XSEED Games has a new game they’re planning on bringing to North America, but instead of just telling us, they’ve decided to be stupid-heads and release little hints on Twitter.

The latest hint, however, can confirm that this new game is at least heading to a Nintendo system, unless Nintendo Power has started previewing exclusives for Microsoft and Sony. I wouldn’t know as my subscription ran out a long time ago.

Hint #3: Early birds will get the worm first…if you have a subscription to Nintendo Power, that is.

The company’s Facebook page says that we can expect the big reveal sometime next week.

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All the more reason to keep the oceans clean.

Here’s an equally entertaining edit depicting a more accurate representation of events in the comic.

Source [via Reddit]

If this batch of screens from Never Know Tech is to be believed, then Castlevania: Harmony of Darkness is actually an Xbox LIVE Arcade game, and not a DS game like we had expected.

Adding to the unexpected is the report that HoD will have an added focus on six-player co-op. Players will be able to take control of various heroes from Castlevania’s (more recent) past. According to one screen, some of the selectable characters are: Soma Cruz, Shanoa, Alucard, Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin.

If this is true, I’m a bit disappointed to not see one last Castlevania on the DS before the 3DS launches.

Source [via Destructoid]

The big news today is the exclusive publishing agreement between Halo creators Bungie and mega-publisher Activision. The 10-year deal allows Bungie to act as its own independent studio and keep its IPs, but gives absolute publishing rights of all their games – except Halo, which Microsoft still owns – to Activision.

So what exactly does any of this have to do with Nintendo?

Well, Activision’s a big multi-platform publisher, and now with Bungie as part of their fold, this opens up a window of opportunity to see some of the studio’s work on other systems, including the Wii and DS.

Since Microsoft still owns the rights to Halo, we know that there’s no real chance of seeing that series jump ship to other systems, but that just means we get to see if Bungie is more than some one-trick pony. Heck, there might be hope for an Oni sequel. The game did receive praise for its combat system, which mixed gunplay and hand-to-hand fighting. With a bit of polish (and maybe some competent motion controls), who’s to say that the game could find new life on the Wii?

It will be interesting to see how this deal will play out.

The DS compilation of all four Mega Man Zero games will make its way to North American store shelves on June 8. The game is practically getting a simultaneous release with Japan, who gets the collection two days later on June 10.

Mega Man Zero Collection brings a couple of new features to the table. The new “Art Gallery” mode lets players browse through different pieces of artwork they unlock by playing the game. The other change is the addition of a new “Easy Scenario” mode that scales back the difficulty. In the name of all things good and holy, I hope that I never have to see any of you resort to this.

I swear, I will hunt you down if I find out.

Mega Man Zero Collection website

We’re going to have to wait even longer for Ni no Kuni, the highly-anticipated RPG collaboration between movie giants Studio Ghibli and gaming stars Level-5.

A recent post on Dengeki Online revealed that the DS RPG is scheduled for a release in the fall, a significant delay from the spring 2010 time frame we were given a while back.

While not officially confirmed by Level-5, the delay does sound fairly legit, as it has also appeared in the latest issue of Famitsu.

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During a quick sit-in on the Destructoid podcast to talk about Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Capcom’s Seth Killian took the time to talk about the other game in the Vs. series:  Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

Despite having to deal with a western market that had very little knowledge of half of the game’s roster, the game sold well enough to beat out Capcom’s expectations.

“[The game] certainly beat the initial expectations,” said Killian. “It didn’t set any land speed records, but it was a success. And that’s really saying something considering that we’re talking about a game that was not only never coming out, but has a title that most people can’t even pronounce.”

See the good things that happen when you take chances on localizing niche games for dedicated fans? So Nintendo, why don’t we try that with, oh I don’t know, Fatal Frame IV or Another Code: R?

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It’s looking like the Black Wii rumors we heard yesterday are true.

An anonymous employee working for GameStop sent this picture of a promotional poster featuring the new black Wii to Kotaku, who have confirmed the validity of the poster. The leak reported that the poster came with a routine monthly shipment along with instructions to hold the item until May 4.

Contrary to what many, including myself, thought, the new bundle will not replace the original Wii Sports with Wii Sports Resort. Rather, Resort will serve as a complementary game alongside the vanilla pack-in.

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While hanging out on the Square Enix Partners Twitter, company producer Shinji Hashimoto answered a few of the 140-character limited questions lobbed his way by curious fans.

One query posited the possibility of having new DS remakes of Final Fantasy V and VI, to which Hashimoto replied, “for FF5 and 6, there are technical issues as well, so at present these are also undecided.”

What technical issue could there be? I don’t recall Square Enix saying anything when they made the GBA ports of FFV and VI. Could it be that Square Enix just doesn’t want to make money by cashing in on the Final Fantasy name?

If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be looking for other signs of the Apocalypse now.

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Retail sources are saying that the black Wii that was released in Japan last summer will be heading to North American stores as early as next month.

The reported bundle is said to include the console, wiimote, Wii Sports Resort and a MotionPlus and will retail for $199.99 USD.

According to these sources, the bundle will be available in North America on May 9 and in Canada on May 23.

Source [via Infendo]