Bits And Bobs: Monday News Roundup
(Updated throughout the day.) PAL SNK Vs. Capcom: Chaos priced and dated, Metal Gear Acid might be a week late, Puyo Pop Fever DS/PSP dated, Alone in the Dark movie finds distributor.
As it gears up to release Metal Slug 3 at a ridiculously low price on PS2 and Xbox this Friday (seriously, how is MS3 not worth £14.79?), UK-based publisher Ignition Entertainment has revealed that it plans to release the next in its growing line-up of SNK Playmore titles in January. Beat-'em-up SNK Vs. Capcom: Chaos should be out around then on PS2 and Xbox - again for less than £20, and capable of going online over Xbox Live. Sadly the critics in the US weren't as enthusiastic about this one as they might have been, but at less than 20 bob it might well surprise. Who knows? We'll find out in January.
According to reports, Japanese retailers have shifted hotly anticipated but still cryptic PSP turn-based strategy title Metal Gear Acid a few days farther into December; apparently it's now not set to launch on December 12th alongside the PlayStation Portable hardware, but will instead debut on the 16th when PlayStation 2 title Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater also takes a bow. There's still no word on European dates for either title, sadly, but we'd put money on March. You can read more on MGA here.
Meanwhile, SEGA has announced it plans to release the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable versions of puzzle game favourite Puyo Pop Fever simultaneously in Japan - on Christmas Eve, no less. Why? Apparently because all previous versions of Puyo Pop Fever have come out on the 24th of whichever month in Japan and the date holds some significance for SEGA. Both versions feature wireless multiplayer support, although by the sound of it only the DS version will be able to link up with more than one opponent, with up to seven other players able to join in the action.
Finally, Lion's Gate Films has reportedly picked up the right to distribute Uwe Boll's Alone in the Dark film, and plans to have it on the silver screen Stateside from January 28th onward. The film features the work of Christian Slater, amongst others, and we're curious to see how it turns out - even if we're a bit cautious on account of Boll's last game-to-film adaptation, House of the Dead, which was so resoundingly slated by critics that it's among the worst-ranked films on IMDB...