VF5R Official Web Site

Sad but true. Luckily, Soul Calibur IV and Street Fighter IV will be coming out, and they are staggered in time so that I could enjoy both while I hope for VF5R will be released on the consoles.

I blame Sega though. We all know the fighting game genre is still Very low away from the US but yet they rushed a PS3 release without online, and without individual character saves on a memory card, easily transportable to your friends house. I blame Sega as a company, they just haven't been able to remain very relevant with all of their IPs. Often ruining them (Sonic), release variations between consoles (VT3 online for 360 only), or bungling things when faced with stiff competition (started with the Genesis, continued with the Saturn, ended with the Dreamcast).

 

What I mean is VF5R can be possible update by the patch.
But first we need VF5R comes out. The different version (like B C D) can be download the patch by keeping it update, if SEGA do so, we don't have to wait such a long time to enjoy VF5R on console~

 

I think that a patch from VF5 Ver.C to R on the 360 would be too much hassle for Sega. Even with the introduction of the HD downloading feature expected in the next dashboard update, I think Sega reckon that they'd make more money off of releasing a disk. This option would also further alienate the PS3 market.

It's barely into its offical release. I wouldn't expect to hear of a home release till this time next year, when by then R would've been well into its second or even third version update.

 

I think he means when or if R is released on consoles, they may be able to have revisions patched through online means. So if the arcades get VF5R.c while the console version is VF5R.b hopefully the console release will be able to get the same update.

 

Oh right, sorry. Sure, if Sega plan for it beforehand and actually want the home versions to be upgradable (and not just force us to pay for keys to unlock what's already on the disk...) then by all means. Doing so would damage their arcade profits in Japan but it'd be a godsend for the west in my opinion.

 

How do you make more money off of disc???, The only way would be to see SO much that it many times more than you could online. Otherwise, you don't have to pay for production/packaging, and you Don't have to worry about a middle man taking some of the profit (gamestop), and you don't have to pay for shipping to the store. The only thing you would have to pay for is Microsoft for XBOX, and I'm sure Sony would also want a small piece as well, but they would have been compensated anyways.

Also it is now the Middle of 2008, Why do we have to wait for this time NEXT year just to hear of home release which means it will be even longer for the actual release. If Square Enix can localize their game in less than a year, which they have for nearly all final fantasies since IV, then I'm pretty sure Sega can do the Same for a Fighting game in Which the Vast Majority of the coding, engine work, and localization has already been done via Virtua fighter 5. Plus, it's mid 2008 now, There is such thing as updating your game. Valve has been updating Team Fortress non stop since October 2007. Most recently being the Pyro update. Release VF5R on both system with online enabled and the ability to be patched, and then when every quater to half a year goes by for version A to become version B, you do the same for the consoles.

Again, Excuses for Sega being Lazy for not implementing the obvious.

 

anyword on stateside release cuz im jonesin for a 360 release

 

Man I love reading posts from armchair observers who somehow know the inside scoop on how THE INDUSTRY and GAME RETAIL works

 

so when i see the posts and stuff for this game i get excited to play my original then my xbox breaks for the third time hows that for luck.

 

Listen, whether I know all the ins and outs is irrelevant. I've been playing and keeping an eye on games for 20 of my 27 years now. Capcom was able to release some 5 or 6 variations of Street Fighter 2 in like 2 years. look how short it took to go from Alpha 1-3, what about X-Men children of the atom, to marvel super heroes, to x-men vs. street fighter, to marvel vs. capcom to marvel vs. capcom 2. Do I need to continue. Again, I don't even care about whether it is retail or released online, What I care more about is Virtua Fighter 5 was released in February 2007, Why in this day and age do we have to wait till mid 2009 possibly 2010 for NOT a sequel, but what amounts to a PC expansion pack. Those are some of the bungling decisions Sega has been know to do over the years.

 

Powerincarnate.

No.

Just no.

 

No towards what, please be more specific for what you don't like about my response.

For example, take Soul Calibur 3. It was relatively rushed on to American Store shelves and had a memory card problem, had some glitches, and was a bit unbalanced. The PAL version came out next, which is the version that I got actually, it had much less occurance of that bug, some glitches were removed, though some still remained, and was a bit more balanced. Finally Japanese version fixed most of what was wrong with the US version, and if I'm not mistaken, the game did have a limited Arcade release after the Japanese version as well, which became the most up to date version of the game. This was a last gen game, the PS2 really didn't have much of an online infrastructure, and therefore, we understand.

Now take 2008, Soul Calibur 4 is coming out, I don't think it would be as tolerated if that game came out with a whole bunch of glitches, some of which would wipe clean the all save files on the peoples PS3 and 360, or the game ends up being very unbalanced because of something missed via playtesting, and you have the capabilities and the technology to fix it via updates, but yet you chose not to. This particular example more has to do with going from Version A to B to C and so forth.

My other point was, going from the regular game to an expansion pack. VF5 to VF5R. With my point above, we now have the technology to make changes to the game via patches (going from Version A to B and so forth), then Why Wait until this time Next year to even hear about a worldwide release (again, responding to the guy who said he expect next year to hear word of a release).

Even if it is to protect their arcade investment, VF5 at this moment doesn't have such a huge US following for example, and the Very FEW who would travel to Japan to play it in the arcade, probably would have done it with or without the game's release in their territory. So i mentioned how Square Enix for example is releasing the FFXIII on the 360 in Just two territories, and Sega could have adopted a similar policy or making Japan the last place receiving a home port of the game and thus keeping the arcade setting as the only show in town for a bit longer.

Last thing I mentioned before, and want to address, If Protecting the arcade investment is NOT the reason for such a long wait. Then Why is the wait so long?? Why does localizing a fighting game, something that has been traditionally done VERY quickly, take so long, when Square Enix has Far more things to tweak when localizing such massive games like Final Fantasy as an example.

So with that said, am I professing to be some Sage of the retail world, like the other guy before you suggested in a sarcastic response, no. This is just dialogue.

 

Let's do this Jacks!

 

Well for one thing power..the earlier the release to console the more it will conflict with the Arcade success which Sega wont allow. Even if the game can come out right away Sega wouldn't allow it. To release the game to console only in the US and not JP just cause it just got to arcades is still something that would be a waste of time especially since its just smarter to wait for inevitable new versions.

 

Yeah, as much as I don't want to wait for R, I'd rather wait for a revision unless they're willing to patch console versions this time around.

 

If there is one thing I have learned on these forums its to NOT assume anything about Sega that would be negative. For some reason thinking that Sega is wrong in any way and treat the US market like shit when it comes to news, announcements, game releases, etc, will bring out the crazy in the people and you will be flamed to hell.

Despite VF being an amazing game and by far the best in its genre, the company that makes it is one of the worst.

 

No, the company is just a sludge when it comes to advertising, or at least in America. We're still seeing Sonic and Mario ads, and they now have a special edition game with Green and Gold Wiimote cover (the upcoming Olympics doesn't help).

Also, let's get back to the website before we turn this into the Gruen Transfer.

 

You obviously work within this industry so could you enlighten those of us who do not know how things work? I have always been curious about how decisions are made when it comes to localization, releasing things etc!

Sorry to put you on the spot, but I am seriously asking and if you can shed any light I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

 

fuck the politics. give me the fucking game.

 

Basically, it comes down to cost/profit margins in the end. If it doesn't look like there will be a sufficient ROI, it probably isn't going to happen.

Think of it this way: If it were DLC in the US, you'd have maybe 200,000 copies of the game sold across PS3 and X360 that would be candidates for a $10 update. People who would actually make the purchase would probably be less than that. Let's say 75% (which is probably overestimating it, actually). So you've got 150,000 people downloading the game. $1.5 million in revenue, doesn't sound too terrible, right? Well, factor in marketing costs for getting the message out, cuts that MS and Sony take, plus the costs of porting from the arcade hardware onto two different platforms and adding a bunch of new features, and re-doing netcode, and your profit starts to shrink. There's also other issues to consider: Not all 360 owners have an HDD, and the upgrades in R would likely use a lot of disk space.

However, were you to do a release the upgrade on disc at a slightly lower price point (say, $40), you have different opportunities: a new and stronger marketing push, and a fresh chance to get the game into the hands of people who overlooked the previous version. (Remember how many people started playing not with the original VF4, but with Evo?) You're not restricted to simply selling DLC to people who already own the game, and you've got a way to grab entirely new mindshare. (Some hideously misguided people also insist on owning physical copies of games to boost their "hardcore collector" e-peen, but that's neither here nor there.) Packaging and distro factor into retail costs, however, and that's the big disadvantage it has over DLC. Still, for big-name titles, retail is still the #1 way to go. Stuff like Gears of War and Lost Planet have seen upgraded reissues in a similar fashion, so in my opinion a (theoretical) VF5R console port is more likely to do this.

A novel idea would be to release both a DLC upgrade and a packaged retail version, but the logistics behind this would be pretty complex.

This is grossly oversimplifying things, of course. I could go into a lot more detail but every time I write something like this on a forum all I hear is NO U R WRONG I KNOW HOW THE BIZ WERKZ HOW DO YOU STUPID PEOPLE GET WRITING JOBS!!!!1. (This is also why the only forum besides this that I'm active on is a place where people mock themselves playing videogames, incidentally. Traditional game discussion forums just frustrate me.)

But so as not to completely blow your question off, here's an IM chat snippet that I think summarizes the situation very well:

subchallenge: i love how entitled people act about console versions
REIchan: Also console version needs to be DLC
REIchan: Clearly Sega doesn't know how to do DLC
sub: ahaha that too
sub: the neogaf thread is great
sub: "yeah i'll pay 10 bucks for this, it looks awesome"
REIchan: NeoGAF :V
sub: hi i'm sega
sub: i have a small core audience that pays me hundreds/thousands of dollars to play my videogame in the arcades.
sub: i also have a smaller core audience that might maybe be bothered to pay ten bucks for download content.
sub: HMM. I'M IN QUITE A DILEMMA AS TO WHICH GROUP TO SERVICE.
REIchan: RACEIZM
REIchan: Sega hates gaijin you know
sub: this business is participating in that most filthy prejudice
sub: moneyism
sub: just because i only want to give them x amount of money
sub: they're only willing to give me x amount of product.
sub: THAT'S NOT AMERICA
sub: IT'S NOT JAPAN EITHER