KOF XIII - The speculation begins

[Kain]

The new vids look promising so far. Mai and King look like they're back with a vengeance (just check that Mai juggle combo in the corner and King's lagless Surprise Rose DM). Rumors say that if this KOF isn't profitable, it's the end of the franchise... Which is probably true, considering the abuse XII was on fans.

I think the most important lesson here is: SNK don't listen to your detractors (who bashed the dated graphics), listen to your fans, FFS! Less shiny graphics would mean more characters released.

[[dNs]gamebaka]

I´m hoping DouLon can combo his rekka after cr.lk or cr.lp to built up some extra pressure..

[Yuki Yagami]

Should this be renamed as the KOF XIII Rant Thread, it's up to the mods.

I heard that SSF4 will be released in the Arcades (needs official confirmation yet), do you think this threaten KOF XIII, Arcade performance-wise and Hype-wise?

[PenPen]

It depends, I suppose. The release date is important. I suppose that it's quite possible that both games are going to released at roughly the same time (within 1 month's time from another) but from what I saw over here, KOF and SF are different groups of people and it's not likely that this will affect the other guys.

But my main concern here would be whether XIII can get a better reception than say XI at least. Response to this game is pretty mixed thus far, ranging from eagerly anticipating to "this game sucks because it has XII graphics" or "it's not 2k2" (wut).

[The Master]

Should this be renamed as the KOF XIII Rant Thread, it's up to the mods.

I heard that SSF4 will be released in the Arcades (needs official confirmation yet), do you think this threaten KOF XIII, Arcade performance-wise and Hype-wise?

the rumors seem to be closer to truth,somehow. There's something Henry Cen(owner of CF) isnt telling us. we just know that he's holding cash for super SF IV upgrade kits.

[Toxic Avanger]

I heard that SSF4 will be released in the Arcades (needs official confirmation yet), do you think this threaten KOF XIII, Arcade performance-wise and Hype-wise?

Not at all. If we speak of "immediate" public (aka, japanese arcades), the people that play SF 4 are just the players that haven't ever, never been able to "move on" from the groove of SF 2 (and to certain extent, the early zero games). The people that more or less are playing KoF are mostly the ones that haven't been able to move on from '02, and they aren't really playing XII.

SSF IV really lacks to certain extent the ability to "draw" into a different crowd, even though they are adding a bunch of characters that... Aren't from SF 2, they are so watered down that most u.bber hardcore players from Zero 3 and 3rd S won't bother with the game. Again. But the game will most certainly be more successful than the previous one (which had quite a decent level of success).

Now, the problem that SNK has in comparison, is that KoF XII wasn't being played by the people that "usually play kof" (even 02' UM had that problem to some extent, due to bugs in the machine and some annoying details here and there). Since XIII is more or less established to be another regular style KoF game, the game won't really fetch people that are now mainly playing 3rdS, or real bout 2, or BB or Vampire, or something else. XIII biggest appeal will be to the crowd that is still playing 02' & 02'um right now (and that's enough to be close to the top ten in the arcade, it seems).... It's hard to say if a sudden "return" of old players could drag in new players to the game, and it's really even harder to say if old players will totally switch to this one, since there are yet so many things left to say about the game (unlike SSF IV, which more or less already fleshed out everything it can show).



About the US, I can bet my hat that the game won't hit it big there. Because no KoF does, no matter what, and in the US they don't play anything that doesn't look, taste or play like SF2 so SSF IV is already a hit. Sudamerica is harder to say, because even though there are a lot of players and a lot of money circulating in the arcades right now towards SNK; specially in 2k2 machines, the fact is that the market is just so irregular that we can't say anything.... For example a Taito X2 board with BB was so expensive, that I could rent a good condo for a year instead of buying it. In my country alone most arcades charge 1$ = 6 credits.... They can't afford something of that price, and expect it to pay itself and then rack up profits reasonably quickly unless they charge something like 20 credits the play, and then no one would bother with it.

I can't really say anything about China, Korea, Taiwan and the other countries over there.... Don't they always play KoF there regardless of anything???

[Yuki Yagami]

A Wacky, goofy-ass speculation. Take this as a grain of salt...

http://www.versuscity.net/2010/04/05/in ... ease-date/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

According to my sources, it will be released sometime in July, published by Konami, of all companies. That is all, heh.

July Release, plausible, but KOF XIII being co-published by Konami just made me spit my coffee. Just made me and at the same time.

[Toxic Avanger]

July Release, plausible, but KOF XIII being co-published by Konami just made me spit my coffee. Just made me and at the same time.

Seems to be legit, according to the プロフェッサー it's part of the "buy" notice that is handed to arcade owners. alternative link

[PenPen]

SNK Playmore - finding a new publisher for them every time since KOF XI! Interesting.

[Gojira]

So, K' team speculation incoming.
Assuming it's not some kind of hoax, Maxima seems guaranteed, since there's never been a K' team without him.
As for the third, if we just look at the list of characters K' has previously teamed with, there are a number of candidates:

Whip - Only character with the distinct honor of having been on K' team more than once. XIII could probably use a long-range character, and I'd be interested in seeing her ass wiggle in HQ. Chances: medium-high

Kula - Most recent team-up from XI, family ties with K', and most popular choice among fans, and the most likely addition. Wouldn't add much to the game without a redesign, though. Chances: high

Vanessa - I'd most like to see this one, not only because I like Vanessa but also because her gameplay style would add a hell of a lot to the game. Chances: medium

Ramon - I'd hate it if he made it into the game before Vanessa, but gameplay-wise he'd also have a lot to add. Chances: medium-low

Shingo - I know there are still some Shingo fans out there. He'd probably add the least, but the idea of a Shingo that's not just a Kyo head-swap is intriguing. Chances: medium

Lin - l o l, I'd be surprised if SNKP even remembers his existence at this point. Might be a good chance to redesign him into something more memorable, but it still seems very unlikely. Chances: low

Thoughts?

[SonicTempest]

Apparently Shingo got beaten up pretty badly according to the story stuff posted on the website, though.

What about, er, Nameless or Angel?

[Gojira]

Uh... what? When were they on K's team?

[SonicTempest]

They weren't ever on K's team, but they seem as likely as any other NESTS character to show up, really.

Actually all of this is probably moot since Impress Game Watch posted a direct feed version of the intro and people have spotted a bunch of characters in it:
http://cyberfanatix.com/forums/index.ph ... l#msg15131" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like Hwa Jai, K' and Whip?

[Yuki Yagami]

I do see an underwire frame on the breast area similar to Kula's clothes of the female picture.

In case Whip makes it though, there is a 40% chance that she'll dress up similar to Leona.

Headband, Shirtless, Bald?, Maybe it's Hwa Jai.

[PenPen]

Man, if it's really Hwa Jai I don't know - he's too obscure.

I find the intro (if it's really the game's intro) to be slightly underwhelming, maybe because it's so short. But at least we don't have Powerpoint presentations. The actual animations look pretty smooth.