens in arcades across Tokyo; commentators will discuss the tactics of the best players in Japan and important matches will become miniature media events in themselves. A feature we're never likely to see in any shape or form over here.

'Virtua Fighter 5' Screenshot 3

The trademark clean and crisp animation remains, unexciting to some, beautiful to those who understand the importance of visual indication. Audio improvements have not been announced, though expect Lion to continue to both annoy and make no allowances for the elderly. Jeffry is huge. Arenas have a new type of boundary, the low wall, allowing for ring-outs from high floating moves. Lau is still cheap. Probably. And a second new character has not been revealed in any form other than a short promotional video that tells us only that she is dressed in traditional Korean clothing.

The bad news, though, is that Sega has announced that it has no plans to develop an Xbox 360 version, making it a probable PS3 exclusive. And with no European release date for the PS3 confirmed, let alone an announcement for a console version, the waiting continues with no end in sight.

But wait we shall, because to the fighting game aficionado there is simply no substitute. No development team in the world has even come close to understanding what Sega's AM2 has created. The most recent versions - Virtua Fighter 4 and its elaborations - are the greatest fighting games ever made. They can be superseded only by the next version of Virtua Fighter and the next version is almost with us. The wait, thank God, is nearly over.

Picture of Suki.

About Suki

Read more articles from Suki by visiting the Suki archive page.

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Comments (75) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Carlo #1 6 years ago

    Sega has announced that it has no plans to develop an Xbox 360 version, making it a probable PS3 exclusive

    :S

  • Freek #2 6 years ago

    Isn't it a bitt silly to proclaim the game to be the best thing ever, when it's not even done yet?
    Has anybody even had some hands on time with an early built???

  • statix101 #3 6 years ago

    They should release a PC version, seeing as the arcade board it runs on consists of the following....

    3Ghz Pentium 4
    1Gb Main Ram
    256Mb Gfx Ram
    Nvidia 6800/7800 Hybrid

    http://ww w.system16.com/hardware.php?id=731

    Jeez...my Pc is more powerful than that, so a perfect conversion should be no problem.
    Edited by 2 at 30/01/06 @ 13:24

  • Kami #4 6 years ago

    Virtua Fighter is rewarding because of it's technical excellence. It's still never really matched Soul Calibur (Which had grace, technical excellence AND lovely, lovely visuals to boot - until SC3...) but that's a different type of game. No contest for me between Tekken and Virtua Fighter.

    The changes sound rather interesting too. It'll be fascinating to see how that slipstep changes the dynamics of play - although I wish that we could drop this stupid idea of "Customisation", because I'd prefer to see such space used for other more beneficial additions to the game. We guys only end up stripping the ladies down anyway, may as well just add a couple of skimpy extra outfits and be done with it.

    At least this is looking sublimely pretty so far. Then. it's next-gen so that should be a given. PS3 exclusive? That could be it's downfall... the wait is not nearly over, the wait has only just begun...

  • itamae #5 6 years ago

    In my opinion Virtua Fighter's main flaw is that, just like a complex online RPG, it's completely inaccessible to the majority of gamers. After half a year of playing VF4 I still didn't really understand what was going on on the screen, why the first attack hit and the second one didn't, or why I got a perfect in the first round and was perfected seconds later. It didn't help that most of that time was spent playing against the CPU.

    Oh, and most of the sound effects are terrible. The hit/miss effects sound like something from an 8-bit low budget shaolin game.

  • Dizzy #6 6 years ago

    "Sega has announced that it has no plans to develop an Xbox 360 version, making it a probable PS3 exclusive "

    Errr... in Famitsu last week Sega said they are interested in bringing all "Virtua" games to the 360. Guess we will see at E3.

  • Feanor #7 6 years ago

    "Jeez...my Pc is more powerful than that, so a perfect conversion should be no problem."

    Your PC probably has to run some other programs though. Like Windows XP. So you can't just compare specs when the arcade board runs the game and nothing else.

  • Wobble #8 6 years ago

    gaaaah.. no x360 :(

    hate sony :(

  • Psi #9 6 years ago

    why are the fighters never convincing? pictured is a CG blonde that looks like she's never had a spot never mind had her face smashed in over and over till they've become a talented fighter...

    ...it should be drunken pub brawler sim where two chavs go at eachother with pool queues tbh.

  • JonFE #10 6 years ago

    I haven't played any VF titles bar the original at the arcades (and little of VF2 also there), so, if it did arrive at my X360 doorstep, I would take it in, warm it up, nurse it well and cherish it like treasure :)

  • HelloWorld #11 6 years ago

    All that computing power, and they still can't get characters to look the same on the select screen as they do in the game.

    I hope it's not more "comedy" items. 15 body parts? So you can have random items sellotaped to 15 parts of your body? Woo.

    I am looking forward to this though.

  • funk #12 6 years ago

    what feanor said
    would be great if you could use a pc to boot straight into a game instead of loading windows, would have so much more power available

  • attep #13 6 years ago

    Release the VF5 as a launch title. Please.

  • Huntcjna #14 6 years ago

    It seems very mysterious to me that the microsoft published DoA4 gets a below par review here and days later a mysterious "Virtual fighter 5 will be the bestest thing eva TM" article pops up.

    EG bung claims shocker?

  • redneon Verified Programmer, SUMO Digital #15 6 years ago

    "It seems very mysterious to me that the microsoft published DoA4 gets a below par review here and days later a mysterious "Virtual fighter 5 will be the bestest thing eva TM" article pops up."

    I agree. Especially as I've spent most of the weekend playing DoA 4 and think it's the best in the series by far. I can't really think of many valid points that the reviewer made, to be honest.

  • Huntcjna #16 6 years ago

    I don't want to stick the boot in on Shinji he had his opinion and he voiced it I don't have a problem with that there just seems to be a little bit of leaning going on. Not too much but definatley a little bit.

  • jozz #17 6 years ago

    "Sega has announced that it has no plans to develop an Xbox 360 version, making it a probable PS3 exclusive"

    Couldn't help noticing the "next-gen" label on the preview too.

    Must resist catchphrase....;)

    Anyway, if it does release on both consoles, I'll probably pick it up. Haven't played a VF since the Saturn days.

  • TheJuriel #18 6 years ago

    I never thought Virtua Fighter was the crowning achievement of fighting games. I had better fun with Tekken 5 than VF:Evo. And I used to seriously dislike Tekkens.

  • OnlyMe #19 6 years ago

    HelloWorld says: All that computing power, and they still can't get characters to look the same on the select screen as they do in the game.

    Well, thought that maybe they upgrade the characters on the select screen even further than what's possible ingame? It's like "with all this power they should make the game look just like FMVs". They can make the game look just like fmvs from LAST generation, because the FMVs continue to get better too, not just the ingame. For both FMVs and ingame graphics to be equally good, we'll have to get 100% photorealistic graphics, to the point where it's not possible to make better ingame graphics. When that console is out, we won't be able to distinguish FMVs from realtime ingame graphics.

  • Shinji #20 6 years ago

    It seems very mysterious to me that the microsoft published DoA4 gets a below par review here and days later a mysterious "Virtual fighter 5 will be the bestest thing eva TM" article pops up.

    Written by two entirely different people with totally different points of view, I might add. Not least because I disagree vehemently with the stance that VF is somehow the crowning pinnacle of fighting games :)

    (EG in "non-groupthink" shock?!?)

  • OnlyMe #21 6 years ago

    Tekken is the FIFA of beat'em ups, Virtua Fighter is the PES of beat'em ups. You can have enjoyment from both, but ultimately VF is the better fighter and a lot more rewarding than Tekken.

  • Xerx3s #22 6 years ago

    ""It seems very mysterious to me that the microsoft published DoA4 gets a below par review here and days later a mysterious "Virtual fighter 5 will be the bestest thing eva TM" article pops up."

    I agree. Especially as I've spent most of the weekend playing DoA 4 and think it's the best in the series by far. I can't really think of many valid points that the reviewer made, to be honest. "

    +1 The more time i spend on the game, the better it gets and the the more the review starts to sound like bull. So...EG, can we place this game in the same corner as SotC then?

  • Anomander_Rake #23 6 years ago

    I have been following Eurogamer for years now but never felt obliged to register in order to post a comment, until today. But this was just too much.

    First of all, an anonymous "previewer" is never a good indication in a Web site where people sign their pieces. It's much worse, though, when it is the kind of "previewer" who is a lot closer to the concept of "ridiculous fanboy" than even "biased". People like that should not be entitled to present anything remotely related to their object of passion, unless they can really delve into the matter and be able to compare the thing with is peers in a proper fashion. They should not, in a serious and otherwise trustworthy Web site like Eurogamer, that is.

    Then, it is the content of the preview itself. I mean... "preview"? This is a piece anyone who has surfed the Net for two hours and knows the previous VF versions could have written. The person who wrote this has evidently not been within 100 miles from an arcade machine running VF5, otherwise he would have had important, really interesting stuff to tell us, instead of that philosophical VF crap. This is no "preview", it is a worthless runt of the worse kind. Come on, Eurogamer, we have come to expect much better editorial content than this.

    If I am not gravely mistaken, the only people who have played VF5 so far are the beta testers and the handful of lucky people that went to that demo arcade weekend in Tokyo a few months back. Even then, "VF5" was just two or three characters, a couple of stages, incomplete and unpolished. And this person writes a "preview" based on... what? And, should I be wrong with this and this person has actually played the thing, wouldn't it be preferable to tell us about what the characters feel like, the speed, the combos, the animation, you know, the things that matter...?

    Do not get me wrong, I know that some Web sites use the word "preview" for something not actually played. But this "preview" is not even informative, it does not even touch the important points VF fans would like to read, even extracted straight from a Sega press release. It is just subjective - and gravely inaccurate in places - stuff that Eurogamer should not host. It just isn't in line with the rest of the content, plain and simple. Hey, tell you what. The minute Sony and Namco announce that there will be an arcade board based on Cell/PS3 architecture, I will write a "preview" on Soul Calibur IV. With prerendered, artwork, "indicative" graphics and everything to accompany the piece. How about that, Suki-san?
    Edited by 1 at 30/01/06 @ 14:32

  • Furbs #24 6 years ago

    Suki?

  • gizmo #25 6 years ago

    "I don't make allowances for old men. "

    Me no understand??

  • Kami #26 6 years ago

    Rake has a point...

    Not that I don't mind the excitement - we're all entitled to that to a degree. I do agree though this borders dangerously close to the fanboy-line.

    Just one last thing though - Suki is a girls name, isn't it?

  • Dizzy #27 6 years ago

    "Do not get me wrong, I know that some Web sites use the word "preview" for something not actually played."

    Don't be too harsh. Most previews are just announcments of games to come.

  • OnlyMe #28 6 years ago

    Well, what exactly IS a preview? Isn't it a preVIEW? They get a LOOK on the game. We have another word for games they've actually played an unfinished version of, and it's HANDS-ON.

  • SeesThroughAll #29 6 years ago

    serious gamers?

    serious fun?

  • Anomander_Rake #30 6 years ago

    No, Dizzy, I'm afraid I disagree... when something is announced, just announced, it goes under the "News" sector and rightly so. What COMPANIES want to tell us about their upcoming games, all that info goes there and taken with the appropriate pint of salt. Previews are not announcements.

    I may BE a but harsh, but the notion of anyone comparing something he has never played to other things out there and finding the Unknown X as "better by default", seems just ridiculous to me. And it IS the kind of fanboyism we do not really need, I think. I mean, I consider SC the best franchise in this category - and I can justify it with pages and pages of analysis - but hey. I do not go around bashing people's heads around with my opinion. Different beasts, SC, VF and Tekken. End of story.

    And to think that, upon seeing the VF5 graphic on EG's homepage, I clicked immediately, hoping to read the opinion of someone from the EG team that was lucky enough to play it in Sega's Euro headquarters or something.

    And, come to think of it, yes... Suki IS a woman's name in Japanese most of the time, but it could be a man's too. In any case, as it is evidently a nickname, it can be anything...

  • Balor #31 6 years ago

    +1

    "I only read the site for the sport"
    Edited by 1 at 30/01/06 @ 14:53

  • wayn3h #32 6 years ago

    FluffyTucker;
    ^-^ Right you are sir. It is a common misconception that Windows affects gaming performance. When running a game pretty much everything is chucked out the way into the pagefile. The main reason for PC's needing higher specs than their console/arcade counterparts is the fact that the devs have to take many different conifgurations into consideration when coding. Thus you end up with code which is far from efficient.
    Edited by 1 at 30/01/06 @ 14:52

  • Kami #33 6 years ago

    Thought so Rake, just thought that needed pointing out.

    To a large extent I agree with you on this though. I prefer Soul Calibur most and Tekken least, but that's just me and I know there are a lot of fans of Tekken out there.

    I don't really know how this "preview" got put out. I have now read it several times and it makes no mention of how it plays, how smooth the animations are, the difficulty level, the arena sizes and all the intricate goings on, and most importantly for me - the technical aspects of it. Is it as deep as it's ever been, or are they going to pander to the, and I know how much stick I'm going to get for this, "wussy crowd"?

    I do notice a lack of substance here. There's praise but there's nothing there TO praise, and that makes this a little empty in content...
    Edited by 1 at 30/01/06 @ 15:01

  • Rambaldi #34 6 years ago

    What's with the 'Next Gen Machines' logo? You just said it was (probably) a PS3 exclusive, so why not put into the PS3 section? Are you perhaps trying to mirror Sony's sentiments that the 360 is not even in the same generation as the PS3?

    I hope that this is merely a tounge-in-cheek response to the accusations that have been levelled against EG of late and not a completely shameles PR stunt. Scratch that, I hope there's some other, more mature logic behind it.

    /thinks of better days:(

  • Kami #35 6 years ago

    Maybe so Fluffy, but it still feels a little empty in content. Cue the debate on what "journalism" is... mind you, it doesn't help that it comes from an "anonymous" contributor...

    I look forward to VF5 regardless though. I'd just like to have seen a bit more... but that's just me.

  • GrayFox #36 6 years ago

    " muggy pointlessness of Tekken's evade." - suki has no idea about the game.

  • Cubfan #37 6 years ago

    That article was worthless :(

  • Carrybagma #38 6 years ago

    Is that 'Virtua Nicole Kidman' on the main page?

    Cor.

  • SeesThroughAll #39 6 years ago

    Worst piece EG ever brought to the front page. Zero useful information.

  • Anomander_Rake #40 6 years ago

    Eeeerrr... right, FluffyTucker, but this is not journalism you are describing, this is fanboyism that one is perfectly entitled to... IN THE PRIVACY OF HIS/HER OWN BLOG. The "preview" appeared where normal editorial content by the EG team appears, not in Reader Reviews or anything like that. This changes things a bit, wouldn't you say?

    Plus, I do not think that "Suki" sees the supposed tehcnical prowess of VF5 as a moot point... quite the contrary. It's just that he/she has no specifics to speak of. Other previews that I have read in other sites, ones whose writers were at that demo weekend in Tokyo, had to say much more, even on imperfect code. But they also mentioned things that mattered, like how the game plays, instead of boring us with the usual VF mantra.

    In any case, please spare us the "you complainers" shouts... this is a Web site that catters for all gamers, not just VF afficionados who would go nuts about the new title even if it was totally crap. Even Sega's official Web site keeps this kind of rant for the forums, not for their front page.

    You may be right in one thing, though. Since the EG team saw that article fit to be presented as proper editorial content, then there is precious little else to be said on the matter. So... Anomander Rake, over and out.

  • uiruki #41 6 years ago

    Interesting timing for a preview, given that the last I've seen anyone talk about it was during the location test in Shinjuku, ooh, ages ago. I played it a couple of times but I was so unbelievably out of practice (still am until I get a ps2 and can start challenging people at FT properly - there are no rubbish players who play anymore except me it seems). Let's just say I'm in hibernation till I get all the gubbins I need to practice, like a steady supply of 50 yen coins.

    If VF TV actually has live commentators for anything but the most important matches I'll be pretty surprised - at the location test it was all done on the fly with pre-recorded phrases during the battles. And it'll play throughout Japan of course, as all the machines need to be hooked up to the internet in order to make the online ranking work.

    edit: The article is surprisingly information-light too, it talks about the 'fact' that VF is better than any other fighting game, but it doesn't explain how exactly. It could have done with lifting some of the information from the location test reports too, like the way that throws have been seemingly weakened, reminding a friend of mine of the way that Tekken handles throws.
    Edited by 1 at 30/01/06 @ 15:31

  • botherer #42 6 years ago

    A thoroughly splendid piece.

    It's so refreshing to read something of passion, celebrating a loved subject.

    I've never played any VF game to any depth, and have probably found most love for the SC series. But it's such a treat to read something eloquent and full of joy.

    An exciting addition to the regular preview pieces on such subjects.

  • binky #43 6 years ago

    This has made me hunger to get my Saturn out of the box and play VF2!!

  • WoodenSpoon #44 6 years ago

    I would have commented on Virtua Fighter 5 here, but everyone is talking shit ! :)

  • Machetazo #45 6 years ago

    Thanks for letting us know your EXPERIENCES of VF5, Uiruki. :)
    Returning to the article on which I should be commenting...You know on IGN where there's sometimes a paragraph in italics before the article proper starts? Well, I thought that I was reading an example of that till about half way down the page.

    It was a surprise to me that given the current status of arcades in Europe versus that of Japan, VFTV even got a mention. It sounds cool, but because home consoles and Xbox Live are now pretty much offering in-home arcades, there's little chance the majority will get to experience any of it here.

    To me, a preview, means that the individual writing the article must at least have SEEN the game. Possibly played a demo, but not, as I suspect that this info could easily have originated, from a video/promo trailer. If Suki had attended a Japanese showing of the game (early build, whatever) then why not point that out?...Currently, the preview is info-lite with facts mostly replaced by what appears to be wishful thinking. This is unfortunate.
    Edited by 1 at 30/01/06 @ 16:53

  • OnlyMe #46 6 years ago

    It's funny how it's become a sport to repeat everything someone else has already said in the same thread. I bet I just did too.

  • polar #47 6 years ago

    A very poor article indeed. I can't believe that the last bastion of anti-fanboish games reporting on the net has reduced itself to this. It's obviously too much to ask for a modicum of objectivity in games journalism these days.

  • Martin #48 6 years ago

    Geez, get over it. No-one forced this down your throats, right? And it's not like you have to pay for it except with the ten minutes it took for you to read through it -- ten minutes you won't miss in the long run compared to all the other time you've wasted in front of the computer.

  • Dizzy #49 6 years ago

    "And it's not like you have to pay for it except with the ten minutes it took for you to read through it"

    Haaaa... yesss... the "but it's free so STFU" defense. Always a good one that is.

  • AOFanboi #50 6 years ago

    A preview can be anything related to an unreleased item. Case in point: Robert Williams, in a field, talking about the upcoming movie "Toys". That was the entire preview reel for that movie.

    The Bouncing Tits 4 review talked about what the reviewer didn't like, and reading the text led to the low-ish score. No need for fanbois (who refuse to admit they wasted their precious money on an over-priced "HD" console without HDMI or DVI output) to invent conspiracy theories.

  • Carrybagma #51 6 years ago

    It's funny how it's become a sport to repeat everything someone else has already said in the same thread. I bet I just did too.

  • Pachinko #52 6 years ago

    The silliness of calling Soul Calibur's 8-way run inaccurate is only superceded by calling VF the most accessible fighting game. Surely the editors must know something of the subject matter and alter the piece accordingly? If only due to the fact that the genre of fighting games has grown by such leaps and bounds that there is NOT, I repeat, there is NOT one be-all, all-conquering fighter.

  • ilmaestro #53 6 years ago

    I can't bring myself to be disappointed by the article, as bizarre a read as it was in the context of what I was expecting, because I actually think it is a deliberate, and quite funny when you think about, response to the stick that Rob/EG in general took in the wake of the DoA4 review.

  • tengu #54 6 years ago

    Greato! More VF is certainly worth celebrating, looking forward to seeing the new one in action.

    Now excuse me while I try to avoid drowning in all the bitterness...

  • LPXO #55 6 years ago

    In regards to Windows not being a system hog whe games are running, very true. The problem is that games running on PCs have to cater for an almost inifinite combination of hardware components which is (one fo the reasons) why you could have a way more powerful PC that what runs in a VF arcade machine and not see the same level of performance. Plus (could be wrong here since I havent visited arcades in a long time and not sure if they use LCDs) we're talking about different expectations for an acceptable resolution.
    Edited by 1 at 30/01/06 @ 19:35

  • TheJuriel #56 6 years ago

    I have to concur, this article did lessen my trust in Eurogamer. A fanboyish piece...

  • EGBartonFink #57 6 years ago

    Looking forward to this one too ... but the claim of
    'The most recent versions - Virtua Fighter 4 and its elaborations - are the greatest fighting games ever made' Errrrrr nope.

    Visuals on the preview don't really look 'all that' either.

  • gaystation3 #58 6 years ago

    hur hur hur this is so fukin gay it unblevable. Now i no why u is corled $onygamer on the bords when al is u do write shit biezed pajes. Fuk u eurolamer.

  • BartonFink #59 6 years ago

    Oh jaysus the tard invasion begins.

  • GordonJ@work #60 6 years ago

    "I don't make allowances for old men. "

    Me no understand??

    It's a Lion quote

  • neuroniky #61 6 years ago

    Now, let's see if anybody tries the Chewbacca defense...

  • Triggerhappytel #62 6 years ago

    'Isn't it a bitt silly to proclaim the game to be the best thing ever, when it's not even done yet?'

    Maybe, but given that VF4 is arguably the best fighting game in the world (the only real contender for that accolade would be Soul Calibur) I don't think it's unreasonable to expect VF5 to be fucken awesome :)

  • Pachinko #63 6 years ago

    The writer may claim a lot of things - but he has to get his facts straight. VF is NOT accessible and SC's 8-way run is a far cry from inaccurate. Such comments push the piece into fanboy territory and that is rather unprofessional.

  • Eighthours #64 6 years ago

    Geez, get over it. No-one forced this down your throats, right? And it's not like you have to pay for it except with the ten minutes it took for you to read through it

    I'm almost starting to think that the EG fanboys are worse than the Sony/Microsoft/Ninty fanboys on here. They show even less objectivity, never respecting any criticism of the site, no matter how constructive that criticism may be.

  • Dizzy #65 6 years ago

    BTW Suki is not a Japanese (female) name ;) Just FYI...

  • Rombote #66 6 years ago

    I enjoyed the article actually - it's nice to read something with a bit of passion sometimes, just so we know we're not the only ones. And anyway, espousing the virtues of VF is hardly groundbreaking - we all know it's quality stuff. Should have been dressed up with a headline pointing out that it's more of an op-ed feature than a true preview, but otherwise perfectly editorially sound, non? We're all clever enough to know when we're simply reading opinion, surely...

  • Dizzy #67 6 years ago

    Gamesindustry sister site has this.

    "SEGA has hinted at a possible Xbox 360 conversion of two of its most popular arcade titles, House of the Dead 4 and Virtua Fighter 5, whilst Capcom is entering the market with Dead Rising and Lost Planet, both scheduled for a late 2006 release."

    ???

  • ilmaestro #68 6 years ago

    Even better is that the possibility of VF5 on the 360 has now been reported on by EG as well.

  • Shadar #69 6 years ago

    I can't understand that people manage to get themselves in a flurry over this. If this had been FIFA Street 2Xtreme, sure. That'd be pure marketing fluff and highly suspicious. But this is the last huge arcade game. This is one of the few titles that keep the arcades from turning into novelty shows full of people waving their arms and wailing with guitars. And it just so happens to be a great game.

    There's hardly any chance at all that the game will be bad. Sega spends AGES tuning these things, and they haven't really made a poor decision with it apart from releasing the aged VF3 as a Dreamcast launch title. Building some attention around what is potentially a great game is nothing if not more admirable than interviewing some half-assed PR-rep about the awesomeness of their new, derivative WW2-shooter. Or their free-roaming, "emergent" simulation of perfect crime.

    No. This isn't the perfectly objective journalism some of you guys seem to want to prefer, until it flatly contradicts your own opinions (FIFA Street, anyone? It's not a fashionable game to be sure, but its accessibility and polish helps make it fun for someone who does not give a flying fuck about soccer. Like me), at which point you all claim that any opinion counter to your own is "biased". Oh please.

    So. This is a puff piece based around the only hardcore fighter to have anything resembling mainstream popularity. How is that bad? It's information. I can tell you one thing: Most gaming sites would never have anything as in-depth and comprehensive like this. Have you guys read the reviews of Devil May Cry 3 over at Gamespot? Greg Kasavin says the game is nearly impossible unless you're defensive and keep away from the fray, picking off enemies one by one. What does that tell you? That he just doesn't get it! It's the same thing with all the morons complaining about Resident Evil 4 lacking strafing, which is about as sensible as me asking why I can't just pick up the football and throw it in the cage.

    So. Finally someone "got" a great fighting game. Contrary to most other game reviewers, who score down Tekken 5 because the music is god-awful. When you don't understand the subject matter, you start picking at the edges. So consider this preview to be a little piece of informative writing. You sure as hell wouldn't find the information anywhere outside of the Shouryuken forums. My opinion: Eurogamer takes responsibility for telling people about something great that might be coming. How is that bad?

  • manuel_garcia #70 6 years ago

    I think its fine if the piece concentrates on the love of the game, I dont think anyone that reads this site would disagree on that, i mean we all play games for a reason.

    Whats annoyed most people is the comparisons to the other games though, as the writer clearly misunderstsands them. As previously mentioned a million times, it comes across as fanboyish and ignorant.

    Lets face it, all the fighting games mentioned have their merits, and anyone that isnt blinded by a Sony or Microsoft logo can see the qualities and deficiencies in each one.

  • Kami #71 6 years ago

    Contrary to most other game reviewers, who score down Tekken 5 because the music is god-awful

    No, I'd score it down on the ritually abusive AI myself...

  • tengu #72 6 years ago

    have you played DoA4 yet Kami?

    'Abusive' doesn't quite seem strong enough there :)

    Makes fighting Jinpachi seem like fighting Dan in Street Fighter Alpha.

  • Kami #73 6 years ago

    Not yet Tengu. Jinpachi is one of the cheapest boss characters ever concieved... I couldn't imagine anything worse. Well, I could, but then I'd have to incinerate the proximity and bathe in bleach twice a day for several months... and then hope for a procedure akin to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" to try and purge the evil from my memory.

    And Dan wasn't that bad. He was just a half-shotokan. Needed a little more work. A good Dan player i just as dangerous as any other good character player. Well, except Sakura.

    But bad AI has no place in a fighting game... and if it truly is abusive, as has seemingly been the case in recent years, then yes - I think that merits scoring a game down.

  • Mirkan #74 6 years ago

    Since when does AI have a place in a fighting game?

    Solo play in fighters is a distraction, you wouldn't mark down Counterstrike or Unreal Tournament because the bots are stupid.

  • Kami #75 6 years ago

    ... oh yes I would...

    While a distraction, sometimes you WANT solo play - especially more important if you have unlockable characters. Sure, the player needs a challenge, their skills tested...

    Of course the single player needs as much love as the multiplayer aspect! It's a huge part of almost every fighting game out there (unlockable characters argument again!) - to argue against makes no sense.

  • gnarl #76 6 years ago

    Not a bad joke this, but it's up a bit too long and someone may start to take it seriously soon. But I'm sure they'll take it down soon, don't worry.

    And remember kids, Ignorance Is Bliss.