When The King of Fighters XII arrives on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this Summer, it’s bringing with it brand new fighters, ones not included in the arcade’s 20-strong roster.
The beautiful hand-drawn graphics of King of Fighters XII are coming to an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 near you, as SNK Playmore and Ignition Entertainment announce a worldwide release for July.
Japan’s big arcade gaming expo, AOU, went down last Friday & Saturday. Lots of cool stuff was shown off, but few games – if any – look as damn good as King of Fighters XII.
Heed the warning. Don’t stand and watch. If you’re standing, it’s further for your jaw to fall before it hits the ground. More chance of seriously hurting yourself.
Street Fighter IV’s able to whip up an internet shitstorm every time it announces one character. King of Fighters XII, meanwhile, likes to be a little more subtle, announcing its full, final roster quietly.
You’d have thought this news was to be simply expected, not highlighted, but in these days of not-getting-SFIV-cabinets, you can’t take anything for granted: Ignition Entertainment have today announced that they’ll be publishing console versions of SNK’s King of Fighters XII in the US and Europe. And that’s about all they announced. No price, no intended platforms, not even a vague release window, though with it not due in Japanese arcades until next April, don’t go expecting it too soon.
We close out our TGS booth tours with SNK’s. Thanks for stickin’ around. It was both larger and more impressive than last year’s mild effort, thanks in most part to the presence of an row of eight playable King of Fighters XII arcade cabinets. Oh, and two 60″ LCD’s showcasing that action, helping make it easily the most visually impressive game of the show. The rest of the stuff in their booth (ie anything not King of Fighters) was standard SNK fare: boobs, more boobs and mouse pads with boobs on them. Check it out here.
The King of Fighters XII is pretty. Really pretty. But, it’s 2D pretty, which is lost on a lot of the grainy screenies we’ve posted of the game. These screens from Japanese arcade mag Arcadia are only slightly better. But! They do show images of the French stage filled with fat ladies. KOFXII oozes everything that made SNK famous for its fighters in the first place. A return to form.
KOFXII Screens [eNe3 via PS3Forums via PS3 Fanboy]
I’ve long been mulling over exactly how a theoretical Diablo III should look…for years now. You see, Diablo is a 2D franchise entering a 3D world. And its graphical style, as trivial and superficial as the topic may seem, will affect the way the game feels to play (which many have probably noticed in 3D Diablo clones like Dungeon Runners that feel distinctly less satisfying).
But after reading that King of Fighers XII was completely hand drawn, the answer to updating a 2D isometric game suddenly felt obvious—just draw it out.
We’ve got a buncha new fighters coming out: SNK’s The King of Fighters XII, Capcom’s Street Fighter IV and Namco’s Soul Calibur. We are totally! Whot does SNK think its biggest competitor is? Says Masaaki Kukino, King of Fighters XII producer: Street Fighter IV… I saw it at the AOU 2008 show… I was impressed. It’s very similar to King of Fighters in that we’re trying to do something new with the franchise.
Right on. Anyone who likes fighters should be very, very happy right now. Tickled pink, even! KoFXII Interview [1UP]
