Virtua Fighter 5 release date slated in Japan, others to follow?

Hooray for release dates! Recently, Virtua Fighter 5 was announced for an early February release in 2007 for Japan. While many of us aren't from Japan, this is still a decent estimate as to when we'll see it in North America, Europe and the like. Visually, this game doesn't do it for me. Sorry guys, but I'm not going to be a blind liar. It looks good, darn good, but it's not mindblowing. Anyway. This is being considered a "big" title, so it's getting a "big" price tag. Wait... there probably shouldn't be quotes around the second "big" because 8,190 yen is big. Also big is the arcade stick, due out a week after the game's release for a price comparable to the game itself -- over 7,000 yen.

With no comment on a release date for other areas for neither the game or arcade stick, we're left to speculate. But if you're on the same wavelength as PS3Fanboy, you've probably got the same guess as us. March. Coinciding with or around the European launch. Fighting games are fairly quick to port across countries and this early February release bodes quite well for the fighting enthusiasts in Europe -- they might get their fists on right after cracking open their fresh PS3 boxes. Bundle, anyone? Give us your thoughts and after a few months, we'll see who was right!