208w ago - Today Ignition Entertainment's Shane Bettenhausen has posted on the PlayStation Blog today news that The King of Fighters XII is due out this summer for the PlayStation 3 console.

To quote: Dedicated KOF fans have been patiently waiting for years to get their hands on a new installment in this legendary franchise. Since its inception 15 years ago, The King of Fighters has served as a ferocious franchise mash-up, gathering characters from classic series such as Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and Ikari Warriors for three-on-three street fighting action.

For years, fans could depend on KOF to deliver a new yearly update sporting a few minor tweaks and new playable characters, but the advent of the HD era demanded a fresh start. KOF XII is precisely that--a total reboot and rebirth that embraces the past while looking towards the future.

The developers at SNK PLAYMORE have worked hard to deliver a next-gen King of Fighters sequel that honors the series' tradition of hand-drawn 2D art and animation while upping the ante with gameplay refinements and fierce online play.

Creating the massive amount of hand-drawn art required to fluidly animate HD-quality character sprites required a small army of artists sketching their hearts out--SNK...