Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown hits June 5

 Godokuno_Dan Wait, they simplified the throw system? When did this happen? I'm soo out of the loop... so its possible for semi-sane people to escape throws?

 chikahiro94 Yes, in VF5FS, AM2 simplified it. There are only 3 throw directions in FS: Neutral (Just pressing P+G), forward, and back. So any throw will use a form of those inputs to execute (Except low throws that grab crouching foes. Those are now done with either down-forward, down or down-back and P+G).

Since there are only 3 standing throw directions now, you can also only escape 1 throw direction at a time, but they make up for this by making throw escapes much easier in VF5FS. You can just hold block AND the punch button plus a direction to escape. Much easier, and no risk of lowering your guard! :)

 Virtua_Souls Interesting! I'm not sure how I feel about that... advanced players would've been used to a variety of multi-option escapes, but now only have 1 escape so its more of a guessing/estimating game than before (as opposed to execution). But for lower-level players (like me - playing since VF1 and still consider myself a scrub), it seems like the throwing game will be quite different! Hmm...

So, even Wolf and Jeffery and such don't have PKG throws? Wow... interesting.

If it gets more players, though, I'll be quite happy, and consider it a trade-off worth making.

 leeko_link Well, given AM2 moves very slowly with changing the system or adding characters, this is as good as it'll get for a while. I mean, jeez, they only add two characters per major iteration (VF2, VF3, VF4, VF4:Evo, VF5, VF5:FS)...

Given how long VF games last and how unpopular they are globally, I don't think we'll see a VF6 until next generation :(

 Dark_Metamorphosis VF5FS is a full game. You don't need a copy of VF5. Amazing deal, huh? :)

 Dark_Metamorphosis As Virtua_Souls said, its the full game. Consider it to be like games that come out at $60, then when they hit the $20 "Greatest Hits" release, its the same game with most, if not all, the DLC. Its utterly fantastic, IMO, and I really wish Capcom would do this for their fighters.

 chikahiro94 Great deal indeed. I'll be picking this up in that case :)

 Blaze_Firestorm Online play will hopefully be good! Certainly, its probably the most important feature that Sega could've added!

 xcollector I can sympathize. There's a lot about digital that doesn't make sense, but I think the retail market and the old ways of doing things (tied to physical media) figure in too. There's no technical reason why all English speaking countries can't have the same game, the same day, at the same price, for instance. But there are plenty of legal reasons :/

 TheTHCGamer  TheCyborgNinja I can understand that. The trick is would they have bothered bringing VF5:FS out if they could only do it as a boxed, retail product or not? Its not a popular game, sadly (it deserves to be!).

I wonder if it came out retail in Japan or not? PS3 owners and maybe 360 owners (if Sega released it without region locking) could get it then.

 chikahiro94 It was actually only released in arcades in Japan. The June 5th release is the first time that VF5FS has ever been out on consoles. And heck yeah, VF deserves so much more popularity! It's such an amazing, fair fighter!

 Virtua_Souls  chikahiro94

 You're talking about the one that came out in '06-'07? Because there was another VF5 that got released besides this one. PS3 got version B, 360 has version C.

This next release  puts both consoles on even footing. I'm interested in seeing how the online turns out. They better allow you to switch characters in online Vs. It was stupid the way they set-up online in the last game. You were essentially stuck with one character.

 TheArcade Yeah, I feel that PS3 owners got a raw deal from Sega. Honestly, if it was from a company other than Sega? Whatever. But this is Sega of the Dreamcast, Sega.net, etc. They had pioneered consoles and the use of online, so what could've been an "oversight" was less tolerable, IMO. Of course, the Sega of old and the Sega today are pretty different animals :(

 TheTHCGamer Digital download is the only way Sega could release the game. With Sega's recent financial troubles, VF5FS may have been cancelled if it had been a retail release. I'd love to have a case, disc, etc. too, but c'mon, man! It's $15! What other company will give you a fighter as feature rich as VF5FS for $15? :)

 TheCyborgNinja Well, me too, but at the same time? Discs get lost, damaged, etc. Plus, they go out of print. There are some perks to digital that discs don't have yet. Of course, ideally, it'd be buy the game, get the disc AND get a digital copy if you're the original owner.

chikahiro94TheCyborgNinja

TheCyborgNinja, I agree, especially when this game is nothing more than a upgrade off of VF 5 & VF 5:R, both released on July 12, 2006 (VF 5), & July 24, 2008 (VF 5: R). 

Plus this port of this upgrade's been made in the Arcades on July 29, 2010 (VF 5: final Showdown). I highly doubt that it would cost Sega much money to port this title with everything included like the Arcade version did (instead of selling costumes as DLC WHEN THEY WERE ALREADY IN THE ARCADE VERSION IN THE 1ST PLACE!), & put it up for retail for $30 for PS3 & 360.

Chikahiro94, you can always get discs repaired & fixed, plus you can always find another copy used should your disc gets lost. No offense, but I like to own copy of games, because it guarantees me that I'll be able to play those same games that I bought years down the road (just like my NES, SNES, Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, PS1 & PS2 games).

 Shinobi120 I don't trust repairs (and eventually you may get to the point its unrepairable), and back in 2005 I tried finding additional copies of VF4 or VF4:Evo for some friends of mine on the PS2, new or used. No luck for either. But, like I said, ideally there'd be a retail box with a digital copy for the original buyer - best of both worlds.

Main problem with disc based systems is moving parts eventually fail. I miss cartridges in that regard, but not enough to want to go back to them as a media format. My old Neo Geo was my most beloved system ever, but I do NOT want to pay those kinds of prices again. Hell, I remember how much games dropped in price when they went from cartridges to CD... @_@

 RavenXavier Its a win/win, definitely! We get a great price, they get more money than if they sold it retail, it'll never be out of print, etc. My only wish would be if they gave PS3 owners a special something since Sega didn't give them online play or the ability to upgrade to version C via DLC (Japanese companies seem bad about taking advantage of online at times). But, still, at THIS price I think I'll just ahead and be happy for all the VF fans of the world ^_^

 Legend002 Yes, since it's an XBLA arcade title, it will have the new 400GS. That's the best Sega could do :)

 S_Pac_316 VF5 is still played in Japanese arcades. Sega usually releases a number of pretty  meaningful updates over the years, keeping the game going for a long time because its well supported and very well balanced (ie, the gap between tiers isn't nearly as severe as other games). VF:FS is the 5th version of VF5 since release (original, verA, verB, verC, FS).

I've heard this will be the last VF5 update, and possibly the last VF for a while. We'll see. I hope we'll have one next generation!