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SNK Playmore announces King of Fighters XIII for arcades

Despite the cool reception to its last King of Fighters game, SNK Playmore has announced that it is working on King of Fighters XIII. The fighting game will be shown for the first time at an event in Akihabara on March 25.

Until then, we know nothing about the game other than that it runs on Taito's TypeX2 arcade hardware -- the same board used by Street Fighter IV, BlazBlue, and, of course, King of Fighters XII. Well, we also know that it has a nice logo. And we're guessing fan favorite Mai Shiranui won't be left out this time.

[Via Kotaku]

XSEED now publishing Samurai Shodown Sen

The odd swapping of games between Ignition Entertainment and XSEED continues. First, Ignition obtained the rights to Marvelous's Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Arc Rise Fantasia, both initially to be published by XSEED. Now, XSEED has announced that it will publish Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny on Xbox 360 -- a game that we played at Ignition's E3 booth.

XSEED is publishing the fighter under the name Samurai Shodown Sen, with a release planned for sometime this spring. Along with Atlus's announcement that it's publishing Metal Slug XX, this move provides evidence that Ignition's co-publishing deal with SNK has ended.

Samurai Shodown Sen out in Europe this spring


Click to sho' more screens
The publishing status of Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny in North America is somewhat up in the air, given Ignition's recent silence about the game and Atlus' announcement that it's publishing SNK's Metal Slug XX (leading to speculation that Ignition's deal with SNK is over). There's no doubt, however, that the game's coming out in Europe.

European publisher Rising Star Games has announced that it will publish the 3D Samurai Shodown sequel on Xbox 360 this spring under the name Samurai Shodown Sen. The game features classic Samurai Shodown fighters, like Ukyo and Nakoruru, with a weird mix of international characters -- like, in our experience, a Viking.

Metal Slug arrives on iPhone, sort of

If you thought the DS was a less-than-ideal platform for an original Metal Slug, you're really going to be surprised with this one. SNK Playmore has released one of its cartoony run-and-guns for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Metal Slug Touch is adapted to the platform in some unexpected ways: for example, instead of putting the player in control of a commando who occasionally happens upon a vehicle, Metal Slug Touch puts you in a vehicle at all times.

Controls are simplified to make use of the iPhone's features: you move with the accelerometer, and dodge enemies with an "avoid" button. Metal Slug Touch sounds like a fairly bold experiment -- and something that, we suspect, works better than simply porting a console action game over with touch controls.

Metal Slug Touch ($4.99) : METAL SLUG TOUCH

[Via FingerGaming]

SNK announces Metal Slug XX, three more for XBLA in Japan

There's good news and bad news about Metal Slug 7 on Xbox Live Arcade. The bad news is that we're pretty sure it's not coming out. The good news is that Metal Slug XX, the upgraded, multiplayer-capable PSP remix of the DS game, is replacing it in SNK's 2010 lineup. SNK also announced XBLA ports of two of its fighting games: King of Fighters 2002 Ultimate Match and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum. All three will join the weird King of Fighters shooting game, The King of Fighters Sky Stage, on XBLA in spring 2010.

These games have, so far, been announced only for Japan, but we are sure SNK will release them all worldwide -- if only because it would be a waste of effort to develop an XBLA title just for the few people in Japan who would buy it.

[Thanks, sacra!]

ESRB rates Metal Slug XX for US release


Hey, look, it's Metal Slug ... er ... oh, right, Double X. (Sorry, had to study the sprites.) Anyway, earlier this month we brought you first word of the game -- now it's been rated by the ESRB (T for "Teen," specifically) which, as we all know, is a prelude to games being announced for domestic release.

The game's publisher is listed as SNK Corporation of America itself, seemingly indicating a digital download-only future for the title. That's fine by us -- as long as it doesn't go the way of the M.I.A. PSP minis. Seriously, where are they? Metal Slug XX hits Japan in December, so we'd expect it to roll ashore here in early 2010.

Behind the horrifying scenes of the King of Fighters movie

King of Fighters fans would probably really appreciate a live-action movie that deals with the series' surprisingly detailed storylines faithfully, while bringing their favorite characters into real life in a recognizable way. Those are the exact people who should never, ever watch the King of Fighters movie.

Disclosure: if we weren't watching this behind-the-scenes trailer (after the break) for work, we would have turned it off as soon as the narration said that the fighting took place in another dimension. But then we would have missed being introduced to the white guy playing Kyo Kusanagi! And to Iori Yagami's hockey getup.

Don't worry, the movie's actually in good hands: the actress playing Vice has heard of King of Fighters.

[Thanks, Doug]

Continued →

Metal Slug XX rolls onto PSP this December

SNK Playmore has announced that it's bringing Metal Slug XX ("double X") to the PSP. The title is set to release on December 23 in Japan, with an asking price of ¥5,040 ($56). A remixed version of Metal Slug 7, the game includes ad-hoc cooperative play, over 70 mini-games and, as is tradition, lots of bullets. SNK was kind enough to release a trailer for the game, so you won't have to imagine how chaotic the game will undoubtedly be.

If you just can't handle all that action, we have some nice, quiet screenshots too.

Review: King of Fighters XII

SNK sticks to the KOF series' roots with King of Fighters XII, the latest 2D installment in its popular fighting franchise. It's been years since we've seen a King of Fighters game and you'd think SNK had some cards hidden up its sleeve but, to be honest, King of Fighters XII is short on the surprises.

[Editor's note: This review also features a video walkthrough.]

Continued →

Free-to-play 'KOF World' to dropkick Asian market


If you've been enjoying SNK's latest, King of Fighters XII, you might be interested to learn that SNK and Shanda Games are teaming up to offer a version of that game for the PC. It's going to be called KOF World, a free-to-play game for the Asian market. Aside from the usual 2D fighting, this new version will also incorporate "MMORPG features by adding a complete multiplayer role playing game (RPG) mode," though exact details on this new mode were not provided. Oh, and if you don't live in Asia, sorry for making you incredibly jealous.

New King of Fighters XII trailer includes punching, also kicking

SNK Playmore has dropped a new trailer in advance of the King of Fighters XII release later this month. The trailer focuses on the series' fifteen year history, spanning all the way back to 1994. It also has a long montage of people beating the crap out of each other, all set to decidedly dramatic music. It's all very exciting.

King of Fighters XII hits Xbox 360 and PS3 on July 28.

King of Fighters XII punches through with a new video

If you had told us five years ago that 2009 would be a year to remember for 2D fighters, we would've called you a crazy person and erased you from our buddy list. Sure enough, with solid releases Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue already dropping this year, and Marvel vs Capcom 2, Tatsunoko vs Capcom and, as the above video shows, King of Fighters XII awaiting release, we would've been the crazy one. If you're a fan of the occasional bout of two-dimensional fisticuffs, then you've got a lot to choose from this year.

It's as if millions of piggy banks suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced ... by giant hammers.

XBLA in Brief: King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, Worms 2: Armageddon

Another twofer this week, as XBLA adds a fighting game and a turn-based strategy game to its ever-growing ranks. From SNK's huge library of fighting games, we have King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match. The XBLA version includes online play and will set you back 800 ($10). Meanwhile, Team17 has dropped the sequel to the XBLA version of Worms, which is titled, appropriately enough, Worms 2: Armageddon. The game brings lots of new features to the table -- as well as some old favorites -- and also costs 800 ($10).

Watch the latest episode of XBLA in Brief and see which one is screaming for your hard-earned cash.

Download the trial version of King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match
Download the trial version of Worms 2: Armageddon

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This Wednesday: Droplitz and Garou: Mark of the Wolves hit XBLA


It's a twofer on XBLA this week, with a new puzzle game and an old fighting game. The puzzle game would be Droplitz, which has players twiddling dials and collecting small, "dinky little balls of indeterminate stuff." We can't help but be reminded a bit of Pipe Mania. Keep in mind that Droplitz is a single-player game only, with the full game running 800.

The second game is Garou: Mark of the Wolves, also known as Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, which was announced for XBLA by SNK late last week. The game is a port of the original arcade title -- also remembered as one of the last good Dreamcast games -- and features online play for two players. It can be yours for 800.

Gallery: Droplitz


Metal Slug 7 ain't shooting up XBLA until 2010

Metal Slug 7 on XBLA was originally slated as a 2009 title; however, the latest reports say it'll be pushed back to 2010. Speaking to Siliconera, Ignition Entertainment's acquisitions manager, Robert Macchiaverna, says the side-scrolling shmup won't make it out this year.

"It is still happening," said Macchiaverna. "But, I believe that's scheduled to be a 2010 title." Instead, Ignition will be working on The King of Fighters Ultimate Match '98. On the bright side, you can play Metal Slug 7 right now ... just, unfortunately, not on your 360.

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