Editorial

In this episode of Harada's Bar, Harada continues his interview with VF5US/VFes producer Seiji Aoki where they talk about SEGA's marketing, how VF fans had given up hope like "people who have grown afraid of love", Aoki-san's commitment to developing the community within eSports, admission that the game wasn't 100% ready upon release and, oh, you know, a little thing like a Team Battle feature in an upcoming update! Also, did he just drop a cheeky hint at VF6 with the takoyaki!?

In a previous episode of Harada's Bar "Come, Virtua! I've waited 11 years!" Tekken director and producer Harada shared his thoughts on the Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown (VF esports) announcement trailer ahead of its release, as well as his career-long history and rivalry with the Virtua Fighter series. In this episode, Harada interviews VF5US/VFes producer Seiji Aoki to discuss their impressions of the initial release, how it compared with expectations, the responsibilities of taking on such an important IP, and ... what's with the "800" on Aoki-san's shirt?

4Gamer, Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada, and VF5US producer Seiji Aoki talks about a variety of topics related to past, present, and the future of Virtua Fighter. And yes there is a lengthy discussion related to netcode.

An interview with Hiroyuki Miyazaki, Deputy General Manager of SEGA Japan Asia Publishing Division by Manabu Okayasu from the My Navi News website. It is a fairly detailed interview that not only focuses on Japan's gaming community but also discuss Virtua Fighter in other countries.

In two articles on dashfight.com, Graziano Fabiano (Gillstolemyride) interviewed various members of the VF community - AdamYuki, Blessy, BlitzballChamp, Juicebox, Mister, Sabin, TPT, and Tricky. In the latest article, you can read how theirs and others contributed in keeping the VF scene alive for so many years without any new game (or remake!) to garner interest.

On Wednesday 16th June 2021, 12:00 PM JST, @Homestay Akira will be holding a live stream aimed at the overseas audience (that's you!). It will be streamed on @Tetsuko_Yamada's Twitch channel with translations by @Renzo. Feel free to leave your questions in advance within this thread, or save them for the stream, but be sure to tune in when it goes live!

Famitsu published an interview with Daichi Katagiri that looks back at his illustrious, soon-to-be-30 year career at SEGA which has been recently translated into English by Brian Clark (thanks Brian!) Katagiri-san reflects on his youthful days spent in the arcades, obsessing (and rage quitting!) over OutRun high scores, the importance of music in games, riding in Yu Suzuki's ferarri for "research purposes" and exclusive behind-the-scenes developer tales of the Virtua Fighter franchise dating back to the original. This is a fascinating interview, celebration and reflection on Katagiri-san's amazing journey at SEGA, which he believes "set my life on a great path."

THINK! A brilliantly written article by Jin (@jin_hm) for Virtua Fighter players of all skills, backgrounds and experience levels. Packed with many tips and words of wisdom that are applicable to other fighting games as well. Check it out!

On this day in 2010, SEGA released Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown for Japanese arcades, followed by a international console release two years later for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. To celebrate this occasion, I compiled a blog on Destructoid looking back at the journey with VF5FS and how it still holds to this day compared to other modern-day fighting games. Happy 10th Anniversary, VF5FS!

Ed Boon, the co-creator of Mortal Kombat & Injustice and creative director at NetherRealm Studios, recently echoed what the entire VF and perhaps the greater Fighting Game community have been wanting, needing, requesting and even demdaning: "Someone needs to reboot VIRTUA FIGHTER".