The King of Fighters XII Thread

[snes_collector]

There's twenty characters right now, or so the screens of the character select screen would have us believe. That's enough for me.

It looks like they're going to use XII as a new launch for the series, so here's the deal. We buy XII and like it, nevermind how many characters there are. Then, they make a few more insanely detailed, well animated sprites for KoF XIII, XIV, and so on. Eventually, we'll have the huge roster again.

It's SNK we're talking about, so we'll be rocking these sprites until 2025. It'll get there, assuming people buy the goddamn thing.

I agree, I'd say since they have to re-do all of them the roster should increase each year.

Honestly though, I'm not a big fan of the new graphics. I haven't seen it in action yet though so I can't really comment. I do understand why they did it though, and if I had a 360/PS3 I would definatly pick up a copy.

[boogiecat]

Maybe your right about that....Oh well..

Oh well its a good thing that Kensou and Athena's(i know she's kinda chubby on KOF XII....) character designs is kinda similar to thier first game debut which is Psycho Soldier.

[Damaramu]

Quick update:

Mature and Elizabeth Blanctorche (KOF XI) have been added to the lineup.

Source: IGN (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/980/980591p1.html)

[GnawRadar]

I posted this in the University Pinball thread in Arcade Alley, but I might as well update my fellow DPers who are willing to drive to Philadelphia. King of Fighters XII has replaced BlazBlue at University Pinball and I had the chance to play it on Saturday and I am pleased overall so far. Its going to take some getting used to, but I think I'm going to enjoy KOFXII alot, especially Benimaru and Terry with his rising tackle back.

For those of you who wanted to play BlazBlue, I'm sure it'll be back in rotation again once they make room in a cab that has the proper monitor and equipment, but until then KOFXII, SFIV, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Melty Blood, Arcana Heart 2 and various other cabs are up and running at University Pinball.

[ubersaurus]

Quick update:

Mature and Elizabeth Blanctorche (KOF XI) have been added to the lineup.

Source: IGN (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/980/980591p1.html)

Huh, I thought Elizabeth was one of the advertised characters for the arcade version. In fact, I'm quite sure of it.

[Damaramu]

Yup, she was.

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/369/5blarge5d5banimepaper5dg.jpg

[c0ldb33r]

Still no Mai?
Still not interested.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Still no Mai?
Still not interested.

Dude, MATURE is there. Who the hell cares about Mai "my boobs would be all the way to the floor by now if not for plastic surgery" Shiranui?

[c0ldb33r]

Man... Mature is fine, but Mai is a big bouncy adventure that, after winning, actually describes how she is, in fact, bouncy. You can't beat that.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Man... Mature is fine, but Mai is a big bouncy adventure that, after winning, actually describes how she is, in fact, bouncy. You can't beat that.

Dead or Alive killed Mai for me. Now everyone's bouncy.

I like my women with style (and with bras). :P

[Nirvana]

I actually thought Mai was really fun to use o_O

[GnawRadar]

I actually thought Mai was really fun to use o_O

I agree. It wasn't just her bounciness for me either, I thought she was a really fun character to use...but she does jiggle like crazy.

[XYXZYZ]

Man... Mature is fine, but Mai is a big bouncy adventure that, after winning, actually describes how she is, in fact, bouncy. You can't beat that.

She's saying "Nippon ichi", not "me bouncy". Of Course, you never really know if the "me bouncy" people aren't aware of that, or if they're joking.


Dude, MATURE is there. Who the hell cares about Mai "my boobs would be all the way to the floor by now if not for plastic surgery" Shiranui?

Dammit, I've been fascinated by Mai's tits since 1992, and have no intention of stopping in the 21st century.:fist:

[Arcade_Ness]

According to today's Kotaku report: http://kotaku.com/5252770/the-king-of-fighters-xii-esrb-rating-all-but-rules-out-mai-shiranui
there may be no Mai after all or B. Jennety for that matter.

[CosmicMonkey]

Ignition Entertainment are giving all you guys in the USA the chance to have your say on what box art is used. The choice is between the Japanese cover art and what was originally planned for the USA release. If you want to cast your vote, head over to the Ignition forums (I assume you have to register?).

PlayStation 3 Cover Art voting. (http://forums.ignitionusa.net/showthread.php?t=726)
Xbox 360 Cover Art voting. (http://forums.ignitionusa.net/showthread.php?t=727)

http://common.ignitionusa.net/kof12/art_poll/ps3_options_round2.jpg
http://common.ignitionusa.net/kof12/art_poll/xbox_options_round2.jpg
Option 1 is Japanese, Option 2 is the planned USA cover art.


Personally, I really like the USA PS3 cover and the Japanese one for the Xbox. Not that it would seem to mater to us lot in Europe; I still can't find any UK release date for KoF XII. I'm already having to go to the effort of importing a US copy of BlazBlue, please don't make me arse around with KoF too, especially considering d/l content has been announced (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/16/king-of-fighters-xii-getting-dlc-console-specific-modes/) that will require me to set-up a US account.

Honestly. All I want to do is kick the living shit out of completely improbable random mateys. Why do I have to go to so much bloody effort?

[Vlcice]

Bumping because the official release date is confirmed! The official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/kingoffighters12) lists July 28th as the date. This is the first official date beyond just "July" we've had from them.

[Arcade_Ness]

I'll wait and see how well it's recieved and if the netcode is decent enough. I would like to hit this up on XBL if I do get it.

[Nirvana]

I'll definitely be picking this one up. The local place that holds tournaments is definitely going to include this game in the lineup, so I gotta get good at this one too.

[Nirvana]

So I was at Gamestop today, and I asked when this game came out. It's actually already out O_O

I honestly didn't even know because I didn't hear a thing about this game. Anyway, I couldn't pick it up just because I don't have the money to get a new game, but I've been hearing some mixed reviews...anyone get it yet? I have a feeling the price will drop somewhat soon, as I can't imagine a KoF game staying at 60 bucks for a long time...

[G-Boobie]

So I was at Gamestop today, and I asked when this game came out. It's actually already out O_O

I honestly didn't even know because I didn't hear a thing about this game. Anyway, I couldn't pick it up just because I don't have the money to get a new game, but I've been hearing some mixed reviews...anyone get it yet? I have a feeling the price will drop somewhat soon, as I can't imagine a KoF game staying at 60 bucks for a long time...

We played it yesterday at the ranbat. It's fun, but a little... Simple?

Also, what the Hell is with the early release? Gamestop wouldn't let me have the copy I preordered: I had to cancel my preorder, drive to the next closest store, and buy it there. Idiots.

[Vlcice]

G-Boobie: The ship date was Thursday. The official release date is Tuesday coming, but it wasn't street-dated so stores that got it in prior to Tuesday weren't prevented from selling it. Pretty much all Gamestops in the US seem to have had it by Friday, but not all stores have it yet. And it doesn't seem to have migrated to Canada so far. :'(

[Kitsune Sniper]

I was asking at some local stores here in TN and they seem to have had this since last week. o_o

[Overbite]

Everything I heard about this game is that it's completely bare-bones. The arcade mode is 5 matches. No boss, no ending, no nothing. And the netcode is bad at best, though Ignition said a patch would be coming out to address that so hopefully it will improve.

Still, if they're gonna charge full price for the game they should include enough content to justify it, like SF4 and BB.

[G-Boobie]

G-Boobie: The ship date was Thursday. The official release date is Tuesday coming, but it wasn't street-dated so stores that got it in prior to Tuesday weren't prevented from selling it. Pretty much all Gamestops in the US seem to have had it by Friday, but not all stores have it yet.

I see. Thanks for the info, good sir!

[Vlcice]

Madam, actually. (Or lady? I'm not sure if there's a standard equivalent.)

And on the topic of release dates, it seems to have made it to Canada. :D Video Games Plus shipped my copy today. North York isn't that far from here at all, so I should get it soon - maybe tomorrow, if I'm lucky!

[Solertia]

Had the game since Friday, and though I'm enjoying it, my big complaint is that it's totally barebones, as Overbite said. However, I just popped in the game and was hit with a "update must be downloaded", so I'm currently downloading a 772 MB update. Any clues as to what it might be?

[Vlcice]

They improved the netplay and added in some minor features, like clan tag display in-game and friend invite improvements. It sounds like other patches are planned, too.

[Solertia]

Ah, okay. That's good. I hope they add more gameplay modes and characters, though -__-

[Vlcice]

Ignition has a couple of threads on their official KOF 12 Facebook page soliciting suggestions for DLC content and new feature requests - you should post there if there's anything you want.

[Solertia]

Thanks for the tip! I just finished replying to it. Looks like a lot of people have already posted stuff as well. Here's hoping they listen!

[Jorpho]

Oh dear. Has it been a while now since we've reached the stage at which developers can release buggy console software and then expect people to patch it after purchase?

[Vlcice]

Solertia: I posted my suggestions too! I'm hoping at least one or two makes it in.

Jorpho: It is too bad seeing this happening on consoles now. At least in this case the patch came out before release day.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Everything I heard about this game is that it's completely bare-bones. The arcade mode is 5 matches. No boss, no ending, no nothing. And the netcode is bad at best, though Ignition said a patch would be coming out to address that so hopefully it will improve.

Still, if they're gonna charge full price for the game they should include enough content to justify it, like SF4 and BB.

No ridiculously cheap SNK boss battle?

That's like Street Fighter without .... fireballs and uppercuts!

[G-Boobie]

No ridiculously cheap SNK boss battle?

That's like Street Fighter without .... fireballs and uppercuts!

I've been playing this quite a bit since the weekend, and I've come to the conclusion that KoF XII is essentially a beta that you pay for.

The actual fighting is pretty great: I like it a bit more than Blazlblue actually: it's just fast enough for me without getting into ADD/methamphetamine territory. It's very pretty, it seems to be fairly well balanced (though who knows what the future will show us), and I like the new systems. The main problems seem to be the terrible net code and terrible interface.

If they patch the net code, I'll be happy enough. I'm not thrilled with the concept of DLC in a fighting game though (silly costumes aside): something tells me we're going to be paying for Mai and K' in the near future.

[OMF2097]

No ridiculously cheap SNK boss battle?

That's like Street Fighter without .... fireballs and uppercuts!

The game is very incomplete. It isn't worth $59.99, but it is sort of fun.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

The game is very incomplete. It isn't worth $59.99, but it is sort of fun.

Yeah, I'm totally interested but I'll wait for a price drop and/or more patches & DLC.

[Vlcice]

Wow, this is unusual. I can't remember the last time I've seen a publisher publicly say something like this:


The support and excitement generated by the fans so far for THE KING OF FIGHTERS XII is amazing and incredibly appreciated. We are so happy to finally have it available. Even after the game was finished, additional steps were taken to help improve the player experience and an update was released for both the Xbox 360 and PS3.

However, Ignition Entertainment is not at all happy with the online performance or with some of the functional issues that the fans have raised even after the release of these updates. We want to ensure the community that we are not taking this lightly and are having meetings in person with members of SNK PLAYMORE even at this very moment. Please continue your constructive feedback because we are listening and will do everything we can to have SNK PLAYMORE address these issues as soon as possible.

The King of Fighters series has always had some of the very best and supportive fans and we want to do what we can to help ensure they are treated right. We will continue to keep you updated on progress with SNK PLAYMORE and we thank you again for the continued support.

(From here (http://bit.ly/10KURF).)

[ubersaurus]

I have heard a description of KOF XII that describes it as a "not a good game, but a fantastic fighting game." That is to say, it's fantastic as far as gameplay goes, so if you have people to play against, awesome...but the single player experience leaves a lot to be desired.

Which is pretty fair; I love how the game looks and plays, but the package could have used better fleshing out to compete with SF4 and BlazBlue.

[sidnotcrazy]

Yeah, the online is tough to deal with, but I can look past it for all the 2d goodness.

QUEESTION, I own the PS3 version, and I have a headset, but rarely ever use it. Is it considered rude to not use it when others do? I just am not used to talking during games, and I say the dumbest things.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Why the hell do you need to download 700+ MB to patch a freakin' fighting game? o_O

[Solertia]

New Facebook note from Ignition: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/note.php?note_id=56659739990&ref=mf

[Bojay1997]

Wow, this is unusual. I can't remember the last time I've seen a publisher publicly say something like this:



(From here (http://bit.ly/10KURF).)

I don't really think we should be applauding the publisher for this. They had an obligation to do some QC/QA on their end before they accepted the game for replication. They were under no obligation to release the game in an unfinished state and yet they did anyway.

[djbeatmongrel]

After 2 days of having this game I don't think it's as bad as most of your are making it out to be. Yes it is barebones. Yes there's some bugs. Yes some characters are absent and others are a bit bare bones.

But what is saving this for me is this: This is the first time since the KoF series inception that the sprites have been completely redone which would make sense that a lot of moves arent there. The other factor is that the gameplay engine is damn good. Its hard to knock the balance this game has.

I'm thinking I may play some KoF 94 to see how this compares.

[Eternal Tune]

After 2 days of having this game I don't think it's as bad as most of your are making it out to be. Yes it is barebones. Yes there's some bugs. Yes some characters are absent and others are a bit bare bones.

But what is saving this for me is this: This is the first time since the KoF series inception that the sprites have been completely redone which would make sense that a lot of moves arent there. The other factor is that the gameplay engine is damn good. Its hard to knock the balance this game has.

I'm thinking I may play some KoF 94 to see how this compares.

/me nods at this

He's a wise man. I played it for a good while yesterday and at first I absolutely hated it. It grew on me a bit, so I guess my feelings can be summed up simply, by saying: "I miss you K'"

[Solertia]

After 2 days of having this game I don't think it's as bad as most of your are making it out to be. Yes it is barebones. Yes there's some bugs. Yes some characters are absent and others are a bit bare bones.

But what is saving this for me is this: This is the first time since the KoF series inception that the sprites have been completely redone which would make sense that a lot of moves arent there. The other factor is that the gameplay engine is damn good. Its hard to knock the balance this game has.

I'm thinking I may play some KoF 94 to see how this compares.

I agree whole-heartedly. Sure, there's room for improvement in other fields, but the mechanics, fluidity, and balance are amazing. I'm having so much fun with this game and can't wait to see what Ignition and SNK add to it.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

New Facebook note from Ignition: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/note.php?note_id=56659739990&ref=mf

Care to replicate it for those of us who don't have Facebook logins/profiles?

[Solertia]

Care to replicate it for those of us who don't have Facebook logins/profiles?

Gladly.

Hello KOFXII Fans:

As we stated yesterday, we are currently in serious talks with SNK PLAYMORE about getting some of the online/netcode and functional concerns addressed as soon as possible. We have also passed along the top DLC requests that the fans are making so they can be very much aware of what people want. Here are some of the requests we have specifically passed along to SNK PLAYMORE:

FUNCTIONAL ISSUES:
1. Netcode performance improvements **HIGHEST PRIORITY**

2. Ability to search for game sessions by connection speeds

3. Adding the ability for players and spectators to quit out of online matches

4. Addition of “kick” or “remove player” option from host lobbies

5. Various game play bugs, including the Raiden/Elizabeth critical combo bug

6. Ability to cancel or back out of the character selection screen


DLC FAN REQUESTS:
Additional Characters (and yes, Mai is on top of the list we provided SNK)
Additional Stages
Ability to Color Edit Characters
Endless Survival Mode
Endless Time Attack Modes
Challenge Mode

We will keep you informed of any progress made with SNK PLAYMORE and we again thank you for the incredible support. We encourage you to continue with the constructive feedback, as we are fans of the series too!

[GarrettCRW]

Care to replicate it for those of us who don't have Facebook logins/profiles?

Relax, Frankie.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Relax, Frankie.

What makes you think I'm not?

I just don't have a Facebook and I was interested in what Ignition have to say.

[Kitsune Sniper]

What makes you think I'm not?

I just don't have a Facebook and I was interested in what Ignition have to say.

You don't need a Facebook account to read the post. Click on the link.

[Solertia]

You don't need a Facebook account to read the post. Click on the link.

No, he was right. When I clicked it to replicate it for him I got hit by the login screen. But relax, guys, it was a humble request and I was happy to grant it.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Odd. I'm not logged into Facebook and didn't get any sort of login screen. Maybe they locked it down after a while?

[Cinder6]

Let's hope we start seeing DLC quickly. Though, honestly, it'll probably be a while until we see anything, if they've not started on fan favorites already (such as Mai). Last I read, it took a single animator a day to complete a frame and a half for a given character.

Hopefully the DLC won't be too expensive. It does feel as though we bought the skeleton of a game, not a complete one (even though it has basically the same features as the arcade games did, minus a million characters). This is probably reinforced by how much stuff BlazBlue has out of the box.

Aside from characters, I'd like an in-game movelist in practice mode!

[Bojay1997]

After 2 days of having this game I don't think it's as bad as most of your are making it out to be. Yes it is barebones. Yes there's some bugs. Yes some characters are absent and others are a bit bare bones.

But what is saving this for me is this: This is the first time since the KoF series inception that the sprites have been completely redone which would make sense that a lot of moves arent there. The other factor is that the gameplay engine is damn good. Its hard to knock the balance this game has.

I'm thinking I may play some KoF 94 to see how this compares.

But the problem is that this was not a discount game like the other SNK collections. This is a full price $60 release and it didn't even include all the freebies that Blaz Blue did for the same price, let alone provide a polished game. I'm sorry, but as someone who has supported SNK for many, many years including buying many AES games at full price on release, I find this totally unacceptable. For $60, you have to have your game at the same level as every other $60 release which means fully working on-line, minimal or no bugs and a full roster of characters. You don't get a pass just because you're SNK or you don't have the same resources you once did. It really makes me sad that people are defending this piece of junk. And yes, I did actually pay full price for this game and I feel really stupid for having done so as it will be in the bargain bin very shortly I'm sure.

[djbeatmongrel]

But the problem is that this was not a discount game like the other SNK collections. This is a full price $60 release and it didn't even include all the freebies that Blaz Blue did for the same price, let alone provide a polished game. I'm sorry, but as someone who has supported SNK for many, many years including buying many AES games at full price on release, I find this totally unacceptable. For $60, you have to have your game at the same level as every other $60 release which means fully working on-line, minimal or no bugs and a full roster of characters. You don't get a pass just because you're SNK or you don't have the same resources you once did. It really makes me sad that people are defending this piece of junk. And yes, I did actually pay full price for this game and I feel really stupid for having done so as it will be in the bargain bin very shortly I'm sure.

I paid full price for it as well and i don't see what the problem is with the title. Yes i like what SNK does but I don't go crazy over them but as someone whos played a shit ton of 2d fighters i don't see the problem with this game. Maybe its because I focus on the fighting and versus play more than I care about story modes with crazy boss battles but the game is solid in a "back to basics" sort of way in that respect. Since it appears they are making an effort to rectify the other problem issues I'm willing to sit back a sec before I piss and moan about being jipped.

[Vlcice]

Bojay, if you're comparing the roster of characters keep in mind KOF XII has almost twice as many characters as BlazBlue. It's not as many as older KOFs, and I would have rather had more as well, but it's not completely barebones.

The online is just not acceptable, though. It's very, very poor performance in its current state. I'll be very upset if this doesn't get fixed. I'm happy I have the game - it's an excellent game played offline - but I don't feel as though I got my money's worth with the broken online since that's a major game feature.

Speaking of online - any Ontario PS3 players here? I've heard that you can sometimes get acceptable performance within the same general area.

Edit:


I paid full price for it as well and i don't see what the problem is with the title. Yes i like what SNK does but I don't go crazy over them but as someone whos played a shit ton of 2d fighters i don't see the problem with this game. Maybe its because I focus on the fighting and versus play more than I care about story modes with crazy boss battles

I agree completely - I really don't understand the complaints about the lack of single player modes. It's a fighting game - the core of the game is its multiplayer. Single-player modes are a bonus, not something you spend most of the game with. The core gameplay is very solid and that's what I expect from a fighting game. (Though I also expect the online multiplayer to work properly! Again, that is something they need to fix soon - I'm glad they're working on it, but it should have been working out of the box.)