I don't think VF was always a niche game and I do agree that the genre is so niche now vs 90s and early 00s. For years people associated Tekken with the Sony brand. People in fact thought that Tekken is made by Sony and Tekken's success has been stemming from that. T3 which is still the most successful T game (though 7 will probably end up being that) was not as flashy or very anime driven in art direction as Tekken 5-7 are. VF4 was a commercial success and a critical one. VF4 Evo had tons of content and interesting modes and yet retained it's art direction and character.

VF5 is so damned it was just released at entirely wrong time on a crappy launch for the not so great but later improved PS3. Those days everything was about CoD and all fighting games suffered.

But, Capcom resurrected SF4 and it was not an easily accessible game, NRS came back with MK9, IJ series and two more great MK games. Banco did (Tekken 6, updated Tekken 6, Tekken Tag 2 and Tekken 7 with 4 freaked seasons) and we got SNK resurrecting it's games and we even had an Ex Layer game out of nowhere... All of that while SEGA remained completely silenced. They even missed the boat with their VF5 FS release.... They released it after petitions and pleading and while I think FS is really an amazing game, it missed the windows as all the other fighters were getting sequel it if was an updated version of a 2006 game.

I have stated that before and I will again, I think VF has got a very iconic roster and has a prestigious history or high quality releases. I don't think the characters look boring at all and in fact I think the roster has got a long lasting appeal (Lidia the newest T7 characters is getting applauses and she looks straight out of a VF game).

Changing a game fundemntals will never bring new people but quite the opposite will throw them off. Why would I play VF if it suddenly had bears fighting and it plays nothing like the usual VF. MK went 3D and almost died. SF went for 3D models and almost died. Tekken tried to pull a VF with T4 and it almost got buried.

I might be a very VF purist fan, but really, I didn't mind the easier access VF FS provided as it didn't break the game and it still played and controlled so nice. Do you want to add flashy hit visual effects ? Sure a along as they don't look ripped off Tekken. Want to throw in a cheesy and lame story mode ? Why not all of them had it.

VF series sold like 10% of total Tekken sales. Tekken was heavily affiliated with the Sony brand. VF up to the third one was tightly exclusive to SEGA commercially failing consoles. Tekken had 4 additional games while VF last main game launched on such a bad time.

More importantly, Namco has done such an incredible job with communication (globally simultaneous) SEGA still would like to launch it's coming project at Japan first.

With the above points, I think it's safe to say that it's a miracle VF pushed 5 million copies and I wouldn't think SEGA is aiming much higher than that.

Story, More characters, Modernize the world, Make the game more visually appealing, You can add hit sparks they don’t have to be over the top, Destruction and breakable walls on multi-tier stages, Take them out of the ring and put them in environments that are in tune with the character I.E. GOH stage being in a Yakuza rundown warehouse, Wolf in a actual wrestling ring with the bright lights and Wrestling ambiance instead of by a log cabin, the problem with VF is... they look like they are the only people who inhabit the planet earth. You also exhibit more personality out of the characters. Better voice acting, Intro movies, There is nothing more than needs to taken away from the game fundamentally to appeal. Never once have you heard me say I wanted the franchise to go back to what it was but if it did. I would love for it to go back to “R”.... A version with I had the pleasure of playing. so please... Don’t misquote me or put words in my mouth all due respect. The problems is you probably forgot VF5:R existed which is the closest thing to VF4:FT while expanding the game. The Big Men (Wolf and Jeff were S-Tier) and small grappler characters (GOH) dominated with sheer physical prowess because of the 6 throw directions at their disposal. It really felt like a uphill battle that was a game of chess. All I’m saying is. You take anything else from the series to modernize it then it’s no longer VF. It’s a shell of what made the series great.

This is what I'm afraid of too. I don't want the series dumbed down. I don't want VF to be unrecognizable anymore.

Even VF5FS is the simpler version thus far, it was still entertaining. There was still depth with things like sideblocking and side turned frame data.

Vf is an easy game to pick up and play. Hard to master imo. But the rich technical aspects of the game that would get me lost in the lab for years practicing Jacky was the funnest thing for me.

Dumb it down and I might not enjoy anything as much

I agree with this statement fully.

I believe VF5FS is fully accessible to generic player and it does permit button mashing with the difference being, you will probably not get beaten up by a button masher vs in Tekken.

Yes I enjoy VF4/Evo and Vanilla 5 over FS, but damn if FS isn't a great game that aged gracefully that I can play maybe forever and still enjoy it.

Ultimate Showdown can really be very interesting and refreshing if it was more than just a port of FS.

If you like Evo and Vanilla 5... VF5:R version C. Would be magical to you. I never played version C. I played B.

Yep. But in all honesty, you have to give a big thanks, to Geese Howard, Akuma, silly Negan, and Noctis from Final Fantasy, for literally boosting those Tekken 7 sales over the years. Putting characters from other famous franchises into Tekken, is corporate franchise marketing at its best.

Sega is just stupid. Just this...

I got a taste of 5R at NMTC. Definitely enjoyed it, but wish I had more time to play it. I may be biased, but because I have played Evo soooooooooooooooooooooooo much, I tend to cater to that first before FS.

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/04/virtua-fighter-esports-for-ps4-added-to-playstation-store-in-japan

The art looks cooool.

It's funny I am super excited for just the art...

The art definitely makes the characters look better for sure.

But will they look like that in game? Also that was fast since everyone found out it was rated . Also Asian store only for now.....

..... It's a port isn't it?

It's interesting as the logo states Virtua Fighter esports and nothing like Ultimate Showdown... Now my expectation is it's either a port or an updated FS and either can have the new designs

I hope there's some changes at least other then just graphics. Please Sega... I don't want to play the same game. I want new shiny stuff!

Waaah a simple artwok hype me lol, Sarah looks super pretty here, it's the best Sarah face model ever imo.

All characters look a bit different, i wonder if it mean the characters will get a small model update ingame or not?

Anyway can't wait, since this artwork is revealed/ leaked, the release date shouldn't be too far i think.

Characters look different in this arwork, I don't know if it's just an ad banner or if they changed the art style in game too.

Still I don't like the title "VF esport"s, I continue to be afraid that it will be a simple VF5FS port "sold with the F2P mode, and if that's the acse, it would be useless and a total waste.

Honestly I see a lot of tweaks in the facial features ofany characters...

Sarah for example looks better than VF5 version and DoA version, so I think a graphical update is possible.

I guess with this leak, we won't have to wait tons longer... It's the biggest news we had since announcement and the drought almost killed the hype.

Surely the F2P + esports thing kill all the hype, but I'll try to be positive, hoping there will be something more.

LOL crying for some news, and getting some the same week...

I can't believe it's pure coincidence, and i think it's not the first time it happens with SEGA or for video games.

V(RP from SEGA)FDC

I guess this is the ROW release




Then Sega could say "No, you read it wrong it's 'Virtua FighterS Ultimate Showdown' " either way....cool stuff. Hoping for netplay, an eventual Steam release and an F2P option (not paying for lolpsn).