The official SNK Playmore website for King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match has a new promotional video posted. The quality isn't the greatest (about the same as the older video that was first released a few months ago), but it is at least some more footage of the game in action prior to its upcoming PS2 release later this month.
The video briefly goes over some of the new additions that Ultimate Match brings to King of Fighters '98, showing you step by step what the new modes open up for your characters. I do have the game currently on pre-order and since King of Fighters '98 is one of my favorite NEO GEO titles, I'll be sure to post a review of it once it comes in. Whether or not that will be a video review, I haven't decided yet...
For those interested in the game, I've been a little lax on my updates about it, but the official website has finally been fully fleshed out. All of the character profiles have been posted, the system details have been updated, and a new screenshot section shows some bite-sized views of the game.
The game has done well in arcades since it's release, actually raking up the number 5 spot on the Arcadia listing in the July issue of the magazine. Not bad for a slightly tweaked upgrade to a ten year old game.
It's been a while since any news has came out about Gordon Chan's King of Fighters project. The movie was supposed to start filming at the beginning of this year, but after a handful of delays pushed the start date back, a lot of questions began surfacing in regards to the project.
According to a recent article by Variety, things may finally be getting back on track with the movie. Inferno Entertainment is now the new distribution partner for all areas outside of Japan, replacing the role Arclight films previously had. Variety also reveals that filming is now scheduled to begin in September and casting for roles in the movie is currently in progress.
I do find it funny though that Variety is currently describing the movie as being a 'sci fi actioner'. I'm not sure if this is due to the article writer's unfamiliarity with the source material or if Gordon Chan is planning on pushing Terry Bogard into outer space.
With the way a lot of video game movies are handled, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't end up being the later...
The first location test for King of Fighters XII was supposed to occur in late April, but it was canceled shortly prior to its unveiling by SNK Playmore Japan. Since that time, gamers have been anxious to find out when the next location test would be scheduled, however, little news outside of a generic (un-dated) flyer has been shown off since.
Earlier today, SNK Playmore Japan updated their news site with a small blurb about the current status of King of Fighters XII. It seems we are going to have to wait just a bit longer for any new updates about the game or its location test, as SNK Playmore Japan has went ahead and notified everyone that any planned location tests are now canceled until further notice due to technical reasons.
From what I've heard, the game is playable and is amazing, so I wonder what the motivations for the delay were... Technical reasons can end up spanning so many different angles, so it's a bit hard to even speculate what may be going on inside SNK Playmore Japan right now. Hopefully it won't be too long before a new series of tests are re-scheduled and the public can get some hands on time with King of Fighters XII.
gemgemmania posted the latest King of Fighters XII news coming from Famitsu magazine. According to the magazine, King of Fighters XII will be given its first official location test in Tokyo, Japan in April. While I knew we would be seeing some early hands on time due to the nature of arcade location tests, the first playable build being so close is pretty amazing to me. I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing some of the new footage and hope SNK Playmore Japan delivers on some direct feed media soon...
In other news, some of the game's early system information was also revealed. Like what was previously speculated, King of Fighters XII is going to be removing the shift/tag system in exchange for the traditional elimination 3 vs. 3 team match-ups.
Secondly, the screen's edge is going to be a hard barrier of sorts, allowing gamers to use it to deliver follow-up attacks due to a slight 'hang' that will occur when a character is hit into the barrier. This isn't new to the world of fighting games, but it is a difficult system to balance, so it should be interesting to see what SNK Playmore Japan does with it.
Thirdly, attacks will be able to offset each other. To what extent is unknown right now, but the specific example provided in the article lists that if two attacks would connect, both attacks would 'cancel' and force the players to start again.
Finally, a Guard Attack system is also being planned which will allow gamers to switch from offensive to defensive modes on the fly. No further details are provided about this system either.
Some screens of the Famitsu magazine have already been posted on the MMCafe forums. For those interested in some of the screenshots, I definitely recommend checking out the link. I tried to pick out if there was anybody new(ish) in the screens, but it looks like they were all mostly the previously revealed cast that we've seen so far.
Over at SNK-Capcom, some early coverage of SNK Playmore USA's GDC line-up has been showcased by the website. Though we already knew about 99% of the games, there were a couple of surprises including the fact that King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match will be coming to the US for the PS2 late in 2008. I'm glad to see we finally get confirmation of a US release for the game, since I was a little worried we may have ended up missing out on it...
In addition to King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, several other games made it from SNK Playmore USA to GDC. The Samurai Shodown Collection for the PS2, PSP, and Nintendo Wii had its game list revealed and fans should be ecstatic about the breakdown which includes Samurai Shodown 1 - 5 and Tenka. The King of Fighters Collection for the PS2, PSP, and Nintendo Wii was also shown off at the event and will include (in the US version) King of Fighters '94 through King of Fighters '98. SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1, Fatal Fury Battle Archives vol 2, and World Heroes Anthology were also on display.
Despite this stellar line-up of games in the two collections, SNK Playmore USA did have a bit of bad news for Wii owners. Both the Samurai Shodown Collection and the King of Fighters Collection will be delayed a bit in order to offer the Virtual Console releases of their NEO GEO games an opportunity to sell ahead of the collection releases. The PS2 and PSP games are scheduled for a Q2 2008 release while the Wii versions are all listing Q4 2008.
Metal Slug 7 (Nintendo DS) was made playable at GDC and SNK-Capcom was also able to capture a quick video of that game in action as well. The link can be found here. Though Trieu seemed optimistic about the game, I'm not sold on it personally. As mentioned before, the sprites in the game all seem a bit squashed like SNK Playmore is scaling them. This is probably just an effect of the DS development, but maybe I was just expecting more from a new Metal Slug. I'm still a little surprised at the hardware choice (I guess it makes sense from a financial standpoint), but I'm getting over it now... Hopefully the game will end up being able to deliver a high quality Metal Slug experience in the end.
In other news from SNK-Capcom.com, Trieu was able to film a better quality video of Samurai Spirits Sen/Samurai Shodown Edge of Destiny and King of Fighters XII for viewing. The download is available at the link and is one of the best quality versions of the video I've seen online so far (this has changed now - see the update below). I'm probably going to repeat this a million times, but King of Fighters XII looks as amazing as ever (maybe even more so with a better quality viewing).
And Samurai Shodown Edge of Destiny? Wow... This is a warning for the squeamish - the video linked to from SNK-Capcom shows more blood flowing in the game than I have seen in any of the Japanese location tests. Limbs get severed, heads are removed, and a whole body is cut in half.
Anyone complaining about the lack of blood in the Samurai Spirits Sen location tests should be appeased. Unfortunately, this doesn't change my opinion overall though that the game seems fairly mediocre right now... We'll see if that changes.
[UPDATE] - So after browing some other GDC information, I've found that Gametrailers has posted a link to a HD version of the King of Fighters XII trailer that has just taken the cake for the best quality version of the trailer around. I hope you enjoy (do yourself a favor and watch the HD version of it). The Samurai Shodown Edge of Destiny trailer can also be found on Gametrailers here.
[Update #2] - Gamespot has an interview with Mark Rudolph, SNK Playmore USA's director of marketing. The video goes through the SNK Playmore USA line-up, but unfortunately there isn't anything new to hear about King of Fighters XII since Mark Rudolph doesn't seem to know much about the details of the game. The rest of the information is mostly repeated from above, but it does show a few videos of the games on the show floor for those interested.
There has been a lot of chatter going around since the trailer for King of Fighters XII was leaked from the AOU show. I don't blame it one bit, because from what I've seen in the short clips showcasing King of Fighters XII, SNK Playmore has done its best to make Street Fighter IV seem obsolete before it even really had a chance to shine. Sure, Capcom has a lot going for them at AOU - the most votes polled, the biggest drawing exhibit, and the longest lines for hands on time - but even considering all of these things, it seems that whenever I see Street Fighter IV mentioned inevitably King of Fighters XII is right there with it as an example of what Capcom should have done.
There's a common thread on most of these postings that should be a bit concerning for Capcom and their positioning back into the arcade fighting scene. Yes, I'm sure it's possible that Street Fighter IV will turn out to be amazing, but when King of Fighters XII is able to begin taking as much hype away from Street Fighter IV as it seems to be doing, that's a sign that fans may already be starting to look past Capcom's flagship fighting franchise. Of course, this may all be my own giddy feelings that I now have about King of Fighters XII putting too much into the feedback being given, but all in all, I'm more excited now about this game than I ever was after viewing the Capcom teaser trailer for Street Fighter IV...
And I know I'm not the only one.
King of Fighters XII is currently early in its development, but there are quite a few unanswered questions out there and speculation based on interpretations of the trailer. Though I'm not an expert by any means, nor do I have any "insiders information" about the title, I do feel that there have been quite a few updates that can begin to shed some light on a few aspects of the game that may clear up some misconceptions being circulated.
First and foremost, there is a bit of a debate going on regarding whether or not the characters seen in the video are sprite based or polygon based. I'm blaming most of this discussion from two posts (one from Kotaku and the other from Wired's Game Life news). In each of these posts, it is clear that the writer is under the impression that the video showcases 3D polygon characters segmented and flat/cell shaded to appear as 2D sprites. I think it's important to note that in none of the coverage I have seen does it specify that this is the case and furthermore, as the discussion on Postback mentions, this does not seem likely based on the video itself. I also think that the references made by Nona in this Game Watch write up makes it explicitly clear that the emphasis in the video was on traditional high resolution 2D design, not 3D as pseudo-2D. Recap said it best (and I agree whole-heartedly with him) - "not a single polygon".
According to Trieu over on the SNK-Capcom forums, SNK Playmore actually toyed with both a 3D and a 2D version for the game prior to their final direction that was taken for King of Fighters XII. As Icycalm points out over on his forums, the last "official announcement" from SNK Playmore in regards to King of Fighters XII had the game firmly in the 2D camp. This doesn't look like it has changed one bit to me personally, but unfortunately, I think there's going to have to be a new official announcement from the company before it's cleared up due to the "authority" of the 3D as 2D sources... This, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
As for the platform, a lot of people seem overly eager to be talking about which consoles a home port will be going to. While I understand their enthusiasm, I believe its a bit premature for any talk about a home port. Of course, it's safe to assume that the two next generation consoles (PS3/Xbox 360) are probably the best fits based on the system specifications of the Type X2 arcade platform; outside of some vague references, I have not seen any information from SNK Playmore Japan confirming any console port at this time. However there was one mention on Kotaku in regards to a Xbox 360/PS3 release in 2009, but since it is from the same post as the 3D as 2D argument, it should be taken with a grain a salt at this stage. Is it possible that this information is correct? Absolutely. However, all focus should be primarily on the arcade release first and foremost.
According to Gamespot Japan, King of Fighters XII is being scheduled for a late 2008 release window. If I had to take a wager on when the first playable build will be seen by the public (outside of possible summer location tests), it will more than likely be at either the 46th AM Show or the Tokyo Game Show (both in September). Considering that SNK Playmore was a no show at this year's 45th AM Show and that they took several arcade cabinets to their set up at TGS, I'm guessing that the Tokyo Game Show may end up being the game's grand unveiling before its release to the wild.
Now, the next bit of contention that I've seen popping up is what role (if any) is Falcoon going to have with the design aspects of King of Fighters XII. According to Game Watch, those Falcoon haters have little to worry about... While Falcoon is busy crafting and baby-sitting his baby (the Maximum Impact series), Nona is handling the art direction on King of Fighters XII. I will admit, I was one of those who originally disliked Nona's direction when he first was brought to the King of Fighters (I always thought that 2001 was a huge step backwards from 2000 in terms of presentation), his work has grown on me especially with King of Fighters XI and the sprite work he did. I'm eager to see what he has in store for the new game...
Over at the Shoryuken forums, a good observation was brought up in regards to the short video sampling available. In both the King of Fighters XI segment into the shift to the new King of Fighters XII segment, there is a definite focus on keeping the battles 1 vs 1 (no tag elements were in the KOFXI shots). There are three icons underneath the health bar in the transitional screen shot for KOFXII, so 3 vs. 3 team battles look to still be in it, however, the dynamic tag system may be removed (or if it is in, may not be the "default" focus of King of Fighters XII).
This could also be simply due to the fact that the King of Fighters XII build at the show is still really early and they wanted some synchronism between the transition to KOFXI to KOFXII, but it is something to take note of none-the-less for future reference.
As for characters, from the video, we know for certain that Kyo, Ash Crimson, Kim, Athena, Terry, and Benimaru will all be returning. We also know that based on earlier promotional art, Goro, Elizabeth, and Leona will also be possibly making a presence. I'm unaware of any other characters shown off on any other material outside of this group, but as users on MMcafe point out, it is possible that the letter "explosion" at the beginning may represent invitees to the King of Fighters tournament. If so, the roster may end up being huge (which is usually a staple for the series).
I'll be keeping an eager eye on King of Fighters XII as time goes on. I doubted that SNK Playmore could deliver on their promises, but based on what little I've seen so far, King of Fighters XII is shaping up to possibly be one of the most important releases on Taito's Type X2 platform... A bold claim considering the surprising amount of support Taito has been receiving from a number of major arcade developers. If anyone else has picked up on anything in regards to King of Fighters XII that I may have missed, feel free to leave a comment or discuss it on the forums. There's not much out there yet, but I'm sure it's all just the trickle before the flood...
I have a little bit of a history playing collectible card games. Back in the day, I was a bit of a Magic fiend, and it was only through strength of will (and little disposable income) that I ended up breaking that habit. Then came Upper Deck's VS System which I played for a couple of years until mismanagement drove me away from the game. With that said, a couple of weeks ago I received two free starter decks from Sabretooth Games for their King of Fighters release for their Universal Fighting System.
I'm not quite sure where they got my information (I'm assuming somewhere down the line it was from SNK Playmore USA since the first line started with "So we heard you were a King of Fighters fan), but I was interested enough to play a few rounds with the demo decks. The mechanics were pretty good, and if I wasn't passed my collectible card game part of my life, I'm pretty sure I would be willing to sink a few more dollars into it. However, since I'm not in "that place" anymore, I'm going to have to be content with sitting back and enjoying the art (though it is a bit hit and miss in some places).
After doing a bit of research into the game (and taken aback the fact that they somehow have the Street Fighter, King of Fighters, and Soul Calibur license among others), I noticed that both the SNK Playmore brand and Street Fighter brand will be receiving new sets this February. I'm sure everyone who's already a player probably has seen all the previews over at the Sabretooth Games forums, but for those like me who haven't paid much attention to the card game, now's your chance to take a look at some of the art being done for the new release.
The SNK Playmore release will be called "Cutting Edge" and the Street Fighter release will be called "Domination". Links to the previews are below.
SNK Playmore Japan has recently announced that the planned PS2 "remake" of King of Fighters '98 (King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match) is also in the works for arcades in Japan. In a lot of competitive circles, King of Fighters '98 is widely regarded as the best of the King of Fighters games, and though my personal preference may lie with XI, I definitely understand the devotion to '98. According to Arcadia magazine, the PS2 version of the game is going to serve as the base for the arcade port.
The hardware is currently undetermined, but considering SNK Playmore's recent affection towards the Taito Type X family of systems, it wouldn't be a surprise to see it end up on Taito's hardware. If I'm not mistaken, SNK Playmore Japan does have a semi-exclusive agreement with Taito with their system, so the question should probably be which of Taito's hardware platforms will SNK be tapping. No word yet on the release date, but it should be in arcades soon after the PS2 version hits shelves in Japan (early 2008).
According to Kotaku, SNK Playmore has confirmed with the gaming blog that King of Fighters XII is currently in the works for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and is scheduled for release on the two systems in early 2009. Though I'm not entirely convinced of the accuracy of this announcement, Kotaku has posted the news without hesitation as being 100% factual.
In the post, King of Fighters XII is being described as a 3D fighter with 2D shading by the SNK Playmore overseas marketing manager Koyama. This puts the game more into the company of Battle Fantasia than it does traditional King of Fighters games. It also calls into question previous statements about King of Fighters XII where it was described as a high definition sprite based fighter.
Take this with a grain of salt right now. I have no reason to distrust Kotaku's reporter Brian Ashcroft, but I can't help but think there is more to this story than what has already been posted. If true, it shows that SNK Playmore is finally looking to really tap into the power of the Type X2 platform (unlike what they did with King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A), and it also throws all the rumors about a King of Fighters XII Playstation 2 port out the window.
I'm sure more information and hopefully sources will come out soon so people can fact check the announcement.
[Courtesy of AM-Net's Blog] - Though it isn't much, AM-net's blog has posted some great images of the King of Fighters XII/King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A2 and Samurai Spirits Sen flyers from the Tokyo Game Show. This confirms that MIA2 is being planned for arcades as well as the PS2, so everyone can breathe a collective sigh of relief. Still no confirmation that King of Fighters XII and Samurai Spirits Sen were announced as PS2 titles, but both games have the Type X2 logo fashionably positioned on the upper left of the two flyers with no Playstation logo to be found on either one.
Famitsu's article on SNK Playmore's booth at the Tokyo Game Show revealed a few details about the company's plans for home consoles over the next year. Unsurprisingly, outside of a handful of downloadable titles, SNK's primary focus in the home gaming industry relies being entirely dependent on the Nintendo DS and the Playstation 2.
Anyone wishing to find out more details about King of Fighters XII or the new Samurai Spirits will be a bit disappointed. Though the company featured the two games' logos, no additional information about either game or their scheduled sale date were available at the event. I have some reports claiming that the two games were listed as possible Playstation 2 titles, but I haven't been able to confirm this as of yet. If the two are already in the planning stages of development for the Playstation 2 it puts an interesting footnote in the SNK Playmore/Taito relationship in regards to the future arcade releases for the two games.
Also featured for the Playstation 2 were King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A2 (logo only - no word on an arcade version), their latest NEO GEO Online Collection of the World Heroes games, and an announcement of a Sunsoft NEO GEO Online Collection being planned for future release.
From the Nintendo side, a port of Samurai Spirits VI is being planned for the Nintendo Wii. The Playstation 2 port of the game was available for attendees to receive some hands-on time with the title. The Nintendo DS area featured Metal Slug 7 as well as Kimino Yusha and their sequel to Doki Doki Majo. Fatal Fury, Magician Lord, and World Heroes for the Wii Virtual Console were also available on the show floor.
SNK Playmore still hasn't announced anything in regards to the Maximum Impact 2.5 game that was in the works for the Xbox 360 (which can probably be written off as cancelled at this point). However, the company did show off Metal Slug 3 and Fatal Fury Special for the Xbox Live Arcade.
More information is sure to come out in regards to the projects in the next couple of days. I will be working on trying to get a confirmation of the King of Fighters XII and Samurai Spirits PS2 announcements. As soon as that is verified, I'll update everyone with the information.
Both Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 and King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A will be releasing their official soundtracks later this month. I'm not too impressed with the King of Fighters soundtrack (which seems to be a step down from the regular Maximum Impact series), but Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 has a great mix of adrenaline pumping music that is a perfect fit for its racing themes. Both soundtracks will be available in Japan (or through your favorite import dealers) with a suggested retail price of 2,940 yen.
A new update on Gamestop.com, has posted the pricing and release date information on the next two releases by SNK Playmore USA for the Playstation 2, King of Fighters XI and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum. Both games will be released under the budget price point that SNK Playmore USA has been using to attract attention to their 2D fighting franchises. Currently they are both listed for retail at $19.99 according to their respective pre-order pages.
I do feel I should mention here that Gamestop's pricing on Art of Fighting Anthology and Fatal Fury Battle Archives Volume 1 was traditionally higher than the pricing at other stores. While the two previously released games' manufactured suggested retail price were $14.99, Gamestop had sold both of the titles for the same $19.99 pricepoint that they have listed for the two upcoming releases. Frugal shoppers may be able to find a better deal on the games by avoiding Gamestop.
King of Fighters XI is currently set to ship on October 4th, with Neo Geo Battle Coliseum scheduled to follow on October 23rd. I'll be following the press releases by SNK Playmore USA to provide everyone with the heads up when they finally start shipping the games to stores in October.
Late July SNK held a Premier Event for the release of King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A as well as King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match. Though the King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A information is old news by now with the release of both the arcade and PS2 version of the title (I'll have a review of the import version of the PS2 game soon), King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match was showcased in a demoed form for the audience in attendance. A small snippet of a video of the game is shown below courtesy of YouTube! user Kaphwan86. The full hour and thirty minute event can be downloaded at Cyberfanatix.
King of Fighter's Maximum Impact Regulation A's official website received what is probably going to be one of the last updates the website gets before the game hits arcades (and store shelves for the Playstation 2) later this month.
The final bit of the game's character roster has been rounded out with Hanzo, Lilly, Richard, Nightmare Geese(!), Kyo Classic, and Mr. Karate. Each of these characters (and any of the 30 previously revealed) have their basic profiles listed as well as a Command list posted that show the basic move-sets that each of the characters can perform.
I've heard a lot of mixed things from the location tests over the last month or so. It seems that if you are a fan of the Maximum Impact series, you will appreciate the new gameplay changes, including the 3 vs. 3 tradtional King of Fighters matches. But if you found the Maximum Impact series just a bit average, nothing in Regulation A will convince you otherwise.
I'll be importing this one for my Playstation 2 when it's released so I should be able to provide some good import impressions then.
With the PS2 release of King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A on the horizon, it comes as no surprise that the Xbox 360 rework of King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2.5 by SNK Playmore seems to have been pushed back until September 30th if the recent update on Amazon is to be believed. I'm beginning to question whether or not this game is actually ever going to come out, because outside of the Amazon listing the game seems to be disappearing from a lot of SNK Playmore communications. I'm crossing my fingers that this game isn't turning into vaporware...
It's been a while since we've heard any news about SNK Playmore's PS2 "remake" of King of Fighters '98. The game which was revealed at the Tokyo Game Show in October was last seen at the SNK Playmore New Year's party in January. I've posted a video from that event showcasing the game in action below. It seems that patience is a virtue however, as according to SNK Playmore's official blog, gamers will be able to get a hand's on preview of the final build of King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match at an event on July 1st that will also feature the final build of King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A. We'll have more updates after that event.
In what seems to be weekly updates before King of Fighters MIA hits arcades and the PS2 in July, the official website for the game has been updated once again with a handful of new story and character profiles. The official site can be visited at SNK Playmore JP.
For a list of what has been updated, check out the details below:
Story Section: New story updates for Billy, Kula, Terry, Rock, Ryo, and Yuri.
Character Section: New character stat sheets for Billy, Kula, Terry, Rock, Ryo, and Yuri.
For More information about the game, including media and screenshots, please check out our previous coverage here.
Arcade Heroes recently posted two new videos of King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A from the official site earlier today. The two videos were part of a larger site update that has begun to fill out the missing information from the different site categories. I'm working on getting a full translation of each of the information revealed with these newest updates, but until then, you can head over to the SNK Playmore King of Fighters MIA Regulation A site to check out the following new information:
Movie Section: Two new movies featuring Mary and Ash in their normal and alternative costumes. It also features the new announcer that reminds me of the announcer from Match of the Millennium.
System Section: Basic move list for the game. Not character specific.
Story Section: Break down of the official story of King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A. Includes Character specific profiles that detail their own motivations for entering the tournament. Currently available to view - Ash, Mary, Alba, Soiree, Luise, Nagase, Kyo, and Iori.
Character Section: Official Character stat sheets for a new update of characters. Currently the following fighters are available to view - Ash, Mary, Alba, Soiree, Luise, Nagase, Kyo, and Iori. (You can see an example of the profile below with Iori.)
Not to be outdone by Capcom's recent announcement of a new live-action Street Fighter movie, SNK Playmore has recently unveiled the early details of a King of Fighters action movie to be directed by Hong Kong director Gordon Chan. Though I'm always hesitant about video game to movie properties (especially those based on fighting games), the project so far with the scant details at least sounds promising. I'm a sucker for Fearless and The Medallion, so combining the writer and the director from those projects can't be a bad thing, right? Variety's article on the movie can be found below:
CANNES -- Hong Kong action director Gordon Chan ("The Medallion," "Fist of Legend") is to direct an English-language, live-action adaptation of best-selling videogame "King of Fighters." Pic will lense in Asia in first quarter of 2008.
Pic will be jointly financed by Japanese production and rights management group Micott & Basara and Australian-U.S. sales agent Arclight/Easternlight.
Concept is owned by SNK Playmore group and been released as 30 arcade, computer and home console games since franchise was launched 21 years ago. Screenplay is being written by "Fearless" scripter Chris Chow.
Production is by Axis Entertainment's Joseph Chou (currently producing upcoming "Appleseed: Ex Machina") and Tim Kwok of L.A.-based Convergence Entertainment ("Wicked City".)
The official SNK Playmore website for King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match has a new promotional video posted. The quality isn't the greatest (about the same as the older video that was first released a few months ago), but it is at least some more footage of the game in action prior to its upcoming PS2 release later this month. 
