KOF XIII 6th General Thread: Console Released edition

[solidshark]

I have a question for Biobooster and everyone who's familiar with the Tokyo scene.

I am going to be in Tokyo for a week in late march.  What arcades do you guys think have the better competition in KOF?  I know the taito station in shinjuku is the mecca for SF, is there an equivalent for KOF?

Also how far away is shinjuku to akihabara?

Hey Freddie. My memory of Tokyo and Akihabara is hazy (expect how awesome it was), but the distance from Shinjuku to Akihabara by subway is probably 45 minutes, or shorter.

I remember Club SEGA having quite a few SNK cabs that people played often, and I'm sure someone might still be playing a 98, 02, or XIII version, at least before they get Climax.

It's been years since I've been back, so don't take everything as fact. Hope Bio will be on real soon to give you concrete answers.

[BioBooster]

I have a question for Biobooster and everyone who's familiar with the Tokyo scene.

I am going to be in Tokyo for a week in late march.  What arcades do you guys think have the better competition in KOF?  I know the taito station in shinjuku is the mecca for SF, is there an equivalent for KOF?

Also how far away is shinjuku to akihabara?

Hey Freddie. My memory of Tokyo and Akihabara is hazy (expect how awesome it was), but the distance from Shinjuku to Akihabara by subway is probably 45 minutes, or shorter.

I remember Club SEGA having quite a few SNK cabs that people played often, and I'm sure someone might still be playing a 98, 02, or XIII version, at least before they get Climax.

It's been years since I've been back, so don't take everything as fact. Hope Bio will be on real soon to give you concrete answers.

Hey LazieFreddy, never saw ur original post.

TBH, I don't know the arcade scene incredibly well, but heard Shinjuku has an arcade where a lot of top players would go and I used to play KOF at Taito Hey arcade in Akihabara as that's somewhat close to work.

I'm interested to know how many arcades still have cabs atm after the console release. Will let you know about Hey arcade as I think I may be checking that out some point soon.

On place I recommend is Shibuya Kaikan near Shibuya station. I use to go there often back in the day due to it's five floors worth of games and bc they have a ton of fighters. I bet XIII would still be there for sure. Players are generally strong at Shibuya Kaikan bc most cabs at that arcade are half price of other arcades to play so peeps flock over there..... just checked their site as I was typing this. They still have XIII and it is 50 yen (half) so you may be good there.

Dunno if this is great info, but hope it helps.

[LazieFreddy]

Thanks solidshard and biobooster.  I am very excited for the trip!!  At first I was planning to do sightseeing and shopping for the whole week, but upon hearing about KOFXIII Climax, I think I will spend a large portion of time in the arcades.

p.s. after a little digging, it seems that the shinjuku carnival is where dune and other top players hang out.

[BioBooster]

No worries bro.

The release date for Climax hasn't been announced yet. The stuff you heard about was for the loke-test.

Doesn't mean people won't be populating vanilla XIII cabs tho. A number of good players supposedly don't own consoles so they may be back at it in prep for climax.

[LazieFreddy]

Yeah, I know it's still in location test, but I figured it will be release by late march.  After all, the game is done, they have little work to do.

[BioBooster]

Nice, I'm hopeful of that too.

[meiji_99]

i don't know if this are already posted here or not

interview with xian (singaporean player)

http://orochinagi.com/2012/02/interview-dm-xian

enjoy guys :D.

[affinity]

KOFXIII producer doesn't know what to develop next?  
http://www.speksnk.org/foro/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=74471&p=585471#p585465

For real????  It's insane they don't realize what they have in their hands. I mean seriously, a KOFXIV dreammatch building off of KOFXIII's content and gameplay is painfully the most obvious and best path for SNKP.

KOF is the bread and butter of SNKP in the mainstream gaming market, and even though Metal Slug may arguably have sold more, Metal Slug doesn't have the charisma and popularity that KOF brings to arcades and consoles. And it's not like you're gonna see a game like Metal Slug at EVO (Mr KOF would probably win the Metal Slug tournament anyway.)

Also a new Fatal Fury would lack the diversity that KOF brings. I mean really, a new Fatal Fury would have even less characters than KOF12. If they want to maintain KOFXIII quality standards, it's such a waste that a guy in that position wouldn't take advantage of the momentum KOF has now thanks to KOFXIII, and make a KOFXIV dream match, potentially increasing the fighting selection by at least 1.5 times.

And that would give KOFXV (the start of next saga) a headstart in playable teams. It's just insane the KOFXIII producer doesn't take advantage of KOF's momentum and foundation they established now. KOFXIV could add Agents Team, Yamazaki, Rugal, Geese, a new Outlaw team, the anti-Kyokugen Team reunited, so many possibilities!

yea I know Garou fans want a MOTW2, but is that really going to make as much sales and get as much attention as a KOFXIV?     Not. at. all.

It's like if Capcom made a Darkstalkers after Street Fighter 4 instead of Super Street Fighter 4. No matter the gameplay and quality, it would still not deliver as much impact as a superior update to a superior franchise, and KOF is SNKP's #1 fighting franchise, even outside latin america.

While MOTW was sinking, KOF was always there to keep the SNKP fighting division afloat.
That KOF producer really REALLY isn't thinking straight and could end up wasting time and money on smaller projects (going back to things like Fatal Fury is like leaving the Major Leagues for the Minor Leagues.)   KOF needs a producer that thinks big for the series and has true passion for KOF's expanding and persistent future.

I mean seriously, when the team that made KOF97 was done, they were already planning for KOF98 DM.  How is KOF to expand and improve sooner if it's left on the wayside after it's only recently regained respect with KOFXIII, after the series plummeted during KOF12, which struggled to make a foundation for a new gen of KOFs?

[JennyCage]

KOFXIII producer doesn't know what to develop next?  
http://www.speksnk.org/foro/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=74471&p=585471#p585465

For real????  It's insane they don't realize what they have in their hands. I mean seriously, a KOFXIV dreammatch building off of KOFXIII's content and gameplay is painfully the most obvious and best path for SNKP.

KOF14 dreammatch is what all my KOF friends want.  If they could make the roster on the scale of 2002UM while maintaining balance and not fundamentally changing what makes 13 great, it would be absolutely amazing.  I really hope at least some part of SNK continues development of KOF using 13's engine.

[fujifujifujifuji]

Well they have those "Sister Quest' games, it's a pachislot with rpg elements. They can always expand them into proper games, like an action Rpg sorta like Kimino Yushaa, I like it. It's high time SNK pops out some original IPs.

But KOF XIV so soon? hmmm....maybe, but will it use the same system as KOF XIII? it'll come under fire from critics. But it's a good system and I think if they can find a way to expand it, it'll be better. But I wanted some new weapon-based fighting games! a new Samurai Spirit or Last Blade, I mean there's no 2D samurai fighting games yet out there for the next-gen. With the proper atmospheric musics, classic slow but deadly gameplay plus some Overkill fatalities, I think a new Sam-Sho will be a better option compared to cultivating a reputation of churning KOFs all the time.

Point is: I'm not too terribly excited over KOF XIV compared to other SNK games they could've been working on.

[Running Wild]

I want to see KOFXIII GROW in the competitive play field before we see a KOFXIV. It's way too early to be talking about a XIV.

I'd rather a Garou sequel or a new 2D HD Samurai Shodown as the next game. Garou needs a sequel badly, but so does Samurai Shodown... that Edge Of Destiny game was pitiful, didn't SNK learn anything after Warriors Rage? Plus Garou's story still hasn't been dissolved yet, and there is alot of potential for the series.

[LouisCipher]

Pretty much. You can't rush out another sequel in a year or two. I would expect a 14 in around 3-4 years. Otherwise you oversaturate the market, just look at Capcom.

We can only hope that with Evo exposure that 13 will get even more tournament play and participation. A Garou 2 or new Samurai Shodown, a TRUE Samurai Shodown, would do wonders for SNKP.

[JennyCage]

Pretty much. You can't rush out another sequel in a year or two. I would expect a 14 in around 3-4 years. Otherwise you oversaturate the market, just look at Capcom.

To be fair, Capcom is at the height of its popularity despite flooding the market with games every six months.  Case in point, Wired recently did an article about Southtown Arcade and mentioned Capcom games like ten times, mentioned KOF/SNK zero times.  And the arcade is called Southtown!  Think about that for a minute.

I loved Samurai Shodown, MOTW and Last Blade 2, but I think KOF is SNK's breadwinner and if they are (were?) in financial trouble, it doesn't make sense taking a risks with less known, less popular and less developed IPs.

13's engine is too great to not include other classic and beloved characters from past KOFs.  Here's hoping for 2 years of development at most before we see 14.   

[Running Wild]

That's the thing though, Samurai Shodown is not a lesser known, less popular, or less developed IP.

It's fucking Samurai Shodown. Before KOF, it was SNK's biggest hit. Samurai Shodown was the game that got SNK on the fighting map.

[LouisCipher]

^ That's definitely true. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/top-10-gt-countdown/47398

Samurai Shodown came in at number 3 on that list. And from what I understand Samurai Shodown 2 was the most popular fighter in Asia in it's time, eclipsing ST.

A new game with refined mechanics and balance plus MK-style gore would do real well.