Virtua Fighter 5 - updated hands-on

The intensely devoted nature of Virtua Fighter fans is legendary amongst gaming hobbyists. Many have poured hundreds of hours in VF4 and VF4 Evolution on PS2. A few have even plunked down the hefty wad of money to buy the arcade-only Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned. The game even caught on with US PS2 gamers - going Greatest Hits last time around. It's no surprise, then, that many of the people lining up in front of EBGames to reserve their $600 PS3 are buying their console primarily with the spring release of Virtua Fighter 5 in mind.

As a special treat for the VF fans among the press, Sega had Virtua Fighter 5 for the PS3 up and running at Sony Gamer's Day. The game is still very early - as evidenced by its lack of gameplay modes and its frequent crashes - but it looks to provide a fantastic fighting experience on par with the arcade version, both in terms of its amazing visuals and its deep, but extremely enjoyable, gameplay.