Sources close to NST allege that the studio's first-party Wii game Project H.A.M.M.E.R. has been canceled, IGN reports. The team has apparently moved on to one or more "expanded audience" projects -- more minigames? The ill-fated action romp was previewed during E3 2006 (in playable form), and then dipped below the radar, stamped with a "TBA" date on Nintendo's press site. IGN speculates that a supposed initiative to redesign several "traditional" titles to cater to casual players forced Nintendo to rethink Project H.A.M.M.E.R. Perhaps the Ninty think tank deemed the hack-n-smack unfit for mainstream tastes.

Nintendo has yet to issue an official statement or change the "TBA" status of Project H.A.M.M.E.R. on its site. Despite the corny plot -- hammer-wielding cyborg saves U.S. from "killer robots" -- Project H.A.M.M.E.R. was (is?) expected to provide a relatively unique gameplay experience (like, um, some actual violence) for Wii owners.