Virtua Fighter

SEGA News Bits: Virtua Fighter Trademark Renewed & What That Means

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Welcome to another episode of the SEGA News Bits, this time we will be discussing SEGA renewing their Virtua Fighter trademark and what that actually means. We discuss the often fan requested Virtua Fighter 6, we talk about life of the franchise after the release of Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown and if there is even a market for a brand new VF game. So sit back, turn up the volume and lets have a virtua discussion about Virtua Fighter.

Like always if you like our SEGA News Bits segments and want to throw us some love, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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SEGA Renews Virtua Fighter Trademark

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maxresdefaultI saw this floating around Twitter a few days ago, but has now been covered by VFDC and Shoryuken so why not cover it? SEGA has renewed the Virtua Fighter trademark according to trademarkia on July 4th. What does renewing the Virtua Fighter trademark possibly mean for the future of the franchise? Possibly nothing, seeing as SEGA does this all the time. Back in 2012 we did a story about SEGA renewing the Skies of Arcadia trademark and now we know that didn’t mount to much.

Of course SEGA renewed the Virtua Fighter trademark to protect its IP, not to mention they still do stuff with the franchise from time to time. For example Virtua fighter characters have had cameos in games like Smash Bros, Dead or Alive 5 ,Project x Zone 1/2 and even Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax. As we covered before, it has been a decade since the release of Virtua Fighter 5 and if the franchise needs anything its a new entry. Bring on Virtua Fighter 6, SEGA!

I personally think SEGA can test the market by re-releasing Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown definitive edition on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Maybe try some experiments like Tecmo Koei did with Dead or Alive which had a free-to-play version and a full package release. But anyway, what are your thoughts on SEGA renewing the Virtua Fighter trademark? What do you want to see for the future of the franchise?

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This Virtua Fighter fan made robot is very impressive

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A Japanese Virtua Fighter fan has embarked on a project to make a Akira robot based on the Virtua Fighter polygon model. Using specs from the recently released Virtua Fighter  action figure, 3D modeling software and of course a 3D printer we got ourselves a robot Akira Yuki that looks like he is straight out of the game.

A few little things I noticed on the Virtua Fighter themed robot was that they added a small SEGA Saturn on his back, sort of how SEGA did it for their Typing of the Dead characters but with a small Dreamcast backpack. According to the video the robot is 50cm (19.6 inches) in height and I have to be honest the movement is rather impressive. Look at his side steps! Can someone put this thing on sale, please!

[Via: VFDC]

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SEGA Retrospective: Virtua Fighter 5 – Ten Years Too Early

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Virtua Fighter 5 turned 10 years old on Tuesday, July 12th. Community members Oliver “oneida” Leland, Mikél “BLACKSTAR” Grissett and VFDC co-creator Mike “Myke” Abdow reflect on how the entry fits into the series at large, and how its community ebbed over the course of a decade.

On July 12th 2006, Virtua Fighter 5 was released in Japanese arcades – that’s ten long years ago this past Tuesday. To put that time-frame in perspective, Soul Calibur III had been in arcades for three months. “X-Men: The Last Stand” was in theaters, “The Sopranos” was still on the air, and there was no such thing as an iPhone. SonicFox, fighting game tournament champion, was in the third grade. Put simply, Virtua Fighter 5 was released a long, long time ago.

Ten years ago fighting games were in that period of purported dormancy which spanned from the release of Capcom vs SNK 2 to Street Fighter IV, during which 3D fighters like Dead or Alive and Tekken saw sequels and revisions. And although Dead or Alive 4 technically brought fighters to “next-gen” on the Xbox 360 the previous November, Virtua Fighter 5 shouldered the responsibility of ushering the high-definition era to the arcades, which is where the franchise has flourished since its inception in 1993.

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Project X Zone removed from North America & Europe Nintendo eShop

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For reasons unknown, the digital version of Project X Zone has been removed from the Nintendo eShop. Starting around 2012 games produced for the system typically sport a retail and digital version, with a few exceptions that are retail exclusive or vise versa. Typically the digital version would need to be loaded into an SD card, but the main benefit of choosing digital is slightly faster loading times, the convenience of not switching 3DS game cards, and the option to re-download the game at any given time.

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Classic Virtua Fighter figures now available for pre-order

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FIGURE-016527_08Are you a big fan of the low polygon models used in the original Virtua Fighter? Today is your lucky day because Figma’s classic Akira and Sarah figures are now available to pre-order at AmiAmi. Each figure will cost you 3,560 yen (about $30 usd).

Each figure comes with:

  • Main figure
  • Base
  • Standard expression part
  • Shouting expression part
  • Hand parts

The figures will have a ‘variety of hand parts’ so you can pose them to fit your needs. Not to mention the screaming face. Look at the gallery after the break. According to Figma, they will be making Player 2 variants soon, you can see those figures in the image above. The figures are set to ship this upcoming September, so this is a long pre-order.

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Cook and Becker release officially licensed Sonic the Hedgehog and Virtua Fighter art prints

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paul veer sonic the hedgehog print for SEGA

Art Dealership Cook & Becker have released several new officially licensed SEGA prints, adding to their previous prints including Phantasy Star and Streets of Rage; as well as a gorgeous Shenmue print. This time in the spotlight are two Virtua Fighter prints (for different coloured backgrounds) and everyone’s favourite spiny mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog himself. The Virtua Fighter print was produced by Gerald Parel, whilst the Sonic print was produced by Paul Veer (Also known as @pietepiet on Twitter), who you may know for his work on games such as Nuclear Throne. 

You can check out the prints here:

Unframed, the prints cost $115, or roughly £100/140 Euros, give or take. Be sure to let us know your favourites, and support these incredible artists! You can check out previews below.

 

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Attention Virtua Fighter Fans: NYGX Event is August 14th-16th in Brooklyn, New York

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Are you a Virtua Fighter fan in or around the New York area? We may have the perfect event for you!

NYGX is a Virtua Fighter fan gathering which will run from August 14th to August 16th at NextLevel in Brooklyn, New York. The event coordinators promise that every Virtua Fighter game will be there in some capacity (except for the arcade version of the original Virtua Fighter), with arcade iterations of Virtua Fighter Remix, Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Fighter 3, Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned and Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown. There will also be tournaments for 3, 4: Final Tuned, and 5R with 5: Final Showdown‘s tournament being the main event. Can’t make the event? No worries! The three day event will be streamed at twitch.tv/NYC_VF.

For more information on the event, and Virtua Fighter itself, click on over to virtuafighter.com!

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Wonder Festival 2015 reveals new Jet Set Radio, Virtua Fighter, Yakuza, 7th Dragon, Persona 3, and SEGA Hard Girls figures

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It seems that this year’s Wonder Summer Festival 2015  was totally worth looking into if you’re a big SEGA fan since they got a ton of figures announced. How many? Seven figures spanning six franchises including Jet Set Radio, Virtua Fighter, Yakuza, 7th Dragon, Persona 3, and even SEGA Hard Girls got represented with a figure (a convention exclusive one no less). Here is the list of figures announced at the event:

As you can tell most of these are very early in production with some figures not being shown painted and some not even having a picture of what the figures looks like. This is a very early announcement and when more photos become available we shall post it on the blog, so stay tuned. I have to be honest, I’m a sucker for the old Virtua Fighter graphics, so I’ll probably end up picking those two figures up. What about you guys?

[Thanks: batfax]

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Virtua Fighter cameos hit Smash Bros on Wii U and 3DS

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While the big news is that Smash Bros added two new DLC characters that include Roy (Fire Emblem) and Ryu (from Street Fighter), there were also other characters announced as Mii Fighters, including SEGA favorites Jacky and Akira from Virtua Fighter. That isn’t all that hit the market, you can also pick up Megaman.EXE (Mega Man Battle Network), Zero (Mega Man X), Isabelle (Animal Crossing), Inkling boy/girl (Splatoon), and even Heihachi (Tekken).

Each ‘custom Mii fighter’ will cost you .75 cents per fighter, if you want them on both 3DS and Wii U it will cost you only $1.15 each. If you get them all bundled for one version its $6, but if you get them for both 3DS and Wii U its $9.20. Not bad at all.

Anyone purchasing any of these pieces of DLC? Any other SEGA characters you want to see represented in Smash Bros?

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Akira and Jacky Mii outfits for Smash Bros 4 leaked

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Twitter exploded with news of a Smash Bros leak early this morning. While most of the attention is being lavished on the two new characters this leak unveiled, there’s much more to it than them: Mii skins of the Virtua Fighter characters Akira and Jacky (as well as Tekken’s Heihachi, which is the outfit on the left).

What’s really interesting about Akira’s outfit is that it is literally his model from the first game, complete with the old school, flat-shaded, segmented polygonal limbs. Jacky, on the other hand, seems to based off of his appearance from Virtua Fighter 5.

Of course, it should be noted that these outfits have not technically been confirmed by Nintendo, but given the size and breadth of this leak, not to mention the simultaneous release of the above in-game outfits and in-game victory movies and renders of the leaked characters that are obviously real, this confirmation is likely only a matter of waiting for tomorrow’s Smash Bros Direct.

One interesting implication of these Mii outfits is that it means SEGA’s crossover with Smash Bros no longer ends with Sonic. Could another all-new fighter be in the cards? We’ll just have to see.

These assets were found on RandomTBush‘s twitter.

 

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Project x Zone 2: Brave New World trailer shows off new Shinobi and Yakuza crossover

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Famitsu.com has now officially spilled the beans on the new upcoming Project x Zone 2: Brave New World video game coming to the Nintendo 3DS this fall worldwide! The game shows off some new crossover characters that will be brand new including SEGA fan favorites (listed below):

List of franchises/characters confirmed:

SEGA:

  • Shinobi (PS2): Hotsuma Hotsuma
  • Yakuza Dead Souls: Kazuma Kiryu and Majima Goro
  • Virtua Fighter: Yuki Akira and Kage-Maru
  • Sakura Wars: Ichiro Ogami and Erica Fontaine

Capcom:

  • Resident Evil: Revelations: Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine
  • Resident Evil 6: Leon S. Kennedy
  • Devil May Cry: Dante and Virgil
  • Mega Man X: X and Zero
  • Strider: Flying Dragon

Namco-Bandai:

  • Tales of Vespera: Yuri Lowell and Flynn Shifo
  • Tekken: Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima
  • .hack//: Kite and Haseo
  • Soul Calibur V: Natsu

Obviously some of the characters listed are returning from the previous game. To see all the tie-ins in the last Project x Zone, here is a complete list. Hit the jump to see screens.

Update: Replaced the Japanese trailer with the English one released by Namco-Bandai USA. Meaning that yes, its going to come West this fall!

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Download the Dead or Alive 5 Last Round texture mod for the ultimate Shenmue fight

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Reddit user Esppiral has posted the following texture modifications for the PC release of Dead or Alive 5 Last Round. Sadly modders haven’t figured out how to swap models (yet?), so the user went in and used a base model and changed the textures to make them look like Shenmue characters. He not only created Ryo (using Jacky as a base model) and Lan Di (using Akira as a base model) but also included the famous dojo.

Download the mods here:

If you bought the game on Steam (or any other service) and want to learn how to install texture mods, hit the jump.

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Swingin’ Report Show #75: Interview with Lisle Wilkerson – Shenmue II, Virtua Fighter and Crazy Taxi voice actress

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We celebrate 75 episodes in style on this week’s Swingin’ Report Show podcast! Joining us for an interview is Lisle Wilkerson, best known to SEGA fans for her voice work on Shenmue II, Virtua Fighter and Crazy Taxi. Learn what it’s like growing up in Japan and recording for some of SEGA’s greatest Dreamcast and arcade titles. Lisle also tells us about her correspondence work and her acting work on Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation with Bill Murray.

Then, George and Barry discuss the recent news of SEGA of America’s restructuring, dissecting SEGA Sammy’s official document to figure out what exactly we can expect in the future from SEGA. So what are you doing still reading this? We have a special guest and big SEGA news! Click play and enjoy our 75th show!

Don’t forget to follow Lisle Wilkerson on Twitter and Facebook!

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

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Classic SEGA Ads: Tiger Electronics puts the “L” in Virtua Fighter

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If you thought Virtua Fighter in arcades and on the SEGA Saturn was as real as it could get, Tiger Electronics asks you to think again! Released in 1995, Tiger’s R-Zone (not to be confused with Pizza Hut’s P’Zone) was a portable headset and attached controller that promised a virtual reality experience, but ended up just delivering a headache. Unlike other Tiger Electronic LCD games, R-Zone took cartridges.

Each cartridge contained a transparent LCD display, projecting the game onto a mirrored surface placed just inches from the players eye. As was the norm for VR at the time, red was the color of choice. Leeching off of popular franchises to survive, the R-Zone featured Men in Black, Jurassic Park, Batman, Star Wars, and SEGA’s own Virtua Fighter. Don’t let the ad above deceive you, despite being right in your face, R-Zone’s Virtua Fighter was as far from virtual Virtua Fighter as one could get. Wait… did that kid say “brain chop”?!?

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