Looks like Sega's latest fighting game will arrive in stores and on your consoles sooner than expected. 1up.com has the word, according to which Virtua Fighter 5 will be released on the 8th of February of 2007.

Of course, it will be a PlayStation 3 title, so if you don't have one yet, hurry and hit eBay to get one. There's no other chance to get your hands on one. This release date is valid for the Japanese market, no word coming out on a US or European release date.

Virtua Fighter 5 will retail for about 8190 yen, some US$ 70 if you convert Japanese currency in a currency that makes sense. If you were to ask me, US$ 70 is rather steep, a little more expensive than Virtua Fighter 4 for the PS2, which was sold for 7140 yen. 1up.com also reports that pre-order for Virtua Fighter 5 will soon start with Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary Reprint.

After the release of Virtua Fighter 5, Sega will release a joystick especially designed for Sony next-gen, called Virtua Stick High Grade, which will retail for 7329 yen, meaning US$ 63. It will feature arcade-like lever and buttons and will connect to the PS3 via USB Cable. The release date for this PS3 thingy is set for February 15.

Virtua Fighter will see many returning characters from all the previous Virtua Fighter installments as well as two new characters. The returning characters are Akira Yuki, Pai Chan, Shun Di, Lion Rafale, Kage-Maru, Wolf Hawkfield, Jeffry McWild, Vanessa Lewis, Brad Burns, Dural, Lau Chan and of course Lei-Fen. The new characters will be a girl, Eileen, who uses the Monkey Kung Fu style and a lucha libre wrestler, El Blaze.