Capcom Game Delays Leaked

A company investment document from Capcom has tipped game blog Joystiq off to delayed 2010 titles and a lower forecast for the publisher s upcoming game Dark Void.   Joystiq says the document posted by Capcom Japan showed worldwide delays for games including Street Fighter IV, Lost Planet 2, and Monster Hunter 3.   It specified the decision behind the delays as orchestrated by the publisher to avoid competition.  The document also pointed to lowered expectations for Dark Void, with Capcom revising its forecast for the game from 1.3 million units to 600,000 units combined on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.  Read more at Joystiq.

More Force For Feet

Adidas had given a sneak peek last month at its soon-to-be released line of Star Wars branded shoes.  The company is showing off more styles from the line, again highlighting how it s moved beyond just slapping the Star Wars logo on shoes.  The line features distinctive styles based on recognizable design elements from Star Wars characters, settings and vehicles.  If only Adidas would promo the shoes through TV.  Dwight Howard dunking to the sound of Tie-Fighters in his Tie-Fighter high tops money.

Check them out at Fubiz.

Stylish Ballers For Adidas

Adidas posts up a couple of NBA heavyweights head to head in the latest ad from the It’s On Me campaign.  The spot is another visually rich ad from the campaign, this time highlighted by lingo turned into visual metaphors as Chicago’s Derrick Rose and Boston’s Kevin Garnett share their shoe style preferences past and present.  A shoe made of butter that has to show up in someone’s locker this season.

Watch it at YouTube {video link no longer active}.

Serious Sam’s ‘Carol Of The Shells’

Majesco has a festive trailer promoting its multiplayer shooter Serious Sam HD.   Skinny street Santa looking avatars locked in bloody battle while the rock version of Carol of the Bells jams in the background is good wholesome gamer holiday fare.  Plus it s now official, taking aim at Santa is no longer exclusive to Philadelphia.

Watch it at GameTrailers {link no longer active}.

UK Game Marketers Roundtable

Writing for MCV UK, Christopher Dring has a two-part question and answer session with heads of UK marketing at major game companies.  The kickoff question is the state of the economy and how it impacted marketing strategies throughout 2009.  From there, Dring asks his participants to expound on the growth of TV and cinema ads, the decline in print, and of-course social media’s growing part in the mix.

Read part 1 of Dring’s article at MCV.

Read part 2 of Dring’s article at MCV.

EGM Out Like A Lion Come March

EGM Media has pegged March 2010 as the date for the inaugural issue of the new Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine, reports Gamasutra.  The company set up to resurrect the former Ziff Davis media property is headed by original EGM founder Steve Harris.  Harris said the March launch will include a digital online version of the magazine for subscribers called EGM[i].  The new magazine and web site is being joined by former EGM editor-in-chief Dan Hsu and fellow Ziff-Davis staffers Damien Linn, Sean Reiley, Ryan O’Donnell and Matt Chandronait.

Read more at Gamasutra.

Take-Two Sells Retail Distribution Arm

Take-Two has sold its North America retail distribution business Jack of All Games to IT software distributor Synnex, reports Edge-Online.  Take-Two closed the deal for $43.25 million, worth about $36 million in upfront cash plus an additional $7 million based on incentives.  The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010.  Once the sale is finalized, Synnex will act as distributor of Take-Two products to Jack of All Games customers.  Take-Two head Ben Feder says the sale is in line with the publisher’s stated focus on creating games.

Read more at Edge-Online {link no longer active}.

Survey Hints At Paid PSN Service

Kotaku has managed to get its hands on a survey that details possible paid services for Sony PlayStation Network.  The survey, distributed by IPSOS Online Research, found its way to the media outlet by way of a reader.  It shows a tiered services setup for PSN offering premium items such as cloud storage for downloaded games, live chat, and free playable games from the original PlayStation and PSP-mini catalogues.  It also shows that Sony is considering a premium trials service offering one-hour access to full versions of PS3 games.  Prices for various tiers of service shown in the survey are $29.99 a year or $4.99 a month for low tier service to as high as $69.99 a year or $9.99 a month for full services.  Sony hasn’t responded to Kotaku’s inquiries on the survey.

Read more and see details of the survey at Kotaku.

Game Obsession Leads To Virtual Bride

A self-proclaimed game obsessed otaku in Japan has married his digital mate from Nintendo’s Love Plus, reports Reuters.  The man, who only used his online handle SAL9000 in his interview, admits to closing the knot with the virtual girlfriend he found in the Nintendo DS dating simulation game.  The man and his console-confined mate then took a honeymoon to Guam before returning for post-marital bliss and Tokyo trysts.  Reuters says SAL9000 likes to take pictures posed in front of famous Tokyo landmarks with his Nintendo DS, and he uses the voice recognition feature in Love Plus to hold conversations with his newlywed.  The man has said that if more people expressed themselves as he has, the world would be more interesting.   He also says he’ll continue playing the game even if a sequel comes out to avoid cheating on his wife.

Read more from Reuters {link no longer active}.