Now slated for March

Ignition’s website was recently updated to show a March 3rd release date for The King of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match for the Playstation 2. While not at all surprising due to SNK’s history of often delayed releases in the US, I’m still saddened by these delays that keep popping up. Seriously, can’t SNK get anything out on time?! I figured this whole Ignition/SNK deal was struck in order to stop these things from happening! Any bets on whether KOFXII will be making it for its 2009 release date?
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It’s like porn… for nerds!

As if I wasn’t already excited enough about Madcatz’s Street Fighter IV line of arcade sticks, Markman had to go and show us an unboxing video of the Street Fighter IV Arcade FightStick: Tournament Edition. All I have to say is that that thing is BEAUTIFUL! One thing of note is that there is a lack of wires on the stick when it was finally lifted out of the package in the video. Did it suddenly become wireless on us or is there a hidden compartment that houses the wires? The official unveiling of the sticks will be at CES in January so I guess we’ll have to wait till then. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go change my pants.

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The crouching strong goddess is back!

Rumors of Rose in SFIV have been circulating throughout the web for week, followed by the first true glimpse of the pouplar A2/A3 star in the latest issue of Famitsu. Although the scan was in low-res, it gave diehard Rose supporter all the evidence they needed to know their deadly femme fatale was making a comeback. Today, Kotaku has released a new collection of screens showcasing Rose and several other previously announced characters including Gen, Dan, Fei Long and Cammy.

Suddenly, making frequent visits to the arcade doesn’t seem so critical. The home version is going to be LOADED with lots of memorable characters which will unquestionably make this a “must have” on Feb. 17th. Hope you’ve all reserved a copy.

Bulling the web one more time.

Space Giraffe is one of the best shooters ever, and now it’s available on PC.  More than just a simple port, though, this new version features a new graphics engine for snazzier effects along with two versions of the game.  The original layout is available as the Acid Mix, in all its incredible eye-melting glory, while the NUXX mix more clearly separates the foreground from the all-new backgrounds.  There’s also a free demo from the linked page, letting those not sure of their PC’s graphic prowess run a few tests while blasting and bulling through the first nine levels.

Check it out, for it is awesome.

David Sirlin reveals issues with getting HD Remix properly off the ground.

I hope a lot of you appreciate all the hard work and sweat that went into making Super SF2 II Turbo HD a reality. It was the type of project that was truly developed out of a labor of love, and if not for one talented David Sirlin, the powers that be would have kept the dream on the cutting board. Sirlin introduced several significant alterations in the game including new moves, easier command motions and various gameplay. Coupled with the new HD-visuals, old-school fighting vets and casual players alike had an all-new reason to hop on Xbox 360 and PS3 this holiday season.

By now, the diehard fighting game enthusiasts (and well, not so diehard) have become well aware of his departure from Backbone Entertainment. Naturally this posed a lot of questions amongst his friends and supporters as to the reasoning. Sirlin was recently approached by Videogamer.com where the actual truth behind HD Remix (among some other surprises) reveals what was truly going on behind the scenes. Can you believe that they wanted him NOT to rebalance the game? For those of you who’ve actually come to cherish all the extensive changes, could you imagine if they were non-existent? I can’t… I LOVE Chun’s new changes and it’s hard to imagine going back to the classic style aside from has a nostalgic moment.

This is just the first part in an extensive interview which already has me wanting to throw stones at Backbone for being so well… bullish in their decision-making process and creating such an awkward hardship in getting one of Capcom’s most anticipate releases this year. It’s the sort of thing that really makes you wonder how some companies can claim to have a connection with their audience but are obviously viewing the outside world with beer goggles.

I rather not give anything away, but be sure to pay a visit over to Videogamer.com, bookmark the site and keep your eyes glued for the forthcoming updates. And keep your head up Dave, there’s a whole community out there who totally appreciate all your efforts for making this game possible for us. (Oh, and our review is coming — I am just having a hard time getting time away from the game.)