production on the crossover game NeoGeo Battle Coliseum in 2005. SNK cancelled production of The King of Fighters 2004 in the fall of 2004, after it was announced the company had signed an agreement with Sammy Corporation to use their arcade system instead of the Neo Geo cabinets that had been used for the franchise previously. The King of Fighters XI arcade version used Sammy Corporation's Atomiswave system. SNK commented that by using this new system, The King of Fighters XI would stand out from its predecessors due to improvements in both gameplay mechanics and graphic quality, specifically the animation frames created for Iori Yagami. However, it lacked the AW-net, a program that allows for online play. SNK had previously tested this system for both NeoGeo Battle Coliseum and The King of Fighters Neowave. Hiroaki Hashimoto was the main designer for all of the game's characters, while Nona illustrated the endings. When the arcade version was released in the US, cabinets in Tilt Studio locations used converted Final Furlong cabinets, instead of the standard Atomiswave cabinets. As a result of this, there were two screens, one for each player. The addition of mid-bosses from Buriki One and Kizuna Encounter were meant to surprise gamers; since their original moves did not "fit" in The King of Fighters XI, developers had to change some of them. In 1999, SNK released a Fatal Fury installment named Garou: Mark of the Wolves whose narrative lacked closure. As a result, the company decided to utilize those characters in The King of Fighters XI with a bigger role. The movements of the boss character Magaki – the leader of the group of antagonists "Those from the Past" – were intentionally designed to "disgust and disturb fans". The staff had mixed opinions about newcomer Momoko due to her relatively young age. She was designed to fit the Psycho Soldier Team. Meanwhile, Elisabeth was created as a "leading lady" character to give Ash Crimson a rival. Developers sought to make the levels as realistic as possible, with particular focus paid to the Esaka stage. The company planned to add more stages, but these were removed due to time constraints. The game's Japanese port for the PlayStation 2 was released on June 22, 2006. Multiple changes were made for the port to make the controls more responsive, based on feedback from the arcade. On September 8, 2006, Ignition Entertainment