Hey guys,
Yep here it finally is lol, Survival of the Fittest Version 2, this collection has the following platform/fighting games:
Altered Beast
Armored Warriors
The Astyanax
Athena
Avenging Spirit
Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja
Batman
Beraboh Man
Big Karnak
Black Panther
Bomb Kick
Cadash
Captain Silver
Castlevania
Crude Buster
Dragon Buster
Dragon Unit/Castle of Dragon
Dyna Gear
Eight Man
Express Raider
Galivan - Cosmo Police
Ganryu/Musashi Ganryuki
Genpei ToumaDen
Ghouls n' Ghost
Ginga NinkyouDen
Hammerin' Harry
Haunted Castle
Kid Niki - Radical Ninja
King of Dynast Gear
Kuri Kinton
Lady Master of Kung Fu
Liquid Kids
The Lost Castle In Darkmist
MIA - Missing in Action
Magic Sword - Heroic Fanasty
Marvel Land
Mega Twins
Mr. Goemon
Nastar
Nemo
Ninja Kazan
Osman
Psychic 5
Psycho Soldier
Rastan
Rygar
Shadow Dancer
Shinobi
Spider-Man: The Video Game
Strider
Strider 2
Thunder Fox
Thunder Heroes
Tiger Road
Top Hunter - Roddy & Cathy
Trio the Punch - Never Forget Me..
Trojan
Vigilante
Wardner
Wild Fang/Tecmo Knight
Yo! Noid
What this is, is a collection of Platform Games, over 70!! All in a single MSI setup file like how CFG was!!
For the commerical I choosed random games to play, so don't think that's it!!
I would also like to thank all you guys for your support and wish you guys have fun with this release as well as my other projects!! Be sure to look out for Version 3, coming when I could find some more awesome games for you guys and gals!!! :)
To get it just go to our sites at:
http://amit.dabydeen.com
http://www.acgnorthamerica.com/
Enjoy and again thank you!!
Amit and Tim.
Showing newest 47 of 48 posts from November 2008. Show older posts
Showing newest 47 of 48 posts from November 2008. Show older posts
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Mugen Remix Beta 1 Released!!
Hey guys,
The long ass wait is finally over lol!! Here is the first beta of my Super Street Fighter 2 HD Mugen Remix game!! It comes with only the world warriors (normal characters) as I'm still working on the rest of the characters!!
What still needs to be done are the following:
Palettes for Dhalism
Fix up a couple of stages
A Proper Game Intro (Won't be done until the final game is complete)
And the rest of the characters duh! lol
The evil brother Tim was begging me to release this baby so I did lol, if there any bugs or suggestions just drop us a line at the following sites:
http://amit.dabydeen.com
http://acgnorthamerica.com
Also you guys can get the game at the sites above!!
And there is also a poll on my site (the first one above), where you guys get to choose your exclusive characters!! The top 4 characters will be chosen so you guys go over to my site in the mugen section and check that out!!
Hope you guys enjoy this, and hopefully I'll be able to release Beta 2, which will hopefully have the Grandmasters and Akuma playable!!! :)
Enjoy.
Amit Dabydeen.
http://amit.dabydeen.com
Tim Huang
http://acgnorthamerica.com
The long ass wait is finally over lol!! Here is the first beta of my Super Street Fighter 2 HD Mugen Remix game!! It comes with only the world warriors (normal characters) as I'm still working on the rest of the characters!!
What still needs to be done are the following:
Palettes for Dhalism
Fix up a couple of stages
A Proper Game Intro (Won't be done until the final game is complete)
And the rest of the characters duh! lol
The evil brother Tim was begging me to release this baby so I did lol, if there any bugs or suggestions just drop us a line at the following sites:
http://amit.dabydeen.com
http://acgnorthamerica.com
Also you guys can get the game at the sites above!!
And there is also a poll on my site (the first one above), where you guys get to choose your exclusive characters!! The top 4 characters will be chosen so you guys go over to my site in the mugen section and check that out!!
Hope you guys enjoy this, and hopefully I'll be able to release Beta 2, which will hopefully have the Grandmasters and Akuma playable!!! :)
Enjoy.
Amit Dabydeen.
http://amit.dabydeen.com
Tim Huang
http://acgnorthamerica.com
Street Fighter: Renewed Bonds will ship with the game in Japan
Capcom has announced yesterday during the street fighter grand tournament, that its previously announced street fighter IV anime, now tentatively named Street Fighter: Renewed Bonds, will ship with the initial japanese orders of the game (box art of the anime dvd pictured right below).
As mentioned before, the anime will be 50~60 minutes long and will help tie street fighter 4 to its predecessor sf2.
In addition to the announcement, capcom screened a new 5 min trailer of the anime.
As mentioned before, the anime will be 50~60 minutes long and will help tie street fighter 4 to its predecessor sf2.
In addition to the announcement, capcom screened a new 5 min trailer of the anime.
Street Fighter IV to be released on February 2009 according to Ono
Today marks the begining of the Street Fighter IV grand national tournament, held in Japan. And according to www.dengeki.com Ono San announced for the first time the release date for the home version Street Fighter IV which will be February 2009, merely Three months from now.
SSF2THD Remix coming this November, No trophies at launch
Finally!! we now have a partial release date for HD remix. According to Kramez from Capcom, SSF2THD Remix, the most anticipated downloadable title in the history of mankind (im serious here) will be released sometimes this november. While we dont have a specific date yet, it is good to know that the game will be released in less than four weeks.
In a nother note, Chistian Svenson (also known as sven) did let us know through the "ask Capcom" forum that the title will not support trophies at launch but that they are exploring the possibility of adding it later via a patch.
In a nother note, Chistian Svenson (also known as sven) did let us know through the "ask Capcom" forum that the title will not support trophies at launch but that they are exploring the possibility of adding it later via a patch.
Street Fighter alpha 2 and 3 both rated for psn
Siliconera have discovered by checking the esrb website that both street fighter alpha 2 and 3 have been rated for psn to join Strreet fighter alpha 1 that was recently released on psn as a psone classic.
psone classics usually cost 5 bucks and if you dont already own the alpha anthology on ps2 or if you are feeling it is time to get rid of the ps2 now is your chance (that is if you own a ps3 of course).
psone classics usually cost 5 bucks and if you dont already own the alpha anthology on ps2 or if you are feeling it is time to get rid of the ps2 now is your chance (that is if you own a ps3 of course).
TGS08: More details on the new Street Fighter Anime
Sometimes, a marketing promotion becomes so popular that it gains a life of its own. This has proved to be the case for Street Fighter IV. As part of the promotion for the game, Capcom has been releasing short anime clips that depict what happened to the warriors after Street Fighter II. At the 2008 Tokyo Game Show, producer Yoshinori Ono revealed that the promotional clips have been such a success that a full-length version of the anime is now in production.
According to Ono, the feature-length anime is scheduled to run around 50 to 60 minutes, despite cuts in the script to shorten its length. While the anime is long enough to sell as a product of its own, Ono instead plans to tie its release with Street Fighter IV, though details haven't been decided as of yet.
Ono showed off a three-minute trailer during his stage presentation, which included scenes with Cammy walking through the woods with a group of troops, Ryu awakening to his dark side, Sakura and Chun-Li fighting together against a gang of thugs, and Crimson Viper fighting against Ryu. The anime is being created by Studio 4C, the same company that worked on the original promotion clips. The artists are also the same, with Koji Morimoto (Animatrix) as supervisor, Jirou Kanai (Steamboy) as director, Akiko Saito (Spriggan) as CGI director, and Katsumi Matsuda (Spriggan, Steamboy) as character designer.
Ono also talked about the home ports of Street Fighter IV, though much of what he unveiled has already been reported by the media. In addition to Akuma, who's already playable in the arcade version, the console versions will allow players to also control the last boss, Seth. Sakura from the Street Fighter Alpha series will also be in the game. No mention was made about whether Gouken will be playable in the home release; the character was recently unlocked as a CPU boss in the arcade version.
Ono didn't reveal any further details on additional characters, though he hinted that looking at the character-select screen layout on the TGS version should give hints to how many additional characters could be in the game. Furthermore, he added that there are still surprises to come, and some may be unveiled at the Street Fighter IV tournament preliminaries in Japan on November 3, as well as the finals on January 18.
The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Street Fighter IV are scheduled for release in Japan during Q1 2009. No date has yet been released for the PC version.
According to Ono, the feature-length anime is scheduled to run around 50 to 60 minutes, despite cuts in the script to shorten its length. While the anime is long enough to sell as a product of its own, Ono instead plans to tie its release with Street Fighter IV, though details haven't been decided as of yet.
Ono showed off a three-minute trailer during his stage presentation, which included scenes with Cammy walking through the woods with a group of troops, Ryu awakening to his dark side, Sakura and Chun-Li fighting together against a gang of thugs, and Crimson Viper fighting against Ryu. The anime is being created by Studio 4C, the same company that worked on the original promotion clips. The artists are also the same, with Koji Morimoto (Animatrix) as supervisor, Jirou Kanai (Steamboy) as director, Akiko Saito (Spriggan) as CGI director, and Katsumi Matsuda (Spriggan, Steamboy) as character designer.
Ono also talked about the home ports of Street Fighter IV, though much of what he unveiled has already been reported by the media. In addition to Akuma, who's already playable in the arcade version, the console versions will allow players to also control the last boss, Seth. Sakura from the Street Fighter Alpha series will also be in the game. No mention was made about whether Gouken will be playable in the home release; the character was recently unlocked as a CPU boss in the arcade version.
Ono didn't reveal any further details on additional characters, though he hinted that looking at the character-select screen layout on the TGS version should give hints to how many additional characters could be in the game. Furthermore, he added that there are still surprises to come, and some may be unveiled at the Street Fighter IV tournament preliminaries in Japan on November 3, as well as the finals on January 18.
The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Street Fighter IV are scheduled for release in Japan during Q1 2009. No date has yet been released for the PC version.
TGS08: Ign Talks to Ono San: No Bonus stages for home version
- Street Fighter IV represents a throwback of sorts to the style of gameplay players may remember from Street Fighter II. We had a chance to sit down with Capcom general manager Yoshi Ono to discuss some of the changes with the home versions of the game, which will be appearing this winter on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. To specify, that means before spring 2009, not necessarily this year.
He says Street Fighter IV is an attempt to give the franchise more of a mass appeal. Speaking through a translator, he said, "By the time we got to 3 and the refinements of 3 and all the way to Third Strike, we kind of shrunk the market on our own by increasingly aiming for the hardcore gamers, making it increasingly harder to get good at it ... Third Strike was kind of the pinnacle ... this is what we can do with Street Fighter, we've done it, we really couldn't go any further. We just put a lid on it and set it aside. To be honest, inside the company the general way of thinking was that it was probably done and that there probably wouldn't be a new Street Fighter." Ono went on to describe how during interviews for other games he was constantly being approached by the press and asked when a new Street Fighter was going to be made, and others within Capcom heard the same questions.
"Eventually we did manage to convince management that people really want to play it, it's not just the hardcore. By the time we finally got them convinced the gears started turning and we decided ... I don't want to use the word 'casual' because that's a loaded word, but we decided to make the game less hardcore, less focused on the true experts, and something a wider variety of people could pick up and play."
To accomplish this, Capcom decided to implement a 'focus system' which would allow for a different style of gameplay without making things too complex. Essentially, the system requires players to hit two buttons which work to absorb or an incoming attack and then, depending on timing, dish out another. Ono says lessons were learned from Street Fighter III's parry system. "That was a really cool system and it was fun as hell if you actually know how to do it and you actually are able to use it properly. Unfortunately the amount of players that really know how to use it and can do it every time on purpose, and can go from the neutral stick position to tapping forward in that literally a fraction of a second timeframe, it's really fun but there's not so many people that can do it. So we wanted something that would be a little more accessible to more people."
Ono continued, "The three keys for going into the focus attack system, one would be that it's easy to execute. Rather than relying on split second timing ... let's just make it two buttons. Anyone can push two buttons. Secondly you had to see immediately on the screen the results. You had to know that you did something. Parry wasn't such a flashy effect. If you did it wrong, you would just get hit and you wouldn't really know anything had happened. So it had to be visually obvious to the user." Activating a focus attack in Street Fighter IV is made quite obvious, as the character changes color along with other special effects. "Thirdly, it had to have depth. It couldn't just be as simple as hitting two buttons and watching something happen. There had to be multiple ways to use it. You can string it together in the midst of other moves, you can cancel out of it, etc., so it's really where the depth comes from."
The conversation then turned to what elements of Street Fighter in general were important to preserve for this version. "Street Fighter has always been about ... reading your opponent's moves and predicting what they're going to do next, kind of a rock-paper-scissors thing. So with this guy, every time he's landed from a jump he's thrown a fireball, he'll probably do that again so I'm going to do this to counter that. It's all about that kind of gameplay, so the focus attack system takes that to the next level. You have another tool in your toolbelt to trick the other player."
As for how the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC versions could differ, Ono said the idea was to give everyone the same experience at home. "It's been so long since there's been a Street Fighter, we don't want to mix up the message and make multiple versions of it ... We're not going to have hardware A is going to have this extra character and hardware B is going to have this extra character."
Ono did mention Capcom was leaning towards Games for Windows -- Live support with the PC version. "We're leaning in that direction ... It's a little too early to say for sure," he said. Downloadable content is definitely on the schedule, though it won't be in the form of other characters. "We don't want it to be something that affects gameplay or balance ... something more cosmetic, perhaps. If you look at the arcade game it links with Japanese mobile phone networks so you can earn points in the arcade ... and then purchase items, but nothing that affects gameplay. We really want everyone to have the same balanced experience."
Though for the home version several new characters have been revealed that aren't in the arcade version, such as Sakura, Capcom is still keeping a few up its sleeve. More will be revealed in the future, so keep an eye out. It also sounds like a few extra modes will be in the game for the home versions. Ono said it won't be just arcade and versus, but whatever is eventually included is still being worked on and therefore he didn't want to say anything. Bonus stages, such as barrel or car smashing, won't be in the game, however, as Ono says there isn't enough time to get it in there and Capcom would rather get the game out than delay it to add bonus modes.
Before the interview was over, Ono gave us some perspective on the Street Fighter franchise in general. "Looking at the pattern up until now, it seems the even-numbered Street Fighters have the casual appeal, the odd numbered Street Fighters are more hardcore. [Street Fighter 1] doesn't necessarily have a hardcore image, but try and throw a fireball on purpose in that game and you'll see just how insane the timing is. Then SFII spread out a little more and was easy to play. SFIII kind of went back to the roots and got hard again. IV is easy. Maybe if there's an SFV we'll go back the other direction and be more hardcore again. It's kind of early to say. Looking at the pattern right now, that would make sense."
He says Street Fighter IV is an attempt to give the franchise more of a mass appeal. Speaking through a translator, he said, "By the time we got to 3 and the refinements of 3 and all the way to Third Strike, we kind of shrunk the market on our own by increasingly aiming for the hardcore gamers, making it increasingly harder to get good at it ... Third Strike was kind of the pinnacle ... this is what we can do with Street Fighter, we've done it, we really couldn't go any further. We just put a lid on it and set it aside. To be honest, inside the company the general way of thinking was that it was probably done and that there probably wouldn't be a new Street Fighter." Ono went on to describe how during interviews for other games he was constantly being approached by the press and asked when a new Street Fighter was going to be made, and others within Capcom heard the same questions.
"Eventually we did manage to convince management that people really want to play it, it's not just the hardcore. By the time we finally got them convinced the gears started turning and we decided ... I don't want to use the word 'casual' because that's a loaded word, but we decided to make the game less hardcore, less focused on the true experts, and something a wider variety of people could pick up and play."
To accomplish this, Capcom decided to implement a 'focus system' which would allow for a different style of gameplay without making things too complex. Essentially, the system requires players to hit two buttons which work to absorb or an incoming attack and then, depending on timing, dish out another. Ono says lessons were learned from Street Fighter III's parry system. "That was a really cool system and it was fun as hell if you actually know how to do it and you actually are able to use it properly. Unfortunately the amount of players that really know how to use it and can do it every time on purpose, and can go from the neutral stick position to tapping forward in that literally a fraction of a second timeframe, it's really fun but there's not so many people that can do it. So we wanted something that would be a little more accessible to more people."
Ono continued, "The three keys for going into the focus attack system, one would be that it's easy to execute. Rather than relying on split second timing ... let's just make it two buttons. Anyone can push two buttons. Secondly you had to see immediately on the screen the results. You had to know that you did something. Parry wasn't such a flashy effect. If you did it wrong, you would just get hit and you wouldn't really know anything had happened. So it had to be visually obvious to the user." Activating a focus attack in Street Fighter IV is made quite obvious, as the character changes color along with other special effects. "Thirdly, it had to have depth. It couldn't just be as simple as hitting two buttons and watching something happen. There had to be multiple ways to use it. You can string it together in the midst of other moves, you can cancel out of it, etc., so it's really where the depth comes from."
The conversation then turned to what elements of Street Fighter in general were important to preserve for this version. "Street Fighter has always been about ... reading your opponent's moves and predicting what they're going to do next, kind of a rock-paper-scissors thing. So with this guy, every time he's landed from a jump he's thrown a fireball, he'll probably do that again so I'm going to do this to counter that. It's all about that kind of gameplay, so the focus attack system takes that to the next level. You have another tool in your toolbelt to trick the other player."
As for how the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC versions could differ, Ono said the idea was to give everyone the same experience at home. "It's been so long since there's been a Street Fighter, we don't want to mix up the message and make multiple versions of it ... We're not going to have hardware A is going to have this extra character and hardware B is going to have this extra character."
Ono did mention Capcom was leaning towards Games for Windows -- Live support with the PC version. "We're leaning in that direction ... It's a little too early to say for sure," he said. Downloadable content is definitely on the schedule, though it won't be in the form of other characters. "We don't want it to be something that affects gameplay or balance ... something more cosmetic, perhaps. If you look at the arcade game it links with Japanese mobile phone networks so you can earn points in the arcade ... and then purchase items, but nothing that affects gameplay. We really want everyone to have the same balanced experience."
Though for the home version several new characters have been revealed that aren't in the arcade version, such as Sakura, Capcom is still keeping a few up its sleeve. More will be revealed in the future, so keep an eye out. It also sounds like a few extra modes will be in the game for the home versions. Ono said it won't be just arcade and versus, but whatever is eventually included is still being worked on and therefore he didn't want to say anything. Bonus stages, such as barrel or car smashing, won't be in the game, however, as Ono says there isn't enough time to get it in there and Capcom would rather get the game out than delay it to add bonus modes.
Before the interview was over, Ono gave us some perspective on the Street Fighter franchise in general. "Looking at the pattern up until now, it seems the even-numbered Street Fighters have the casual appeal, the odd numbered Street Fighters are more hardcore. [Street Fighter 1] doesn't necessarily have a hardcore image, but try and throw a fireball on purpose in that game and you'll see just how insane the timing is. Then SFII spread out a little more and was easy to play. SFIII kind of went back to the roots and got hard again. IV is easy. Maybe if there's an SFV we'll go back the other direction and be more hardcore again. It's kind of early to say. Looking at the pattern right now, that would make sense."
Street Fighter IV Home Version Detailed
Although its existence has been known practically from the moment the arcade version was announced, Capcom formally announced that home versions of Street Fighter IV are currently in the works. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of SFIV will hit Japanese stores by the end of fiscal 2008 (i.e. no later than March '09), and while the ports aren't going to be that different from the arcade versions, they will feature a couple of new characters that will blow the minds (and other body parts) of series fans.
The PS3/360 SFIV -- which is playable all this weekend at the Tokyo Game Show -- will feature a variety of home-exclusive fighters, some of which show up as bosses in the arcade game and some of which are full-on brand-new, period. So far, Fei Long and Dan have been confirmed for the home; to that, you can add Seth (the freaky, move-stealing boss of the arcade version) and Sakura, the bouncy high-school girl who has a thing for Ryu's fighting style and a deeply-instilled love for panty-revealing high kicks. (Gouken, better known as Sheng Long to Americans, is still a boss-only character in the arcades -- Capcom hasn't commented on whether he'll be playable at home.)
"From the moment we started working on new characters for the arcade game, we've worked on Street Fighter IV from the viewpoint of the gamers who've been patiently waiting for a new game in the series," producer Yoshinori Ono told Weekly Famitsu magazine this week. "Once the home port was confirmed, we looked around the debates on the community sites, which proved to use that Sakura was the one character with the most requests from gamers. We chose her in response to the demand from the Japanese market."
Ono also suggested that Sakura and Seth aren't the only new characters left to be revealed. The SFIV community was abuzz all this week when a new promotional anime put on the official Japanese website featured an appearance by Cammy, the fun-loving, tights-wearing army girl who's a perennial favorite among Western gamers. "Capcom USA had a 'which character do you want back in SFIV' vote at Comicon in July, and Cammy was number one there," Ono noted. "Cammy's appearance in the anime has touched off a lot of talk about how she'll be the next new character, but we still haven't decided on anything yet, so let's call it TBA for now."
Details on new features for the home ports are still scant. Although Ono hinted that a full-featured training mode is in the works, he warned Famitsu to not expect massive changes from the arcade original: "Calling it 'Street Fighter 4.5' [as he did in previous interviews] was probably going too far. We aren't making any major balance changes, but we do plan to rework some points which were plainly unnatural in the arcade version. It's more of a 4.1, you could say."
1UP is in Japan all week giving you the best coverage of one of the biggest gaming conventions in the world -- the Tokyo Game Show. Be sure to check out our TGS hub page for all the latest news, previews, videos, and everything else from across the ocean.
The PS3/360 SFIV -- which is playable all this weekend at the Tokyo Game Show -- will feature a variety of home-exclusive fighters, some of which show up as bosses in the arcade game and some of which are full-on brand-new, period. So far, Fei Long and Dan have been confirmed for the home; to that, you can add Seth (the freaky, move-stealing boss of the arcade version) and Sakura, the bouncy high-school girl who has a thing for Ryu's fighting style and a deeply-instilled love for panty-revealing high kicks. (Gouken, better known as Sheng Long to Americans, is still a boss-only character in the arcades -- Capcom hasn't commented on whether he'll be playable at home.)
"From the moment we started working on new characters for the arcade game, we've worked on Street Fighter IV from the viewpoint of the gamers who've been patiently waiting for a new game in the series," producer Yoshinori Ono told Weekly Famitsu magazine this week. "Once the home port was confirmed, we looked around the debates on the community sites, which proved to use that Sakura was the one character with the most requests from gamers. We chose her in response to the demand from the Japanese market."
Ono also suggested that Sakura and Seth aren't the only new characters left to be revealed. The SFIV community was abuzz all this week when a new promotional anime put on the official Japanese website featured an appearance by Cammy, the fun-loving, tights-wearing army girl who's a perennial favorite among Western gamers. "Capcom USA had a 'which character do you want back in SFIV' vote at Comicon in July, and Cammy was number one there," Ono noted. "Cammy's appearance in the anime has touched off a lot of talk about how she'll be the next new character, but we still haven't decided on anything yet, so let's call it TBA for now."
Details on new features for the home ports are still scant. Although Ono hinted that a full-featured training mode is in the works, he warned Famitsu to not expect massive changes from the arcade original: "Calling it 'Street Fighter 4.5' [as he did in previous interviews] was probably going too far. We aren't making any major balance changes, but we do plan to rework some points which were plainly unnatural in the arcade version. It's more of a 4.1, you could say."
1UP is in Japan all week giving you the best coverage of one of the biggest gaming conventions in the world -- the Tokyo Game Show. Be sure to check out our TGS hub page for all the latest news, previews, videos, and everything else from across the ocean.
Famitsu reveals more: Seth is a playable character in the console version of SF4
According to the latest famitsu, Seth, the final boss of SF4, will be playable in the console version as well as Akuma.
The article also mention that Ono is still not sure if he will make Gouken a playable character :s
i am sure Ono san is just playing mind tricks with us, or at least i hope so :P
Final changelist for the SSF2THD remix characters
Since we’ve had the Gamespot Tournament featuring HD Remix and SFIV, there’s been a lot of speculation on exactly what the changes are in HD Remix. Some folks that made it to the tournament have been sharing what they’ve been seeing, but just so we’re all on the same page, I’ve decided to list exactly what the changes are. You can see one of the new additions in the screenshot above of Bison’s fake slide.
We’ll keep the design reasoning for another day, but hopefully this post will answer some of your questions. I know it might raise more, but these are only the specific changes that were made to the game. Some of them create other behavior, but I’ll stick to the main changes that were made and I’ll let you guys figure out the rest when you finally get your hands on it.
Be on the lookout in the near future for a ton of media coming out. I saw the 1st draft of one of the videos and all I can say is it’s full of 80’s awesomeness.
Ryu
* New move: fake fireball. qcf+short.
Ken
* Strong dragon punch is invulnerable on the way up, exactly like Old Ken's, and also always knocks down. It's now a 1-hit move, not 2-hit.
* Fierce dp has bigger arc, always knocks down, juggles against jump-ins, but no additional invulnerability.
* Short helicopter has shorter duration
* Medium helicopter kick goes slightly farther
* Roundhouse helicopter kick goes farther and faster.
* Roundhouse helicopter kick does less dizzy
* Air roundhouse helicopter goes slightly farther
* "Crazy kicks" have simplified joystick motions. New motions: 1) qcf+short, 2) qcf+forward, 3) qcf+roundhouse.
* Damage lowered on first hit of knee bash hold.
* Range of knee bash hold reduced by a small amount.
* Super can now be used as a reversal.
Guile
* Roundhouse flash kick now travels forward rather than straight up.
* Super has easier motion: charge db, d, df, f, uf+ kick. (Old motion still works.)
* Super does slightly less damage.
* Uspide down kick is an overhead
* Upside down kick slowed down slightly
* Upside down kick can be performed at any range, not just close range, by holding towards+roundhouse.
* Upside down kick is more vulnerable, allowing Sagat's low tiger shots and other moves to hit it.
Honda
* Jump short has higher priority, can hit sweeps.
* Floating fierce move (jump straight up + fierce) can be steered farther left/right.
* Hundred hands easier to execute
* Strong and fierce versions of hundred hands have lower priority and all versions do a little less damage
* Ochio throw now bounces off the other way, preventing Honda from repeating it in the corner
* Ochio throw now deals the same dizzy points as other throws rather than twice as much.
* Jab torpedo can destroy fireballs.
* Jab torpedo travels shorter distance
* Super travels slower before first hit, but travels faster after first hit.
* Super now knocks down and juggles.
Blanka
* Horizontal ball has safer recovery.
* Horizontal ball with jab and strong have same sound effect and same spinning speed as fierce version.
* Horizontal ball with jab and strong travel slightly shorter distance so whiffed roll into bite is a little more effective.
* Diagonal ball has faster startup and safer recovery.
* Hop move has new command: hold stick left or right then jab+short OR strong+forward OR fierce+rh. (Old motion of kkk still works).
* Hop back builds much less super meter.
* Forward version of hop has slightly more foot-invulnerability at startup.
* Electricity easier to execute (mash punches)
* Super move has faster startup, faster recovery, and always knocks down if it hits.
Zangief
* Green hand command changed to qcf+p
* Green hand has slightly faster recovery.
* SPD command easier: hcb,f+p OR hcf,b+p. (Original 360 command still works)
* Super command easier, hcb,hcb,f+p OR hcf,hcf+p.
* Running Grab (and double suplex) command is now hcb+k OR hcf+k.
* Running Grab runs faster.
* Kick lariat can now be done with jab+short as well as original KKK command.
* Punch lariat can now be done with strong+forward or fierce+roundhouse as well as original PPP command.
* Kick lariat has invulnerable feet during Zangief's first rotation, but vulnerable feet after that.
* Kick lariat has a different sound effect on startup than punch lariat.
* Punch lariat's initial hitframe now extends down to the floor so it can hit Dhalsim's low fierce or sometimes Guile's low forward. As before, this hitbox is only active for 6 frames out of the entire lariat.
* Hop move can only be done with towards + fierce. No longer possible with back+fierce, back+strong, or towards+strong.
* Hop travels farther forward, slightly higher, and has slightly better recovery.
* Jumping (forward/away) strong has hitbox that reaches slightly farther forward.
* Low fierce has slightly higher hit box, mainly to hit Vega's off-the-wall attacks.
Chun Li
* Removed df+medium kick move.
* df+roundhouse (the "neckbreaker") no longer crosses up, removing the loop of repeated knockdowns.
* Lighting legs easier to execute (mash kicks)
* Lighting legs do less damage and have a little worse priority in Chun Li's stomach area.
* Aerial spinning bird kick can be done with charge down, up+kick, so that you can do it after a headstomp.
* Aerial spinning bird kick travels more straight now, then falls in an arc at the end
* Ground spinning bird kick has a new parabolic arc. It can also air-juggle and deals a fair amount of dizzy.
* Super does slightly less damage.
Dhalsim
* Teleport command requires only 2 punch or 2 kick buttons rather than 3.
* Teleport recovery is not longer, but has more vulnerable frames at the end.
* Yoga flame changed to qcb+p so it doesn't overlap fireball command.
* Upward yoga flame changed to qcb+k to match other yoga flame.
* Upward yoga flame now travels way up the screen with roundhouse version.
* Super changed to hcb,hcb+p to match yoga flame command.
* Super has more forgiving timing window.
* Super is now more vulnerable around Dhalsim's head and throwable from behind.
* Super can now be used as a reversal.
* Noogie hold has shorter range.
* Ducking ranged punches no longer cleanly go under Guile's Sonic Booms
Balrog
* Turn punch and headbutt award less super meter.
* Small and medium headbutts travel slightly farther and are less safe.
* Throw range decreased.
* First hit of throw does less damage.
* Turn Punch can be performed by holding 2 punches or 2 kicks, rather than all 3
* Super does a little less damage
Vega
* Defensive backflip command changed to jab+short for small version; strong+forward OR fierce+roundhouse for double flip version (old commands of kkk and ppp still work)
* Offensive backflip can no longer be charged straight back (must be charged down/back).
* Off-the-wall attack no longer knocks down
* Off-the-wall attack has additional recovery, to prevent combos after hitting with it
* New Wall Dive Fake: After going off the wall (charge down, then up+k), you can press kick again to drop without attacking.
Sagat
* Super has more range, and always knocks down if it hits.
* Fireball recovery is better than New Sagat but worse than Old Sagat
* Some normal moves are from Old Sagat
* Stand strong can be cancelled into special moves, second hit of stand forward and short cannot
* Tiger knee always knocks down and juggles (but NOT into super)
* Tiger knee damage reduced because of new juggle property
Bison
* Devil's reverse (charge down, up+punch) has 1 frame of invulnerability at startup
* Stand jab has better priority, can stop honda's torpedo and blanka's roll
* New move: df+roundhouse is a fake slide.
* Jump straight up + strong now juggles the same as jump toward/away + strong
Cammy
* Hooligan throw motion changed to qcf+p
* Spinning Backfist motion changed to qcb+p
* Spinning Backfist is invulnerable to fireballs during startup (all versions)
* Spinning Backfist's hitbox on 2nd hit is bigger so that it doesn't fail to get 2nd hit if the 1st hit connects
* Cannon drill has better recovery
* Cannon Spike is usually not safe on block anymore.
Fei Long
* Flying Kick motion changed to qcf+k
* Short version of flying kicks have additional frames of partial invulnerability, allowing them to go through fireballs at the start
* Flying kicks have lower priority on first hit, allowing them to be countered air-to-air a little more easily.
* Flying kicks have 5 additional frames of recovery
* Medium and roundhouse flame kicks always knock down and can juggle
* Short flame kick is no longer safe on block from point-blank range.
* Rekka Punches travel a little farther
* Rekka punch motion is a little more forgiving, so it's not as hard to get all 3 in the series.
* Super travels farther
* Fei Long's head is vulnerable during 4th and 5th hits of the super (and can't go through fireballs during that, but still can during first 3 hits).
* The super causes a different angle of knockdown so that comboing after it is difficult/impossible.
* Super meter gains slightly reduced on flame kick and flying kicks.
Dee Jay
* Machine Gun Punch, much easier to get all the hits
* Machine Gun Punch destroys fireballs
* Machine Gun Punch does less dizzy and less damage than before.
* Medium and Roundhouse Dread Kicks, 2nd hit sped up so that it almost always hits if the first hit connects.
* Medium and Roundhouse Dread Kicks have a few frames of foot-invulnerability at startup
* Medium and Roundhouse Dread Kicks have reduced damage because of improved ability to combo
T.Hawk
* Hawk dive command changed to jab+short OR strong+forward OR fierce+roundhouse while in air (old command ppp still works)
* Hawk dive's bounce changed so it ends with T.Hawk close to enemy and safe on block or hit.
* Hawk dive does not knock down
* Special throw command easier: hcb,f+p OR hcf,b+p, and you can actually start in down/back or down/forward (Original 360 command also still works.)
* Special throw now has a whiff animation if you miss.
* Super command easier: hcb,hcb,f+p OR hcf,hcf+p.
* Several of T.Hawk's normal moves are from Old T.Hawk, such as stand roundhouse and low roundhouse.
* Fierce dragon punch now always knocks down and juggles
* Fixed a bug where a stray hitbox on low strong could be hit from very far away.
Akuma
* Super meter added and new super move: Raging Demon. Command is jab, jab, towards, short, fierce.
* Super travels slower and farther than the secret version of Akuma
* Super has additional start up frames.
* Super is not able to grab an opponent out of jump start-up.
* Air fireball has new downward angle and causes Akuma to hang in the air slightly when thrown.
* Air fireball can now be done lower to the ground, allowing instant air fireball using "tiger knee" motion.
* Akuma takes more damage than other characters.
* Akuma can now be dizzied.
* Teleport command requires only 2 punch or 2 kick rather than 3.
* Blue fireballs have more startup and recovery. Now same startup as Ryu's fireball and only slightly shorter recovery than Ryu's.
* Fierce blue fireball only has the huge knockback effect from very close range.
* Red fireballs have more startup.
* Helicopter kick has much less invulnerability.
* Akuma's leg is no longer invulnerable during his ducking kicks.
We’ll keep the design reasoning for another day, but hopefully this post will answer some of your questions. I know it might raise more, but these are only the specific changes that were made to the game. Some of them create other behavior, but I’ll stick to the main changes that were made and I’ll let you guys figure out the rest when you finally get your hands on it.
Be on the lookout in the near future for a ton of media coming out. I saw the 1st draft of one of the videos and all I can say is it’s full of 80’s awesomeness.
Ryu
* New move: fake fireball. qcf+short.
Ken
* Strong dragon punch is invulnerable on the way up, exactly like Old Ken's, and also always knocks down. It's now a 1-hit move, not 2-hit.
* Fierce dp has bigger arc, always knocks down, juggles against jump-ins, but no additional invulnerability.
* Short helicopter has shorter duration
* Medium helicopter kick goes slightly farther
* Roundhouse helicopter kick goes farther and faster.
* Roundhouse helicopter kick does less dizzy
* Air roundhouse helicopter goes slightly farther
* "Crazy kicks" have simplified joystick motions. New motions: 1) qcf+short, 2) qcf+forward, 3) qcf+roundhouse.
* Damage lowered on first hit of knee bash hold.
* Range of knee bash hold reduced by a small amount.
* Super can now be used as a reversal.
Guile
* Roundhouse flash kick now travels forward rather than straight up.
* Super has easier motion: charge db, d, df, f, uf+ kick. (Old motion still works.)
* Super does slightly less damage.
* Uspide down kick is an overhead
* Upside down kick slowed down slightly
* Upside down kick can be performed at any range, not just close range, by holding towards+roundhouse.
* Upside down kick is more vulnerable, allowing Sagat's low tiger shots and other moves to hit it.
Honda
* Jump short has higher priority, can hit sweeps.
* Floating fierce move (jump straight up + fierce) can be steered farther left/right.
* Hundred hands easier to execute
* Strong and fierce versions of hundred hands have lower priority and all versions do a little less damage
* Ochio throw now bounces off the other way, preventing Honda from repeating it in the corner
* Ochio throw now deals the same dizzy points as other throws rather than twice as much.
* Jab torpedo can destroy fireballs.
* Jab torpedo travels shorter distance
* Super travels slower before first hit, but travels faster after first hit.
* Super now knocks down and juggles.
Blanka
* Horizontal ball has safer recovery.
* Horizontal ball with jab and strong have same sound effect and same spinning speed as fierce version.
* Horizontal ball with jab and strong travel slightly shorter distance so whiffed roll into bite is a little more effective.
* Diagonal ball has faster startup and safer recovery.
* Hop move has new command: hold stick left or right then jab+short OR strong+forward OR fierce+rh. (Old motion of kkk still works).
* Hop back builds much less super meter.
* Forward version of hop has slightly more foot-invulnerability at startup.
* Electricity easier to execute (mash punches)
* Super move has faster startup, faster recovery, and always knocks down if it hits.
Zangief
* Green hand command changed to qcf+p
* Green hand has slightly faster recovery.
* SPD command easier: hcb,f+p OR hcf,b+p. (Original 360 command still works)
* Super command easier, hcb,hcb,f+p OR hcf,hcf+p.
* Running Grab (and double suplex) command is now hcb+k OR hcf+k.
* Running Grab runs faster.
* Kick lariat can now be done with jab+short as well as original KKK command.
* Punch lariat can now be done with strong+forward or fierce+roundhouse as well as original PPP command.
* Kick lariat has invulnerable feet during Zangief's first rotation, but vulnerable feet after that.
* Kick lariat has a different sound effect on startup than punch lariat.
* Punch lariat's initial hitframe now extends down to the floor so it can hit Dhalsim's low fierce or sometimes Guile's low forward. As before, this hitbox is only active for 6 frames out of the entire lariat.
* Hop move can only be done with towards + fierce. No longer possible with back+fierce, back+strong, or towards+strong.
* Hop travels farther forward, slightly higher, and has slightly better recovery.
* Jumping (forward/away) strong has hitbox that reaches slightly farther forward.
* Low fierce has slightly higher hit box, mainly to hit Vega's off-the-wall attacks.
Chun Li
* Removed df+medium kick move.
* df+roundhouse (the "neckbreaker") no longer crosses up, removing the loop of repeated knockdowns.
* Lighting legs easier to execute (mash kicks)
* Lighting legs do less damage and have a little worse priority in Chun Li's stomach area.
* Aerial spinning bird kick can be done with charge down, up+kick, so that you can do it after a headstomp.
* Aerial spinning bird kick travels more straight now, then falls in an arc at the end
* Ground spinning bird kick has a new parabolic arc. It can also air-juggle and deals a fair amount of dizzy.
* Super does slightly less damage.
Dhalsim
* Teleport command requires only 2 punch or 2 kick buttons rather than 3.
* Teleport recovery is not longer, but has more vulnerable frames at the end.
* Yoga flame changed to qcb+p so it doesn't overlap fireball command.
* Upward yoga flame changed to qcb+k to match other yoga flame.
* Upward yoga flame now travels way up the screen with roundhouse version.
* Super changed to hcb,hcb+p to match yoga flame command.
* Super has more forgiving timing window.
* Super is now more vulnerable around Dhalsim's head and throwable from behind.
* Super can now be used as a reversal.
* Noogie hold has shorter range.
* Ducking ranged punches no longer cleanly go under Guile's Sonic Booms
Balrog
* Turn punch and headbutt award less super meter.
* Small and medium headbutts travel slightly farther and are less safe.
* Throw range decreased.
* First hit of throw does less damage.
* Turn Punch can be performed by holding 2 punches or 2 kicks, rather than all 3
* Super does a little less damage
Vega
* Defensive backflip command changed to jab+short for small version; strong+forward OR fierce+roundhouse for double flip version (old commands of kkk and ppp still work)
* Offensive backflip can no longer be charged straight back (must be charged down/back).
* Off-the-wall attack no longer knocks down
* Off-the-wall attack has additional recovery, to prevent combos after hitting with it
* New Wall Dive Fake: After going off the wall (charge down, then up+k), you can press kick again to drop without attacking.
Sagat
* Super has more range, and always knocks down if it hits.
* Fireball recovery is better than New Sagat but worse than Old Sagat
* Some normal moves are from Old Sagat
* Stand strong can be cancelled into special moves, second hit of stand forward and short cannot
* Tiger knee always knocks down and juggles (but NOT into super)
* Tiger knee damage reduced because of new juggle property
Bison
* Devil's reverse (charge down, up+punch) has 1 frame of invulnerability at startup
* Stand jab has better priority, can stop honda's torpedo and blanka's roll
* New move: df+roundhouse is a fake slide.
* Jump straight up + strong now juggles the same as jump toward/away + strong
Cammy
* Hooligan throw motion changed to qcf+p
* Spinning Backfist motion changed to qcb+p
* Spinning Backfist is invulnerable to fireballs during startup (all versions)
* Spinning Backfist's hitbox on 2nd hit is bigger so that it doesn't fail to get 2nd hit if the 1st hit connects
* Cannon drill has better recovery
* Cannon Spike is usually not safe on block anymore.
Fei Long
* Flying Kick motion changed to qcf+k
* Short version of flying kicks have additional frames of partial invulnerability, allowing them to go through fireballs at the start
* Flying kicks have lower priority on first hit, allowing them to be countered air-to-air a little more easily.
* Flying kicks have 5 additional frames of recovery
* Medium and roundhouse flame kicks always knock down and can juggle
* Short flame kick is no longer safe on block from point-blank range.
* Rekka Punches travel a little farther
* Rekka punch motion is a little more forgiving, so it's not as hard to get all 3 in the series.
* Super travels farther
* Fei Long's head is vulnerable during 4th and 5th hits of the super (and can't go through fireballs during that, but still can during first 3 hits).
* The super causes a different angle of knockdown so that comboing after it is difficult/impossible.
* Super meter gains slightly reduced on flame kick and flying kicks.
Dee Jay
* Machine Gun Punch, much easier to get all the hits
* Machine Gun Punch destroys fireballs
* Machine Gun Punch does less dizzy and less damage than before.
* Medium and Roundhouse Dread Kicks, 2nd hit sped up so that it almost always hits if the first hit connects.
* Medium and Roundhouse Dread Kicks have a few frames of foot-invulnerability at startup
* Medium and Roundhouse Dread Kicks have reduced damage because of improved ability to combo
T.Hawk
* Hawk dive command changed to jab+short OR strong+forward OR fierce+roundhouse while in air (old command ppp still works)
* Hawk dive's bounce changed so it ends with T.Hawk close to enemy and safe on block or hit.
* Hawk dive does not knock down
* Special throw command easier: hcb,f+p OR hcf,b+p, and you can actually start in down/back or down/forward (Original 360 command also still works.)
* Special throw now has a whiff animation if you miss.
* Super command easier: hcb,hcb,f+p OR hcf,hcf+p.
* Several of T.Hawk's normal moves are from Old T.Hawk, such as stand roundhouse and low roundhouse.
* Fierce dragon punch now always knocks down and juggles
* Fixed a bug where a stray hitbox on low strong could be hit from very far away.
Akuma
* Super meter added and new super move: Raging Demon. Command is jab, jab, towards, short, fierce.
* Super travels slower and farther than the secret version of Akuma
* Super has additional start up frames.
* Super is not able to grab an opponent out of jump start-up.
* Air fireball has new downward angle and causes Akuma to hang in the air slightly when thrown.
* Air fireball can now be done lower to the ground, allowing instant air fireball using "tiger knee" motion.
* Akuma takes more damage than other characters.
* Akuma can now be dizzied.
* Teleport command requires only 2 punch or 2 kick rather than 3.
* Blue fireballs have more startup and recovery. Now same startup as Ryu's fireball and only slightly shorter recovery than Ryu's.
* Fierce blue fireball only has the huge knockback effect from very close range.
* Red fireballs have more startup.
* Helicopter kick has much less invulnerability.
* Akuma's leg is no longer invulnerable during his ducking kicks.
More Tatsunoko VS Capcom characters!!!
Viewtiful Joe, the hero of Capcom's hit beat-em-up action platformer has been confirmed for the Nintendo Wii version of Tatsunoko VS Capcom! Along with Joe will be Saki from Quiz Nanairo Dreams (whom appeared as an assist character in Marvel VS Capcom), and Ippatsuman of Tatsunoko fame.
Wii fighting games this month!
Konami's Castlevania Judgment will be releasing for the Nintendo Wii on November 18th... Look forward to TFG's full review later this month! Also coming to the Nintendo Wii this month is KOF Collection: The Orochi Saga (November 25th).
MK vs DC censored by ESRB!
At least 3 of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe's fatalities have been "toned down" in order to keep the T for Teen rating from the ESRB that Midway is aiming for... Yup, it will indeed be the first ever "teen rated" Mortal Kombat fighting game.
For example: In the original version of The Joker's fatality, after he shot a fake gun with a "BANG!" flag at his opponent, he then pulled out a real gun and capped his victim in the head. In the final version, players will only see the fake gun segment, with the real shot occurring "off screen" ... Perhaps something to the effect of a "screen blackout." As for Kitana's fatality, where she originally sliced her opponent's forehead and torso with her razor-sharp fans, the head slice was completely taken out, with both fans now entering into her opponent's mid-section.
For example: In the original version of The Joker's fatality, after he shot a fake gun with a "BANG!" flag at his opponent, he then pulled out a real gun and capped his victim in the head. In the final version, players will only see the fake gun segment, with the real shot occurring "off screen" ... Perhaps something to the effect of a "screen blackout." As for Kitana's fatality, where she originally sliced her opponent's forehead and torso with her razor-sharp fans, the head slice was completely taken out, with both fans now entering into her opponent's mid-section.
Wii TvC Arcade Sticks!
To coincide with the release of Tatsunoko vs Capcom on the Nintendo Wii, Exar will be releasing two arcade sticks which will be available on December 11th in Japan. No, there's still no U.S. release currently planned for Tatsunoko VS Capcom, but if you really want to play the game, there are ways... (psst, see TFG's September - October 2008 Feedback)!
The plain white & blue arcade stick will retail for 5229 Yen ($56 USD) and the more visually appealing arcade stick featuring Tatsunoko VS Capcom characters will retail for 6279 Yen ($67 USD).
Yoda & Vader in both versions of SC IV!
Namco Bandai has officially confirmed this long running rumor... On October 23rd, a download will be available on both systems that will bring Darth Vader to the 360 version, and Yoda to the PS3 version respectively! In Japan, where this news was first announced, the price of this download is said to be 600 yen... which means it should run us about $5 in the states.
New Toshinden game for Wii!
Takara Tomy announced a brand new title based on the Battle Arena Toshinden series for the Nintendo Wii! The 3D fighter will feature all new characters and gameplay... Check out the scans below for some screens / character artwork!
ESRB Rates MvC2 for PS3/360???
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board website, known to be a reliable source on up-and-coming titles; recently updated their Marvel VS Capcom 2 profile, which now lists Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 under "platforms." Of course this isn't any sort of official confirmation, but if this isn't an unforgivable typo, it would hint towards an eventual online release of MvC2 for the Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, complete with online play?!? ... Once again, nothing is confirmed, but this does give us MvC2 fans hope that someday we will be playing Marvel VS Capcom 2 Online on our next-gen systems with friends across the world!!! Can you say Epic?
Virtua Fighter 5: R Interview!!
Virtua Fighter 5 R: The ONLY Interview
Check out our huge, exclusive interview with SEGA AM2 development boss Makoto Osaki to get the full story on Virtua Fighter 5 Revolution, and various other hot topics.
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By Kikizo Staff, October 7, 2008
There's a chance you may not have even heard about the latest entry in the Virtua Fighter series, and that's because Sega has not arranged any publicity for the game outside of Japan. And even in Japan, where the games industry assembles this week for TGS, media access to the developer is strictly controlled; AM2 is the Sega studio everyone wants, but not everyone gets.
So we were delighted and privileged when AM2 development boss and VF veteran Makoto Osaki recently agreed to chat with us once more. Whether it was our proven ability to challenge them at their own game (and occasionally win), or the audacity of just turning up at AM2 and knocking on the door, we're not quite sure... but one thing's certain: you won't find the full story on VF5R anywhere else, nor will you find the stack of screenshots (previously unseen outside of Japanese mags) contained herein.
The rest of Sega can only look up to AM2 these days, quite frankly. Extreme production values, striking attention to detail and a legacy of Nintendo-like mega-hits combine to shame the track record of many other developers. Even though the occasional Virtua Fighter Quest blunder has slipped through the net, the ongoing quality and success of its core Virtua Fighter series is what keeps the studio alive and kicking - and shows that the thing we always loved about Sega - hardcore, full-power arcade blockbusters made in Japan - still have a rightful place in the modern games industry.
It's the whole point of what Sega was always supposed to be about if you ask us. And so our thanks go out to the VF player community in Japan, because without their damn good taste in fighting games and steady supply of 100 Yen coins, the VF series - and thus one-on-one fighting as a genre - would suffer.
Virtua Fighter 5 R sees the welcome return of sumo wrestler Taka Arashi, who debuted in Virtua Fighter 3 but has been absent from the character roster until now. The update also welcomes French karate newcomer Jean, who bumps the full line-up to 20 fighters including boss character Dural. Throw in some absolutely gorgeous stage redesigns/additions, and of course hundreds of gameplay tweaks and improvements, and VF5R is a must-see for all fans of the series.
Currently an arcade-only, Japan-only update, VF5R could well come to consoles in the form of downloadable content or even a standalone release (in the vein of Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution on PS2) - more on that in the interview of course - but for the time being this is obviously a bit of a niche game for us to be covering on Kikizo. However, we can't resist bringing you the latest on all things AM2, so for the rabid VF fans that we know visit the site: this is for you.
Kikizo: When did the decision to make VF5R come about? How long has the game been in development?
Osaki: Right after VF5, actually. Around the time we were developing revisions A and B for arcades.
Kikizo: So you made the decision to do VF5R long in advance, then. The numerous revisions were just to tide players over until then, we assume?
Osaki: Yes, they were designed to keep the interest of players while we worked on something more substantial.
Makoto Osaki - Development boss of SEGA AM2
Kikizo: Is there anything you wanted to implement in VF5R that you were unable to do, due to time or technology limitations?
Osaki: Hmmm, well, One thing I would really liked to have done is introduce some sort of internet versus match between arcades. You know, arcade-to-arcade play. The issue is, of course, the lag. In consumer games, people are satisfied with a small degree of lag being present, but in the arcade environment, that just isn't going to fly. When you play games online at home, when things go badly, you can at least blame it on your bad LAN cable, or something like that. But in arcades, where we charge a hundred yen per game, we can't be making excuses for lack of quality like that.
Kikizo: Would it be possible to do something like that with direct connection LAN cables? Street Fighter IV is doing something similar, but that's linking up machines within the same arcade...
Osaki: What hardware is SF IV using again... is it the PS3 hardware? No, wait, it's the Type-X2, my mistake. Hmmmm... technically, it could be done to link one machine to another, but I think the main issue with that suggestion is that... [in English] "too expensive!" [laughs]. SFIV requires a separate motherboard for each player because of that set up. Right now, VF5 is set up so that 2 players can play the game on a single board and hardware set. If we made operators buy two boards apiece, that would be extremely expensive for them.
Kikizo: On that note, does VF5R run on the same Lindbergh set up that VF5 ran on or have you guys made any upgrades like maybe go for a faster graphics card or newer Core2Duo processor (Lindbergh uses of the shelf parts) or is the hardware the same so that arcades only had to update the software?
Osaki: No, nothing has changed. The hardware's exactly the same, save for an upgraded Nvidia driver for the graphics card. We've also optimized the code to improve the overall speed so for the arcades the upgrade was relatively cheap.
Kikizo: After a long spate of absence, we've finally seen Taka-Arashi's return in VF5R. What made you decide to bring the character back into the series?
Osaki: Because the users wanted him back! [Including Kikizo] We took a survey of the players on VF.NET [the Japanese VF5 ranking and communications system] , and he was a feature requested by many players. We've also got the tools and power now to bring him back in his full glory.
Kikizo: The gameplay of VF3, which Taka was originally designed around, is very different from that of VF5R. Hiroshi Kataoka [President of Sega AM2] also mentioned that Taka didn't make the cut because his development was difficult, around the time VF5 first released. What sort of changes did you make to Taka to adapt him to the gameplay systems of VF5?
Osaki: Well, uh, we should forward this question to Mr. Katagiri [the motion designer]...
Daichi Katagiri: Taka's movement in VF3 was quite slow, compared to the other character. But his slower movements didn't really match the speed increase of Virtua Fighter 5 as compared to VF3. As a result, Taka in VF5 is considerably quicker than his VF3 incarnation... though he's still comparatively slow. We've also got a new sumo stance for him, like Lau and Lei Fei's various stances. Like this! [poses] Oh, and compared to Taka in VF3, his move set has also doubled. The skills he has are a bit less complex than some of the other characters, making him a bit easier to learn than in VF3, where he was considered an expert character.
Osaki: Regarding why he's in the game now as opposed to earlier - it's because of the improvement in development tools, both what we have access to and the experience we have in using them. Back in VF3, we needed to make a lot of original animation movements for Taka-Arashi, like when he'd just "thwump" to the ground following Kage's Koenraku throw. Even not too long ago, we'd think of something and say, "no, it's just not possible for us to do that," but with all the experience and advanced tools we have now, we're able to get a lot more concepts off the ground. Specifically, we used to be using SoftImage 3D for rendering and animation, but now we're using XSI.
Kikizo: In VF3, many move animations had to be specially re-done for Taka due to his size. Again, this is the case in VF5R. Was it difficult going back through all the skills and re-doing them specifically due to Taka's presence? How did you decide which attacks should have special animations and properties versus Taka?
Osaki: It is indeed difficult! The hit and defense motions - when Taka gets hit - are unique to him, and their instances have increased considerably. But not just for Taka and Jean getting smacked around, but for all the other characters - since we've got two new move sets, we need to develop animations for all the other characters when they get hit, as well. We actually re-did a whole lot of animation for VF5R as a whole, to make things look more natural in reaction to being hit.
Kikizo: VF5R introduces a new character, Jean. How did you go about developing his character? Why the choice of traditional karate as his martial art?
Osaki: Well, we didn't have karate up until this point. It seemed strange that I didn't have it - I mean, Tekken has had it for God knows how long. We've had a bunch of other traditional Japanese martial arts represented up until now, as well - Aikido with Aoi, Judo with Goh, Sumo with Taka-Arashi. It just seemed weird that we didn't have Karate in there, you know? So we designed a half-Japanese, half-French karate-using character. Doing a karate-based character was also a good choice in that his skills and motion design was pretty easy - we had a lot of reference materials available to us, and we were able to get all of his skill motion done by using motion capture.
Kikizo: Jean's the second VF character with silver hair as a default color - is there a significance to that hair color in the game, or is it just a stylistic choice for the character designers?
Osaki: We try to design characters so that when you see the character lineup for VF5, you say, oh, Akira, he's the "nekketsu" [spirited martial-arts devotee] character, Shun Di's the old martial arts teacher type, Jeffry's a power/throw type, Blaze is this tiny, fast, annoying little thing! [laughs]. But weird hair colors like that... they're viewed as "cool" and "distinctive" by a lot of Japanese. You know, it's in the vein of the "Visual Kei" image a lot of J-Rock bands have. One character we've been missing from the lineup so far is a sort of "Visual Kei" type.
Kikizo: Going off of that, I've heard that the character of Jean was designed specifically to appeal to female players...
Osaki: Well, we did think a bit about the fujoshi appeal... [laughs] but that's not the main reason, I assure you! But yes, we can certainly see how the design elements - silver hair, the "visual-kei" aesthetics, the Western/Japanese mix - appeal to, uh, that crowd. [laughs]. But the main reason was just to fill out the roster - we didn't have anyone like Jean in a VF game yet, and we didn't want him to look too similar to anyone else, either.
Kikizo: How do you go about deciding how to re-balance the abilities of the characters each time you make a revision to the game?
Osaki: Every time we do a revision to the game, our motion director and ace player, Katagiri-san, works to adjust the game balance. Every time, we have a certain "scene" for the version. Up until this point, we've tried to equalize the balance amongst all the characters with a more "mild" game balance. But for VF5R, we've gone in more of a... how would you say it... "destructive" direction. By that I mean that all the characters have some powerful, hard-hitting attacks and potential to inflict a lot of damage on each other given the right opportunity. Both characters in a match have strong moves available to them. This means that a single round can end very fast when compared to the original game. However, we have gleamed that this is the sort of thing that our users want.
Kikizo: So more high-damage combos like in VF2 and VF3.
Osaki: It's more in line with the initial version of VF4. Virtua Fighter 2... man, that game was HARSH. You'd eat Akira's Tetsuzankou and you could pretty much kiss that round goodbye. You had matches ending in three seconds back then!
Kikizo: There has been a bit of criticism from fans online that some of the items and outfits available for the characters are getting "too ridiculous" and are inappropriate for a game based on serious martial arts combat. How would you respond to this?
Osaki: [laughs loudly] Honestly, we thought like that for a long while, too! But, see, back when VF4 was around, we had these "embarrassing" items that'd get stuck on you for losing too much or generally not performing well. We wondered what the players would think of these items, but what we found was that they were quite well accepted. People were deliberately losing to try and get some of this ridiculous stuff. In the beginning of VF5, we made mostly "natural" items - hair, make-up, things like that. But what seemed to make users the happiest were those big, standout items. We figured, "Hey, people dig this stuff, why not give them more of it?" We really thought putting those sorts of items into the game was "risky" at first, but now they seem to be the "must-have" stuff.
Kikizo: Recently, an item was made available in-game that allows the characters to wear Nendoroid dolls that look like the characters of Hatsune Miku and Kagamine Ren and Len. Is this a hint that there might be more collaborations between Sega and Crypton Future Media and Good Smile Company in the future? (Maybe there will be VF5 character Nendoroid toys made available?!)
Osaki: Unfortunately, I don't think any VF Nendoroid characters are coming at the moment! But... Hmm. Hmmmmmmm! [laughs] But the people who hold the rights to Hatsune Miku and the others - Crypton Future Media - are really, really picky about the products they license the characters out to. If the quality of the products are up to their standards, they'll be happy to let us use her likeness. They're more concerned about the heart of the product than just licensing Miku out to anyone and everyone. [Speaking of which, Sega's just announced a PSP Hatsune Miku game... - Ed]
Kikizo: So why did you decide to collaborate with Crypton specifically and add the Vocaloid characters in as items?
Osaki: We've had talking items in the game for a little while now. The characters - Usagi-san the rabbit, Torasuke the tiger - will sometimes say things after matches. Miku and the others are in a similar vein. As for how we got the license, well... to be honest, I'm a big fan of Miku and the site that made her popular, Nico Nico Douga [a Japan-centric movie sharing site]. So when the Sega licensing department was asking the dev teams about whether we were interested in using the Miku character. I basically raised my hand and said "YES, PLEASE!" [laughs] So the Vocaloid characters are officially the third "talking" items in the game.
Kikizo: Fighting games aren't as popular as they were about a decade ago. Some have argued that fighting games are simply becoming too complex and uninviting to new and casual players. Do you agree with this? What can we do, as genre fans and game developers, to bring more new players and fans to fighting games? What are your thoughts on popular console-based, "casual" fighting games like Dairantou Smash Brothers X?
Osaki: I definitely agree. Actually, when the VF series first appeared on the scene, it was a 3-button game in a time where Capcom's 6-button fighters ruled the scene. It seemed like a pretty simple game in comparison at the time. But over the course of the next 15 years, VF became more and more complex by leaps and bounds. I wonder - if series creator Yu Suzuki were to try and develop a fighting game now, what kind of game would it turn out to be in the current environment? Maybe something with a different input method. We've done other experiments with alternative forms of input in the past, like in AM3's 1994 Dragonball arcade game that used a camera to detect player motions.
Kikizo: Well, it's interesting that you say that, because Yu Suzuki's touch-screen fighter, Psy-Phi, was cancelled in 2006 after location testing. Those kinds of games with alternative input methods seem more successful in the home market, though. You've got the EyeToy and Wii games...
Osaki: Frankly, though, the traditional arcade game format - with joysticks and buttons - is by far the cheapest for retailers. In the past, we released a lot of games with gimmicks like motion chairs like Space Harrier and OutRun. You rarely see those kinds of games in arcades anymore because of the cost. Arcade managers simply can't afford that sort of investment. And let's not even go into the overseas market... it's practically dead. The market there is entirely redemption [prize] machines now. The users in America just don't go to arcades anymore, because they don't see why they should invest the effort when they have games at home. In Japan, you've got arcades near train and bus stations that the vast majority of the people have to pass going to and from work, so they get a lot of traffic.
So now you've got a smaller market. In the past, we'd get a good return on investment if we budgeted a lot towards the development and manufacture of those sorts of "gimmick" machines. But when you've got a smaller market, you can't afford to give those sorts of games as big a budget, and so you see far fewer of them make it into production. That's why it's so hard to get those sorts of alternative-input machines onto the market.
Ah, wait, we got sidetracked! I almost forgot about the last part of your question. About Smash Brothers... I like the game, and my son plays it a lot. It feels a lot more like a genre-ambiguous title. The timing of input in the game, from my impressions, doesn't seem quite as strict, and the base gameplay is easier to pick up than traditional fighting games. I have to wonder though, if it'd be as successful if the game featured all original characters instead of the established Nintendo cast... I don't think it'd do well at all in that case.
Kikizo: Just as a sidenote, we spoke to the Smash Bros. designer Masahiro Sakurai and he mentioned Virtua Fighter as a specific inspiration when creating the skills and combo attacks for Sonic.
Osaki: Well! That's interesting. Maybe Sakurai-san kindly considered the type of "Sega-style games" as a homage.
Kikizo: There have been a spate of arcade closings in Japan recently. Has this impacted the bottom line of Sega's AM division at all? Do concerns about the health of the arcade industry influence game design at all?
Osaki: Ah, this is difficult... Well, to answer the first part of your question, yes, it did have an impact on us. Regarding the influence it has on our game designs, I think we touched upon this a bit earlier - about how budget and manufacturing costs affect the choice of machine construction and input device. For instance, when we develop new parts for arcade machines, we need to make manufacturing injection-moulds for them. If we produce 1000 machines that use this part, the cost for each is small, but if we make only 100, it's not cost-effective at all. When you have fewer potential buyers, it's already limiting the number of those machines you'd theoretically be able to sell. It makes more sense for us to invest in internet games than "gimmick" machines these days. The cost of server maintenance and upkeep has really decreased over the past few years.
Kikizo: A lot of things seem to have changed the past few years, just a year ago here in Japan the only few people carrying a PSP in public in Japan were the crazy Otaku types but on our way here we saw lots of people playing their PSP on the metro, do you have any idea why that is?
Osaki: Well, the reason why people are playing their PSP more is simple: Monster Hunter came out. [laughs] That game's sold over 2 million copies, making it a genuine hit. The game's been well-accepted by teens and young adults. Even here at Sega, we've got a lot of the younger employees playing during breaks. I think it's part of a trend - in Japan, within the last five years, competitive games have been waning in popularity, while cooperative games have seen a huge upswing.
Kikizo: So, do you still enjoy first-person shooters...
Osaki: Yes. YES. [laughs]
Kikizo: ...and what have you been playing recently?
Osaki: I've been playing Call of Duty 4, actually. Our clan is really strong, one of the best in Japan! We're definitely one of the best 4, at least. [laughs] I really like Battlefield: Bad Company, as well. I've been playing them all on my Xbox 360.
Kikizo: So are you looking forward to Gears of War 2?
Osaki: I can't play that one at home, though. There's kids in the house! It's way too violent! Maybe after they go to sleep.
Kikizo: This is something we noticed when talking with you previously as well as talks we had with several other Japanese developers, the people in Japan who develop videogames love western first person shooters yet for the Japanese public it remains a niche genre. Why do you think Japanese developers enjoy them so much while the people buying games in Japan seem to be uncaring for the genre?
Osaki: I think it's because in foreign markets, FPS games are kind of considered "flagship" titles for demonstrating new technology and the power of the hardware. In Japan's game market, fighting and racing games fall more into this line of thinking. So game companies here naturally want to check the newest FPS games out to see how the technology is being put to use. Stuff like FEAR and STALKER uses a new engine, as does the Unreal series. Plus, most of them are very well developed. Call of Duty 4 in particular is extremely impressive. It has the look and feel of an arcade game in places: it's very speedy and it keeps 60 frames per second. Well, on the 360, anyway. The fact that the game is challenging is good, too. The match recording system in CoD is also excellent - we actually referred to the way it works when making the recording system in the arcade version of VF5.
Kikizo: Well you said CoD4 in places has the look and feel of an arcade game - do you see any correlations between FPS design and fighting game design?
Osaki: That's a strange question. [laughs] I can say some points are quite similar. One thing is sound. Fighting games are very fast-paced, so the moment you land a hit or block, you need some sort of quick audio response to confirm it to the player. The same situation goes in FPS games. Like, when you hit someone at a far distance, you hear a sound confirming your success. When a grenade is thrown, you need to figure out what side of you it's on. You might be able to see it visually, but you can also find it by sound very quickly. In terms of relaying information speedily to the user, I can say FPS game and fighting game design bears a lot of similarities.
Kikizo: You mention you play CoD4 and Bad Company - what other home or portable games have you been playing recently?
Osaki: I've been playing been playing a lot of Poker Smash on XBL arcade. I also really like Rhythm Tengoku Gold on DS. Generally FPS and casual games.
Kikizo: Didn't Sega actually make an arcade version of Rhythm Tengoku in Japan?
Osaki: Yes, we did!
Kikizo: Okay, now for the million-dollar question.
Osaki: Uh oh [laughs]...!
Kikizo: Will there be a home version of Virtua Fighter 5 R?
Osaki: Well, you know I'm not actually in the home department, but your interpreter over there is... how about you ask him? [laughs while interpreter shakes his head laughing as well]. I can't give a definite answer, but if we get a lot of requests from users, then it's definitely possible. We just don't know yet.
Kikizo: Yeah, there's a lot of concern from US and European VF fans because a home version's the only way we'll get a chance to play it.
Osaki: Argh, so much pressure! [laughs] Actually, the development teams of the arcade and home version are different. So, unfortunately, I don't have much say in a home version...
Kikizo: We've seen some older AM-team developed lightgun-shooting titles, such as House of the Dead and Ghost Squad, turn up on the Wii. Do you think we'll be seeing any more Sega arcade shooters on the console?
Osaki: Ah, gun games. They're still extremely popular in the US... I know there's a whole ton of our gun-shooting arcade games at every Dave & Buster's in the US. I can't say specifically if we'll be seeing sequels or new incarnations for specific games, on the Wii or elsewhere. We do have the development staff of those games in AM2 still, and they're working on something... I wonder what they're planning. I guess we'll see, you will see...
Kikizo: A lot of Sega properties, some of which you've worked on, are now being worked on in the West. Sumo Digital for instance converted games like OutRun2 and Virtua Tennis, 3 and even had access to almost all Sega IP for Sega Superstars Tennis. There seems to be a shift of Sega's development from East to West - for example, the recently announced House of the Dead game is being developed by another British team. How do you feel about your franchises being developed by developers from abroad?
Osaki: I think it's the right direction. These are properties that have a lot of pull in Western markets. Each team in each region should try to make the most of the native market by using our intellectual properties. I like a lot of overseas titles, as you well know by now. But Western gamers... they still do buy a lot of Japanese games, don't they? I'd like to know if Western players still enjoy games with Japanese tastes as much as they used to.
Kikizo: I think it varies based on audience to audience. There's still a large audience for Japanese RPGs with anime-styled characters and melodramatic stories. Action games... I think, in general Western players like both Japanese and Western styled games. The success of Ninja Gaiden 2 and Devil May Cry shows the Japanese aesthetic style still has a lot of appeal in that genre.
Osaki: Hmmm, yes, I see.
Kikizo: And there's Final Fantasy XIII, which is getting an Xbox 360 release, but only in Western territories. So yeah, there's still a healthy market for Japanese markets we think.
Osaki: Very interesting insights. Thank you.
Sincere thanks to all Sega Japan and AM2 staff for making this interview happen. Interview conducted by the powerful two-hit combo that is Kikizo's Ali Almaci and Heidi Kemps. Feature words by Adam Doree. Check our many previous AM2 interviews out here. Virtua Fighter 5 R is out now in Japanese arcades, and a release on consoles is yet to be confirmed - but seems reasonably likely, if you ask us. You can see a load of videos of it on YouTube and over at VFDC, (who incidentally have a handy guide on on how to tell Sega you want a console version).
Check out our huge, exclusive interview with SEGA AM2 development boss Makoto Osaki to get the full story on Virtua Fighter 5 Revolution, and various other hot topics.
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By Kikizo Staff, October 7, 2008
There's a chance you may not have even heard about the latest entry in the Virtua Fighter series, and that's because Sega has not arranged any publicity for the game outside of Japan. And even in Japan, where the games industry assembles this week for TGS, media access to the developer is strictly controlled; AM2 is the Sega studio everyone wants, but not everyone gets.
So we were delighted and privileged when AM2 development boss and VF veteran Makoto Osaki recently agreed to chat with us once more. Whether it was our proven ability to challenge them at their own game (and occasionally win), or the audacity of just turning up at AM2 and knocking on the door, we're not quite sure... but one thing's certain: you won't find the full story on VF5R anywhere else, nor will you find the stack of screenshots (previously unseen outside of Japanese mags) contained herein.
The rest of Sega can only look up to AM2 these days, quite frankly. Extreme production values, striking attention to detail and a legacy of Nintendo-like mega-hits combine to shame the track record of many other developers. Even though the occasional Virtua Fighter Quest blunder has slipped through the net, the ongoing quality and success of its core Virtua Fighter series is what keeps the studio alive and kicking - and shows that the thing we always loved about Sega - hardcore, full-power arcade blockbusters made in Japan - still have a rightful place in the modern games industry.
It's the whole point of what Sega was always supposed to be about if you ask us. And so our thanks go out to the VF player community in Japan, because without their damn good taste in fighting games and steady supply of 100 Yen coins, the VF series - and thus one-on-one fighting as a genre - would suffer.
Virtua Fighter 5 R sees the welcome return of sumo wrestler Taka Arashi, who debuted in Virtua Fighter 3 but has been absent from the character roster until now. The update also welcomes French karate newcomer Jean, who bumps the full line-up to 20 fighters including boss character Dural. Throw in some absolutely gorgeous stage redesigns/additions, and of course hundreds of gameplay tweaks and improvements, and VF5R is a must-see for all fans of the series.
Currently an arcade-only, Japan-only update, VF5R could well come to consoles in the form of downloadable content or even a standalone release (in the vein of Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution on PS2) - more on that in the interview of course - but for the time being this is obviously a bit of a niche game for us to be covering on Kikizo. However, we can't resist bringing you the latest on all things AM2, so for the rabid VF fans that we know visit the site: this is for you.
Kikizo: When did the decision to make VF5R come about? How long has the game been in development?
Osaki: Right after VF5, actually. Around the time we were developing revisions A and B for arcades.
Kikizo: So you made the decision to do VF5R long in advance, then. The numerous revisions were just to tide players over until then, we assume?
Osaki: Yes, they were designed to keep the interest of players while we worked on something more substantial.
Makoto Osaki - Development boss of SEGA AM2
Kikizo: Is there anything you wanted to implement in VF5R that you were unable to do, due to time or technology limitations?
Osaki: Hmmm, well, One thing I would really liked to have done is introduce some sort of internet versus match between arcades. You know, arcade-to-arcade play. The issue is, of course, the lag. In consumer games, people are satisfied with a small degree of lag being present, but in the arcade environment, that just isn't going to fly. When you play games online at home, when things go badly, you can at least blame it on your bad LAN cable, or something like that. But in arcades, where we charge a hundred yen per game, we can't be making excuses for lack of quality like that.
Kikizo: Would it be possible to do something like that with direct connection LAN cables? Street Fighter IV is doing something similar, but that's linking up machines within the same arcade...
Osaki: What hardware is SF IV using again... is it the PS3 hardware? No, wait, it's the Type-X2, my mistake. Hmmmm... technically, it could be done to link one machine to another, but I think the main issue with that suggestion is that... [in English] "too expensive!" [laughs]. SFIV requires a separate motherboard for each player because of that set up. Right now, VF5 is set up so that 2 players can play the game on a single board and hardware set. If we made operators buy two boards apiece, that would be extremely expensive for them.
Kikizo: On that note, does VF5R run on the same Lindbergh set up that VF5 ran on or have you guys made any upgrades like maybe go for a faster graphics card or newer Core2Duo processor (Lindbergh uses of the shelf parts) or is the hardware the same so that arcades only had to update the software?
Osaki: No, nothing has changed. The hardware's exactly the same, save for an upgraded Nvidia driver for the graphics card. We've also optimized the code to improve the overall speed so for the arcades the upgrade was relatively cheap.
Kikizo: After a long spate of absence, we've finally seen Taka-Arashi's return in VF5R. What made you decide to bring the character back into the series?
Osaki: Because the users wanted him back! [Including Kikizo] We took a survey of the players on VF.NET [the Japanese VF5 ranking and communications system] , and he was a feature requested by many players. We've also got the tools and power now to bring him back in his full glory.
Kikizo: The gameplay of VF3, which Taka was originally designed around, is very different from that of VF5R. Hiroshi Kataoka [President of Sega AM2] also mentioned that Taka didn't make the cut because his development was difficult, around the time VF5 first released. What sort of changes did you make to Taka to adapt him to the gameplay systems of VF5?
Osaki: Well, uh, we should forward this question to Mr. Katagiri [the motion designer]...
Daichi Katagiri: Taka's movement in VF3 was quite slow, compared to the other character. But his slower movements didn't really match the speed increase of Virtua Fighter 5 as compared to VF3. As a result, Taka in VF5 is considerably quicker than his VF3 incarnation... though he's still comparatively slow. We've also got a new sumo stance for him, like Lau and Lei Fei's various stances. Like this! [poses] Oh, and compared to Taka in VF3, his move set has also doubled. The skills he has are a bit less complex than some of the other characters, making him a bit easier to learn than in VF3, where he was considered an expert character.
Osaki: Regarding why he's in the game now as opposed to earlier - it's because of the improvement in development tools, both what we have access to and the experience we have in using them. Back in VF3, we needed to make a lot of original animation movements for Taka-Arashi, like when he'd just "thwump" to the ground following Kage's Koenraku throw. Even not too long ago, we'd think of something and say, "no, it's just not possible for us to do that," but with all the experience and advanced tools we have now, we're able to get a lot more concepts off the ground. Specifically, we used to be using SoftImage 3D for rendering and animation, but now we're using XSI.
Kikizo: In VF3, many move animations had to be specially re-done for Taka due to his size. Again, this is the case in VF5R. Was it difficult going back through all the skills and re-doing them specifically due to Taka's presence? How did you decide which attacks should have special animations and properties versus Taka?
Osaki: It is indeed difficult! The hit and defense motions - when Taka gets hit - are unique to him, and their instances have increased considerably. But not just for Taka and Jean getting smacked around, but for all the other characters - since we've got two new move sets, we need to develop animations for all the other characters when they get hit, as well. We actually re-did a whole lot of animation for VF5R as a whole, to make things look more natural in reaction to being hit.
Kikizo: VF5R introduces a new character, Jean. How did you go about developing his character? Why the choice of traditional karate as his martial art?
Osaki: Well, we didn't have karate up until this point. It seemed strange that I didn't have it - I mean, Tekken has had it for God knows how long. We've had a bunch of other traditional Japanese martial arts represented up until now, as well - Aikido with Aoi, Judo with Goh, Sumo with Taka-Arashi. It just seemed weird that we didn't have Karate in there, you know? So we designed a half-Japanese, half-French karate-using character. Doing a karate-based character was also a good choice in that his skills and motion design was pretty easy - we had a lot of reference materials available to us, and we were able to get all of his skill motion done by using motion capture.
Kikizo: Jean's the second VF character with silver hair as a default color - is there a significance to that hair color in the game, or is it just a stylistic choice for the character designers?
Osaki: We try to design characters so that when you see the character lineup for VF5, you say, oh, Akira, he's the "nekketsu" [spirited martial-arts devotee] character, Shun Di's the old martial arts teacher type, Jeffry's a power/throw type, Blaze is this tiny, fast, annoying little thing! [laughs]. But weird hair colors like that... they're viewed as "cool" and "distinctive" by a lot of Japanese. You know, it's in the vein of the "Visual Kei" image a lot of J-Rock bands have. One character we've been missing from the lineup so far is a sort of "Visual Kei" type.
Kikizo: Going off of that, I've heard that the character of Jean was designed specifically to appeal to female players...
Osaki: Well, we did think a bit about the fujoshi appeal... [laughs] but that's not the main reason, I assure you! But yes, we can certainly see how the design elements - silver hair, the "visual-kei" aesthetics, the Western/Japanese mix - appeal to, uh, that crowd. [laughs]. But the main reason was just to fill out the roster - we didn't have anyone like Jean in a VF game yet, and we didn't want him to look too similar to anyone else, either.
Kikizo: How do you go about deciding how to re-balance the abilities of the characters each time you make a revision to the game?
Osaki: Every time we do a revision to the game, our motion director and ace player, Katagiri-san, works to adjust the game balance. Every time, we have a certain "scene" for the version. Up until this point, we've tried to equalize the balance amongst all the characters with a more "mild" game balance. But for VF5R, we've gone in more of a... how would you say it... "destructive" direction. By that I mean that all the characters have some powerful, hard-hitting attacks and potential to inflict a lot of damage on each other given the right opportunity. Both characters in a match have strong moves available to them. This means that a single round can end very fast when compared to the original game. However, we have gleamed that this is the sort of thing that our users want.
Kikizo: So more high-damage combos like in VF2 and VF3.
Osaki: It's more in line with the initial version of VF4. Virtua Fighter 2... man, that game was HARSH. You'd eat Akira's Tetsuzankou and you could pretty much kiss that round goodbye. You had matches ending in three seconds back then!
Kikizo: There has been a bit of criticism from fans online that some of the items and outfits available for the characters are getting "too ridiculous" and are inappropriate for a game based on serious martial arts combat. How would you respond to this?
Osaki: [laughs loudly] Honestly, we thought like that for a long while, too! But, see, back when VF4 was around, we had these "embarrassing" items that'd get stuck on you for losing too much or generally not performing well. We wondered what the players would think of these items, but what we found was that they were quite well accepted. People were deliberately losing to try and get some of this ridiculous stuff. In the beginning of VF5, we made mostly "natural" items - hair, make-up, things like that. But what seemed to make users the happiest were those big, standout items. We figured, "Hey, people dig this stuff, why not give them more of it?" We really thought putting those sorts of items into the game was "risky" at first, but now they seem to be the "must-have" stuff.
Kikizo: Recently, an item was made available in-game that allows the characters to wear Nendoroid dolls that look like the characters of Hatsune Miku and Kagamine Ren and Len. Is this a hint that there might be more collaborations between Sega and Crypton Future Media and Good Smile Company in the future? (Maybe there will be VF5 character Nendoroid toys made available?!)
Osaki: Unfortunately, I don't think any VF Nendoroid characters are coming at the moment! But... Hmm. Hmmmmmmm! [laughs] But the people who hold the rights to Hatsune Miku and the others - Crypton Future Media - are really, really picky about the products they license the characters out to. If the quality of the products are up to their standards, they'll be happy to let us use her likeness. They're more concerned about the heart of the product than just licensing Miku out to anyone and everyone. [Speaking of which, Sega's just announced a PSP Hatsune Miku game... - Ed]
Kikizo: So why did you decide to collaborate with Crypton specifically and add the Vocaloid characters in as items?
Osaki: We've had talking items in the game for a little while now. The characters - Usagi-san the rabbit, Torasuke the tiger - will sometimes say things after matches. Miku and the others are in a similar vein. As for how we got the license, well... to be honest, I'm a big fan of Miku and the site that made her popular, Nico Nico Douga [a Japan-centric movie sharing site]. So when the Sega licensing department was asking the dev teams about whether we were interested in using the Miku character. I basically raised my hand and said "YES, PLEASE!" [laughs] So the Vocaloid characters are officially the third "talking" items in the game.
Kikizo: Fighting games aren't as popular as they were about a decade ago. Some have argued that fighting games are simply becoming too complex and uninviting to new and casual players. Do you agree with this? What can we do, as genre fans and game developers, to bring more new players and fans to fighting games? What are your thoughts on popular console-based, "casual" fighting games like Dairantou Smash Brothers X?
Osaki: I definitely agree. Actually, when the VF series first appeared on the scene, it was a 3-button game in a time where Capcom's 6-button fighters ruled the scene. It seemed like a pretty simple game in comparison at the time. But over the course of the next 15 years, VF became more and more complex by leaps and bounds. I wonder - if series creator Yu Suzuki were to try and develop a fighting game now, what kind of game would it turn out to be in the current environment? Maybe something with a different input method. We've done other experiments with alternative forms of input in the past, like in AM3's 1994 Dragonball arcade game that used a camera to detect player motions.
Kikizo: Well, it's interesting that you say that, because Yu Suzuki's touch-screen fighter, Psy-Phi, was cancelled in 2006 after location testing. Those kinds of games with alternative input methods seem more successful in the home market, though. You've got the EyeToy and Wii games...
Osaki: Frankly, though, the traditional arcade game format - with joysticks and buttons - is by far the cheapest for retailers. In the past, we released a lot of games with gimmicks like motion chairs like Space Harrier and OutRun. You rarely see those kinds of games in arcades anymore because of the cost. Arcade managers simply can't afford that sort of investment. And let's not even go into the overseas market... it's practically dead. The market there is entirely redemption [prize] machines now. The users in America just don't go to arcades anymore, because they don't see why they should invest the effort when they have games at home. In Japan, you've got arcades near train and bus stations that the vast majority of the people have to pass going to and from work, so they get a lot of traffic.
So now you've got a smaller market. In the past, we'd get a good return on investment if we budgeted a lot towards the development and manufacture of those sorts of "gimmick" machines. But when you've got a smaller market, you can't afford to give those sorts of games as big a budget, and so you see far fewer of them make it into production. That's why it's so hard to get those sorts of alternative-input machines onto the market.
Ah, wait, we got sidetracked! I almost forgot about the last part of your question. About Smash Brothers... I like the game, and my son plays it a lot. It feels a lot more like a genre-ambiguous title. The timing of input in the game, from my impressions, doesn't seem quite as strict, and the base gameplay is easier to pick up than traditional fighting games. I have to wonder though, if it'd be as successful if the game featured all original characters instead of the established Nintendo cast... I don't think it'd do well at all in that case.
Kikizo: Just as a sidenote, we spoke to the Smash Bros. designer Masahiro Sakurai and he mentioned Virtua Fighter as a specific inspiration when creating the skills and combo attacks for Sonic.
Osaki: Well! That's interesting. Maybe Sakurai-san kindly considered the type of "Sega-style games" as a homage.
Kikizo: There have been a spate of arcade closings in Japan recently. Has this impacted the bottom line of Sega's AM division at all? Do concerns about the health of the arcade industry influence game design at all?
Osaki: Ah, this is difficult... Well, to answer the first part of your question, yes, it did have an impact on us. Regarding the influence it has on our game designs, I think we touched upon this a bit earlier - about how budget and manufacturing costs affect the choice of machine construction and input device. For instance, when we develop new parts for arcade machines, we need to make manufacturing injection-moulds for them. If we produce 1000 machines that use this part, the cost for each is small, but if we make only 100, it's not cost-effective at all. When you have fewer potential buyers, it's already limiting the number of those machines you'd theoretically be able to sell. It makes more sense for us to invest in internet games than "gimmick" machines these days. The cost of server maintenance and upkeep has really decreased over the past few years.
Kikizo: A lot of things seem to have changed the past few years, just a year ago here in Japan the only few people carrying a PSP in public in Japan were the crazy Otaku types but on our way here we saw lots of people playing their PSP on the metro, do you have any idea why that is?
Osaki: Well, the reason why people are playing their PSP more is simple: Monster Hunter came out. [laughs] That game's sold over 2 million copies, making it a genuine hit. The game's been well-accepted by teens and young adults. Even here at Sega, we've got a lot of the younger employees playing during breaks. I think it's part of a trend - in Japan, within the last five years, competitive games have been waning in popularity, while cooperative games have seen a huge upswing.
Kikizo: So, do you still enjoy first-person shooters...
Osaki: Yes. YES. [laughs]
Kikizo: ...and what have you been playing recently?
Osaki: I've been playing Call of Duty 4, actually. Our clan is really strong, one of the best in Japan! We're definitely one of the best 4, at least. [laughs] I really like Battlefield: Bad Company, as well. I've been playing them all on my Xbox 360.
Kikizo: So are you looking forward to Gears of War 2?
Osaki: I can't play that one at home, though. There's kids in the house! It's way too violent! Maybe after they go to sleep.
Kikizo: This is something we noticed when talking with you previously as well as talks we had with several other Japanese developers, the people in Japan who develop videogames love western first person shooters yet for the Japanese public it remains a niche genre. Why do you think Japanese developers enjoy them so much while the people buying games in Japan seem to be uncaring for the genre?
Osaki: I think it's because in foreign markets, FPS games are kind of considered "flagship" titles for demonstrating new technology and the power of the hardware. In Japan's game market, fighting and racing games fall more into this line of thinking. So game companies here naturally want to check the newest FPS games out to see how the technology is being put to use. Stuff like FEAR and STALKER uses a new engine, as does the Unreal series. Plus, most of them are very well developed. Call of Duty 4 in particular is extremely impressive. It has the look and feel of an arcade game in places: it's very speedy and it keeps 60 frames per second. Well, on the 360, anyway. The fact that the game is challenging is good, too. The match recording system in CoD is also excellent - we actually referred to the way it works when making the recording system in the arcade version of VF5.
Kikizo: Well you said CoD4 in places has the look and feel of an arcade game - do you see any correlations between FPS design and fighting game design?
Osaki: That's a strange question. [laughs] I can say some points are quite similar. One thing is sound. Fighting games are very fast-paced, so the moment you land a hit or block, you need some sort of quick audio response to confirm it to the player. The same situation goes in FPS games. Like, when you hit someone at a far distance, you hear a sound confirming your success. When a grenade is thrown, you need to figure out what side of you it's on. You might be able to see it visually, but you can also find it by sound very quickly. In terms of relaying information speedily to the user, I can say FPS game and fighting game design bears a lot of similarities.
Kikizo: You mention you play CoD4 and Bad Company - what other home or portable games have you been playing recently?
Osaki: I've been playing been playing a lot of Poker Smash on XBL arcade. I also really like Rhythm Tengoku Gold on DS. Generally FPS and casual games.
Kikizo: Didn't Sega actually make an arcade version of Rhythm Tengoku in Japan?
Osaki: Yes, we did!
Kikizo: Okay, now for the million-dollar question.
Osaki: Uh oh [laughs]...!
Kikizo: Will there be a home version of Virtua Fighter 5 R?
Osaki: Well, you know I'm not actually in the home department, but your interpreter over there is... how about you ask him? [laughs while interpreter shakes his head laughing as well]. I can't give a definite answer, but if we get a lot of requests from users, then it's definitely possible. We just don't know yet.
Kikizo: Yeah, there's a lot of concern from US and European VF fans because a home version's the only way we'll get a chance to play it.
Osaki: Argh, so much pressure! [laughs] Actually, the development teams of the arcade and home version are different. So, unfortunately, I don't have much say in a home version...
Kikizo: We've seen some older AM-team developed lightgun-shooting titles, such as House of the Dead and Ghost Squad, turn up on the Wii. Do you think we'll be seeing any more Sega arcade shooters on the console?
Osaki: Ah, gun games. They're still extremely popular in the US... I know there's a whole ton of our gun-shooting arcade games at every Dave & Buster's in the US. I can't say specifically if we'll be seeing sequels or new incarnations for specific games, on the Wii or elsewhere. We do have the development staff of those games in AM2 still, and they're working on something... I wonder what they're planning. I guess we'll see, you will see...
Kikizo: A lot of Sega properties, some of which you've worked on, are now being worked on in the West. Sumo Digital for instance converted games like OutRun2 and Virtua Tennis, 3 and even had access to almost all Sega IP for Sega Superstars Tennis. There seems to be a shift of Sega's development from East to West - for example, the recently announced House of the Dead game is being developed by another British team. How do you feel about your franchises being developed by developers from abroad?
Osaki: I think it's the right direction. These are properties that have a lot of pull in Western markets. Each team in each region should try to make the most of the native market by using our intellectual properties. I like a lot of overseas titles, as you well know by now. But Western gamers... they still do buy a lot of Japanese games, don't they? I'd like to know if Western players still enjoy games with Japanese tastes as much as they used to.
Kikizo: I think it varies based on audience to audience. There's still a large audience for Japanese RPGs with anime-styled characters and melodramatic stories. Action games... I think, in general Western players like both Japanese and Western styled games. The success of Ninja Gaiden 2 and Devil May Cry shows the Japanese aesthetic style still has a lot of appeal in that genre.
Osaki: Hmmm, yes, I see.
Kikizo: And there's Final Fantasy XIII, which is getting an Xbox 360 release, but only in Western territories. So yeah, there's still a healthy market for Japanese markets we think.
Osaki: Very interesting insights. Thank you.
Sincere thanks to all Sega Japan and AM2 staff for making this interview happen. Interview conducted by the powerful two-hit combo that is Kikizo's Ali Almaci and Heidi Kemps. Feature words by Adam Doree. Check our many previous AM2 interviews out here. Virtua Fighter 5 R is out now in Japanese arcades, and a release on consoles is yet to be confirmed - but seems reasonably likely, if you ask us. You can see a load of videos of it on YouTube and over at VFDC, (who incidentally have a handy guide on on how to tell Sega you want a console version).
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