Sega AM2: The Complete VF5 Interview

Extensive new interview with AM2 veteran Makoto Osaki and conversion designer Tohru Murayama on everything Virtua Fighter 5 including the future of the series.

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By Adam Doree

We make little secret around here of the fact that we worship the Virtua Fighter series. And, although we had the rare opportunity to meet and interview AM2 president Hiroshi Kataoka last year, along with Noriyuki Shimoda and Hiroshi Masui, our time was very limited and we weren't able to tackle anywhere near the level of detail we'd have liked.

However, now that the PS3 version of Virtua Fighter 5 is finished (out now in Japan and the US, and released this Friday in Europe alongside the PS3 itself), and with the Xbox 360 version well into development for a Summer release, we planned an intricate assault to re-grill the legendary Sega studio to find out more about every aspect of VF on our minds - from original arcade VF5 to the future of the series, as well as other stuff going down at AM2. Having been playing the PS3 game like lab rats since January, we were prepared for battle.

As you may expect from your number one Sega interrogators, we came away with some interesting answers, this time from VF5 arcade lead and AM2 veteran Makoto Osaki and his team, last interviewed by us in 2004, as well Tohru Murayama, the designer of the PS3 version of VF5 who Sega has been keen to promote a fair bit in its publicity of the home version.

However, there were a few things AM2 could not discuss, most notably, absolutely anything to do with the Xbox 360 version they are working on - a slight pity as we had a LOT of questions centred around that topic, from its announcement delay to potential Version C basis, online features, and more. Fortunately, we still got a lot of good stuff, so without further ado, we exclusively present to you, Sega AM2...

Kikizo: What is your impression of VF5's initial sales on PS3 in Japan?

Tohru Murayama: Of course the more the title sells, the happier we feel, but we do not think we would ever be satisfied whatever sales figures we get. I believe PS3 will spread further in the future, so we would like our title to sell for a longer time.

Kikizo: Are 3D fighting games for home console becoming less popular in Japan?

Murayama: Certainly we have the impression that the number of 3D fighting games is on the decrease, but gamers who love fighters still play such titles, as the probably always will. So, because of this we do not think the genre is becoming less popular.

Makoto Osaki, Development Director, Sega AM2 & VF5 Producer

Kikizo: Talking generally about the Virtua Fighter 5 original game, what was your estimated team size and cost of developing Virtua Fighter 5?

Makoto Osaki: Unfortunately, we cannot give a detailed answer about the size of the development team, but it is not far removed from the number of people displayed on the staff credits at the end of VF5 arcade version.

Kikizo: Is it important to get input from martial artists when choosing new moves for a new VF?

Osaki: Well, we do try to adopt as many moves as possible, as long as they express unique fighting styles. But we have to think about the game balance and reflect what is appropriate for the actual game.

Kikizo: Did you hold back any major ideas from VF4 Final Tuned, to save for VF5?

Osaki: Rather than ideas themselves, we had a lot of thoughts like "we want to make VF work more like this!" For instance, the customisation items, both the players and developers shared the feeling that we wanted to attach more items to more various body parts and we were able to realize many designs like this in VF5.

Kikizo: Many of our favourite stage themes return on VF5 - Shun's raft, Lau's Great Wall, Wolf's snowy mountain from VF2 - is this for nostalgia for fans, or did you run out of ideas? 

Osaki: Well, one reason is we wanted to bring nostalgia to the fans, but the greatest reason is we wanted the players to see what those old stages would look like when expressed with Lindbergh and the next-gen technologies.

Kikizo: Obviously VF is by far and away the highest grossing game in Japan arcades. But what makes many Japanese players so deeply talented at VF, compared to many western players?

Osaki: I don't think it's only Japanese players who have an especially good playing sense. I believe the Western players would also play matches at the same level as those held in Japan if they have opportunities to fight against many other talented players.

Kikizo: So what's the best advice you could offer to new VF players who buy VF5? Hopefully there will be a few...

Osaki: To become skillful, the shortcut is to learn the basic aspects such as techniques and systems, but we would be happy if you mess around with whichever aspect you find most interesting, for example combos, and first become good at that. Once you have identified your favourite techniques, you can plot strategies based on them.

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