King of Fighters XIII Message Board

One of the best matches at EVO 2013. Watch Hee San Woo take on AS Reynald, and create one of the top Hype moments of the year.

One of the best matches at EVO 2012. Watch CafeID Mad KOF take on IGL Bala, and create one of the top Hype moments of the year.

Originally slated for a simultaneous 360 and PS3 release on December 20, King of Fighters XIII's upcoming "NESTS Kyo" character DLC pack has been delayed for PS3 fighters until January 10. A fantastically vague "technical error" is to blame for the issue, according to the Atlus press release after the break. In order to make it up to you, SNK Playmore will be lowering the character's cost to $2.99 for a limited time once it lands.

In somewhat sunnier KoFXIII news, Atlus is also planning a substantial netcode patch for both versions of the game which is said to "make the game's network infrastructure more consistent for users, ensuring that the evaluation given connections is more accurate to the actual play experience." The patch will also introduce minimum signal strength requirement settings on the host side of matchmaking, so players will be able to prevent users with poor connections from joining their open match. SNK Playmore plans on releasing the patch "as soon as possible."

Oh, and if you're wondering what the hell "NESTS" means, read this.

Originally slated for a simultaneous 360 and PS3 release on December 20, King of Fighters XIII's upcoming "NESTS Kyo" character DLC pack has been delayed for PS3 fighters until January 10. A fantastically vague "technical error" is to blame for the issue, according to the Atlus press release after the break. In order to make it up to you, SNK Playmore will be lowering the character's cost to $2.99 for a limited time once it lands.

In somewhat sunnier KoFXIII news, Atlus is also planning a substantial netcode patch for both versions of the game which is said to "make the game's network infrastructure more consistent for users, ensuring that the evaluation given connections is more accurate to the actual play experience." The patch will also introduce minimum signal strength requirement settings on the host side of matchmaking, so players will be able to prevent users with poor connections from joining their open match. SNK Playmore plans on releasing the patch "as soon as possible."

Oh, and if you're wondering what the hell "NESTS" means, read this.

With all the Street Fighters, Marvel vs. Capcoms and Mortal Kombats floating around these days, it might be hard to decide if your tough, battle-hardened heart has room for one more fighter. To make this decision a little easier, SNK has released a demo of its latest, King of Fighters XIII, on Xbox Live. The trial will also rear its head on the PlayStation Network next Tuesday, December 13.

There has to be something to it, right? After all, there have been thirteen of them.

It's tough living in someone else's shadow. Your achievements may be numerous and impressive, but existing outside of the limelight can be disheartening after a while. Constantly fighting for relevance in a crowded genre is a consuming, arduous fight; one that SNK Playmore has waged ever since Fatal Fury: King of Fighters went toe to toe with Street Fighter II in 1991.

The result of that fight may be contentious in the mind of the fighting game community, but Joe Public and his Mortal Kombat Bluray feel otherwise; while series like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat invaded American pop-culture and became household names, King of Fighters continued to toil away in obscurity, releasing game after game for its dedicated cult following.

Things are different now, though. Street Fighter IV kick-started a renaissance in fighting games, reigniting the mainstream consumer's interest in the genre, which paved the way for impossibilities like Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and the incredibly successful rebirth of Mortal Kombat. In this new age of fighters, could it finally be SNK Playmore's time to shine? Will their latest entry, King of Fighters XIII, capture the minds and hearts of those unfamiliar with series?

Probably not. SNK Playmore remains so unplugged from what is happening in the rest of the genre that its latest excursion feels like an old friend, rather than a revolution. Because of this, however, King of Fighters XIII is the best KOF game ever made, despite the fact that it isn't as flashy or user friendly as its contemporaries.

Atlus's pre-order bonus for The King of Fighters XIII is the only freebie soundtrack in recent memory to be worth its own trailer. The massive four-disc "The King of Soundtracks 94-XIII" is definitely worth the honor, containing over 100 tracks from 13 games.

Originally set for release in October, King of Fighters 13 has been pushed back to November 22. To soften the blow, it also released a trailer that goes over a bunch of modes, and the new "NEOMAX" attacks.

Concentrate, grasshopper. Let these King of Fighters XII training videos fill you mind. Breathe deep of all seven videos after the break, and let your custom Sanwa brain synapses push directional commands through your fingers, and into the hearts of your enemies.

Atlus wants to teach you how to play King of Fighters XIII, one character-focused video at a time. Above, a video demonstrating how to perform Yuri's moves; you'll find eight more at Atlus's YouTube channel.

Gameplay and max cancel moves highlight this King of Fighters XIII trailer!

Atlus customarily includes soundtrack discs with the first printing of its games, in a program it calls "Atlus Spoils." But for The King of Fighters XIII, Atlus has gone beyond its normal initiative, bundling a four-disc soundtrack with pre-orders from "participating retailers" including Amazon and GameStop.

The soundtrack is a collection of music from throughout the whole King of Fighters series. Dare we hope for "Allegory of the Wind," the slow, pensive song by the blue flame-wielding Iori Yagami, from the KOF '97 Arranged Soundtrack? Whatever's on there, there will be hours of it.

Those of you in Europe hoping to pick up King of Fighters XIII won't have to make the awkward decision of which region to import it from. You'll get your very own release of SNK's latest HD fighter this October on either Xbox 360 or PS3, thanks to Rising Star Games.

Rising Star Games is also bringing something to Europe that, to date, hasn't been announced in North America: the Xbox 360 port of Cave's shmup Dodonpachi Resurrection. That'll be out in November. Find the rest of Rising Star's slate of upcoming games after the break.

While it won't be one of the tournament's 5 official fighting games, the console version of King of Fighters XIII will so-totally be playable at this year's EVO2011 Championship Series. Attendees will have the opportunity to test-drive Atlus' 2D hold-out, as well as take part in a Q&A panel with one of the game's producers.

For anime aficionados whose interest in King of Fighters may be more artistic than adversarial, this year's Otakon will also play host to a sneak preview of the title, although no Q&A panel has been announced for the convention. According to its press release, Atlus has "committed to offer support to KOF XIII tournaments taking place at both EVO and Otakon," however no official tournaments have been announced for either event as of yet.

Atlus is showing off its North American release of King of Fighters XIII with the above trailer, which strings together combo after combo, of varying styles and intensities. If you like seeing well-drawn cartoon characters being hit several times in succession, you came to the right place.

In a press release accompanying the trailer, Atlus confirmed an October 2011 release date, and also that the North American version would share Japan's recently announced console-exclusive Billy Kane character. He's been away since KOF 2003! Well, he was in KOF Maximum Impact 2, but that only kind of counts.

The King of Fighters returns for yet another round with the Thirteenth installment. Take a look at the gameplay in this announcement trailer!