King Of Fighters [UK]

Small Update from Tokyo

2012-01-10T04:36:00.001Z

Still haven't had much time to do very much gaming related whilst here, did manage to pop into Shinjuku Playland Carnival the other day and played one quick game of XIII.

Beat the guy who was playing and then got no more challenges, seemed like 98 and 02UM were getting played quite a bit though.

As you can see in the opening image they have a dial on the machine so you can pick between Kanto/Kansai/Taiwan button layouts, pretty cool considering I don't like using square configuration.

Managed to pick up a Kensou XIII chibi figure for Y400, did see a few of the other characters in the same shop but the prices were all like Y1000'ish.

Also my friend helped me pick up a Neo Geo CD console plus 94 from a car boot sale for Y1500 (about £12).

Still haven't managed to find work here yet, just moved into a guesthouse last night where I have a deal with the owner to go to his English Cafe 15 days a month to get reduced rent.

It's seriously too cold here, even sleeping with layered clothing and a jacket on and I still wake up bloody freezing in the middle of the night.

Gonna probably go to look for a heater unit today in Don Quijote, should be cheaper than me using the aircon all day.

Hello From Japan

2012-01-02T04:16:00.000Z

Been a while since I　have last post here, I　haven`t forgotten about it, just have not had the time to post anything since I　arrived to Japan last week.

So far I　have had minimal time to play KOF, only trying KOF98UM:FE　at the local Taito Station the other day.

Haven`t seen as much KOF merchandise as I　would have thought but quite a few cheap things, so far I`ve only bought the Elizabeth figure from the KOFXIII　chibi collection, was quite tempted to buy the KOF02 guide for Y350 but decided not to in the end.

Once I　manage to get myself a bit more settled in (and get rid of this bloody flu)　then I will try to post up some pics and visit more arcades.

NESTS Kyo - Random Notes

2011-12-19T19:12:00.003Z

Had a quick chance to test out NESTS Kyo (aka Kyo With The Power Of Fisting) yesterday at the One Month Later event, I believe he is out tomorrow on XBL (maybe PSN too), so just thought I would share my initial notes on what I could test.

He is able to do his rekka punches from light taps (i.e cr.B, cr.A, qcf+A ~etc).

He has his old 97(?)/98 combo cr.B,cr.A -> qcfx2+A/C

He can do his qcf+K~K -> qcf+A -> (delay) into another qcf+A~qcf+A -> (drive cancel) -> qcb, hcf+A/C

Overall he felt a little bit 'floaty' compared to the original XIII Kyo, not sure if this is 100% true or if I was just going crazy on caffeine.

From what I could test his HD Bypass combo (cr.B, cr.A -> qcf+BC) double kick would not work, I've discovered for some reason doing the HD bypass with some characters creates additional delay frames not present normally.This might have just been me being off though, so I will test again when he is released.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to test out any other HD Bypass combos.

Overall I felt I preferred the original XIII Kyo, though I will probably end up buying NESTS Kyo tomorrow anyway.

1up Interviews Takashi Nishiyama

2011-12-15T19:17:00.001Z

Earlier today I found out that 1UP.com has recently interviewed Takashi Nishiyama.

Whilst the article/interview is titled 'The Man Who Created Street Fighter' as you find out in the interview he also was a big part in the development of quite a few of the major SNK fighting game titles, and personally I consider him as one of the 'Fathers of 2D fighting games'.

You can check out the full interview over on 1UP, it's actually pretty rare for him to give an interview so well worth checking out. I know from my own experience it's even difficult to find much information about him searching through Google.

It's interesting that he notes that Fatal Fury was his Street Fighter II, how different that series might have been if he had not left Capcom to work for SNK.

SRK KOFXIII Hyper Guide Wiki

2011-12-13T14:53:00.001Z

Saw this via DreamCancel's forums.

A few of the members over on Shoryuken.com have put together a guide wiki for KOFXIII covering much of the basic, intermediate, and advanced elements of KOFXIII.

Although I have not read the entire thing as of yet (it is fairly extensive), from what I have read it is very good and would be helpful to all levels of players to check it out.

As it is a wiki page I'd imagine it would be updated periodically with fresh discoveries, check it out here.

Also don't forget to check out the various resources on Dreamcancel.com with the character specific subforums and also has a wiki section (not sure if this has been completely updated for console version though).

On a non related note I traded in a load of games over the weekend to put towards an iPad, first thing I had to do was put KOF-i on to it.

Bit difficult to play due to the size of the iPad, but because I can save replays more easily with two KOF-i games I might take the chance to come up with some combo videos when I get the chance.

Iori With The Power Of Flames DLC Out Now

2011-12-06T15:21:00.001Z

Just saw over on Rising Star Games' Facebook page that EX Iori is now available for purchase on XBL Marketplace, not too sure if it is out on PSN today (judging from the EU PSN blog it doesn't look like it is).

Bought an instant code for 400MS from Game's website (£3.50) for free using my Game card points, so I've set it all up so i can download the DLC when I get home tonight.

Also it seem that there will be a poseable figure of Terry Bogard coming out at some point from D-Arts, check out more pics here, not quite my favourite character but hopefully it'll pave the way for a series of poseable KOF characters.(So I can do childish stuff like the image below.)

(Sodomy)

KOFXIII Colour Edit - (Clark) DUFFMAN OHHH YEAHH!!

2011-12-05T23:27:00.000Z

During the stream for SouthTown Arcade's ranking battle last night a few of the members of the chat room were speaking about creating a Duffman version of Clark.

Thinking about it, the idea was a perfect fit for Clark so after work today I decided to give it a try and came up with the above colour edit. Just a bit of a shame you can't edit a red cape on to Clark. xD

Upcoming December KOFXIII UK Tournaments.

2011-11-30T12:29:00.001Z

Seems like KOFXIII is picking up fairly quickly in the UK, with tournaments being announced thick and fast, bit of a shame that as KOF has finally started to become popular here that I'm going to be out of the bloody country for a year... =_=

But still, great times for the other UK KOF players and of course for the community as a whole.

Coming up this weekend -

Nth Gen / Neo Empire @ London Gaming Con (3-4th December)

Then up in Scotland they will be starting their Ranking Battles on KOFXIII starting the 8th December.

And finally the One Month Later tournament held by EX Dragon Project on the 18th December.

Of these I am aiming to attend the One Month Later tournament, even though I would love to enter them all I still have loads to pack away and things to sort out...Stressful month... =_=

Fio - Metal Slug - 1/8 Scale Figure [Embrace Japan]

2011-11-28T18:11:00.001Z

Saw this over on TinyCartridge just now.

A figure of Fio from Metal Slug, as well as a mini Metal Slug tank and mini prisoner, made by Embrace Japan.

From the information I can find via Google it should be about 20cm tall, and according to the listing on Playasia it will be released next March.

Considering when I used to play Metal Slug X on a weekly basis that my main character was Fio, and the fact that I should be able to pick it up while in Japan, I feel inclined to buy this.

Also not many official Metal Slug figures (that I know of) have been produced, my friend managed to find one of Marco at a car boot sale but wouldn't sell it to me. =_=

KOF02/KOFXIII - A Kuso Introduction To BC/HD Bypass Technique

2011-11-28T17:00:00.000Z

Finally decided to make the video public after a few edits here and there, there's not much else I could think to add but if then if there is later I could always just make another video.

Pretty much I decided to make this video after discovering BC bypass worked in this game as well, and as when originally learning KOF02 a few years ago this was how I learnt to get used to the BC combo system I thought it would be useful for some of the newer players to know about it.

Something introduced in XIII though is the ability to EX BC bypass, as you can see in the video with Clark the result can be quite devastating.

Hopefully I'll get the chance to make a couple of more videos before I head off to Japan.

KOFXIII Console Version - Day Four

2011-11-28T03:48:00.000Z

Spent most of today working on the BC Bypass video i mentioned in the previous entry, going to check it again tomorrow to see if I've made any mistakes before publishing it to the public. For now you can check out a preview of it here.

Also as you can see from the opening images I also worked on a 'B.Jenet' colour scheme for Mai today.

As I seem to remember B.Jenet was supposed to be like the 'replacement' character for Mai in MoTW so I thought it was fitting to create a colour scheme for this. It's also made picking Mai a bit more interesting for me.

I've not made many other colour edits today, I think the only one I REALLY wanted to make since before the game came out was nude raiden and I've already done that so have run out of ideas. xD

KOFXIII Console Version - Day Two/Three

2011-11-26T23:20:00.000Z

I've pretty much been playing in whatever spare time outside of work so forgot to post up last night.

Found out you could edit the colours of Yuri's bottom area to skin colour, as well as her bra, so that had to be done.

Also finally got enough colours to attempt a Ninja Turtles version of the FF Villains Team.

Was supposed to be spending my day packing away my belongings today, but ended up working on a BC bypass video. There's still more work to be done on it but you can check the first version of it here.

Any feedback on it would be great, it kind of makes sense to me but I also know that I'm not very good at explaining things xD

Had a quick run through of Story Mode today as well, not as impressive as I would have though but not too bad either. I didn't particularly like the lack of animation, especially after seeing the cut scenes from the Arcade version. (They do throw these in to Story Mode though.)

Also browsed through the Art CD that came with the PAL version, contains about 4 folders with some of the artwork that i believe is from the Japanese preorder phone cards, the original sketch work, and a few wallpapers for PC desktops. It also includes a combo video produced by the guys over on eLive.

At some point I will upload the contents of the Art disc but not for a while, as I think people who can buy the PAL version should do.

Haven't had any more play time online since Thursday, should probably get back to packing to be honest. xD

KOFXIII Console Version - Day One

2011-11-25T04:22:00.002Z

Just wanted to share my first colour edit and a quick impression of the netcode before i popped off to bed. (Almost 4:30am here...)

Netcode so far I've found 2 bars to be a bit similar to 02UM's level of input lag, and 3 bars a bit more playable but still slight delays. Both online sessions I played with players in the UK.

Still I am enjoying the game so far.

KOFXIII - Console Version ! \o/

2011-11-24T17:58:00.001Z

I received both of my copies of KOFXIII earlier today both without the preorder CD, apparently they are being sent out seperately...But an e-mail I receieved from Shopto seems to say that i might only get one set instead of two. =_= I've sent an e-mail to them so hopefully they'll clarify what's going on.

So far I've only played through the game once, unlocking Saiki along the way (apparently you just have to complete as many target actions as possible by the time you finish the third match in arcade mode).

I did get in a little bit of practice mode, discovering you can do quick maxes (inputting a special move whilst pressing B+C to get the special move and BC activate at the same time).

I also discovered how horrendously bad the lag is on my TV, struggling to do st.B -> st.C with Clark. =_=

Once I get home tonight I will be spending a little more time in practice mode and hopefully testing the netcode on Xbox Live, will try to write a bit more later if I can.

KOFXIII - Fanta Stick PX / US KOFXIII -360 - Region Free

2011-11-18T12:15:00.003Z

Playasia now has stock of the KOFXIII Edition of the Fanta Stick PX, according to the product description it has compatibility with both Xbox360, PS3, and also PC.

At £64 it is not a bad price for a stick that is dual supported right out of the box, although shipping seems to be quite high at £48 for Fed Ex. (No ordinary shipping options appear to be available on this item.)

If I wasn't heading out to Japan next month I'd probably consider importing it, hopefully I'll be able to find it at some point whilst I am there.

Also confirmed by Playasia is that the US version of KOFXIII for 360 is region free.

Apologies for the lack of blog updates lately, as I mentioned I am currently preparing to spend a year in Japan so I have had quite a lot of things to sort out and pack away. =_=

[Edit]: As pointed out to me by Gunsmith, you can find more details about this stick on Gammac's website, which shows all the features of this stick as well as images of it's internal parts.

KOFXIII - Neo Magazine Review

2011-11-11T18:01:00.002Z

Just a quick note to mention that the thread on Neo-Geo.com regarding the review of KOFXIII in Neo Magazine has been updated with a few images.

Also SNKPlaymore updated the official KOFXIII blog yesterday with some details about the game's Network and Replay Mode. (Translation available via MMCafe.)

ON Show 23 - This Saturday (Tomorrow)

2011-11-11T14:13:00.000Z

I will be joining Gunsmith, and Cristina, on the Orochinagi Show tomorrow where we will be streaming live footage of KOFXIII.

Amongst the things we should be showing are basic character tactics/'tutorials'.

I will be demonstrating with Athena, and a joint demonstration with Gunsmith about Clark.

Check out Orochinagi for more details, and the actual stream will be running on General Skirmish's Twitch channel.

MCM Expo - KOFXIII Tournament - Semi Final pt.1

2011-11-09T20:10:00.000Z

Gamespot uploaded the matches from the MCM Expo to their Youtube channel a couple of days ago, only just found out whilst browsing through Neo-Geo.com's forums.

The uploads include the missing video from the archived stream, where I played MichelS in the semi finals.

Also seen on Neo-Geo.com's forums is that the latest issue of Neo Magazine (no relation to Neo Geo) contains a feature on KOFXIII, according to the topic creator it is a four page spread/review.

If I get the chance I will try to browse through (maybe buy if I have the spare cash) at some point during the weekend.

Usagi - New Elisabeth Cosplay Photo

2011-11-07T18:17:00.000Z

Usagi has just uploaded a new photo of an Elisabeth cosplay to her Cure page.

Also whilst browsing through her gallery again today I found an older photo with her cosplaying a Maximum Impact version of Athena. <3

In unrelated news I went to pick up the results of my working holiday visa to Japan today, and my application was successful. So I will be off to Japan for a year from the 27th December, all I have to hope for now is that the £ -> Yen exchange rate improves before I go !

DontDropThatCombo - EX Iori

2011-11-04T17:47:00.000Z

Dontdropthatcombo has updated his Youtube channel with a special EX Iori combo showcase, amongst the things shown you can see his tap -> scumgale, and his EX hcb+KK blowing them up on the floor. (This is also shown in a video uploaded by EXDragonProject, see second video.)

I'm liking the hcb+K -> DC -> scumgale.

KOFXIII - Wednesday Brawl - GamerBase Live Stream

2011-11-02T19:23:00.003Z

Streaming right now @ http://www.twitch.tv/exdragonproject

[Edit]: I ended up heading out to Gamer Base after work since I finished work earlier than usual, and although I did not enter the tournament I did play a few casuals.

Unfortunately the machine which was being used for casual matches did not have Saiki, Billy or EX Iori unlocked for play, the machines used for the tournament did have them, so I did not get the chance to test out much new things.

Cristina did tell me however that it is possible to do tap -> scumgale with EX Iori, as she had tried it out.

I mainly started to learn how to use Daimon and messed around a little bit with his dp+K -> Super cancel -> heaven to hell (hcbx2+P).

After heading home I watched the end of the stream, which you can watch the archived version of here.

Watch live video from EXDRAGON Project on Justin.tv

KOFXIII Official Blog Update - Console Changes pt.4

2011-11-02T17:58:00.000Z

The next part of the console changes have gone up on the Official KOXIII blog, an English translation is available over on MMCafe's front page.

From what I've been reading on forums, the reaction is that Kensou has been considerably buffed although I'm not too sure considering I still haven't worked out how to play Kensou in XIII yet.

Duo Lon is also looking quite interesting, possibly the closest thing I am going to get to Lin in this game, so I might try to pick him up at some point.

Finally a video I watched a couple of weeks back but forgot to post, a great match on KOF02UM featuring Kyappu.

KOFXIII Sprites / Backgrounds

2011-11-01T15:07:00.000Z

As you may have noticed I changed my blog's banner last night. As Raiden's drop kick was a point of personal obsession for a while I have dedicated it to (some of) the wonderful drop kicks of KOFXIII.

The sprites themselves come from a site called Logical Bends (click here for sprites), which i found via MMCafe's forums.The great thing about these sprite rips is that they are all on a transparent background, so are perfect for creating avatars/sigs/banners without having to manually remove white backgrounds.

Not all characters are available currently but there is enough there to have some fun with editing character sprites.

Here's one i made earlier:

As seen via DreamCancel's forums a dub of the third place match from MCM Expo, which made me laugh quite a bit.

And finally over an hour's worth of footage from France of the console version where you can check out various console exclusive changes in action:

As noted by SABCA in the video comments -

Saiki Cancel Combo at 32:20
Hwa Jai using Drink Mid combo at 33:44
New Benimaru Pressure, setup, combos 1:11:34
Use of Duo's new-style f+AC for combo extension: 1:12:20
Hwa Jai's new-to-console pressure strings: 1:18:20
Goro's new Throw Super Cancel in action! 1:20:50
Vice with the new Splash -> Overkill Cancel: 1:22:20

MCM Expo Day Two - A Quick Look

2011-10-30T23:15:00.002Z

MCM Expo is over for another year, a great event for KOF this year, and I really enjoyed this expo. Normally I tend to just go to look at people's costumes and buy a few Dragon Ball or One Piece figures, this year was completely spent playing KOFXIII.

If you never caught the live stream earlier you can check out the archived version from EX Dragon Project's Twitch.TV page.

Watch live video from EXDRAGON Project on Justin.tv
(If the video doesn't load, click on the little URL below it to watch it directly on twitch.tv)

For some reason my first match versus MichelS isn't included, I picked Saiki in those matches, I'll have to check with Gunsmith or the Dragon Twins to find out whether they recorded it or not.

If you're wondering why my eyes twitch so often it's because my eyesight is pretty bad, I should really get new glasses but I'd rather spend my money on games and toys. xD

The prizes for Top 4 were:

4th Place - KOF2006 CD
3rd Place - The 100 Mega Shock - Neo Geo 20th Anniversary - Cospa Tshirt
2nd Place - Neo Geo Stick 3 (PS3 Version)
1st Place - PS2 Orochi Collection, special edition with Neo Geo Stick 2.

I managed to come third place.

Of the things I tested with EX Iori:

I still couldn't get tap -> scumgale to work.
cr.B, cr.A -> Maiden masher, works with all strengths of the super including EX version.

With Clark, as you can see on the stream footage you can do his cancel into his super from EX grab -> elbow drop. I experimented a little more with this after the tournament, testing a simple HD combo.

st.C (2 hits) -> HD Activate -> st.C (1 hit) -> EX grab -> elbow drop -> grab super -> Neo Max.

For your four bars, plus HD meter, i think it was around 870 damage or so. (I can't remember if I saw that damage with his EX super instead of the normal one, which would be 5 bars total.)

I also tested his EX grab -> elbow -> EX grab super, which did around 450 damage.

And lastly I tested: cr.B, cr.A -> ch.back~forward+A -> DC (You have to cancel before the hit that knocks the opponent up) -> EX grab -> elbow drop -> grab super.

With Saiki the only new thing i discovered was about jump.C -> f+B (i think that's the command, the air ballerina kick that moves forward), those two hits put the opponent into enough hit stun that you can follow up with his flash kick super (qcfx2+K) without hitting them again when you land.

Thanks to Gunsmith, Rising Star Games, and EX Dragon Project for running the KOFXIII tournament, was a tiring weekend (luckily I've booked a day off work tomorrow!) but was a lot of fun.

Gonna finish up with a few photos.

MCM Expo Day One - A Quick Look

2011-10-29T20:24:00.000+01:00

So I've just gotten back from day one of the MCM Expo where KOFXIII was being previewed, the latest build including EX Iori and some of the new changes shown in the latest SNKP videos.

Of the things that i had the chance to test I can confirm in this build at MCM you could do Clark's EX command grab -> Elbow follow up -> Super Grab. So I'd imagine this is getting pretty much as close as playing on the final game before it ships next month.

Slowdown in previous builds was not present as far as I am aware, did not notice it at all.

Loading times I did not notice, so must have been pretty good.

As Ex Iori was playable I spent most of my time trying to figure out how he plays in this game.

Of the things so far that I have discovered:

From a standing weak punch it seems he cannot chain it into scumgale (his command grab), i tested this with the weak punch version, hard punch version, and the EX version. All strengths of it whiffed after the light punch. As I seem to remember this was possible in older games.

He has a very simple combo where you can do qcb+p x2 -> DC -> EX qcb+PP x2 -> maiden masher.

Like older games it is possible to do cr.B, cr.A -> qcb+Ax3

His qcfx2+P super is possible to chain from cr.B, cr.A.

I seem to remember you can chain his maiden masher from cr.B, cr.A but i can't remember for sure or what strength of the super you needed to do. It's something I'll have to look at again tomorrow if I have the chance.

His EX fireball has some start up but 'poisons' and locks the opponent like his older fireball super.

The EX version of his hcb+KK seems to stay in one place like Kyo but I couldn't determine whether it gained command grab properties like Kyo. I seem to remember someone was able to guard it, but I will have to check this again if I can.

I did not film any footage as I was helping to run a group in the tournament, I believe half of the groups were being run through a stream (check Orochinagi.com for more details).

I managed to barely scrape my way into first place of my group, losing one match but then winning the tie breaker against the same opponent, not too sure who I will be playing tomorrow in the quarter finals but hopefully I manage to get at least into Top 4. (And hopefully I'll manage to wake up in time tomorrow xD)

Pretty tired from standing up all day (tournament was run with sticks sitting on something like a small pillar, so even playing you had to stand up!) and hungry so gonna finish up here and run out to buy something to eat.

Any questions about EX Iori, or anything that you would like me to have a look at then let me know. I will try to test more out tomorrow but because I will be playing in the tournament there is no guarantee that I can try everything out.

Hopefully if they stream my match tomorrow you can see a little bit of EX Iori as I will be picking him again tomorrow. SOSHITE SHINE !!