NGBC, KOF:XI and SSVI all have that “SNK is back” look to them, so far. NGBC looks and sounds very much like something the SNK of old was likely to produce.
I’m feeling optimistic, finally.
I have mixed feelings about this. Before SNK became SNKP, the company had a niche following as far as fighting games, especially at a time when Capcom was still the main name in fighting games. It was other games (Metal Slug, other non-fighters) that got more attention than the fighters in a lot of arcades.
But something happened that made SNK games more popular: emulation. Neocharity and other groups dumped NeoGeo roms and people downloaded them, especially fighters like KOF. Eventually, KOF became the most anticipated series to be dumped (a whole fiasco with ROM dumping occured when NeoCharity disbanded and Neo-0 tried to get KOF99 dumped). This demand was strong, stronger than even the desire to get CPS2 emulation working. This did two things for SNK, both leading to its increasing popularity, and possibly, also to it’s downfall. More exposure to the games through emulation increased it’s popularity, especially in the US. SNK realized this and decided to capitalize it. If you recall, KOF96 was released in the US on the Playstation but it was not well received. Increasing popularity led SNK to release KOF Dreammatch 1999 on the Dreamcast. Increasing popularity also probably led to the development of the NeoGeo Pocket. However, emulation and dumped ROMs, as well as bootlegs, probably hurt SNK financially (especially since MVS and AES costs were in excess of $200-$300). What’s more–SNK’s development costs had to be rising (new anti-piracy chips probably contributed to that), forcing increased prices of MVS/AES carts.
So leading up to SNK’s fall and SNKP’s rebirth, SNK was beginning to get more popular. Even after SNK’s fall, people knew that. This led to the formation of SNK Playmore (I’m sketchy on the details but I think it involved a corporate buyout of some kind). Even more, Capcom knew SNK was getting more popular and thus made arrangement for crossover games. And while SNKP still continued to survive in it’s new form, it’s still a shadow of it’s former self. Nowadays, it’s all about Metal Slug, KOF or Samurai Shodown: the only franchises that have have had consistent development (SvC Chaos and NGBC are the exception).
If I had to declare a preference, I’d say pre-SNK-Playmore (198X-2000), the company seemed livelier then.
Well SNK changed a lot after crash. For the worse I would say.
While SNKP games are getting better they still look like frankensteins puled together from diferent parts that don’t really match. Last Blade has more style, better presentation and overall attractivness then all of SNKP games togeter can squeese out and then some.
Which is understandable when you consider that for almost all of the games from the rebirth to 2k3 were all incomplete projects that a nearly brand new team had to finish from scratch. Only now are they getting some of the OG guys back.
I’m still not voting. I like both sides of the coin.
:hitit:
Woah…there was 2k3 plans before the takeover?
No, I meant almost all games pre-KOF2k3. Pretty much the year, and not the game. =/
Huh? I’m not so sure you’re right about this–KOF2000 was probably the last game released by SNK before the company went kaput. But as the company was restructuring, a lot of the franchises were developed by other companies. Some company called Mega worked on Metal Slug 4 while Eolith was put in charge of developing KOF2001. I believe both were built from the ground up, not necessarily as incomplete projects from the old SNK. Theres no evidence that KOF2001 was in production in it’s current form at SNK before being handed to Eolith (except for the character sprites without 2k1’s newcomers). And I don’t think the next Samurai Shodown was in development just prior to SNK’s breakup.
Then again, I could be wrong.
the thing is snkp is doing new great thinks like NGBC,SVC CHAOS,2k2,2k3,ETC
BUT
The problem is none of these games have the quality we used to expect from the old SNK.
The older SNK games felt like they had more “umph” behind them than recent SNKP games. I still think that Last Blade 2 rivaled quite well in terms of being apealing and deep in comparion to its competition. And let’s not forget how many quarters that were lost when Baseball Stars 2 came out.
Call me a graphic whore or whatever, but if SNKP wants to be taken seriously from people outside of the hardcore crowd, they need to dump their mucky KOF style sprites, and go for more “appealing” higher-res “animesque” sprites. However i am impressed with KOF: Maximum Impact, it really shows that SNKP wants to bring in more casual gamers. And music-wise, Metal Slug 5’s soundtrack is very impressive.
Not voting, I seriously like 'em boh.
Question, is SNKP doing anything other than fighters? Like another Metal Slug or even a 2.5d sidescroller.
http://www.awnet.jp/snk_nbc/img/pop_img/pop_dou_02.jpg < Ong Bak?
I mean svc chaos is not that bad for single player.I would love to see another svc game though but this one has to be perfect.
I am old school. So i say SNK.
Man don’t tell me you guys forgot about cyberlip and KOF 94
You mean KOF XI? SNK is getting Super Bowlish
Considering the overall recycling (music, backgrounds, etc), Mina, Yoshitora… yes, it IS terrible.
SSVS is way better in all aspects.
SNKP tried to sell it as a new game, man.
And as an upgrade… meh, never liked KOF2k2 that much (bored me after 3 months of playing it).