Tired of the flimsy four-game batches we've been having lately? We've got double the number this week, with big titles you definitely don't want to miss out on, even if you're not much of a day one buyer. For starters, there the PC version for Bionic Commando (PC, Xbox 360, PS3) and the naval strategy game, East India Company. Cherry on the icing goes to King of Fighters XII (PS3, Xbox 360),and the much-anticipated Wii Sports Resort, hand-in-hand with the Wii MotionPlus.

We've been twiddling our thumbs for some time now, in anticipation of the US release of SNK Playmore's Metal Slug 7 for the DS. We're nearing its release date - November 18 - and now we have a debut trailer to remind us that yes, we're waiting for the game's release. The video in the full article.

 

Together with the developers and publishers looking to show off their wares at the Tokyo Game Show 2007, SNK Playmore USA has released its list of titles for the said game show. Of course, the makers of The King of Fighters and Metal Slug has a number of titles lined up for this year's show, ranging from retro games for Xbox Live Arcade and Wii's Virtual Console to new ones for the consoles and handhelds.

And since SNK Playmore is still one of the coin-op kings, it also lists some titles coming to an arcade near you. Anyway, here's the list:

• The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga (Wii, PS2, PSP)
• Metal Slug 7 (Nintendo DS)
• SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 (PS2, PSP)
• Samurai Shodown Anthology (Wii, PS2)
• Metal Slug 3 (Xbox LIVE Arcade)
• Samurai Shodown 2 (Xbox LIVE Arcade)
• Fatal Fury (Wii Virtual Console)
• World Heroes (Wii Virtual Console)
• Magician Lord (Wii Virtual Console)

New arcade titles:

• The King of Fighters XII
• The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact Regulation "A" 2
• Samurai Shodown Sen (Japanese Title)

Ben Herman, president of SNK Playmore USA, had this to say:

We're pleased to once again be bringing fans more of the quality fighting and great arcade games they've come to expect from us and with the addition of a number of downloadable console titles, SNK aficionados will have even more options available to them.

Cool eh? Better heat up your Wiis and 360s, fighting games are on their way.

The pages of the Japanese gaming magazine Weekly Famitsu has revealed that Metal Slug 7, the latest iteration in the Metal Slug series, is currently in development by SNK Playmore.

The game will reportedly be a Nintendo DS exclusive. If memory serves, it will also be the first DS title in the series. Sadly, that's pretty much all the information we have about this title at this time. It will be pretty interesting to see how the DS's touch screen feature will be utilized in Metal Slug 7, though.

Keep checking back here for more updates. You can also check the magazine scan up top for s couple of screenshots. If you can read Japanese, there's probably a bit more you can learn from the scan.

For those of us keeping tabs on this quirky title that could only have been spawned from the creative minds of Japan, here's a special treat: the Japanese trailer of SNK Playmore's Doki Doki Majo Shinpan for the Nintendo DS. Get it while it's hot.

For the uninitiated, Doki Doki Majo Shinpan is about tracking down witches in your local high school. With the stylus, players must guide our young protagonist's hands all over the body of a suspected witch (hiding behind the form of your ordinary, doe-eyed, ample-bosomed high schoolgirl). Do this enough on several key locations, and the diabolical mark - a mark that proves one is dabbling in witchcraft - will appear on the suspect's body. This trailer shows all that, as well as some evidence-collecting scenes.

If this hasn't weirded you out enough, you can check out the rather steamy trailer below. Enjoy!

 

DS owners who got themselves acquainted with the game-crippling glitch of SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters DS should be able to sleep more fitfully now. It seems that SNK Playmore has finally taken notice of the little teensy bug that prevents you from getting a 100% completion rating of the game, and has now mobilized a replacement program for the carts.

The process itself isn't too hard, with the steps clearly detailed on the company's official website. First, players must register their carts on the site's product registration page, then fill out a form asking for the usual details (name, address, email address, etc.) Players then have to print out the completed form and mail it in along with the defective cart at the address provided. Something to remember - don't send in the package the cart came in, or its manuals. They just want the cart.

Shipment of the replacement carts will begin on June 1, 2007, with the carts themselves shipped out in the order that they're received. So be quick about it and send in your cart now, if you want your replacement game to come back early.

Certainly glad that SNK Playmore's doing something about the bug that stops the enjoyment of the actual game into a dead halt. Updates as we get them, and you can view the actual step-by-step guide on SNK Playmore's website via the read link below.

The Japanese are known to be outlandishly creative, oftentimes crossing going beyond the borders of logic and reason and into the realm of the weird, quirky and just full-out WTF. One only has to look into the games the Land of the Rising Sun is churning out, some of which becoming an overnight success in far-off places (Katamari Damacy is a good example) for proof, and in this article one of the esteemed QJ writers will undertake the soul-baring journey of writing about one such game.

Namely, Doki Doki Majo Shinpan for the Nintendo DS.

The full article after the jump!

Australians are getting a bunch of new titles for their Nintendo platforms this week. Gamers down under will be treated to three new games for the Nintendo Wii video game console as well as two new titles for Nintendo's DS handheld system.

First off for the Wii is Mercury Meltdown Revolution, a game that lets players use the Wiimote's tilt functionality to move a blob of mercury around. Next up is Eidos Interactive's Bionicle Heroes, an action game based on the popular Lego franchise. Finally, there'ys Metal Slug Anthology, the long-awaited Metal Slug compilation from SNK Playmore.

On the DS side of things, Australian gamers get Danny Phantom: The Urban Jungle and Pony Friends. The former is based on the Danny Phantom TV series and has players, playing as Danny Phantom, racing to save Amity Park from various ghosts. The latter is about ponies. Just normal ponies, not evil ones.

Over at DS Fanboy, Alisha posts a very interesting entry about the SNK Playmore game known as Doki Doki Majo Saiban, which we've mentioned in passing here. The reason behind its internet fame, or infamy, is due mostly to how bloggers have presented the work in a certain light. In this case, the fame or infamy has spread as a result of Photoshoppery.

Ah yes, the magic word once again. It has taken down and humiliated many a news outfit, from our humble blog to industry giants. The game itself is harmless enough by certain standards. You're trying to find witches posing as human beings, and by a certain degree of logic, you will have to physically touch characters with the DS stylus to help determine whether they're witches or humans.

Alisha presented two problems here. The first was Nintendo's reputation as a kid-friendly enterprise. Supporting a game on the DS that involved touching people (girls, specifically) seems counter to that particular view of the company. The second is where our main problem lies. To quote her, "the second problem comes in when armchair designers leaped on the first screens from Doki Doki Majo Saiban, creating new 'screens' that looked real, but took the action a little further, and with much younger-seeming characters."

Our responsibility, indeed that of every blog that talks about news and current events, is to find out what is fact and what is fiction in news articles, and to report the truths of the matter as best we can, perhaps with an opinion of our own. As Alisha writes, "In fact, considering the wildfire speed with which rumors spread across the tubes of the Internet, we perhaps have more of a responsibility even than journalists."

While we aren't perfect, and you can be sure that some of you out there probably know more than we do on some topics, we do our best to get you the news (or rumors or stories or videos of Power Rangers dancing). Believe us when we say that in light of Alisha's article, our responsibilities to you are strengthened, and we will let you know if something doesn't sound completely believable to our sensibilities.

SNK Playmore is really hoping to be busy this coming 2007. Not only will they be releasing their numerous arcade fighters and an XBLA version of Fatal Fury 2 Special, they've also got a a bunch of games lined up for the Nintendo DS.

If you remember a few days back, we actually mentioned some of them, though we couldn't really translate them very well. They were titles with names like Throbbing Witch Judgement.  No wonder translation sites are always in a state of beta-testing.

Throbbing Witch Judgement should actually be known as Doki Doki Majo Saiban, where your task is to find a sorceress who is hiding on earth disguised as a human. IGN also mentions that "you use the stylus to touch girls to determine who's a sorceress" in Sorceress Judgment mode. We're not sure what this mechanic will actually do, but you can be sure it's going to appeal to one sort of gamer or another.

Another game coming up for the DS is Denshi Maid Techou: Koi no Iroha, which we previously called Your Hero, Iroha of Electronic Made Log Love. In it, you are supposed to raise and train Iroha, from Samurai Spirits, into becoming a good maid. The game also doubles as a planner of sorts, so despite the strange premise, it may actually have some practical use.

Lastly, we have Kimi no Yuusha, which is promised to be the RPG for casual types of gamers. According to IGN's report, you'll be able to play some fun adventures in 30 minutes, and it will make use of both screens for fighting.

Keep checking QJ for more information. When we hear about any of these making an American or European release, you can be sure we'll let you know!