GC'07: Virtua Fighter 5 Q&A Feature

Already released on PlayStation 3 by SEGA earlier in the year, internal studio AM2 is now putting the finishing touches to the Xbox 360 edition of Virtua Fighter 5, the latest instalment in the iconic fighting franchise. The first instalment to feature online gameplay, Virtua Fighter 5 also includes two new characters (Eileen and El Blaze) and is based upon Version C of the game, compared to the PlayStation 3 edition, which utilises Version B of the arcade title.

During last week's Game Convention 2007 at Leipzig, Germany, TVG briefly sat down with Tohru Murayama, Assistant Manager at AM2, to discuss the Xbox 360 edition of Virtua Fighter 5 - together with the possibility of online functionality coming to PlayStation 3...

TVG: How important was it for AM2 that Virtua Fighter 5 on Xbox 360 had online functionality? Was it something that Microsoft pushed at all?

AM2 has obviously been making the Virtua Fighter series for a long time, and one of the targets for us has been to take it online in both the arcade and console scenes. When we had the chance to convert Virtua Fighter 5 onto Xbox 360, we had discussions internally and decided that the time was right; we could actually make it online.

TVG: Whilst the Xbox 360 has performed well in both Europe and North America, it hasn't done well at all in Japan. Do you feel that Virtua Fighter 5 could be a strong title to push the console across the territory?

Actually, we haven't decided on whether to release Virtua Fighter 5 on Xbox 360 in Japan. If it could help Microsoft's share in Japan and get people to buy the console with the game [in a bundle], then perhaps...

TVG: With that in mind then, how frustrating was it to release the PlayStation 3 version of Virtua Fighter 5 in Japan without online functionality?

In the case of PlayStation 3, our first priority was to convert Virtua Fighter 5 from the arcade onto [the system] as soon as possible. To achieve that purpose we had to give up the development of the online mode - we'd love to try if there was time and the budget but unfortunately, we had to give up on that idea. AM2 are sorry to PS3 users - a lot of people say that it'is one of the missing things from the version.

TVG: Is it something that AM2 can solve with a patch?

No doubt.

TVG: Virtua Fighter 5 is being demonstrated here at Leipzig on the Xbox 360 Arcade Stick; how involved was AM2 in the development of the stick - it obviously has to feel right, especially with the likes of VF5?

Actually when we announced that we were doing an Xbox 360 version of Virtua Fighter 5, Hori - a peripheral company - contacted us to introduce Hori sticks for the game. It's not Microsoft. In fact, for the PlayStation 3 version for the Japanese market, we did release arcade sticks - there were plans to make it for the Xbox 360 version too, but because of the deal with Hori, we decided not to bundle a stick with this version of Virtua Fighter 5.

TVG: Where there any challenges in bringing Virtua Fighter 5 to Xbox 360?

Of course, bringing the online [gameplay] was the most challenging issue this time. The second challenge was utilising the Xbox 360 features like Achievements and Leaderboards.

TVG: Virtua Fighter 5 is obviously a part of a hardcore fighting series; have there been any moves to make it more accessible to newcomers of the franchise?

That is an issue that we've been discussing for a long time, because if we keep on developing the same fighting games for a long time, the skilled players will obviously get more skilled. It's because we are developing fighting games, it's a natural phenomena that we have to accept the situation. At the same time, we have to think about the beginners, so for Virtua Fighter 5 we developed two characters that are easier to play.

Compared to Virtua Fighter 4 where the 'combination inputting time' for each character was about thirty to forty frames, we lengthened the number for Virtua Fighter 5 so players have more time to enter the combination

TVG would like to thank Tohru Murayama for taking the time to chat with us about Virtua Fighter 5, and Nobuyuki Minato for translating. Virtua Fighter 5 is currently available on PlayStation 3 and is scheduled for release on Xbox 360 across Europe and North America from October 30th.