SNK developing King of Fighters shmup for XBLA
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Apr 21st 2009 at 4:01PM } 
... No, you know what? We're not going to lie to you. We've never thought that. Nobody has, ever. Until now, that is -- Famitsu recently outed SNK's latest, and arguably most bizarre project ever: An Xbox Live Arcade shoot 'em up based in the KoF universe, tentatively titled King of Fighters Sky Stage. Based on the early screenshots we've seen, we're still trying to decide whether the game is going to be awesome or too awesome. Maybe you haven't heard: People. Flying. Shooting. Bullets. Out. Of. Hands.
[Via Kotaku]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
PedoJokerBear (aka Deeznuts) @ Apr 21st 2009 4:06PM
W...T...F?
Deadpool @ Apr 21st 2009 7:24PM
Work...Time...Fun?
NoughtSoClever @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:48AM
Shmups with people instead of ships? You mean like Cho Aniki?
SupaYoYoMan @ Apr 21st 2009 4:07PM
epic win
-Vexx- @ Apr 21st 2009 4:09PM
Eat your heart out Touhou.
hector88 @ Apr 21st 2009 4:13PM
KoF has nothing on Touhou in terms of franchise popularity!
-Vexx- @ Apr 21st 2009 4:48PM
Yeah Yeah I know :P
Evan @ Apr 22nd 2009 8:45AM
The real question is, why aren't the Touhou games on XBLA? With their loyal fan base, they are the kind of game Microsoft should be actively seeking out in order to penetrate the Japanese marketplace.
Kyle @ Apr 21st 2009 4:10PM
WE HAVE WINRAR!!!
SoulBlade @ Apr 21st 2009 4:12PM
DO (not) WANT
Kyle @ Apr 21st 2009 4:15PM
YOU (are) CRAZY!
Nigeria @ Apr 21st 2009 4:12PM
See, when I saw the original headline on Kotaku, I thought a more refined Wartech. Fighting plus the shooting, that was the easy conclusion. Not this.
Mind, not that shooting bullets out of your hands is a bad thing. Life would be a little easier if we could all shoot bullets out of our hands. And don't forget flying.
Erik @ Apr 21st 2009 4:15PM
Actually, in some of the screenshots, bullets actually appear to be flying out of the top of the character's heads. Which could push the meter a little more towards the 'too awesome' side....
Gillfigno @ Apr 22nd 2009 12:04AM
Oh, come on. That's Athena. She's a Psycho Soldier. That's a psycho ball, not a "bullet"
She's just a little girl with power inside, burning bright. you better hide if you are bad. She'll catch you. She'll read you're mind and find out if you believe in right or wrong.
Fire.
Fire.
Psycho Soldier.
Get with it! That came out in 1986 or something! You've had plenty of time to catch up!
Ok, I'll stop.
Jawmuncher @ Apr 21st 2009 4:20PM
Japan sure does make some weird shit
Cosmo @ Apr 21st 2009 4:23PM
Hmmm, looks like keeping my Xbox 360 around was a good idea after all. ; )
MowDownJoe @ Apr 21st 2009 4:24PM
Is this going to be another game without Mai? And if it isn't... will there be jiggle physics?
tyetheczar @ Apr 21st 2009 4:37PM
SNK? In MY Touhou (http://touhou.wikia.com/) ? I think I just shat bricks.
"Ah yu Okei?"
No, Terry, I'm not...
-Vexx- @ Apr 21st 2009 4:50PM
Still looks weird to me lol.
Just looks odd without my Touhou characters lol.
Kamizar @ Apr 21st 2009 4:31PM
Why?
Rob Accomando @ Apr 21st 2009 4:35PM
wtf? No Street Fighter Shooter?
J.Goodwin @ Apr 21st 2009 5:47PM
Capcom already put Morrigan in Gunbird 2. Do you really expect more than that?
Professor Lario @ Apr 21st 2009 4:36PM
It will never overthrow Forgotten Worlds!!! I'll finish you today for sure!
Anton @ Apr 21st 2009 4:54PM
Actually, people flying around shooting fire bullets is pretty much standard in any 2D beat em up.
jkjudgex @ Apr 21st 2009 5:34PM
So think of it as a fringe game, similar to Puzzle Fighter II or something? I think it's a good idea, and a fun re-application of characters... I love King of Fighters, so, I'm interested.
http://www.judgex.com/
Zertoss @ Apr 21st 2009 5:03PM
"Maybe you haven't heard: People. Flying. Shooting. Bullets. Out. Of. Hands."
So it's Dragonball Z?
Kamizar @ Apr 21st 2009 11:48PM
No, it's just over 9000.
Jacksons @ Apr 21st 2009 5:18PM
So, has King of Fighters officially jumped the shark?
WINterfang @ Apr 21st 2009 7:51PM
Not really, about time SNK whore themselves up.
ccc @ Apr 21st 2009 6:07PM
heh, Im with you for anything snk. All I ask in return is Magican Lord, Garu, Nam 75 and the Super Spy please...
Diskoboy7 @ Apr 21st 2009 6:54PM
Finally - The Super Spy gets some love.
That was the very first Neo Geo game I ever played.
cafecito @ Apr 21st 2009 6:26PM
I wonder why the heck aren't they using the whole screen for this one. It's not like it's a port of an arcade game or anything...
The XBLA 1942 does a great job of utilizing the whole thing, BTW.
Charlie_Six @ Apr 21st 2009 7:07PM
Looks like that ESP Rade shmup. It was pretty cool :)
WINterfang @ Apr 21st 2009 7:21PM
Jummmm,good,great,yep,yes,yes,yes,YES,YES,YES!!!!,YES!!!!!,YEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!
Deadpool @ Apr 21st 2009 7:30PM
Not to mention "Cannon Spike" for the Dreamcast. A lot of people missed out on that game.
Deadpool @ Apr 21st 2009 7:33PM
That was suppose to be a reply.....ah never mind.....stupid comment system.
Spiritsnare @ Apr 21st 2009 8:47PM
"Maybe you haven't heard: People. Flying. Shooting. Bullets. Out. Of. Hands."
Like a good chunk of recent Japanese shumppery? That isn't anything new.
A KOF shmup, though, is a pretty amusing idea.
fred @ Apr 21st 2009 9:25PM
http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20060909.gif
As always SMBC is relevant to the discussion
Batzarro @ Apr 21st 2009 11:54PM
Capcom did it. I believe it was called Cannon Spike.
Bill @ Apr 22nd 2009 8:29AM
I used to think "shmup" was the dumbest, laziest term coined in the last three years. You are going to shorten a nine letter word by taking out all but one of the vowels and a 't'? Lazy! And dumb, too! But I have seen the light. It's so much easier than typing those stupid hyphens! Not to mention it sounds so much like schmuck. Now I love it just as much as slapping "-gate" after anything remotely controversial!
Here's some more game genre names we can shorten to make them sound totally cool, just like shmup:
Fting - Stupid 'igh'... It's so stupid to type three letters when one makes the same sound...
FiPS - just like CHiPs! Hold it, this involves typing extra letters...
RiTS - mmm... reminds me of Ritz crackers... oh wait, extra letter again. Maybe we could make the i invisible...
Porm - who doesn't like porm? Look at all the great examples: Mario games, Sonic, Castlevania, Little Big Planet... Porm is great!