SNK Talking About the Future
SNK Playmore has been rather vocal lately about the direction the company is going to go with regard to its game releases in the coming year or so. Their people in Japan have been speaking to anyone with an ear lately, including us.
Perhaps the biggest development for PlayStation fans is the announcement that the company plans to finally release some of its formerly Japan-only PS2 games in North America. Going into 2007, SNK Playmore hopes to bring a new King of Fighters compilation to North America, along with its classic Samurai Shodown and Mark of the Wolves titles. Previously, the company was unable to publish these games here due to strict Sony guidelines regarding 2D games, but those guidelines have been relaxed thanks to Sony's desire to keep support for the PS2 alive in the wake of the release of the PlayStation 3.
Word straight from the folks at SNK Playmore's home office in Japan says that the company is also hard at work on some sort of follow-up to Mark of the Wolves. They're keeping tight-lipped about this new game, but we do know that it'll use modern high-resolution graphics instead of the lo-rez 2D of the original game.
On the disappointment end of the spectrum, the company also wants to squash rumors that there will be a follow-up to the SNK Vs. Capcom and Capcom Vs. SNK (SVC Chaos) line of games. The co-branding pact made by SNK Playmore and Capcom has expired and there are no plans by either company to sign a new one. So, the official word is that there won't be anymore crossovers released once SNK Vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash is released for the Nintendo DS.
Lastly, with regards to next-gen, the official word is that the company has at least two games in the works for PlayStation 3. Officially, they aren't saying what the games our. Unofficially, our source tells us that King of Fighters and Metal Slug are a lock.
The long and the short of it is, SNK Playmore wants fans to understand that it intends to continue publishing their favorite games for current and next-gen consoles long into the future. And also to remind everyone that King of Fighters 2006 ships for the PlayStation 2 on August 22nd.