For those who were waiting for Atari's reincarnation of the classic Earthworm Jim for the PSP, you guys might just have to wait a tad bit longer. Yeah, we know some of you have been wriggling for Jim's freedom into the handheld scene for quite some time now, but as PSPFanboy reports, the game is now put on hold.

They contacted Atari's Alissa Bell about the status of Earthworm Jim and she believed that the game "is off the roster. May be revisited in the future, but the title is, as I hear it, on hold."

O snap. This, especially after David Perry's hopeful statement at the GDC 2007? What we need now is a reason why Jim's taking a rest. And until then, we're putting this in the proverbial can of worms with the Rumor label. If all goes well though, maybe we can dig something up and give you guys updates as they come along.

You can't kill the messi earthworm. Pro-G UK's people at GDC 2007 had a talk with David Perry, Shiny Entertainment's founder, about the fate of the world's mightiest invertebrate. The reply: "We reformed the (Earthworm Jim) team and they were all into it."

Here's where the story gets thrown for a loop: no mention of the last concrete Earthworm Jim project, which was, or is (maybe) the PSP Earthworm Jim. That project's status might as well be in limbo, given that Foundation 9 acquired the Shiny dev from Atari, but the Earthworm license stayed behind. Without any new news on development in that title, we don't know where it is.

Pro-G didn't mention any specific details about how Shiny, Foundation 9, or even Atari is involved in here - just the reformed team. Based on his quote, any Earthworm Jim title they're thinking of is still in the pre-production stage: "Trust me, all the original Earthworm Jim guys are still very interested in the whole idea; just know that it'll happen eventually." Must be something new, indeed. But we're filing this story in PSP Updates, too, just in case there's an (eventual) connection.

Second loop: Pro-G mentioned that there were no concrete details about the game's release or "on which platforms it may grace". Which means that they might be starting from scratch, and, who knows, may be trying to infest next-gen consoles with worms (hence the multipost).

The only other option is for Perry's team to pick up work on the PSP Earthworm and get it back up to speed, but again, no mention was made of the project (hey, maybe they can do two Jims at once, maybe...). Anyway, until more concrete details are offered by the Perry team, guess the only next-gen worms to worry about are in Worms HD.

Developer Foundation 9 acquired Earthworm Jim PSP and The Matrix: Path of Neo developer studio Shiny from Atari. The thing is, the Earthworm Jim title stayed with Atari. So, when Gamasutra asked studio head Michael "Saxx" Persson what would happen to the planned Earthworm Jim for the PSP, what he could say is that "we're not working on it anymore," and he couldn't say what Atari's take on it would be. More exactly (to quote):

Saxx: We were working on that, and we're not working on it anymore. But it's really up to Atari to make an announcement about that, I probably can't even make that statement officially, but obviously we're not working on it. But they haven't made an announcement as to what they're going to do with it. We don't know...it's just one of those things.

Gamasutra: A friend of mine did get to see it, and he said it was pretty true to form.

Saxx: Yeah, I mean the squash and stretch worked really well, and the 3D character...we spent a fair amount of time on that. The backgrounds looked really cool, nice and colorful, the animations were tight, and...it was a good first playable, for sure. But that's how it goes. It's up to Atari, and I'm sure they can find a capable developer to do it.

Perhaps we'll hear something from Atari about this. Earthworm Jim's been progressing nicely, it seems, and it would be disappointing to see such a promising - plus nostalgic - title left unfinished because of a horses-in-midstream acquisition.

Beyond the worm's ultimate fate, Saxx says it's an exciting time for Shiny with this move to Foundation 9. It's different, he says, when the studio's part of a developer rather than a publisher. Now they can - or have to - run it from the perspective of running a business, and as a result, Sax foresees a "lean, mean" Shiny in the future.

You've played the games, seen the cartoon, maybe even bought the action figures. Now Earthworm Jim, the spacesuit-wearing, laser gun-wielding numero uno representative of segmented invertebrates everywhere, is gearing up for another run. This time it's gonna be on the PSP.

Although the team working on Earthworm Jim for the PSP is different from the one who worked on the original title, the game promises to retain the feel and fun of the original. From what we've seen in this vid, it looks like they're doing a great job. All we're hoping for now is an in-game appearance by Boogerman.

Check out the vid.

Download: [Earthworm Jim Direct Feed Video]

Earthworm Jim has got to be the most famous spine-less action hero of all time! The game, developed by Shiny Entertainment for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, SNES, MS-DOS, Game Gear, Game Boy and GBA, is a run and gun platform video game. Its hero Jim is a common garden variety crawler who accidentally gets hold of a robotic suit and ends up battling the most outrageous cast of villains in the universe. Earthworm Jim became the first game ever to receive a perfect review score from Games Master magazine. Just think of the mayhem it's gonna whip up on the PSP! Here are some screenshots that promises a whole new wave of popularity for Earthworm Jim.

Some screens have emerged for Earthworm Jim, set to be released on the PSP in the near future. Originally developed by Shiny Entertainment in the 1990's, this classic character is set to return hopefully showing all the detailed animation, polished platform-style gameplay and wacky humor that was evident in the original. The game is a side-scrolling-action packed platform game set in a cartoon-like world as Jim continues to fight against the Queen and her allies, while his love for the Princess grows.

Featuring outrageous characters, open-level designs featuring puzzles, power-ups and zany environments, it looks to be that the upcoming incarnation of Earthworm Jim will be as popular as the original.