Dragonfly's Metal Slug Zero/Metal Slug Online game had its official website launched this past weekend. Unfortunately it seems that the company has elected to go with an extremely heavy flash design that also has issues with bandwidth for those trying to connect outside their local area. It took me awhile, but I was able to finally get into the site and see what they had to offer, but it wasn't for a lack of persistence - that's for sure. For Firefox users, you may also have issues connecting to the site. I didn't actually get through until I switched over to IE.
On the website, the basic story information has been posted, but there still isn't too much in the way of how the game is going to actually play. We know the game is in 3D, but from early reports, it also is being planned to use a side scrolling engine. From what has previously been provided, the online component for Metal Slug Zero may be little more than having the ability for multiple players to play through a classic Metal Slug experience (perhaps with some carried over character information/leveling maybe?). Information about the game outside of Korean sources has been a little scarce, but I'm still looking to see if there's anything I may have missed in regards to Metal Slug Zero that may shed some light on the game.
In other news, Dragonfly Games and SNK Playmore have announced that they are in the initial planning stages of developing an online King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown. No further details are available, but once they start to be presented, I'll be sure to post the information as it comes up.
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.
Battle Fantasia - Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 - May 29th (Import) Arc System Works cell shaded 2D fighter is finally coming to home consoles. Despite a quick drop off in arcades, Arc System Works is hoping that with a revamped story mode and the addition of online play, Battle Fantasia may find more of an audience on home consoles. The setting is fairly unique in fighting games and the RPG-lite mechanics give it a stylistic edge. Whether or not these will allow it to have a more attractive base is yet to be seen. As a friendly reminder, the PS3 version will be region free for gamers wanting to import the game...
Beatmania IIDX 14 Gold - Playstation 2 - May 29th (Import) Konami's latest home port of their DJ simulation Beatmania is scheduled to be released on May 29th on the Playstation 2. The latest installment of the popular franchise includes 8 original recordings and collaborations created specifically for Beatmania IIDX Gold in addition to the game's soundtrack of over 90 songs. The game also has a planned special edition.
English of the Dead - Nintendo DS - May 29th (Import) Sega's 'of the Dead' franchise returns with a Nintendo DS release featuring similar gameplay to their quirky Typing of the Dead series.
SNK Playmore Best Collection re-releases - Playstation 2 - May 29th (Import) SNK Playmore Japan is planning on re-releasing several of their NEO GEO online collection sets as a budget price Best Collection release on May 29th. Included in the planned re-releases are Fatal Fury Battle Archives Volume 1, Fatal Fury Battle Archives Volume 2, Fuuun Super Combo, and King of Fighters NEST Collection. Out of these releases, Fuuun Super Combo and King of Fighters NESTS are the two that haven't been announced (or released) for the US. Fatal Fury Battle Archives Volume 1 and 2 were both part of SNK Playmore USA's budget releases this past year.
Super Dodgeball Brawlers - Nintendo DS - May 27th (US) Aksys games is leading the localization effort of Arc System Works revitalization of the Kunio-kun franchise starting with Super Dodgeball Brawlers. Unfortunately, the lack of WiFi enabled online play tends to bring down how excited I am about this release, as Super Dodgeball Brawlers simply screams out to have multiplayer online support. The core gameplay from the series remains in tact though, with a few slight tweaks, so hopefully the lack of online play may be able to be overlooked in favor of a traditionally strong action/sports title.
While I was busy with life in April, I missed an announcement by Ignition USA revealing that the company has recently signed a co-publishing agreement with SNK Playmore Japan.
Ignition has been handling most of the European releases of SNK Playmore's titles, so their relationship has already been well established in other markets. Because of this the choice of a company doesn't come as much of a surprise on the part of SNK Playmore Japan, but what is surprising is the implications this may have for SNK Playmore's US branch. In fact, this announcement has recently sent the rumor mill into overdrive that SNK Playmore USA may soon find itself without the support of their parent company.
According to an article over on Destructoid, a source for the author has stated that SNK Playmore USA may be closing its doors this summer in favor of the new relationship with Ignition. I have heard very similar rumors via e-mail, but I haven't had anything shown to verify the story outside of 'someone who knows someone'. The fact that it's being report via another source seems to lend a bit of credence to the rumor.
Before everyone goes all chicken little on SNK Playmore USA however, I do feel its important to mention that this wouldn't be the first time that SNK Playmore USA has shared publishing with a third party company. Crave Entertainment for example handled the primary publishing duties for Art of Fighting Anthology on the Playstation 2. However, considering the vagueness of the press release by Ignition as well as the strong wording used by SNK Playmore Japan and Ignition USA, I can't help but feel there may be more here than meets the eye.
Currently, the only title announced as part of the publishing agreement is the upcoming Metal Slug 7 on the Nintendo DS, but I look forward to seeing what else may be coming out of this agreement and whether Ignition USA may fare a bit better in the US market.
[UPDATE] - Kotaku has went to a source in SNK Playmore Japan to shed some light on this rumor. For those worried that SNK Playmore USA may be closing operations, it seems that the rumor is circulating rapidly due to the confusion surrounding the exact circumstances of the e-mails that were being generated. As I mentioned before, I did receive a very odd e-mail stating that SNK Playmore USA staff may be searching for a new job this summer. When I further questioned the e-mail, I was not able to receive any definitive source on where it originally came from so I chose not to post it.
Well, Kotaku seems to have clarified exactly what the e-mail was pertaining to. SNK Playmore Japan was able to reveal that SNK Playmore USA's offices will be moving to the west coast. The New Jersey offices will remain open through December before all operations are transferred to the new facility. It was also revealed that Ben Herman would be retiring from his position in SNK Playmore USA. We'll see what that ends up meaning for the direction the US branch of the company ends up taking...
I should mention here that Destructiod has came back and updated their original post as well with some additional information on where their e-mail source came from. Jim Sterling, the author of the news rumor over on Destructoid, has included a small passage from a leaked e-mail purportedly from Ben Herman. Although the passage is short, it is very clear that there is little room for misinterpretation.
SNKP closing again:
Here we go again. SNK will exit direct sales by year end and plans to distribute new stuff thru Ignition USA. I will help them close down again but my full time duties end June 30th.
Does this sound like a company simply set to make a move and hand over some basic publishing rights to another company? Is it possible that plans have changed or that Ben Herman may have misspoke? Perhaps...
What is clear is that while the death of SNK Playmore USA may have been a bit pre-mature, the structural changes that are currently going on with the company, the new publishing agreement with Ignition USA, and the retiring of Ben Herman, all seem to come together as a 'perfect storm'. I'm willing to wager a bet that the company that comes out of this year is going to look nothing like the company that started it... And I think that may be a good thing.
The latest in the PS2 NEO GEO Online collection from SNK Playmore Japan has just received an official release date according to the SNK Playmore Japan website. The Sunsoft collection (Waku Waku 7 and Galaxy Fight) will be released overseas June 26th for the standard 5,040 yen.
Whether or not SNK Playmore USA will pick up the titles is yet to be seen, but hopefully the recently released Arcade Classics volume 1 is another sign of the recent trends from SNK Playmore USA that will see most of their NEO GEO era games re-released for the PS2. Like the other games in the Japanese compilation discs, the Sunsoft collection will be updated for online play, something that has been unfortunately absent in all of the American releases thus far.
Over at Neo-Arcadia, I just spotted that they posted up the dates for the first King of Fighters XII location test in Japan. SNK Playmore Japan has just recently announced that the game will be on test at the Taito Hey Akihabara arcade as well as a location in Namba Hills in Osaka on April 18th - 20th. The company is currently claiming that the King of Fighters XII build that is being showcased is already 40% completed. I'm just hoping that the recent trend of camera lockdowns doesn't continue with King of Fighters XII... I'm eager to see more footage of the game in action, especially with it being played by live opponents...
[Update] After looking at a couple of other sources, it seems this is all coming out of the May issue of Arcadia Magazine. Kobayan has of the details about the latest issue, including a small outline of Virtua Fighter 5 R...
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.
NCSX opened up pre-orders for the Wii NEO GEO Stick 2 and included the first image of the stick I've seen online. Surprisingly, instead of following Hori's route with the Apple-esque color scheme of the Wii, SNK Playmore has elected to keep the iconic black color scheme of the Neo Geo in tact for the Wii version of the arcade stick. The Neo Geo Stick 2 will ship on April 10th and has a listed price of around $60 at most import stores. Whether or not SNK Playmore USA will be marketing the stick here is yet to be seen, but with the number of NEO GEO classics coming out for the Wii this year it would be a crying shame if they didn't.
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...
Taito's official website for the AOU 2008 expo was launched earlier today. The basic design of Taito's booth is centered around the 30th anniversary of Space Invaders which occurs this year.
It would seem natural for the company to release an updated version of the game for arcades, considering the titles roots, but based on the early preview list that honor is being passed solely over to handhelds with Space Invaders Extreme on the Nintendo DS and PSP. However, Taito does have a fairly strong line-up planned for the AOU show, with full support this year from SNK Playmore in addition to their own releases. Considering the number of upcoming games scheduled to take advantage of Taito's PC-based hardware, this should be a strong year for the company in regards to the arcade scene.
King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match and Samurai Spirits Sen will both be playable at the event. Taito also states that King of Fighters XII will be seen in a video exhibition, confirming earlier rumors that the game would be shown off at AOU from AM-net. I look forward to seeing what SNK Playmore has in store for the latest installment of their ever popular fighting franchise, since the last "update" we really had from the company was based on a call for sprite artists on their employment page about 4 or 5 months ago.
In addition to SNK Playmore's line-up, Taito will also be showcasing Half Life Survivor ver. 2.0, D1GP Racing, and a selection of new prize-based games.
Thanks goes out to AM-net for posting the link to Taito's AOU 2008 website.
With the AOU 2008 show nearly here, I would like to take a moment to put out a friendly reminder that I've been compiling a full series of AOU 2008-related updates in an easy to remember "tag". If you are interested in more coverage, feel free to view what I've posted so far here.
AM-net has updated its game profile for King of Fighters XII to include a presence at the AOU 2008 show later in February. Based on the information provided, it appears that the game won't be seen in a playable form, but rather in a video presentation similar to how it was previously shown off at AOU 2007. SNK Playmore already has a fairly strong 2008 line-up consisting of its return to a 3D Samurai Spirits, King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A2, and King of Fighters '98, so whether or not King of Fighters XII is being planned for a 2008 is questionable at this point. It seems that 2009 may be a bit more in check with the company's plans for the arcade industry.
Hopefully at AOU 2008 we'll get at least a better idea of what we can expect from King of Fighters XII. Though I would love to see some in game video, I'm thinking that more than likely its probably going to be a teaser of sorts (hopefully better than the logo teaser we've previously seen).
Popular Japanese retailer Rakuten has posted a new online page for the NEO GEO Stick 2 for the Nintendo Wii. According to the listing, the new arcade stick will be available on April 10th for a price of around 5,040 yen (or about $50). There weren't any images of the stick provided by Rakuten, but the item description states that it will be similar in size and shape to the currently available (but a bit hard to find) PS2 NEO GEO Stick 2 (shown in the picture to the left).
The Wii's NEO GEO arcade stick will be fully compatible with all Virtual Console NEO GEO releases (and any games supporting the classic controller), so for people wanting a more authentic arcade experience this may be your best solution on Nintendo's console (since it matches the original layout of the MVS units a bit better than the previously released Hori Fighting Stick).
With SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 rumored to be around the corner for the Nintendo Wii (the PS2's speculative release date is in March), the NEO GEO Stick 2 for the Wii seems to be coming at a perfect time...
I don't know how this got dumped into my junk folder, but a couple of days late is still better than never, right?
SNK Playmore USA has announced that SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 will be released in the first half of 2008 with a selection of solid titles that should satisfy most SNK fans. I am a bit unhappy about how much double dipping is going on with this collection considering the already available SNK compilations (do we really need Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, and Metal slug on this disc for example?), but there are some surprising gems that are finally going to get their time to show off (Sengoku, Shock Troopers, Last Resort, and Baseball Stars 2 are my personal picks).
No pricing has been announced yet, but considering the number of games that will be available on this disc as well as the fact that it's being released on the PS2 and PSP, I can't help but think its not going to be entering at the recent $14.99 SNK Playmore USA pricepoint. I fully expect this to retail at about $29.99.
See below for the full list of games: * Art of Fighting * Baseball Stars 2 * Burning Fight * Fatal Fury * King of Fighters '94 * King of the Monsters * Last Resort * Magician Lord * Metal Slug * Neo Turf Masters * Samurai Shodown * Sengoku * Shock Troopers * Top Hunter * Super Sidekicks 3 * World Heroes
As a side note, the ESRB recently rated a Wii version of this game as well according to the ratings guide website. There was no mention of the Wii version in the press release from SNK Playmore USA.
tsukache on Youtube has posted a couple of new videos of King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match taken from the location test that opened this weekend. There is a little concern about some lag input issues in the current builds, but hopefully SNK Playmore will get that ironed out before the game's release.
Both Samurai Spirits Sen and King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match have received some web updates over the past week.
Over at the official Samurai Spirits Sen website, SNK Playmore have opened the story index, character index, and moves index. There isn't a lot of content yet (sure to change pretty regularly if it follows the Maximum Impact Regulation A formula), but it does provide a better look at some great art for the game as well as a couple of sample moves lists. The two characters featured in all the different categories are Takechiyo and Suzuhime. Based on an initial reading of the story behind these characters, it seems like the main story of the game may center around them, but considering that there slots for 24 total fighters, we'll just have to wait and see what SNK Playmore has in store for us.
On the official King of Fighters website, I've been a little behind on my updates. The new character profiles for the Ikari team was posted. There is also a new blog that is being updated to show off the basic essentials of King of Fighters '98 and the slight tweaks in Ultimate Match. And finally, the opening movie for King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match was also posted which includes an oddly catchy slightly remixed intro theme.
There are several location tests opening this weekend for King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, so I'll be on the lookout on Stage6 and Youtube for any location test videos that may be worth viewing.
It's interesting to see how far the game's been progressing from the earliest videos. Though the quality in the video embedded below is far from perfect, there really is a sense now that there is more than simple touch ups going into this "remake". The game is expected to be shown off at the AOU Show in February, so I'm sure we'll get some better images from either SNK Playmore or Taito from the event. I'm crossing my fingers for a new gameplay trailer as well, but I think this will probably be more dependent on the status of the game at that point in time...
Over at the official SNK Playmore website, a series of six printable greeting cards were posted all featuring new art for upcoming or recently released games. They'll be available for download until the 17th of January, so get them while you can.
I'm hoping that this is a sign that all of the games featured in the art will see the light of day by the end of 2008, because I'm not sure if I can take another year of teasing King of Fighters XII. The games featured are King of Fighters XII, King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A, King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, Samurai Spirits Sen, Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2 DUO and Metal Slug 7.
This past Tuesday, SNK Playmore provided the first look at their latest Pachislot machine based on the popular Fatal Fury franchise (in specific Fatal Fury Special). Though I've never been a big slot machine fan myself, the SNK fan inside of me can at least appreciate the aesthetics. I just can't help but wonder though if SNK Playmore was as dedicated to 2D fighting games as they are to the Pachislot/Pachinko industry, we possibly could've been playing King of Fighters XII earlier this year.
For those who are unfamiliar with Pachislot machines, the game acts very similar to a classic slot machine with one exception: the machines have 3 buttons underneath the "wheel" area that allows you to stop the rotations one at a time. This adds a slight degree of skill (or illusion of skill depending on who you speak to) to the game despite the underpinnings still being based mostly on randomness and luck.
SNK Playmore Japan has already posted a teaser site for the Pachislot game. If you go over to the company's Slot Station section of the website, it can be found by clicking on the top link under the "What's New" section for 12/13/2007. Included on the teaser are the wheel odds, some detailed graphics of the machine (and its screens), as well as a special movie that I couldn't personally get to load for me (I assume its just a small trailer with some Fatal Fury artwork mixed in).
For more information on the hands on information about this Pachislot release, head over to PachinkoVista.com, where they have a full write up of the game and the SNK Playmore announcement.
The official Samurai Spirits Sen website has posted the details for the second location test for the game. The location tests will be held starting on December 20th and will end on December 24th.
The first series of tests had a generally positive reaction from fans aside from a few smaller complaints (lack of blood was the main one). I wasn't quite sure about it at first, but the videos and on hand reports are enough for me to at least keep the game on my watch list. For more information about the tests (which are going to be held at four separate facilities), head over to SNK Playmore's Samurai Spirits Sen page.
Like the previous test, I'll be sure to post some pictures and videos as they show up on YouTube, Stage6, and other sites. I have a friend who I think may be heading to the Game World site, so if he does, I'll also post his hands on thoughts as well.
Anyone else get the feeling that Samurai Spirits Sen is going to turn out to be the better 3D transitional game when compared to Street Fighter IV?
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).
Dragonfly's Metal Slug Zero/Metal Slug Online game had its official website launched this past weekend. Unfortunately it seems that the company has elected to go with an extremely heavy flash design that also has issues with bandwidth for those trying to connect outside their local area. It took me awhile, but I was able to finally get into the site and see what they had to offer, but it wasn't for a lack of persistence - that's for sure. For Firefox users, you may also have issues connecting to the site. I didn't actually get through until I switched over to IE.
