Japanese gaming information purveyor Famitsu writes that Mega Man 9 is priced at 1000 Wii Points. We're currently unaware of any WiiWare title changing prices across the Pacific, so the newest adventure of the Blue Bomber could hit our shores for $10. But ... there's a possible catch.

Wii Fanboy tells us that both Nintendo Power and Famitsu now allude to some kind of DLC for the game. If it's anything like the Final Fantasy: My Life as a King DLC we're not going to fret; however, if it's $10 for the first three bosses and five bucks for every boss after that -- expect a full blown nutter.

[Via Wii Fanboy]

In a statement issued to Eurogamer, Square Enix has denied a recent report which stated that Final Fantasy Versus XIII had been put on hold in order to prioritize completion of regular ol' Final Fantasy XIII. According to a translated Famitsu interview with Versus director, Tetsuya Nomura, work on the spin-off title had been temporarily suspended while staffers helped out on the next highly anticipated, and not even remotely final, Final Fantasy installment.

"Reports that development for Final Fantasy Versus XIII is on hold are false," countered Square Enix. "The truth of the situation is that when free, some staff from the Versus team have been helping with the XIII team on development of Final Fantasy XIII. Development for both titles is continuing as originally scheduled."

That almost sounds like good news, until you realize that the "originally scheduled" release date for either title is likely quite far off. And that makes us so very, very sad.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Here is the Metal Gear Solid 4 tale of two regions. In Japan, Famitsu reports that MGS4 sold 476,334 copies in its first few days, becoming the best-selling PS3 game to date in the region. Snake also boosted sales of the PS3 itself, with Japanese sales hovering around the 10K mark; the console sold 77,208 for the week.

The UK tells a slightly different MGS4 sales tale. MGS4 is the second fastest-selling PS3 title behind Grand Theft Auto IV and was 14,000 short of MGS2's initial sales in 2002. Although the UK's Chart-Track apparently did not release actual numbers, the company's director did say that MGS4 had a "minimal impact" on hardware sales and that "there's not a lot to say about it."

Unless Sony or Konami sends out a release, we're not expecting US sales figures until NPD's June report releases sometime next month.

Source: Famitsu (translation) report (Via IGN)
Source: Chart-Track: MGS4 had "minimal" impact on UK PS3 sales

Japanese games mag giant Famitsu has rated Metal Gear Solid 4 and bestowed it with its highest honor: a score of 40/40. MGS4 is the first PS3 title to receive such high praise from the magazine's editors. It has already picked up similarly glowing scores from European and Western publications.

Famitsu has only handed out a 40/40 score to seven other games in its history: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64), Soulcalibur (DC), Vagrant Story (PS), The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GCN), Nintendogs (DS), Final Fantasy XII (PS2), and Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii). We imagine Otacon is peeing his pants right about now.

[Kotaku via PS3 Fanboy]

If you're a Tenchu seeker who, despite the franchise's decidedly clumsy plummet from grace, insists on having your ninjas murder enemies with elegance and discretion (sorry, Ryu), you'd best check out the latest issue of Japan's Famitsu magazine. According to IGN, its pages declare that Tenchu 4 is headed for the Japanese Wii on October 23rd. The game is said to be developed by Acquire, the same company that delivered the original Dimensional Ninja Action Movie: Tenchu. And not Tenchu Z.

Not much else is known at this time, so you're more than welcome to speculate about how you'll use the Wiimote as a sword and the nunchuk as a ... well, we're sure you'll think of something.

Since it's abundantly clear that we need to grow up, allow us to tell you about our dream of becoming city planners -- nay, creators! -- as soon as we reach adulthood. According to the latest issue of Japan's Famitsu magazine (as translated by the men of IGN), SimCity Creator will prove to be the ideal training tool. First announced in February of this year, the Wii game allows puerile planners such as ourselves to draw rivers or tracks (inevitably shaped like genitalia) with the Wiimote in the construction of our virtual cities.

You'll be able to change the style of your buildings, with options including European, Chinese and Indian designs. Apparently, you can also opt for buildings made of crystal or candy. You'll be wanting to show those off to your friends via the game's city-sharing Wi-Fi Connection feature, shortly before you inflict a hilarious cataclysm upon your potentially edible metropolis. That's always been our favorite part of city planning.

The game is currently expected to hit Japan in September. We'll let you know as soon as EA unveils its plans for other regions. Update: SimCity Creator will be available on the Wii and Nintendo DS on September 22, 2008 in North America and on September 19, 2008 in Europe and Asia-Pacific regions.


Source -- Official EA press release
Source -- Famitsu information

We weren't that surprised when Nintendo denied any knowledge of the existence of a new DS model hinted at by Famitsu publisher Hirokazu Hamamura last week. We were a little more surprised when Hamamura himself denied ever making the prediction.

IGN is reporting on a statement released by Enterbrain (Famitsu's parent company) explaining that reports of the original prediction were inaccurate and that Hamamura actually "believes it unlikely that Nintendo would release a new form factor or a successor model" for the DS. So was it simply a mistaken quote/translation, or did the powers-that-be at Nintendo put the screws to Enterbrain in order to tone back the speculation? We may never know the truth, but that won't stop us from wildly speculating ourselves ...

Much like the ancient evils that plague the survival-horror genre, it seems Siren is about to be resurrected for a new, thrill-seeking audience. The pages of Famitsu have apparently revealed "Siren New Translation," an alleged PlayStation 3 remake of the 2003 scare-a-thon. The original game saw ten unlucky souls attempting to escape a Japanese village, aided only by the occasional blunt object and the ability to see through the eyes of nearby creatures. One of those was considerably more useful than the other.

Siren New Translation seems set for a July 24th release, with a demo expected to boo-come* available on the Japanese PSN next week. Is that it for the mysterious countdown on Sony's Japanese site?

[Via PS3 Fanboy, Kotaku]

*Alright, that one probably deserves an apology.

It probably comes as no surprise that Nintendo came out on top in a list of the best selling hardware and software in Japan for the 12 months prior to March 30, 2008. Famitsu reports the Nintendo DS and Wii had 6.3 and 3.7 million in sales respectively, while Wii Fit topped the software list selling 1.76 million units. Nintendo owned the top five spots in software, while in hardware the breakdown was Nintendo, Sony and -- somewhere barely peeking over the horizon line -- Microsoft.

The PlayStation 2 was not included in the hardware list and the Xbox 360 shows it still has a long, long (x3) way to go in the land of the rising sun, with a mere 235,318 sold in the year. The hardware and software lists can be found after the break.

[Via Gi.biz]

Recently Xbox Live Arcade has shown considerable potential as a home for shoot 'em ups, from the Forgotten Worlds-channeling Omega Five to monochrome shooter Ikaruga's looming release. However, to hear talk from 5pb, the devs charged with bringing Cave's nefarious DoDonPachi series as well as its latest shooter Ketsui to XBLA's digital frontier, the platform still has a few nagging hang ups keeping it from becoming a beacon for shmups.

Echoing N+ developer Metanet's recent comments concerning what does and does not make it to the service, 5pb spoke out about similar frustrations in the latest issue of Famitsu, revealing that both of its ports of DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou Black Label X and Ketsui X had been summarily rejected for release over XBLA, with Microsoft claiming that it's "going to cut down on faithful arcade ports." Only faithful ones?

We agree that there is certainly a glut of arcade nonsense on XBLA, but this is equivalent to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. 5pb and Cave are reportedly now working to bring both games to market through traditional retail channels in a defiant effort to show Microsoft "that their decision was wrong." Now all we need is a publisher with an eye for niche Japanese releases to pick the games up for release outside of Japan. Altus, are you listening?

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

The issue of Famitsu announcing Persona 4 also included a bonus DVD insert, with a whopping 17 minutes of cutscenes and in-game footage of the highly-anticipated RPG.

The footage reveals the return of Igor, and the departure of the pistol-like "Evoker" used to summon Personae. Instead, it appears that the player-characters all wear glasses, which they remove in order to summon helpful spirits. Televisions will also play a major role in the game, which otherwise does not appear to diverge much gameplay-wise from Persona 3. Not that that's a bad thing, of course.

Check out the entire 17 minutes of footage after the break.

[Via Siliconera]

The Xbox 360 has a reputation for being the underdog in Japanese sales, partly due to its status as the only American-produced console of the big three. So color us surprised by Famitsu's list of the top 25 titles of 2007, as ranked by the magazine's review scores, which features a lot of love for Microsoft's white wonder.

Of the 25 titles ranked, a whopping ten are Xbox 360 titles. The games -- which include titles like Lost Odyssey, Halo 3 and Forza 2 -- make up the majority of the list, with the DS and PS3 tying at a distant second with five games apiece.

The PS2 and PSP each had two games make the top 25 list, and the Wii lagged in last place with only one title (Super Mario Galaxy). Congrats go out to Microsoft. Now all they need are some strong sales figures in Japan to go along with their impressive scores.

The latest issue of Famitsu (via IGN) looks to have a Mario Kart Wii detail blowout. The upcoming kart racer, likely Nintendo's next big title after Smash Bros Brawl, will have a planned 32 courses for the game, comprised of 16 newcomers and 16 remade tracks.

You want new tracks and new tricks? The next Mario Kart also reportedly features mid-air tricks that, if pulled off successfully, will give you a boost upon landing. We suspect that will be course-specific (ramps, big drop offs, etc.) and not a sign that you'll be able to jump and twist your driver ad infinitum to speed through the race.

In addition to the 12-player online matches, you will also be able to play four-player split-screen, and ghost downloads for time trials will be available. In what sounds like it might be online-only, you can customize the game by playing as your Mii avatar on a bike or kart. Is that enough Mario Kart info to keep you satisfied for awhile? No? Why, you greedy little ...

The good citizens over at NeoGAF have picked up the latest issue of Famitsu, and revealed that Super Smash Bros. Brawl has garnered a perfect score from the Japanese magazine. Well, at least we now know it'll be worth all the delays.

Brawl is only the seventh game in Famitsu history to receive a 40/40. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was the first back in 1998, followed by Soul Calibur, Vagrant Story, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Nintendogs, and Final Fantasy XII. Of course, Famitsu's score just represents the opinions of four reviewers, so we'll have to wait for more reviews to come out before we decide whether or not this is worth the purchase (yeah right).

[Via Game|Life]

Citing Famitsu publisher Enterbrain, Bloomberg reports the Wii sold three times more units than the PlayStation 3 in 2007 in Japan. Supposedly the sales difference is almost exactly three-to-one, with the Wii selling 3.63 million units to the PS3's 1.21 million. The PS3 started to rally with the introduction of the 40GB model late in the year and finally outsold the Wii in early November, but lost momentum again later in the month and into December.

The Japanese hardware sales have remained fairly consistent throughout the year, with the only true shocker happening in late October when the Xbox 360 outsold the PS3. Beyond that Twilight Zone moment, the Xbox 360 sat high atop Mt. Fuji and penned its memoirs on solitude with sales of a meager 257,841 units in '07. And, just in case it ever becomes a Trivial Pursuit question, that fateful week when the Xbox 360 beat the PS3 in Japan was seemingly fueled by Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.

[Via GameDaily]