Virtua Fighter dot com

From Japan Today article Fans mourn Sega's exit from console video game market, news that "Sega Sammy Holdings, the parent company that now controls one-time video gaming pioneer Sega, is looking to seriously overhaul its structure and business operations, [...] but one of the first steps seems to be Sega ditching the console video game business to focus on what it considers the areas of biggest growth, mobile and online PC games." What this means for the arcade business and for the home VFer, remains to be seen.

In September 2014, a Japanese VF2 Tournament - Virtua Grand Prix V - was held online on the PS3. Footage from this tournament is available on YouTube and is worth checking out if you have around 45 minutes to kill. For some this may be a trip down memory lane, and others it might shed some new light on how this old game was once played. Either way, when compared to the version we all play today, it shows just how far we've come!

South Korean Fighting Game Community Cafe Id have recently announced Id Global Tournament 2015 which includes Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown in the official line up. Scheduled to take place in Incheon, Korea on 4 - 5 April 2015. For more information, check out the IGT2015 Facebook event page.

NYGX is coming. Are you ready?

The Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown Complete Edition includes the full game in addition to all of the Character Customization Packs for the ultimate VF experience. Head on over to the PlayStation store and take advantage of this amazing 80% discount off the retail price, for a whopping low $6.00 (as shown in the US store). Prices and availability may vary due to region.

Virtua Fighter Best Tracks + One is a new VF album being released on 18th February 2015 with a selection of music from the VF series, all remastered. The bonus track is a remix of Ai Ga Tarinaize, the 2nd opening theme to the VF anime, with new recording for the vocals. There are 32 tracks altogether, but this would be one of those albums which leaves you wanting to go buy all the other soundtracks. Looks like the hype train is on the move...

An FAQ for the upcoming release of VF5FS Ver.B was released on SEGA's official VF site today. For arcade goers in Japan, it contains important information in regards to continuation of VF.Net services, card upgrades, and so on. But most importantly for the rest of us, it confirms that this upgrade will contain no changes to game balance.

Happy New Year to all VFDC members for 2015! With a new year comes new opportunities and many possibilities. Whatever comes your way, will you be prepared? Let's see how many seconds you'll last! Are you ready for this?

For those who don't know, VFLive is a series of weekly online VF5: FS tournaments hosted over Xbox Live. This season there will be prizes of Xbox gift cards for the top three of the season.

As before, tournaments will be held on Xbox Live, on Thursdays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM U.S.A. Eastern Time.

The winner of each tournament is awarded three points toward their overall score for the season, with 2nd and 3rd place scoring 2 and 1 point respectively and point values increasing after each major. Majors are held once month and are worth the next multiple up in points At the end of the season, the three players with the highest overall scores will receive the following prizes:

Season champion - $30 in Xbox gift cards (two $15 codes)
2nd place - $20 in Xbox gift cards (one $15 code, one $5 code)
3rd place - $15 Xbox gift card (one $15 code)

To enter, post in this thread, or message me on Xbox Live. Entries are on a tournament by tournament basis. You can also use our Facebook group, VFLive Tournament Series to keep up with events. When requesting membership, please message me with your gamertag. An updated version of the full ruleset can be found below.

Also, here's my Youtube channel where the videos will be posted: https://www.youtube.com/user/DigitlSamurai

I'm not one that takes much stock in rumours, because, well, anyone can make up a rumour without any real consequence for being wrong. However, when the rumour comes from a somewhat credible source, then you can't help but take notice. NeoGAF user Verendus, an apparent insider to the Japanese Video Games industry recently posted that a "New Virtua Fighter game [is] to come" among a list of other gaming related rumours. This probably comes as no surprise to some given the recent end-of-life announcement of VF5FS Ver.B in Japanese arcades. Out with the old, and in with the new? Time will only tell!