Virtua Fighter 5: Fighting for its Life

What was expected to be one of the highest selling games in recent times for the PS3, Virtua Fighter 5 was released in Japan on February 8th to a lukewarm response.

Even with Fumitsu placing VF5 in its platinum category and hailing it as an exact arcade port, it managed to sell only 30,000 copies in its first day on the market, falling far below projections. While some thought the game could be a considerable asset in persuading consumers to purchase a PS3, VF5 ended up selling less than half of what Dead or Alive 4 sold in its first week. There is still plenty of time for numbers to grow, however when one considers that the Xbox 360 had only 80,000 units in homes when DOA was released, while the PS3 has already sold 600,000, the figure of 30,000 appears even smaller.

According to Akiba blog, a blog related to gaming and the otaku paradise, Akihabara, a clerk at a game store testified that it was the first time a game had not sold even one copy by 5pm on its release date.

To add insult to injury, the Virtua Stick High Grade, that was released along with the game has been found to be defective. If you can read Japanese, check out the source material here.