The King of Fighters XII



The King of Fighters XII (ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ　トゥエルブ; Za Kingu obu Faitāzu Tūerubu; KOF XII) is to be the next installment of the King of Fighters series. SNK Playmore has announced that it is abandoning the Atomiswave system and is moving its most popular game franchises to the Taito Type X2 arcade system. In addition to KOF XII, KOF Maximum Impact: Regulation A and a new Samurai Shodown game in 3D will be released on the new arcade system. KOF XII is expected to conclude the current saga in the King of Fighters storyline. The game is currently around 70% complete and due to be unveiled to the public in September 2008.

Development
It has also been revealed that the game will undergo a complete graphical overhaul, confirmed by Nona, artist in charge of the art in the The King of Fighters XI endings. All the sprites used in previous games for over 10 years will be dropped and will be replaced with new high definition sprites. The programmers have stated their intention is to create the "ultimate 2D fighting game". Nona reaffirmed this once again in this year's The King Of Fighters Year End Party 2006 in Tokyo.

SNK Overseas Manager Yoshihito Koyama revealed that the game is going to be "3D mixed with 2D"; this led to speculation that the game could use cel-shading to give the game a 2D look, but it was later revealed at AOU 2008 that KOF XII will use newly-drawn 2D sprites on detailed 2D backgrounds. Producer Masaaki Kukino informed Kotaku that the game is one hundred percent hand drawn, there being zero cell shading in the game. He has also stated that the main goal of the game is to give a new "rebirth" to the series. They have no intention of changing the main series into 3D in the future. The staff decided to create the new graphics during 2005 and 2006, and commented that they spent triple the amount of time developing it than the previous game.

On February 14, 2008, the first gameplay footage was revealed to the world showcasing the new, much larger, higher-resolution pixel art sprites at the Arcade Operators Union Amusement Expo (AOU) 2008. The footage also revealed the presences of Benimaru Nikaido, Terry Bogard (reverting to his original Fatal Fury outfit), Athena Asamiya and Kim Kaphwan in KOF XII. A location test was scheduled in Japan for April 18-20, 2008, but was canceled for unknown reasons. No new date for the location test has been set. There has also been an recruiting ad for part-time positions on SNK's Japanese website, asking particularly for a game graphic designer with experience in animation and color design. A playable demo is scheduled for the next AOU on September 18, 2008 and the 2008 Tokyo Game Show on October 9, 2008.

To promote the game, SNK announced a cellphone series called "KOFXII Tokusetsu Corner" for the Yahoo and imode Japanese networks on August 1, 2008. Each volume features original story and bio information for three characters that will be in the game's lineup. The style that these are presented in is similar to the in-game profiles of KOF: Maximum Impact 2.

Confirmed Characters

 * Kyo Kusanagi - no major changes
 * Ash Crimson - new moveset
 * Terry Bogard - pre-KOF 2003 costume
 * Ryo Sakazaki - no major changes
 * Athena Asamiya - Psycho Soldier costume
 * Benimaru Nikaido - new costume
 * Elisabeth Blanctorche - new costume
 * Leona Heidern - new costume
 * Kim Kaphwan - no major changes
 * Goro Daimon - no major changes
 * Ralf Jones - new moveset
 * Iori Yagami - new costume, probably new moveset
 * Shen Woo - no major changes
 * Robert Garcia - pre-KOF 2003 costume