We just told you that Konami's faux-retro Gradius Rebirth was added to the PAL WiiWare shop. If you've been playing for the past hour or so and have already moved on to dreaming about Konami's other WiiWare retro reinterpretation, you'll be happy to hear that Konami has announced a European release for Contra Rebirth as well, to be expected this August. This also gives North American readers cause for some measure of optimism.

In addition, Konami will release its top-down racer, Driift, later this month as DRiiFT MANIA. "DRiiFT MANIA" is also a condition in which someone is compelled to spell things with two lower-case i's.

If you had your heart set on downloading Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment via XBLA or PSN this September, prepare to have it broken. Konami has confirmed to Joystiq a report by Eurogamer that the return of the company's classic strategy RPG franchise has been delayed until "winter."

No reason was provided for the postponement of the game, which we first caught a glimpse of earlier this year. Let's hope the developer's equipment wasn't ... wait for it ... vandalized. (That one was from the heart.)

Hideo Kojima has further reiterated his supporting role in Castlevania: Lord of Shadow in a new interview with Weekly Famitsu, reports 1UP. "This has become a big project, one with the idea that we needed to make a Castlevania which had that same kind of feverish Western support, and that's why Kojima Productions came in to help," Kojima told the Japanese publication.

With his Metal Gear Solid games beloved by everyone the world over (everyone with taste, anyway), Kojima's the right man for the job. But seeing as how this game is being developed by Madrid-based Mercury Steam Entertainment, Kojima obviously won't be on-site to aid in development. Instead, the team comes up with concepts to run by Kojima and he has them "fix things based on my objective viewpoint." An example given is the initial model for the hero's face, which Kojima had them redesign to be, well, more heroic looking. See, people, this is the kind of thing only Kojima can bring to the table!

Late last week, Konami registered the title Genso Suikoden with the United States Patent and Trademark office. While no further details are available, the filing may be one of many different possibilities: a new game in the series (known simply as Suikoden in North America), a remake of the original Suikoden or a US release of the poor-selling Japan-only PSP compilation, which included slightly enhanced versions of Suikoden I & II.

The nearly 15 year old series has been getting quite a push from Konami in recent months. In late 2008, Konami released the original PlayStation version of Suikoden on the PlayStation Network, while the Nintendo DS received the latest game in the series -- Suikoden Tierkreis -- in March.

[Via Superannuation]

We get pretty nervous when publishers start testing the waters with higher price points, so we like to think our sticker shock at seeing this $1,000 listing for Metal Gear Solid 4 is forgivable. But it is a pretty good game and we would like to have a second copy, just in case. Plus, there's only one left in stock!

But just as we were about the make the purchase, we noticed that shipping price. $7.99?! What, are we made of money?

[Thanks, Christopher]

When it was first revealed, we gave Silent Hill: Shattered Memories a bit of a cold shoulder. Gone was the established story that had first introduced us to the world's creepiest town, reinterpreted with altered characters and a new otherworld that ditched darkness and rust in favor of jutting glaciers and vaguely menacing snowflakes. Thankfully, our experience with the game at E3 revived our expectations, even if it was at the expense of whole memories.

We later had the opportunity to speak to producer Tomm Hulett, who elaborated on why we should call Shattered Memories a re-imagining -- and not a remake:

You're making Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and you're tying it to the first game. Harry Mason is back, but you're calling it a re-imagining, you're not saying "remake." Is that a bad word?

Right, that's a curse word. [laughs] By re-imagining, like you said, we've got the premise of the first game: you're Harry Mason, you're looking for your daughter Cheryl. Beyond that we've changed and updated it, so it's an entirely new experience. If you've played the PlayStation game to death, you still have no idea what to expect for Shattered Memories.

We did that because, on the Wii, maybe there's a lot of people who haven't played any Silent Hill games, so it wasn't really fair to say, "Here's the sequel to Homecoming, enjoy yourself." But then, returning fans, they've played the first game, they've played Origins, they've seen the movie, and they've played Silent Hill 3 and it all kind of revolves around the events of the first game. So they wouldn't really want to play a remake and so, by re-imagining it, there's new content -- if you've never played it before, of course, it's new to you -- but then, there's also this extra layer of new content if you're returning, because you get to experience all these things that are different from what you're expecting. And that really fits the theme of Silent Hill, which is this place where your reality is subjective and you don't know what to expect. We've built that into the game if you're a returning fan.

While not busy shoving spears through young women or peeling the skin off of ... young women, it seems that SIlent Hill's geometrically-proportioned antagonist, Pyramid Head, moonlights as a fashion model for Swedish clothing label Odeur. His exploits were featured in the company's autumn/winter 2009/2010 Lookbook.

You know, we were going to make witty observations about the inclusion of a classic horror figure in a clothing catalog but we just can't bring ourselves to do it. Pyramid helmets? Odeur? Lookbook? This might be our blogger sweatpants talking, but high fashion is impossibly dumb.

[Via Kotaku]

An employee of Konami in Japan is suing the company after she allegedly had her wage lowered and was demoted after returning from maternity leave, according to reports. The suit by 36-year-old Yoko Sekiguchi, who is seeking $343,000 in damages, states that she was moved to a domestic position and had her salary cut by $2,080 a month following her return.

Sekiguchi's attorneys claim that, in pre-trial meetings, Konami stated her position was changed in consideration of creating a better child-rearing environment. Sekiguchi said, "Being forced to lessen your career to raise a child is sexual discrimination." Sekiguchi's previous position had her traveling all over the world to acquire licensing deals, in particular for the Winning Eleven series. Konami had "no comment." We're not well versed in Japanese laws regarding maternity leave. But, if you are, feel free to chime in down in the comments.

[Via Kotaku, Andriasang]

Konami has a whole week of "surprises" lined up for the one-year anniversary of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots' release. So, surprise: Metal Gear Online has received an unlikely update in the form of bikini-clad babes. Rather than draw form the series' pool of female characters, the pack lets players roll their own originals, complete with sultry -- even scandalous! -- "taunts."

The DLC is free for players who already have the GENE expansion pack purchased and installed. No amount of money will get your dignity back after friends catch you testing the ladies' over-the-top "jiggle simulation." (Or simply watching the video of others doing it after the break.)

Like a case of bad allergies, Metal Gear Solid 4's graphics left us rubbing our eyes. That said, when it comes to developing the recently unveiled Metal Gear Solid Rising, the latest sequel's eye candy is not nearly sweet enough.

According to Kojima Productions assistant producer Sean Eyestone, the team is remaking Rising's engine "from scratch" to make it look better than MGS4. Speaking during a recent Kojima Productions podcast, Eyestone describes the multiplatform project as "a big project like Metal Gear Solid 4," adding that the team "team is serious about making it look as good as possible on every platform." Let's just hope our meager eyes can take it.

[Via 1UP]

Konami has released a new trailer of its coin-op Metal Gear Online spinoff Metal Gear Arcade, showing us not only gameplay footage, but a few shots of the sit-down arcade cabinet that houses the game, including one shot of four cabinets connected. The machine uses a 3D display combined with 3D glasses for what the trailer calls "Integral Vision."

See the trailer after the break. And to see Integral Vision for yourself -- kinda -- check our gallery for a few 3D stereograms of the game. You're free to print them out and look at them through a stereoscope, or make animated Wiggle Vision images out of them.

[Via GameSetWatch]

We know, we know: For us to approach video game coverage on Fox News and expect anything more than "fair and balanced" reporting (with a heavy dose of bias and spin) is, to say the least, simply asking too much. Things get much worse when a game with as controversial a setting/plot as Six Days in Fallujah falls into the mix. Atomic Games prez Peter Tamte appeared alongside the game's consultant, Capt. Read Omohundro (a gentleman who fought in the actual battle of Fallujah), and Tracey Miller, a woman who lost her son to the fight, on the channel's "Fox & Friends" program (found after the break) recently, to talk about the game and the controversy surrounding it.

Tamte reveals to the show's host that "about two-thirds of the game is complete at this point ... we only have about a third left to go." Atomic Games' challenge now, he says, is to find a new publisher for the game after Konami pulled out of the project in late April. The show ends with a totally fair and balanced comment from the show's host, who says, "Obviously you knew that you might get some blowback on it, 'cause, uh, some people lost their chidren in that battle," before cutting off any more comments and excusing all the show's guests.

Anyone want to place bets on this game never being released? We've got $20 on "Never. Ever ever ever."

[Via Big Download]

Nintendo E3 2009 checklist:

• Mario? *check*
• Zelda? *check*
• Metroid? *check*

Are we missing something? Head past the break to find out!

E3 was brütal! If you blinked, for a split/second, you missed something. Even if you were trine to keep up, it was a blur -- staying a.wake like that, you only pushed yourself to the brink of your own dark void. That's where Joystiq comes in; to crackdown on the madness; to reach out ... with conviction -- phew! Crysis averted.

We've scoured the dark corners and survived the inferno to piece together this roundup of all things Xbox at E3. Why? Just 'cause we love you. So, draw nier and shift your eyes past the break.

Kotaku is reporting that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-shelled has received a release date of July 22, and will be a timed exclusive for the Xbox 360. Since we're not in the business of just believing everything we read, we decided to contact Ubisoft for some clarification.

Our rep at Ubisoft indeed did confirm the release date and the timed exclusivity on Xbox Live Arcade, which is likely to tick off a few PS3 owners out there. We'd suggest copious amounts of Infamous and, if you're lucky enough, the Uncharted 2 beta to get you through these tough times.