Winter Steam Sale brings discounts to many fighters

The annual Winter Steam Sale has arrived, bringing big discounts to many fighting games offered through the platform.

Arc System Works has cut prices on many titles including Arcana Heart 3 LOVE MAX!!!!!, Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code, Battle Fantasia and older versions of the Under Night, Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series.

SNK is once again offering low prices for King of Fighters XIII, 2002 Unlimited Match and '98 Ultimate Match Final Edition, as well as The Last Blade 2.

Lastly, there are also sizable discounts for Street Fighter V, Mortal Kombat XL, Skullgirls, Blade Arcus, Koihime Enbu and many other titles. Sadly, it seems recently released titles such as Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator- and Garou: Mark of the Wolves are not included in this year's sale. For a list containing most of the titles, head over to Steam.

KOF XIV 1.10 update coming Jan. 11, 2017, '98 Athena DLC free now

The King of Fighters XIV Producer Yasuki Oda has announced the release date for the upcoming visual upgrade for KOF XIV, along with a little extra for fans.

First, KOF XIV 1.10 will be delivered to players on Jan. 11, 2017. In the update "aspects such as the shaders and lighting have been upgraded to improve the overall visuals." Color choices for each character have also been increased from four to six.

Second, the recently announced '98 Athena Asamiya skin will be a free download for the first month of its release, until Jan. 22, 2017.

Players can check out a preview of the new visuals and Athena's skin after the jump.

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Classic Athena costume coming to King of Fighters XIV

SNK has revealed that Athena Asamiya will be receiving one of her classic looks in KOF XIV.

A new downloadable costume will give Athena the outfit she wore in King of Fighters '98. She will be the fourth character in KOF XIV with new clothes, joining Kyo, Geese and Iori.

SNK has not announced a release date or price for Athena's '98 outfit, but other skins have cost $1.99 when purchased separately.

SNK announces two-part King of Fighters XIV World Championship

The KOF XIV world champion will be decided at two separate events, according to new information released by SNK.

First, 16 players who have qualified for the world championship will compete in what is being called the "Four Kings" Tournament in Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 18, 2017. That event will decide four finalists who will then compete in the grand final tournament sometime in mid-March in Beijing, China.

SNK says details on both tournaments, as well as the rest of the World Championship qualifier events, will be available soon. There are currently only four players officially qualified for the KOF XIV championships: Xiao Hai, Reynald, Dakou and Cypher.

New tutorial shows safe jump setups for every KOF XIV character

A video by YouTube user A1 Major has broken down safe jump setups for every character in King of Fighters XIV.

The two-hour video offers several minutes of footage for each character along with notations on how each setup works. The video also comes with time stamps so that players can quickly find their characters without having to waste time.

Players can check out the video after the jump.

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King of Fighters XIV version 1.10 improves visuals, playable at PSX2016

SNK has announced that a new update to KOF XIV, version 1.10, will be playable at PlayStation Experience on Dec. 3-4, 2016.

While SNK is currently saying nothing more about the new update, players have already noticed the graphical upgrade that seems to be part of the revision. 

With PSX rapidly approaching, it will be interesting to see what other surprises version 1.10 has in store for players when they get their hands on it.

SNK games discounted as part of Steam Autumn Sale

The Last Blade, The King of Fighters XIII, KOF 2002 Unlimited Match and KOF '98 Ultimate Match Final Edition are currently on sale on the Steam platform.

Players can buy the King of Fighters Triple Pack, containing all three titles, for $17.49, 50 percent off its normal price. The individual games are also on sale, with KOF XIII discounted to $9.99 and KOF 2002 UM and KOF '98 UMFE at $7.49 each. The Last Blade is $4.99.

Other titles on sale include Twinkle Star Sprites, Baseball Stars 2 and games from the Metal Slug series. Interested players have until Nov. 29, 2016, to pick up the titles as these discounted prices.

SNK announces King of Fighters XIV e-Sports Support Program

SNK has launched a program aimed at helping tournaments gain official prize and publicity support through the company.

The KOF XIV e-Sports Support Program will consider the application of any event that fulfills a small number of requirements, including a minimum number of 20 players in an offline tournament. Applications are then sent to SNK, which will then notify the organizers within seven business days whether the company will help the event.

If SNK agrees to lend its help, the company will decide on support that may include official advertising and assets, prize money, a World Championship qualifier spot and SNK merchandise.

Applications will be considered only for events that happen by Aug. 31, 2017. For the complete details, head over to SNK's website. 

Chinese special edition of King of Fighters XIV teases new costumes

In September, King of Fighters XIV developers said they were interested in adding more downloadable costumes to the game, and it seems those plans may be a reality.

Promotional materials for the Chinese special edition of KOF XIV indicate bonus materials including a Classic Iori skin and "new costumes each month starting December ... free of charge for premium copies."

What's not immediately obvious is how many free costumes this entails. The offer could simply be referring to Classic Kyo and Nightmare Geese, or it could mean many new alternate outfits are on the way.

There has been no official mention of Classic Iori or any other forthcoming costumes for North America at this time, so fans will have to wait until more information becomes available. 

New King of Fighters XIV patch addresses bugs, online improvements

SNK has released version 1.04 for KOF XIV, hoping to correct what it sees as lingering problems in the game.

The new patch does not include balance changes like the game's previous update, but instead contains fixes for moves that were not acting as intended. Version 1.04 also contains small improvements to online play, including a blanket statement that "online functionalities have been improved."

For a complete list of the changes, check out the patch notes at SNK's website.

New KOF show "Trip Guardians" premiers Oct. 30

On Oct. 30, Game Goons will debut a new show dedicated to the King of Fighters competitive scene in North America and around the world.

"Trip Guardians" will seek to delve deeper into the news and strategy regarding King of Fighters XIV and its various tournaments.

According to host Chris "Hellpockets" Fields, the show hopes "to provide a platform for notable players to connect with the KOF community to discuss both scene related topics as well as in-game topics." "Trip Guardians" will also feature a "hot seat" segment where the guest will play online matches for the viewers at home.

Fields will be joined by Super Desperation Radio castmate Giby "ManChest" Giby as the show welcomes its first guest, former Evolution champion Reynald Tacsuan. 

"Trip Guardians" will begin at 1 p.m. PDT with streaming on the Game Goons Twitch channel.

SNK Arcade Archives series coming to North American PS4

The PlayStation Blog has announced that King of Fighters '94 and other SNK Arcade Archives titles will be coming to the West.

Starting with the release of KOF '94 on Oct. 27 (the same day as the Japanese release), the PlayStation Network plans to offer Samurai Showdown, Metal Slug, Alpha Mission II, Fatal Fury and World Heroes all before the end of 2016. Nam-1975 and Neo Turf Masters are scheduled to follow sometime in 2017.

No prices have been listed for the games, but their Japanese equivalents will cost roughly $8 so that may be a decent estimate. 

King of Fighters '94 launches Arcade Archives series on PS4 in Japan

The first game in the King of Fighters series will be available on the Japanese PlayStation 4 users on Oct. 27 and begins a new series of releases from SNK titled Neo Geo Arcade Archives.

King of Fighters '94 is a digital release and will cost players 823 yen (roughly eight U.S. dollars). It will be followed by Fatal Fury, Metal Slug, Samurai Showdown and Alpha Mission 2.

There are no details as to whether there will be any differences made to the PlayStation 4 versions of the titles, or if they will be similar to previous PlayStation 3 digital releases. 

Corrections made to King of Fighters XIV English patch notes

Since the English translations to KOF XIV version 1.03 were released early on Oct. 19, some players have noticed inconsistencies with the original Japanese patch notes.

Reacting to that information, SNK has revised the English notes hoping to remove any mistranslations. The patch notes can be found on the SNK website.

SNK unveils exclusive King of Fighters XIV shirts

In addition to presenting the upcoming KOF World Championship, SNK has decided to support the fighting game community by creating a line of shirts that will be offered as prizes in upcoming tournaments.

SNK has created 15 shirt designs, each reflecting a different member of the KOF XIV cast, with a mix of both new and returning characters. 

There are no details at the moment as to when SNK will begin to offer these shirts and whether they will be only given to winners, or distributed to other high-placing players as well.

King of Fighters XIV update coming Oct. 18

SNK has revealed that the balance patch for KOF XIV will be releasing on Oct. 18, 2016 at 6 p.m. PDT. 

No details of the patch have yet been revealed, but the official SNK Twitter account gave players a hint about at least one change by attaching a picture showing Nakoruru's bird Mamahaha clashing with Ryo's fireball.

This will be KOF XIV's first major balance change, following a day one patch.

Update: SNK has posted the patch notes in Japanese on its website.

Update 2: The English patch notes are now available.

King of Fighters XIV World Championship trailer released

Atlus has released the trailer for the upcoming KOF XIV World Championship that is coming in "early 2017."

The short video gives few details, instead following new character Antonov as he decides to hold the tournament after seeing the response from real-life competitors all around the world.

What has been revealed, however, is that the SNK and Atlus will present an event where 16 players will compete for the title of champion.

 Check out the trailer after the jump.

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KOF XIV guard cancel blowback punishes by Gato Ray

For those having trouble dealing with being blown out of their offense, YouTube user Gato Ray has compiled a long video on how to punish the move if blocked.

The 15-minute tutorial shows each character successfully block a blowback attack and then punishing using different, increasing amounts of meter.

The damage obviously varies from fighter to fighter, with some getting very little reward without spending meter. Check out the video after the jump.

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KOF XIV update coming in October, future DLC plans uncertain

SNK recently held a press event at Tokyo Game Show where King of Fighters XIV Producer Yasuyuki Oda and Neo-G sat down to discuss upcoming plans for KOF and more.

According to Mad Man's Cafe, the current plans include an update to KOF XIV coming in October. This will include some system and netplay tweaks along with a balance update for the game. According to the pair, the hope was to make everything in KOF XIV seem "fun," to "make things as strong as possible and to balance them out afterwards as needed." They agree that perhaps some things like Mamahaha may be too strong, but that they do not want to change the balance of the game much at all.

Oda and NEO-G also talked about future DLC plans for KOF XIV, saying that while they have heard fan response requesting more characters, they have also heard players say that 50 characters is already enough. For now, the team is hoping to add more character costumes and work from there.

The pair also disccused the scrapped plans for Garou 2 and the possibility of another new fighter from SNK. For the full translation, head over to Mad Man's Cafe.

New King of Fighters XIV patch released to fix netplay issues

A new patch for KOF XIV hopes to address the game's uneven netcode, making the online experience better for all players.

On its release, KOF XIV's online play was spotty and inconsistent, with players left confused as to how or why certain matches were smooth or laggy.

The new update claims to fix "connection slowdown issues occurring in online Ranked Match & Free Match modes." The patch is already receiving some very positive reviews from players, but only time will tell if netplay is a better experience for all players.