Ignition Entertainment has announced that The King of Fighters XII will be released in North America and Europe in 2009. The highly anticipated fighting game is expected to be released on PS3 and Xbox 360.

For the first time in the franchise, KOF XII has undergone a complete graphical overhaul. All sprites used over the last 14 years have been dropped and replaced with new high definition, high resolution sprites on detailed 2D backgrounds, drawn 100% by hand.

“Dreams never die!” said Ajay Chadha, President of Ignition Entertainment. “I’ve been a huge The King of Fighters fan since 1994 when the game first debuted and I know original fans will be as excited as I am about this groundbreaking installment of this very popular series. And just as importantly, The King of Fighters XII should be a treat for the new gamers who’ve just been introduced to the hugely popular franchise.”

Ignition Entertainment has announced that it has expanded its development capabilities by opening studios in both Japan and the USA. Simply dubbed Ignition Tokyo and Ignition Florida, the new studios will join Digi-Guys (WarDevil) in their bid to create original and unique IPs for next-gen consoles.

“This is an important time for us. With the addition of these new studios we will increase our capacity for producing original product,” said Vijay Chadha, Ignition Entertainment CEO and co-founder. “The opening of both Ignition Florida and Tokyo is a stepping stone to building a stronger and more focused development group. These studios are an important addition to the company and will be a solid foundation on which future plans will be built.”

Details of the projects they are working on will be announced in a couple of months.

Ignition Entertainment has announced Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys, an adventure game for the DS. Scoop:

The Earth is under attack by a horde of Alien Brain… uh…Thingys! Humans, succumbing to ray-guns, mind-control, and shiny flying saucers, have failed to defend their planet and let it fall easily into the clutches of the Big Brain and his army of Brain Thingys. The only hope left for mankind is three Teenage Zombies that have arisen from a graveyard disturbed in the invasion. The undead trio ignores their normal human victims in favor of the pulsing pink brains they see EVERYWHERE - all the while being lured to the ultimate lunch: THE BIG BRAIN! The Big Brain soon realizes he’s overlooked this “Super Race” as they inexplicably resist mind control, are unaffected by ray-gun wounds, and devour his Brain Thingy Armies like sweets! He refocuses his efforts and resources to battle the Earth’s greatest champions: The Teenage Zombies!

The game parodies the Zombie genre, as well as 1950s style science-fiction. It will be presented with a comic book look featuring comic book panels, dialog boxes and storytelling. Gameplay involves side-scrolling adventure, stylus mini-games, double-screen boss battles and puzzle challenges. Players will be able to bite into big, pink brains starting Spring 2008.

The Jay Ward classic is hitting consoles everywhere - Ignition Entertainment has announced George of the Jungle for PS2, Wii and DS. It will be a side-scrolling platformer, having players jumping, running, climbing and fighting through obstacles whilst collecting bonus items along the way.

The game will feature the whole gang from the series - Ape, Ursula, Magnolia, the Witch Doctor, just to name a few - and is based on the upcoming animated series due to air on Nickelodeon in Autumn. Finally, the game is scheduled to hit stores during Q1 2008.

Atari and Ignition Entertainment have announced Mercury Meltdown Revolution, the series’ first foray on the Wii.

Mercury Meltdown Revolution is a brain-teasing puzzle game that challenges players to immerse themselves in a colourful world of sci-fi machines, crazy characters, and bubbling test tubes. Using the Wii Remote, Players guide a liquid mercury ‘blob’, around traps, door switches, spikes, moving floors and other hazardous elements in order to complete the level.

As expected, the game will make use of the console’s motion-sensitive controller, but will also support the Wii Classic and Gamecube controllers; it will feature 480p support, over 150 levels, hidden labs to unlock, “state of the art” blob physics and more.

Mercury Meltdown Revolution is slated for release during Spring 2007.

Ignition Entertainment has announced that the Metal Slug Anthology for the PSP will also include the previously unreleased (outside of Japan) Metal Slug 6, increasing the total number of games in the Anthology to seven.

The Anthology features arcade perfect conversions of Metal Slug 1-5, Metal Slug X, as well as Metal Slug 6; two player co-op play via wireless multiplayer; full support for the portable’s wide-screen format; unlockable items; bonus galleries containing classic poster and character art; and more.

Metal Slug Anthology is crawling its way to slime up store shelves this Winter.

Atari and Ignition Entertainment have announced Mercury Meltdown Remix, marking the move of the PSP game to the PS2.

Take control of a liquid Mercury ‘blob’, and avoid the various obstacles and hazards to reach the end goal. The Mercury blob itself now has 4 varying ’states’ - Normal, Solid, Fast and Slow. These states allow for larger more complex levels, which in turn mean a greater challenge and more enjoyment.

Mercury Meltdown Remix Features:

• Over 200+ challenging levels - more than any previous Mercury title
  
• Hidden Labs to unlock. Including two exclusive to the PlayStation®2
  
• Awesome Specular Lighting and special effects
  
• Dual analog control with Rumble feedback
  
• State of the art blob physics.
  
• Fairer game progression
  
• Bonus features to unlock
  
• Tutorial Mode

Mercury Meltdown Remix is set for release this Winter.

Ignition Entertainment has announced that King of Fighters XI is coming to Europe for the PS2 this Winter. Latest in the long-running fighting franchise, KOFXI features a total of 11 teams and 47 characters, including 3 all new characters; 7 playable boss characters; 3 new abilities - Quick Shift, Saving Shift and Dream Cancel; 14 new endings; color edit more; 4 new stages; 101 new music tracks and more.

Further information and media can be found on the game’s official website.

SNK and Ignition Entertainment have announced that King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2 will be released in Europe for the PS2 this Autumn.

The new game in the fighting franchise will feature 24 initially selectable characters, with many more unlockable during the course of the game; new and improved fighting system; lots of extras; four modes of play, including Story, Versus, Challenge and Practice; and even more.

Meanwhile, Koei has sent word that it plans on releasing Disgaea 2 and Atelier Iris 2 on PS2 in Europe the same season. Here’s a bit on Disgaea 2:

Disgaea’s wickedly dark sense of humour has always been one of its most popular features and this has been taken to a whole new level of evil enjoyment with the new Dark Court system. Now the player is positively encouraged to be bad with the game rewarding your darkest most devious actions. But be careful, there are positive and negative results for everything you do within the game. Think you’re badder than you really are and you might just get summoned to court and suffer the shame of being found innocent.

As a direct response to calls from fans of the original, Disgaea 2 will now take place within a brand new 3D environment with animated sprites and anime cut scenes. Players will also be able to stack their characters on top of each other in order to combine their powers and unleash special combos and attacks.

Disgaea 2 is the latest RPG spectacular from Nippon Ichi and follows in the footsteps of the hugely popular titles Makai Kingdom, Phantom Brave, La Pucelle: tactics and of course the massive original Disgaea. With a whole new cast of characters along with many of the gang fondly remembered from the first game all turning up to do battle, Disgaea 2 is already looking like being one of the RPG events of the year.

As for the other title, Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny will ship in September and will feature new characters, two different worlds to explore, a new “Active Time Battle System”, and more new stuff. The UK release of the game will also see more powerful monsters, allowing for “even more thrilling battles.”

Ignition Entertainment has announced that it plans to bring King of Fighters: NeoWave for the PS2 to Europe this Summer.

The King of Fighters NEOWAVE is the first ever King of Fighters game SNK has developed for the arcade that hasn’t been based on NEOGEO technology. As well as an all-new fighting system that provides fighting styles for players of all skill levels, gamers are treated to lavishly produced high-res backgrounds. Firm favourites from the series previous iterations appear, remaining true to the characteristic SNK style.

The ability to choose from three different fighting styles - Max 2 mode, Super Cancel mode and Guard Break mode - ensures generous tactical depth, and an array of different attack and defense options, including the excellent Just Defense first seen in SNK’s highly lauded Mark of the Wolves, also ensure NEOWAVE is always a challenging and entertaining experience.

The game features 43 characters, 3-on-3 battle format, multiple fighting styles and more.

Ignition Entertainment announced that PoPoLoCrois, developed by G-Artists and SCE Japan, will be released in Europe this Spring for the PSP.

First in the series to be released outside Japan, the game features an “engaging” storyline presented by anime cut-scenes, 2D graphics, an “intuitive” combat system, “enchanting” characters, over 30 hours of play and more.