The three other titles going to XBLA are NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, The King of Fighters 2002: Ultimate Match, and KOF Sky Stage. Then SNK will finish The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match for summer 2010.

Siliconera says that, while the release windows have only been announced for Japan, in the past SNK's Xbox Live Arcade games have arrived in North America and Europe the same time they release in Japan, whether or not they're fully translated.

More Metal Slug And King of Fighters For Xbox Live Arcade [Siliconera]

This figure, by A-Label, will be out next year in Japan. It stands at around 30cm high, and you should be able to import it for around USD$80-90. You want buttons, you gotta buy them yourself, so that's extra.

So is Terry Bogard — but back to Mai. In this arcade title, she'll be flying over freeways, throwing fans and appearing in countless merchandise. Have you ever tried to count Mai merchandise? You can't. It's impossible. I tried.

『KOF SKY STAGE』にテリー＆舞が参戦！ [Kotaku Japan]

The piece will retail for ¥8,800 (US$97) and will be out this November. This is a production sample, and the final product might be slightly different.

Samurai Showdown [DannyChoo]

The run-and-gun is a reworking of sorts of Nintendo DS game Metal Slug 7. While SNK is claiming that this is a brand new title, there does seem to be a series of kwinky-dinks regarding graphics and levels that lead us to believe otherwise.

What's more, the 4:3 aspect ration seems odd, no? Wouldn't SNK want full screen for a PSP title? Kinda like they ported over the DS code, no?

Still! There are a slew of mini-games (70, actually) as well as ad-hoc co-op play. Watch the trailer above.

But before that, here is a game trailer.

This is the 15th anniversary of the Samurai Shodown series, and the game is packed with 24 fighters. The title is being developed by K2 LLC, the developer behind Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven.

Ray discusses stunt work, his faithfulness to the character, and some of the other roles he's taken on in the past in this interview, but by far the most interesting bits come at the very beginning, as he does ADR work for Rugal Bernstein, the boss character and host of the King of Fighters tournament. Not the highest quality dialogue there, but the movie has Maggie Q as Mai Shiranui, so I'm going to watch it regardless. I just might pause a bit more than usual.

Looks like, well, a shooter. Though, connoisseurs will want to know if this lives up to something from CAVE — heck, I wanna know!

The title is playable at the Amusement Machine Show in Japan. The game runs on TAITO Type X arcade hardware. Kotaku Japan had a chance to check the title out.

More vids in Kotaku Japan's TwitVid feed.

ウワサの『KOF SKY STAGE』、その全容（動画あり）［第47回AMショー］ [Kotaku Japan]

The patch fixes in-game issues such as buggy character combos and optimizes online matches. This update fundamentally changes the way game data is processed and synchronized during online matches, placing greater importance on the game's response time and allowing for much smoother play," states SNK Playmore.

"It also prevents the player from experiencing slowdown during an online match when connections are less than optimal."

Other issues that are rectified include the in-game antenna icon displayed during online battles and chat capability restrictions.

An update for the Xbox 360 version will be available "very soon".

Rather, we've got 22cm statues of KOFXII's Elizabeth Blanctorche and Mature. Both are priced at ¥10,500 (US$112). Both are out September 20. Both are not Mai Shiranui.

Volks KOFXII 1/6 Elizabeth Blanctorche resin kit and Volks 1/6 Mature KOF2002UM resin kit [Tokyo Hunter]

For those just coming to the series, The King of Fighters XII is a four-button, three-on-three fighter. Unlike Street Fighter, a series KOF is inevitably compared to, there are only two punch buttons (light and heavy) and two kick buttons (ditto). And unlike Capcom's brawler, players select a trio of characters before battling their foes. This system has always given the franchise a faint whiff of chess-like strategy as players try to mix and balance their portfolio of combatants.

Since SNK's financial woes caused the company to implode, there's a scrappy underdog quality to the game. The King of Fighters XII, with its lovingly hand-drawn graphics, was supposed to put SNK back on top of the fighting game genre. But is it a knock-out or just punch drunk?

Loved
Graphics: Since the game is, as SNK has claimed, a rebirth of sorts, the character models were all redrawn by hand. At its very core, this is an old-school arcade fighter — an arcade fighter in an HD world. So, yes, up close, some of the graphics do look pixelated, but that could very well be the point. And since when is pixelated a pejorative term? This game is beautiful.

Fighting is fun: It is, it really is. The basic fightinh mechanics are straightforward and intuitive and the new additions like the "Critical Counter" system keeps gameplay evolving during the match. After countering with a heavy punch, the Critical Counter System can cause your health bar to glow green and unleash a series of deadly combos. Likewise, the "Clash System" for when players attack at exactly the same time, causing them to clash and be knocked back to a fighting stance. The line-up of 22 fighters—while skimpier than the majority of KOF games and harboring glaring omissions—is rather balanced, making team building a cinch.

Hated
Needs more frills: The game is pretty much fighting, and that's pretty much it. There isn't really a story — the semblance of a plot is just that there is a fighting tournament, here is the final match, congratulations, the end. Well, that's totally fine for an arcade title. But if you are playing KOFXII in an arcade, you must likely won't be investing US$60 worth of quarters in the game. The offline single player is an arcade port, but without a proper story mode, the ability to unlock new characters and the addition of only two more fighters, the home console version seems rather light, unfinished even. The entire game is pared down to the fighting. That's the main focus, and that's fine for the arcade title, but at this game's price point, it needs better value for money.

Online is a hassle: Since single player is so skimpy, you'd think this game would nail online. Sadly, it doesn't. There are, however, cool and very welcome options like the ability to create a clan. But the simple act of getting online and punching some stranger in the face is far more complicated than it should be. It's sometimes hard to find matches. When we were able to finally get online, there were a few moments were we felt like we were fighting in jelly.

Menus are not user friendly: Outside of the main menu, none of the submenus seem intuitive. For example, once you began searching for a match, you cannot leave the pre-fight lobby area — say you cannot find a match or you end up sitting in the lobby area for inordinate amount of time, there is no way to easily leave this lobby. We pressed all the buttons and nothing would happen! Why can't the start button take us out of that menu? Each time we had to turn off the game and sit through the 20 seconds of game credits at the beginning. Know that these are credits that you cannot skip.

The fighting in The King of Fighters XII is solid, and the graphics are great. It's as if those are at the expense of everything else, like online multiplayer, story mode, a beefier line-up of fighters and even a worthwhile interface.

The King of Fighters XII is definitely a re-birth, but this game is a 15 year franchise in its infancy, finding its feet and learning how to walk again. Is KOF back on top? No. But this latest installment shows the series can eventually make its way back up the hill.

The King of Fighters XII was developed by SNK Playmore and published by Ignition Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 on July 28. Retails for $59.99 USD. Played single player on both platforms to completion as well as online.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

While making the game, SNK illustrator Eisuke Ogura says that the director obviously kept giving the team feedback. According to Ogura, Athena's character design is drastically most different. When they started to draw her, they kept getting comments like, "She let her smile!" or "Make her legs fatter!" or simply "Fatter!"

And Ogura said they revised her character design many times over until the design that appears in KOF12 was reached. At least they didn't change her loafers!

『ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ XII 』　アテナのデザインが大幅に変わった理由 [はちま起稿]

That wasn't the only problem with KOFXII, though.

There is a glitch which is caused when Raiden and Elisabeth battle it out, and a specific move causes her to go buggy. The next KOFXII patch will address this issue. According to a statement by the game's developer SNK:

This week's launch of THE KING OF FIGHTERS XII represents the culmination of four years of hard work to deliver a rebirth for the KOF franchise, but several key issues have arisen since its release that must be addressed. Rest assured that SNK PLAYMORE is fully committed to supporting the King of Fighters XII community by working to further improve the gameplay experience.

We're pleased to announce that the next software update will address the animation glitch that users have encountered in which Elisabeth's character sprite becomes "frozen" for the duration of the round when the character Raiden performs a specific move on her.

While software update solutions are being devised, we can offer some tips to those users who are experiencing exceptionally poor online performance. First, we suggest limiting the number of players in a room to two, as the addition of a spectator with a slow connection can currently create latency for all users in the room. Also, if your Internet connection is configured behind a firewall using NAT Type 3, we recommend reconfiguring your setup to utilize NAT Type 1 (for PS3) or an "open" setting (for Xbox 360).

Also, we'd like to take this opportunity to explain one feature of the Xbox 360 version. When playing online with the Xbox 360 version of KOF XII, players who continually battle the same opponent in multiple Ranked Matches in the same lobby will not receive additional True Skill Rank Points. This is an intentional decision to keep players from abusing the system to reap massive rewards by preying on one player. If you want to earn True Skill Rank Points, you must make a new room or leave simply leave the room and come back.

SNK will get this game fixed, one a patch at a time.

King of Fighters XII: SNK Announcement: Direct Translation [Facebook]

This clip is of fighter Raiden and glitching it up at around the 1:10 mark while doing a Critical Counter combo. To be fair, this is the PS3 version, which has gotten patched, which hopefully fixes this problem (and other problems as well).

The Xbox 360 version still has yet to be patched.

The King of Fighters 2002 was released back in, wait for it, 2002 in arcades. This past February, SNK released a remake of the 3-on-3 fighter called The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match for the PS2.

Unlimited Match won't only be making its way to Xbox Live Arcade, but the KoF 2002 remake will be remaking its way back to actual Japanese arcades.

Starting this week, an game center version of The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match will be available for play in The Land of the Rising Sun.

The reason? According to the Japanese press release, this has been decided so that the SNK can improve the title.

The 100 percent hand-drawn The King of Fighters XII was released in Japanese arcades this past April.

We are following up to see how this effects the Western release date.

One of the best Dreamcast releases comes to the North American Xbox Live Arcade this week in Garou: Mark of the Wolves. The latest title in the Fatal Fury series, Garou oozes with style and technical proficiency, making it one of my favorite entries in the storied series and online play only makes it sweeter.

For those of you who prefer to use your brains over your brawn, Droplitz is a puzzle game developed by Blitz Arcade and published by Atlus, marking the latter's first foray onto Xbox Live Arcade. The goal is simple: get your Droplitz to the end of the pipeline but turning pipes and twisting dials, mastering combos in order to bring multiple Droplitz home at once.

Both games will be available on Wednesday for 800 points apiece, barring any Xbox Live explosions.

The game was originally released in Japan back in 1999 and in the U.S. as Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves. It's the final Fatal Fury title.

The LIVE version will feature online matching for that versus arcade experience.

Xbox LIVE アーケード向け『餓狼MARK OF THE WOLVES』は2009年6月24日から配信 [Famitsu]

The game was announced last fall as an Xbox LIVE title. Why's it M.I.A.? According to Ignition Entertainment, "It is still happening, but I believe that's scheduled to be a 2010 title." Sit tight!

What Happened To Metal Slug 7 For Xbox Live Arcade? [Siliconera]

This summer, SNK is releasing Doki Majo Plus. Wondering what makes this game "plus"? Skip ahead to about three-fourths of the way in at around the 3:30 mark.